Into Africa

The following story tells how Ross' Great Grandfather, George Bubb (shown at left), departed England at the age of 21 as a colonist in South Africa. It begins a history that took Ross' family roots from England to South Africa. For an appriciation of the distances involved, see http://www.mapsofworld.com/south-africa/southafrica-location-map.html.html

The picture of the first Dutch settlers landing in South Africa was taken from the following website: http://www.south-africa-tours-and-travel.com/1820-british-settlers.html

Understanding where the Shirley Family came from is important to knowing who we are. The following is taken from, "The Story of the 1820 Settlers," written by Thomas Pringle, South Africa's first poet and setler of 1820. "History states, originally South Africa's was a slave economy, not unlike America's pre-Cival War society. The masters in South Africa were the Dutch peasants or Boers, who first came to the Cape of Good Hpe as colonists in 1652, sponsored by the East India Company. The Boers believed they had a sacred duty to cultivate and subdue what they regarded as a new promised land. They enslaved the natives, whom they called Hottentots, or Bushmen. The whites began referring to themselves as Afrikaners. Over a period of years a mixture of the two races grew into significant numbers, they were labeled coloreds.

War in Europe brought a series of changes in the colony's ownership. The British took possession in 1795. The Netherlands regained possession in 1802, but lost control to Britain in 1806. Later, the British government awarded its citizens 5,000 land grants in Cape Colony. As prime minister of South Africa's Cape Colony, Cecil John Rhodes believed Britain should rule all of Africa.

In 1820, Great Britain, in the period of stress succeeding to the Napolenic Wars, sent a great number of immigrants to South Africa. There were eighteen parties sent by ship from different ports such as Portsmouth, Liverpool, and Bristol. These were followed by four Irish parties and one Scotch party. Altogehter these ships brought to South Africa one thousand seventy nine men, six hundred and thirty two women, and one thousand and sixty four chldren as immigrants."

Of the ships that left Great Britain, we are most interested in the Weymouth (shown here at left) which carried the Gurney party of 24 from Deal Kent, England, because (our) future great grandfather, George Bubb, age 21, was on that ship. Altogether there were ten different parties that left Portsmouth on Weymouth. The average time taken by each ship for the whole journey from Great Britain was about four months, the usual period in those days for each voyage.

For a more lengthy read on the history of South Africa, go to http://www.genealogyworld.net/settlers/tessa.htm