King William's Town, Eastern Cape
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King William's Town, a town in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa along the banks of the Buffalo River. The town is about 40 minutes' motorway drive WNW of the Indian Ocean port of East London. The town forms part of a Transitional Local Council area Incorporating Bisho, Zwlitsha, Dimbaza, Phakamisa, Ilitha and Ndevana.
"King," as the town is locally called, stands 389 m above the sea at the foot of the Amatola Mountains, and in the midst of a thickly populated agricultural district. The town is well laid out and most of the public buildings and merchants' stores are built of stone. There are manufactories of sweets and jams, candles, soap, matches and leather, and a large trade in wool, hides and grains is done with East London.
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[edit] History
It was also an important entrepot for trade with the natives throughout Kaffraria, with which there is direct railway communication. Founded by Sir Benjamin d'Urban in May 1835 during the Xhosa War of that year, the town is named after William IV. It was abandoned in December 1836, but was reoccupied in 1846 and was the capital of British Kaffraria from its creation in 1847 to its incorporation in 1865 with the Cape Colony. Many of the colonists in the neighboring districts are descendants of members of the German legion disbanded after the Crimean War and provided with homes in Cape Colony; hence such names as Berlin, Braunschweig, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Potsdam and Stutterheim given to settlements in this part of the country.
Originally declared provincial capital of the surrounding Adelaide District in the 1830s, the area's economy depended on cattle and sheep ranching, and the town itself has a large industrial base producing textiles, soap, candles, sweets, cartons and clothing. Its proximity to the new provincial capital city of Bhisho has brought much other development to the area since the fall of apartheid in 1994.
The provincial government recently announced that they plan to rename the town with a traditional African name, as it currently bears colonial connotations.
The town is also home to "Huberta",one of the longest travelling hippopotamus in South Africa.It is preserved in the Amatola Museum located in the King Williams Town CBD.
[edit] Famous people
- Steve Biko, anti-apartheid Black Consciousness Movement leader was born here
- Charles Patrick John Coghlan, first premier of Rhodesia was born here
- Victoria Mxenge, anti-apartheid activist
- Huberta, the hippopotamus
[edit] References
- This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica, Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
[edit] External links
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Municipalities and Communities of Amatole District Municipality, Eastern Cape District Seat: East London |
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| Local municipalities |
Buffalo City • Mnquma • Mbhashe • Amahlathi • Nkonkobe • Ngqushwa • Great Kei • Nxuba |
| Cities and towns |
Cathcart • Stutterheim • Kei Road • East London • King William's Town • Mdantsane • Bhisho • Komga • Kei Mouth • Hagga-Hagga • Morgan's Bay • Chintsa • Dutywa • Willowvale • Elliotdale • Gcuwa • Nqamakwe • Centane • Peddie • Hamburg • Seymour • Fort Beaufort • Alice • Middledrift • Bedford • Adelaide • Hogsback |
Coordinates: 32°53′S 27°24′E / 32.883°S 27.4°E
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