Tharfield

Eastern Cape, South Africa

The original grant of land made to Miles Bowker was Oliveburn which was 1.500 acres in size.  This proved to small to support Miles's large family and retainers.  He was allowed to to exchange it for a grant of nearly 5.000 acres between the Reit River and the Kleinemond, with about one and half miles of sea-coast to the south.  This became known as Tharfield.  Although maize and wheat have been planted at different times, it is principally a cattle farm.

Tharfield is now owned my Mr Tom Webb, whose grandfather exchanged his house in Grahamstown with Miles Bowker's grandson for Tharfield.

The original house built by the Bowker family on Tharfield.
The section to the right, (without a slanting roof) was added by Tom Webb

This house was built by the Bowkers when they first settled on the farm.  It is a simply place with 4 rooms leading into one another in the front, and kitchen, pantry, and bathroom at the back.

About 50  yards west of the old house is Bertram's House, built by Bertram Egerton Bowker

Bertram's House, also known as 'Boys House'

Extract taken from 'The Bowkers of Tharfield' by Ivan Mitford-Barberton:
Just in front of Bertram's House at 'Tharfield' is the old family graveyard.  Originally this was old Miles Bowker's garden.  He was buried here in 1839, in the place where he had spent so much of his old age tending his flowers and planting aloes and orchids collected from 'Tharfield' bush.  His sons took a span of oxen and pulled up a large stone out of the river and set it up as a headstone over his grave.  As time went by, three other Bowkers were buried in grandfather's garden, and it is now recognized as the old Bowker cemetry......Some years ago we collected some money from the Bowker and set up a stone memorial carved with the Bourchier arms and the names of those buried there.  The bush stones are too hard to carve; and they are not even numbered as they should be, to correspond with the names and numbered on the memorial.  The tallest stone is that of Thomas Holden Bowker, and the pointed stone beside him marks the grave of his wife, Julia Eliza.  Old Miles the Settler's gravestone is the second highest and next to him is the grave of his wife, Anna Maria (Mitford).

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© Copyright Margaret C Manning 2007