Saturday, November 6, 2010

Grave Search #4

This is the last of the Grave Search posts that I have at the moment. I have one more grave that I'm struggling to find, but will post that as soon as I find it. The request read as follows:

"One of my wife's distant ancestors is buried in that cemetery, and I wondered how easy it would be to get a photograph of his grave. James Hancock was born on 1 May 1776 in Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, England. He married Ann Kennedy on 21 February 1808 at the Church of St George the Martyr, Bloomsbury, London, England. He was one of the 1820 Settlers to South Africa, part of Hezekiah Sephton's party in the ship Aurora (344 passengers). They departed from London on 15 February 1820, and arrived at Simon's Bay on 1 May 1820. They arrived at their final destination of Algoa Bay, Cape Colony on 15 May 1820.
James Hancock was a china painter. He founded an art school in Grahamstown. James Hancock was a Wesleyan lay preacher. In 1833, he had a street named after him (Hancock Street) in Port Elizabeth. He died on 20 August 1837, in Port Elizabeth, Cape Colony. He is buried in the Old Settler Cemetery, South End, Port Elizabeth, South Africa."


It was quite interesting to go on a search of the grave belonging to one of the original 1820 British Settlers.  The Settlers played such a huge roll in the development of Port Elizabeth as well as the area to the east of the city.

2 comments:

  1. This grave search turned into a very interesting adventure.

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  2. I am so glad I found your blog. I've really enjoyed my travels to Port Elizabeth.
    Margaret

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