Erith, James Thomas

To His Excellency General the Right Honourable Lord Charles /
Somerset, Governor of the Cape of Good Hope 7+c 7+c 7+c /
The Memorial of James Thomas Erith of Waaye Platz+, most humbly /
sheweth /
That your Excellency's Memorialist since his unfortunate /
residence in this Colony, has been most cruelly persecuted by Captain Trappes, the late provisional Magistrate /
of the Albany district, # and while the most useful of his Servants have been taken from him, under /
the sanction of Office in order to promote the private emolument of the Magistrate, and himself and /
family placed upon a Rock where he has been completely obstructed in his anxious desires to cultivate /
a portion of Land, agreeable to the Intentions of His Majesty's Government in the parent state, and by /
which his property has been shamefully and wantonly wasted. /

That your Excellency's Memorialist having been deprived /
of his Servants of the greatest outrages ever committed in civil Society /by one\ who ought only to /
have been a „terror to Evil doers" They were ordered by Captain Trappes to draw their supplies /
of Meat and Flour from the Commis+sary on the credit of a certain deposit which your Memorialist /
had paid into His Majesty's Treasury in England under a promise of receiving it in this Colony by /
Three separate instalments, at specific periods, but which your Excellency, will doubtles+s be surprised /
to hear, has certainly not been complied with, and not only so, but in consequence of your /
Memorialist refusing to sign a receipt for the amount posted against him, including /
what his servants had had, [while in the Employment of Captain Trappes], he was not only threatened /
to be imprisoned in the Trunk at Grahams Town but he and his wife with their infant family /
(amidst the greatest public disasters that ever befel an unfortunate people) have been denied the /
privilege of receiving rations from His Majesty's Magaz+ine, even for prompt payment, while the /
balance due to him has been actually with-held, notwithstanding the most solemn /
and succes+sive appeals from him and remonstrances have been made, and no redres+s has yet been obtained /
He is therefore compelled to lay his case at your Excellency’s, feet with extracts of the Official docu=ments, /
under the deepest impres+sion that he will receive, under the wisdom and humanity of your /
illustrious Government, that Justice which he has previously and earnestly sought for, but in vain /
and which if your Excellency had not arrived, your Memorialist was preparing to lay before The /
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Right Honourable the Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in Parliament /
as+sembled. /
That your Excellency's Memorialist when residing in his native /
country applied to His Majesty's noble Secretary of State for the Colonies to obtain a Grant of One /
thousand acres of Land in this part of the British Dominions and which was readily complied with, /
and in consequence of which, your Memorialist engaged Nine servants for the term of Three Years, on /
liberal wages, and who embarked with him on board „the Brilliant” where he provided them with /
many additional comforts, but while on this Voyage they behaved in a manner unbecoming their /
situation, and which could not fail to excite in his mind some painful sensations, but which he /
hoped would be effectually removed by the local authorities, without suspecting for a moment, that a /
Magistrate would be found who was capable of increasing the dis+satisfaction they manifested, /
and which originated (as it did with many other persons arrived in this Colony in a similar capacity) /
from a desire of obtain/i\ng higher wages, than what was agreed upon in England, for they actually /
said, that „the men are better off' in this country than their Masters” and subbordination was completely /
at an end as soon as they had heard how some of the „Heads of parties” were treated. /

That your Memorialist having reached the shore at Algoa Bay /
(now called Port Eliz+abeth), their conduct became very turbulent, inasmuch as during their Journey /
from thence to his location, they threw out the property of your Memorialist from the Waggons, with /
which (as he conceived) he was accommodated on the credit of his own Deposit, which amounted to /
One Hundred and five pounds sterling, and when he insisted on their being replaced, one of /
them struck him a violent blow, and put himself in the attitude of a pugilist, but which your /
Memorialist endeavored to bear with as much patience as pos+sible, thinking that when he /
arrived within the precincts of a Drostdy, he should meet with the same protection and redres+s /
as if he had been on the favored shores of England _ Accordingly on reaching the beautiful /
spot, upon which he was first located, he applied to Captain Trappes, by a Memorial stating /
(in respectful language) the unpleasant nature of his Situation, but which was actually returned, /
and after three succes+sive applications, No redres+s could be obtained! No ! not even for the as+sault /
nor was the case fairly investigated, but on the contrary (after he had discovered the nature of /
their Trades) your Memorialist was sternly ordered to leave a certain Village denominated /
„Bathurst”, and informed by the magistrate that " If he could not send him out of the Colony /
he would place him in a situation, which would be quite as bad or worse," and your Excellency will perceive /
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by this Memorial and investigating the Circumstances connected therewith, that he has certainly /
(for the present) made good his threatenings. /

That your Memorialist perceiving from the extraordinary en=couragement /
thus given to the servants (by the local authority) he had brought out from England, at /
a great expence, that they would perform no work whatever, declared that he would supply them /
with no more rations until they returned to their duty, when they instantly replied that " that was /
what they wanted, for they could go to Captain Trappes and he would let them draw some," and /
which was actually the case, while they continued in a state of Idlenes+s _ At length however /
the Clouds which had hung around his mysterious conduct began to disperse, and the real motives /
which induced him to employ such very singular language towards your Memorialist in the /
presence of his servants calculated to inflame their minds, and produce (as it actually did) an
additional degree of discontent, were visible to every attentive observer, for three of the Men /
(without the consent of your Memorialist) were taken into the Employment of the before cited Magistrate /
still however allowing them (as I can prove he did) to draw rations of your Memorialist's /
Deposits, upon the Justice of which your Excellency is now humbly appealed to /
That the servants of your Memorialist had previously expres+sed /
themselves confident that their rations were gratuitously supplied by Government, and that in con=sequence /
they became their own property, and they would do as they pleased therewith” and the /
Declaration of this lawles+s faction, certainly received the sanction of Captain Trappes, for on the /
15\th/ of June 1820, Your Memorialist received a Note from, him dated at Bathurst, of which /
the following is a correct copy, while the original (in his own handwriting) your memorialist /
is ready to produce at any time, whenever called upon. /

„Bathurst, June 5\th/ 1820”
Sir, — I hereby direct that you will immediately on receipt of this /
is+sue to each individual, composing the Party under your direction, Rations as provided by /
Government.” /

Signed C. Trappes, Captain /
and Provisional Magistrate” /
„To Mr James Erith”
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That your Memorialist felt some degree of surprise on the receipt /
of this official note he cannot attempt to conceal, because he thought it at variance with the /
circular which had is+sued from the office of the noble Secretary of State, previous to your /
Memorialist leaving England, and which your Excellency knows, has been copied into almost all /
the daily and Weekly Journals of the European part of the British Empire, Namely " That all /
victualling at the expence of Government would cease on landing," but not knowing what alteration /
might have taken place in the Cabinet of his Sovereign he was compelled to comply /
until the men had actually left him, Yet he humbly intreats your Excellency's permis+sion, to /
state the hardships he has endured, for notwithstanding the peculiar phraseology of Captain Trappes' /
extraordinary letter, he has actually been called upon, to pay for those very rations, which he /
had been compelled to is+sue as a donation from /the\ Colonial Government to his servants, while /
in a sanctioned state of mutiny and Idlenes+s, as well as for what they had drawn from the Com=mis+sary /
by the direction of Captain Trappes, [at the period they were employed by him,!] and so it was /
that when he refused to sign a receipt for the second installment of his deposit, before /
alluded to, under such nefarious proceedings, that he was threatened with imprisonment, /

That your Memorialist however on the Eleventh of July following /
received another Letter from this local Magistrate stating that " he had received an order from /
Lieu\t/ Colonel Cuyler, to remove him to Waaye Plaatz+ and that Transports for that purpose would be /
ready in a few days." But your Memorialist, in Justice to the character of that Officer, cannot refrain /
from stating to your Excellency, that he is deeply impres+sed with the fact, that some misrepresentation /
had been previously made to Lieu\t/ Colonel Cuyler in order to induce him, thus (innocently) to /
cooperate with Captain Trappes in the violent persecution, carried on against your unfortunate Memo=rialist, /
and who hereby as+serts, that his former Location, was never considered to have been " within /
the limits of the Township of Bathurst " until after the last visit of Sir Rufane to this district, but /
had that been indeed a bona fide transaction existing previous to that period it could not have fairly /
operated to the disadvantage of your Memorialist since he (Captain Trappes) has placed one of /
the Nottingham subscription party thereon, whom he had employed as his Gardener, and therefore if it /
was objectionable on such premises in the one case, it must have been so in the other, but your Memorialist /
is fully prepared to meet a new objection, which perhaps will be impres+sed on your Excellency /
as a reason why he cannot now, return to the spot upon which he was first placed, Namely that /
it belongs to the party last quoted, but this happens in a very remarkable way, for Captain Trappes /
having obtained an extensive grant of Land at the Eastern extremity, sets up his bound marks /
within the limits of their pos+ses+sions, and thereby forces them (in order to make up the deficiency) to /

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occupy that location which your Memorialist has always considered as belonging to him, and this /
will appear to be the more remarkable, inasmuch as the Gentleman who measured out the Land /
is the author of the following Letter sent to your Memorialist as p\r/ date thereof. /

„July 18\th/ 1820 /

„Sir” / — The Bearer Dirk Meraand has Instructions to furnish you with /
Three Waggons, and to conduct you, to your proper location, The ground on which you have /
been put by mistake, falling within the limits of the Township of Bathurst” /
„I remain /
Sir /
Your obedient Servant /

J. Knobel /

for Lieu\t/ Colonel Cuyler” /

„To M\r/ James Erith /
Head of a party of Settlers” /

That your Memorialist when he received the notice as contained in Mr Knobel's Letter /
was confined, to his bed by severe indisposition, but notwithstanding this, he was /
compelled to remove, by the appearance of a Constable, who was furnished with a Warrant from /
Captain Trappes to that effect, and which he brutally executed under the Influence of Intox=ication, /
and by which some of his property was stolen or lost, to a considerable amount, while /
much Injury was done to other parts thereof, when he was forcibly and against his will /
dragged to a deserted spot, and exposed on his sick bed (during the absence of his wife who was /
gone /to\ L\t/ Col Cuyler) to all the baneful consequences of an extensive Bog, in the mire and damp, /
of which he was actually laid, while the Desert to which he was brought exhibited the most /
appalling prospects by the immense mas+ses of stones which were almost everywhere to be seen. /

That your Memorialist (in great deference to your /
Excellency ) most humbly conceives that as the barren Ground upon which he has been /
located (from motives of private revenge) was originally as+signed to Mr Damant, that /
therefore it never could have been legally appointed for your Memorialist at the same time, He /
in consequence most humbly prays that your Excellency would be graciously pleased to /
is+sue a mandate for his removal to his former Location, where he may have the prospect of /
providing for his infant family, and promote in his humble degree, the grand object which /
his Majesty's Government had in view, when they permitted him to emigrate to this Colony /
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in which he is now obstructed, for the spot upon which he is now residing, was evidently selected /
for him with a view to effect his ruin. /

That your Memorialist, in the course of these extraordinary pro=ceedings /
received another letter from Captain Trappes, the Duplicate of which he takes the liberty to /
subjoin in order to convince your Excellency that he has acted contrary to his Instructions /

„Mr Erith” /

The following is an Extract from a letter dated, Colonial Office 6\th/ July /
1820, addres+sed to the provisional Magistrate” /

Extract /

„I am directed by His Excellency the Acting Governor, to acknowledge /
the receipt of your Letters of the 19\th/ Ult with the several inclosures, and to convey to you his Excellency's /
approbation of your suggestion, respecting the dis+solution of the party which left England under /
the charge of M\r/ Erith, [provided that the same be effected with the several consent of those concerned”]

Signed C Trappes, Provisional Magistrate /

That your Memorialist never did consent to the dis+solution of his /
party, he as+sures your Excellency in the most positive and unequivocal /terms\, Yet the provisional /
Magistrate thought proper to discharge them from all obligations arising out of a written /
Agreement, legally executed in England, and which your Memorialist /conceives\ was not only an act /
of arbitrary power and contrary to the British Constitution, but directly opposed to the plain /
and obvious meaning of the above inserted Letter, as well as a proclamation bearing date /
on the 14\th/ of May 1820, and the decis+sions given in similar cases /

That your memorialist begs to state his deep conviction that if the /
Magistrate of whom he complains, had been of a conciliatory disposition, the men would have /
returned quietly to their work, and their squabbles finally ceased, but they were actually in=creased /
by the Magistrate himself with an evident intention to avail himself of the services /
of the Three men before noticed /

That your Memorialist perceiving from the violent and outrageous /
conduct of Captain Trappes, that he was determined to ruin him and his family had no alternative /
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but to hand his case over to his Excellency the late acting Governor, praying that a full and fair /
investigation might take place, but that Memorial remained unattended to during the /
protracted period of Four Months, and your Memorialist conceived, for reasons which he cannot /
at present enter into, that, that Document had never reached Sir Rufane's hand, and therefore /
under that impres+sion he ventured to addres+s a private Letter to that Nobleman, stating the /
particulars of his case, and complaining of the long period he had waited for an answer, and /
which produced the desired effect, for an answer was received by return of Post, written by /
Colonel Bird, in which he expres+ses in the handsomest manner, the sentiments of his late /
Excellency, but very singularly directs, that the application for another portion of Land, be /
made " without any reference to the conduct of the local authorities" and introduces a sentence /
marked with inverted comma’s, as a quotation from some official document, and which /
your Memorialist conceived to be Captain Trappes’s, charging him with cancelling by /
his own act and deed the written Agreements into which he had entered with his servants /
in England, of which nothing can be more untrue, and Colonel Bird in the end, will /
find that he has been most shamefully imposed upon, /

That your memorialist in the early part of the month of June /
last, presented to Sir Rufane during his visit to this district, a second Memorial /
praying to be removed and for the balance of his deposit, which was couched /
in terms strictly conformable with the injunctions laid upon him by the Official pen of Colonel /
in his letter bearing date April 6\th/ 1821, and contrary to his feelings as an Englishman /
/forbore\ to touch the curtains, which he seemed to wish (for reasons best known to himself) might /
hang undisturbed around the conduct of this „local authority” whom nobody respects, but /
but the wife of your Excellency’s Memorialist was determined not to conceal the acts of /
delinquency they had endured, whatever might be the consequence, as she well knew /
„Truth might be blamed, but could not be shamed” and accordingly entered ino /
a full detail of the facts relative to the cruel persecutions and injustice your Memorialist /
had suffered in a Memorial addres+sed to the late Governor (a copy of which is an=nexed /
hereto) when she was told by Sir Rufane „that your memorialist should certainly /
be removed, and that [instantly],” but alas ! it has not been done yet, and your /
Memorialist is left Justly to complain of shameful procrastination which has wasted /
much of his property, but Sir Rufane added, that „with respect to the other points /
contained in her Memorial, he could say nothing about at present, because Cap\t/ /
Trappes had taken it out of his hands by telling him that the allegations were /
untrue, and therefore she would hear from His Majesty's Fiscal in the course of /
a few days, as he meant to prosecute her for defamation of character,” but /
having again incurred no inconsiderable degree of expence in waiting near /

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Seven Months for the trial of this threatened Action agreeable to the inflated language before /
described, with an anxious desire to meet him, but in vain, your Memorialist therefore feels it a /
duty he owes himself and family to make his appeal to the existing laws of the Colony, for /
protection against such a flagrant system of injustice which has been carried on against /
him, at the next circuit Tribunal, unles+s you are pleased to suggest any other mode, but /
in the meanwhile he humbly prays your Excellency to reinstate him in his former /
original location, and your Memorialist will ever feel himself in duty bound to pray 7+c 7+c /

Waaye Plaatz+, commonly called /
New Botany Bay Dec\r/ 31\st/ 1821 /
Ja\s/ Tho\s/ Erith /
Duplicate of M\rs/ Erith’s Memorial to the late Governor /
dated June 8\th/ 1821 /
„To His Excellency Major General Sir Rufane Shawe Donkin, Knight, Commander, of the most /
Honourable and military order of the Bath, Acting Governor and Commanding in Chief, His Majestys /
Forces at the Cape of Good Hope 7+c 7+c 7+c /
The Memorial of Jane Erith most humbly and respectfully /
Sheweth /
That your Memorialist who is the wife of James Thomas Erith /
begs leave to approach your Excellency with a tale replete with misery and woe, and unfold to /
you some of those misfortunes with which she, with her husband and children, have been /
exercised, since their unfortunate residence in this Colony, from the cruel hand of oppres+sion /
earnestly entreating your Excellency to take her case into your most serious and humane /
consideration. /
That your Memorialist has witnes+sed with the most tortured feelings /
a violent and unprovoked as+sault, committed on the person of her husband, by one of his _ /
servants, for which no redres+s could be obtained! His party dis+solved, without his consent /
and by which he has been deprived of their services, notwithstading the expences he had /
incurred on their accoun{d}t, while three of the men, were absolutely taken into the employment /
of the provisional Magistrate, and for whom she believes, rations continued to be drawn on the /
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credit of her husband’s deposits. /
That your Memorialist with her husband, were located, upon a spot of /
ground, with which they were well satisfied, and upon which some labour was bestowed in farming /
a Garden, and collecting materials for a dwelling House, 7+ c, and consequently some expence was /
incurred, but as Captain Trappes had told the husband of your Memorialist that „ If you could /
not send him out of the Colony he would make it quite as bad, or worse” Your Memorialist had /
undertaken and was actually on ther Journey to Uitenhage in order to lay their case before Lieu\t/ /
Colonel Cuyler, leaving her husband, labouring under great bodily indisposition, with the /
charge of Two infant children, That during the unavoidable /absence\ of your Memorialist, a Constable /
arrived on their Location, with a warrant from Captain Trappes, which he brutally executed under /
the fume liquor, and the husband of your Memorialist was forceably dragged from his bed and carried /
to the barren spot upon which they now remain, under pretence of it being „within the limits of the /
Township of Bathurst „but as your /Excellency\ is now arrived on the spot she humbly begs your will be convinced /
how far that as+sertion was founded on truth, while upon this occasion your Memorialist has to lament /
over the los+s of property (either Stolen or lost) to the amount of near Thirty pounds which /
your Memorialist will specify, whenever your Excellency’s pleasure concerning it is made /
known to her /
That the husband of your Memorialist perceiving that the violence of the /
provisional Magistrate was calculated to effect his ruin, addres+sed a Memorial to your Excellency, dated Nov\r/ 1 /
1820 detailing the particulars of his case, and four Months elapsed without the receipt of a single line in /
reply, when he began to entertain Ideas, from the well known clemency and goodnes+s of your Excellency /
towards the Settlers, that that document had never reached your hands, and accordingly under that im=pres+sion /
he ventured to write a private Letter to your Excellency, stating the disappointments and injuries /
he had sustained, which by your Excellency’s command was instantly replied to by Colonel Bird /
who has adopted language as coming from your Excellency which has excited the gratitude and hopes /
of your Memorialist that her husband might memorializ+e again with every prospect of succes+s, but /
he also very singularly directs, that the application be made without any allusion to the local authorities /
of the Colony, as to the persecution he had endured. /
That your Memorialist laments exceedingly, with her /
husband, that he has been compelled to bring any charge whatever against the local authorities /
and sincerely hopes that it may prove a solitary complaint, but your Excellency’s Memorialist /
conceives in great deference, that it is contrary to the nature of man, and inconsistent with his /
moral duties as a husband or a parent, to submit to repeated acts of injustice, which have evidently /
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for their object the annahilation of all their domestic comforts without appealing to a higher /
authority, to know w/h\ether a provisional Magistrate on the shores of Southern Africa is really /
invested with a power which Magna Charta and the Bill of Rights has never /
delegated even to a Chief Justice of England, and your Memorialist feels persuaded that /
your Excellency never could intend that persons who have left their native country to /
promote the views of His Majesty’s Government should be thus treated, and compelled to /
remain silent amids a multliplicity of proceedings, in direct opposition to the com=mon /
Law of England and every other the civiliz+ed Nation for your Memorialist has always /
understood, that Magistrates are amnable to the Law of the country as well as meaner /
men. /
That your Memorialist complains, and she thinks Justly too, /
that after all the trouble and expence, her husband has sustained in bringing his servants from /
England to the Frontiers of this Colony, that they should be taken from him by misrepresentation /
made to your Excellency, of which the Letter recently received from Colonel Bird dated at the /
Colonial Office, April 6\th/. 1821. is a most convincing proof, but this she conceives is no diffi=cult /
task for that ingenious pen, which could represent her former location as „within the /
limits of the Township of Bathurst” for the purpose of placing her, with her husband, and /
two dear unoffending children upon a Rock to end their days in fruitles+s sorrow, for /
there is a paragraph in his Letter marked with inverted commas, which is doubtles+s a quotation /
from Cap\t/ Trapp’s Official documents, and which according to the reasoning of Colonel Bird /
appears to be have produced the effects which his cruel persecutor designed, „ # (says he) you admit /
that some time previous to landing at Algoa Bay, Dry came to you, saying that ht eparty /
were very uncomfortable, and wished to have their Agreement cancelled, and which (won=derful /
to tell, he adds) was accordingly done, The Plural number in Captain /
Trappes’s official communication being placed instead of the singular, to make out a /
plausible case against the husband of your Memorialist and stop the avenues of Justice against /
him, but your Excellency is hereby positively as+sured that he never cancelled any Agreement /
into which he had entered with any of his servants, except with one Dry. /
That the husband of your Memorialist was told by Colonel Bird in /
the Letter before alluded to, that „he must be aware, that if he had had any further specific grounds of /
action against any individual of his party that he might have brought the case before the /
Court at Grahams Town „ but your Excellency will be pleased to remember that that Court /
was not established and your Memorialist intreats permis+sion to say, that after /all\ she /
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has seen, since her unfortunate arrival in this Colony, that no mode of administering /
Justice appears to her to equal that palladium of British Liberty Trial by Jury! nor /
can she conceive, that any good could be obtained where a Magistrate had any influence /
who could so far forget himself, and his rank as a Gentleman as to exclaim to her husband /
„You and your children, may be damned for what I care” !” /
That in order to convinve your Excellency of what she has just /
stated, a servant belonging to the husband of your Memorialist of the name Hughes /
summoned him beofre the Court at Grahams Town, for a sum which he as+serted was due to him /
as wages, and where, upon the Trial (if it may so called( the worshipful Magistrates /
decided in the man’s favour, without so much, as reading a single line of the Agreement /
into which he had entered with hs Master in England, Nay! even refusung to look at /
it, which your Memorialist conceives was contrary to any Law whatever, but to complete /
the case, a M\r/ Onkwright dispatched a Constable, without any warrant, and destrained /
upon his property in Cattle, to the amount of 155 Rix Dollars, and the whole /of\ whom have /
been lost by the Officers, except Three, Your Memorialist therefore most humbly but /
earnestly makes her appeal to your Excellency in this busines+s and begs you will graciously /
condescend to inform her, if Agreements entered into in England are binding in this country /
or not, or whether servants having arrived here, after putting their Masters to considerable /
expence, are to be considered at full liberty to make their own terms with other Master’s, in direct /
opposition to what England would be called a legal bargain /
That there was Ten pounds in dispute with one Dry, and the hus=band /
of Your Memorialist which Colonel Bird, most correctly affirms was actually given up by /
that man, Yet notwithstanding this, The provisional Magistrate expres+sed his determination /
to comply him to pay the Amount, although the Man had no legal claim upon him what=ever, /
and therefore your Memorialist certainly feels alarmed, at living in a Colony, where the /
Magistrate are invested with a power, so detrimental to the interests of the Settlers, and while /
too they are officially commanded to suffer in silence and absolutely forbidden /
to communicate with your Excellency upon the subject. /
That The husband of your Memorialist was offered Five pounds , /
by a person of the name of Whittle to bring him out to this Colony, but after his arrival, and he /
has seen how matters were going on, applied to Captain Trappes, who endeavoured to proceed /
upon the court at Graham’s Town, to enforce the payment but The Honourbal Captain Somerset /
as+sured to comply with his suggestions. Yet the temerity of M\r/ Onkuright was equal to the case /
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for he actually sent an order for the payment thereof, without her husband having been previously /
heard in his own defence, /
That your Memorialist therefore most hymbly prays that the case of her /
much injured and oppres+sed Husband, may be fully and fairly investigated in order to his receiving /
some recompence for the injuries he has sustainced, in any way which your profound wisdom may /
suggest, or that you be graciously pleased to arrest the progres+s of his misfortunes by /
allowing them to retire from the Colony, with the wreck of their property to the British shores /
where it appears, that it would be more safe, and there they could employ it to advantage, in /
providing for the future wants of their infant children, for under present circumstances /
they have no prospect, but that of inevitable ruin, and where they will have, at least the /
satisfaction of relating the History of their persecutions and sufferings, in a British Colony, to /
the circle of their family connections, their Sovereign and their Country, and your /
Memorialist will ever pray 7+c 7+c /
Jane Erith /
Duplicate of a Letter to Major James Jones /late\ Landdrost of Albany /
„Waaye Plaatz+ Nov 1\st/ 1821 /"
Sir /
I feel exceedingly sorry to trouble you on the present occasion, but the extreme /
hardships, which my wife, myself and unoffending infant family are enduring, make me /
anxious to know the result of your promised Letter to His Excellency respecting a free pas+sage /
to England which you had the goddnes+s to say you would forward to that Nobleman, /
some time ago, and for which I should have made an earlier application, but I have had /
the misfortune since I saw you to break my collar bone, and which at present will not /
permit me to take any exercise on Horseback /
I am deeply impres+sed Sir from the kind manner you have behaved to /
me on every occasion, since the priod of your coming into the high and dignified Office /
which your fill with so much honour to yourself and satisfaction to the Settlers, that had you /
been seated in the magisterial chain, at the time of my landing in this Colony, the calamities /
of which I complain, would never have had an existance, but allow me to say that the procras=tination /
in this busines+s is rapidly wasting my property, and exposing me to take the greatest hardships /
for want of the staff of life, in consequence of the difficulty which I have found, in procuring it /
in Grahams Town, even at an exorbitant price having been excluded from the privileges /
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which my Brother Settlers enjoy, of receiving a Supply from His Majesty’s stores (for what reasons /
I should feel exceedingly obliged to be officialy informed) but had not my friends lent me some wheat /
and Flour to the amount of Two hundred pounds weight we must have been literally starved /
to Death ! and which I consider as peculiarly hard, in consequence of the sum of money /
which I have still due to me, from the deposit I made in England, under a solemn promise from /
His Majestys’s Minister’s that it should be returned to me, in the space of Three Months after my /
having been located, but nearly Two years have elapsed, and the promise unfulfilled ! of which /
I doubt not they will be surprised to hear, but /for which\ I have now the honour, again, to make a /
formal application, and intreat that you would be pleased to order an immediate settlement. /
His Excellency most emphatically as+sured M\rs/ Erith during his /
visit to this district in the month of June last that „I should certainly be removed, and that too /
immediately” and particularly (I believe) desired you to remember it, and further pledged /
himself to another Gentleman, that the promise should be realiz+ed, and in consequence of which /
as soon as Sir Rufane had left us, I waited upon for instructions relative to that event, which I /
so much desired, but unfortunately for me, your could not recollect the circumstance when I re=turned /
home (if such it may be called) for the purpose of bringing Mrs Erith with me, thinking /
perhaps upon seeing her you might remember the fact, which you know was the case, but /
the interview did not take place until the 8\th/ of August, for on my return you had left /
Albany, for Port Eliz+abeth, to conduct your family to the frontierts, and I had not the /
pleasure of seeing your again fo Five or Six Weeks, and at the end of which, your said, that /
„you could not act on verbal authority, but would write me the particulars, as soon as you /
had heard from the Governor” but through my absence from home, my cattle got into mischief, and /
for which I had to pay Twenty Rix Dollars, but in Three weeks afterwards, this misfortune was /
succeeded by another, for a Dutch Mes+senger arrived here with orders (as he stated) for me to attend /
you on the following Morning at Nine Oclock, which I fully expected was to have invested me, with /
authority to return to my former location, but which appeared to be a misatke, my attendance /
not being required, Yet you then told me „you had written to me on the subject a fortnight ago” /
but which I have certainly never received, and from the delay I have experienced in the delivery /
of a Letter, it is more than probable, that that document is still lying in the Office, but nobody could /
tell for what I was summoned this day, Yet when I returned, to my great surprise, I found that /
The Caffres had triumphantly carried off 16 Head of Cattle, but as /
as M\rs/ Erith was then, very near the time of her confinement, and from the personal /
injury which I had sustained (as before stated) and having no person with me on this soli=tary /
spot, I have been prevented from making your acquainted with this fact at an earlier period /
I merely mention these few circumstances /out\ of many which might be selected /
>
to shew you the los+ses which I am still sustaining, I will not say from any inattention on your /
part, but certainly as the effects of the most cruel and unprovoked persecutions commenced /
against me previous to the auspicious period of your residing amongst us, by which I have /
suffered a los+s of Several Hundred Pounds while I humbly intreat, that /
your wold be pleased with your usual goones+s to forward me /with\ your official communication /
to which I have before alluded and am /
Sir /
your most ob\t/ hum\ble/ Servant /
James Thomas Erith /

„To James Jones Esg\re/”
Landdrost of Albany /
Duplicate of a Third Memorial to Sir Rufane Shawe Donkin /
dated Nov\r/ 17\th/ 1821 /
May it please your Excellency” /
„During your last visit to Albany, M\rs/ Erith had the honour /
to leave you her Memorial detailing the cruel persecutions I had endured from Captain Trappes /
the late provisional Magistrate of this district, when with your usual goodnes+s, agreeable /
to the prayer it contained, you was pleased to direct our present worthy Landdrost to remove /

me from the rock upon which Captain Trappes has placed me, /
to another Location, but added that „you was prevented from attending to the other /
points contained in her Memorial, in consequence of Captain Trappes having as+serted, /
that the allegations it contained were false, that he meant to commence an Action against /
her for defamation of character, and therefore she would hear from His Majesty’s Fiscal /
in the course of a few days and until that was determined, could say no further upon /
the subject.“ Six Months however have nearly elapsed, and I have waited during /
that long period with great anxiety to the day of Trial, when I was confident Mrs Erith /
would prove to a demonstration that the whole of what she had stated were absolute facts /
but notwithstanding the inconvenience and Los+ses I have sustained in waiting during this
protracted period. No Action has been commenced, but on the contrary he now /
denies {his} that it was ever his intention to do so. and actually charges your Excellency /
with recommending such a plan to him, but a Gentleman of great respectability in /
Grahams Town, who conversed with your Excellency upon the subject, perfectly /
remembers (and I have this moment left him) that your Excellency told him, “Captain /
Trappes was going to bring an Action against Mrs Erith” 7+c / However {I} no/w\ beg /
to say that it is now my intention to commence an action at Law against h[i]m, unles+s, /
>
you are pleased to decide some other means, and therefore as, the /Reg\t/ to which Captain Trapps belongs is now retiring to England /
I have humbly to intreat that your Excellency will be pleased to discountenance his leaving this Colony /
until he has answered the charges I have against him at the next circuit Tribunal, or allow me to /
follow him, for I have been wantonly Injured by that man, and I cannot think that His Majesty’s /
Ministers ever intended that any British Settler, should be thus treated, to gratify private feelings of /
revenge /and\ under the sanction of Office to make a property out of the servants which I brought /
out under a written agreement from the distant shore of England, as I shall absolutely /
prove [he] has actually done, with a clearnes+s not surpas+sed by the noon-day Sun, and from the /
most undeniable testimony too, I shall establish the fact, that it was he alone (without my /
consent) who dis+solved my party of servants, in order to obtain a profit from their labours, and /
Your Excellency is hereby as+sured, that these as+sertions are not the hasty diction of a moment, but /
that of the most cool and deliberate reflection, and therefore I humbly pray (as a British subject) /
that your Excellency will be pleased to interfere with your high authority, in order that I /
may obtain that Justice to which I feel myself entitled, and am /
Your Excellency’s /
Most obt and very humble Serv\t/ /
Ja\s/ Tho\s/ Erith /
„Reply to the Memorial of J T Erith praying that His Excellency will be pleased to /
discountenance Cap\t/ Trappes\ leaving this Colony until he has answered the charges /
he has against him before the next circuit Tribunal or allow him (the Memorialist) /
to follow Captain Trappes”

„Memorialist is informed that as Captain Trappes is about /
to return to the Frontier he may bring his case, if he see fit /
to the cogniz+ance of the Court of Landdrost and Heemraaden” /
Colonial Office 8\th/ December 1821 /
By His Excellency’s Command” /
Signed „C Bird” /