Long before the Cape’s vineyards became synonymous with wealth, prestige and international trade, its agricultural economy was being shaped by people whose names were seldom given prominence in the histories…
Born into slavery, Maria Everts became a prosperous landowner and wine producer whose family would later be closely associated with Constantia. Her remarkable rise, however, carries a darker truth: she…
He helped put Constantia wine on the world stage, but the empire behind his success was built within a society sustained by slavery. There is a familiar story about the…
By the Cape Chronicle Historical Desk Along the windswept coastline between Saldanha Bay and the mouth of the Berg River lies a remarkable story of migration, enterprise and survival. It…
The story of David Samuel Sampson traces one family’s passage across continents, faiths, and the shifting boundaries of race in the early twentieth century DURBANVILLE, Cape Colony — 1872. In…
Few figures have left as profound a mark on South African language, literature and culture as Cornelis Jacobus Langenhoven. Known affectionately as C. J. Langenhoven, he…
Each year on 18 July, South Africans and people across the world pause to celebrate the life and legacy of Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, whose unwavering commitment to justice, equality, and…
Many residents of Durbanville know that their town was once called Pampoenkraal, but fewer know the story of the man whose name it bears. Sir Benjamin D’Urban was one of…
Charles Davidson Bell, who served as chairman of the Mutual Life Assurance Society between 1865 and 1873, was by any measure one of the Cape’s most remarkable nineteenth-century figures. A…
Sir John Carruthers Beattie Sir John Carruthers Beattie (1866–1946) was a Scottish-born physicist and academic leader who became the first Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the University…
Cape Chronicle Special Correspondent Clarens, Switzerland – Thursday, 14 July 1904 The shutters remain half-closed at the modest lakeside residence overlooking the tranquil waters of Lake Geneva. Outside, a solemn…
Durbanville, November 1901. A new chapter in the history of Durbanville was opened this week with the formal establishment of the Municipality of Durbanville, the village having now been invested…
John Fairbairn Passes Away Cape Chronicle – 6 October 1864 Cape Town awoke yesterday to sorrowful news. On the 5th of October, 1864, Mr. John Fairbairn, one of the Colony’s…
