Rev. John Taylor

Possible Baptism : https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X1Q2-7VV

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Marriage : Caledon https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSK6-77F6-3?i=749&...

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Death Notice : "South Africa, Cape Province, Probate Records of the Master of the High Court, 1834-1989," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSQF-D9T3-L?cc=2517051... : 12 September 2017), 007844940 > image 958 of 2251; Pietermaritzburg Archives (Formerly Natal State Archives), South Africa.

DEPOT KAB
SOURCE MOOC
TYPE LEER
VOLUME_NO 6/9/90
SYSTEM 01
REFERENCE 6982
PART 1
DESCRIPTION TAYLOR, JOHN. DEATH NOTICE.
STARTING 1860
ENDING 1860

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Ds John Taylor's Journey to the Cape

Cape of Good Hope, Jan. 24th, 1817

TO: The Directors of the Missionary Society

Honored Fathers and Brethren, We embrace the present opportunity to inform you of our safe arrival at this place on Monday 13th Jan., after a pleasant passage, though rather long, of 12 weeks & two days. Few, we suppose, ever enjoyed a more comfortable voyage, in every respect, than we did, as to the weather, the enjoyment of the means of grace, favour in the sight of the Captain & sailors, and all other comforts which might be expected on the mighty deep; for which we have particular cause to bless the name of the Lord, our God, who cared and provided for us so bountifully. What shall we under unto the Lord for all his mercies & wonders towards us while crossing the great Atlantic we will call upon our souls & all that is within us to bless His holy name and not to forget all His benefits and we desire at this time to dedicate ourselves afresh to His glorious work & service and to cast all our care upon Him seeing He careth for us. We shall now endeavour to give a brief an account as possible of our voyage, from its commencement. As we have many things to write, some of a pleasant and others of an unpleasant nature, we must be short on every subject. Saturday Oct. 19th, we sailed from Gravesend, and reached the Downs next morning. Messrs. Taylor, Moffat, Brownly, and Mr. and Mrs. Hitchingman suffered from sea-sickness for several days, particularly the latter. Mr. and Mrs. Evans were not above a couple of hours poorly. Wednesday night, the 23rd, when opposite the Bill of Portland, we encountered a severe gale of wind, which continued until the middle of next day. About 1 o'clock in the morning we were in imminent danger by our ship running foul of another vessel, which was coming up the channel. Our gibb-bomb stuck against her fore-and-aft-main-sail and broke it. We lost our gibb by the violence of the crash and our larboard bulwark was injured a little. The Captain assured us next morning, had we been but six feet further on, in all probability both bugs would have gone to the bottom, without hope of deliverance from any quarter. But He that has power over the winds and waves took care of us, because His mercy endureth forever. Thursday afternoon we sail into Torbay, and next day went on shore to Brixham, where Mr. Taylor preached in the Methodist Chapel. The people there showed much kindness towards us. Saturday we set sail from there but being near a see-shore we were obliged to cut our cable & leave about 60 yards of it & our anchor behind. The wind blew very strong during the night and about 3 o'clock in the morning our main yard broke with a violent crash. When we came on deck in the morning we were opposite the Land's End and about 11o'clock we took a farewell view of England's happy shores, that dear land which gave us birth and where we enjoyed such abundance of mercies, both spiritual and temporal. We cannot express our feelings when taking this last view of our native country, perhaps forever. We looked and looked again till it was entirely out of sight. But on meditating on the nature of the glorious work we were leaving it for, the privilege of being so honorably employed, the many great and precious promises we had for our support and the thousands of prayers offered up for us that day (being the Sabbath) in all parts of Britain, we were ready to revoke ourselves for harboring such feelings for a moment, this turned our sorrows into joy and hope. Oct. 30th, we entered the Bay of Biscay & curbed it in four days. We did not experience so much of the roughness of this part of the ocean, as we were supposed we should before we left England, except one night, when we lost our gibb-bomb a second time. Nov. 10th & 11th, we gaped the Canary Islands, we could not see the famous peak of Tenerife plainly, being almost covered by the clouds. Nov. 20, 21 we sailed by Sal, Boa Vista & Maio, three of the Cape de Verde Islands and Friday morning the 22nd we anchored in Port Praia Bay in the island of Sao Tiago. Soon after, we went a shore. As you are in possession of a description of this island and inhabitants, it is needless for us at present to say but little concerning it, only that our hearts were sorely grieved at seeing the wretched & deplorable state of the poor inhabitants, who are entirely destitute of the knowledge of those things which pertain to their eternal happiness. One of the passengers visited the Roman Catholic Priest, who could speak a little bad Latin, but appeared to be extremely ignorant of the way of salvation for him & his deluded people. He is the blind leader of the blind and probable they will all fall together into the ditch of eternal misery, unless quickly delivered. We newer saw so much of the value of the Missionary Society and the great want of faithful Missionaries as at this place. O, when will the time arrive when the messengers of peace and the glad tidings of salvation through Jesus Christ shall arrive among these dark & miserable people to instruct them in the way of everlasting life? Next day, Saturday, we weighed our anchor again and that evening passed Fogo, where there is a volcanic eruption and which is the last of the Cape Verdi Islands. Dec. 5th when in North Lab. 2° 37', we saw an eclipse of the moon, which covered about three-fourths of her and lasted upwards of two hours. Next evening, Dec. 6th we crossed the line. Our kind captain would not allow the sailors to baptize us, as they term it, to the god Neptune, but he gave them some spirits to drink his good health and to the passengers he gave some wine and cake. At this time we could not help thinking of the differences between us and our friends in Britain. While they were glad to draw as near as they could to their large fires, it was impossible for us to find a place cool enough and were glad to be screened from the scorching rays of the sun. While they were shivering of cold in many of their places of worship, we had divine service regularly in the open air on deck with an awning to shade us from the sun. Dec. 16th we passed Trinidad & Martin Vas rocks. After this nothing of importance occurred until we arrived at the Cape, unless that we catched a shark and several other kinds of fish and saw many more, some of which were very large. At 1 o'clock on Monday morning the 13th inst. We were all roused out of a sound sleep by the captain, crying out, "Land, Land." In the course of few minutes we were all on deck and saw Table Mountain like a thick cloud before us. When we got up again at 5, we could see the land quite plain. Eight o'clock we held a prayer meeting together to utter our omitted offering of thanks to the Lord for His dissecting care over us while on the mighty ocean and for the mercies & comforts we had so plentifully enjoyed. Here we enabled to raise our Ebeneyen, saying, "Hitherto hath the Lord helped us." We could say that it was good for us to be there for we had cause to believe that the nuisance of the inhabitants of the bush was amongst us. About 11 o'clock we anchored in Table Bay and in the afternoon the Rev. Mr. Thom took us all on shore and we were comfortably lodged together at Mr. Hammess, the Society's agent at this place. Our feelings at this time were somewhat like St. Paul's at Apii Forum, when the brethren from Rome met him, "We thanked God and took coinage" Now that we are come to the conclusion of our voyage we cannot speak or write too highly of the captain. Findlay's conduct towards us during the whole of our voyage. He behaved to us as a father to his children. We enjoyed family worship morning & evening in which he generally joined us, had service on board every Sabbath when the weather would permits and held a prayer meeting every first Monday in the month, besides other duties among ourselves. In short, our ship proved a little Bethel for us. Our provisions also were very good, we had plenty of fresh meat during the whole voyage, besides puddings of some kind or other, every day, there were three sorts of vegatables on the table almost daily, etc. so that we can say we wanted anything but dry ground under our feet, as to temporal things. The sailors were extremely kind towards us & heard the gospel preached with great attention and seeming interest. Captain Findlay continues his kindness towards us after our arrival at the Cape, and even spoke favorable of us to the General, the Lieutenant Governor. We hoped if the Directors will be sending any more Missionaries to the Cape, they will remember of Captain Findlay's kindness towards us and send our brethren also with him if by any means convenient. Since our arrival he has made some valuable presents to Mrs. Hitchingman & Mrs. Evans, the only female passengers he had on board. Tuesday & Wednesday, the 14th & 15th inst. with the assistance of Brother Thom, Mr. and Mrs. Beck, Mrs. Smith, Mr. & Mrs. Hammer has been exceedingly kind to us since our arrival. Brother Thom appears to have his whole soul in the work and though he has evaded through many difficulties yet his geal continues unabated. We enjoyed much comfort with him & his church, last Sabbath Day, particularly at the Lord's table. On Wednesday, also we waited on Col. Bud, the Under Secretary, who desired us to send in our memorials to his Excellency the Governor, which we did the next day. We were desired to wait on His Excellency the Monday following. We did so, but he could not attend to public business that day, therefore we were requested to wait again on Thursday. Wednesday our passports were sent to us in which we were permitted to settle anywhere within the Colony. This not sufficing for the brethren, who were going beyond the boundaries, they waited on His Excellency next day who after a long conversation, refused permission for them to proceed out of the Colony. His Excellency was very kind & polite and brought many political reasons for the refusal. But as another letter is written on this subject, signing by the three brethren who were present, with a copy of most part of the conversation, it is needless to enlarge here. This is a great & unexpected trick and though we have heard many things besides this, which has a tendency to discourage us, yet we hope the Lord will support us under all our trails and not let our soul grow wild in His great work. Dear Fathers and Brethren pray for us. We were solely grieved on hearing the news of the failure of the Mission to Latakos & that the brethren were obliged to return. The Lord's "way is in the sea & and His paths in the great waters & His footsteps are not known." "He doeth great things past finding out, yea; His wonders are without number." Yet, we are fully satisfied that this great work will eventually prosper, though the giants & sons of Anog and their strong cities & mighty walls appear to us at present in the way, we are persuaded. He will perform this by means of weak & earthy vessels that the Excellency of the power might be of Him & not of us. May His everlasting arms be under you and us to be supported among all difficulties, is the prayer of your

Thruworthy servants and Brethren in the bonds of the Gospel.

Evan Evans; James Hitchingman; John Taylor; John Brownlee; Robert Moffat.

PS. We have the satisfaction of informing the Director that we have lived very comfortable together during the whole time, as Brethren and Sisters in the Lord, in the bonds of peace & brotherly love, for which we have particular cause to praise the name of the Lord. We love one another so much, that we think it will be almost as great a trial to our feelings to leave one another as it was to leave our dear friends and relatives in Britain. We expect to leave Cape Town next Wednesday. We desire particularly to recommend to the Directors that they would order someone to look over & examine the articles which are bought for Missionaries or have them to the rooms, soon enough for them to do so; because many of the articles which we have & could not see before we left London, are most shameful, particularly the blankets which the single brethren have; their three are not so good as one of those which the married brethren have; and are besides very small. On board the vessel, when seeing our clothes, they were ashamed to see them, being of such coarse & bad quality. No doubt the Society paid well for them, one brother had only 34 cravats instead of 36, as was shown in the bill and only 10 towels instead of 12. We ought to have mentioned that our sister, Mrs. Hitchingman, was very poorly for upwards of a fortnight after we have crossed the Line, so much so that we were afraid she would not recover. It occasioned great sorrow to us all. But the Lord had mercy on her and not on her only but on us also, lest we should have sorrow upon sorrow. She is now recovered & full of zeal for the good work she was sent for. We had no time to copy this letter, otherwise we should have put the above things in proper places.

Received 9th April 1817 by Reverend Mr. Burder Secretary of the Missionary Society Missionary Rooms No. 0 Old Tewcy, London

References 1 Gravesend Departed from on Saturday 19 October 1816 2 The Downs Sailed past on Sunday 20 October 3 Bill of Portland Sailed past on Wednesday 23 October 4 Tor Bay Entered the bay Thursday 24 October 5 Brixham Went ashore Friday 25 October and departed Saturday 27 October 6 Land's End Left England's coast on Sunday 27 October 7 Bay of Biscay Curbed it from 30 October to 2 November 8 Canary Islands Past it 10 & 11 November 9 Cape Verdi Islands Sailed past Sal, Boa Vista & Maio on 20/21 November 10 Soa Tiago Went ashore at Port Praia Bay on 22 November and departed again on 23 November 11 Fogo Sailed past on 23 November 12 Equator Cross it on 6 December 13 Trinidad & Martin Vas Rocks Sailed past it on 16 December 14 Cape Town Arrived in Cape Town on 13 January 1817

Gravesend Graves-end end Town, Kent, SE England, on Thames estuary 22 mi. (35 km.) E of London; paper manufacture, printing, engineering; here (1617) American Indian princess Pocahontas died and was buried.

Downs, The Downs, The 1. Range of hills in S England. See NORTH DOWNS, SOUTH DOWNS .2. Roadstead in English Channel, along E coast of Kent bet. North and South Foreland; ab. 9 mi. (14 km.) long and 6 mi. (10 km.) wide; affords excellent anchorage, protected by a natural breakwater, the Goodwin Sands; scene of English naval victory over Dutch 1652 and of drawn battle bet. English and Dutch 1666.

Chichester Chich-es-ter ch-str Town, seat of West Sussex, S England, 16 mi. (26 km.) ENE of Portsmouth; pop. (1981p) 24,189; early Norman cathedral (begun late 11th cent.); market cross 1501; remains of ancient city walls.

Gosport Gos-port port Town, Hampshire, S England, on Portsmouth harbor opp. Portsmouth; pop. (1991p) 72,800; naval base; engineering.

Isle of Portland Isle of Port-land lnd Limestone peninsula, Dorset, S England, S of Weymouth; its connection with mainland is a stretch of shingle 200 yds. (183 m.) wide; its S tip is called Portland Bill; limestone quarries; 16th cent. castle, lighthouse; naval anchorage.

Torbay Tor-bay ba, tor-ba Urban area, Devon, SW England, 28 mi. (45 km.) ENE of Plymouth, on Tor Bay; pop. (1991p) 122,500; seaside resort; formed 1968, incorporating Torquay and several other centers.

Lands End Lands End end anc. Bo-le-ri-um lir-e-m Cape, SW coast of Cornwall, SW England; westernmost land of England.

 Excerpted from The Complete Reference Collection. Copyright © 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997 The Learning Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Excerpted from The Complete Reference Collection. Copyright © 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997 The Learning Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Excerpted from The Complete Reference Collection. Copyright © 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997 The Learning Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Excerpted from The Complete Reference Collection. Copyright © 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997 The Learning Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Excerpted from The Complete Reference Collection. Copyright © 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997 The Learning Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Excerpted from The Complete Reference Collection. Copyright © 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997 The Learning Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Excerpted from The Complete Reference Collection. Copyright © 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997 The Learning Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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CHAPTER 1

THE JOHN TAYLOR HERITAGE

1 INTRODUCTION During the 19th century two Taylors, unknown to each other at their points of departure but destined to have a significant influence in the destiny of the Eastern Cape, came to South Africa as missionaries of the London Missionary Society. They were, as all other preachers of their time, in the employ of the Cape Colony, both served Cradock as ministers of religion. John Taylor was born on 5 June 1788 and died on 18 June 1860. - [The International Genealogical Index produced by the Mormons (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) recorded as follows: "Taylor, John; Father; Taylor. Perth, Scone. Born 7 June 1788"]. He was the minister of the Dutch Reformed Church at Cradock from 1824 to 1860. Robert Barry Taylor, an Englishman was born in 1810 and died in 1876 and the minister of the largely non-white Independent Church, the Congregational Church, from 1848 to 1876. (Of interest is Rev. RB Taylor's burial place, which is beneath the pulpit of the church.) This genealogy covers the family history of John Taylor the Scot. Robert Taylor, the Englishman will however receive his rightful recognition.

2 SCONE, SCOTLAND, THE PLACE OF BIRTH Born in Scone, Perthshire, Scotland, John Taylor had experienced the transformation of Old Scone. James Hunter, ordained by the Presbytery of Strathbogie in May 1761, came to Old Scone on 15th August 1782. On 26th November 1783 the seventh Viscount of Stormont petitioned the Presbytery of Perth: " The Viscount, having the intention of extending his policy around the House of Scone and with the parish church presently in disrepair and a hindrance to the said extension, suggests that this parish church of Scone be demolished and a new church built on a proper place, more convenient and commodious for the minister and the parishioners." In middle December the Presbytery met at the Manse of Scone. They found the proposal in every respect proper and convenient. The new building was complete by middle August 1786 and the elegant parish church which stood on the Moot Hill for al most 160 years, was demolished, except for the aisle which today contains the Stormont and Mansfield monuments. Seating were allocated to members of the congregation according to the rents they paid for houses and property - one foot of seating for every £8 Scots. Some seats remained seats to the Kirk Session for behove of the poor. James Hunter died on 14th March 1793 and was followed by John Wright on 26th September 1793 but died on the 6th December 1794. In November 1795 William Aitken was admitted to Scone. On 30th November 1803, the Perth Presbytery recorded: "His Lordship, the Earl of Mansfield was desirous that the Scone village to be changed and the parish church moved to another part of the parish called Burnside, lying in a populous district of the parish, adjoining the great road between Perth and Cupar Angus." On 22nd February 1804 the Presbytery met and accepted the proposal. The church, built less than 20 years ago, had been carefully dismantled. The stones were numbered and marked so that they could be re-assembled on the new site overlooking the Annaty Burn. It was the first building in New Scone. One addition was made to the old building. The bell which David, first Viscount Stormont, had presented to the church in 1624 had hung on a tree for 180 years. A belfry was added to the rebuilt church and there the bell hangs and is regularly rung to this day. It took some years to transport the whole village to the new site.

3 THE ROUTE TO NEW DESTINIES John Taylor completed his missionary studies in Gosport under the guidance of Rev. David Bogue. In October 1813 Rev Jameson of Perth Candidates recommended to Examination Committee that John Taylor be accepted as a missionary. Apparently he'd served a six-month 'apprenticeship' under the Reverend. Following his acceptance he was ordained in March 1816 in Chichester. Towards the end of October 1816, together with seven other London Missionary Society missionaries, including Robert Moffat (destined to achieve fame in Bechuanaland), Kitchingman, Brownlee and Evans left the coast of England, on board the Alacrity and sailed for South Africa. In the words of the Secretary of the LMS “These missionaries go to the Colony to assist in teaching the natives and in promoting agriculture, civilisation and good order”. On board was also two Dutch-speaking ministers of Cape origin; the ideal opportunity for the Scots to improve their Dutch speaking abilities. A testimony to this, Lord Somerset towards the end of 1818 stated: “Rev. Taylor speaks Dutch with great fluency”. John Taylor wrote a full account of the voyage, signed by his colleagues and sent it to the LMS head- quarters in London.

[A direct duplication of the original handwritten letter, filed in the archives of School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, Box 7, folder 1, jacket A] - Also refer to the map attached.

Cape of Good Hope, Jan. 24th, 1817 TO: The Directors of the Missionary Society

Honored Fathers and Brethren, We embrace the present opportunity to inform you of our safe arrival at this place on Monday 13th Jan., after a pleasant passage, though rather long, of 12 weeks & two days. Few, we suppose, ever enjoyed a more comfortable voyage, in every respect, than we did, as to the weather, the enjoyment of the means of grace, favour in the sight of the Captain & sailors, and all other comforts which might be expected on the mighty deep; for which we have particular cause to bless the name of the Lord, our God, who cared and provided for us so bountifully. What shall we under unto the Lord for all his mercies & wonders towards us while crossing the great Atlantic we will call upon our souls & all that is within us to bless His holy name and not to forget all His benefits and we desire at this time to dedicate ourselves afresh to His glorious work & service and to cast all our care upon Him seeing He careth for us. We shall now endeavour to give a brief an account as possible of our voyage, from its commencement. As we have many things to write, some of a pleasant and others of an unpleasant nature, we must be short on every subject. Saturday Oct. 19th, we sailed from Gravesend, and reached the Downs next morning. Messrs. Taylor, Moffat, Brownly, and Mr. and Mrs. Hitchingman suffered from sea-sickness for several days, particularly the latter. Mr. and Mrs. Evans were not above a couple of hours poorly. Wednesday night, the 23rd, when opposite the Bill of Portland, we encountered a severe gale of wind, which continued until the middle of next day. About 1 o'clock in the morning we were in imminent danger by our ship running foul of another vessel, which was coming up the channel. Our gibb-bomb stuck against her fore-and-aft-main-sail and broke it. We lost our gibb by the violence of the crash and our larboard bulwark was injured a little. The Captain assured us next morning, had we been but six feet further on, in all probability both bugs would have gone to the bottom, without hope of deliverance from any quarter. But He that has power over the winds and waves took care of us, because His mercy endureth forever. Thursday afternoon we sail into Torbay, and next day went on shore to Brixham, where Mr. Taylor preached in the Methodist Chapel. The people there showed much kindness towards us. Saturday we set sail from there but being near a see-shore we were obliged to cut our cable & leave about 60 yards of it & our anchor behind. The wind blew very strong during the night and about 3 o'clock in the morning our main yard broke with a violent crash. When we came on deck in the morning we were opposite the Land's End and about 11o'clock we took a farewell view of England's happy shores, that dear land which gave us birth and where we enjoyed such abundance of mercies, both spiritual and temporal. We cannot express our feelings when taking this last view of our native country, perhaps forever. We looked and looked again till it was entirely out of sight. But on meditating on the nature of the glorious work we were leaving it for, the privilege of being so honorably employed, the many great and precious promises we had for our support and the thousands of prayers offered up for us that day (being the Sabbath) in all parts of Britain, we were ready to revoke ourselves for harboring such feelings for a moment, this turned our sorrows into joy and hope. Oct. 30th, we entered the Bay of Biscay & curbed it in four days. We did not experience so much of the roughness of this part of the ocean, as we were supposed we should before we left England, except one night, when we lost our gibb-bomb a second time. Nov. 10th & 11th, we gaped the Canary Islands, we could not see the famous peak of Tenerife plainly, being almost covered by the clouds. Nov. 20, 21 we sailed by Sal, Boa Vista & Maio, three of the Cape de Verde Islands and Friday morning the 22nd we anchored in Port Praia Bay in the island of Sao Tiago. Soon after, we went a shore. As you are in possession of a description of this island and inhabitants, it is needless for us at present to say but little concerning it, only that our hearts were sorely grieved at seeing the wretched & deplorable state of the poor inhabitants, who are entirely destitute of the knowledge of those things which pertain to their eternal happiness. One of the passengers visited the Roman Catholic Priest, who could speak a little bad Latin, but appeared to be extremely ignorant of the way of salvation for him & his deluded people. He is the blind leader of the blind and probable they will all fall together into the ditch of eternal misery, unless quickly delivered. We newer saw so much of the value of the Missionary Society and the great want of faithful Missionaries as at this place. O, when will the time arrive when the messengers of peace and the glad tidings of salvation through Jesus Christ shall arrive among these dark & miserable people to instruct them in the way of everlasting life? Next day, Saturday, we weighed our anchor again and that evening passed Fogo, where there is a volcanic eruption and which is the last of the Cape Verdi Islands. Dec. 5th when in North Lab. 2° 37', we saw an eclipse of the moon, which covered about three-fourths of her and lasted upwards of two hours. Next evening, Dec. 6th we crossed the line. Our kind captain would not allow the sailors to baptize us, as they term it, to the god Neptune, but he gave them some spirits to drink his good health and to the passengers he gave some wine and cake. At this time we could not help thinking of the differences between us and our friends in Britain. While they were glad to draw as near as they could to their large fires, it was impossible for us to find a place cool enough and were glad to be screened from the scorching rays of the sun. While they were shivering of cold in many of their places of worship, we had divine service regularly in the open air on deck with an awning to shade us from the sun. Dec. 16th we passed Trinidad & Martin Vas rocks. After this nothing of importance occurred until we arrived at the Cape, unless that we catched a shark and several other kinds of fish and saw many more, some of which were very large. At 1 o'clock on Monday morning the 13th inst. We were all roused out of a sound sleep by the captain, crying out, "Land, Land." In the course of few minutes we were all on deck and saw Table Mountain like a thick cloud before us. When we got up again at 5, we could see the land quite plain. Eight o'clock we held a prayer meeting together to utter our omitted offering of thanks to the Lord for His dissecting care over us while on the mighty ocean and for the mercies & comforts we had so plentifully enjoyed. Here we enabled to raise our Ebeneyen, saying, "Hitherto hath the Lord helped us." We could say that it was good for us to be there for we had cause to believe that the nuisance of the inhabitants of the bush was amongst us. About 11 o'clock we anchored in Table Bay and in the afternoon the Rev. Mr. Thom took us all on shore and we were comfortably lodged together at Mr. Hammess, the Society's agent at this place. Our feelings at this time were somewhat like St. Paul's at Apii Forum, when the brethren from Rome met him, "We thanked God and took coinage" Now that we are come to the conclusion of our voyage we cannot speak or write too highly of the captain. Findlay's conduct towards us during the whole of our voyage. He behaved to us as a father to his children. We enjoyed family worship morning & evening in which he generally joined us, had service on board every Sabbath when the weather would permits and held a prayer meeting every first Monday in the month, besides other duties among ourselves. In short, our ship proved a little Bethel for us. Our provisions also were very good, we had plenty of fresh meat during the whole voyage, besides puddings of some kind or other, every day, there were three sorts of vegatables on the table almost daily, etc. so that we can say we wanted anything but dry ground under our feet, as to temporal things. The sailors were extremely kind towards us & heard the gospel preached with great attention and seeming interest. Captain Findlay continues his kindness towards us after our arrival at the Cape, and even spoke favorable of us to the General, the Lieutenant Governor. We hoped if the Directors will be sending any more Missionaries to the Cape, they will remember of Captain Findlay's kindness towards us and send our brethren also with him if by any means convenient. Since our arrival he has made some valuable presents to Mrs. Hitchingman & Mrs. Evans, the only female passengers he had on board. Tuesday & Wednesday, the 14th & 15th inst. with the assistance of Brother Thom, Mr. and Mrs. Beck, Mrs. Smith, Mr. & Mrs. Hammer has been exceedingly kind to us since our arrival. Brother Thom appears to have his whole soul in the work and though he has evaded through many difficulties yet his geal continues unabated. We enjoyed much comfort with him & his church, last Sabbath Day, particularly at the Lord's table. On Wednesday, also we waited on Col. Bud, the Under Secretary, who desired us to send in our memorials to his Excellency the Governor, which we did the next day. We were desired to wait on His Excellency the Monday following. We did so, but he could not attend to public business that day, therefore we were requested to wait again on Thursday. Wednesday our passports were sent to us in which we were permitted to settle anywhere within the Colony. This not sufficing for the brethren, who were going beyond the boundaries, they waited on His Excellency next day who after a long conversation, refused permission for them to proceed out of the Colony. His Excellency was very kind & polite and brought many political reasons for the refusal. But as another letter is written on this subject, signing by the three brethren who were present, with a copy of most part of the conversation, it is needless to enlarge here. This is a great & unexpected trick and though we have heard many things besides this, which has a tendency to discourage us, yet we hope the Lord will support us under all our trails and not let our soul grow wild in His great work. Dear Fathers and Brethren pray for us. We were solely grieved on hearing the news of the failure of the Mission to Latakos & that the brethren were obliged to return. The Lord's "way is in the sea & and His paths in the great waters & His footsteps are not known." "He doeth great things past finding out, yea; His wonders are without number." Yet, we are fully satisfied that this great work will eventually prosper, though the giants & sons of Anog and their strong cities & mighty walls appear to us at present in the way, we are persuaded. He will perform this by means of weak & earthy vessels that the Excellency of the power might be of Him & not of us. May His everlasting arms be under you and us to be supported among all difficulties, is the prayer of your

Thruworthy servants and Brethren in the bonds of the Gospel.

Evan Evans; James Hitchingman; John Taylor; John Brownlee; Robert Moffat.

PS. We have the satisfaction of informing the Director that we have lived very comfortable together during the whole time, as Brethren and Sisters in the Lord, in the bonds of peace & brotherly love, for which we have particular cause to praise the name of the Lord. We love one another so much, that we think it will be almost as great a trial to our feelings to leave one another as it was to leave our dear friends and relatives in Britain. We expect to leave Cape Town next Wednesday. We desire particularly to recommend to the Directors that they would order someone to look over & examine the articles which are bought for Missionaries or have them to the rooms, soon enough for them to do so; because many of the articles which we have & could not see before we left London, are most shameful, particularly the blankets which the single brethren have; their three are not so good as one of those which the married brethren have; and are besides very small. On board the vessel, when seeing our clothes, they were ashamed to see them, being of such coarse & bad quality. No doubt the Society paid well for them, one brother had only 34 cravats instead of 36, as was shown in the bill and only 10 towels instead of 12. We ought to have mentioned that our sister, Mrs. Hitchingman, was very poorly for upwards of a fortnight after we have crossed the Line, so much so that we were afraid she would not recover. It occasioned great sorrow to us all. But the Lord had mercy on her and not on her only but on us also, lest we should have sorrow upon sorrow. She is now recovered & full of zeal for the good work she was sent for. We had no time to copy this letter, otherwise we should have put the above things in proper places.

Received 9th April 1817 by Reverend Mr. Burder Secretary of the Missionary Society Missionary Rooms No. 0 Old Tewcy, London

After arriving at the Cape, John Taylor and his companions discovered that they could only proceed to their respective fields of labour if these were beyond the boundaries of the Cape Colony. Lord Charles Somerset, Governor of the Cape Colony allowed John Taylor and his companions to visit and help in a temporary capacity on the mission stations in the Colony. Within months after his arrival in the Cape on 13 January 1817, John Taylor moved to Bethelsdorp and shortly thereafter to Paarl where he devoted his attentions to fields of labour. While at Paarl he met and fell in love with a pretty brunette, Antonia Francina van Geysel, the daughter of, Derk Francios van Geysel and Maria Johanna van Geysel, (born as Van Zwielen), Dutch Burgers of Ceylon. Born on 3 August 1790 in Punt de Gale, Ceylon, she came to the Cape 1809 together with her sister and brother-in-law, reverent MC Vos. Reverent Vos married John Taylor and Antonia van Geyzel on 6 April 1817 in Caledon.

In October 1818 John Taylor together with some of the other LMS missionaries resigned from the LMS.

[This letter is a direct duplication of the original handwritten letter, filed in the archives of School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, Box 7, folder 5, jacket B]

Paarl     2nd October 1818

Revered Sir

It gives me much grief that I am under the necessity of stating to you and the Directors of the Missionary Society, that I consider it my duty to dissolve my connection with it. A few days after I arrived in Cape Town I was much astonished and grieved that the Rules for your Mission here and the conduct of some of your Missionaries were such as I could not approve of. I therefore considered it my duty to use the best means, from the best of motives, and according to my judgement the most likely to produce a suitable reformation, and lead to such order and regulations among your missionaries here as are agreeable to the Rules of your Society, the professed principles of its supporters and the Word of God. This I have done and I am very sorry that the answer of the Directors to the Minutes of our meeting, and what I have heard since, give me little reason to hope that a good or proper reformation will be effected among your Missionaries in South Africa. Though the meeting at the Cape had not led to the reformation which I desired and had reason to expect, yet I rejoice that it has done good and may lead to much more, as the Directors have so far approved of some of the important things stated in the Minutes of the Meeting or to do over again what we did. The consideration of this helps me to bear some things stated in the Director's answer to the Meeting which are unpleasant and very unsuitable. Though I consider it my duty to leave the Society on account of the sin and disorder which are still allowed to continue among it's Missions here, and the unkind usage which I have experienced from the Directors; yet I hope through Divine grace never to leave the cause of Christ nor the glorious task of preaching the way to salvation through Him to perishing sinners. Perhaps some may consider me as going out of the path of duty to state any thing farther to the Directors respecting the lamentable state of their Missions here; yet the reproach which has been brought on the cause of Christ (and will still be brought if the plan is not changed) and the ill treatment which I have experienced from the Directors require me to recommend a few things to them which through the Divine blessing may lead to better order among the Missions here, and prevent other Missionaries from being used as I have been. Before the Directors send out any Missionaries; according to the principles of Morality and common justice as well as religion they ought to give and explain to him the Rules of that place or Institution where they appoint him to labour. Not only particular instructions as to his conduct but also respecting his support the mode of direction in the Mission or Missions and how they stand connected with Government. If these are not particularly attended to when a Missionary arrived in a foreign land he may find himself not only disappointed and deceived but also left to grope in darkness as I have been. This treatment from Directors, whom Missionaries not only consider as truly pious but also in some respects as their fathers, is perhaps more to bear than death in its most form from the Heathens.

 	Were I to judge of the majority of the Directors (according to their answers to the Minutes of our Meeting) respecting the Disciplines and order which should be maintained among their Missionaries, I would not only call on them to "search the Scriptures" as to these, but also, to learn from the Church of Rome the dreadful consequences of neglecting scriptural Order and Discipline. 	Before the Directors can expect their Missionaries to be respected as they ought, to live in peace and love and to be more useful and successful, they must answering to the principles of their Society give them what is necessary for their support, how no brother to rule over another and also to give the widows and orphans of their Missionaries sufficient support as is stated in the Minutes of the Meeting. See also my letter to Dr Waugh dated Tulbach, 16th January 1818 in which I stated my mind on some things more fully than at the meeting.  So long as the Directors will not give the necessary support to the Widows and Orphans of their faithful Missionaries (when it is possible to do it) whatever reason they give and whatever they call their deal (so far as it refers to this) it is at the best a deal without knowledge and love and contrary to justice and the Word of God.  	At several Missionary Meetings in England I have heard the circumstance suspecting the child at Lattakoo (who was deserted of it's parents and none to pity it though crying for hunger) related with much feeling and astonishment, and could the Heathens here held meetings they could state with feeling and astonishment that the children of some of your faithful Missionaries have also been nearly deserted by the Directors in their not providing for them as they should. See the Minutes of the Meeting. By such conduct as this the poor Heathens are not to see the inpasiosity of our religion to their own but by acting according to James 1 vs 27. 	Before I left England I declined to make choice of any country or station but gave it wholly over to the Director to go where they thought proper considering their mind as the Will of God. The consideration of this has turned some measure to support my mind under many trails but I have it to the Directors to judge if they have done their duty in not writing me since I left England (at least I have received none) nor giving me any information what to do or where I was likely to go, though I asked them repeatedly and particularly, respecting my uncomfortable situation.  Thus, I have waited about 21 months in vain for instructions from the Directors and have done my best from the best of motives as an individual and with my Brethren to lead to such punity and order as agreeable to the principles of the Missionary Society, the Word of God and my own conscience. But I am sorry to find that I have been in a great measure disappointed. As this is the case and the promised Deputation not arrived and by a letter from Dr Bogue to Mr. Thom, dated 17th July last, there is little hope of their coming and in according to his letter and the answers of the Directors to the Minutes of the meeting there is but little hope of suitable order being introduced though they should come. Therefor after maturely considering all things, I think that it is full time to leave the Society and look out for myself. If my writing or conduct has given offence to you or any of the Directors, I beg yours or their pardon and can from my heart say that it has not been my intention to do so but from a strong conviction of my duty and if possible to rouse the Directors to theirs, that sin disorder reproach and disgrace might be removed as far as possible from their Missions in South Africa and that God might be glorified in the salvation of many sinners.  Though I have been exceedingly ill-used by the Directors yet I rejoice that God had given me a heart to forgive them and also to pray that He may forgive them and direct them as soon as possible to adopt such plans as will provide proper order among their Missions. When this takes place I will do what I can to further the proceedings of the Society. But till then it cannot be expected.  Wishing you and the Directors only needful blessing and direction. 						 I am Dear Sir Yours Faithfully

Reverend G Binder Secretary to the Missionary society PS It is my intention to settle my money matters with Mr.Beck, your agent, as soon as possible and will let you know the result in the duplicate of this.

John Taylor, John Evans and George Thom fully qualified preachers, also informed Lord Charles Somerset of their decision and of the desire to continue as ministers of the Gospel. The Governor was only too ready to help them as he was anxious to please the Afrikaans-speaking people of the outlying areas of the Colony who were starving for regular spiritual services.  John Evans was sent to the Eastern Cape to become the first minister of the Dutch Reformed Church in Cradock.  In 1819 John Taylor was sent to a distant outpost in the Northern Central Area of the Cape Colony, specially created for the purpose of serving the farming community.

[This letter is a direct duplication of the original handwritten letter, filed in the archives in South Africa] Paarl 12th december 1818
Sir This day I had the pleasure of receiving your letter dated the 7th instant, and cordially except of my appointment as the minister to Beaufort-West district. I also beg have to give my assent to the Church Regulations which were proclaimed in this settlement under the Administration of Mr. Commissary de Mist and to such other local orders and customs as obtain in the Communities of the Reformed Religion in this Colony. The extract of the letter of Instructions to Mr. Baird, the deputy landdrost I persuade with much satisfaction and was highly gratified with the benevolent, liberal and extensive plans of His Excellency in diffusing the knowledge of Religion those who dwell in the unenlightened parts of the colony. Though I expect many difficulties in the faithful and zealous discharge of my duty in Beaufort-West District, yet I trust that the statement of His Excellency's Philantropic and Christian sentiments made known in the letter will tend much to remove them. I therefor rejoice that His Excellency has been pleased to appoint me to it, that by devine assistance I may so much as possible fulfil His Benevolent wishes in visiting and instructing the inhabitants of the several parts of the district. What tends to comfort and encourage me very much in the prospect of this important parts of my work is His Excellency's most sincere desire that the different classes of the native inhabitants and the black and slave parts of the community may receive that religious instructions which will be highly consoling to them under the mostifying restraints of their unfortunate lot and unquestionable sender them the move valuable to their proprietors. I also highly approve of the plan of the institution which His Excellency wishes to establish and hope that he will have the pleasure of seeing and hearing that His exertions and influence have been successful in extending the knowledge of Religion to many who were formerly ignorant of it. When I consider the confidence which His Excellency has been pleased to place in me I certainly would be very unfaithful and ungrateful if I do not use my utmost endeavours to carry so far as possible into effect the whole wishes of His Excellency. I have the honour to be , Sir, your obedient servant.

4 BEAUFORT WEST On the banks of the intermittently flowing Gamka River at the foot of the Newveld Mountains a town was established in 1820. Named after the fifth Duke of Beaufort, father of the Cape Governor Lord Charles Somerset, Beaufort West became the first municipality in South Africa in 1837. The high annual rainfall, a relatively abundance, has earned it the title of 'the oasis town'. It is the only town in Africa with streets shaded by pear trees. Here at Beaufort West (and later also at Cradock) a lonely farmhouse was the only sign of civilisation, kindly made available for use by the young minister. Although Cradock had already been an established military outpost for some time, Beaufort West really only stared its existence shortly before the arrival of the energetic young Scot, who had literally carried out the injunction impressed on all newly ordained London Missionary Society missionaries "not only to preach the Gospel but also to encourage the parishioners to develop the land, to teach and to introduce to all the amenities of civilisation.” At one occasion, John Taylor pointed out that his congregation here is larger than Yorkshire. The first church was a tarpaulin spread over the thorn trees. Three of Rev. John Taylor's seven children were born here at Beaufort West - Jane Agnes Mary on 1819/09/09, Johanna Christina on 1821/04/12 and Nancy Antonia on 1823/02/01. With courage and determination, John Taylor laid the foundation for a prosperous congregation in a field of labour where the widespread farming community was unable to attend church meetings and participate in communal activities. On 5 December 1823 an official notice of John Taylor’s transfer to Cradock where only the parsonage people and two or three other town families were English speaking, was received. The notice read: “Het heeft Zyne Excellentie den Goevenneur behaagd, den Eerw. J Taylor, van het Leeraars Ambt van Beaufort, naar Cradock te verplaatsen”.

5 CRADOCK The upper reaches of the valley of the Great Fish river were not as exposed to frontier disturbances as the lower reaches, but, at the end of the Frontier War of 1812, Sir John Cradock ordered that two strongholds be created to secure the eastern area. One was Grahamstown and the other was Cradock. Cradock lies in a broad part of the upper valley. It has rich soil, plentiful water and the climate is warm. (Supplementary water is now also fed to the river valley from the Orange River by means of a 82km long tunnel, the longest irrigation tunnel in the world and the second longest of all tunnels.) The first fort was built in 1813. Soon a town began to take shape, an inhabitable village in which the inhabitants began to take justifiable pride. The official name of Cradock was granted on 21st January 1814 and on 20th June 1837, Cradock was granted municipal status. It took enterprise and courage for any individual, no matter how poor, to abandon his familiar home in Britain and migrate to a far and unknown part of the world such as Southern Africa. The difficulties, delays and expenses of transport were such that once leaving his native soil, the emigrant knew that it was unlikely that he would ever see his old home again. John Evans excepted his appointment on 13th June 1817; "I trust that it shall be my constant study to fill my new and important situation to the perfect satisfaction of the Government". The congregation's founding day was 10th June 1818. John Evans had past away on 30th January 1823, shortly after the completion of the little, single-storied church he had built - Cradock's first Dutch Reformed church . “Mr Evans had departed from this vale of tears at the age of 31. His last words to me were ’John, do what you can for my wife’. Thus died a true Christian minister”. Lord Charles Somerset sent Rev. John Taylor to Cradock to take the place of the young Rev. John Evans. The Taylors arrived in Cradock on Friday, 9th January 1824 moved into the house, - presently 15 Bree Street – which was rented and later on bought from misses Evans - the first Parsonage of the Dutch Reformed Church at Cradock; a most desirable house and erf and a good garden well stocked with vines and fruit trees in great variety and in full bearing. Here they stayed for 25 years. On 29 March 1824 Rev John Taylor held his first consistorial meeting of the parish. (A parish 15,000 square meters and 10,000 members in size and bigger than Yorkshire.) Nine months after his arrival, Rev. John Taylor occupied the little single-storied church his predecessor, Rev. John Evans had built. John Taylor built the second Dutch Reformed Parsonage on 1/2 Bree Street, a beautifully simple but commodious white-washed gabled building which still stands today and which the Taylors occupied from 1849 until his death in 1860. It is from here that John Taylor travelled forth from time to time on horseback on his routine visiting rounds to his far-flung parish, attending to the duties of preaching, marrying, christening and burying. So it came about that in 1825 he christened on a distant farm the infant Stephanus Johannes Paulus Kruger, destined to become the President of the South African Republic - the Old Transvaal. It was in Cradock that the other four children were born - John Michael on 26/09/1824, Elizabeth Magdalena on 23/01/1826, Francina Hendrica Helena on 20/02/1828 and David Christiaan on 26/05/1831. Jane Agnes Mary the eldest daughter of John Taylor married Robert McClachlan Armstrong, an Royal Navy surgeon. Their daughter, Jane Armstrong, granddaughter of John Taylor married Robert John Taylor, the son of Rev. Robert Barry Taylor the other Taylor in the story, on 11 March 1868. On 4 November 1859 the grey-headed minister lost his devoted wife and when he followed her at 9 the evening of 21 May 1860, he was almost 72 years of age. In the Churchyard surrounding Cradock’s present beautiful Dutch Reformed Church - a replica of St. Martins-in-the-Fields in London completed in 1868 - the graves of Rev. John Taylor, his wife Antonia van Geyzel and his daughter’s Elizabeth Magdalena, Francina Hendrica Helena and Jane Agnes Mary are to be found. DEATH NOTICE 6/9/90 - 6982 Filed 28/06/1860

 1	Name of deceased:	John Taylor

 2	Birthplace of the deceased:	Scone, County of Perth, Scotland

 3	Names of parents of the deceased:	Unknown

 4	Age of the deceased:	71 years  11 months  14 days.

 5	Condition in life 9Occupation):	Minister of the Dutch Reformed Church at Cradock

 6	Ordinary place of residence:	-

 7	Married or unmarried, widower or widow:	Widower

 7a	Name of surviving spouse:	-

 7b	Name or names and approx. date of death of previous spouse/s: Antonia Francina Taylor, born Geyzel or Gyzel

 8	The day of the decease:	On 21st May 1860

 9	At what house or where the person died:	Parsonage House, Cradock 10	Names of children of deceased, and whether majors or minors (Stating separately those born of different marriages). 1)	Johanna Christina, wife of CM Thornhill 2)	Nancy Antonia 3)	John Michael 4)	Elizabeth Magdalena 5)	Francina Hendrica Helena married to David Christian

(Jane Agnes Mary died, in her lifetime the wife of the late Dr. RM Armstrong) All majors 11 Whether the deceased has left any property, and of what kind: - 12 The deceased has left a Will: -

Dated at Cradock this 25th day of May, 1860.

Sgd. JM Taylor

The Border wars The inhabitants of Northern Africa slowly migrated to the South, looking for better and more farming prospects. During the same period the Europeans of the Cape Colony were moving in a north-eastern direction for virtually the same reasons. Especially after the arrival of the British Settlers in 1820 the Eastern Cape, now occupied by large numbers of Europeans, became a prosperous farming community. It was therefore inevitable that these two migration streams would meet and that clashes would be unavoidable. The eastern border was the area where these clashes happened and the eventually war! During the ministry of Rev. John these border wars on many occasions disrupted the ecclesiastical activities. As early as 1827 the church council reported the poor attendance of services. The long travelling distances to church, the long periods away from the farm, the lack of trustworthy farm-helpers and the physical dangers to which the farm and the livestock were exposed to, made it very difficult and virtually impossible to attend the church services. A report of 1833 mentioned that the members of the church oftenly did not utilised their privileges because of the ongoing restlessness in the area, the fear of attacks and the shortage of reliable farm workers. (With each inroad those working on the farms, went back across the borders to assist their compatriots in their struggles with the government of the Cape Colony and their attacks on the farmers, living in the border areas.) During the war of 1835 the church council announced that due to the hostile situation Rev. Taylor would not fulfil his house-call duties. They also reported that the attendance of and participation in the activities of the parish were very poor due to the barbarous and unforeseen attacks from across the border and the long periods that members of the church and others had to guard over their and communal properties or were on commando. In 1836 Rev John Taylor openly supported the border farmers when he explained to the Lieutenant-governor that the members of his congregation were confronted from both sides. The war on the one hand and the on-going process of change – changing the rental farm system to the quitrent tenure system – on the other, only created uncertainty. He argued that if the latter problem could be addressed urgently and solutions provided speedily, the excitement amongst the farmers should eased considerably and that the people and their farms would soon be much improved and would support much larger populations than at present. In 1851 the sitution was so bad that the preachers of the border parishes could not attend even the presbytery meetings. Rev. John Taylor as treachery of the Border War Support Committee, had a rough time. Over and above his congregational responsibilities he had organised and provided support to at least 400 persons during that year.

The Great Trek At the meeting of the presbytery of Graaff-Reinet in 1828 at Cradock all the attending preachers were of Scottish origin. That was also the case during the Great Trek. The preachers of the border congregations, the predominant area of migration, were all Scots, ministering in the Dutch Reform Church. In a greater or lesser extent, all of them were dismiss the unfolding African nationalism of their congregations. Their general response were that although life on the border was miserable, it would still be better under the British flag than to move into the wild. The Synod of 1837 with the exception of a few preachers had rejected the Great Trek; their main argument were that the trackers “zonder eenen Moses en Aaron de woestyn introkken en zonder belofte of aanwyzing thans een Canaan voor zich opzoeken”. The Church as the congregation in Cradock took a heavy toll with the departure of so many members; fearless, hard-working, respectable Christians who were in many instances the corner-stones of the community. Rev. John Taylor had maintained his alliance with the trackers. On various occasions former members of his congregation invited him to join the Potgieter Trek as their preacher and spiritual leader. Alternatively he was invited to visit them and to fulfil all their so ecclesiastical needs. The leader of one of the Voortrekker groups, Hendrik Potgieter, as well as many others, came back to Cradock for the christening of his children. Although he condemned the Trek, he never had neglected the spiritual needs of his Voortrekker friends. Never destined to settle with the Voortrekkers, he visited them fairly regularly. On 17 January 1847 he christened 39 children at one of the incidents when he had crossed the Orange River to visit his friends. Boys and girls, on numerous occasions came back to Cradock to attend confirmation classes and to confess their faith. The great respect of the Voortrekkers for rev John Taylor is revealed in a letter written in 1850 from the Magaliesberg. “Hy heeft de eerste oog van medelyden gevestigt op onse arme herderlooze kudde. Wy beschouwd de Heer Taylor, als de eerste Belangsteller, in ons gebreeken omtrend de godsdiens.” In 1849 somebody called him “a friend, a zealous Christian, and a pious Missionary of the Truth as it is in Jesus, who deserves also to be remembered as the Christian frien of illised Emigrant farmers, when they left the Colony in despair in 1836-37. He stood ‘between the living and the death, among the faithful, faithful only he’.”

The spiritual life Except during the periods of war, the congregational life during the ministry of Rev. John Taylor was fairly tranquil and calm. On Sundays, the program included a service in Afrikaans/Dutch in the morning, followed by the catechism. In the afternoon a service in English was held. Catechism covered the Book of Questions by Hellenbroek, the Summary of the Catechism Book and the morning’s service. After the English-speaking members had started their own congregation, Rev. John replaced the service in English with catechism sermon. Rev John, concerned over the lack of support of parents during the children’s preparation for their confession of faith, asked for tough measures in order to increase the level of knowledge of the youth. As from 1858, prospective young members had to register with the preacher 3 months in advance and had to attend classes presented by a qualified person for at least 12 days prior to confession of faith. Nancy, daughter of John Taylor, organist from 1859 until 1866 when she married OA Jacoby, was succeeded by Jane Armstrong, granddaughter of John Taylor and daughter of Jane Agnes Mary. As mentioned earlier, the congregation that he served was large. So it became that as relieving minister for the Burghersdorp district, a commission under his leadership met at Leeufontein on the 22 January 1846 to negotiate the buying of suitable land where a churh building could be erected. On 2 February 1846 the farm Klipfontein was bought for 15 000 riksdaalders (rix-dollars) from Gerrit Buitendacht. The transaction report read "Aan den eer waarde heer J Toiylaard U eer waarde heer word bekend gemaakt dat wy een plaas gekog hebt van den heer buytendag voor den Som van vyftien duysent reksdaalders. Ver Soek een haastig antwoord of dat wy haastig voort kan gaan." Rev. De Beer gave the following sketch of rev. John as was experienced by a youngster that grew up in the congregation during the last 15 years of his life, "By alle aiwezigheid van uiterlike aantreklykheid", his preaching was known as exceptionally sound and thorough. "Vorm was er niet, goed Hollansch niet, ook niet sierlyke styl, ook niet bekoorlyke stembuiging, evenmin bevallige gesticulatie."

John Taylor's memoirs In many of the homes of descendants of John Taylor saying grace at meals are still being done in an old traditional way, namely before meals: "Sanctify Our Lord, we beseech Thee, the production to our use and us, through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen." And after meals: "Blesseth and praiseth be Thy Holy Name, Oh Lord, for this and all the other blessings bestowed upon us, through Jesus Christ Our Lord, Amen." It is only fair to believe that these prayers are a heritage of John Taylo, past on to us over many generations.

Found in the family bible of John Taylor, [particulars and spelling as noted]: Memorandum of the births of the children of John Taylor, minister, and Antonia Francina van Geyzel 1 John Michiel Hendrick, born at Tulbach on 18th February 1818 and died at Paarl on 27th January 1819 and interred in the churchyard at said place. 2 Jane Agnes Mary born at Beaufort on 9th September 1819, married Dr. Amstrong. After bearing him 5 children she died at Cradock on 12th November 1850. 3 Johanna Christina born at Beaufort 12th April 1821. 4 Nancy Antonia born at Beaufort 13th February 1823. 5 John Michiel born at Cradock 26th September 1824. 6 Elizabeth Christiana born at Cradock 23th January 1826. 7 Frances Henrietha Helena born at Cradock 20th February 1828. 8 Dorothy Margaret born at Cradock 28th June 1829 and died six months later. 9 David Christian born at Cradock 26th May 1831. 10 Antonia born at Cradock 20th April 1836 and died 5 days later.

This bible was given to JM Taylor, in John's own handwriting: "Aan JM Taylor tot gedagtenis gegewen van zyn moeder AF Taylor, Cradock 26 September 1850."

JOHN TAYLOR WENT TO SOUTH-AFRICA WITH A MISSION FROM GOD. TODAY ALMOST 200 YEARS LATER, HIS DECENDANTS ARE STILL IN SOUTH-AFRICA, STILL UNDER THE SAME MISSION OF GOD. BUT ARE WE SUCCESSFUL, ARE WE FULFILLING HIS GOALS?

References: The following people made wonderful and sincere contributions to this commemoration.  AK Bell Library, Perth and Kinross Council, Perth Scotland - A special thanks to Mike Moir  Cradock Municipality, Publicity Dept. - A special thanks to Jackie Vertue.  EG Malherbe, the great granddaughter of J Armstrong, the grand daughter of John Taylor.  JM Taylor and his wife M Maritz - A grandson of JWR Taylor, a grandson of John Taylor  PP du P Taylor and his wife AC Buitendacht - A son of RF Taylor, a grandson of John Taylor  The Archives of the Dutch Reformed Church, Cape Town - A special thanks to Patrick Van Wyck.  The Old Parish Church Scone, Perthshire, Scotland - A special thanks to Mike Moir and Robert McArthur.  The School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. - A special thanks to Alison Fald.  The Scone Palace, Perth, Scotland - A special thanks to Morag Norris.  Betty Nelson, Box 2707, Cape Town, 8000