1820 British Settler

James Souness 21, a Ploughman, was a member of Pringle's Party of 24 Settlers on the Settler Ship Brilliant.

Party originated from Scotland.

Departure Gravesend, London 15 February 1820. Arrival Simon's Bay - 30 April 1820. Final Port - Algoa Bay, Port Elizabeth 15 May 1820

Area Allocated to the Party : Baviaans River, Cradock

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The surname is derived from the Middle English "sone", Old English pre 7th Century "sunu" meaning "son". The surname dates back to the early 13th Century.

Thomas Pringle was the party leader under the British Goverment Settler Scheme. The party was predominantly Scottish. Charles Jervis Buchan-Sydserff and his servants, Mortimer and Souness, came from East Lothian (Haddingtonshire). East Lothian borders the City of Edinburgh.

The group travelled on the 29th of December 1819 from Leith(Near Edinburgh on the eastern coast) to London. The party embarked at Deptford(Near London) in the Brilliant, which sailed from Gravesend(On the river Thames) on 15 February 1820 and arrived at Algoa Bay on 15 May 1820. Disembarkation was on 25 May 1820. They were encamped on the beach in the vicinity of what is now Griffin Street (the bottom end of Russell Road), in the heart of Port Elizabeth. Pringle's 'Scottish party' was unique in being the only settler party to be located in the far interior of the Eastern Cape on the Baviaans River, near what was to become the town of Somerset East, some 30 miles from the village of Cradock, and named its location Glen Lynden.

Charles Jervis Buchan-Sydserff was a 22-year-old sought a cadetship in the Hon. East India Company. He was nobly-born and, being a younger son of the Baron of Rucklaw, asked his brother John, who had inherited the family property, near Prestonkirk in East Lothian, to put up the funds needed for his outfit as an East India Company cadet. Their aunt, Lady Hepburn(born Margarita Hendrika Beck, widow of Sir George Buchan-Hepburn Bt, a Baron of the Exchequer in Scotland), having already offered to pay for the cadetship itself. John refused. His refusal was dated August 1818, and a year later Charles was preparing to emigrate to the Cape, with Bpd1500 ready to contribute to the Scottish party’s funds. This must surely have been the premium offered by his aunt Lady Hepburn. Charles' farm's name was Glen Yair(situated between Graaff-Reinet, Middelburg & Cradock). He moved to Bathurst in 1824 and then on to Queenstown.

James Souness was a ploughman aged 19 - 21(He had to be 21 to be able to emigrate - chances are that he lied about his age) when he embarked on the 330 ton brig, Brilliant. He was 1 of 5 substitutes after some people decided not to journey to the Cape of Good Hope. It was a 72 day sea journey. On 13 June 1820 a sixteen day journey started from Port Elizabeth to the Baviaans River in 7 ox wagons. They arrived on 29 June 1820 at their appointed destination. According to Pringle James Souness and Mortimer did not want to stand watch the first few nights after arriving at the Baviaans River.

The Colonial Office circulars laid out the deposit of £10 per family of parents & 2 children under 14 or per individual adult, 100 acre plots, rent-free for 10 years. Pringle negotiated bigger plots for the party. The party built their own Hartbees huts with willow branches, reeds and clay. A long summer drought followed by the first failure of crop due to “rust”. The second year a crop of wheat and barley was harvested successfully. The livestock was increasing, but raids from Bushmen and constant problems with indigenous people persisted.

James Souness left the Baviaans River in June 1822 and was married in Beaufort West in 1826. Lived then in the Prince Albert, Hanover and Colesberg districts.

James Sounes borrowed 200 Rds(Riksdaalders) from Jonathan Joseph Burnard (as a servant) on 25 May 1825. When JJ Burnard died, James paid his debt on 26 January 1826. J J Burnard farmed on "plaats Wellege Bosch(Welligbosch) gelegen aan Tarka in 't district Somerset"(Somerset East)
Veldcornet: J. H. Steenkamp

Graaff-Reinet Herald WRITTEN BY SUE MACKAY Wednesday 5 July 1854

FOR SALE by private contract The farm Trekfontein Situate in the Winterveld, District of Colesberg The property of Mr. James SOUNES For particulars apply to LEEB Brothers Graaff Reinet 5 July 1854 http://www.eggsa.org/newspapers/index.php/graaff-reinet-herald/140-...

There is no Death Notice of James Souness on the list at the Cape Archives.

Narrative of a residence in South Africa by Thomas Pringle gives a descriptive account of the journey into the interior of the Eastern Cape and the first days of settlement: https://books.google.co.za/books?id=4uSEkrHNBGQC&printsec=frontcove...

DEPOT KAB SOURCE CSC TYPE LEER VOLUME_NO 2/2/1/124 SYSTEM 01 REFERENCE 26 PART 1 DESCRIPTION RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS OF PROVISIONAL CASE. OCTOBER, NOVEMBER AND

          DECEMBER. JAMES SOUNES VERSUS DAVID ARNOT.                            STARTING  18570000                                                               ENDING    18570000 

Heese & Lombard noted that James Souness came from Ormiston, Scotland. If this is correct, the parents of James Souness are: Father James Sounas (Souness) Mother Agnes Bartleman

"Death Notices" are documents that are found in deceased estate files. Not everyone had a deceased estate file. Civil Death Registration only began in the Cape on a colony/province-wide basis in 1895.
So if a person died in the Cape before 1895, without leaving a deceased estate - there is no official/government record of their death to be found.
That's when you have to look for cemetery burial records, gravestones, newspaper death or funeral announcements, church funeral/burial register entries etc. as secondary recording of their death.