MOSSEL BAY NEWS - Mossel Bay's history is a long and fascinating one. From its pre-colonial history as a home to the KhoiKhoi herders in the area, to its time functioning as a pit stop for European traders on the way to India and then quickly expanding Victorian town, our home has been part of some of the most interesting developments in our country's history.
However, as residents, we often overlook the wonderful history and architecture that is right here under our nose, the buildings we work in or walk past everyday.
The Mossel Bay Advertiser will be running a series of articles on the town's history as it is told through its surviving historical buildings.
The story of our town will come alive as we take a look back at Mossel Bay, from the 1840s to the present day.
This week we take a look at the history of the Protea Hotel building, which despite its current luxurious interior, was actually built as a store for the trading company, Barry and Nephews.
Mossel Bay was claimed for the Dutch East India Company (VOC) by then governor of the Cape Jan de la Fontaine in 1734. The first farms in the area were given out in 1788 by the VOC and for a time Great Brak River was the easternmost border of the Cape Colony.
Wheat farming was one of the main drivers of the economy, with the area supplying wheat to passing VOC ships from 1786 until the company finally left the Cape Colony in 1806 when the Cape came under British control.
As time went on, trade between Cape Town and farmers in outlying districts expanded.
However, the overland route between Cape Town and areas such as the southern Cape, Overberg and Karoo that had been colonised by the Dutch and British was long, dangerous and expensive.
Joseph Barry, a trader of British origin who lived in Port Beaufort, saw the long period of time (up to three weeks) that it took for goods to travel overland from Cape Town to the Overberg was discouraging farmers from trading their goods there and took the opportunity to set up a business, transporting goods by sea rather than overland.
He started a company, Barry and Nephews, which shipped goods from Cape Town to the Overberg and Karoo via Port Beaufort and from there on the Breede River to Malgas.
The company erected the building in 1847 to serve as a warehouse and trading station and it was enlarged in 1865.
After Barry and Nephews went under, the building changed hands several times, being bought by Hudson Vreede & Co and then messrs P Bardin.
In 1941 it was bought by the Golden Ochre Company. This firm mined ochre and clay in the Albertinia district, which was then milled in Mossel Bay.
The ochre was then exported to England to be used in the manufacture of paint. The building changed hands again, being bought by Dr J Smalberger before coming into the hands of its current owner, JJ Moorcroft.
Sources: jospehbarry.co.za; rivertonstud.co.za, SA History online, Visit Mossel Bay website. Special thanks to Carina Wiggill of the Mossel Bay Heritage Society for her kind assistance in the writing of this article.
What was called the Barry store is currently the Protea Hotel. It was built in 1846. Photo: Protea Hotel by Marriot website.
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