Why
settle in the Sundays River Valley after 1918?
The First World War ended in 1918,
returning many able young men to civilian life in England without much hope of
jobs. Peacetime commerce and industry had virtually come to a standstill as a
result of the War Effort, and jobs were scarce. Kit and Arthur Briggs, fresh
out of uniform, found themselves without prospects, as their father had died
young and the family business had come to an end. They chanced upon a curious
advertisement extolling the virtues of a new Settlement Scheme in faraway South
African, promoted by an enterprise calling itself the Cape Sundays River
Settlement Company. People were looking to the colonies for entrepreneurial
opportunities, and the two brothers aged nineteen and twenty-one, announced
their intention of taking part in this pioneering venture. Their mother was
horrified, and asked her Solicitor for advice. Fortunately he know someone in
London connected with the scheme, and so it was that in 1919 the two brothers
and their mother had a meeting with Sir Percy Fitzpatrick, then in
London on a promotional visit. He painted a glowing picture of the scheme,
albeit still very much in its infancy, so their mother capitulated and advanced
them the money to buy a 12 ha farm in Addo, from the offices of the Company in
London. The property, next door to the Addo research station must have appeared
convenient on the Land Map, as it was within walking distance of the Railway
Station, post office, hotel, company store and bank. Sir Percy had told them
that he was confident Lake Mentz would be nearing completion by the time
they arrived in Addo early the following year.
The two brothers left England on 5 March
1920, sailing from Southampton harbor on the RMS Saxon. The ship docked in
Algoa Bay on 25 March. Their first view of Port Elizabeth, from the deck of the
ship was depressing; Kit describing it as a hideous-looking place. They stayed
in Bunton’s Grand Hotel, walked around town and out to Humewood, a new seaside
resort near P.E., and ended up finding the town not at all a bad place on
closer acquaintance.
The following morning early found our two
Pioneers having breakfast at the Railway Station, and then catching the 8:00am
train to Addo. I quote from Kit’s diary, “We
passed through flat, uninteresting country at first, but soon got into bush,
and saw some pretty parts, entirely strange. We were struck by the greenness of
it all and the entire novelty of the scenery.”
The surveyor in charge of the project took
them, straight out from England, on a tour of the Addo area in his Model T Ford
motorcar. They bumped over the most extraordinary roads, just cart tracks over
the earth, full of ruts and deep in dust. They saw for the first time their
plot of land, cleared but not ready for occupation, in other words a square 12
hectares of dusty land without a tree on it, unfenced, undeveloped and without
any form of habitation. After supper they went for a short walk in the
moonlight and enjoyed the glorious African night. So ended their first,
dramatic day in Addo. They found the whole area rather desolate and dusty, with
several outlying houses belonging to new settlers being built. It was rather
depressing at first sight and they felt very disappointed and depressed, but
they cheered up considerably towards evening and began making plans for the
future.
The usual hot sticky March weather must
have prevailed and Kit mentions several times in his diary the Great Heat. They
felt too hot and tired to do anything after lunch on those first days. Having
lived in Yorkshire and gone to school in Edinburgh, Addo in March must indeed
have felt oppressive.
Kit and Arthur slowly settled into their
new, strange environment. There was great camaraderie among these early
settlers, some of whom shared the horrors of the First World War, and there was
a strong pioneering spirit among them in Addo.
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| Dorothy and William Dyke |
There were established households on two
adjacent farms near the Homestead, Mr. and Mrs. Dyke and Mr. and Mrs. Elliott
(now Hermiston Farm on which Chrislin African Lodge is established and
owned by the Pickels family). The young wives were able to introduce a measure
of domesticity to this largely male settler community, and the lads were often
invited to supper. Kit talks of walks down to the river in the afternoon, bathing,
supping at the Elliott’s or Dyke’s and walking back in the moonlight. One
imagines these two lads going down to the river with their towel and cake of
Lifebuoy soap!
Spare time during the day and over weekends
was spent reading and writing letters to catch the overseas mail. There was a
racecourse at Addo in those early days, as many people used horses as their
only means of transport. The Addo Gymkhana Club was formed and meetings were
held on Saturdays, All the settlers turned out in their best clothes to make it
quite a social affair. The ladies’ race seemed to be one of the main features.
On Sundays the two brothers put on collar and tie, and walked to visit friends.
Many evenings were spent with Eric Swann having supper, gathering around his
piano and having a singsong.
How life has changed since 1920 in Addo!
Based upon the writings of Mr. Johnny
Briggs, well-known farmer of Good Hope Farm, Selborne. With the help of his
father’s dairy, Johnny gives us a fascinating account of his father, C.O.R
(Kit) Briggs coming to Addo as a pioneer in 1920.
