Page 117 - Bulletin 21

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William David Jennings was probably the most distinguished person to ever own land in

Kalk Bay. (Fig. 4.3.) To give him his full title he was one of the Procurators General of the
Arches Court of Canterbury and Proctor in the High Court of Admiralty of England. At the

Cape he was His Majesty’s Procurator-General dealing with, among things, the sale of the
cargo of prize ships brought to Cape Town.

In 1815 Jennings had bought the Klopper land – erf 89846. Abraham Klopper was a Free

Black and his grant in 1803 was the first grant made in Kalk Bay. Jennings also bought the
erf next to it (89845 – roughly where the New Kings complex is) and the Cloete Reitz and

Anderson land on the Point (erf 90005). He paid a high price – 45,500 guilders – the

equivalent of £1,135 (1 guilder = 6d). At this time he would have been by far the biggest land
owner in Kalk Bay. Although he bought Die Land in 1825 it was to be about 70 years before

it was used in any significant way for housing.

By the late 1830s Kalk Bay was clearly becoming a viable business opportunity for those

with an interest in fishing and whaling. It is difficult to pin down all of those involved but

archive records show that there were increasing requests for the use of land along the beach.
James Melville, the hotelier was allowed to use a piece of land and of course the precedent

set led to further requests.

The emancipation of slaves in 1838 meant a growing population at Kalk Bay. In 1838 the
‘Mohommaden’ Lalie was in Kalk Bay as was Salie Gajaar (also Kajar) who owned a

property in Windsor Road. In 1858 Cornelis September asked for a valuation of his house –
about opposite Woolley’s Pool and later a crowded home for fishing families – there were

probably many others. A community based around fishing was beginning to form.

Growth in Kalk Bay Population

By the 1840s Kalk Bay was changing – holiday homes, an hotel and a different type of

person in the village. This led to what was a recurring theme over the years – complaints

from outsiders about the activities of the fishing community. The Colonial Secretary asked
the Resident Justice at Simon’s Town, Francis Bertrand Pinney to report on the situation,

which he did in 1847: