Page 141 - Bulletin 7 2003

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extended his duties, on his own accord, to patrolling the village and stopping the
drunken brawling.

Mr. Hutchinson in this memorandum stated that it was now time for Mr. van Eyk

to be appointed officially as constable and to be given proper authority, not only

in the maintaining of order at the Landing Place, but also in the pursuance of
peace in the village.

Among the signatories to this memorandum was Thomas Cutting, a prominent

omnibus and hotel entrepreneur. The reply given to it was evasive, stating that
one of the five constables at Simon’s Town would be committed to Kalk Bay, but

difficulties did exist at Kalk Bay due to lack of a lock-up room and police

quarters. It acknowledged that there were now three “canteens” (bars) and a
bottle store in Kalk Bay, and that proper policing was important. However,

Governor Wodehouse was reluctant to increase police establishments due to cash

constraints.

The new Resident Magistrate of Simon’s Town, Frederick W. Burrows, conceded
that it was time for a permanent constable, but pointed out that van Eyk did not

have any authority to act as a constable. His only authority was to erect a shed
and check on the proper disposal of fish offal as well as the cleanliness of the

Landing Place. Furthermore, Burrows stated that he could not appoint van Eyk as

constable because he could neither read nor write and thus could not be left to
himself, without the help of another constable.

Mr. William Best, a signatory to the memorandum, was the Anglican school

principal in Kalk Bay and he offered to help van Eyk, at no cost, to learn to read
and write, to which Burrows agreed. Van Eyk was thereafter appointed on a

temporary basis at a salary of £40 per annum. He was also to look for police

quarters and a lock-up room. This instruction was signed by Burrows on 7
February 1868. Kalk Bay had now received its first constable, albeit on a