Newsam's Town
1878 - 1890

Although the Town Council had created the Seaside Location only in 1876, within a mere two years it was regretting this action. Initially, the problem concerned the mixing of Fingo and amaXhosa, which the Council disapproved of on the grounds that the former, with a long history of collaboration with the Whites, needed to be singled out for special treatment. As a result, the Wesleyan Location had been created for the Fingo community.

The Town Council's appetite for moving the Black population had now been whetted, however, and next to go was the entire Seaside Location. Its site revealed the myopic vision of the segregation minded Town Council because it stood on the route to the Panmure Beach. Since White men and women had to bathe separately, and because bathing in the sea was the only satisfactory means by which the population could wash, access to the beaches was important and the Panmure Beach was fast becoming the favourite spot for women bathers.

The nearby Seaside Location was considered a threat to the safety of the White "ladies" and so the Town Council decided in December 1879 that it would be moved. The Inspector of Locations was instructed to give all the residents notice "to quit". Protests from the Church of England that the Council should at the very least grant compensation for the expense of removing the mission church buildings, which had recently been constructed, were met with a firm refusal on the grounds that the Town Council had no power to vote public money for that purpose.

The site chosen for the new Xhosa township was to the west of the Wesleyan Location and near the First Creek River, on the hill facing the lower end of St John's Road. The land was surveyed and laid out, and a plot measuring 45 square feet was allowed for each hut, with a street 50 feet in width between each block of ten huts. The village was to be known simply as the "New Location", although it was usually referred to as "Newsam's Town" (after Town Clerk George Newsam), and occasionally as the "Church of England Location".

Newsam's Town narrowly survived the upheaval of 1883 when the Fingo people were moved once again. Although the Location Inspector admitted in January 1884 that the time "had hardly arrived" for removing all the townships in view of the depression into which the town had sunk, he nevertheless argued that the existence of two distinct locations on the East Bank was "objectionable" and that Newsam's Town should also be destroyed so that one large township could be established in its place. The Town Council refused to consider that proposition, however, and decided on an alternative suggestion that all dilapidated huts be destroyed and Newsam's Town be extended in a westerly direction.

Newsam's Town proved to be the more problematic of the East Bank locations. Many of its residents were migrant labourers from King William's Town and the country districts who sought work on the railways or at the harbour. Those people, the Inspector had reported in 1881, were in the habit of taking liquor to the location and so caused disturbances.

Nevertheless, it would have seemed that, by about 1886, the Black community on the East Bank was well settled. The Wesleyan Location was flourishing, and was reported to be well looked-after. The Xhosa community were looking forward to putting down roots in Newsam's Town. The elite village had been given 14 year rights to the land on which they were settled.

See also: Seaside Location, 1876 Wesleyan Location, 1878 East Bank Location

And yet, by 1888, the Town Council was drawing up new plans to scrap all three villages in favour of a unified township further from the town. By 1890, the East Bank Location was a reality and, despite a brief tussle with the Council over the legality of the move, the Black people were eventually forced to give in and move once more.

Dr Keith Tankard