The Statute Law of Griqualand West

No. 1. (1) Sd. Henry Barkly. No. 67, 1871.] [Oct. 27, 1871,
Proclamation declaring Waterboer and Tribe of Griquas
British Subjects, and their Territory British Territory.
Boundaries set forth.

HEREAS Captain Nicholas Waterboer, Paramount Preamble. Chief of the Griqua people and territory of Griqualand West, (2) with his Raad or Council, has, on behalf of himself and his said people, petitioned Her Britannic Majesty Queen Victoria, that she would be graciously pleased to accept into her allegiance him, the said Nicholas Waterboer, and his said people, and to declare him and his said people to be British subjects, and their territory to be British territory:

2. And whereas her said Majesty, on receiving the said petition, was graciously pleased to signify her assent to the prayer thereof, and to authorize me, in her name, as her High Commissioner, to grant the said prayer and to accept the said allegiance, and to declare the said Chief Nicholas Waterboer and his said people to be British subjects and the territory of the said Chief and people to be British territory, conditionally on the Parliament of the Colony of the Cape of Good Hope consenting that the said territory shall become part of the Colony aforesaid and undertaking to provide for the government and defence thereof and of the said people: (3)

3. And whereas the two Houses of Parliament of the said Colony of the Cape of Good Hope, by addresses dated respectively the fifth day of August, 1871, and the eighth day of August, 1871, presented to me, have communicated to me that they have resolved that, pending the adjustment of certain disputes therein referred to regarding the boundaries of the said territory, and the passing of a law for the annexation of the said territory, therein called the Diamond-fields, to this Colony, the said Houses were of opinion, respectively, that I should be requested to adopt such measures as might appear to me to be necessary and practicable for the maintenance of order among certain inhabitants of the said territory engaged in

(1) See Ord. No. 1-1876, which provides for the manner in which Proclamations, &c., up to No. 89 No. 18--1873] should be quoted.

(2) Griqualand West annexed to the Cape Colony by Proclamation No. 124, 15 Oct., 1880. (3) See Act No. 39-1877.

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Griquas British subjects,

British.

searching for diamonds therein, and in the said resolution termed the Diggers, and the other inhabitants of the said territory, as well as for the collection of revenue and the administration of justice:

4. And whereas it is necessary for the purpose of so maintaining order, collecting revenue, and administering justice in the said territory that I should, in Her Majesty's name, grant the prayer of the said Chief Nicholas Waterboer and his said people, and assume sovereign jurisdiction in and over the said territory :

Waterboer and 5. Now, therefore, I do hereby proclaim and declare that and from and after the publication hereof, the said Nicholas their territory Waterboer and the said tribe of the Griquas of Griqualand West shall be and shall be taken to be for all intents and purposes British subjects, and the territory of or belonging to the said Nicholas Waterboer and the said tribe shall be taken to be British territory; and I hereby require all Her Majesty's subjects in South Africa to take notice of this my Proclamation accordingly.

Preamble.

6. And whereas the boundaries claimed by the said Nicholas Waterboer and the said Griqua people of Griqualand West as the boundaries of the said territory of or belonging to them, the said Chief and people, have been for some time as to certain part thereof disputed by the President of the South African Republic on behalf of the South African Republic, which lays claim to certain territory lying within the said boundaries, and as to certain other part thereof by the President of the Orange Free State on behalf of the said Orange Free State, which lays claim to certain other territory lying within the said boundaries:

7. And whereas the disputes as to the said boundaries between the said Chief Nicholas Waterboer and his said people of the one part, and the said South African Republic of the other part, were by articles of agreement made the first day of March, 1871, between the said President of the South African Republic on behalf of the said Republic, of the one part, and the said Chief Nicholas Waterboer on behalf of himself and the said Griquas of Griqualand West, of the other part, referred to the investigation, arbitration, and award of certain commissioners in the said articles named, and, in case of the disagreement of the said commissioners, to the award, order, and final determination of His Excellency Robert W. Keate, Esquire, Lieutenant-Governor of the Colony of Natal: And whereas the said commissioners disagreed in their award, and the matters in dispute were thereupon submitted, according to the said articles of agreement, to the award, order, and final determination of His Excellency Robert W. Keate, Esquire, Lieutenant-Governor of the Colony

of Natal, who duly undertook the duties of such final referee in the premises: And whereas the said Robert W. Keate, Esquire, did, on the seventeenth day of October, 1871, make his final award, in writing, and thereby defined the said boundaries in dispute between the said Chief Nicholas Waterboer and the said Griqua people of Griqualand West, of the one part, and the said South African Republic, of the other part, as hereinafter are set out:

8. And whereas the said Chief Nicholas Waterboer has, on his own account and through the mediation of Her Majesty's several High Commissioners for the time being, from time to time mado repeated offers to the President of the Orange Free State for the time being to submit the disputes as to all the parts of the said boundaries so as aforesaid in dispute between the said Nicholas Waterboer and the Griquas of Griqualand West of the one part, and the President of the Orange Free State on behalf of the said State of the other part, to the arbitration and award of arbitrators to be chosen and nominated by the said parties, which offers have always been refused by and on behalf of the said Orange Free State:

9. And whereas the said offers have lately been renewed by me as Her Majesty's High Commissioner on behalf of the said Nicholas Waterboer and the said Griquas of Griqualand West, as desiring to mediate between the said Chief and people of the one part and the said Orange Free State of the other, by several letters dated, respectively, the 23rd of January, 1871, the 2nd of March, 1871, the 20th of March, 1871, the 10th of April, 1871, the 25th of April, 1871, and the 13th of May, 1871, addressed to the said President of the Orange Free State, and the said offers were thereby strongly urged on the acceptance of the said President of the Orange Free State on behalf of the said State, which said offers have been steadily refused by the said President on behalf of the said State, or coupled with conditions which are impracticable and impossible, and to which Her Majesty could not agree:

10. And whereas by reason of such continued refusal on the part of the said Orange Free State to submit the said disputes to any reasonable course of settlement, Her Majesty is compelled to determine the said boundary line between the said territory and the said Orange Free State upon the best evidence which she has been able to obtain, and has therefore authorized me to proclaim the boundary between the said territory of the Griquas of Griqualand West and the territory of the Orange Free State as defined by such evidence: Now, therefore, I do hereby proclaim and declare that the

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The Statute Law of Griqualand West: Comprising Government Notices ...