Douglas is an agricultural and stock farming town situated near the confluence of the

Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...

and

Vaal River The Vaal River ( ; Khoemana: ) is the largest tributary of the Orange River in South Africa. The river has its source near Breyten in Mpumalanga province, east of Johannesburg and about north of Ermelo and only about from the Indian Ocean. ...

s in the Northern Cape province of South Africa. Notably the rural town has a diverse population, with mostly state institutions and the anchor private employer, GWK, an agricultural company.

Location

Douglas lies about 100 km southwest of Kimberley the capital of the Northern Cape. These two are connected by the R357 road.

History

The town was founded in

1848 1848 is historically famous for the wave of revolutions, a series of widespread struggles for more liberal governments, which broke out from Brazil to Hungary; although most failed in their immediate aims, they significantly altered the polit ...

as a mission station on the farm Backhouse by the Reverend

Isaac Hughes Isaac Hughes (1798 – 23 June 1870) was a British Calvinist missionary and preacher. He was born to Welsh parents Edward and Mary Hughes in Manchester. His father came from Bontuchel in Denbighshire and his mother came from Brynsiencyn in Ang ...

, who had been working along the

since 1845. In 1867, a group of Europeans from Griquatown signed an agreement giving them the right to establish a town. The town was named after General Sir

Percy Douglas Vice-Admiral Sir Henry Percy Douglas (1 November 1876 – 4 November 1939) was a British naval officer who specialised in surveying and was Hydrographer of the Navy. Career Henry Percy Douglas was educated at Eastman's Royal Naval Academy, So ...

, Lieutenant Governor of the Cape Colony.

Notable people from Douglas

Ingrid Jonker Ingrid may refer to: * Ingrid (given name) * Ingrid (record label), and artist collective * Ingrid Burley, rapper known mononymously as Ingrid * Tropical Storm Ingrid, various cyclones * 1026 Ingrid, an asteroid * InGrid, the grid computing project ...

, poet * Hannes Nienaber, journalist

References

Populated places in the Siyancuma Local Municipality Populated places established in 1848 {{NorthernCape-geo-stub