Cradock
The railway line runs on the western side of the Little Brak River which, at the station of Visrivier, is joined by the Great Fish River which 200 years ago formed the much-disputed boundary between the Cape Colony and independent African chiefs. It was decided, in 1812, during the governorship of Sir John Cradock, to establish a fortified town on the frontier, hence the name Cradock. It is sited on a natural sulphur spring and has, as its claim to fame, a replica of St Martins-in-the-Field church, next to South Africa House, Trafalgar Square, London, as the local Dutch Reformed church.
An Anglo-Irishman, Sir John Cradock had a distinguished military career in the British army during the Napoleonic wars. A Major General at 36 years, he helped quell the Irish rebellion of 1798, took part in the expulsion of French troops from Egypt and was appointed commander of the garrison at Madras, India. Unfortunately, in 1806 an uprising of sepoys was blamed on him by Lord William Bentinck, the governor which resulted in both of them being recalled. Cradock was then sent off to fight the French in Portugal and, after having been passed over for the governorship of Gibraltar – which rankled for the rest of his life – in 1811 Sir John was appointed governor of the Cape of Good Hope colony.
Being a military man, not a diplomat, Cradock set about re-arranging the defensive lines of the Cape colony along its eastern border, the Great Fish River. He seems to have got along well with the Boer farmers and was accused, by the London missionaries, of taking the farmers' side against the Khoikhoi and the Xhosa tribes. The frontier wars between White cattle-farmers and Black cattle-farmers is still a hotly-contested topic in South African history. Sir John Cradock has left his mark on the land-tenure system of South Africa and on the names of several towns: Clanwilliam (named after his father-in-law, the Duke of Clanwillian; Caledon (named after his predecessor as governor) and Albany (birthplace in New York State of the Landdrost (magistrate) Cuyler)
An Anglo-Irishman, Sir John Cradock had a distinguished military career in the British army during the Napoleonic wars. A Major General at 36 years, he helped quell the Irish rebellion of 1798, took part in the expulsion of French troops from Egypt and was appointed commander of the garrison at Madras, India. Unfortunately, in 1806 an uprising of sepoys was blamed on him by Lord William Bentinck, the governor which resulted in both of them being recalled. Cradock was then sent off to fight the French in Portugal and, after having been passed over for the governorship of Gibraltar – which rankled for the rest of his life – in 1811 Sir John was appointed governor of the Cape of Good Hope colony.
Being a military man, not a diplomat, Cradock set about re-arranging the defensive lines of the Cape colony along its eastern border, the Great Fish River. He seems to have got along well with the Boer farmers and was accused, by the London missionaries, of taking the farmers' side against the Khoikhoi and the Xhosa tribes. The frontier wars between White cattle-farmers and Black cattle-farmers is still a hotly-contested topic in South African history. Sir John Cradock has left his mark on the land-tenure system of South Africa and on the names of several towns: Clanwilliam (named after his father-in-law, the Duke of Clanwillian; Caledon (named after his predecessor as governor) and Albany (birthplace in New York State of the Landdrost (magistrate) Cuyler)
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