George is a city in the Western Cape province of South Africa. The city is a popular holiday and conference centre, as well as the administrative and commercial hub and the seat of the Garden Route District Municipality. It is named after the British King George III.
The city is situated roughly halfway between Cape Town and Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth) on the Garden Route."Welcome to George," The Garden Route (accessed: 27 January 2022) It is situated on a 10-kilometre plateau between the Outeniqua Mountains to the north and the Indian Ocean to the south. The former township of Pacaltsdorp, now a fully incorporated suburb, lies to the south.
George is well known for being the burial place of former South African Prime Minister and President P. W. Botha.
History
Early History The indigenous inhabitants of the George area are a southern Khoekhoe people called the Houtunqua or Outeniqua. Their name means "The People Who Bear Honey". From the Khoekhoegowab words , , and khoe rendered as 'qua', meaning people.
Little is known about Houtunqua society prior to European contact. What little historical sources exist are not elaborate. It is suspected that at the height of the Houtunqua's society, their territory stretched from the mouth of the Krom River in the east, along the Outeniqua Mountains which bear their name, up until the mouth of the Grootbrak River in the west.
The Houtunqua seem to have remained autonomous from the Inqua (Hamcumqua) expansion in the north with smaller Khoekhoe tribes such as the Gamtobaqua coming into the fold of the Houtunqua to seek protection from the ever expanding Inqua to the north east. The Houtunqua were connected to trades routes with the Attaqua and Hessequa to the west.
Archaeological evidence suggests that the Houtunqua kept livestock and practised Nomadic Pastoralism but made extensive use of the resources in mountain forests. Excavations in the region have unearthed many caves showing signs of pre-colonial occupation.The discovery of shell middens along the coast confirm the idea that like other Khoekhoe peoples, the Houtuniqua made use of the ocean for its resources.
Oral tradition among the Houtunqua tells how the Houtunqua held specific superstitions about Europeans and believed them to be "baleful spirits". Thus the Houtunqua went out of their way to avoid contact with Europeans. Where other Khoekhoe tribes established formal relations and trade with Europeans, the Houtunqua receded deeper and deeper into the mountain forests.https://www.sloanemedia.net/fhk/who-were-the-gamtoos%2C-chainoqua-and-hessequa As a result, the Houtunqua disappeared from the historical record for some time with some Houtunqua eventually assimilating into colonial society of the time. Chief Dikkop, who died in 1816, was the last recorded Chief of the Houtunqua.
Establishment
The settlement that was to become George was established as a result of the growing demand for timber and the wood used in building, transport and furniture. In 1777 Dutch East India Company officials established an outpost for the provision of timber; its location is thought to be near the western end of York Street. The Timber Post had its own Poshouer (manager), some 12 woodcutters, a blacksmith and a wagon maker with their families, as well as 200 oxen. Following the British occupation of the Cape Colony in 1795, a caretaker of the forests in the area was appointed. After the British occupied the colony for a second time in 1806, it was decided that the Swellendam magistracy was too large and needed to be sub-divided. George was chosen because of the availability of good water.
In 1811 George was declared a separate district and Adrian van Kervel was appointed the first Landrost (magistrate) and the town was proclaimed by the Earl of Caledon, governor of the Cape Colony on St George's Day, 23 April 1811, and named after the reigning British monarch, King George III. The town's main street, York Street, was named after King George's second son Prince Frederick, Duke of York.
One of Van Kervel's first acts as Landrost (Mayor), was to dig a furrow to supply the first thirty six plots in George with water. An 1819 map shows the original furrows and storage dam where they remain to this day in the Garden Route Botanical Garden. The first Furrow originated from the Rooirivier (Red river) and later a diversionary weir was built in the Camphersdrift River. George gained municipal status on 24 March 1837.
Timber industry
From the beginning of European colonisation in South Africa in 1652, timber and the provision of various woods was of paramount importance for the survival of the settlers. Once forest areas near the present Cape Town were exhausted, the search for more timber continued along the coast.
The great forests of the Southern Cape were discovered as early as 1711, but because of their inaccessibility it was only in 1776 that the Dutch East India Company established a timber post where George is today. From 1772 there was a gradual influx of settlers intent on making a living from the forests. These were mostly descendants of the Dutch settlers. In early days the lives and livelihood of the people revolved around the timber industry and the rich forests in the vicinity and it remained a quiet outpost. It was the dramatic improvement of communications – the roads, rail and air links eclipsing the ox-wagons and coastal steamers of the 19th century – that exposed other charms and resources of the region and resulted in unprecedented growth for the town.
Early woodcutters and their families lived in forest clearings where they evolved into a closely knit community where intermarriage was common. The men were thin and wiry, but they were also tough and strong with an incredible skill in felling, sawing and handling timber.
The utilization of the forest trees led to such industries as furniture and wagon making. By 1910 several large sawmills had been established in the district. Timber for export was transported to coastal ports by ox wagon.
Woodcutters: 1900–1940 After the ostrich feather slump and a severe drought in the Karoo during the early part of the 20th century, many "bywoners" found themselves without work. Rather than stay in an arid region they crossed the Outeniqua mountains to find a livelihood in the forests.
Forest settlements, such as Karatara and Bergplaas (1922) were started and many of the "dangerous" working-class people from the Transvaal were moved to these settlements. They were, however, a minority group, as most of the woodcutters lived outside these settlements. A small number were descendants of British immigrants who could find no other means of livelihood. There were also a small number of Italian immigrants who had been brought to the area from Turin in 1879, as part of a scheme to start a silk industry in the Knysna area, namely Gouna. It turned out to be a complete failure due to the lack of mulberry trees. Finding themselves without work some of these Italians drifted into the forests and joined the woodcutting community.
Sons were considered to be an economic asset as, at the age of around 14 or 15, after very little schooling, they could assist their fathers in the forest. The majority of these sons eventually became woodcutters themselves.
The Forest Act of 1913 required all woodcutters to be registered. In 1939 all remaining woodcutters were removed from the forests and given a government pension.
Historic background of the George Museum
What the visitor sees in the George museum today has grown from the private collections of one man, Charles Sayers. He was the owner and long-time editor of the George & Knysna Herald, a newspaper established by his parents in 1881. Sayers collected and preserved all aspects of his hometown's history, with a specialist interest in old mechanical musical instruments and typewriters which today form the nucleus of the museum's important collections.
In 1966 he opened his "Mini Museum" to the public, housed in a single room adjoining a café in Courtenay Street. The people loved it and much encouraged by local authorities he moved to the original George Town House – the administrative building next to the market square which dated back to 1847. By now the Sayers Museum had attracted the attention of officialdom and barely six months after the move it attained provincial museum status as a fully-fledged cultural history museum for the region, with indigenous timber and its allied industries as its main theme. The growing popularity led to another move, this time to the building, which had been the original drostdy (magistrate's residence and office) in the young town. The original "Mini Museum" has been re-created within the present George Museum.
Outeniqua Mountain
In 1668 the first European explorer, Hieronymous Cruse, penetrated Outeniqualand with its dense indigenous forest. The highest peak in the Outeniquas is Cradock Peak (1578 m) and the prominent George Peak is 1337 metres high.
The name Outeniqua is derived from the Khoi word meaning "man laden with honey". The slopes of the emerald-green mountains were covered with heather and swarming with bees, according to the reports left by early travellers. "Nature has made an enchanting abode of this beautiful place", wrote the 18th century traveller François Levaillant, when he entered the foothills of the Outeniqua range in the Southern Cape. A great deal of that enchantment and delicate beauty still captivates the modern traveller. For instance, there is the rare George lily (Cyrtanthus elatusCyrtanthus elatus), found near water in the deep ravines of the mountain, and a variety of ericas and proteas thrive on the fern-clothed slopes. Carpets of pink watsonias are a common sight during summer.
Montagu Pass
The historic Montagu Pass between George and Oudtshoorn was declared a National Monument in 1972. It is open to traffic and is a good gravel road, some 10 km in length. With many serpentine curves, this pass gradually winds its way through the fynbos-covered Cradock's Kloof until it reaches the summit.
The world traveller Anthony Trollope visited George in about 1878 and his comment on the Montagu Pass was: "...equal to some of the mountain roads through the Pyrenees". Emma Murray was so enthralled by the Montagu Pass that she wrote in a letter to a relative in 1852: "One forgets everything in the beauty and grandeur of the scene. It was to me exquisite enjoyment".
A traveller will notice that some parts of the stone wall along one side of the road are slightly protruding. The purpose of this was to prevent the axles of the wagons from scraping against the walls and thus becoming damaged.
The building of the Montagu Pass
The Civil Commissioner of George, Egbertus Bergh (1837–1843), campaigned tirelessly for a new road through the formidable Outeniqua Mountains to replace the notorious Cradock's Pass. Then came John Montagu, the new dynamic Colonial Secretary, who cleared the public debt, recognised the importance of good roads and set the wheels rolling.
Work on the pass commenced in 1844 and H.O. Farrel was appointed superintendent of the project, but the task was beyond his ability. Henry Fancourt White, a qualified surveyor, newly appointed as Road Inspector by the Central Road Board, replaced him in 1845.
On average, 250 convicts were employed at any given time on the construction of the pass. They were housed in two camps: South Station, remnants of the old brick chimneys can be seen on your right whilst going up the Outeniqua pass just before the 2nd Montagu Pass turn off, and North Station near the summit of the pass. The headquarters for the construction was sited where Blanco is situated today.
The total expenses for the construction of the Montagu Pass amounted to £35,799 of which £1,753 was spent on gunpowder. Five and a half miles of the pass had to be blasted out of solid rock.