Cathcart
Cathcart, in the Eastern Cape province, is a small town 146 km by road from East London. . Sheep and cattle, deciduous fruit and maize are produced in the district. You can read a brief description of the town's national monuments,on this url: http://cathcart.hypermart.net/national_monuments.html.
In 1850 the British established a military post at Windvogelberg, in the division of Queenstown. Although the site was chosen primarily for its defensive potential, a number of civilians soon settled in its vicinity.The village was formally laid out in 1858, and initially consisted of only one inhabited dwelling. However it followed a steady pattern of growth, and on 24 October 1876 a sale of new erven was held in the village. On the same day it was renamed in honour of Sir George Cathcart, Governor of the Cape Colony from 1852 to 1854. The 1891 census indicated that Cathcart had a population of 601. By 1904 this number had risen to 1,714.
In 1877 the amaNgqika, who occupied the territory immediately east of Cathcart, rose in rebellion against the colonial government. They were soon joined by their amaGcaleka and the amaThembu neighbours. By May 1878 the uprising had been crushed by British forces, and those Ngqika groups who had taken part in the uprising were resettled in the Kentani region. Although their lands were confiscated for European settlement, this move proved to be a serious financial setback for the economy of the village whose retailers depended heavily upon the rural trade.
References
- Howcroft, P. (undated). South Africa Encyclopaedia: Prehistory to the year 2000, unpublished papers with SA History Online.
