Sedgefield - A short History
One of his sons, Johannes is shown in the George records (see copy below) as owning Groenvlei and Ruigtevlei Farms. He died in 1861, 4 years before his wife, Johanna. More than a decade after her death, Ruigtevlei was divided into 9 lots in 1878 and immediately transferred to their respective owners. Lots A and B would in time become, the town of Sedgefield. Lots A and BLot A was bought by Stephanus Barnard (1847-1944) and Lot B by PH Hildebrand. (see the history tree) for clarity.One of Stephanus Barnard’s sons, Stephanus (Bvekenya) Cecil Rutgert Barnard (1886-1962) born in Knysna, was a man of many talents but notorious for his ivory poaching in the area of the South Africa’s border with Mozambique and Southern Rhodesia where he continuously managed to evade the law. Phillip Marnitz subsequently bought Lot A and B but didn’t own them for long either. In 1894 John Barrington bought the properties and named them Sedgefield in honour of his father’s birthplace in England, a coalmining village in Durham County. John’s grandfather, George Barrington was 5th Viscount and Rector of the English village.
In 1948 the Thesens sold the long dormant township to entrepreneur, Blanckenberg (Blanco) Watney of Sedgefield Investments (Pty) Ltd. who together with his wife, Elaine had come from Tzaneen some time earlier. They built their own house on top of the dune now known as Cloud 9. It had panoramic views over the lakes and surrounding area but was isolated and the road to reach it was awful. When Blanco died only a few years later in 1952, Elaine took control of the township administration.
Florence Elaine Watney (nee Wallis)Elaine had initially arrived in South Africa as a governess to children of a wealthy farmer in Tzaneen. There she met and married "Blanco" Watney.Once the Watneys arrived in Sedgefield she consistently contributed to village life and was always involved in community affairs. Through her Ladies Work Group, she ran a feeding scheme for school children. She also established the local Girl Guides and Brownie Pack. She provided the loan for erecting the first church building. It was used by several denominations, the Anglicans, Baptists, Methodists, Presbytarians and Dutch Reformed. Today, situated in Swallow Street, it is known as the United Church. She served on the Village Management Board for quite some time and when the present town hall was purchased in 1970, she donated a piano which is still in use today.
In the 80’s Elaine gifted Sandgate to Sedgefield as a retirement home for token compensation, staying there as a resident until her death in 1996.
Lot CCatherine Doreathea Meeding was married to Henry Hooper and inherited Lot C from her parents, Johannes and Johanna. Catherine and Henry's son, Johannes Jacobus, known as James, married Lulu Charteris. In 1876 James found the first gold nugget in the area in the Karatara River which sparked the Millwood gold rush that reached its height in 1886. It was relatively short-lived as the reefs never delivered the expected results and the goldfield was officially deproclaimed in 1924.Lot C was later split between James and Lulu's two sons - Charteris and Humphrey. Charteris took ownership of the property that became known as Milkwood Downs and Dixon's Green. He built a lodge on Dixon's Green for hunting and fishing that he called Hunter's Home. In 1909, Charteris became the first person on record to complete the swim from Robben Island to the old Cape Town harbour. It took him 6hrs 55min to swim the distance of almost 11 kms. He quite at home, weekly swimming the length of Groenvlei and back before breakfast and was noted to have swum the distance between Platbank and Gericke's Point also! Charteris sold his Sedgefield properties to Edmund Butler a house-painter from Oudtshoorn who sold them on to Percy Bredall in 1944.
When Percy was killed in a car accident on his way home from Sedgefield village, a local Attorney, E.W Gruno with some experience of deceased estates, was in the right place at the right time to buy the shares/properties of Lake Pleasant Estates in May 1972. n July 1982 the name of the farm was changed from Ruigtevlei to the Remainder of Ruygte Valley No. 205 Knysna. It was subdivided into 45 smallholdings and one large section of 94,338 ha. Although 20 of the 45 small-holdings had effectively been sold by Percy, Gruno is the major shareholder and has a controlling say in how the stands are developed. He is nearly 90 now and lives in Bloemfontein from where he still controls and manages all his personal business affairs. After some years, Lake Pleasant Hotel was sold by the Vadas (juniors) to a Rhodesian family, the Clintons. Adrian Gardener (of Shamwari) bought the hotel from them in 2000, formed the Mantis Group and upgraded it to 5-star status. It’s now called Lake Pleasant Living. Humphrey Hooper inherited the other portion of Lot C, Greenmere. He ran a successful Estate Agency business in Cape Town and has been described as "eccentric, in the nicest way"! He retired to Greenmere in the 1950's where he died in 1961. His widow Ethel (Eppie) loved gardening and nurtured a magnificent rose garden. They lived in a quaint little house with a lean-to kitchen built on by Humphrey and ran a small caravan park. After Humphrey's death, Eppie sold the property to Rory (Pat) Hennessey in 1962 (but lived on in her house) and opened up Sedgefield's first Estate Agency in the village. A generous hearted well-loved character, Eppie passed away in 1984 at 92 years of age.
In 1973, Pat suffered a stroke and Roger bought the other 50% of Greenmere from him a short while after that. Pat passed away in 1977. The property was placed into the name of the Lidstone Family Trust in 1996. Roger passed away in Sep 2011 and his son, Stuart is the 3rd generation to run the popular chalet and campsite resort at Lake Pleasant.
The Railway LineIn 1922 a railway line was surveyed by Mr Dempster, the resident engineer in George, which was the largest settlement in the Garden Route region then. The 76km line was completed in 1928 the same year Terblans sold his property to Thesen’s. The Thesens were a Norwegian Family already well established in Knysna with their sawmills and wagon and ship building businesses. They had built a primary school in the area in 1921.The railway line encouraged the gradual development and growth of the village as people found it easier to reach and farmers in the surrounding hinterland, found it a convenient spot for summer vacations. Before the railway line, people had to come by ox wagon, bringing all they needed with them. The loose mole infested sand was hard work for the oxen that also had to contend with swimming across the Swartvlei to get the wagons across to the campsite. Nel Eatwell (nee Barnard) remembers that in the 1930's when she was just a little girl, travelling a day’s journey by ox wagon from their farm inland at Elandskraal to Sedgefield where they would camp with other families near Swartvlei Beach on the shores of the estuary. There was a natural spring there with brackish water that was palatable enough for drinking. The oxen were allowed to roam free opposite them on the island – now a popular residential area. Once, sometimes twice a year, they would make the journey sleeping under the wagon for one night along the way. Staying for one or two weeks, it was a relaxing time for the hard-working farmers. They enjoyed the abundant fish catches in the lagoon and sea. Time was spent too, socialising with friends and family. The trip was always a great adventure for the children and they revelled in carefree days playing together in the sand and sea and swimming in the lagoon. Although life was hard, they all savoured to the full, its simple pleasures. Even when the 7 Passes (dirt) road was built and people could come by car, many times a team of oxen was called upon to pull a car out from where it had got stuck in deep sand. The N2 tarred road that linked George and Port Elizabeth was completed in 1952 and upgraded by LTA in 1985.
Locals invited friends who told friends who told family who started coming for holidays, pitching tents or buying small plots and building modest holiday cottages, happy to rough it for the pleasure of enjoying the spectacular scenery, beaches and the glorious fishing to be had in the sea and river estuary and surrounding lake.
The village sits on a large underground lake or aquifer that’s close to the surface, the extent of which, the residents were probably not aware of at the time. Sedgefield finally got on the National electricity grid in 1979. The local shopkeeper also ran the village's postal service. The post was delivered by train and sorted into cupboard drawers in the shop. Meat was delivered in similar fashion. It was ordered from George by phone and delivered by the train. The train driver would blow his whistle to warn everyone the train was arriving shortly so people had time to get to the station to pick up their orders.
In 2010 Sedgefield was just 80 years old. However, the village still retains the essential character of its early humble beginnings. Return to "Discover Sedgefield" Homepage |
In 1901 after John’s death, his sister Katherine Caroline Maurice (nee Barrington) inherited his property. She sold it to Salmon Terblans in 1911 for £2500. In 1926 Salmon allowed Thomas Dunbar Moodie an option to purchase but while Moodie was laying out the plans for Sedgefield township, Terblans defaulted on a bond. The Thesens being the main bond holders recovered Moodie’s unsecured land in the reclamation process in 1928. Charlie Thesen however, held Moodie in high regard and rewarded him for his work. They became life-long friends.
