Midst Africa's Southern Realms

British Settlers of 1820

The impact of the 1820 Settlers on South Africa has been immense. Their likes included great statesmen, fighters for civil rights and other people who made South Africa what it is today (for good and bad).

Why were these settlers so important? They were a very large homogeneous group that came from a far more liberal population than what had been in South Africa.

The Dutch/German immigrants from the VOC (Dutch East Indies) period were literally employees. They then asked permission to stay in the country and many tried to get as far away from the "Company" as they could. The educational opportunities were almost non-existent, especially in frontier areas. Very few were people were literate. The VOC was trying to make profits not educate their people. In the colony, before British rule, the population had very few civil rights and almost no representation in government.

These British Settlers were generally well educated (As can be seen in some of the parts of this book). They believed in a free press and representative government. They came to South Africa to act as a buffer in the border areas but ended up changing the colony in fundamental ways.

We provide an opportunity for some of these settlers to tell their stories. There are also short biographies and histories of other aspects the lives of the settlers. The main part of this book is the recounting of the reminiscences of Rev HH Dugmore about the 1820 Settlers. It also includes letters from John Mandy to his mother in England, extracts from the reminiscences of Thomas Pringle and George Thompson. A recounting of the stories of James Reed and Mrs Webb's encounter with raggy toothed sharks are also included. This volume will provide you with first-hand accounts of these peoples lives Midst Africa's Southern Wilds.

In this year, which is the 200 year anniversary of the British Settlers of 1820 coming to South Africa, a book of this nature is apt. We hope that you will enjoy the selection of texts we have put together.