Robert Godlonton (1794–1884) ("Moral Bob") was an influential politician of the
Cape Colony
The Cape Colony ( nl, Kaapkolonie), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British Empire, British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope, which existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when i ...
. He was an
1820 Settler, who developed the press of the Eastern Cape and led 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 ...
separatist movement as a representative in the Cape's
Legislative Council.
Early life
Robert Godlonton was born in London on 24 September 1794. He was a weak and sickly child and after he was orphaned at the age of twelve he was apprenticed at a printing office.
He emigrated to the Cape as part of the
1820 Settlers
The 1820 Settlers were several groups of British colonists from England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, settled by the government of the United Kingdom and the Cape Colony authorities in the Eastern Cape of South Africa in 1820.
Origins
After th ...
, taking with him a small printing press. However,
Governor Somerset, fearing the impact of a free press, confiscated the press and compensated the price.
Business career and printing industry
![Robert Godlonton signed - Narrative of Irruption of Kafir Hordes - Grahamstown Journal](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d9/Robert_Godlonton_signed_-_Narrative_of_Irruption_of_Kafir_Hordes_-_Grahamstown_Journal.jpg)
After unsuccessful attempts at farming, he became a clerk at a landdrost's office and was gradually promoted over the next ten years.
The Cape was finally given freedom of the press in 1828, due largely to the efforts of the journalist and politician
John Fairbairn. In 1834 Godlonton became partner in the ''Grahamstown Journal'' and in 1839 he took over the business. The firm, now renamed Godlonton & White, became the leading newspaper in the Eastern Cape. He eventually developed a wide range of business interests, but his primary activity remained newspapers and the printing industry. He gained a controlling stake in the Kingwilliamstown Gazette, the Uitenhage Times, the Queenstown Free Press, the Eastern Province Herald, the Eastern Province Monthly Magazine, the Friend of Bloemfontein, and Het Grahamstads Register en Boeren-vriend.
With the time and resources of his business success, he able to concentrate on additional personal publications, such as ''"Narrative of the Irruption of the Kafir Hordes (1836)"'' and ''"Notes on the Separation of the Eastern from the Western Province"'', proposing a stronger colonial policy against the neighbouring
Xhosa
Xhosa may refer to:
* Xhosa people, a nation, and ethnic group, who live in south-central and southeasterly region of South Africa
* Xhosa language, one of the 11 official languages of South Africa, principally spoken by the Xhosa people
See als ...
and calling for more
British immigration to the Eastern Cape to bolster its
European population.
Political career
Godlonton began to involve himself in politics soon after he arrived in the Cape. He took an active role in the
frontier wars as member of the board of defence and, although never elected a municipal commissioner, he diligently attended town and committee meetings in the area.
Later, as his business enterprises grew, he began to take a much stronger role in Cape politics.
Confrontation with Lieut-Governor Stockenström
![Andries Stockenstrom - Cape Colony Archives](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bf/Andries_Stockenstrom_-_Cape_Colony_Archives.jpg)
Godlonton's early political career was taken up by a long campaign against the Lieutenant-Governor of the Eastern Cape,
Andries Stockenström
Sir Andries Stockenström, 1st Baronet, (6 July 1792 in Cape Town – 16 March 1864 in London) was lieutenant governor of British Kaffraria from 13 September 1836 to 9 August 1838.
His efforts in restraining colonists from moving into Xhosa ...
.
Stockenström, who professed considerable respect for the Xhosa, had developed a completely new frontier policy that involved the exchange of diplomatic agents as reliable "ambassadors" between the
Cape Colony
The Cape Colony ( nl, Kaapkolonie), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British Empire, British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope, which existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when i ...
and the
Xhosa Chiefs. This system was underlain by formal treaties to guard the border and return any stolen cattle from either side. Importantly, Stockenström forbade colonial expansion into Xhosa land. With this key provision, the treaty system soon brought a degree of peace to the frontier.
However many frontier colonists resented Stockenström's restrictions on their expansion into Xhosa land. As one settler ominously remarked of the Xhosa lands: ''"The appearance of the country is very fine, it will make excellent sheep farms."''
Godlonton swiftly came to the forefront as the leader of this Eastern Cape settler movement. He used his newspapers to condemn Stockenström's treaty system and advocate seizing the Xhosa lands. He also used his considerable influence in the religious institutions of the 1820 Settlers to drive his opinions, declaring that "the British race was selected by God himself to colonise Kaffraria". In the face of massive pressure and ruinous lawsuits, Stockenström was eventually dismissed and his treaty system was dismantled by
Governor Maitland. A fresh wave of frontier conflicts soon broke out, eventually building up to the
Amatola War which equpted in 1846.
Stockenström died soon afterwards but crucially, Godlonton's attacks on him and his treaty system made an opponent of Stockenström's friend and ally
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 ...
, who would come to confront Godlonton's political movement decades later.
Leader of the Eastern Cape Separatists
From his leadership of the frontier settlers' attacks on Stockenstrom's treaty system, Godlonton had acquired a very prominent and powerful position in the Eastern Cape.
In the 1840s he thus began to take on the role of self-appointed leader of the Eastern Cape separatist movement. This movement accused the Cape Town-based government of being overly lenient in its frontier policy, and called for the political capital to be moved to a city nearer the frontier or, barring that, for 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 ...
to be allowed to secede as a separate state. It also supported greater British imperial involvement in southern Africa.
In 1849 – 50 Godlonton took a controversial stand in support of
Governor Smith's attempt to use the Cape as a
penal colony
A penal colony or exile colony is a settlement used to exile prisoners and separate them from the general population by placing them in a remote location, often an island or distant colonial territory. Although the term can be used to refer to ...
. In the wake of this "Convict Crisis", the Governor appointed him to the Cape's Legislative Council, resulting in the other Council members resigning en masse in protest. Godlonton also unsuccessfully opposed the implementation of the multi-racial
Cape Qualified Franchise
The Cape Qualified Franchise was the system of non-racial franchise that was adhered to in the Cape Colony, and in the Cape Province in the early years of the Union of South Africa. Qualifications for the right to vote at parliamentary elections ...
in 1851/2.
In 1854, the Cape was granted its
first parliament, with the old Legislative Council becoming an elected upper house – sharply divided between representatives of the Eastern and Western Cape. Godlonton represented the Eastern Cape in this new Legislative Council for the next 25 years.
In the new parliament, Godlonton led the separatist cause in the upper house of parliament, while his colleague
John Paterson led the movement in the lower house.
Opposition to responsible government
Meanwhile, Stockenström's old protege, Molteno, claiming direct British rule in southern Africa to be unjust and inept, was leading a growing movement for "
Responsible Government
Responsible government is a conception of a system of government that embodies the principle of parliamentary accountability, the foundation of the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy. Governments (the equivalent of the executive bran ...
", to make the Cape's Executive democratically accountable (or "responsible" as it was known), and thus give the Cape a degree of independence from Britain. As this movement grew in power throughout the 1860s, Godlonton redirected his considerable resources towards opposing it. Finally, as a member of the Legislative Council, he chaired the 1871 ''Commission on Federal Devolution'' in a last-ditch attempt to split the Cape and weaken the Responsible Government movement, but the following year Molteno gained parliamentary control and became the Cape's first Prime Minister.
The new Prime Minister immediately included several representatives of the Eastern Cape into his government. This, together with the rising economic prosperity of the Cape and the ''
Seven Circles Bill (May 1874)'' finally extinguished the separatist movement.
Godlonton was permitted to retain his parliamentary seat until its dissolution in 1878.
Legacy
Godlonton's role as the press advocate of
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 ...
frontier opinion mirrored the powerful role that
John Fairbairn (and later
Saul Solomon
Saul Solomon (25 May 1817 – 16 October 1892) was an influential liberal politician of the Cape Colony, a British colony in what is now South Africa. Solomon was an important member of the movement for responsible government and an opponent o ...
) played as leading press advocates of
Western Cape
The Western Cape is a province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , and the third most populous, with an estimated 7 million inhabitants in 2020 ...
liberal opinion.
He was immensely influential for his work in elaborating on and immortalising the trials and grievances of the 1820 Settlers. His influence on frontier historiography was far greater than his effects on the affairs of his day. During his lifetime his political movement was largely thwarted, and he was eventually out-maneuvered by his Western Cape opponents, nonetheless in years to come his legacy was to survive and influence the expansionist policies of the later
Progressive Party Progressive Party may refer to:
Active parties
* Progressive Party, Brazil
* Progressive Party (Chile)
* Progressive Party of Working People, Cyprus
* Dominica Progressive Party
* Progressive Party (Iceland)
* Progressive Party (Sardinia), Ita ...
.
Later life and family
Robert Godlonton was outspoken in his beliefs and earned the nickname "Moral Bob". He was a staunch
Methodist
Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...
, like a great many of the 1820 settlers of the Eastern Cape, who was strongly involved in Church and Missionary activity. He was a prominent leader of the Cape's Methodist community, friends with other powerful churchmen such as John Ayliff,
Henry Hare Dugmore
Henry Hare Dugmore (1810–1896) was an English missionary, writer and translator. He was born in England to Isaac and Maria Dugmore and baptised in Birmingham on 5 June 1810. The family emigrated when his father was financially ruined after bei ...
and Henry Calderwood among others and, together with such men, formed a powerful business clique. They also formed the majority of the municipal commissioners in the Eastern Cape.
His first wife, Mary Ann, died in 1844, and the following year he married his second wife Sarah Richards.
He died in Grahamstown on 30 May 1884.
Publications
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See also
Notes and references
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Further reading
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External links
1820 Settlers
{{DEFAULTSORT:Godlonton, Robert
19th century in Africa
19th-century South African people
1794 births
1820 Settlers
1884 deaths
Members of the Legislative Council of the Cape Colony
South African businesspeople