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standing on Buffelsfontein in the eyes of the new British authorities, which the Hurter
th
‘vergunning’, as regards Olifantsbos, did not. In a letter dated May 20 , 1808, Mrs Hurter
wrote to the Acting Colonial Secretary, C. W. Bird, attempting to set the matter straight and
explained:

“That the old Dutch Government in former times to each of the principal inhabitants of
Simon’s Town gave a piece of ground on the other side of the hills of the said town for
the purpose of erecting kraals for their cattle which for the want of pasture on this side
they were obliged to send thither; and also for the purpose of constructing huts for the
people they employed to look after the same.
That in consequence thereof the former possessor of the house now occupied by your
Petitioner and others obtained such a spot of land under the denomination of Olifants
Bosch, of which your Petitioner’s late husband by purchasing the house to which it was
attached became the proprietor”.
Mrs. Hurter goes on to explain that her late husband had been “at great trouble and expense”
to develop this property and that all would be lost if she could not draw from it, “that profit
from which it is fit to bring in” (48) .

From this letter it is obvious that Jan Willem Hurter became party to this land as a special
‘vergunning’ when he purchased this property from his father-in-law, Gerhardus Munnik, in
1785. Whatever the legal standing this arrangement may have enjoyed under Dutch rule it did
not pass muster with the now-British authorities who refused to recognize Mrs. Hurter as
having any rights to Olifantsbos through inheritance, although she still could claim ownership
of the buildings on the farm. Also there was the before-mentioned moratorium in place
against the granting of loan places or in fact, any land for the present that could be construed
to having been given in perpetuity. To breach this impasse it was decided for the present to
allow Mrs. Hurter 120 morgen of land under the conditions of a temporary fifteen year
erfpacht / quitrent. Obviously this was the best the authorities could do for Mrs. Hurter and
others like her - until the whole issue of how land could be granted in perpetuity - was
resolved by the now-British administration.

In a report dated the 10th of August 1808 - the Deputy Fiscal of Simon’s Town, P. S.
Buissine in on record informing the Acting Colonial Secretary, C. W. Bird, that he had

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