Misplaced Pages

#124875

55-530: In 1658, war erupted between the Dutch settlers at Cape Colony and the Khoi-khoi . In order to protect the settlement, all able bodied men were conscripted. After the conclusion of this war, all men in the colony were liable for military service and were expected to be ready on short notice. By 1700, the size of the colony had increased immensely and it was divided into districts. The small military garrison stationed at

110-436: A lieutenant . In 1865, control of the gunsmith company was inherited by Westley Richards, who was the eldest son of the founder. Richards carried on in a similar vein to his father, innovating various guns and registering patents. In 1862, he was responsible for the innovation of the fastening system used on some rifles. His innovations with rifles continued for the next decade, creating the falling block rifle in 1868 and

165-627: A magistracy at Swellendam in 1745 and another at Graaff Reinet in 1786, and declared the Gamtoos River as the eastern frontier of the colony, only to see the Trekboers cross it soon afterwards. In order to keep out Cape native pastoralists, organised increasingly under the resisting, rising house of Xhosa, the VOC agreed in 1780 to make the Great Fish River the boundary of the colony. In 1795, after

220-689: A European colony in South Africa. The Cape settlement was built by them in 1652 as a re-supply point and way-station for United East India Company vessels on their way back and forth between the Netherlands and Batavia (Jakarta) in the Dutch East Indies . The support station gradually became a settler community, the forebears of the Boers , and the Cape Dutch who collectively became modern-day Afrikaners . At

275-476: A Westley Richards 275 model as mentioned in The Temple Tiger and More Maneaters of Kumaon . From 2009 onwards, the company began to focus on branded clothing as well as firearms. They focused on the hunting and shooting communities, stating that professional shooters and social groups would benefit from another luxury clothing brand in this field. The product range includes bags and suitcases . Since

330-470: A break-open action. It was strongly opposed by most sportsmen and manufacturers at first, but became the dominant form of double barrelled shotgun action. The 12G Westley Richard Droplock is one of the more famous guns produced by the gunsmith. One of the guns is said to be on display at the Queen Elizabeth 's residence, Sandringham House . During the 1920s, Jai Singh Prabhakar , Maharaja of Alwar

385-562: A clothing brand, it allowed the company to capitalise on this slow period. In 2012, the company celebrated its bicentenary , publishing the book, In Pursuit of the Best Gun , written by Jeremy Musson . One of the most famous guns was created by John Deeley in the late-1800s. Deeley produced the first boxlock action shotgun, which was a hammerless action of a type commonly used in double barrelled shotguns , dating back to roughly 1875. The boxlock action uses concealed, self-cocking hammers in

440-579: A few years earlier and these were used during the hostilities. Others used captured British rifles such as the "long" Lee-Metford and the Enfield , as confirmed by photographs from the era. When the ammunition for the Mausers ran out, the Boers relied primarily on the captured Lee-Metfords. Regardless of the rifle, few of the commando used bayonets. The best modern European artillery was also purchased. By October 1899

495-544: A fleet of nine warships which anchored at Simon's Town and, following the defeat of the Dutch militia at the Battle of Muizenberg , took control of the territory. The United East India Company transferred its territories and claims to the Batavian Republic (the Dutch sister republic established by France) in 1798, then ceased to exist in 1799. Improving relations between Britain and Napoleonic France , and its vassal state

550-558: A new waterproof primer for the ignition of percussion guns and also the first flip-up sight , which went on to be used by the British Army . Richards opened a gun shop in London in 1815 on New Bond Street . The shop was owned and managed by William Bishop, who was known as the Bishop of Bond Street. It was stated in a book published by G. T. Teasdale-Buckell in 1900, that Bishop had served as

605-527: A number of royal warrants since 1840. Famous gun owners have included Ernest Hemingway , Maharaja of Alwar and actor Stewart Granger . Today, Westley Richards is one of the oldest surviving traditional gun and rifle makers in England . In 2009, the company diversified into a number of other markets, including country clothing. Westley Richards was founded in Birmingham in 1812 by William Westley Richards at

SECTION 10

#1732852491125

660-462: A significant proportion of marriages were interracial, this is at least partially attributed to a lack of 'White' or 'Christian' women within the colony. What later became the racial division between 'White' and 'non-White' populations originally began as a division between Christian and non-Christian populations. The Geslags-registeers estimated that seven percent of the Afrikaner gene pool in 1807

715-568: A solid drawn-metallic cartridge case . John Deeley took over the commercial side of the company, with the aim to expand the business from 1871. These expansions were mainly focused on South Africa and India , both of which were part of the British Empire . Before the Second Boer War , the two Boer republics ' most common rifle was the .450 Westley Richards falling-block, single-action, breech-loading rifle, with accuracy up to 600 yards. It

770-401: A ward was divided into corporalships. A corporalship was usually made up of about 20 burghers. Sometimes entire families (fathers, sons, uncles, cousins) filled a corporalship. The veldkornet was responsible to the kommandant, who in turn was responsible to a general. In theory, a general was responsible for four commandos. He in turn was responsible to the commander-in-chief of the republic. In

825-560: A well established gunsmith . The company was founded in 1812 by William Westley Richards , who was responsible for the early innovation of many rifles used in wars featuring the British Army during the 1800s. It remained in the hands of the Richards family until it was purchased by Walter Clode in 1957. Currently the company has two listed directors, Alexander Clode and Sheikh Sultan Bin Jassim Al Thani of Qatar. The company has received

880-712: The Battle of Blaauwberg (6 January 1806), the Swellendam Commando held the British off long enough for the rest of the Batavian army to retreat to safety. Under British rule, the Cape Colony continued to use the commando system in its frontier wars , in addition to regular British imperial troops. Boer commandos fought alongside Fengu , British settlers , Khoi-khoi and other ethnic groups in units which were often mixed. Light, mobile commandos were undeniably better-suited than

935-568: The Battle of Muizenberg in present-day Cape Town , the British occupied the colony. Under the terms of the Peace of Amiens of 1802, Britain ceded the colony back to the Dutch on 1 March 1803, but as the Batavian Republic had since nationalized the United East India Company (1796), the colony came under the direct rule of The Hague. Dutch control did not last long, however, as the outbreak of

990-646: The Castle de Goede Hoop could not be counted on to react swiftly in the border districts, therefore the commando system was expanded and formalized. Each district had a Kommandant who was charged with calling up all burghers in times of need. In 1795, with the First British Occupation and again in 1806 with the Second British Occupation , the commandos were called up to defend the Cape Colony. At

1045-592: The Napoleonic Wars (18 May 1803) invalidated the Peace of Amiens. In January 1806, the British occupied the colony for a second time after the Battle of Blaauwberg at present-day Bloubergstrand . The Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814 confirmed the transfer of sovereignty to Great Britain. Traders of the United East India Company ( VOC ), under the command of Jan van Riebeeck , were the first people to establish

1100-601: The United States . He restored many old weapons used in India, reselling them as vintage restorations at shows around the world, including Las Vegas . Shortly after the company announced that it would be expanding its operations into the clothing market. The reason behind the move was said to be down to the large close season for shooting in the United Kingdom , which traditionally runs from January through to August. By launching

1155-504: The Amstel River (Liesbeek River). Nine of the best applicants were selected to use the land for agricultural purposes. The freemen or free burghers as they were afterwards termed, thus became subjects, and were no longer servants, of the company. After the first settlers spread out around the Company station, nomadic European livestock farmers, or Trekboeren, moved more widely afield, leaving

SECTION 20

#1732852491125

1210-619: The Batavian Republic (which he would replace with a monarchy later that year). The British established their colony to control the Far East trade routes. In 1814 the Dutch government formally ceded sovereignty over the Cape to the British, under the terms of the Convention of London . The Dutch Cape Colony was divided into four districts. In 1797 their "recorded" populations were: During this period

1265-479: The Batavian Republic, led the British to hand the Cape Colony over to the Batavian Republic in 1803, under the terms of the Treaty of Amiens . In 1806, the Cape, now nominally controlled by the Batavian Republic, was occupied again by the British after their victory in the Battle of Blaauwberg . The peace between Britain and Napoleonic France had broken after one year, while Napoleon had been strengthening his influence on

1320-514: The Free Burghers. The Dutch language was taught at schools as the main medium for commercial purposes, with the result that the indigenous people and even the French settlers found themselves speaking Dutch more than their native languages. The principles of Christianity were also introduced at the school resulting in the baptisms of many slaves and indigenous residents. Conflicts with the settlers and

1375-579: The Orange Free State and Transvaal: Dutch Cape Colony The Dutch Cape Colony ( Dutch : Kaapkolonie ) was a Dutch United East India Company (VOC) colony in Southern Africa , centered on the Cape of Good Hope , from where it derived its name. The original colony and the successive states that the colony was incorporated into occupied much of modern South Africa . Between 1652 and 1691, it

1430-578: The Transvaal State Artillery had 73 heavy guns, including four 155 mm Creusot fortress guns and 25 of the 37 mm Maxim Nordenfeldt guns . The Boers' Maxim, larger than the Maxim model used by the British, was a large caliber, belt-fed, water-cooled "auto cannon" that fired explosive rounds (smokeless ammunition) at 450 rounds per minute; it became known as the "Pom Pom". Other weapons in use included: The following Boer commandos existed in

1485-681: The Transvaal, the C-in-C was called the Commandant-General and in the Free State the Hoofdkommandant (Chief Commandant). The C-in-C was responsible to the president. Other auxiliary ranks were created in war time, such as vleiskorporaal ("meat corporal"), responsible for issuing rations. The commando was made up of volunteers, all officers were appointed by the members of the commando, and not by

1540-502: The United East India Company for a fixed price. As these farms were labour-intensive, Vryburghers imported slaves from Madagascar , Mozambique and Asia ( Dutch East Indies and Dutch Ceylon ), which rapidly increased the number of inhabitants. After King Louis XIV of France issued the Edict of Fontainebleau in October 1685 (revoking the Edict of Nantes of 1598), thereby ending protection of

1595-402: The age of 22. His family background had been in fine jewellery , cutlery and the gun trade. Early in the company's history, Richards coined the motto, "to be the maker of as good a gun as can be made", which is still used to this day. William Westley Richards was an early gun innovator, creating a number of gun-related patents . The two most significant was the patent relating to the use of

1650-612: The ages of 16 and 60. During the Anglo-Boer War (1899–1902) the Boer commando formed the backbone of the Boer forces. After the declaration of peace in 1902, the commandos were disbanded. They did re-form themselves in clandestine "shooting clubs". In 1912, the commandos were re-formed as an Active Citizen Force in the Union Defence Force . This system was in operation until 2005, when all commandos were disbanded again. Each commando

1705-588: The colonials, and its later use in Cape Islam by them when it first became a written language that used the Arabic letters . By the time of British rule after 1795, the sociopolitical foundations were firmly laid. In 1795, France occupied the Dutch Republic . This prompted Great Britain , at war with France, to occupy the territory that same year as a way to better control the seas on the way to India . The British sent

Boer commando - Misplaced Pages Continue

1760-537: The colonists, mostly as shepherds and herdsmen. The VOC favoured the idea of freemen at the Cape and many settlers requested to be discharged in order to become free burghers; as a result, Jan van Riebeeck approved the notion on favorable conditions and earmarked two areas near the Liesbeek River for farming purposes in 1657. The two areas which were allocated to the freemen, for agricultural purposes, were named Groeneveld and Dutch Garden. These areas were separated by

1815-523: The colony rapidly expanded into a settler colony in the years after its founding. As the only permanent settlement of the Dutch United East India Company not serving as a trading post, it proved an ideal retirement place for employees of the company. After several years of service in the company, an employee could lease a piece of land in the colony as a Vryburgher ('free citizen'), on which he had to cultivate crops that he had to sell to

1870-487: The decades to come, these expansions proved to be vital to the company's global success. Following the establishment of the new type of shotgun mechanism, the company's success in manufacturing both military and sporting weapons saw them move to a new base in 1894. The gun factory in Bournbrook was then established and designed by the architect Charles Bateman . Prior to the turn of the century, Leslie B. Taylor took over

1925-582: The effects of smallpox decimated their numbers in 1713 and 1755, until gradually the breakdown of their society led them to be scattered and ethnically cleansed beyond the colonial frontiers: both beyond the Eastward-expanding frontier (to form eventually the future resisting population of the frontier wars ), as well as beyond the Northern open frontier war above the Great Escarpment. Some worked for

1980-418: The government. This gave a chance for some commanders to appear, such as General Koos de la Rey and General C. R. de Wet , but also had the disadvantage of sometimes putting inept commanders in charge. Discipline was also a problem, as there was no real way of enforcing it. The various Boer republics did not all have the same command structure. Before the Second Boer War , the republics' most popular rifle

2035-403: The launch of the clothing and accessory lines, it is said that clothing now accounts for 50% of the company's turnover. The company has a number of royal warrants , dating back to their first in 1840. Prince Albert was the issuer of the first warrant received by the company. Other royal warrants were issued by Queen Victoria , King Edward VII and King George V . The company also received

2090-533: The nipple manually - they made it exceedingly dangerous for the British to expose themselves on the skyline". For the Anglo-Boereoorlog ("Anglo-Boer War"), Paul Kruger , President of the South African Republic , re-equipped the army, importing 37,000 of the latest Mauser Model 1895 rifles and some 40 to 50 million rounds of 7x57 ammunition. The Model 1895 was also known as "Boer Model" Mauser and

2145-508: The noted elephant hunter who shot between 1,300 and 1,600 elephants, used a Westley Richards single-trigger Droplock .577 Nitro Express double rifle for most of his hunting, along with a bolt action .318 Westley Richards which he used in open country where the quarry was difficult to approach and long shots were required. Upon his death, Sutherland bequeathed his rifles to his friend Major G.H. Anderson . In 2007, Sutherland's .577 Nitro Express brought £68,000 at auction. Jim Corbett owned

2200-406: The operations at Westley Richards & Co. He was responsible for the ongoing improvement of the boxlock action, In 1898–1903, WR acted as Mauser agents, selling pistols as well as rifles/carbines and their actions to most of the British gun trade. During the next 50 years and two World Wars , the company survived and pressed their skills into the war efforts. Following World War II , there

2255-416: The richer, but limited, farming lands of the coast for the drier interior tableland. There they contested still wider groups of Khoe-speaking cattle herders for the best grazing lands. The Cape society in this period was thus a diverse one. The emergence of Afrikaans reflects this diversity, from its roots as a Dutch pidgin , to its subsequent creolisation and use as "Kitchen Dutch" by slaves and serfs of

Boer commando - Misplaced Pages Continue

2310-549: The right of Huguenots in France to practise Protestant worship without persecution from the state, the colony attracted many Huguenot settlers , who eventually mixed with the general Vryburgher population. Due to the authoritarian rule of the company (telling farmers what to grow for what price, controlling immigration , and monopolising trade), some farmers tried to escape the rule of the company by moving further inland. The company, in an effort to control these migrants, established

2365-529: The slow-moving columns of imperial troops, for warfare in the rough frontier mountains. However, tensions often arose in the Cape's government over the relative merits and control of these two parallel military systems. During the Great Trek , this system was used and remained in use in the Boer republics . Both republics issued commando laws, making commando service mandatory in times of need for all male citizens between

2420-420: The time of first European settlement in the Cape, the southwest of Africa was inhabited by Khoikhoi pastoralists and hunters. Disgruntled by the disruption of their seasonal visit to the area for which purpose they grazed their cattle at the foot of Table Mountain only to find European settlers occupying and farming the land, leading to the first Khoi-Dutch War as part of a series of Khoikhoi–Dutch Wars . After

2475-521: The war, the natives ceded the land to the settlers in 1660. During a visit in 1672, the high-ranking Commissioner Arnout van Overbeke made a formal purchase of the Cape territory, although already ceded in 1660, his reason was to "prevent future disputes". The ability of the European settlers to produce food at the Cape initiated the decline of the nomadic lifestyle of the Khoi and Tuu speaking peoples since food

2530-461: Was a Commandment, and between 1691 and 1795, a Governorate of the VOC. Jan van Riebeeck established the colony as a re-supply and layover port for vessels of the VOC trading with Asia. The Cape came under VOC rule from 1652 to 1795 and from 1803 to 1806 was ruled by the Batavian Republic . Much to the dismay of the shareholders of the VOC, who focused primarily on making profits from the Asian trade,

2585-478: Was a decline in the manufacturing of weapons in general. The war efforts over the past decades had changed the organisation into a producer of military weapons, but due to the end of the war, the demand slowed dramatically. In 1957, Walter Clode purchased the company and was responsible for turning around the fortunes of the company. He purchased the company for £2,000 and then invested a further £12,000 to get it back on its feet. During this period, he moved his focus to

2640-422: Was also known to own Westleys, including a .577 rifle. It was said that he carried the rifle during the filming of King Solomon's Mines in 1950. Ernest Hemingway was said to be an owner of numerous Westley Richards guns and rifles. In March 2011 it was announced that one of Hemingway's double rifles has been sold in auction for $ 295,000. The double rifle was a .577 Nitro Express . James H. Sutherland ,

2695-511: Was attached to a town, after which it was named (e.g. Bloemfontein Commando). Each town was responsible for a district, divided into wards. The commando was commanded by a kommandant and each ward by a veldkornet or field cornet (equivalent of a senior NCO rank) The veldkornet was responsible not only for calling up the burghers, but also for policing his ward, collecting taxes, issuing firearms and other materiel in times of war. Theoretically,

2750-520: Was marked “O.V.S” ( Oranje Vrij Staat ) just above the serial number. This German-made rifle had a firing range exceeding 2,000 yards. Experienced shooters could achieve excellent long-range accuracy. Some commandos used the Martini-Henry Mark III, since thousands of these had also been purchased; the drawback was the large puff of white smoke after firing which gave away the shooter's position. Roughly 7,000 Guedes 1885 rifles were also purchased

2805-427: Was non-White. The title of the founder of the Cape Colony, Jan van Riebeeck, was installed as "Commander of the Cape", a position he held from 1652 to 1662. During the tenure of Simon van der Stel , the colony was elevated to the rank of a governorate, hence he was promoted to the position of "Governor of the Cape". Westley Richards Westley Richards is a British manufacturer of guns and rifles and also

SECTION 50

#1732852491125

2860-452: Was produced at a fixed location. Thus by 1672, the permanent indigenous residents living at the Cape had grown substantially. The first school to be built in South Africa by the settlers were for the sake of the slaves who had been rescued from a Portuguese slave ship and arrived at the Cape with the Amersfoort in 1658. Later on, the school was also attended by the children of the indigenes and

2915-528: Was similar to the Martini-Henry Mark II used by British troops. A book about the First Boer War , (J. Lehmann's The First Boer War , 1972), offered this comment: "Employing chiefly the very fine breech-loading Westley Richards - calibre 45; paper cartridge; percussion-cap replaced on the nipple manually - they made it exceedingly dangerous for the British to expose themselves on the skyline". In

2970-482: Was the .450 Westley Richards , a falling-block, single-action, breech-loading model rifle, with accuracy up to 600 yards. Some were marked "Made Specially For Z.A.R.". These were similar to the Martini-Henry Mark II rifles used by British troops. A book about the war (J. Lehmann's The First Boer War , 1972) offered this comment about the Boers' rifle: "Employing chiefly the very fine breech-loading Westley Richards - calibre 45; paper cartridge; percussion-cap replaced on

3025-437: Was the owner of a number of Westley Richards rifles. Around the same period of time, it was reported that Maharaja Bhupinder Singh also possessed a number of Westley Richards rifles; it was reported by The Tribune that Singh's rifle would be sold for an estimated £30,000. George Eastman notably referred to his Westley Richards guns in his book Chronicles of an African Trip , which was published in 1927. Stewart Granger

#124875