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WHAT'S IN THE POCKET? A CRITICAL HISTORY OF LAND INSCRIPTIONS IN THE BISHOPLEA AREA OF UPPER CLAREMONT DURING THE BRITISH RULE AT THE CAPE (1806 - 1910) Sally Margaret Titlestad A minithesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy in the School of Architecture, Planning and Geomatics, University of Cape Town Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. I Low August, 2004 DECLARATION I declare that What's in the Pocket? A Critical History of Land Inscriptions in the Bishoplea Area of Upper Claremont during British rule at the Cape (1806 - 1910) is my own work, that it has not been submitted before for any degree or examination in any other university, and that all the sources I have used or quoted have been indicated and acknowledged as complete references. Sally Titlestad August, 2004 Signed: ________________ Acknowledgements There are a number of people and institutions whose contributions to this work have been invaluable: I would like to thank my supervisor and course co-ordinator, lain Low for encouraging me to embark upon interdisciplinary work, and for having enough confidence in my abilities to offer me the opportunity of teaching research methods to other students. I would like to thank the School of Architecture for the opportunity of entering an interdisciplinary research programme, and for being able to teach across disciplines thereby funding my own studies. Antonia Malan's utter generosity of spirit is humbling. Her willingness to share her expertise, explain basics, pass on her understandings of historical archaeology, allow me to use her unpublished work and much more, have been irreplaceable - Thank you. Noeleen Murray for her sharp intellect and incisive yet supportive criticism. Staff at the libraries, schools and archival institutions that I have frequented, and whom I have badgered over a year or more in pursuit of information. There are two sets of people whom I would like to particularly thank ­ Linda Fedder, the librarian at the Directorate of Surveys and Mapping in Mowbray, and Jaco at the Cape Archives depot for his knowledge and willingness to share it with researchers. My classmates - for everything that we have learned from each other and for the different things that this has meant to us all. Particularly, I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to Jonathan Ferrari for the tapioca etc., and to Andre van Graan for too many things to name. Last but never least, I would like to thank my children for keeping it real and my partner for the (P.H.P.) red socks and much more. Abstract ... every Prince sfiouUf fiave .. a (Dra ugfit (~f fiis Co untlY aru{(j)ominiolls, to see fiow tfie grauna fies in tfie sewra[parts oftfiem, 'which fiigliest, wfiich {owest; .. Sucli a Yl1.ap or Survey ·(.(Jo uUf 6e usefu{ 60th ill time of ((IVaI' alUf Peace, ana many gooa ooseruatiolls migfit 6e maae 6y it, not on!)' as to JVa tura{%story ana Pfiifosopfiy, out afso in oraer to tfie peifect improvement ofa Country. Thomas Burnet, The theory of the Earth (1684) cited in Andrews and Harley (1980:1) The intention to 'map for the perfect improvement' of the Cape in the expansion of the British Empire is central to this study. The rapid hegemonic shifts that transformed the Cape from vac outpost to British colony and their confluence at the level of the microcosm (the early beginnings of the suburb of Claremont) are the concern of this research project. The reflection of these shifts lies in both the architecture and spatial arrangements of the expansion of Cape Town into its surrounding residential areas. British architectural and spatial influence is still evident. A critical analysis of the constructions of power that became inscribed in the surveying system used to monitor land ownership under the British is undertaken. It has been the aim of this project to explore the history and application of the system of land surveying used by the British at the Cape. In doing so the aim has been to render explicit and therefore readable the inscriptions of power (and therefore inclusion and exclusion) embedded in this system, using a pocket of upper Claremont as case study. Hermeneutic interpretations of the documentary evidence present a number of possible narratives, all of which are underwritten by the silence produced in main stream readings of the histories of the dispossessed. The pressing need to address the heritage value of the architecture and spatial organisation of 'the ordinary' acts as leitmotif to the discussion. ---" . ­ ' ~1 W ..... n PT, [('1 Socic&n>und Ph~ 01 the oriti..1Foldhousen ~ _ . ~tn l piece of the 1936 foo<prims oIlond use In the ..-eo TABL E OF C O ! ~ T EN TS TABLE OF CONTENTS Abbreviations and Glossary of Terms ................................................................................................ ii Chapter 1 Introduction .......................................................................................................... ....... 1 Chapter 2 Parameters of the Study ................... .. .. ................................................. ..... ................. 3 Chapter 3 Review of the Literature and Previous Studies ....................... ............ .. .. ....................... 7 Studies of Claremont and Surrounds ................................................................................................ 7 A Note on the fit between Method and Methodology ...................................... .............................. 11 Theory and Thinking.................................................................................................. ....................... 12 Imperialism and mapping ..................... ........................................................................................... 14 Chapter 4 Historical Background at the Cape ................ ... ..................................................... ..... 17 Settlement and Surveying ............................. ...... .. ................. ......................................................... 17 Land Tenure and Surveying ......................................................... .................................................... 18 The Ideology of Land Ownership at the Cape ................................................................................. 22 Chapter 5 Critical Use of Documentary Evidence .... ....... ................................................. ......... ... 24 Surveyor General's Diagrams (S/G's diagrams) ............................................................................ 25 Maps ................................................................................................................................................. 25 Deeds Office records of land transfers ................. .......................................................................... 26 Autobiographical Work ..................................................................................................................... 26 Archival Data ..................................................................................................................... .. ............. 27 Chapter 6 The Town and This Pocket in the 19th century............................................................. 28 The Cape when the British took over - after 1806......................................................................... 29 Managing Property in the Colony - Land and Slaves ............................................................ .......... 31 Claremont and the Bishoplea Pocket ............................................................................ ................. 33 Ownership................................................................................ ......................................................... 44 Subdivision after 1840........... .......................... ............................................. .................................. 47 Chapter 7 Reflection on Links and Absences .. .. ... ................................ ....................................... 52 The Need to Conserve Complexity ............................................................................. ..................... 52 Architecture and the Freed Slaves ......... ......................................................................................... 53 Trade in Property - Land and Slaves ............................................................ ................................... 54 Use of Maps and Mapping tools to Imperial ends ......................................................................... 55 Boundaries and the Question of Integration .................................................................................. 57 Chapter 8 Conclusions and Unanswered questions ...... .. ...... ............................ ........... ............ ... 59 List Of References and Sources ....................................................................... ............................... 62 Appendix 1 Summary of Surveyor Generals Diagrams, Plans & Maps ......................................... 67 Appendix 2 Summary of Deeds Office Data ... .... ................................ ....................................... 69 Appendix 3 Brief Summary of Influential History in the 19th Century ......... ................................... 79 Appendix 4 Maps and Surveyors Diagrams ................................ ...................................................... 81 Wllat"s ;11 tile pocket? TAB LE OF CO NTENTS List of Illustrations Figure 1 - Map of Cape Town

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