Beaufort-Wes : 'n oorsig van die geskiedenis van die dorp en distrik.

Abstract

• Opsomming: Die uitbreiding van die volksplanting na die noordooste gedurende die agtiende eeu het in 1818 gelei tot die proklamasie van die distrik Beaufort. Die hoofdorp van die distrik, die huidige Beaufort-Wes, is op die plaas Hoogvlakte aangelê. Dié dorp wat in 1837 die eerste munisipaliteit in Suid-Afrika gekry het, was van die vroegste tyd af die middelpunt van die opvoedkundige, kerklike en handeIsbedrywighede van hierdie distrik waarin hoofsaaklik skaapboerdery bedryf is. Vandag is dit die grootste dorp in die sentrale Karoo en 'n belangrike spoorwegsentrum.

• Summary: The expansion of the settlement to the north-east in the course of the eighteenth century led to the proclamation of the Beaufort district in 1818. The principal town of the district, the present Beaufort West, was established on the farm Hooyvlakte and was the first municipality in South Africa (1837). From the beginning it was the centre of the educational, church and commercial life of this district, where sheep-farming was the most prominent activity. Today it is the largest town in the central Karoo and is also an important railway centre.