Swellendam

Swellendam stands beneath the Langeberg in the southern Cape. The Dutch East India Company established an administrative post here in 1743 for its distant frontier districts, appointing a landdrost two years later. The district took its name from the governor Hendrik Swellengrebel and his wife Helena ten Damme. The Company's Drostdy, built in 1747, served as the magistrate's residence and headquarters. In June 1795, dissatisfied burghers rose against Company rule and forced the landdrost to surrender his office. They established a national council under Hermanus Steyn. Their short-lived government ended after the British occupied the Cape; in November its representatives pledged allegiance to the British Crown.