Erith, James Thomas

To His Excellency General the Right Honourable Lord Charles
Somerset, Governor of the Cape of Good Hope &c &c &c
The Memorial of James Thomas Erith of Waaye Platz, most humbly
sheweth
That your Excellencys 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 Majestys Government in the parent state, and by
which his property has been shamefully and wantonly wasted.

That your Excellencys 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 Commissary on the credit of a certain deposit which your Memorialist
had paid into His Majestys Treasury in England under a promise of receiving it in this Colony by
Three separate instalments, at specific periods, but which your Excellency, will doubtless 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 Majestys Magazine, even for prompt payment, while the
balance due to him has been actually with-held, notwithstanding the most solemn
and successive appeals from him and remonstrances have been made, and no redress has yet been obtained
He is therefore compelled to lay his case at your Excellencys, feet with extracts of the Official documents,
under the deepest impression 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

Right Honourable the Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in Parliament
assembled.
That your Excellencys Memorialist when residing in his native
country applied to His Majestys 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 dissatisfaction they manifested,
and which originated (as it did with many other persons arrived in this Colony in a similar capacity)
from a desire of obtaining 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 Elizabeth), 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 possible, thinking that when he
arrived within the precincts of a Drostdy, he should meet with the same protection and redress
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 successive applications, No redress could be obtained! No ! not even for the assault
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

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 encouragement
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 Idleness _ 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 Memorialists
Deposits, upon the Justice of which your Excellency is now humbly appealed to
That the servants of your Memorialist had previously expressed
themselves confident that their rations were gratuitously supplied by Government, and that in consequence
they became their own property, and they would do as they pleased therewith and the
Declaration of this lawless faction, certainly received the sanction of Captain Trappes, for on the
15 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 1820
Sir, — I hereby direct that you will immediately on receipt of this
issue 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

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 issued 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 Excellencys permission, 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 issue as a donation from the Colonial Government to his servants, while
in a sanctioned state of mutiny and Idleness, as well as for what they had drawn from the Commissary
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
Lieut 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 impressed with the fact, that some misrepresentation
had been previously made to Lieut Colonel Cuyler in order to induce him, thus (innocently) to
cooperate with Captain Trappes in the violent persecution, carried on against your unfortunate Memorialist,
and who hereby asserts, 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 impressed 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 possessions, and thereby forces them (in order to make up the deficiency) to

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 pr date thereof.

July 18 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 Lieut Colonel Cuyler

To Mr James Erith
Head of a party of Settlers

That your Memorialist when he received the notice as contained in Mr Knobels 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 Intoxication,
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 Lt 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 masses 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 assigned 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
issue 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 Majestys Government had in view, when they permitted him to emigrate to this Colony

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 proceedings
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 July
1820, addressed to the provisional Magistrate

Extract

I am directed by His Excellency the Acting Governor, to acknowledge
the receipt of your Letters of the 19 Ult with the several inclosures, and to convey to you his Excellencys
approbation of your suggestion, respecting the dissolution of the party which left England under
the charge of Mr 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 dissolution of his
party, he assures 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 of May 1820, and the decissions 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 increased
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

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 Rufanes hand, and therefore
under that impression he ventured to address 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 expresses 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 commas, as a quotation from some official document, and which
your Memorialist conceived to be Captain Trappess, 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 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 Excellencys 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 addressed to the late Governor (a copy of which is annexed
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 Capt
Trappes had taken it out of his hands by telling him that the allegations were
untrue, and therefore she would hear from His Majestys 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

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, unless 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 &c &c

Waaye Plaatz, commonly called
New Botany Bay Decr 31 1821
Jas Thos Erith
Duplicate of Mrs Eriths Memorial to the late Governor
dated June 8 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 &c &c &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 oppression
earnestly entreating your Excellency to take her case into your most serious and humane
consideration.
That your Memorialist has witnessed with the most tortured feelings
a violent and unprovoked assault, committed on the person of her husband, by one of his _
servants, for which no redress could be obtained! His party dissolved, without his consent
and by which he has been deprived of their services, notwithstading the expences he had
incurred on their accoundt, 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

credit of her husbands 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, &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 Lieut
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 assertion was founded on truth, while upon this occasion your Memorialist has to lament
over the loss of property (either Stolen or lost) to the amount of near Thirty pounds which
your Memorialist will specify, whenever your Excellencys 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, addressed a Memorial to your Excellency, dated Novr 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 goodness of your Excellency
towards the Settlers, that that document had never reached your hands, and accordingly under that impresssion
he ventured to write a private Letter to your Excellency, stating the disappointments and injuries
he had sustained, which by your Excellencys 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 memorialize again with every prospect of success, 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 Excellencys 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

for their object the annahilation of all their domestic comforts without appealing to a higher
authority, to know whether 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 Majestys Government should be thus treated, and compelled to
remain silent amids a multliplicity of proceedings, in direct opposition to the common
Law of England and every other the civilized 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. 1821. is a most convincing proof, but this she conceives is no difficult
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 fruitless sorrow, for
there is a paragraph in his Letter marked with inverted commas, which is doubtless a quotation
from Capt Trapps 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 (wonderful
to tell, he adds) was accordingly done, The Plural number in Captain
Trappess 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 assured 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 permission to say, that after all she

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 asserted was due to him
as wages, and where, upon the Trial (if it may so called( the worshipful Magistrates
decided in the mans 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 Mr 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 business 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 Masters, in direct
opposition to what England would be called a legal bargain
That there was Ten pounds in dispute with one Dry, and the husband
of Your Memorialist which Colonel Bird, most correctly affirms was actually given up by
that man, Yet notwithstanding this, The provisional Magistrate expressed his determination
to comply him to pay the Amount, although the Man had no legal claim upon him whatever,
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 Grahams Town, to enforce the payment but The Honourbal Captain Somerset
assured to comply with his suggestions. Yet the temerity of Mr Onkuright was equal to the case

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 oppressed 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 progress 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 &c &c
Jane Erith
Duplicate of a Letter to Major James Jones late Landdrost of Albany
Waaye Plaatz Nov 1 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 passage
to England which you had the goddness 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 impressed 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 procrastination
in this business 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

which my Brother Settlers enjoy, of receiving a Supply from His Majestys 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 Majestyss Ministers 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 assured Mrs 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 realized, 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 returned
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 of August, for on my return you had left
Albany, for Port Elizabeth, 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 Messenger 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 Mrs 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 solitary
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 losses 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 loss of Several Hundred Pounds while I humbly intreat, that
your wold be pleased with your usual gooness to forward me with your official communication
to which I have before alluded and am
Sir
your most obt humble Servant
James Thomas Erith

To James Jones Esgre
Landdrost of Albany
Duplicate of a Third Memorial to Sir Rufane Shawe Donkin
dated Novr 17 1821
May it please your Excellency
During your last visit to Albany, Mrs 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 goodness, 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 asserted,
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 Majestys 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 Losses 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 &c However I now beg
to say that it is now my intention to commence an action at Law against him, unless,

you are pleased to decide some other means, and therefore as, the Regt 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 Majestys
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 clearness not surpassed 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 dissolved my party of servants, in order to obtain a profit from their labours, and
Your Excellency is hereby assured, that these assertions 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 Excellencys
Most obt and very humble Servt
Jas Thos Erith
Reply to the Memorial of J T Erith praying that His Excellency will be pleased to
discountenance Capt 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 cognizance of the Court of Landdrost and Heemraaden
Colonial Office 8 December 1821
By His Excellencys Command
Signed C Bird