Monday 4 January 1886

DEATH OF DR. BICCARD
It is with great regret that we (Argus) announce the death of Dr. C.WT. BICCARD. He had been in failing health for some time, and lately his condition was such that it was evident his end was approaching. He was an M.D. of Leyden and M.R.C.S. England. His father, Dr. F.L.C. BICCARD, was for many years Medical Superintendent of Robben Island. Dr. BICCARD was admitted to practice in 1858. In 1859 he received a request from the inhabitants of the Paarl to settle there, and practised at the Paarl for some six years, whence he was urged to return to Capetown, where he remained until the time of his death. He had for some time resided at Rondebosch.

Tuesday 5 January 1886

DEATH OF A WESLEYAN MINISTER
The sad intelligence reached town yesterday of the death of the Rev. W. GREIG of Seymour, who formerly was stationed at Port Elizabeth, where he was much beloved. Mr. GREIG was a young man, and had quite recently married, his bride having come out from Scotland some months since. We deeply sympathise with her in a bereavement which is additionally distressing because she is a stranger here in a strange land. No particulars has of yet reached us as to the cause or manner of Mr. GREIG’s death.

DROWNED IN THE ORANGE RIVER
Recently two young men, named WILSON and WERNICK, were drowned while bathing in the Orange River.

DROWNING AT BAAKEN’S RIVER
We (E.P. Herald) are […obscured] this morning [….] very serious case of drowning that occurred on Saturday afternoon in a pool in the Baaken’s River known as “Burchell’s”. A young lad named John PHELAN, about 16 years of age, the son of a very respectable man, who has been for years in the employ of Messrs. DUNNELL, EBDEN & Co, went for a swim to the Baaken’s River, being accompanied by a companion named MORHAN. PHELAN, who was unable to swim, first got into the pool, which proved treacherous, there being a sudden dip from shallow to deep water. He was quickly out of his depth, and he made a struggle to reach shallow ground, but unfortunately was unable. His companion made all attempts to rescue him, but [failed]. We have heard that he was later pulled under the water, and had a narrow escape himself. Cries were raised, and the alarm given, when Mr. ANDERSON, of the Chamber of Commerce, and Mr. BADCOCK, who happened to be in the Valley at the time, made all haste to the spot, and rendered all the assistance in their power, ANDERSON at once plunging into the river and bringing the body ashore, but unfortunately life was extinct. The body was at once conveyed in a cab to the residence of the deceased, where the scene on the sad announcement being made can be better imagined than described. The present writer knew the deceased well; it was but a few short hours before the sad casualty that he was speaking to him, then in the flower of youth, and in the best of spirits, enjoying his holidays. Truly “in the midst of life we are in death”. All will read with regret the sad death of [Andrew] PHELAN, the kind-hearted, generous, promising youth, who was a universal favourite and much respected by a large circle of acquaintances. He commanded the confidence and esteem of his employers, Messrs. W.H. SCHOFIELD & Co, in whose employ he had been. In this their sad hour of affliction we tender his parents our sincere condolence. The funeral of the deceased took place yesterday afternoon and was largely attended, close on 300 forming the cortege.

Wednesday 6 January 1886

MARRIED on the 30th Dec at St.Peter’s Church, Sidbury, by the Rev. Canon Espin, David, son of the late James MASSON Esq, Tulle of Benholm, Kincardineshire, Scotland, to Sarah Ann, daughter of Joseph GUSH Esq, Woodbury, Albany.

MARRIED this morning at Commemoration Chapel, by the Rev. Mr. Matterson, Richard Gush WEBB, of Beaconsfield, to Effie Maria ROBERTS, eldest daughter of Mr. S.H. ROBERTS of Grahamstown.
Grahamstown, 6th Jan 1886

THE LATE REV. W. GREIG
We have received some further particulars of the death of this talented and much beloved Wesleyan Minister, which we had the sad duty to report in yesterday’s issue. It appears that Mr. and Mrs. GREIG were spending Christmas at the [K..berg] in the company of some friends belonging to their Church, and that on the evening of Saturday December 26th Mr. GREIG was taken ill with [vomiting]. He was unable to conduct service the following day, but seemed afterwards to be much better. In the middle of the week the sickness returned, and Mr. GREIG was brought back to Seymour so as to get medical advice. Nothing serious, however, was apprehended, and the news that he had suddenly and quietly passed away at five o’clock on Sunday afternoon came as a severe shock upon the whole community. The doctor states that the sickness was nothing but a bilious attack, but that inflammation had supervened. Mr. GREIG’s death has thrown a great shadow of sorrow over Seymour and the entire district, where in a short time he had become widely honoured and loved. The Rev. Messrs. FAURE, Dutch Reformed Minister, J. READ sen. and J. READ jun., Congregational Ministers, conducted the burial service at four o’clock on Monday afternoon amid a large concourse of friends of all religious denominations.
Mr. GREIG during his brief ministry in this Colony had laboured with much acceptance at Port Elizabeth, at Port Alfred and at Queenstown, and his early death is a severe loss to the Wesleyan Church. He was appointed to the Seymour Circuit in June of last year, and had already made the influence of his character and ability felt throughout the community. Much sympathy is felt for his young widow, who only joined him from their native Scotland a few months ago, and who is now left to mourn her irreparable loss. We can only write: “I was dumb, I opened not my mouth, because Thou didst it” and pray that “the God of all comfort” may console and sustain his sorrowing widow in her unexpected and heavy bereavement.

Thursday 7 January 1886

ANOTHER BATHING ACCIDENT
We (E.L. Advertiser) regret to have to record another bathing fatality which took place on New Year’s Day. A number of farmers and friends in the district were assembling at a picnic on the banks of the River Chalumna. During the day several young ladies went to the river for the purpose of having a bathe, and amongst them a daughter of Mr. E. HOLDSTOCK, a well-known farmer in the district. Whilst they were so enjoying themselves Miss HOLDSTOCK, who was about fifteen years of age, got out of her depth and was drowned before assistance could be obtained. The sad affair caused a gloom to pass over the neighbourhood, and the season of joyousness was thus suddenly turned into one of grief. The Rev. Mr. ALDRED went from the West Bank on Saturday to read the burial service.

Friday 8 January 1886

DIED OF WANT
A sorrowful incident took place during the holidays at Cambridge, where a married man named KING, a colonist of long standing, who had been through the wars, living lately on an acre lot, succumbed to a short illness which there is only too much reason (says the Dispatch) to believe was brought on by privation, the result of poverty. The family had been living in a shanty of the very roughest description, and during the November wet weather they must have dwelt in misery. The state of the survivors’ finances, it now transpires, did not admit of their ordering a coffin, and the husband and father was buried without one, on the ground where he had been living.

Saturday 9 January 1886

DEATH OF CAPT. BORTON
News was yesterday received in town of the death which took place on Tuesday of Capt. H.M. BORTON, who lately left the Colony on a visit to England, expecting to return about this time as Registrar to the Hon. Mr. Justice BUCHANAN. For upwards of three years, during which he resided in Grahamstown, Capt. BORTON endeared himself to all with whom he came in contact by his hearty good nature and manly bearing. We believe that by the members of the Bar and side-Bar Capt. BORTON’s loss is mourned as that of an intimate and valued friend, whose place it must always be difficult to fill. Capt. BORTON will be long remembered in Grahamstown, where the news of his death will be received in all quarters with sincere regret.
The following is from the Civil Service Register:
Henry Martin BORTON served in the Royal Artillery, garrison and horse, as Lieutenant and Captain from October 1856 to November 1871, retiring on a special pension, with the rank of Captain, he being at the time Captain and Adjutant of his brigade; served as Deputy Governor in H.M. convict service from 1871 to 1881, when he was invalided and retired on a pension; served as Registrar to the Hon. Mr. Justice SHIPPARD from May 1882 to January 1884, and appointed in the same capacity to the Hon. Mr. Justice BUCHANAN March 1844 [sic].

Wednesday 13 January 1886

MATRIMONIAL
At Trinity Church this morning Mrs. G.W. IMPEY was married to the Rev. R. TEMPLETON, a large number of friends being present on the occasion. The ceremony was performed by the Rev. J.A. CHALMERS, the bride being given away by her brother, Mr. John E. WOOD.

SAD ACCIDENT
At the beginning of last week, reports the Representative, four of Mr. VAN HEERDEN’s children were playing on a kopje on their father’s farm, a short distance from Jamestown, when a massive rock tumbled down the hill, killing two on the spot and seriously injuring the other two.

Saturday 16 January 1886

In the Testate Estate of the late William WALLER of Grahamstown
NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND DEBTORS
Notice is hereby given that the Undersigned have been duly appointed Executors Testamentary in the Estate of the late William WALLER, and request that all Claims against the said Estate be sent to the Office of the above Company within six weeks from this date, and those indebted thereto to pay their several Accounts at the same place within the same period.
Ben. B. ATTWELL Sec. E.P.G.L. & I. Co.
Herman C. BELL
Exrs. Testamentary
Grahamstown Jan 16 1886.

Wednesday 20 January 1886

SUDDEN DEATH OF THE REV. R. TEMPLETON MA
The utmost concern and regret were universally felt today on the news being wired from Coorney that the body of the Rev. R. TEMPLETON MA had been found in the bush near that station. The full particulars have not as yet reached us but from what has been furnished we learn that Mr. and Mrs. TEMPLETON were staying at the hotel in Coorney, and that he was missing on Monday, having lost his way in the bush. Mr. Robt. TEMPLETON went down immediately on the news reaching town, and yesterday evening Mr. Joseph WOOD M.L.A., brother-in-law of the deceased, Mr. John WEBB and others went down in the evening train to aid the search for the missing gentleman. Under what circumstances the search was prosecuted we do not at present know; except that life was extinct when he was found by those searching the bush. The remains of our deceased fellow-citizen will we understand reach town by tomorrow’s early morning train. He had but recently been married, and had departed with the heartiest good wishes of all his friends for a needed holiday. So sad and mysterious a termination to a wedding tour has rarely been chronicled. Mr. TEMPLETON, as is well known throughout the Colony, had for many years been the Principal of the Grahamstown Public School, in which capacity he enjoyed an unusually high degree of reputation and success. His death in the midst of full usefulness is indeed a public loss, and will cause the deepest regret in a very wide circle of friends; indeed it may truly be said that his private virtues and amiability had rendered him endeared to all who knew him. We can but offer our sincerest sympathy to the families that will be bereaved by this sudden and distressing dispensation of Divine Providence.

Thursday 21 January 1886

MARRIED at Commemoration Church by the Rev. N. Abraham, John Robson IVY of Port Elizabeth to Maria Elizabeth, second daughter of Mr. H.W. PARR of “Thorn Park”. No cards.

FUNERAL OF THE REV. R. TEMPLETON MA
The mortal remains of Mr. TEMPLETON were brought up by rail from Coorney by the train arriving in town at 6 this morning. There is but little to add to the brief account of his decease which we published yesterday. Having walked together on Monday morning some distance in the bush, Mr. and Mrs. TEMPLETON could not find the way back; and Mr. TEMPLETON being somewhat agitated about this, felt suddenly ill. After doing what was possible to relieve him, Mrs. TEMPLETON started to try and find a way through the bush to obtain assistance, but did not succeed in this, until after wandering in much distress for some time, she at length met with a native who showed her a way out. The searching parties which were immediately organised were not at first successful, and it was not till Wednesday morning that the spot was reached where Mr. TEMPLETON had rested, when it was found that life, doubtless through disease of the heart, had been for some time extinct. The body was placed in a shell, and on arriving in town it was further placed in a coffin which had been prepared by Mr. WILL. The inscription on the coffin stated that the deceased was in his 55th year.
The funeral took place this morning at 8 o’clock, the procession being formed at the Drostdy, and moving thence to Trinity Church. Amongst the ministers of religion present we noticed Revs. J.A. CHALMERS, J. WALTON, W.IMPEY, G. CROSS, W. HOLDEN, R. MATTERSON, N. ABRAHAM, S. HOLM & T. SPARGE. The chief mourners were the two sons of the deceased, together with Messrs. John E. WOOD, Joseph WOOD and Henry WOOD. Mrs. TEMPLETON with her mother Mrs. WOOD, Lady DRAKE, Mrs. CROZIER, Mrs. John E. WOOD, and the daughters of the late Mr. TEMPLETON, accompanied the procession in carriages, and joined it at the Cemetery. The pall-bearers were J. HEMMING Esq (Civil Commissioner)J.S. WILLCOX Esq (Mayor), Mr. Justice MAASDORP, Dr. GREATHEAD, Messrs. E. COLDRIDGE, E. LOWDON, T.H. COPELAND, R. AYLIFF, J. SLATER, T.H. PARKER, HOGGAN, W. AYLIFF M.L.A., C.J. STIRK, G. REYNOLDS, John WEBB and G. WENTWORTH. A long line of past and present pupils of the Public School preceded the hearse, which was followed by an unusually large number of the principal inhabitants of the city. The windows of the stores were wholly or partially closed, as a token of respect. On arriving at Trinity Church, the coffin was brought in and placed in front of the pulpit. A large congregation had already assembled, and a hymn was being sung by the choir, “When our heads are bowed with woe” in low and touching strains. The service was commenced by the Rev. G.A. CROSS, who announced the hymn “Brief life is here our portion”, after which the Rev. IMPEY read the 90th Psalm. The Rev. J.A. CHALMERS, pastor of Trinity Church, then gave the following address:
Fellow Citizens, Grahamstown is mourning today; and the skies are in sympathy with our mourning, nay rather it is the Cape Colony that is mourning today, and all we, who are here present, are the chief mourners. The cause of this universal sorrow is that we have lost an illustrious teacher, and a man who had the ring of true metal in his nature. There is nothing unreal or hollow in the sorrow of today, for this dispensation of Providence has touched all our hearts and now we feel, as we may not have felt before, that we are brothers. We need such divine lessons as this to remind us of our common brotherhood, and to lift our hearts upwards to the Eternal Father of us all. We are apt, amid the bustle and worry of life, to forget our relationship one to another. We are apt also to forget the golden link which binds us to the central source of all things, even to Him who is Infinitely Pure and Holy; and so He who sits in the circle of the Heavens sees it meet at fitting times to touch our hearts to the quick; and then that touch of a loving Hand makes us mindful of things that are unseen and eternal. Only last week a company of happy friends met in this Church, at this very hour, to rejoice with those who were rejoicing. Today our joy is turned into sadness, and we are here with bowed heads to weep with those that weep. The brightness of last week has been changed into darkness. Some of us now here were met on that bright Wednesday morning in order to invoke the divine blessing on the Rev. Robert TEMPLETON and his happy bride. Today we are assembled with broken hearts and trembling hands to look upon this bier which contains all that is earthly of our departed friend and brother; and to carry his lifeless body to its quiet resting-place. Life’s fitful fever with him is at an end.
[two further paragraphs in like vein]
My intimacy with Robert TEMPLETON dates far back, even to the time when I was an undergraduate in the University of Glasgow, and he much my senior. My memory carries me back to the days when he was a brilliant student in that ancient seat of learning. To the amazement of us all he went up at the last moment, without any special preparation, to enter the lists for his degree; and yet, knowing well that he was a genius, it was not wonderful to us to find the name of the genial, the beloved Robert TEMPLETON high up in the honours list. It was at that eventful period of his history that I made his acquaintance, and the interest he took in an unknown South African boy is one of the sunniest memories of my life, and was singularly characteristic of the man. His marked success at the University led to his appointment as Mathematical Master in the Kilmarnock Academy, his native town in the west of Scotland, where the family name is a household word even to the present day. His reputation as a teacher increased so rapidly that he was very soon thereafter transferred to a higher and more important sphere, for he was appointed one of the masters of Madras College in the ancient city of St.Andrew’s, where he was the associate of Professor SMEATON, a master teacher. This college was largely composed of young lads from India and other British dependencies, and during his term of work there he had the opportunity of leaving the impress of his character on receptive minds – an impress which survives in other lands, and in other important spheres of labour. From St.Andrew’s he went to New College, Edinburgh, where he studied theology, and sat at the feet of some of the renowned teachers of the metropolis of Scotland, and it was while studying there for the Christian ministry that he became the intimate friend of some Cape students, who won his affections, and directed his thoughts to South Africa, when as he thought he was preparing himself for work in India or China. Just at this time a teacher of some power was required to go to Lovedale, and the Free Church of Scotland selected Robert TEMPLETON to come out to this country and carry on educational work in that now famous South African institution. For several years he was associated with the late Rev. Wm. GOVAN, one of the founders of Lovedale, and two more enthusiastic teachers of youth were never associated together than Wm. GOVAN and Robert TEMPLETON. It was during his arduous labours there that he was ordained to the office of the sacred ministry. It was there he began his great work in this Colony, there that he first became the instructor of some of those distinguished pupils of his, who are now ornaments to the learned professions throughout this land. But the man was of too superior a mould of character, thought some, to bury himself in that remote sphere, and so he was induced to move from Lovedale and go and take charge of the Public Sch. at Uitenhage. Subsequently, though he was doing a good work there, he was persuaded to remove to Bedford, which is the centre of a large and respectable farming population. Here he laboured with intense zeal and eagerness, so that he began to earn a reputation as a most successful teacher. It was while doing his duty faithfully at Bedford that the proposal was made to establish an Undenominational school in this city; and the promoters of it, believing that no fitter man could be found to undertake the duties of this new venture than Robert TEMPLETON, persuaded him to come and undertake the principalship of the Public School. He came, deeply impressed with a sense of the responsibilities connected with the position. How he has performed the work entrusted to him it is for those parents in this city, and throughout this Colony, who have entrusted their sons to his wise teaching and watchful care, to say. And if immediate proof is needed, it will be found in the deep sorrow felt by his old pupils wherever it is known that Robert TEMPLETON is no more to be found among us. His death is an irreparable loss, cut off as he has been in the very vigour of his strength. Even the best instructors of youth, who know anything of the man, will heartily give him the palm, and acknowledge that he had not his equal as a teacher. No man that I have ever known exercised such a spell over the minds of young lads as did he. He was an educationist in the highest and best meaning of that word. By profound knowledge of human nature, by tact, by wondrous sympathy, by marvellous intuition, he could draw out and call into exercise any talent of which a pupil was possessed. He could do more: once let the dullest mind pass into his class, and Robert TEMPLETON was the man to teach that sluggish nature the consciousness of its own true greatness. His aim was to make his pupils self-reliant, and at the same time to instil into their opening minds principles which would guide and help them amid the active duties of life. The last thing I heard him give a few weeks ago to a number of lads was an impromptu address on character; and I never listened to anything more thrilling. Then he never forgot that he himself was once a boy, so that in all his tuition he was a bright, cheerful, warm-hearted, enthusiastic companion to his pupils rather than a stern master, between whom and his student is an unbridged chasm. He was wonderfully happy and joyous in his work, so that his pupils could not but love and reverence the man. With him it seemed to be always spring-time; and that marvellous versatility of character which showed all its lights and shades in his classroom will never be forgotten here by his pupils, or by those who were ever privileged to witness the man in the full tide of his work. Many a toiler in this Colony blesses the day and circumstances that brought him under the tuition of Robert TEMPLETON. There are old boys today, and young boys too, whose hearts are burdened with an oppressive load, and who are shedding genuine tears of sorrow because their happy teacher who loved them so tenderly, and who always preserved the freshness of boyhood in his nature, is being carried by us to his grave. The death of Robert TEMPLETON is a public calamity. It is a public loss; a loss to the city; a loss to our social life; a loss to our educational work; a loss to the Church of which he was so trusted a guide and so distinguished an ornament. He is not to be judged by what is, to us, his untimely end. He is to be estimated by his work. That is his enduring monument. If ever man has served his adopted country well, it is he. The Colony could ill spare such a man just now.
[a further column basically repeats this eulogy but adds no further facts]

Friday 22 January 1886

WEDDING
Yesterday morning at Commemoration Church were married Miss Maria PARR and Mr. John Robson IVY. The bride is the second daughter of Mr. W.H. PARR, of Thorn Park, and the bridegroom is a resident in Port Elizabeth. Miss Edith WEDDERBURN was bridesmaid, and Mr. F. KING groomsman. The bride was married from the house of Mr. John WEDDERBURN, on the stoep of which the wedding breakfast was laid for thirty guests. The dress of the bride was of cinnamon cashmere, richly trimmed with velvet and cream lace; the hat was of the latter colour, the bride being married in travelling dress. The bridesmaid’s dress was of cream crape, trimmed with brown and pink, and hat to match. The happy couple left by the morning train for the Zuurberg station, where they spend their honeymoon. Nearly all the visitors accompanied them to the station.

Saturday 23 January 1886

DEATHS AT SOMERSET
Death (says the Advertiser) has been busy among us recently. On Sunday last Mr. BOWDEN, for many years a resident here, passed away after long suffering, and on Monday a promising boy, a son of Mr. W. EALES, died of tetanus.

Tuesday 26 January 1886

Union Fire and Marine Insurance and Trust Company
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
In the Insolvent Estate of Walter TARRANT
A Special Meeting of Creditors in the above Estate will be held before the Resident Magistrate of Albany on Wednesday 17th Feb next at 10 o’clock in the forenoon to take into consideration an offer of compromise made by Insolvent under Section 100 of Ordinance 6 of 1843, as follows, viz: To pay to Concurrent Creditors the sum if 2s 6d in the £, payable in two and four months, from the date of the final acceptance of the offer; also to pay the Charges of Sequestration and Administration, and to arrange with the Preferent Creditors, and upon such offer being secured to the satisfaction of the Trustee, and the preferent claim adjusted, the Insolvent be reinvested with his Estate.
(Signed) Jos. GADD, Trustee
Grahamstown, Jan 26 1886.

DEATH OF W. WYNN ESQ.
Intelligence was received by wire this morning of the death of Mr. W. WYNN, of Woodstock, Alice. He died last night while in bed; we have not heard that he had previously been unwell. Mr. WYNN, who was connected by marriage with the family of the late Hon. Geo. WOOD, was about 68 years of age. He had taken an active part in the former wars on the Frontier. His remains will be brought down to Grahamstown for interment in the Cemetery, where other members of his family are buried.

Friday 29 January 1886

In the Insolvent Estate of W.T. LUCAS
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
Notice is hereby given that the First Liquidation and Distributio Account in the above Estate will lay in the Office of the Resident Magistrate for a period of seven days from date hereof, after which, if no objections are made, same will be transmitted for confirmation by the Honourable the Supreme Court.
Ben. B. ATTWELL, Trustee
Guardian Buildings
Anglo-African Street
Jan 28 1886

Saturday 30 January 1886

DIED at Grahamstown on the 22nd January 1886, Jane EDWARDS (born MOORE), relict of the late Thos. EDWARDS, who was for many years a Missionary at Paccalsdorp and Theophilus. Deceased was born at Aberdeen, Scotland, on the 14th August 1799, and came to the Colony in 1819 with Dr. and Mrs. PHILLIPS. Glasgow and Aberdeen papers please copy.