GRAAFF-REINET NEWS — On Freedom Day, a large crowd of interested people enjoyed a walkabout arranged by the Graaff-Reinet Heritage Society in two of the town's oldest cemeteries.
Local historian Paul van den Berg shared his knowledge about the very old Cradock Street cemetery that extends as far as Stockenstroom Street and which is surrounded by a substantial white- washed 'ringmuur'.
Prominent among the hundreds of tombstones are the graves of the Rev Andrew Murray and his son Charles Murray as well those of other well-known Graaff-Reinet families.
Two particularly striking memorials carved out of flawless white marble were commissioned from Carrara, Italy: a beautiful angel in memory of Annie Whitlock, and the other a life size statue of the bri lliant Doctor James Erlank who died in 1926 at the age of 39.
Many years ago, and in contrast to the highly qualified Dr Erlank, an illiterate but skilled engraver was able to carve epitaphs onto tombstones that were perfectly accurate but which he himself could not read.
The second visit was to the St James' cemetery in Donkin Street. There Gerald Buisman explained how the burial ground came to be situated right in the middle of the Union High School property, the reason being that the whole area was given to the Anglican Church by the government as glebe land and farmed to provide income for the clergymen. He also pointed out memorials made of different types of stone used for tombstones like sandstone, marble and granite and the way in which each type weathered.
This was followed by anecdotes about certain personalities such as Edward Jones who died in 1858 in a blasting accident when Andrew Geddes Bain was building the pass on Naudesberg, and Charles James Spiller who was murdered in his home in Market Square in 1877 and whose three murderers were never caught.
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