Ancestry24

BATHURST, C.P. Town. Situated on the left bank of the Kowie River in the magisterial district and division of Bathurst, on the branch railway from Grahamstown (34 m.) to Port Alfred (9 m.). 33° 3 1′ S., 26° 49′ E.; altitude 772 ft.; rainfall 22 in. Population (1960): White 197; Coloured 18; Bantu 966. The village was founded in 1810 and named by the Acting Governor, Sir Rufane Donkin, after the Secretary of State for the Colonies, Lord Bathurst. It was chosen by Donkin as the administrative centre of the new district of Albany, but it lost this status to Grahamstown. Two old churches built by the 1820 Settlers, the Methodist in 1832 and the Anglican in 1837, are still standing, and are marked with memorial plaques by the Historical Monuments Commission. The hotel, The Pig and Whistle, originally called The Bathurst Arms, was built in 1821. There is a centenary memorial monument to the  1820 Settlers. Bathurst has a municipality. The site of Col. Jacob Cuyler’s camp at the time when he supervised the allotments to the 1820 Settlers has been declared a historical monument.

District. Area 568 sq. m. Pineapples are mainly grown, as well as other subtropical fruits, and cattle-farming is carried on. The vegetation is dense and the district has beautiful mountain scenery. The Great Fish, Bushmans, Kariega, Kowie, Riet and Kleinmond Rivers flow through the district.