Person:Thomas Ferreira (1)

Thomas Ignatius Ferreira settled at Algoa Bay in April 1776 on the farm Papenkuilsfontein (Paapenkuilsfontein), meaning bulrush fountain. Some early maps refer to the nearby river as Ferreira’s River. In March 1799, British troops built a small mud fort, Star Fort, nearby. On 04 December 1782, six sailors from the Grosvenor ship wreck reached Papenkuilsfontein, one being William Hubberly, after walking nearly 500 km in four months. A search party was immediately sent and a further 12 sailors were found. On 10 August 1799 and in September 1802, the Ferreira family was attacked by Xhosas and had to seek refuge at Fort Frederick. The family lived at the farm until 1806 and sold it in January 1812 to Frederick Korsten. When Sir John Francis Cradock visited the farm, Korsten renamed it to Cradock Town, which later became Cradock Place. In the 1850s, Thomas Baines painted a rural scene which depicted a farmhouse with a windmill and a group of picnickers. This was Cradock Place. The once-productive farm with orchards and oak-lined avenues is now a ruin. The old farmstead burnt down in 1909.

Source: Standard Encyclopaedia of Southern Africa