Historic Lighthouses

Until the middle of the 19th century, few authorities worldwide bothered about safety at sea and more particularly about the provision of lighthouses. The sea was a demanding mistress and was entitled to claim vessels, cargoes and lives, and the ruling classes who governed nations and held the purse strings were unaffected and unconcerned by losses at sea. And so the wrecks piled up on the treacherous coasts of Europe and North America, and in some numbers on the uncharted peninsulas and capes around the southern tip of Africa.

Photographing a shipwreck at Cape Point (SAHRA)

Certainly the Dutch East India Company was not prepared to spend its profits on maritime safety around the Cape of Good Hope, and left any efforts in this respect to the initiative of the Governors – to be funded from the normal budget. Van Riebeeck had a go at putting a bonfire on Robben Island, but soon gave up when the local supplies of wood were exhausted. Thereafter the Dutch did nothing.

At the time of the British takeover of the Cape, the authorities in Whitehall and their parliamentary...

John Bourne left a smaller imprint on this country than was intended, and his most lasting memorial is not in the field of his chosen expertise.

The first railway line in the Cape Colony was built from Cape Town to Wellington by a private company, but the Government had underwritten the construction and operating costs by guaranteeing the shareholders a 6% return on their investment.  The apparent intention was to nationalise the line once it was up and running, and in anticipation of this the Governor, Sir Philip Wodehouse, appointed Bourne as the Cape's first Colonial Railway Engineer.

Bourne hailed from Lincolnshire where he was born in 1816, and he gained early engineering experience serving articles on the original Liverpool to Manchester Railway. During this time he invented and patented a wrought iron railway wheel, which was in use for many years as the "Chamber's Wheel". He then had a change of heart and took holy orders, and was sent to take charge of a parish in British Guiana. However, he soon returned to engineering, and spent some time on railway work in the United States.  He returned to Guiana and in 1854 was appointed Superintendent of Public Works, and was responsible for constructing the railway to the sugar plantations at Demerara. He obviously impressed the local Governor, Wodehouse, who in 1861 was promoted to succeed the hugely popular Sir George Grey at the Cape.

Wodehouse lost little time in sending for his competent colleague Bourne, who arrived to take...

In the article below, Graham Ross tells the story of Murrell Robinson Robinson, a man who made a significant contribution to the development of the Cape Colony. The piece first appeared in the publication 'Past Masters: Pioneer Civil Engineers who contributed to the growth and Wealth of South Africa'. Click here to view the stories of other great engineers.

Robinson was a conscientious and dedicated public servant who has the rare distinction of having an engineering work named after him - the Robinson Pass between Mossel Bay and Oudtshoorn is a tribute to the high regard in which he was held in the Colony.

Robinson Pass (DRISA)

Robinson was born in Southwark, England in 1820. Initially he worked as a surveyor, and in his early twenties served in the Falkland Islands with a small contingent of Royal Sappers and Miners, engaged in laying out the original capital Port Louis (renamed Anson) and then the new capital of Stanley. He became Private Secretary to the Lieutenant Governor, and was appointed Superintendent of the Survey Department.  After some unfortunate personal differences had arisen, he was dismissed...

Below is another gem of an article from the Restorica archive. The piece highlights some interesting aspects of the history of the landmark Cape St Francis Lighthouse. Thank you to the University of Pretoria (copyright holders) and the Heritage Association of South Africa (HASA) for giving us permission to publish.

On July 4th 1878, the lamp of Cape St. Francis lighthouse was lit for the first time. Since that day it has sent forth its beam of light to guide mariners along a stretch of coast that has claimed numerous shipwrecks

Site for a lighthouse

According to a report of the Coast Lighthouse Commission dated 1 December 1871, Captain Skead accompanied by Captain Perry R.N. and Lieut. Taylor R.N. set out from Port Elizabeth on 21 November 1871 to inspect Cape St. Francis and vicinity for the purpose of selecting a site for the erection of a lighthouse. Travelling in a "hired van" the party stopped for the night at Van Stadens and arrived at Humansdorp on the 23rd where they were met by the Civil Commissioner, who assisted them to reach the beach near Cape St. Francis. An ox-wagon loaded with tents and camp gear was sent ahead. {Below are a few excerpts from the report:]

... after a rough journey over a very indifferent road, some of which went over precipitous sand hills, we arrived at Mostert's farm house, a small and poor homestead about 2 1/2 miles to the North West of Seal Point, just north of the...