Thomas Barrable

Thomas Barrable was born at Brompton in October 1844. We have no knowledge about when he emigrated to South Africa, or when he came to East London. He makes his appearance, however, during the 1870s as a carpenter, builder and undertaker, with his headquarters at Panmure.

The 1870s was a period of moderate growth at East London where a recession during the previous decade had ended with the discovery of diamonds in Griqualand West. It was found that East London was the closest port to the Kimberley diamond fields and so there was a marked increase in trade through the port.

In 1873 a Municipal Board was established, with the original town of East London becoming Ward 1 while Panmure became Ward 2. The first Council met for three years, and a second triennial Council was elected in 1877.

Thomas Barrable was elected as a representative for Ward 1, despite his businesses being in Panmure. His tenure, however, was brief. He participated in a walkout of June that year to protest against what appeared to be a usurping of the Council by the East Bank (Panmure) and the moving of the Municipal Offices to that side of the river. This would be a de facto death knell to the original village of East London.

Ultimately the East Bank won and the Council moved to that side of the river, making it difficult for members of the West Bank to attend meetings. It is probably this fact that caused Thomas Barrable not to seek re-election.

Again at an unknown date, he left East London altogether and settled in Molteno — where he died on 25 January 1901, at the age of 56.

See also: Knowledge4Africa.com Encyclopaedia East London The Really Useful East London Page

If you were to hunt for information on one of your ancestors who died at East London in the 19th or 20th century, where would you look?

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The best place to start your research would be at the Cape Archives where all birth and death certificates are housed through to about 1928. Thereafter, you would need to go to the Master's Office in Cape Town where documents later than 1928 are to be found. The death certificates usually present interesting facts like surviving spouse, children, and information on the estate. Of course, once one knows the precise date of death, one should look in the local newspapers where an obituary might have been published. These obituaries present an interesting synopsis of the person's life and career. If, on the other hand, you need information on the history of East London itself, then you will have to hunt far and wide, but mostly within the archives as well. But the best place to start, of course, would be on Knowledge4Africa.com.