1820 Settlers
British colonists who settled in the Eastern Cape of the Cape Colony in 1820.
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The 1820 Settlers were several groups of British colonists who settled in the Eastern Cape of the Cape Colony under the auspices of the government of the United Kingdom in 1820.
Quick Facts
- Approved
- 19,000
Facts from the source article.
Background
After the Napoleonic Wars, high unemployment in Britain pushed many poor people to seek a new life. The Cape Colony government saw an opportunity to bolster its eastern frontier against the Xhosa and increase the English-speaking population, so it encouraged these British colonists to settle there. This policy led to the founding of Albany, a key hub for the British diaspora in Africa. Out of 90,000 who applied, 19,000 were approved, but only about 4,000 could actually be sent due to a lack of funds.
Colonisation
These settlers arrived in roughly 60 separate groups between April and June 1820. They were given farms near Bathurst, along with supplies and food that were deducted from their deposits. However, most had no farming experience, so they soon gave up on agriculture and moved to towns like Bathurst, Grahamstown, East London, and Port Elizabeth, where they went back to their original trades.
Some of the settlers pushed further into Natal, which was then part of Zululand and home to the Zulu people under King Shaka and his highly trained warriors. The settlers' leaders asked Shaka for permission to stay. After seeing their advanced technology, the king agreed, but only in exchange for access to firearms. Genealogist Shelagh O'Byrne Spencer notes that among those who moved to Natal were John Bailie, who founded East London, and Charles Kestell, whose son, the Rev. John Daniel Kestell, became famous during the Anglo-Boer War and gave his name to the Free State town of Kestell.
Not every group had a smooth journey. After five months at sea, two ships from London via Cork, Ireland, reached the Cape of Good Hope. About 200 settlers, excited to see their promised land, spent a week anchored off Simonstown. Instead of landing, they were sailed all the way back to Saldanha.
From there, they were taken by cart to Clanwilliam and given tiny plots of land. All but five families—the Archers, Stones, and a few others—were later rescued and moved to the Eastern Cape. Those five families, cut off from the other British settlers, adapted as best they could and were soon absorbed into the Dutch and Afrikaans-speaking communities. Some of their descendants ended up fighting against the English in the Anglo-Boer wars.
Memorial
The 1820 Settlers are remembered today by the 1820 Settlers National Monument in Grahamstown, opened in 1974. This living monument hosts plays, music, and cultural events, and is supported by the 1820 Settlers Association, founded in 1920 by Sir Walter Stanford and other descendants. The association also aimed to boost British immigration to South Africa and counter the growing numerical gap between Afrikaners and English speakers, especially by bringing in British ex-servicemen.
Did You Know?
- Of the 90,000 applicants, only about 4,000 were transported due to financial constraints.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who are the 1820 Settlers?
They were a group of British colonists dispatched by the UK government to the Eastern Cape region of the Cape Colony between April and June 1820. Most were impoverished individuals seeking a fresh start after the economic downturn that followed the Napoleonic Wars.
Why did Britain sponsor the 1820 Settler scheme?
The government wanted to strengthen the colonial frontier against the Xhosa peoples while simultaneously boosting the English-speaking population in the Cape. It also served as a relief measure for the widespread unemployment Britain faced in the post-war period.
Where exactly did the 1820 Settlers establish themselves?
They were settled in the Eastern Cape district of the Cape Colony, an area that later became the heartland of the British diaspora in southern Africa and eventually gave rise to the colony of Albany.
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Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: 1820 Settlers (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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