Cathcart is a town in the

Eastern Cape The Eastern Cape is one of the provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, but its two largest cities are East London and Gqeberha. The second largest province in the country (at 168,966 km2) after Northern Cape, it was formed in ...

province of South Africa, named after Sir

George Cathcart Major-General Sir George Cathcart (12 May 1794 – 5 November 1854) was a British general and diplomat. Military career He was born in Renfrewshire, son of William Cathcart, 1st Earl Cathcart. After receiving his education at Eton and in Edinbu ...

, governor of the Colony of the Cape of Good Hope 1852–1853. The town is situated on the N6, north of Stutterheim en route to Komani.

Establishment

Originally a small military post, established during the Eighth Frontier War, it was established as a village in 1858 when German colonists arrived in the region. Work on its railway connection to

East London East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the f ...

on the coast was begun by the Cape government of

John Molteno Sir John Charles Molteno (5 June 1814 – 1 September 1886) was a soldier, businessman, champion of responsible government and the first Prime Minister of the Cape Colony. Early life Born in London into a large Anglo-Italian family, Molten ...

in 1876 and the line was officially opened on 3 November 1879.

Religion

St. Alban's Anglican Church, built in 1886 is a well known landmark in Cathcart and has an unusual and distinctive Western façade.

Education

There are a number of

high schools A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

and

primary schools A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ed ...

in Cathcart. Cathcart High School is located North of the town near the N6 route to Queenstown.

Notable people

Allister Sparks Allister Haddon Sparks (10 March 1933 – 19 September 2016) was a South African writer, journalist, and political commentator. He was the editor of ''The Rand Daily Mail'' when it broke Muldergate, the story of how the apartheid government secr ...

References

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External links

Populated places in the Amahlathi Local Municipality Populated places established in 1858 {{EasternCape-geo-stub