Page 48 - Bulletin 20 2016

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‘Perpetual Quitrent’, subject to certain conditions. Firstly, no property could exceed 3,000
morgen in extent and a registered survey of any area under consideration was required before
the granting of any land under Perpetual Quitrent would be considered. Once this had been
complied with and the concession granted ownership was complete. The land was
hereditable; it could be sold or alienated wholly or in lots and basically owners were free to
do with it as they chose. Owners were also entitle to mine iron, lead, copper, tin, coals, slate
and limestone while the rights to mine precious stones, gold and silver remained with the
government. The government also reserved the right of access and to build roads over and
raise the materials for road building, from these properties. Importantly, as we shall see for
Cape Point and the eventual lighthouse that would be built there, the government also
reserved the right of access to the seashore and to resume ownership of an area not exceeding
20 morgen, should it be needed for public purposes (60) .

Theefontein / Somerset Annex and Somerset

The first person to be favoured under this new dispensation, in this area of what in time
would become the Cape of Hope Nature Reserve, was Adriaan Hermanus Leeuwendal, who
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was granted 20 morgen of land as Perpetual Quitrent on the April 4 , 1814 (61) . This came to
be known as the farm Theefontein (Cape Farm No. 1034). Later this nodal area appears on
land surveys as ‘Somerset Annex” when, in addition to this, a surrounding area of 317
morgen 155 square roods was granted to the son of J. P. Kirsten - Johannes Frans Sebastian
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Kirsten - on April 30 , 1833, to become the farm Somerset (Cape Farm No. 1033) (62) .

Wildschutsbrand

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Next off the mark was Barend Muller who was granted on February 2 , 1815, not only his 22
morgen 166 square roods of former erfpacht land but an additional 233 morgen 20.5 square
roods to the north and south and which became the greater ‘Wildschutsbrand’ (Cape Farm
No.1000). The southernmost portion of this farm some (51 morgen and 395 square roods in

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