A SHORT DESCRIPTION OF THE PUBLIC WORKS 

 AND WATERWORKS OF EAST LONDON 



By J. Powell, M.Inst.M.&C.E. 



Read July lo, 1919. 



Historical. 



East London was so named by Sir Harry Smith, in the late 

 forties of the last century (T believe 1846). at a parade of troops 

 on what we now call the West Bank. 



The late Mr- John Arnold, of the 6th Regiment, father of 

 Mr. James Arnold, of Arnoldton, and other well-known Border 

 farmers, told me about 20 years ago that he well remembered 

 being on parade on the West Bank when they were being 

 reviewed by the late Sir Harry Smith. He (Sir Harry Smith) 

 told them that he knew this would become a big place one day ; 

 he would therefore call it London in the East. The river 

 was called the Buffalo River because one of their ofificers, a 

 Captain Roper, shot a buffalo on its banks. 



I gather from a list of titles of land in the proclaimed 

 limits of the municipality, now in the possession of the Council^ 

 which was examined and found to be correct on the 15th 

 September, 1884, by Mr. C. Newman Thomas, of the Surveyor- 

 General's Office, that the first lots of ground were alienated in 

 the village of East London West on the 17th December, 1849. 

 The name of the first grantee appearing in the list is that of a 

 Mr. J. Thackeray, the lot being No. 3. The east bank of the 

 river was named Panmuir, after the then Secretar}^ of State 

 for War. The first lots granted appear to have been in 1858, 

 the name of the first grantee being S. Stanger, and the lot 

 granted No. 4 of Block O. The first reference that I have 

 seen to the municipality is in the list of titles referred to. from 

 which it would appear that Lot 5, Block B, was. granted to it 

 (the municipality) on the nth October. 1876. 



The municipality was incorporated under Act No. 2t^ of 1880, 

 which was amended by Acts No- 12 of 1881 and No. 11 of 1895. 

 It was brought under the General Municipal Ordinance No. 10 

 of 1912 by an enabling Ordinance, No. 18 of 1914. The first 

 Mayor was Mr. Richard Walker, the first Town Clerk Mr. 

 J. Pooley, and the first Town Engineer Mr. G. F. Newsam. 



The whole area of the municipality, including the Buffalo 

 River and the Harbour Reserve, as incorporated under Act No. 

 23 of 1880, was 7,945.11 acres. (The area of the Harbour 

 Reserve is 212 acres.) There has since been added to this 

 the demarcated forest reserve known as Bat's Cave Land, in 



