In the article below, Graham Ross tells the story of William Holloway, the engineer who built the magnificent Franschhoek Pass. The piece first appeared in the publication 'Past Masters: Pioneer Civil Engineers who contributed to the growth and Wealth of South Africa'. Thank you to Tony Murray for giving us permission to publish. Click here to view the stories of other great engineers.
Strictly speaking Holloway was not a civil engineer but a military engineer, since his professional life was spent as an officer in the Royal Engineers. However, he was the first person to carry out a significant civil engineering work in South Africa, and as such deserves pride of place in our catalogue.
William Cuthbert Holloway was born on 1st May 1787, the son of Major-General Sir Charles Holloway, R.E. and his wife Helen Mary. After passing through the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich he was commissioned in the Royal Engineers in January 1804. During the Napoleonic Wars he did military service in Ireland, Madeira and Spain.
In October 1818 Holloway was sent to the Cape as commander of a detachment of Royal Engineers. His duties were essentially to provide infrastructure - including surveys and mapping - for military purposes. However, the Governor soon put his talents to wider use, and he began preparing plans and specifications for various public works in the Colony as well as supervising their construction. He was also required to make periodic tours of inspection. Based on these investigations he submitted a detailed report on the...
