The founding of Darling & Mamre
Soon after its initial settlement at Cape Town, the Dutch administration was anxious to develop surrounding areas to further establish the colony and find land that was suitable for agriculture. Many expeditions were sent to the north and east of Cape Town and Van Riebeeck himself visited Saldanha Bay to assess the possibilities of creating a settlement there. Generally land to the north of the original settlement did not receive favourable reports because the soil was too sandy.
However, one area in particular was looked on favorably. In 1682 the area surrounding the present day Mamre was visited by Olaf Burgh who was impressed by its winter greenness and named the area Groene Kloof.
The original inhabitants of this area and surrounding countryside were a Khoikhoi tribe called the Cochoquas.
Early European settlers reported on the amount of game to be found in this area including lions, zebra and, interestingly, a herd of some forty tuskless elephants. Mentzel reported that the creatures were not hunted or shot as they did little harm to anyone. These reports were received in the 1670s.
In 1700 Holland sought a farmer to supply meat to the Dutch East India Company. This contract was awarded to one Henning Huising. As Groene Kloof was recognised as being fertile and near Cape Town, it received much interest from the cattle farmers. On receiving the contract from the Company, Huising was granted permission to use the three springs on this side of Groene Kloof and to graze his cattle as far north as Saldanha Bay.
Although the land proved most suitable for cattle farming, Huising encountered the common problem of farmers of those early years - cattle theft. Willem Adriaan van der Stel was obliged to send a sergeant and 10 men to the area in November 1701 to establish a permanent military outpost. This was called De Kleine Post. As a result the area developed rapidly as a farming community and other Cape farmers applied for pasturage for their cattle.
Even with all the heavy grazing Groene Kloof was holding its own as a game resort. John Barron, private secretary to Governor Macartney, wrote in April 1998 there are considerable numbers of steenbok, duikers, reebok and a few hartebeest among the hills, but frequent visits of sportsmen from the Cape have made them very shy.
De Kleine Post remained an outpost of the Company until 1791. When it was on the verge of bankruptcy, the Post was abolished and the cattle sold, but it remained government property and was leased out. It eventually was called Mamre. Many of the farms in the area also belonged to the Company and although a few were sold, most passed into the possession of the British when they took over the Cape.
Establishment of the Wool Industry Groene Kloof has played an important role in many South African events. For example, South Africa was the first country outside Europe to obtain Merino sheep, which was of far reaching importance to the sheep and wool industry in this country. The Spanish Royal House jealously guarded the Merino and a few of these sheep were given on occasions only to royal persons or important people. Export was strictly prohibited with even the death penalty for smuggling them. King Charles IV of Spain made a gift of some of his Merinos to King William V of Orange, but they did not do well in the Dutch climate and two rams and four ewes were sent to the more suitable climate of the Cape. On the instructions of the Governor the Merinos were placed on the government farm Groenkloof in 1789. They thrived but instructions came from Holland to return them as they had been sent in error. Wisely the Governor Colonel Gordon returned only the six sheep and retained their offspring.
In 1797 twenty-six of these sheep were purchased by the captains of the British ships, Reliance and Supply, which were in Table Bay for onward shipment to Australia. These were the first Merino sheep in that country and laid the foundation for its thriving wool industry. What a successful venture that has proven to be!
In 1792 Sebastiaan Valentyn van Renen and his brother who farmed in the Darling area purchased three Spanish rams from Col Gordon and crossed them with three hundred handpicked Cape ewes. Thev later purchased two ewes and were the first Merino farmers in the Cape to produce wool on a large scale for the export market. Many farmers purchased sheep from these two brothers and gradually these were dispersed over the Western Cape which eventually led to the establishment of one of the country's major agricultural industries.
The Founding of Darling
The inhabitants of Groene Kloof were part of the Swartland congregation which was established in 1745. Almost a hundred years later the Swartland Church Council received a letter in which 180 inhabitants and land owners asked to be given permission to build a church in the area. At the same time the inhabitants wished to establish their own village.
A government notice of 16 August 1853 stated His Honour the Lieutenant Governor has consented to the name of Darling being assigned to the projected village upon the farm Langfontein situated in the Division of Malmesbury. Shortly afterwards Lt Governor Darling approved the founding of a new congregation.
Lt Governor Charles Darling was born in Nova Scotia in 1804. He received military training and in 1847 became Lt Governor of St Lucia in the West Indies. Four years later he received the same high post in the Cape Colony and headed the Cape Government from May to December 1854. He later became Governor of Newfoundland, Jamaica and Victoria. He eventually died in England in 1870.
The Darling Station (Before Evita se Perron)
Some other things for which Darling is and has been renowned include the wonderful wild flowers that carpet the fields of the area every spring. Many travellers over the last three hundred years have commented on this amazing sight. The famous Darling Wild Flower Show started in 1917, and with the exception of a few years during the World Wars, has been held annually.
Salt pans were plentiful and were written about since 1719. Groene Kloof pans supplied salt for most of the country in the nineteenth century and a rough harbour was built at Yzerfontein solely for supplying salt to Cape Town.
Today, Darling is well known for its wine, dairy and the famous Evita se Perron!
By Mike Turner
A West Coast Odyssey Publication