William Anderson (1794 - 1849)

Descendants

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Birth and Parentage 1.2 Marriage 1.3 Life and Career 1.4 Death 2 Sources

Biography

William Anderson was a Scot who emigrated to South Africa in 1820, along with about 4,000 others from Britain. Recorded as a labourer, in one of the earliest groups to settle in the Cape Colony, he eventually set up a trading company, Wm Anderson Sen. & Co, and was a pioneer in a new world, building a life for himself and his family.

Birth and Parentage

[1]

William Anderson was the second son of William Anderson of Auchterarder, Perthshire, Scotland and his wife Janet Hutton. He was born in Auchterarder on 19 November 1794 and christened in Auchterarder four days later on 23 November. ^[2] He had one older and three younger brothers:

1. Andrew Anderson, b. (probably 12 Dec) 1791, bap. 25 Dec 1791, ^[3]d.
2. James Anderson, b. 1 Mar 1797, bap. 5 Mar 1797, ^[4]d.
3. David Anderson, b. 13 Oct 1800, bap. 19 Oct 1800, ^[5]d.
4. Peter Anderson, b. Oct 1804, bap. 7 Oct 1804, ^[6]d. 2 Apr 1836 ^[7]

[8]

The British Government, in an attempt to solve the problem of high unemployment in the country, decided to

try an experiment on a small scale, how far it might be possible to employ the surplus population of this country in one of our colonies in such a manner as might be advantageous to the people removed and beneficial to the country. From the satisfactory result of this experiment it was that the Government were now desirous of trying the experiment on a larger scale. The Colony selected was that of the Cape of Good Hope....Her Majesty's Government,...had selected the Cape of Good Hope as the Colony to which emigration might be most advantageously directed. From the mildness of the climate, and the fertility of the soil in some parts, a rapid and abundant return might reasonably be expected. That Colony was also highly favourable to the multiplication of stock. The particular part of the Colony selected was the south-east coast of Africa. It was at some distance from Cape Town. A small town was already built there. It was proposed to pay the expense of the passage, and at the same time to secure to the settler the means of employing his industry to advantage on his landing at the destined spot. But a small advance of money would be required from each settler before embarking, to be repaid him in necessaries at the Cape, by which means, and by the assistance given him by the Government, he would have sufficient to procure him a comfortable subsistence till he got in his crops, which in that climate were of rapid growth. The Cape was suited to most of the productions both of temperate and warm climates, — to the olive, the mulberry, the vine, as well as most sorts of culmiferous and leguminous plants. The persons emigrating to this settlement would soon find themselves comfortable. ^[9]

At the age of 18, as a labourer, William turned his back on Scotland and went with Charles Campbell's party in the Mary Ann Sophia as one of the earliest Cape Colony settlers to South Africa. ^[10][11]

Marriage

[12]

Just over a year later, when he was 19, he married on 7 July 1821, in the English Church, in South Africa, Leah Maynard, daughter of Levi Maynard and his wife, Sarah, née Mortimer.^[13] Leah had arrived from England with her family a year earlier on the Aurora, with the party of Hezekiah Sephton.^[14][15]

Life and Career

By dint of hard work and perseverance, William built up his own merchant business. W. Anderson Senior & Co was trading from the Cape in the 1800s.^[16] In 1840, Anderson, W. Sen. and Co was a subscriber to Lloyd's Register of Shipping.^[17]

On 9 October 1844 his company moved its location

to the New Stores opposite the Wesleyan Chapel, Graham's Town.^[18][19]

Death

He passed away in Simon's Town, Cape Colony on 5 June 1849. ^{[20] [21][22][23]}

Sources

1. ↑ Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland: Retrieved from the National Library of Scotland (Here;) Credit to the National Library of Scotland (Here;) Accessed 21 Nov 2021.
2. ↑ William Anderson, 1794 in Scotland Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950., FamilySearch Online Database. Retrieved from FamilySearch (Here;) Accessed 20 Nov 2023.
3. ↑ Andrew Anderson, 1791. Scotland Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950. FamilySearch Online Database. Retrieved from FamilySearch (Here;) Accessed 20 Nov 2023.
4. ↑ James Anderson, 1797. Scotland Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950. FamilySearch Online Database. Retrieved from FamilySearch (Here;) Accessed 20 Nov 2023.
5. ↑ David Anderson, 1800. Scotland Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950. FamilySearch Online Database. Retrieved from FamilySearch (Here;) Accessed 20 Nov 2023.
6. ↑ Peter Anderson, 1804. Scotland Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950. FamilySearch Online Database. Retrieved from FamilySearch (Here;) Accessed 20 Nov 2023.
7. ↑ Peter Anderson, 1836. South Africa, Settlers Index, 1820-1920. FamilySearch Online Database. Retrieved from FamilySearch (Here;) Accessed 20 Nov 2023.
8. ↑ Campbell, Colin Turing., (1897)., British South Africa; a history of the colony of the Cape of Good Hope, from its conquest 1795 to the settlement of Albany by the British emigration of 1819-- ; with notices of some of the British settlers of 1820. (p.ix)., London: John Haddon & Co. Retrieved from the Internet Archive (Here;) Accessed 21 Nov 2021.
9. ↑ Campbell, Colin Turing., (1897)., British South Africa; a history of the colony of the Cape of Good Hope, from its conquest 1795 to the settlement of Albany by the British emigration of 1819-- ; with notices of some of the British settlers of 1820, (p.32). London: John Haddon & Co. Retrieved from the Internet Archive (Here;) Accessed 21 Nov 2021.
10. ↑ Campbell, Colin Turing., (1897)., British South Africa; a history of the colony of the Cape of Good Hope, from its conquest 1795 to the settlement of Albany by the British emigration of 1819-- ; with notices of some of the British settlers of 1820. (Appendix IV. p.183). London: John Haddon & Co. Retrieved from the Internet Archive (Here;) Accessed 21 Nov 2021.
11. ↑ Frances on 21 Nov 2021
12. ↑ Freely available from: Botha, Colin Graham, (1920)., Extracts of marriages at the Cape of Good Hope, 1806-1821., The Genealogist. Retrieved from the Internet Archive (Here;) Accessed 7 July 2023.
13. ↑ Leah Maynard in entry for William Anderson, 1821 in South Africa, Church of the Province of South Africa, Parish Registers, 1801-2004", FamilySearch Onine Database with images. Retrieved from FamilySearch (Here;) Accessed 21 Nov 2021.
14. ↑ Leah Maynard, 1820 Settler Female 1805 - 1898 (93 years). Retrieved from British 1820 Settlers to South Africa (Here;) Accessed 21 Nov 2021.
15. ↑ Frances on 21 Nov 2021
16. ↑ Government Gazette, Cape of Good Hope (Colony) Jan 1830, Government Printer, South Africa. Retrieved from Google e-books (Here;) Accessed 8 Nov 2021.
17. ↑ Lloyd's Register Foundation., (1840)., Lloyd's Register of Shipping 1840. Lloyd's Register. Retrieved from Google e-Books (Here;) Accessed 20 Nov 2023.
18. ↑ Cape Frontier Times 1844 4 October - December. Retrieved from eGGGSA Library (Here;) Accessed 20 Nov 2021.
19. ↑ Frances on 20 Nov 2021
20. ↑ William Anderson Death Certificate 5 June 1849 in FamilySearch Online database. Retrieved from FamilySearch (Here;) Accessed 20 Nov 2021.
21. ↑ Memorial page for William Anderson (unknown–5 Jun 1849), Find a Grave Memorial ID 197314113, citing Seaforth Old Burying Ground and Garden of Remembrance, Seaforth, City of Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality, Western Cape, South Africa ; Maintained by Peter H (contributor 47423563). Retrieved from Find a Grave (Here;) Accessed 20 November 2021.
22. ↑ William Anderson, 1849 in South Africa, Cape Province, Cemetery Records, 1886-2010. FamilySearch Online Database. Retrieved from FamilySearch (Here;) Accessed 21 Nov 2021.
23. ↑ Frances on 21 Nov 2021

• Government Gazette, By Cape of Good Hope (Colony) Retrieved from Google ebooks (Here;) Accessed 9 Nov 2021.
• https://eggsa.org/newspapers/index.php/grahamstown-journal/77-gj-1845-jan-mar

• https://eggsa.org/newspapers/index.php/cape-frontier-times/1001-cape-frontier-times-1844-4-october-december

• https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=umn.31951t00253461g&view=1up&seq=299&skin=2021&q1=Anderson