The Tragedy of Sir Robert Stanford
The Demise of a 19th century British Officer in the Cape Colony
Apr 26, 2009
The Triumphant Years
Born in 1805, Captain Robert Stanford, who had served with distinction in Burma, married a general’s daughter and bought the farm Kleine Riviers Valley in the Overberg District in South Africa, and proceeded to turn it into a hugely successful enterprise.
The Overberg, separated from Cape Town by the towering Hottentot Hollands Mountains is distinguished by rolling hills covered in wheat and vineyards.
Tragedy Creeps up
After some very successful initiatives, disaster began to creep up on Captain Stanford.
The Irish Rebellion Crushed
After the failed Irish rebellion following the 1845 famine in Ireland, a number of the captured rebels were banished to the British Cape Colony.
The Rebellion against the Crown
The colonists did not wish the Cape to be turned into a penal colony and were up in arms. This, despite the fact that the Irish were hardly criminals, but just ordinary men. The colonists put an embargo on the delivery of any supplies to the ship containing the rebels.
The poor Irish, who were kept at sea for five months, might have perished had it not been for a few who broke they embargo out of loyalty to the crown. One of them was Captain Stanford who was called in the early hours one night by the authorities, begging him for supplies. He felt himself duty-bound to comply.
A Loyalist Outcast
Captain Stanford’s actions were regarded as treason by the Colonists and he was ostracized. He and others were relentlessly persecuted; banks refused to do business with him, his servants left his farm, and his family was ‘pelted in the street with eggs … his children were expelled from school. The list of persecutions goes on. When one of his children fell seriously ill, the doctor refused to come, resulting in the death of the child.
From Glory, to Impoverishment
When Captain Stanford went to England to plead his case, he was knighted and received 5 000 pounds. But upon his return he discovered he had been completely swindled by the persons he'd left in charge of his farms, And that was not all.
He also discovered that his agent had bought, on his behalf, a herd of cattle suffering from lung disease, and this caused him to have a stroke. What’s more, his beloved Kleine Riviers Valley in Stanford was sold under suspicious circumstances and for a pittance, effectively reducing the family to genteel poverty. Sir Stanford, broken by life, by deceit and by now a disillusioned man, died in Manchester at the age of 70.
A Former Graciousness Restored
Because of neglect, Stanford Manor House became a derelict building. An early photograph of the house attests to this. But an enterprising British couple, John Davies and Irene Tomlinson, saw the huge potential of the house and the shame of it and bought the wreck of a house and worked unceasingly to restore it. As the villagers say, “Every day you’d just see John slogging away ..” Bit by bit, day by day, John, himself a builder, single-handedly (with a few labourers) restored the former ‘eyesore’, while Irene ran the antique shop. Today it resembles very much the place that was lauded by the illustrious personalities who had visited Stanford Manor House in the 18th century, among them Lady Ann Barnard, a famous Englishwoman of letters.
A Place to visit, to Browse around In, and Overnight
Irene and John sell antiques and collectables, reminiscent of a bygone era. Guests who wish to overnight have a choice of three self-contained cottages in this proud landmark in Stanford, which is at the very core of Stanford history. It is symbol of triumph over tragedy, and it has risen from the ashes to its former glory.
Tel/fax: +27 (0) 28 3410048
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