John Graham (Albany)
Encyclopedia
Colonel John Graham was a soldier notable for founding Grahamstown
, South Africa
in 1814. Grahamstown went on to become a military, administrative, judicial and educational centre for its surrounding region.
, Scotland
. He was the second son of Robert Graham, the last laird of the demesne
of Fintry
and 12th representative of the Grahams of Fintry in Forfarshire, Scotland. Later in life, John became the 13th representative of the Fintry Grahams following the death of his elder brother in 1799 and his father in 1816.
At the age of 16, John was commissioned in the British Army
, joining the 90th Regiment of Foot
, which had been raised in 1794 by his kinsman
, Thomas Graham of Balgowan
(later Lord Lynedoch). Two expeditions to France
in the late 1790s were followed by an appointment as aide-de-camp
to the Earl of Chatham
, who Graham served in the Netherlands
. After three years on Guernsey
with his regiment, Graham was sent to Ireland
in 1803 and became assistant quartermaster-general.
January 1806 found him raised to the rank of Major
in the 93rd Regiment of Foot
, in which capacity he took part in the Battle of Blaauwberg
, helping Great Britain to re-occupy the Cape of South Africa. Rapid promotion to Lieutenant Colonel
led to him being given charge of the Cape Regiment, based at Wynberg
, which Graham trained as light infantry
capable of delivering outstanding performance in wooded terrain.
commando
s from Swellendam
, Graaff-Reinet and Uitenhage
to undertake the task which was to define his military career: clearing around 20,000 amaXhosa tribesmen led by Ndlambe ka Rharhabe. The amaXhosa had settled in the Zuurveld (later called Albany
), a district between the Bushman's
and Fish rivers, which lay beyond the Cape Colony
's frontiers. The Zuurveld was mistakenly assumed by the British to be part of the colony as they misread the frontier laid down by Governor Joachim van Plettenberg in 1778.
The British campaign to push the amaXhosa residents from the Eastern frontier was defined by Graham's plan to use "A proper degree of terror." http://www.ecampus.com/book/0869752359
By 1812 Graham's task was complete, and so on the deserted loan farm De Rietfontein, he established Graham’s Town as Zuurveld's central military post, with a string of linked forts along the Fish River. Later that year, Graham married Johanna Catharina Cloete (1790-1843), a descendant of Jacob Klute (or Cloete), the first permanent settler at the Cape. Along with three daughters, the couple had a son, Robert, who became civil commissioner of Albany.
John Graham died in Wynberg on 13 March 1821. He was buried in the Somerset Road Cemetery. This was the principal graveyard in Cape Town until 1886. Before the levelling of the Somerset Road Cemetery and building started on the site in about 1922, a number of inscribed stones were lifted from their graves and deposited at the Woltemade cemetery at Maitland which had been opened as Cape Town’s principal graveyard in 1886. It is not known whether his tombstone was saved. However, a window was erected to his memory in St Saviour’s Churchhttp://www.goodshepherd-protea.org.za/st-saviours-church.php, Claremont
, in about 1931.
In 1912, a monument was erected in High Street, Grahamstown, on the site of the thorn tree where Graham had made the decision to establish the settlement.
Grahamstown
Grahamstown is a city in the Eastern Cape Province of the Republic of South Africa and is the seat of the Makana municipality. The population of greater Grahamstown, as of 2003, was 124,758. The population of the surrounding areas, including the actual city was 41,799 of which 77.4% were black,...
, South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
in 1814. Grahamstown went on to become a military, administrative, judicial and educational centre for its surrounding region.
Family origins
John Graham was born in DundeeDundee
Dundee is the fourth-largest city in Scotland and the 39th most populous settlement in the United Kingdom. It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firth of Tay, which feeds into the North Sea...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. He was the second son of Robert Graham, the last laird of the demesne
Demesne
In the feudal system the demesne was all the land, not necessarily all contiguous to the manor house, which was retained by a lord of the manor for his own use and support, under his own management, as distinguished from land sub-enfeoffed by him to others as sub-tenants...
of Fintry
Fintry
Fintry is a small village in central Scotland, nestled in the strath of the Endrick Water between the Campsie Fells and the Fintry Hills, some 19 miles north of Glasgow. It is within the local government council area of Stirling...
and 12th representative of the Grahams of Fintry in Forfarshire, Scotland. Later in life, John became the 13th representative of the Fintry Grahams following the death of his elder brother in 1799 and his father in 1816.
At the age of 16, John was commissioned in the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
, joining the 90th Regiment of Foot
90th Regiment of Foot
Three regiments of the British Army have been numbered the 90th Regiment of Foot:*90th Regiment of Foot , raised in 1759*90th Regiment of Foot , raised in 1779*90th Regiment of Foot , raised in 1794...
, which had been raised in 1794 by his kinsman
Kinsman
A kinsman is a male relative . The term Kinsman may also refer to:-Places in the United States:*Kinsman, Illinois*Kinsman, Ohio*Kinsman Township, Trumbull County, Ohio...
, Thomas Graham of Balgowan
Balgowan, Dundee
Balgowan is an area of Dundee, Scotland. The name derives from the Scottish Gaelic Baile Ghobhainn, meaning "blacksmith's stead" ....
(later Lord Lynedoch). Two expeditions to France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
in the late 1790s were followed by an appointment as aide-de-camp
Aide-de-camp
An aide-de-camp is a personal assistant, secretary, or adjutant to a person of high rank, usually a senior military officer or a head of state...
to the Earl of Chatham
Earl of Chatham
Earl of Chatham, in the County of Kent, was a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1766 for William Pitt the Elder on his appointment as Lord Privy Seal, along with the subsidiary title Viscount Pitt, of Burton Pynsent in the County of Somerset, also in the Peerage of Great...
, who Graham served in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
. After three years on Guernsey
Guernsey
Guernsey, officially the Bailiwick of Guernsey is a British Crown dependency in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy.The Bailiwick, as a governing entity, embraces not only all 10 parishes on the Island of Guernsey, but also the islands of Herm, Jethou, Burhou, and Lihou and their islet...
with his regiment, Graham was sent to Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
in 1803 and became assistant quartermaster-general.
January 1806 found him raised to the rank of Major
Major
Major is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...
in the 93rd Regiment of Foot
93rd Regiment of Foot
The 93rd Regiment of Foot was a Line Infantry Regiment of the British Army . In 1881 during the Childers Reforms it was united with the 91st Regiment of Foot to form the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders .- The 93rd Regiment :The 93rd Regiment was raised three times before it became the...
, in which capacity he took part in the Battle of Blaauwberg
City of Cape Town
The City of Cape Town is the metropolitan municipality which governs the city of Cape Town, South Africa and its suburbs and exurbs. As of 2007, it had a population of 3,497,097....
, helping Great Britain to re-occupy the Cape of South Africa. Rapid promotion to Lieutenant Colonel
Lieutenant colonel
Lieutenant colonel is a rank of commissioned officer in the armies and most marine forces and some air forces of the world, typically ranking above a major and below a colonel. The rank of lieutenant colonel is often shortened to simply "colonel" in conversation and in unofficial correspondence...
led to him being given charge of the Cape Regiment, based at Wynberg
Wynberg, Cape Town
Wynberg is a southern suburb of the City of Cape Town in Western Cape, South Africa. It is situated between Plumstead and Kenilworth, and is a main transport hub for the Southern Suburbs of Cape Town.- Geography :...
, which Graham trained as light infantry
Light infantry
Traditionally light infantry were soldiers whose job was to provide a skirmishing screen ahead of the main body of infantry, harassing and delaying the enemy advance. Light infantry was distinct from medium, heavy or line infantry. Heavy infantry were dedicated primarily to fighting in tight...
capable of delivering outstanding performance in wooded terrain.
The founding of Grahamstown
In 1811, Graham and his corps was sent with British regulars and BoerBoer
Boer is the Dutch and Afrikaans word for farmer, which came to denote the descendants of the Dutch-speaking settlers of the eastern Cape frontier in Southern Africa during the 18th century, as well as those who left the Cape Colony during the 19th century to settle in the Orange Free State,...
commando
Commando
In English, the term commando means a specific kind of individual soldier or military unit. In contemporary usage, commando usually means elite light infantry and/or special operations forces units, specializing in amphibious landings, parachuting, rappelling and similar techniques, to conduct and...
s from Swellendam
Swellendam
Swellendam is the third oldest town in the Republic of South Africa, a town with 28,072 inhabitants situated in the Western Cape province. The town has over 50 National monuments most of them buildings of Cape Dutch architecture....
, Graaff-Reinet and Uitenhage
Uitenhage
Uitenhage is a South African town with 275,185 inhabitants in the Eastern Cape Province. It is well known for the Volkswagen factory located there, which is the biggest car factory on the African continent. The town's name is pronounced by English speakers and in Afrikaans...
to undertake the task which was to define his military career: clearing around 20,000 amaXhosa tribesmen led by Ndlambe ka Rharhabe. The amaXhosa had settled in the Zuurveld (later called Albany
Albany, South Africa
Albany, South Africa was a district in the Eastern Cape, South Africa...
), a district between the Bushman's
Boesmans River
Boesmans River, originates north of Kirkwood, Eastern Cape, South Africa, and runs east past Alicedale, before it turns and twists south and east to Kenton on Sea, where it mouths into the Indian Ocean. at . Tributaries include: Bega River, iCamtarha, Ncazala River, Komga River, New Years River,...
and Fish rivers, which lay beyond the Cape Colony
Cape Colony
The Cape Colony, part of modern South Africa, was established by the Dutch East India Company in 1652, with the founding of Cape Town. It was subsequently occupied by the British in 1795 when the Netherlands were occupied by revolutionary France, so that the French revolutionaries could not take...
's frontiers. The Zuurveld was mistakenly assumed by the British to be part of the colony as they misread the frontier laid down by Governor Joachim van Plettenberg in 1778.
The British campaign to push the amaXhosa residents from the Eastern frontier was defined by Graham's plan to use "A proper degree of terror." http://www.ecampus.com/book/0869752359
By 1812 Graham's task was complete, and so on the deserted loan farm De Rietfontein, he established Graham’s Town as Zuurveld's central military post, with a string of linked forts along the Fish River. Later that year, Graham married Johanna Catharina Cloete (1790-1843), a descendant of Jacob Klute (or Cloete), the first permanent settler at the Cape. Along with three daughters, the couple had a son, Robert, who became civil commissioner of Albany.
John Graham died in Wynberg on 13 March 1821. He was buried in the Somerset Road Cemetery. This was the principal graveyard in Cape Town until 1886. Before the levelling of the Somerset Road Cemetery and building started on the site in about 1922, a number of inscribed stones were lifted from their graves and deposited at the Woltemade cemetery at Maitland which had been opened as Cape Town’s principal graveyard in 1886. It is not known whether his tombstone was saved. However, a window was erected to his memory in St Saviour’s Churchhttp://www.goodshepherd-protea.org.za/st-saviours-church.php, Claremont
Claremont, Cape Town
Claremont is a suburb of Cape Town, South Africa. It is situated six miles south of the city, and is one of the so-called "Southern Suburbs". It is an important commercial and residential area, which is currently experiencing significant growth and development.-History:Until the arrival of Dutch...
, in about 1931.
In 1912, a monument was erected in High Street, Grahamstown, on the site of the thorn tree where Graham had made the decision to establish the settlement.