Middelburg, Eastern Cape
Encyclopedia
Middelburg is a town in the Eastern Cape
Eastern Cape
The Eastern Cape is a province of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, but its two largest cities are Port Elizabeth and East London. It was formed in 1994 out of the "independent" Xhosa homelands of Transkei and Ciskei, together with the eastern portion of the Cape Province...

 province of South Africa, in the Great Karoo. It lies in the Upper Karoo, 1 279 m above sea level, with a population of 44000. It falls under the Inxuba Yethemba Local Municipality
Inxuba Yethemba Local Municipality
Inxuba Yethemba Local Municipality, formerly known as Cradock Local Municipality, is a local municipality in Chris Hani District Municipality, Eastern Cape...

, in the Chris Hani District Municipality
Chris Hani District Municipality
Chris Hani is one of the 7 districts of Eastern Cape province of South Africa. The seat of Chris Hani is Queenstown. The majority of its 810 274 people speak Xhosa , although Afrikaans speaking people predominate in the far west of the district...

.

In 1837 the Cape Colony
Cape Colony
The Cape Colony, part of modern South Africa, was established by the Dutch East India Company in 1652, with the founding of Cape Town. It was subsequently occupied by the British in 1795 when the Netherlands were occupied by revolutionary France, so that the French revolutionaries could not take...

 government proclaimed the district of Colesberg
Colesberg
Colesberg is a town with 17,354 inhabitants in the Northern Cape province of South Africa, located on the main road from Cape Town to Johannesburg....

, and established the Town of Middelburg in 1852, so named since it is midway between Graaff-Reinet and Colesberg. (It is also approximately halfway between Port Elizabeth and Bloemfontein
Bloemfontein
Bloemfontein is the capital city of the Free State Province of South Africa; and, as the judicial capital of the nation, one of South Africa's three national capitals – the other two being Cape Town, the legislative capital, and Pretoria, the administrative capital.Bloemfontein is popularly and...

, as well as between Johannesburg
Johannesburg
Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...

 and Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...

.) The R56, the shortest route between the Western Cape
Western Cape
The Western Cape is a province in the south west of South Africa. The capital is Cape Town. Prior to 1994, the region that now forms the Western Cape was part of the much larger Cape Province...

 & Kwazulu-Natal
KwaZulu-Natal
KwaZulu-Natal is a province of South Africa. Prior to 1994, the territory now known as KwaZulu-Natal was made up of the province of Natal and the homeland of KwaZulu....

 begins at Middelburg.

The town and surrounding areas are rich in history from the Anglo Boer War. The adjacent Grootfontein College of Agriculture was originally established as a military camp and training centre for British troops
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...

. About 7 000 troops from the Third Manchester Regiment were stationed at Grootfontein - some of them were married, so about 3 000 women and children also lived at Grootfontein. In 1910 the Union of South Africa
Union of South Africa
The Union of South Africa is the historic predecessor to the present-day Republic of South Africa. It came into being on 31 May 1910 with the unification of the previously separate colonies of the Cape, Natal, Transvaal and the Orange Free State...

 took control of the farm after which the Grootfontein School of Agriculture was established in 1911. Today the college offers a two year Certificate in Agriculture and a three year Diploma in Agriculture, both accredited
Accreditation
Accreditation is a process in which certification of competency, authority, or credibility is presented.Organizations that issue credentials or certify third parties against official standards are themselves formally accredited by accreditation bodies ; hence they are sometimes known as "accredited...

 by the Higher Education Quality Committee.

Middelburg is the birthplace of playwright Athol Fugard
Athol Fugard
Athol Fugard is a South African playwright, novelist, actor, and director who writes in English, best known for his political plays opposing the South African system of apartheid and for the 2005 Academy-Award winning film of his novel Tsotsi, directed by Gavin Hood...

. Other well known South Africans who were born in or lived in Middelburg include Eddie Stuart
Eddie Stuart
Edward "Eddie" Albert Stuart is a South African former professional footballer. He spent the majority of his league career with Wolverhampton Wanderers, where he won three league championships.-Career:...

 (Footballer), Steven Sykes
Steven Sykes
Steven Sykes, born 5 August 1984 in Middelburg, South Africa, is a rugby union player for Leinster with whom he signed a three year deal to play in the RaboDirect Pro12 and the Heineken Cup starting in the 2011/12 season. He plays as a lock. He is 6'6" tall and weighs 114 kg...

 (Rugby player), Arthur Lennox Ochse
Arthur Lennox Ochse
Arthur Lennox Ochse was a South African cricketer who played in 3 Tests from 1928 to 1929.-See also:*Arthur Edward Ochse...

 (Cricketer), John James Clements
John James Clements
John James Clements VC was a South African recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.Clements was 28 years old, and a corporal in Rimington's Guides, South African Forces...

 (recipient of the Victoria Cross), Eric Rosenthal
Eric Rosenthal (historian and author)
Eric Rosenthal, was a South African historian and author. He was born in Newlands, Cape Town. He graduated with a law degree, later becoming a journalist and writer of many corporate histories...

 (historian and author), Cecily Norden
Cecily Norden
Cecily Bourchier Norden was an author, senior horse judge, champion rider and exhibitor and Stud Breeder. She is known for her contribution to the Riding Horse Industry in South Africa.-Biography:...

 (Horse industry), and John Phillip Harison Acocks
John Phillip Harison Acocks
John Phillip Harison Acocks , was a South African botanist noted for his publication "Veld Types of South Africa" and his extensive botanical collection of some 28 000 specimens from South Africa and Namibia...

(botanist).

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