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Gustav Godeffroy German Settler Document 1858
Signed by Gustav Godeffroy, Wilhelm Lang and two others, Contract between Gustav Godeffroy (of the Hamburg Shipping Line, J.C. Godeffroy & Sohn) and Sir George Grey, Governor of British Kaffraria, concerning the good conduct of one Wilhelm Lang (and family), original, German language, four pages, five words underlined on page three, tears and extensive edgewear, 220 x 340mm, condition: fair.
Wilhelm (37) and Pauline Lang (32) sailed, with children, on the 'Peter Godefroy', leaving Hamburg on the 30th September 1858 and arriving in East London, British Kaffraria on the 19th January 1859.
'At about the same time, i.e. 1858, 1600 German settlers arrived in East London under a contract arranged by Sir George Grey. It was proposed that these immigrants, who did not receive free passages, would settle in the area known as British Kaffraria and add to the numbers of the German military settlers. Most of the Kaffraria Germans were farmers.' (Mole's Genelogy Blog).
' ...no Settlers in any new country could have better adapted to meeting its needs than those sent from Northern Germany by Messrs. Godeffroy & Son. Frugal, temperate, orderly and industrious in the very highest degree, they set themselves to work with the utmost dilligence on their little holdings.' (Theal 1904)
This document, in all likelihood, accompanied the family on their journey to South Africa.
