The Fort!

Abstract

When one examines the history of religious ministry at Fort England. it is quite surprising to find that the chapel as sueh was not built until 1861. This does not imply that Christianity was moribund there before that date. On the contrary. Fort England (as it is now called) was the site of the very first public worship ever conducted in Grahamstown, as early as 1820. Thus far, the mission had been fruitful among the White troops. On Christmas Day 1820, Shaw preached in the Lucas home to about 20 people in English, and immediately afterwards, at their own request, to the same number of Hottentots in their own tongue (an early form of Afrikaans). One of the men prayed aloud after he had finished, and cried earnestly, "Oh Lord, send a teacher for ys poor heathen!", meaning one who would live among them and give them regular in~truction. This cry went strai.ght to Shaw's heart, and he soon found that, adding together the Cape Corps and local domestic servants, there were close on one thousand Hottentots in Grahamstown. Many of them had spent some tin:te on a mission"station, but, lacking any spiritual guidance, had sunk very low in "drunkenness, lewdness, and many other deadly sins."3 In 1823, Shaw wrote to his superiors in England, urging the need for "a school-room and chapel for the Hottentots of Grahamstown, to be erected near the Barracks. A great and good work might be done among them, but we cannot expect much without we have such a place." 500 rixdollars had already been subscrib~d, mostly by the men themselves, and a grant of £50 was now requested.. By that time, the first Methodist chapel was already flourishing in the centre of the town. It had opened in November 1822, with a united congregation of Europeans and Africans sitting together, plus "several members of our Hottentot society." There was also a Sundayschool with about 60 pupils, in which the classes were divided according to language.5 The fact that the East Barracks appeal was made after this dual opening suggeststhat, for some reason or other, the men of the Corps were unable to join their fellows in public worship, so that corresponding arrangements had to be made for them on the site. The response to this appeal is not known. Presumably, the successful outcome would have been for the gar-, rison to get their own place of worship at this early date. But Dr William Parrott, surgeon to the Corps, writing an account of the Barracks in March 1827, mentioned that they contained what he called "a schoolroom and church." The cavalry square comprised seventeen rooms of varying sizes, "appropriated to the accommodation of the staff and the troop sergeants who have families. Two are occupied as general barrack rooms, one as a schoolroom and church, two as orderly rooms,"6 and so on. It is quite clear that this was not an imposin~ consecrated In those days it was known as the East Barracks, standing as it did on a pleasant ridge to the south-east, about three kilometres from the heart of the village. For some years it had been the military base of the Eastern Province, and the headquarters of the Cape Corps, a unit of Hottentot -troops under White officers. Members of British regiments serving on the Frontier were also billeted there. The men's families lived on or around the site, and there was already a school for some 200 Hottentot children.! But their spiritual welfare had been so neglected in this isolated place that the Government had not yet appointed a military chaplain. When the Rev. William Shaw visited Grahamstown a few months after the British Settlers arr!ved, he found that the village had "neither church nor chapel, nor a religious minister of any denomination," and immediately set out to remedy the situation. He included the place_in his circuit plan for regular visits and the training of itinerant preachers who could officiate in his absence. Inevitably his mission began with the garrison, who constituted the bulk of the tiny population. Furthermore, they had already been struck by the Methodist movement then sweeping through the British Army, particularly through the lower ranks. The Establishment was opposed to the new religion, and a soldier who embraced it at that time could not hope for an officer's commission. Nevertheless, the Barracks had its own handful of staunch Methodist converts, known at that stage as Wesleyans. Among them were two sergeant-majors named Lucas and Price, and these were the type of men on whom Shaw's ministry would depend. Their faith was not only steadfast at headquarters. When sent out into the bush on long tours of duty they were not demoralised by the rough life, but maintained their character as good men and smart soldiers. Apart from direct evangelising, they tried by their personal example to eradicate the habit of swearing among the men, believing that it was not only blasphemous but did nothing to improve efficiency. In such small ways were the standards of Christian conduct upheld on a very wild frontier. Thus it was at the East Barracks, on a Sunday in August 1820, that the Rev. Shaw held his first service in Grahamstown and preached his first sermon in the Eastern Cape. Soon the services became a regular feature, even when he was unable to attend. These were held at first somewhere inside the Barracks, but later Sgt.-Maj. Lucas made a room available in his own home, just outside the garrison walls on the south side. Ratings and their families packed into the room until it could hold no more. And, as Shaw noted, even certain commissioned officers, finding it beneath their dignity to attend a Methodist meeting together with private soldiers and civilians, "used to indulge their curiosity, or seek religious edification, by listening to the preacher while standing outside near the door or window."2 I. 2.