Aberdeen is a small town in the

Sarah Baartman District Municipality The Sarah Baartman District Municipality (; ), formerly the Cacadu District Municipality, is situated in the western part of the Eastern Cape province of South Africa, covering an area of 58,242 square kilometres. The area of the district municip ...

of the

Eastern Cape The Eastern Cape ( ; ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, and its largest city is Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth). Due to its climate and nineteenth-century towns, it is a common location for tourists. It is also kno ...

province of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. With its numerous examples of

Victorian architecture Victorian architecture is a series of Revivalism (architecture), architectural revival styles in the mid-to-late 19th century. ''Victorian'' refers to the reign of Queen Victoria (1837–1901), called the Victorian era, during which period the st ...

, it is one of the architectural conservation areas of the

Karoo The Karoo ( ; from the Afrikaans borrowing of the South Khoekhoe Khoemana (also known as !Orakobab or Korana) word is a semidesert natural region of South Africa. No exact definition of what constitutes the Karoo is available, so its extent is ...

. Aberdeen lies some 55 km south-west of

Graaff-Reinet Graaff-Reinet (; Xhosa: eRhafu) is a town in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. It is the oldest town in the province and the fourth oldest town in South Africa, after Cape Town, Stellenbosch, Simon's Town, Paarl and Swellendam. The to ...

, 155 km east-south-east of

Beaufort West Beaufort West (Afrikaans: ''Beaufort-Wes''; Xhosa: ''eBhobhofolo'') is a town in the Western Cape province in South Africa. It is the largest town in the arid Great Karoo region, and is known as the "Capital of the Karoo". It forms part of the ...

and 32 km south of the Camdeboo Mountains. Laid out on the farm Brakkefontein as a settlement of the

Dutch Reformed Church The Dutch Reformed Church (, , abbreviated NHK ) was the largest Christian denomination in the Netherlands from the onset of the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century until 1930. It was the traditional denomination of the Dutch royal famil ...

in 1856 (now the NGK), it became a municipality in 1858. It is named after the

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

city of

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

. In 2023, it was proposed for Aberdeen to be renamed to Camdeboo.

History

Aberdeen began as one of six congregations established in 1855 in what was then the

Cape Colony The Cape Colony (), 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. It existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when it united with three ...

, and the penultimate of the year. On 10 September 1855, the church council of the NG congregation of Graaff-Reinet, the oldest congregation in the

, considered a request for the separation of a new congregation in the vicinity of where Aberdeen would later be established. Like many towns in the former Capeland, Aberdeen was founded as a church town. On 16 October, the Presbytery of Graaff-Reinet, the so-called third precinct (after

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

and

Swellendam Swellendam () is the third oldest town in South Africa (after Cape Town and Stellenbosch), a town with 17,537 inhabitants situated in the Western Cape province. The town has over 50 provincial heritage sites, most of them buildings of Cape D ...

), formally separated the congregation during a session at Cradock. The Brakkefontein farm was selected as the location for the town and church. Reverend Andrew Murray Sr. was appointed as a consultant. The farm, owned by Jan Vorster, was purchased for £4,875, and on October 16, 1855, the Presbytery signed the congregation's establishment. The locality's name was changed from Brakkefontein to Aberdeen, after Murray’s birthplace in Scotland. (The following year, the town and congregation of Murraysburg were also named in his honor.) Lots were surveyed and sold, while the church council retained control over the town land and the right to levy the inheritance tax. Nearly a century after its founding, in 1949, as was the case with Steytlerville (another Eastern Cape church town), the church council transferred all its rights to the town council, which had been established in 1858. From this arose the later municipality. A small church building was erected, but the town grew very slowly. On 21 January 1856 a man named Swarts was appointed as the first reader, sexton and schoolmaster of the town at a salary of £50 per year. After years of unsuccessful searches for a minister, the congregation's first minister, Reverend Thomas Menzies Gray, accepted his post on September 21, 1862. Ministers of the Dutch Reformed Church in Aberdeen: * Thomas Menzies Gray, 1862 - 1886 (emeritus; returned to Scotland) * Daniël Hendrik Cilliers, 1887 - 1917 (emeritus; his only congregation; died on 21 January 1925) * Abraham Faure Louw, 1917 - 1920 * Jacobus Joubert Krige, 1948 - 14 March 1970 (emeritus) * Frederik Simon Vivier, 1971 - 2003 (accepts his emeritus) * Jury Hendrik Wessels, 2003 - 2007 * Abraham Jacobus Beyers, 2007 - 28 February 2022 (emeritus)

Education

Schools in Aberdeen are the Aberdeen Senior Secondary School, Luxolo intermediate School, Camdeboo Primary, and the Aberdeen Primary School

Healthcare

The Aberdeen Provincial Hospital is situated in Aberdeen.

Notable people

Oswald Pirow Oswald Pirow, QC (14 August 1890 – 11 October 1959) was a South African lawyer and far-right politician who held office as minister of justice, and later minister of defence for the National and United Party, respectively. Pirow eventual ...

(1890–1959), lawyer and far-right politician * Conan Doyle (1917–1942), cricketer *

Anaso Jobodwana Anaso Jobodwana (born 30 July 1992) is a South African sprinter. He competed in 200 metres at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London where he ran a new personal best of 20.27 seconds to reach the final. In the 2015 World Championships in Beijing, ...

, athlete

Notes

References

Bibliography

* Olivier, ds. P.L. (samesteller), '' Ons gemeentelike feesalbum''. Kaapstad en Pretoria: N.G. Kerk-uitgewers, 1952.

External links

Eastern Cape Tourism Board
* {{Authority control Populated places in the Dr Beyers Naudé Local Municipality Populated places established in 1856