List of contents

• Settlers home page
• A brief history of Grahamstown
• Notes on Wedderburn Settlers
• Mandela's speech re-dedication of the 1820 Grahamstown Settlers Monument, 1996
• A history of the Wedderburn name  
• The LINKS page
• Back to Wedderburn family home page
• SITE MAP Easy navigation around the pages. 

GRW Introduction

GRW Chapter 1

GRW Chapter 2

GRW Chapter 3

GRW Chapter 4

GRW Chapter 6

GRW Chapter 7

CHAPTER FIVE

When the war was ended and, as will be seen, the poor, unfortunate settlers had to return to their devastated farms, the blackened walls of the farmhouses was all that there was left. Cattle stolen, crops destroyed, wholesale destruction everywhere and it was to this the family returned to Green Fountain, to commence, once more, the work of building up the shattered wreck of what was a prosperous farming enterprise before the Rebellion. Fortunately, owing to the large numbers of cattle captured by the military, the farms were very soon re-stocked and, within two or three years, houses were built and the farms restored to their normal state; and to such an extent had they prospered and their stock increased that they found that Green Fountain could not carry their requirements and they began to look around to find a larger and more suitable farm. In November 1837, they bought the farm that had been granted to John Carlisle, about three miles from the village of Salem up the Assegai Bush River, for the sum of £500. The farm had originally been one of the Loanplaats, or Quitrent farms given out to a Dutch farmer and transfer was granted to Great Grandfather and Grandfather jointly, on 20 September 1839, the land measuring 2,300 morgan and they named it “Lindale” after Great Grandfather’s birth place and this was duly registered in the Surveyor General’s Office in Cape Town. The farm, though it was owned by Carlisle, was occupied by a Dutch family who, on the arrival of Grandfather, joined the Great Trek up North and, it was related to me by Aunt Crouch, that the children of this Dutch man – whom, if I remember rightly, was one Abraham du Toit – who, on seeing the Wedderburn trek coming on to the farm, were very much interested and looked out of the tiny window of their primitive dwelling, with a feeling of awe and consternation at so many cattle and servants with two wagon loads of household effects. The du Toit family almost immediately left and the small house was occupied by the family and the work of building a new home commenced. This was on the site where the old house now stands, two rooms were first built, that is, the present kitchen and dining room and these were used for two or three years, when three additional rooms were added, two of which were used for two or three years when three additional rooms were added, two of which were intended for Grandfather, who was shortly to be married. The small house, used by the du Toits, was converted into a milk room and store and another room, added on later, was used by Aunt Crouch for several years, these buildings have all been demolished and, it is just here that special interest is centred upon George. 

Shortly after his arrival at Lindale, when things had begun to take shape and a home established, he succumbed to the blandishments of one of the Salem girls and fell deeply in love with her.  This was Mary Croft, the second daughter of Mr Chas Croft.  Mary was just twenty years of age and had practically lived, all her life, in Salem where she had been an erstwhile schoolmate of Mary Moffat, at Miss Slater’s “seminary” for young girls and, in acceding to the proposal of George to become his wife, a union was brought about which was fraught with much happiness and prosperity during the ten years that followed their marriage. Mary, our Grandmother, after her marriage in Salem Chapel on 2 November 1841 by the Rev. Geo. Green, Wesleyan minister, with Grandfather, settled down to be a wife of wonderful activity. She was a woman who was eminently capable of assimilating all the ramifications of farm life and, very soon, took over all the domestic responsibilities from Great Grandmother, who had, by this time, reached the age of sixty-three and, though able to do many of the lighter household duties, gladly gave her resourceful daughter-in-law the reins of management for, in addition to the household duties, there was the butter- and cheese-making and the poultry and flower garden – the latter she was passionately fond of – so that Lindale was a busy centre. Grandfather had also taken over the entire supervision of the farm; they had, by this time, over 200 head of cattle running on the farm, added to which, he did a great deal of ploughing and he also planted out a large orchard of citrus and other fruit trees. Esther, the youngest daughter had, before Grandfather’s marriage, married Mr Richard Crouch, a partner in the firm of Crouch Brothers, who carried on a large tannery business in Grahamstown, so that there were no longer any of Great Grandfather’s family with him, excepting George and Mary, the newly married young couple. One of the first things they did after their marriage was to become fully accredited members of the Wesleyan Church at Salem and regularly they attended the services conducted there. At that time, there was no instrument to lead the singing in the Old Chapel and Grandfather, who had a good tenor voice, was always called upon to start the tunes for the congregation to join in. Morning devotions were held, both in the old home at Green Fountain and, on Sundays, they had evening devotions as well, so that there was always a fragrant atmosphere of deeply religious feeling in the old home and this was also the case at Lindale. Grace before meals was always repeated with the deepest reverence, being as follows: “Bless, O Lord, and sanctify this food to the nourishment of our bodies. Enable us to receive it with thankful hearts, through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.”

After grace, the family would be served, at breakfast, with porridge, when it would be noticed, every member would be supplied with a small cup, which would be filled with milk and then the porridge would be dipped in the cup of milk and eaten in that way. This custom is still practised in the lake districts of Cumberland at the present time and the family had, no doubt, learnt it in those far off days, when Great Grandfather was a boy living with his parents near Ulleswater. Life at Lindale, though it was very busy, moved along very smoothly and great progress was made in every department of the farm and great joy was brought to the young couple and the old people as well when, on 14 August 1843, there was born to them a son and heir. It was the occasion of great rejoicing at Lindale when, on the morning of 3 September 1843, the joyous parents took their infant son and presented him to the Lord, before the altar in the same Old Chapel in Salem where they had, nearly two years before, solemnized their marriage. Their son was baptized by the Rev J Richards, Wesleyan Minister, and was named James Hamilton Wedderburn. He was a child after his parents’ own hearts and soon became the centre of attraction to all who visited Lindale and, we have been told that the old place was one where lavish hospitality was always in evidence and many friends made frequent visits to participate in the kindness of the popular hosts. But young James was not to remain long without a sister and, on 15 March 1845, Mary Elizabeth was born, so that the family was made happier with a son and daughter; the latter was always called “Libby” and will be referred to later under this name. The year following the birth of their little daughter found the country again in the throes of one of those unfortunate Kaffir Wars, which had been such a curse and which had impeded the progress that would otherwise have been made amongst the settlers and, once again, they had to leave their farm for the laager in Salem where the women and children could be protected while the men shouldered their muskets to defend the stock, which was rushed into the village. The procedure being that the former were accommodated in the Old Chapel, the windows of which were barricaded against all assault of the enemy, as also any nearby dwellings, such as the old school buildings and the parsonage; the wagons belonging to the farmers being drawn up into a large semi-circle, with thorn bushes filling up the intervening spaces, making the laager into a large kraal, for keeping the cattle and horses in at night and the wagons would form a barricade in case of attack. To Grandfather fell a large share of work in guarding the stock during the day and taking part in the patrols that were organised to locate and disperse the enemy from the various locations and it was during one of these reconnaisances that they lost one of their bravest men, in the death of Uncle Frederick Short, who was killed on Lindale, about two miles up the river from where the homestead stands.  Uncle Frederick was the first husband of Aunt Elizabeth, Grandmother’s sister, who afterwards married Uncle John Wedderburn.

The war was continued until the close of 1848, when the Gaikas, under their young chief, Sandilli, surrendered to Sir Andries Stockenstroom and the principals in the outrage that caused the war were given up. And, once again, the dear old people in the early part of 1848, probably about May of that year, were permitted to return to their devastated farm, for this part of Lower Albany had been cleared of the native hordes about this time by Sir Andries and the local volunteers. But, the joy returning to the old home was soon to be overshadowed by an impending sorrow of the greatest magnitude. 

Great Grandfather was, at this time, about seventy-six years of age and had been in poor health for some time past and, the many hardships of those pioneer days, added to the anxiety and suffering during the war period, seriously affected him and, shortly after his return to Lindale, he began to sink rapidly and lingered on until 18 July 1848, when his Grand old Spirit passed out to his Heavenly Home where he would have an abundant entrance and the Saviour’s blessed welcome: “Well done, thou good and faithful servant”. The funeral service was conducted by the Rev. Henry H Dugmore in the Old Chapel in Salem, where he had been a regular worshipper since his arrival at Lindale and, after the service, his body as laid to rest just opposite the main entrance of the present Church and where a stone was erected to mark the sacred plot and on which is the simple inscription: “Sacred to the Memory of Christopher Wedderburn, who died on July 18, 1848, aged 76 years and 5 months”. Thus, there passed out one of those noble old settlers who had sacrificed so much and who have left an imperishable record of honour and integrity in laying the foundations of British ideals and traditions in this fair land which they rescued from barbarism and which their descendants have so largely assisted in developing to what we find it today; one of the most flourishing of the Dominions in our British Commonwealth of Nations.

Great Grandfather’s death was a great blow to the family to whom he was greatly endeared and Lindale was indeed poorer for his being called away and Great Grandmother felt the loss deeply and never really recovered from the sad bereavement of her beloved husband and head of the home. Great Grandmother was now 70 years of age and was becoming feeble and unable to assist very much with the various household duties and, it was at this time that Aunt Crouch, who had also lost her husband, came back to Lindale to reside and she and Great Grandmother occupied the old house adjoining the dairy while Grandfather and his wife and young family, which had now, with the birth of Aunt Esther Ann, during the war, on 3 February 1847, made the family three in number. It may be mentioned just here that, on 7 February 1847, there was born to Philip and Mary Amm, living, at that time, in old Mr Bonin’s house on the hill leading over to Zandlaagte, a little daughter who was christened by the Rev. Henry Dugmore in the Old Chapel, Charlotte Gush Amm, and who was also destined, at a future date, to become a member of the Wedderburn family.

On 21 February 1849, another daughter was born and thus the old home was enriched with another little child who was baptized by the Rev. Hepburn, Wesleyan Minister and called Margaret Quail Wedderburn.

The next three years at Lindale were crowded with hard work in building up again the destruction that had been occasioned by the Kaffirs during the war. Two good seasons followed, with good crops and the cattle increased rapidly, so that, by the end of 1850, everything had become normal again and a period of prosperity and tranquility apparently would usher in the New Year. But, once again, the war whoops of the Kaffirs resounded through the length and breadth of the Eastern Border, with the massacre of the residents in the Chumie basin and the attack on a column of troops in the Boomah Pass spreading over the country like a veld fire, so that the Christmas of that year was again spent in the laager which, on this occasion, was at Seven Fountains, a village some six or seven miles away from Lindale, Grandfather deeming it better to remove his stock there on account of its better grazing than at Salem. He then removed Grandmother, Great Grandmother, Aunt Crouch (née Esther Wedderburn), their four young children, James, Libby, Esther and Margaret, with Aunt Crouch’s three sons, Richard, Ambrose and Gordon, to Grahamstown, arriving there on New Year’s eve. The whole countryside had, by this time, been set ablaze by the insurgent Kaffirs, joined to which a large number of rebel Hottentots, so that those on outlying farms had to flee for their lives, taking very few of their possessions with them. Having arranged for the safety of Great Grandmother, with Grandmother and the children, Grandfather returned to the farm and speedily went in to Seven Fountains where he found a large laager, under arms, and his stock safely looked after by Mr William Emslie, he joined with the others under arms in guarding the stock at night and patrolling the district for the marauding hordes of Kaffirs who were destroying the homesteads or stealing whatever they could lay hands upon.

It was not long before the Kaffirs made a raid on one of the cattle posts and were in the act of removing the stock when they were caught red-handed and taken prisoner, one of their number being shot in the melée that ensued. There were five Kaffirs caught and it was decided that they should be sent to Salem, where there were a number of other prisoners and that they all be sent to Grahamstown for trial by the military authorities. This was on the night of 5 January 1851. 

The next morning, the 6th, Grandfather, along with Messrs J. Thomas, G. Emslie, I. Short and W. Hannay, volunteered to escort them to Salem and left Seven Fountains early, after first securing their hands by tying them together with ox riems. Everything went well until about three miles from Salem and within sight of the village, the escort, becoming tired of riding at a walking pace, dismounted from their horses and proceeded thus, for some distance, when the prisoners complained of their hands swelling with the tightness of the riems and the pain they were having in consequence of this so, after some deliberation, they acquiesced and loosened the riems. Some distance further on, it was noticed that the prisoners passed a remark, one to another, in Kaffir, which was not understood by the escort and, in an instant, they sprang around and grabbed the guns from the hands of those of the escort nearest to them. Grandfather, it appears, was the only one who was ready and shot his prisoner dead, the remainder mounted their horses and fled for their lives. Isaac Short, who had a revolver, fired two shots before leaving but effected no injury to the prisoners and, it was while trying to mount his young restive horse, which had become more so from the shouting and commotion taking place, that Grandfather found it impossible to regain his seat in the saddle and fell backwards and was immediately set upon by the Kaffirs and clubbed into unconsciousness with the butt of his gun and, added to this, while lying on the ground thus by the Kaffirs, who evidently thought he was dead. People in the laager at Salem were startled at the sight of a party of horsemen approaching the village at tremendous pace and the late Mr Dawson Matthews relates, in some notes he made at the time, how he was standing outside the Salem Chapel when the alarming news reached him.

Arriving in the village, Grandfather was attended to as well as could be expected under the tying times of life in the laager. In a day or so, he recovered consciousness and was able to tell of what happened and was removed – in the old tent wagon – he and his family had so often travelled about in, on their annual visit to the seaside and visiting friends, to Grahamstown, to the house in New Street, adjoining Uncle John Wedderburn’s Wagon Factory, which is still much the same as it was at that time. Here, Grandfather was attended by his devoted wife, our beloved Grandmother, who nursed him tenderly and faithfully, under the direction of old Dr. J. Atherstone and, such was his vitality that, with a double fracture of the skull, he recovered to such an extent that he was able to take long walks about the town and, thus for eight months following the tragedy, he continued to improve and, to all intents, appeared to have made a complete recovery, when he felt he might take a ride out one day, on horseback but, upon his return, he felt as if something had affected his brain and the doctor was immediately called in and found him sinking fast. He concluded that the membrane of the brain had been pierced by a portion of the bone from the fracture in the skull and that haemorrhage had occurred and thus Grandfather passed away to his Eternal Home, with his mother and wife witting beside his bedside, on the morning of 16 September 1851. A martyr to the cause of freeing this country from savage barbarism, a fervent Christian, honoured and respected by the whole community amongst whom he lived, mourned by his devoted wife and mother and a large circle of relatives and friends. He was buried in the Wesleyan Cemetary in Grahams-town and on the tombstone is the  following inscription: “Sacred to the Memory of George Wedderburn who died on September 16th, 1851 as the result of wounds received from Kaffirs on January 6, 1851. Aged 41 years.” Cut off in the prime of life, this splendid citizen, one of the most progressive and prosperous farmers of the Albany district, left a great blank in the life of the Salem community, which was very difficult to fill. Prior to the outbreak of the war, when the foundation of the New Wesleyan Church in Salem was being laid, he promised the sum of £50 towards it, as did also his friend and co-worker, the late Mr W. H. Matthews J.P., and these two amounts were duly paid on the completion of the church some years later, to the late Mr John Brislin, the builder and architect of the sacred edifice.