18 October 1853

DIED after a brief illness at Colesberg on the 4th October 1853, aged 27 years and 5 months, Mr. John Daniel GIBBON, only son of Mr. Edward GIBBON, of the same place, leaving a widow and two children to deplore their irreparable loss.

25 October 1853

To the Electors of the Eastern Province
    Five important constituencies of the Eastern Province have, according to the provisions of the Constitution Ordinance, invited Mr. Henry BLAINE to offer himself as a Candidate for a Seat in the Legislative Council; and in placing the names of his requisitionists prominently before the Electors of the Eastern Province, Mr. BLAINE’s Committee feel that any commendation they could bestow upon that gentleman could not add to the general estimation in which his character is held even in quarters where he is personally unknown. The publication of the names of the influential body of gentlemen, who have thus spontaneously expressed their conviction that Mr. BLAINE is qualified in all respects to do justice to the interests of this Province in the important position in the Councils of this Colony to which they propose to call him, renders it scarcely necessary for the Committee to urge any recommendation in his favor.
    It is, however, due to Mr. BLAINE, in support of his claims to the suffrages of the Electors to state, that he is at the head of one of the principal mercantile houses in the Eastern Province, and therefore deeply interested in its prosperity – and that his a Frontier resident of some 14 years standing, during which period he has devoted his time and his means to the promotion of every public measure that has been set on foot for the advancement of the community – that he has been a zealous and successful supporter of all the public institutions of this place (some of which he has been instrumental in establishing), having for their object the benefit of the whole Eastern Province.
    It will at once be acknowledged, that the influence of Mr. BLAINE, as evidenced by the Requisitions addressed to him from different parts of this Province, is neither local – nor is it that of party or sect – but it is an influence which wholly derives its strength from the unbounded confidence which is felt in his character as a private gentleman – in his unimpeachable integrity and straightforwardness as a man of business, and his ability and independence as a public man.
    Such are the acknowledged claims of this gentleman to the suffrages of the Electors of the Eastern Province, who, his friends feel assured, will not fail to show by their votes at the coming Election that they know how to appreciate the private excellence and public worth of a gentleman, into whose hands they may intrust their interests with perfect confidence.
N. BIRKENRUTH
Chairman of Committee
Graham’s Town, Aug 15th 1853

GRAHAM’S TOWN
Names of Requisitionists
W.R. THOMPSON Sr Vr.
W. CURRIE Vr.
N. BIRKENRUTH
T.H. COLE
Robert HOLLAND
John George FRANKLIN
J. STANDEN
W. HAYCRAFT
William OGILVIE
W.M. JAFFRAY
Charles POTE
Peter POTE
B.D. BELL, Fort Beaufort
George JARVIS Vr.
F. CARLISLE Vr.
George J. NICHOLLS
A.W. BECK
G. PALMER
W. WRIGHT
Thomas NELSON
James TEMLETT
G. CUMMING, Graham’s Town
F. I’ONS
S. TILDESLEY
W. POTTER
Joseph YELLING
Charles BENDELACK
Henry FULLER
George FULLER
Amb. George CAMPBELL
Thomas PHILIPPS Vr.
John CARLISLE
W. Guybon ATHERSTONE MD
S.D. MANDY

SOMERSET
Names of Requisitionists
George Edw. JOSEPH Vr.
James O’REILLEY Vr.
Hougham HUDSON Jun., Civil Commissioner
Edmund PAIN
William Wilson MASKEW
Benjamin SOLOMON
Philip Richard MARRELLIER Vr.
Benjamin ANDERSON
James McMASTER
David McMASTER
Willem Adriaan VAN AARDT
Carolus Joh. VAN AARDT
Louis Jacobus VAN AARDT
Robert HART Sen., Vr.
Johannes Cornelius Jacobus COETZEE
Alfred TROLLIP
Quintin SCOTT
Charles Pinchon WEBBER
William Hencorn SMITH
Alfred PEACOCK
Charles BEAMISH
William GILL
Walter PEACOCK
John BATTISS
James LEONARD
Willem Christian BOUWER, Field Commissioner
James PERKINS Vr.
Robert Tosswell VEITCH
Robert HART Jun.
Pieter Christiaan MASSYN

CRADOCK
Names of Requisitionists
C.H. CALDECOTT
C. SCANLAN
Toger VAN ABO
H. MILLER
J.G. VAN BUUREN
J.F.G. VAN ABO
John Edward NELSON
F.S. PHILPS
Charles BROWN
John HUGHES
L. SCHRYVER
Alfred SOLOMON
P.W. BOUWER
S.J. SMIT
W.H. PIETERSEN
John HARVEY
B. TROLLIP
Jacob TROLLIP
R.M. ARMSTRONG
Edward DAVIES
Sl. Taylor JAMES
J. BATTESON
F.P. KIDSON
G. DUFFIELD Sen.
Kidger TUCKER
Peter K. WRIGHT
Jas. G. DAVEY

BURGHER’s DORP
Names of Requisitionists
Alfred ROBERTS
J. BOARDMAN
J. Bice BARNES
H.J. MONTGOMERY
N. MEYER
Wm. Musgrave HOPLEY Jun.
George LIVINGSTON
O.W. BACK
Maurice JOSEPH
Edward WAY
Richard H. SYMONS
R. SMITH
W.M. REED
H. BERGMAN
J.G. BENDER
J.B.H. LÖRING
Cyrus SMITH
W.G. SCALEY
C. MEANER
T. WARNER
Edw. MOORE
H. BENDER
H. TISE
Thos. BAYLON
Jno. JOSEPH

FORT BEAUFORT
Names of Requisitionists
Robert BOVEY Vr.
Renier Christiaan ELS
J.H. BOSCH
W. STANTON Jun.
Henry James LLOYD Sen.
Matthew BERRY
Robert LAWRIE
Richard RALPH
Thomas WARD
C. HOLLIDAY
A.J. McKENZIE
N. ELLIOTT
William EMETT
B. WINDELL
W. WALKER
Henry ULYATE Sen.
John GUNN
R. HALLACK
J. WILLIAMS
Charles DUFFY
M. ANDERSON
G.B. CURLE
R.J. PAINTER
Wm. CARTWRIGHT
R. LLOYD
James HOWELL
James Shedrick WADE
David MILLS
George W. CLARKE
Thomas PARKER
Wm. FINNAUGHTY
B. ERASMUS
H.T. LLOYD
J.A. HOHNE
James SAVORY

1 November 1853

Mulish Obstinacy in Dress
Our young men of the present day run about with black stripes down their legs – not unlike the legs of mules. Why not carry the likeness further and allow the stripes, as in the case of mules, to run all over their coats? Surely he who dresses himself like a mule must be “next to a donkey” and accordingly cannot make himself too ridiculous. A sharp young friend of ours, who has studied heraldry merely to joke upon it, calls these thick heavy stripes “the bar sinisters of taste”.

22 November 1853

It now turns out that the public chest at Fort Beaufort was stolen and robbed by no less a personage than the district gaoler, being a colored man named CRAWFORD. His accomplices were three soldiers of the 91st, who were in gaol, charged with stealing a sheep, during which the four committed the robbery. The soldiers were however acquitted, and had retuned to Fort Fordyce, where they have since been apprehended. The thieves were discovered owing to a Hottentot, who had also been acquitted of some charge at the Circuit Court, and who, it appears, knew something about the robbery, having under the influence of liquor given a clue to the discovery of the perpetrators.

29 November 1853

To Let
That valuable Agricultural and Grazing Farm called
Rokeby Park
The property of Geo. DYASON Esq, measuring about 3,000 acres, situate on the road to Bathurst, and distant about 16 miles from Graham’s Town. For further particulars apply to Mr. F. CARLISLE in Graham’s Town.

6 December 1853

Farm for Sale
The Undersigned have instructed Mr. J.D. VAN DYK, Auctioneer, to sell by Public Auction at Cradock on Saturday the 24th day of December next
The Perpetual Quitrent Farm
Riet Fontein
In extent 2,999 morgen, contiguous to the Town Lands of Cradock.
The farm is so well known that it requires no description as to pasturage &c. There are several substantial Buildings on the Farm, and it is plentifully supplied with Water, the Great Fish River passing through it.
All particulars as to the terms &c can be had from the Auctioneer, or Mr. J.J. SANDERS, Cradock, or from either of the Subscribers
JARVIE & Co
N. BIRKENRUTH
Graham’s Town, 3rd Dec 1853.

13 December 1853

BIRTH on Sunday 4th inst, Mrs E.T. TAYLOR of a Daughter.
Graham’s Town Dec 12 1853.

20 December 1853

We regret to state that Mr. P.W.R. DIXON, of Colesburg, on returning wit his family from the Kowie where they had been to spend a few days, was unfortunately thrown off the waggon-box, as he was driving a waggon and eight horses, and fell under the wheel which passed over him, but we are happy to add without doing him serious injury. His friends will be glad to learn that he is now in a fair way of recovery.

27 December 1853

Another Village on the Eastern Frontier
The Farm known as the Mineral Baths, the property of Mr. BEVAN, and situated about eighteen miles from Port Elizabeth, between Graaff-Reinet and Graham’s Town, is announced to be sold at an early date, as will be seen by an advertisement which we publish today. The farm will be subdivided, and about 30 erven – the greater portion of which will be water-erven – will be submitted for competition. A field of excellent forage has just been reaped, yielding 1,500 bundles for every muid of seed – thus giving the extraordinary return of 9,000 for 104 sown, and this without any manure.