Ancestry24

Master Builder of Cape Town

William J. Morris was born on the 11th February 1826 in Oxon, England, and was employed by the Duke of Marlborough as a game keeper when he developed pulmonary tuberculosis during the severe winter of 1856. His doctor recommended that he move to a sunnier climate.

Not long after this William was accepted, together with his wife and three children, for the Sir George Grey Immigration Scheme. In screening the prospective applicants, there were some basic requirements: good health, sober habits, industrious, good moral character, and in the habit of working for wages (as promulgated by Act No. 8 of 1857). From these regulations it would seem that a person with T.B. would certainly not have been accepted, and as the gentleman in question lived to the grand age of 90, and certainly worked industriously on arrival in the Cape (not conducive to a sickly person) the circumstances appear to dispel such a legend.

Standard Bank, Adderley Street

The journey to the Cape was aboard the vessel named “Edward Oliver” under the command of Master J. Baker. The ship departed from Birkenhead on 10th July 1858, and after 57 days at sea arrived in Table Bay on 5th September 1858. Little is known about the voyage excepting 14 deaths were recorded and seven births took place on board. Listed as the ships surgeon was Dr. Fred Johnson as well as trained teacher Mr. Tom Gibbs who were to care for the passenger’s health and education. It is possible that it was not a pleasant journey for the Morris family remembering that the three children Richard, Kate and William were still young and the latter being under twelve months of age.

The majority of the artisans and tradesmen had been fixed up with immediate employment, as there was a great demand for skilled and semi-skilled men for the new railway track being constructed from Cape Town to Wellington, as well as the harbour construction project in Table Bay.

Not long after Williams arrival he leased some land at the top end of Duke Road in Rondebosch, then a distant suburb of Cape Town, and very reminiscent of Wychwood Forest and his native Oxfordshire. This piece of land was developed into a market garden and the family lived in a nearby cottage.

It was whilst William J. Morris and family were living in Rondebosch that on 29 April 1862 their youngest son Benjamin Charles Morris was born and baptized in St. Paul’s Anglican Church in Rondebosch, whereby his father (William) declared his occupation as a “gardener” and place of residence as “Rouwkoop Road”, Rondebosch. Click here to search these church records.

Benjamin Charles Morris's Baptism Record

Richard H. Morris was still a growing boy of just 8 years old. By the age of 14 years and still living in Rondebosch, he was indentured to Alexander Bain, a shipbuilder/shipwright of 17 Chiappini Street, Cape Town as an apprentice carpenter/shipwright.

Although the new suburban railway from Cape Town to Wynberg had been opened to the public in 1865, Richard was obliged to walk from Rondebosch to the North Wharf in Dock Road, Cape Town as transport was too expensive for his meager earnings. However, he was soon organized in getting a “lift” from the coachman he befriended who worked for the governor of Rustenburg House. Richard secured his free lift on the footman’s place at the rear of the coach, where he would sit in reasonable comfort for the journey which took him to the Castle. Unfortunately this mode of travel did not operate for the return journey home, nor did it operate during the winter months, so Richard just had to “jog”.

It would appear that the last train from Cape Town to Wynberg in the afternoons was scheduled for departure from the city at 5pm, but needless to say as an apprentice, Richard was still working at the shipyard. Despite the arduous circumstances of his youth, the enforced exercise proved most beneficial a few years later when he entered into competitive sport i.e. race rowing, especially as Richard was just over 5ft. tall and weighed less than 60 kilos.

During 1870, the Bain’s Shipyard was taken over by Mr. Christopher Robertson, as specialist in sailing ships and wooden masts, and as Richard was learning his trade with three other young apprentices, he was taught the art of shaping a sailing vessel’s mast with the hand spokeshave. The firm from then on was known as “Robertson & Bain” which continued operating in Dock Road, Cape Town for several decades, specializing in the supply of wooden masts for sea-going sailing ships.

Before carrying on with the life story of Richard H. Morris it is important to mention that the Anglican Church of St. Johns on the corner of Long and Waterkant Street had been built in 1856. It was at this church that during the 1860’s Richard became a choir boy and in 1872 a Sunday School Teacher.

In 1876 the Templar rowing club started in Cape Town where Richard and his brother were both members and enthusiastic oarsmen.

The christening of the personally constructed fast rowing boat by Richard came as no surprise by the owners of Robertson and Bain. The name of the boat was called the “Alpha”.

In 1882 the construction of a row of cottages built by Wm. J. Morris and his brother Richard (father & son) was started in Upper Church and Longmarket Streets and were to be called “Lorne Cottages” in honour of the Lorne Rowing Club which was started in Cape Town in 1875 and named after the Scottish Firth near Island of Mull of Kintyre.
On Saturday 6th June 1885 Richard married Helen Ann Lyell in St. John’s church. The newly married couple went that day to “Lorne Cottages” to make their permanent home and raise a family.

Richard and Helen Ann Lyell's Marriage Certificate

Helen was in fact a little girl of ten years old when she first encountered Richard. That was when he was in his twenties and he was late for work and was running along the road when he accidentally knocked over a little girl. He tried to console her, and from this time onwards a very special friendship developed.

It was in the same church that Richard’s younger brother William John married Matilda Jane Altree on 25th August 1886 and a younger brother married in St. Paul’s in Rondebosch on 14th September 1887. It is interesting to note that St. John’s Church was deconsecrated after the last evening service in June 1970 as the ground and building was sold, after much pressure from business interests, for an astronomical amount, and the church was completely demolished to make way for the present modern commercial complex known as “St. Johns Place”. Click here to search these church records.

In 1884 Richard Morris as cox and his brother of the “Templar Club” had their first win as champions winning both “Maiden Oarsmen” and “Championship of Table Bay” events.

In June 1878 Richard H. Morris went into partnership with friend & neighbour Chas. Algar from Rondebosch, who had known the Morris family for quite some time. Little known to Chas was that Richard was to be the future brother-in-law to his sister Bertha Algar.

The first workshops of Algar and Morris were at 39 Shortmarket Street, Cape Town. (between Long and Loop Street ). But misfortune was the cause of the break-up of the working partnerships as the 30-year-old Chas Algar died suddenly on 4th October 1883.

Banking institutions were now playing a major role in the economy of the country and in 1883 Richard Morris landed the contract to build the Standard Bank in Adderley Street for the amount of £32,000 – the two storied building was designed in neo-classical style by Charles Freeman. Two additional floors were added on by Morris in 1921.

Richard made a repeat performance in May 1885 wining the 2 mile race in 15 minutes and 55 seconds.

March 1886 saw the arrival of Richard and his wife Helen’s daughter Kate as well as Richard wining the “Champion of Table Bay” for the third consecutive year.

Eleven years after the death of Chas Algar, Richard Morris secured the construction contract for the new City Club in Queen Victoria Street for a sum of £22,000.

Between the years of 1888 and 1895 Helen Morris gave birth to Edith, Bertha and William Henry Morris, the only son to Richard.

By 1896 Richard H. Morris had become known as a builder of distinguished quality and workmanship and the fame of R.H. Morris had spread. Herbert Baker had met Richard on several occasions and took immediately to this man who built with such fine quality and precision. It was then that R.H. Morris secured the prestige contract for the restoration of “Groote Schuur”, after the building had been extensively destroyed by fire.

Richard H. Morris by 1899 had workshops in both 52 Rose Street and 173 Longmarket Street. In 1902 Frank Lardner joined the staff of R.H. Morris and in 1911 he became the manager.

Father, William James Morris, died at the old age of ninety years on 22 March 1915. In 1919 the company of R. H. Morris (Pty) Ltd was officially formed to cope with the new lumber contract in Knysna. It was from this time onwards that R.H. Morris was renowned throughout Southern Africa for the excellent workmanship and quality in carpentry all starting from old Mr. Morris himself. School desks, church pews and altars were manufactured in their joinery shop for years to come. The items were delivered as far away as Botswana, Rhodesia, Zambia and Mozambique. Along with the desk and school equipment Morris ink wells and stands were also produced.

The Morris workshop also manufactured one of the very few original gramophones that were ever produced in South Africa and which was called a “melophone”. Many of these items can be seen on display in the Educational Museum in Aliwal Road, Wynberg today.

Sadness unfortunately halted joy when Richard and Helen Morris celebrated their Golden Wedding Anniversary on 6th June 1935 and then on 24 July Helen tragically passed away at home as well as Bertha, wife of Benjamin Morris, on the 6th December.

Richard at the age of 83 years old in 1936 retired from the construction industry and handed the reigns over to Frank Lardner. Frank ran the company until 1942 when he passed away. The business was then handed over to a young civil engineer, Clifford Harris. The existing premises of Rose and Longmarket Street were finally vacated when the furniture workshops and Building /Civil Engineering were consolidated and new premises built in Ndabeni.

In April 1949 Richard Henry Morris succumbed to natural causes and passed away at the age of 95 years and 5 months.

This was certainly not the end of an era for R.H. Morris Pty Ltd – as in 1952 the company was given financial backing for the New Municipal Market at Epping in Cape Town by the British Engineering giant Humphreys. The firm is no longer associated with the family. Later the company was taken over by the Fowler Group and is now in the hands of Group Five Construction who have retained the image of the name in perpetuating the fine record of the founder Richard Henry Morris.

Many of the other buildings in Cape Town which were either completed by or alterations were performed on, include the University of Cape Town, Diocesan College in Rondebosch, Music School at U.C.T. as well as many Sir Herbert Baker buildings.

In 1995 when much of this research was done I managed to find a second “melophone” and an original “Morris” desk for sale which ex-Managing Director Frank Wright was extremely grateful for me finding these wonderful company artifacts. Shortly before the final documents were found I also located the grand nephew of R.H. Morris who very kindly gave me the medal won by Richard in the “Championship of Table Bay”. This is now on display in the boardroom of Group Five Construction in Plum Park, Plumstead in the Cape.

Authors: Heather MacAlister and H.W Haddon

Dr. Daniel William Alexander, Doctor of Divinity, Archbishop and Primate of the Province of South Africa and East Africa, in the African Orthodox Church-an independant Episcopal Church with apostolic succession through the Original Patriarchal See of St. Peter at Antioch.

Born 25th December, 1880, at Port Elizabeth, Cape Province. Second eldest child of Henry and Elizabeth Alexander (father a native of the French West Indies, Martinique). Educated at St. Peter’s Primary and Secondary Schools and the Sisters of Mercy (Catholic). Married Elizabeth Koster 28th August, 1901, at Pretoria. Boatbuilder by trade. Joined the British in the Anglo-Boer War, was captured at Colenso and sent to Pretoria.

After the capture of Pretoria joined the Anglican Church and was appointed chaplain at the Old Prison, eventually studying for the ministry under the Fathers Bennet and Fuller of the Community of the Resurrection, and Canons Farmer and Rev. H. Mtobi. Elected secretary of the A.P.O., Pretoria Branch, and the secretary of the committee for the purchasing of the Lady Selborne Township, Pretoria.

Resigned the Anglican Church and went to Johannesburg and joined the African Life Assurance Society as agent on their starting the Industrial Branch, and opened the Pretoria office after two and a half years. Resigned and was elected Grand True Secretary of the I.O.T.T., Northern Grand Lodge, before the separation. Re-elected 1920-21. Refused nomination 1922.
In 1924 organised the African Branch of the African Orthodox Church and was appointed Vicar-Apostolic by Bishop George A. McGuire, M.D., D.D., D.C., and in the following year was elected Bishop for the Province of South Africa. On arrival in New York was given Catholic Orders by Bishop W. E. Robertson and Archbishop McGuire respectively to the Priesthood, and on the 11th September, 1927, was consecrated Archbishop and Primate of the Province of South and East Africa, in the Church of St. Michael and All Angels, Boston, U.S. America. The Degree of Doctor of Divinity was conferred by the Faculty (Honorary)) on the Archbishop.

Editor of the African Orthodox Churchman, a monthly magazine of the Province, and author of An Orthodox Catechism. Dean of the Seminary of St. Augustine for the ministerial students for the Church. Address: 3, Brimton Street, Beaconsfield, Kimberley, South Africa.

Mr. Paul Xiniwe went to Lovedale in 1881 as an advanced student on the recommendation of Rev. Edward Solomon, of Bedford, from whence he came. He had worked previously on the railway as timekeeper and later as telegraph operator. At Lovedale he entered the students’ classes in January, 1881. In the second year he obtained the seventy-fourth certificate of competency at the Elementary Teachers’ Examination. He became teacher in the Edwards Memorial School, Port Elizabeth. His school was said to stand high in the classification of schools of the district in efficiency. After some years he tired of the teaching profession, and having saved some money, resigned in order to become a business man. He bought property at East London, Port Elizabeth and Kingwilliamstown, and opened stores as merchant and hotel proprietor. At Kingwilliamstown his property was conspicuous, being a double storey building and known as the Temperance Hotel. In a very short time the Temperance Hotel was known through the Cape Province. Paul Xiniwe took a very keen interest in the welfare of his people. An upright man, honest gentleman, and a thorough Christian and a staunch temperance apostle.

He married a Miss Ndwanya, sister of Mr. Ndwanya, a law agent who was respected by Europeans and natives at Middle-drift. Mr. Xiniwe was the father of five children. The eldest son, Mr. B. B. Xiniwe, was a law agent at Stutterheim for a number .of years; the second son is in Johannesburg; the third, a daughter, Frances Mabel Maud, is the wife of the editor of this book; the fourth, another daughter, Mercy, is the wife of Mr. Ben. Tyamzashe, a schoolmaster and an author; and the youngest son, Mr. G. Xiniwe, is a clerk in a solicitor’s office, Kingwilliamstown. Mr. Paul Xiniwe died at an early age leaving a widow and five children to look after themselves. Mrs. Xiniwe who, with her husband, had been to Europe as a member of a native choir, was a lady of .experience, tact, character and business acumen. Difficult though it was, she maintained her late husband’s property, and carried on the business and educated her children. This lady indeed commanded the respect of all who knew her, white and black. Paul Xiniwe was a man of his word. He swore he would never touch liquor. When he became very ill his doctor advised him to take a little brandy, but he made up his mind that he would not do so, although it was said brandy was the only thing that would save his life.

Rev. Tiyo Soga, the first of the African race in South Africa to become an ordained minister of the Gospel, was born in 1829, at Gwali, a station of the Glasgow Missionary Society in the Chumie Valley, Cape Province.
His father was one of the chief councillors of Gaika. A polygamist and husband of eight wives and a father of thirty-nine children, and personally a remarkable man. Tiyo’s mother was the principle wife of Soga, and Tiyo was her seventh child. Soga was killed in the war of 1878. His wife became a Christian, and young Tiyo began to attend school in the village, taught by his elder brother Festire. From the village school he was sent to Mr.. William Chalmers who discovered that Tiyo was a bright boy.

In 1844 the United Presbyterian Mission sent him to Lovedale. At Lovedale he slowly but surely crept to the head of all his classes. About 1846 he went to Scotland with Mr. Govan, and continued his studies at Inchinnan, and afterwards at the Glasgow Free Church Normal Seminary. He returned to Africa with the Rev. George Brown. Became an evangelist at Keiskama and at Amatole,. and later returned to Scotland with Mr. Niven about 1850. He entered the Glasgow University in 1851, and in 1852 he began to attend the Theological Hall of the United Presbyterian Church at Edinburgh. He completed his course in 1856, and on leaving, his, fellow-students presented him with a valuable testimonial in books, as a mark of universal respect and esteem. Having passed the final examinations, he was licensed at the end of that year by the United Presbyterian Presbytery of Glasgow to preach the Gospel. The following year he married Miss Janet Burnside in Glasgow.

This lady stood faithfully by her hunband’s side through all the difficulties of his life. The late Rev. Tiyo Soga was the father otf four sons and three daughters. His sons are well known in South Africa. They are Dr. John William Soga, M.D., C.M., Glasgow University, and Mr. Allen Soga, also at Glasgow University, who at one time acted as Assistant Magistrate at St. Marks. The Youngest son, Mr. J. F. Soga, is a M.R.C.V.S. of Dick College, Edinburgh. Tiyo Soga’s eldest daughter died in 1880. The second is engaged in mission work in the Cape Province. The youngest is a music teacher in Glasgow, Scotland.

The Rev. Tiyo Soga returned to South Africa in the year 1857 and proceeded to Peelton, in the district of Kingwilliamstown, a station of the London Missionary Society. Later he moved to Emgwali, where, along with the Rev. R. Johnson, who had been a class-fellow in Edinburgh, he set about reorganising the good work that was broken by the wars of the previous years. Rev. Soga succeeded in converting a very large number of his countrymen. Then came the task of building a church. To do this he visited a number of larger towns to collect funds. He had already preached to many European congregations with great acceptance. In 1860 lie received and accepted an invitation to an audience by H.R.H. Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh who was in Cape-town at the time. Rev. Soga travelled extensively in the Cape Province and his work grew wonderfully, but in 1866 he had to cease work for a time on account of ill-health. During his illness he completed his translation of the Pilgrim’s Progress into Xosa. He also composed a number of hymns of great merit, including the famous Lizalis’ idinga lako (Fulfil Thy promise, 0 Lord).

He gradually became worse until he could move about only with the greatest difficulty. In 1868 he rendered most valuable service as one of the Board formed for revising the Xosa Bible, which was translated by the Rev. W. Appleyard. In 1867 the Rev. Tiyo Soga moved from Emgwali to Somerville at the request of the late Chief Kreli and continued there in spite of all difficulties to preach, organise and translate. In 1871 a change for the worse came about as a result of getting thoroughly wet while visiting Chief Mapasa on mission work. He died on the 12th August in the arms of his friend, the Rev. Richard Ross, at the age of 42.
The Rev. Tiyo Soga was neither an enthusiast, a fanatic nor a bigot. He was a true Christian, a thorough gentleman, who died in the service of his Master.
From the many articles that appeared in the Press at the death of the Rev. Tiyo Soga, we can only insert the following two:
“This gentleman-for in the true meaning of the word he was, to all intents and purposes, a perfect gentleman-was a pure-born Kaffir. His father was, and still is, a councillor of Sandile’s tribe, and an avowed heathen, in point of fact, a “Red Kaffir.” His son, however, as a youth, was sent to the Missionary Institution at Lovedale, and there distinguished himself so much by his keen intelligence and his ready aptitude for learning, that he was sent home to Glasgow to prosecute and complete his studies at the University of that place. He went through the full curriculum required in Scotland from candidates for the ministry, and in due time was licensed and ordained as a minister-missionary of the United Presbyterian Church. As a preacher, he was eloquent in speech and keen in thought, and talked with a Scottish accent, as strong as if he had been born on the banks of the Clyde, instead of those of the Chumie. He took a deep interest in everything calculated to advance the civilisation of his countrymen, and did so with a breadth of view and warmth of sympathy, in which mere sectarianism had no part. Among his accomplished works we may mention his translation of the Pilgrim’s Progress into Kaffir, which so high an authority as Mr. Charles Brownlee pronounces to be a perfect masterpiece of easy idiomatic writing. His services as one of the Board of Revisers of the translation of the Bible into Kaffir have been invaluable, and will now be seriously missed. In general conversation and discussion on ordinary topics he was one of the most intelligent and best informed men we ever knew; and many an hour have we spent with him, in which one utterly forgot his nationality ar his colour.”–The Cape Argus.
” The Kaffir youth who six years before left the shores of South Africa, little removed above his Christianised countrymen, having just as much knowledge as fitted him with efficiency to conduct a station school, and just as much power over the English language as enabled him to be a tolerable interpreter to the preacher yet ignorant of the Kaffir language, now returns to his native shores and people, thoroughly educated; an ordained minister of the Gospel, an accredited missionary of the Cross, and with a knowledge of and mastery over the English language which has often surprised those best capable of judging. A wonderful transformation has been wrought during these few years. In him there comes a new power into the Colony and Kaffirland, if the Colony and Kaffirland only recognise and receive it. The mental grasp and the moral capability of the Kaffir race are demonstrated in him. Men cannot despise the Kaffir race as they contemplate him. Without race-pattern or precedent, the first of his people, often strangely alone, surrounded and pressed upon by peculiar difficulties, he has manfully and successfully wrought his way up to the comparatively high level of educated English Christian life-the conquered has become the conqueror.”

” And how was the Rev. Tiyo Soga received when he returned to his native shores and people? Perhaps it was to be expected that in the Colony there should be manifested a great amount of caution and reserve, and that not a little suspicion should be entertained regarding him. Perhaps, too, it was only natural that, with some, special enmity should be aroused, and words of strong indignation used. We can excuse those men and women now who said we had made him specially to order in Scotland, and that he was the finest specimen ever imported of home educational cramming. This was a new thing under the South African sun. The thieving Kaffir, the marauding Kaffir, the irreclaimable Kaffir, a University-educated missionary of the Cross. This was too good to be true. At least men would wait and see. It was a mere experiment, and time alone could tell how it would succeed. Few went to the length of foretelling the time, near at hand, when he would have reverted to the red clay and blanket and all the heathen ways of his people.
” But while there was much of this’ reserve and caution everywhere, and not a little such doubt and suspicion, he was received by all missionaries and by all ministers of the Gospel-with one or two painful exceptions-with open arms and with most joyous hearts. From one end of the Eastern Province to the other there were only a few so-called professing Christians-miserable specimens surely of the disciples of the Nazarene-who did what they could, by indignant word and threat, to keep him out of the pulpits of the churches to which they belonged, and who absented themselves from divine service, because, despite them, he should conduct it.

” To the fine sensitive disposition of Tiyo Soga, to his generous manly nature, all such manifestations were very galling, and very difficult to bear. He had strength of mind and he had charity and forebearance enough to rise above them, and wisdom to make of them new incentives to his life-work.”
The colonists, generally, soon came to know him. He was watched with lynx-eyes everywhere on the frontier. Whenever lie preached or lectured, or addressed, such criticising crowds flocked to hear him as was the experience of no other South African missionary of his day. Nobly he stood this public test. He came out of the fire, in public estimation, purer and stronger than ever before.”-The Journal.

Joshua Norton

Among the 307 new settlers for the Cape of Good Hope, who came ashore in Algoa Bay from the British transport Belle Alliance early in 1820, was a small Jewish boy from London, and aged nearly two years old. Joshua Abraham Norton born February 4th 1819, son of John and Sarah Norton, who accompanied his family to this wild and far-off region, by a strange chance, forged a unique link between South Africa and the United States.Those 4,500 emigrants, from England, Scotland and Ireland, came to the Cape in consequence of the distress prevailing in the Old Country after the Napoleonic Wars. Downing Street, untroubled by their inexperience and lack of equipment, welcomed them as human buffers against the Xhosa’s across the Border. Though many learnt farming through bitter experience, John Norton turned towards the newly-founded settlements, first of Grahamstown and later of Port Elizabeth, where he built up a business as a ship-chandler and merchant. But here too, life was hard, as young Joshua discovered when, after leaving school, he joined his father’s firm.

In 1842 he was left in charge of the Port Elizabeth activities of Norton and Co., while his father moved his business to Cape Town, in partnership with another Jewish 1820 Settler, Benjamin Norden, and within another two years Joshua had joined them there. Disappointed with the Cape, John Norton returned to England in 1848, and died soon after. Norton and Co. went into bankruptcy and young Joshua began to look round for something new.

Not many months had passed before exciting reports penetrated even to the Cape, of gold discoveries in California. Before coming to California he had been for some time a member of the Cape Mounted Riflemen

Being unmarried and without other ties, Joshua Norton decided to join the stream of Forty-Niners. In November of that historic year, having first worked his way from Table Bay to South America, he landed at San Francisco.

His early years on the Pacific coast seemed well to justify his emigration from the Cape, for, starting as a commission agent; Norton rose to be a merchant, one of the most prosperous in the State. Then, in an ill-omened moment, he entered into a speculation in rice, which, coupled with the onset of a slump, landed him once again in the bankruptcy court. By November, 1856, Joshua was ruined.

This was the turning point in his life. Brooding over his misfortunes, he conceived the idea that they were mainly due to defects in the Constitution of the United States, to the reform of which he began giving his attention. Among the major changes he favoured was placing the whole country under a monarch, an Emperor for choice. Regarding the proposal as a harmless eccentricity, Norton’s friends nicknamed him “Emperor”, and because his brain was giving in, he willingly accepted the title.

I quote Dr Louis Herrman of Cape Town, who has done much research on this subject: “The delusion of greatness or grandeur is well known to be common in some forms of insanity. There was, however, one aspect of Joshua Norton’s case that was fantastically uncommon. It was the acceptance of his delusion by the entire sane inhabitants of the city of San Francisco over a period of 20 years.”

By tacit agreement, officials, businessmen, civic dignitaries and ordinary men and women treated this strange little man from the Cape of Good Hope as though he really was Emperor of the United States! Typical of this attitude was the proclamation published in the “San Francisco Bulletin” on September 17, 1859:

“At the peremptory request and desire of a large majority of the citizens of these United States, I, Joshua Norton, formerly of Algoa Bay, Cape of Good Hope, and now, for the last 9 years and 10 months past, of San Francisco, California, declare and proclaim myself Emperor of these United States; and in virtue of the authority thereby in me vested, do hereby order and direct the representatives of the different states of the Union to assemble in the Musical Hall of this city, on the first day of February next, then and there to make such alterations in the existing laws of the Union as may ameliorate the evils under which the country is labouring, and thereby cause confidence to exist both at home and abroad in our stability and integrity.

NORTON THE FIRST

Emperor of the United States.”

Entering into the spirit of the proclamation, the newspapermen as well as their readers had no objection a few weeks later to publishing further edicts from the same source.

“It is represented to us that the universal suffrage now existing throughout the Union is abused; that fraud and corruption prevent a fair and proper expression of the public voice; that open violations of the laws are constantly occurring, caused by mobs, parties, factions and undue influence of political sects; that the citizen has not the protection of person and property which he is entitled to by paying his pro rata of the expenses of Government – in consequence of which we do hereby abolish Congress, and it is hereby abolished; and we order and desire the representatives of all parties interested to appear at the Musical Hall of this city on the 1st of February next, and there to take the effective steps to remedy the evils complained of.

NORTON I

Emperor of the United States.”

When events, soon to culminate in the outbreak of the Civil War, caused a meeting of Congress, he issued an even stronger notice, again published throughout California.

“Whereas a body of men calling themselves the national Congress are now in session in Washington City, in violation of our Imperial edict of the 12th October last, declaring the said Congress abolished :

Whereas it is necessary for the repose of our Empire that the said decree should be strictly complied with;

NOW THEREFORE we do hereby order and direct Major-General Scott, the Commander-in-Chief of our armies, immediately on receipt of this our decree to proceed in force and clear the Halls of Congress.

NORTON I

Emperor of the United States.”

In those anxious months when the very existence of the United States was at stake, Norton’s pronouncements, ordering John Brown of Harpers Ferry to be confined in an asylum and removing from office Governor H. A. Wise of Virginia, culminating in July 1860 in an order dissolving the U.S.A. afforded a welcome touch of light relief.

No longer satisfied with merely issuing orders, Joshua Norton dressed himself in a semi-naval uniform and with dignity went about his affairs in San Francisco. As he entered a theatre the audience would rise, and neither there nor in public conveyances was he ever asked to pay. At his request printers produced paper “currency”, which kindly shopkeepers accepted in payment for his needs.

Determined to put an end to the wicked government of Mexico, Norton assumed the title of its “Protector” in 1860 and, when the American Civil War broke out, called upon the clergy of the various churches, including the Jews, to help him restore peace.

“He was kind, pleasant and affable,” wrote the American historian, A. C. Lane. “Except on the subject of his fancied Empire, he talked rationally. Everybody liked him – old folks, young folks and children.”

Famous men who were his friends include Mark Twain, Robert Louis Stevenson, Bret Harte and Henry George.

One strange incident occurred in 1866 when Nathan Peiser, of Cape Town, found his way to San Francisco, and taking him to task, asked for an explanation of his behaviour. “Behind locked doors,” Dr Herrman tells, “swearing him to secrecy, Joshua informed his friend of the mystery of his royal birth. He was not really John Norton’s son, he said, but a changeling, and really heir to the throne of France, Queen Victoria being his cousin. He had retained the name Norton out of love and respect for his Jewish foster-father. He was the sovereign ruler of the United States.”

So popular was Joshua that in the State Legislature of California, the sittings of which he was in the habit of attending, a bill was once actually introduced to award him a pension! Though the measure did not go through, he always had enough to live on, and when some ignorant official had him locked up as insane, there was such an outcry that he was straightaway released.

With his visits to schools and institutions of learning, in which he showed great interest, he was for several generations’ part of Californian life. Shortly before his passing, Robert Louis Stevenson in The Wrecker, which he wrote with his stepson Lloyd Osbourne, left a literary monument to him.

“Of all our visitors, I believe I preferred Emperor Norton, the very mention of whose name reminds me that I am doing scant justice to the folks of San Francisco. In what other city would a harmless madman, who supposed himself Emperor of the two Americas, have been so fostered and encouraged? Where else would even the people of the streets have respected the poor soul’s illusion? Where else would bankers and merchants have received his visits, cashed his cheques and submitted to his small assessments? Where else would he have been suffered to attend and address the exhibition days of schools and colleges? Where else in God’s green earth, have taken his pick of restaurants, ransacked the bill of fare, and departed scatheless?”

“They tell me that he was even an exacting patron, threatening to withdraw his custom when dissatisfied …”

Robert Louis Stevenson describes his appearance – “a portly, rather flabby man, with the face of a gentleman, rendered unspeakably pathetic and absurd by the great sabre at his side and the peacock’s feather in his hat.” Thus attired he visited a friend of the author’s.

`I have called to remind you, Mr Pinkerton, that you are somewhat in arrears with taxes,’ he said with old-fashioned, stately courtesy.

“`Well, Your Majesty, what is the amount?’ asked Jim, and when the figure was named (it was generally two or three dollars) paid on the nail …”

The New York Times reported that he “dropped dead at the corner of California and Dupont streets, in that city”. He was on his way to a scientific conference.

When the old man passed away in 1880 there were 10,000 people at his funeral, including every section, rich and poor, the cost being paid by the Pacific Club, of which in his days of wealth he had been a member. When in 1934 the cemetery had to be moved there was a public ceremony at which leading citizens and detachments of troops did him honour and at which an impressive stone memorial was unveiled, with the inscription:

“NORTON I

EMPEROR OF THE UNITED STATES

AND

PROTECTOR OF MEXICO

Joshua A. Norton

1819-1880.”

Click here to read more on his family

Acknowledgements: Stars & Stripes in Africa by Eric Rosenthal published by Nasionale Boekhandel

Henry Selby Msimang

Born in Edendale, Pietermaritzburg, 13 December 1886, died in Edendale, Pietermaritzburg, 29 March 1982), interpreter, clerk, journalist, farm manager, and especially politician.He and his elder brother Richard Msimang were the children of the well-known African preacher who founded the Independent Methodist Church, Joel Msimang, and his wife Joanah Radebe.

Msimang received his primary education at the Emakosini Primary School in Nhlangano, Swaziland. Between 1903 and 1907 he studied first at Kilnerton Institution, a Methodist college in Pretoria, then Edendale Institution at Edendale, and finally at Healdtown Institution, a Methodist boarding school near Fort Beaufort in the Eastern Cape. Though he was then a qualified teacher, he never taught. His career started in 1908 when he was appointed as interpreter in Germiston, Transvaal. He never stayed in any career for long but kept changing jobs and homes. Between 1908 and 1965 he had fifteen occupations and lived in ten towns or cities in three provinces (the Transvaal, the Orange Free State and Natal ). From 1942, however, he settled in Edendale near Pietermaritzburg.

His political career started in 1912 when he was a founder member of the South African Native National Congress (SANNC, African National Congress (ANC) after 1923). During the following 30 years he participated in a number of their meetings, deputations and other activities. For many years he undertook the labour portfolio of the congress, and was a prominent member of the committee established to raise funds to send a deputation to Britain to try to have the Natives Land Act of 1913 repealed.

In Bloemfontein, in 1917, he was the editor of a newspaper Morumioa Inxusa (Messenger) (the title of the newspaper varied) which only existed for two years. (It could not be established if a connection existed between this newspaper and the one with which D.S. Letanka was involved in 1911, i.e. Moromioa.) During his stay in Bloemfontein (1917-1922) his long relationship with the labour movement started when, as a labour organizer, he led a strike of municipal workers in Bloemfontein in 1917, for which he was arrested and detained. In 1919 he liaised with Clements Kadalie, founder of the Industrial and Commercial Workers’ Union (ICU), about the organization of African workers. Together they planned the establishment of a national ICU and in 1920 held a meeting in Bloemfontein with this in mind. Msimang was elected president of the national ICU. When Kadalie failed to be elected to the executive he withdrew with his supporters. This led to increasing animosity between Msimang and Kadalie, resulting in Msimang’s resignation as president and distancing himself from the ICU until after Kadalie’s resignation in 1929. Msimang then rejoined and during the decline of the ICU he held the post of national propagandist. From 1928 to 1937 Msimang was a labour advisor in Johannesburg.

In 1922 Msimang returned to Johannesburg and became a member of the Joint Council for Europeans and Bantu. He was still involved in the activities of the SANNC/ANC and served on the national executive committee of the ANC during the terms of office of presidents J.T. Gumede (1927-1930) and Pixley Seme (1930-1937). In 1932 he was a member of the so-called revival committee that wanted to strengthen the organization from within to prevent its stagnation. Three years later, during the first meeting of the All-African Convention (AAC) in Bloemfontein in December 1935, he was elected as secretary.

In 1942 he returned to Natal and was elected provincial secretary of the Natal branch of the ANC, a position he retained until 1956. He was also a confidant of the Natal leader A.W.G. Champion. In 1948 he became a member of the Native Representative Council (NRC) although at that time it was no longer an active body. In December of the same year he attended the discussions with the AAC as delegate of the ANC during an unsuccessful attempt to reconcile these two organizations. During the annual congress of the ANC of that year Msimang was elected to the committee which had to draw up the Programme of Action. Early in 1949 he represented the ANC in discussions with prominent Indian leaders in an effort to reconcile Africans and Indians after bloody clashes between them in Durban and surrounding areas in January 1949. A year later Msimang and Champion’s political ways parted and Msimang lost his position in the ANC. However, when Albert Luthuli defeated Champion as president of the ANC in 1951, Msimang was reinstated as provincial secretary. But he lost interest in the ANC and even before the Defiance Campaign of 1952 he resigned as provincial secretary in Natal.

In 1953 Msimang became a founder member of the multiracial Liberal Party of South Africa. From 1956-1968 he served on the executive committee and in due course became the national vice-chairperson. His activities were, however, hampered in 1965 when the government forbade him to attend meetings for five years.

Msimang was also interested and active in local politics and problems. For many years from 1942 he was secretary of the Edendale Advisory Board Local Health Commission. He was the founder of the Edendale Benevolent Society and served as its secretary from 1946 to 1952, and from 1967 as honorary life president. In 1973 he was elected secretary of the Edendale AmaKholwa Tribe. In 1975 Msimang became a member of the national council of the Inkatha yeNkululeko yeSizwe. From 1974 to 1975 he served on the executive committee of the South African Institute of Race Relations. He was a Methodist and served in various committees of the church.

Msimang was a prolific author. Apart from numerous newspaper articles, including series of articles in several newspapers, he published a pamphlet The crisis ( Johannesburg, 1936) about the effect of the 1936 Land Act on Africans.

He was married twice and had four sons and four daughters. His first wife was Mercy Mahlomola King whom he married in July 1913. She died in September 1951, and in August 1952 he married Miriam Primrose Oldjohn.

Source and Image: New Dictionary of South African Biography

Rev. MQOBOLI, D.D.
Rev. Mqoboli was born in the Cape Province and educated at Healdtown. He was a very bright scholar. After qualifying as teacher he taught for a number of years with great success. But he soon changed his mind and returned to school to study for the ministry of the Wesleyan Church. After ordination Rev. Mqoboli proved himself to be one of the brightest African ministers in South Africa. He was a powerful preacher, a good and eloquent speaker. Was very progressive and took great interest in the improvement of his people educationally, socially and politically. He was much respected by all who came into contact with him, both white and black. A good writer, and author of some religious works for which the D.D. degree was conferred upon him by an American University.

Rev. Mqoboli was the first senior chaplain of the African National Congress, an organisation of which he was one of the foremost leaders. He had much influence over a large section of the people of the Cape Province. But while he played a very prominent part in the political life of his people, he was never found wanting in his ministerial work, in fact, wherever he worked his congregations liked him and his work prospered. He was the father of one son who is now teaching at Frankfort, Orange Free State, and two daughters, who are both in the Cape Province.
Rev. Mgoboli’s death ended a very brilliant career. The Wesleyan Church, The African National Congress and the African Nation lost a precious son.

MONTSIOA, or Seja-Nkabo-aTauana. Among the best known chiefs of the mid-Victorian days. The son of Tauana, the son of Thutlwa, the son of Tshidi, head of the second branch of the House of Tau, who was King of the Barolong about 1740. Montsioa was born soon after 1810, so that he was a young man in the late•twenties of the last century when Mzilikazi, with his well-trained
armies, trekked from the east; conquered the Bechuana Tribes and proclaimed himself supreme ruler of Central South Africa. He then commenced to levy taxes on the Bechuana tribes, including the Barolong along the Molopo River. In 1830 the Barolong seized King Mzilikazi’s tax-collector, by name Bhoya, and killed him and his companion in cold blood. This seemingly isolated act brought down upon the Barolong the full force of Mzilikazi’s wrath, and the Matabele impies swooped down upon them like an avalanche. The Barolong, who had fought their way down from the great lakes and were known among other tribes as ” baga Rungoana le bogale” (the people with the sharp spear)) witnessed, for the first time, a kind of warfare which made no distinction between man, woman or child; and for nearly three-quarters of a century thereafter, the Matabele and all tribes allied to them, (e.g., Zulu, Xosa, Swazi, Shangaan, etc.,)) were regarded with awe, and the Bechuana would have nothing in common with them. It speaks volumes for the magical force of Christianity if their descendants now intermarry with members of such tribes.

Montsioa, as a young man just turned twenty, must have taken a prominent part in Bhoya’s execution, for the poets of the day immortalised the event with the following lines in his honour:

Re kile ra ineelela dichaba,
Ra ineela, ka lecogo, merafe;
Seja-Nkabo a sale mmotlana,
A sale mo tharing eaga Sebodio.
Jaana ke mmonye a tlhatlosa Motho lekgabana
A mo pega ncoe ja Ga-Khunoana tlhogo,
A nale mmaba, a ea go bolaoa,
Seja-Nkabo-a-Tauana.

Too long we’ve bent the knee to foreigners,
Too long we’ve yielded the arm to strangers;
Montsioa, at that time, was still a baby Astride the back of his mother, Sebodio. Now have I seen him lead a man up hill, Leading him up to the crest of Mount Kunana; Conducting a foeman up to his kill,
Seja-Nkabo, the son of Tauana.

After their destruction by the Matabele, Tauna and his people found a shelter among Moroka’s people-the Seleka branch of the tribe at Thaba ‘Nchu, now O.F.S. Here the first party of immigrant Boers, under Sarel Celliers, on their way north, found them. They, too, had a taste of Mzilikazi’s sword and also found an asylum under the. wing of Moroka at Thaba ‘Nchu. The Barolong and the Boers were later reinforced by a contingent of Griqua horsemen, under an intrepid leader named Dout. The Barolong evies were led by Tauana’s son, Motshegare; the combined forces being under the supreme command of Hendrik Potgieter-a friend of the natives, if ever there was one. Together they defeated Mzilikazi’s armies and forced the Matabele to trek to the far north, now known as Southern Rhodesia.

After this overthrow and expulsion of Mzilikazi, Tauana and his people returned to the Molopo region, where he died and was succeeded by Montsioa as Chief of the Ra-Tshidi section; but, under him, they were not left long to enjoy their hard won peace. Soon after the voortrekker wave had spent itself by spreading out and settling land in the distant areas of the Northern Transvaal, the southern territories were overrun by stray whites, whose land-hunger vied with their utter disregard of the vested rights of those whose territories they invaded. Some bands of these were labelled filibusters (or freebooters), but the difference between the aspirations of such freelances and those of the newly established Transvaal Republic the natives found it very hard to define. The similarity between them was particularly noticeable after the passing of the Potgieters, the Pretoriuses and others who, with their native friends,. bore the brunt of the pioneer work. Their places in the now settled country were taken by the new Pharaohs who knew not Joseph, and it was the bane of Montsioa’s chequered life to have them as neighbours.

For instance, parties established the miniature republics of Stellaland and Goschen, with Vryburg as their capital; but, to their credit let it be said that these settlers in their diminutive republic troubled the Bechuana very little. Much of the brigandage against Montsioa and the filibustering forays into Bechuanaland were usually organised on Transvaal soil and all captured cattle were promptly driven across the frontier into the South African Republic. Other Barolong tribes were cajoled and organised against Montsioa. The Ra-Tlou section, descended from the senior House of Tau, were assured that they alone should be at the head of all Barolong affairs including Montsioa’s, and they were urged to join the Boers in their campaign against that usurper in order to bring about a desirable readjustment. Of course, white people were new in the country and it was not suspected that the solicitude of these intriguers for the regulation of the Barolong succession was stimulated by anything but a keen desire to place the House of Tau in its rightful position.

The tactics of the adventurers were remarkable. They first .engineered a treaty between the British Government and the Transvaal Republic. Under this treaty the English were to prevent the sale of arms to savages, so that white men alone could purchase firearms. The terms of this agreement were enforced by the British authorities with a firm hand, but some white men soon saw that the effect of the pact was to limit the spread of British Dominion in the interior. Most ” savages ” resisted the Boer expansion with no other object but to bring their own people under British protection; and many British pioneers sympathised with the violation of that treaty. Some actually came into Barolong territory and shared in the native defence of their country against Boer encroachments. Among these may be mentioned the late Richard Rowland, Christopher Bethell and others. They not only procured arms for Montsioa but actually helped his warriors in battle. Bethell fell on the battlefield among the sons of Montsioa near the present Transvaal-Bechuanaland boundary.

The clashes between the Barolong and the Boers extended over several decades. These hostilities necessitated the removal of the headquarters of the tribe to the present site, where the natural formation of the rocks and the thickets in Montsioastad afforded some shelter to the defenders. Thus Baden-Powell’s long defence of Mafeking was not the first; the place having been beleaguered more than once before the British annexation.
The High Commissioner, in a dispatch to the Colonial Office, about this time, points out the cruel anomaly whereby Her Majesty’s Colonial Forces at the Cape were employed to prevent the delivery of arms and ammunition to Natives who were waging a grim struggle in the interests of British colonisation; while the British Colonial Authorities, at the same time, were doing everything in their power to facilitate the delivery of arms to the Boers for use in subduing such loyal friends of the Imperial Government as Montsioa and his Barolong-War Office Dispatches, 1877

Dr. J. E. Mackenzie, son of the famous missionary, writing on the development of Rhodesia, in a colonial magazine some years later, said,  “The British would never be able to repay the debt they owe to those two Bechuana chiefs, Montsioa and Mankuroane of the Batlhaping, for the losses they have sustained in the wars they waged against the Boers in order to keep open for the British the trade route to the North, often in the face of British opposition”.
The history of these hostilities is unique in that Montsioa had! among his praise names an Afrikaans ditty that was sung and played by Boers in the Western Transvaal. I have forgotten the stanzas,. but the refrain was:-

Hoe ry die pad, hoe ry die pad,
Na Montsioa toe?
Kanoonkop o’er en die Molopo deur;
Die Boer die skiet dat die stof so staan Maar die Kaffir op sy plek bly staan.

It is not difficult to realise how these persistent raids and continuous losses of men and possessions which they involved were having a demoralising effect upon Montsioa’s tribe, and their plight eventually attracted the attention of friends of the Natives at the Cape. They strongly supported the Barolong’s frantic appeals for British protection. The result of these petitions was the Warren expedition in 1885, which annexed Bechuanaland as far as the Ramatlhabama Spruit, and proclaimed a protectorate over the territories of Bechuana tribes further north up to the Matabele borders. So that, after a most eventful life, the old warrior and hunter was able to spend the evening of his life in comparative peace.
This peace continued until 1896, shortly after the annexation to the Cape, when he was unsettled by the rinderpest scourge, which swept through Bechuanaland like a blizzard and denuded his territories of nearly every beast. Buffaloes and wildebeest in the forests perished like domestic trine and many flourishing cattle posts were reduced to ruins. So that where formerly large herds of sleek fat oxen swarmed over the grasslands as a moving testimony of Barolong wealth, only heaps of whitened skeletons remained, the only vestige of the animal life that once throve there. It was a heart-breaking situation. The misery of his people being a thing terrible to contemplate. Hyenas and wild hounds gorged themselves to excess, while flocks of carrion birds and other scaven• gers of the woods were attracted by the stench of rotting carcasses.

As a hunter in the chase, Chief Montsioa from his youth up, was as fearless as he was brave in war. He enjoyed a great reputation as a lion-killer-one of the few Bechuana who would follow a wounded lion straight into a thicket. His character in that respect has also been put into irregular verse by the court jesters of his time, for they sang:-

Moogatsa Majang, tau ga di kalo!
Tau ga di kalo, ntoroa Mhenyana.
Ga di ke di bolaoa leroborobo,
Di ba di etsa dipholofolo tsa gopo,
Di ba di edioa pitse tsa gopo,
Lekau ja Gontse-a-Tauana!
Tau di bolaoa dile thataro,
Lefa dile pedi dia bo di ntse.

(That’s not the way to kill lions,
0, husband of Majang!
That’s not the way, 0, offspring of M’Henyana!
Lions should not be butchered by the score
Nor like hunted animals at the chase;
Lions should not be slaughtered in such numbers,
To litter the field like carcasses of dead zebra,
0, descendant of Gontse, son of Tauana! Six lions at a time are quite enough
For, even two at a time are not too few!)

And here is a rare coincidence: the name ” Montsioa ” (he who is taken out) bears the same meaning as the Hebrew name “Musheh” (Moses) ; and, as the Se-Rolong expression has it-Ina lebe seromo (an ill name is an evil omen).
Chief Montsioa survived the rinderpest catastrophe by barely one year. At the age of 86 he succumbed to pulmonary disorders aggravated by a fatty heart. He was buried by his people in his cattle fold. Rev. Alfred S. Sharp, Wesleyan Missionary, now in retirement in England, conducted the funeral service. Among the Europeans in attendance were Mr. George J. Boyes, Resident Magistrate (who died at Capetown, not long ago) and some Transvaal Boers, including his former military foes who, despite their proverbial weakness in the face of colour, could respect a brave man whenever they met one.

Among Chief Montsioa’s Transvaal friends included General Piet Cronje, a former adversary and the noblest Minister of Native Affairs that ever sat in a Kruger Cabinet. He spoke the Barolong tongue almost like a native and answered to ‘the native sobriquet of ” Ra-Ntho’akgale.” After the peace in 1885, the old chief sometimes visited his Boer friends across the Transvaal border. On such occasions Dr. Molema’s father or the Doctor’s father-in-law (Rev. M. J. Moshoela, now of Klerksdorp) accompanied the old warrior as secretary, and sent back during his absence, one bulletin after another to keep his people informed of the progress of their beloved chief and his reception among the Boers.
SOL T. PLAATJE.

Sir APOLO KAGWA, K.C.M.G , M.B.E., was born about 1863. A member of the Nsenene Tribe. His grandfather was Chief Bunya of Bulemezi, Uganda. Young Kagwa was a bright boy and was liked by the missionaries. As a young man he was fond of his people and took great interest in their affairs. In those days there was no end of trouble. Often one tribe made war against another. Often, too, some kings and chiefs were found to be too fierce with their people and this was the case with King Mwanga under whom Kagwa served as a councillor. As time went on Kagwa’s influence with the people grew wonderfully. King Mwanga was not slow to notice this, and he decided to keep Kagwa at his side as his right-hand man; a position of trust and responsibility. Later Kagwa became the leading general of the armies.About 1888 Kagwa held a position equivalent to that of a Prime Minister. It was at this time that his ability as an administrator, a politician, a statesman and a soldier was tested. It was during these troublesome times that he steered the ship of State through very critical periods in spite of the blunders and autocratic attitude of his King. The climax came in 1899 and King Mwanga had to abdicate. Although Kagwa was the opposite of the King, he was as loyal to him as ever, but he made no secret of his convictions and disagreement with the King on certain matters. Everybody, however, agreed that a greater patriot could not be found. When the British flag was unfurled in Uganda in 1893, Kagwa had decided to co-operate with the British officers.

King Mwanga became the father of a son before he abdicated, and this infant son was proclaimed heir to the throne. He was thereafter known as Daudi. Kagwa was one of the three regents who were appointed. In 1902 Kagwa was appointed to represent the tribe at the coronation of King Edward VII. in England. Kagwa made much use of the few monthss he spent in England. He visited many places and made many friends and was admired for his quick intelligence, his dignity and grand physique. The King received him at Buckingham Palace. On his return to his home the British King honoured him by making him a Knight Commander of St. Michael and St. George. The K.C.M.G. is an honour that few Africans have received. As a result of Kagwa’s service to his country, wars ceased and the country prospered. Schools and churches were built in almost every village. Hospitals were opened, and nurses trained; proper roads were made. Indeed, the whole machinery of the nation was brought up to a high standard. Today both the import and export trade have increased most wonderfully.

Kagwa is the author of two very good books. Sir Apolo Kagwa served his people for over 35 years. A great asset to the Church of England in Uganda and did tremendous work for the cathedral at Namirembe. He built a beautiful home not far from that of the present ruler. This great African died in 1927. Through his death the people in Uganda-white and buck, from the Ruler to the lowest individual-have lost a true friend, a leading light and a good councillor.

Rev. MARCUS GABASHANE, a Msutu, lived the greater part of his life in the Orange Free State. He was one of the foremost ministers of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. A powerful preacher, a hard worker and a loyal servant of God. He laboured for many years among his people amidst great hardships and difficulties. He took keen interest in the welfare of his people, and was much respected by all who knew him. During the trying times when the A.M.E. Church was first established in South Africa, Rev. ‘Gabashane distinguished himself as a faithful Christian. In those .days many Europeans looked upon African Churches as a danger to the country, as the following extract from a European paper of those .days shows:-
” It is difficult to realise such a catastrophe, but the proof of its inevitable occurrence is perfectly logical. The Black Men are not like the Red Indians of America or the Australian natives, who have -withered under the influence of the white invaders. It was the -weakest of the African natives who were captured and sold as slaves to the American planters. These weaklings have grown to be a great power in their new home. The stronger African natives, living in the climate they are used to, will develop into a still more powerful ,community. They are courageous, capable, virile and intelligent. They are increasing in numbers faster than the whites. They make splendid soldiers when capably led.” •
” With knowledge of the facts,” says Mr. R. Jones, in the nineteenth century, ” nobody in his senses imagines it possible to stem the rising flood of native aspirations in South Africa.”
“But what is the black man’s aspiration? There is no mistake about it. For some years past a number of negro missionaries from America have been stumping the country, ever telling the natives what they must fight for. They go as representatives of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, and are the authors of the Ethiopian movement. This Ethiopianism has, on the surface, for its objects the freeing of the native Christian churches. from European control, but wherever the missionaries go to Natal, the Cape, the Transvaal – they carry political unrest, and have been condemned by the authorities. The Natal Government discussed the question of expelling these American negro missionaries. After the war they were forbidden to enter the Transvaal or Orange Free State, but trouble arose with the ‘United States Government, and they have lately had a free hand. What they are teaching the natives is that South Africa is a black man’s land and that they must stand up for their rights. The official organ of the Society, published in the United States, says that the “Kaffir ‘to will eventually master the white man, and whip the British back to the Thames.”
This unpleasant feeling has since died away, but the good work of Rev. Gabashane and other pioneers stands.