Robert Parkin the Boer Part 2

Robert and his family left the Rietrivier area in the late 1840s due to growing disputes between the Griqua people under Adam Kok III and the Boer settlers.

This was a tumultuous period in southern Africa during the early to mid-1800s, with peoples of all origins — Bantu, European, and Khoi — moving across the interior in search of land and opportunity.

The Ndebele and Basotho had moved into central southern Africa during the upheavals known as the Mfecane in the early 1800s, a period of widespread conflict and displacement associated with the rise of powerful kingdoms such as that of Shaka Zulu. 

These groups clashed with Boer trekkers who were simultaneously moving northwards during the Great Trek, largely driven by dissatisfaction with British rule at the Cape.

The British themselves were also expanding their colonial influence further into the interior.

Then there were the “Basters,” later known as the Griquas, a mixed-descent community who had moved north from the Cape in the late 1700s, likewise disenchanted with British control. By the early 1800s they had settled across large parts of what is today the Northern Cape and the south-western Free State. The Griquas were renowned as skilled horseback fighters and hunters rather than traditional farmers.

The Griquas laid claim to vast stretches of fertile land in the Rietrivier region and had already defended this territory against Basotho incursions, most notably at the Battle of Dithakong in 1823.

When Boer settlers such as Robert and his family arrived in the area during the 1830s and 1840s, the Griquas initially agreed to lease land to them under a treaty signed in 1840. However, as increasing numbers of Boers moved north in the 1840s, many began claiming ownership of the farms they occupied, often ignoring the earlier agreements made with the Griquas.

The British intervened in an attempt to reduce tensions, generally siding with the Griquas regarding land ownership. Matters came to a head in 1845 when the Griquas arrested a Boer farmer under Cape Colony law. This sparked open conflict, and later that year British forces joined the Griquas at the Battle of Swartkoppies, quickly defeating the resisting Boers.

The outcome was a new land agreement known as the Maitland Treaty. However, many Boer settlers refused to recognise its terms, and sporadic skirmishes continued across the region.

Faced with ongoing instability, Robert moved his family to what he believed was safer territory closer to Bloemfontein — a town proclaimed by the British in 1848 — where fewer groups were competing for the same land.

There is a certain irony in this move. Many Boers had begun the Great Trek to escape British authority, only to resettle near newly established towns that were once again under British control.