Lydia Williams - friend of slaves

Lydia Williams who features in my book Nick North: Into Africa is actually an historical figure. She was an emancipated slave, born in 1820 and died in 1910 (aged 90 years).  Slavery was abolished in 1834 when Lydia was 14 but slaves had to carry out a post Emancipation apprenticeship and she was finally freed when she was 18.

District Six in 1964

lived in District 6, one of the most infamous areas of Cape Town. It is situated near to the Central Business District (CBD) and the docks. The view over Cape Town, the sea and the docks is beautiful. By the beginning of 20th century it was a lively, bustling community made up of former slaves, artisans, merchants and other immigrants.  The 60,000 inhabitants were mainly coloured – a South African accepted term for people of mixed race, many descended from slaves. However there were also black and both Afrikaans and English speaking white people as well as some Indians.

It wasn’t a rich area but the community got along really well and were happy to celebrate each others religious festivals as Christians, Muslims and Hindus lived there. After the Second World War, the national government started to pursue policies which eventually led to apartheid being established in 1948. All people were classified by race and given an area to live in. People needing to work or go to another area on legitimate business had to have a pass.

Forcible removals

the light of this, the government decided that interracial areas, such as District Six, bred conflict. They considered it was a slum with all manner of crimes being committed but many thought that the government actually wanted the area because of it closeness to the CBD and the commercial value of redevelopment.  District Six was declared a whites only area and the residents were forcibly removed to the cheerless Cape flats, far away from their places of work and the community they loved. The whole area was bulldozed apart from places of worship. However international pressure meant re-development was practically impossible and now over 50 years later, much of District Six is still barren land. A few old residents have now been re-housed in the area. 

District Six today

I try and cover all this complex history in Nick North: Into Africa. As part of my research I came across Lydia Williams also known as Saint Lydia for the work she did amongst the emancipated slaves. She was an extraordinary woman who still bore the scars on her body from whipping when she went in search for her daughter who was forcibly taken from her. She taught and held prayer meetings to help former slaves recover from the trauma of slavery. On December 1, Emancipation Day, each year she held a celebration at her house with treats and memories shared.

Here is an excerpt from Nick North: Into Africa where Nick and his two cousins Marieka and Johan find themselves in District Six.

At the bottom of the alley, it widened out into a junction of roads and alleys. On one corner was a small cottage tucked in the grounds of a church. Its small front garden was decorated with flowers festooned around the scraggly bushes.

‘I think this is our destination,’ Nick said. 

‘How do you know?’ Johan sniffed. 

‘House decorated and standing out from all the others. Next to a church. This is it.’ 

The three of them hovered on what passed for a pavement staring at the cottage and the flowers. As they looked closely they could see sweets hung amongst the flowers.

‘Do you think I could have a sweet or two?’ Johan asked.

‘No,’ Nick and Marieka said and Nick grabbed Johan’s arm in case he was tempted. 

Sitting on the doorstep of the cottage, on a low wooden chair, was a plump lady with short frizzy grey hair and a pale brown skin.  She was looking very closely at them but smiling.

‘Come on you three.  You look a bit lost and out of place, but I think this is where you were making for.  Am I right?’

‘Yes. I think so. The Shepherd sent us but we don’t really know why.’

The lady smiled. ‘The Shepherd told me to look out for strangers today. It’s our special day. And here you are.’

The lady beckoned them in. ‘My name is Lydia Williams but most people call me Sister Lydia. And who are you?’

The three of them walked up the path to the tiny cottage. ‘I’m Nick and these are my sort of cousins, Marieka and Johan.’

‘Welcome. All of you.

Genius or villain?

When writing my books, I do like to be as historically accurate as I can be. I research the region, the history and the people. Sometimes knowledge comes from my own experience and sometimes from the Internet. 

I always like to include historical people if at all possible. This may be alluded to as in Nick North: Cross Wires where I based the character Yvette, Nick’s great grandmother, on Eileen Neame a real life SOE operative in World War 2.  You can read about this in my blog: 'The Amazing women of SOE'  published in February 2018. 

However in Nick North: Into Africa I actually used two historical figures – first Governor Willem van der Stel and Lydia Williams. 

Governor Willem van der Stel 1664 - 1733

He was the son of Simon van der Stel, the first Governor of the Cape in South Africa, and later became Governor himself. In those days the Cape was little more than a watering station for the wealthy Dutch East India Company, who traded between the East Indies and Europe. 

Vergelegen

In 1700, Governor Willem established his residence at Vergelegen which literally means Far Away as it was a day’s ride from Cape Town. He transformed the uncultivated land into a paradise, planting vines, fruit orchards and olive groves and he kept thousands of sheep and cattle.  He was gifted in the whole area of horticulture and agriculture and experimented to improve yields and investigated and explored the many species of plants that flourish in southern Africa. He built a beautiful homestead and a hexagonal garden. He planted camphor trees and irrigated his paradise by digging channels from the nearby Lourens River.

The hexagonal garden today

Today, part of the house remains as does the hexagonal garden, a place of great quiet and beauty and the camphor trees stand majestically towering over the homestead. It is a beautiful location and I would recommend a visit there should you ever be in Cape Town.

However Governor Willem fell out with the other free burghers in the Cape as he used Company money to expand and develop his estate giving him an unfair advantage over the others. They complained to the Company and eventually Governor Willem was recalled to the Netherlands and the estate was divided into four.

Many however consider him to be a genius due to his knowledge of plants and horticulture and feel his great vision contributed to the development of the Cape. 

In my book, he makes a brief appearance right at the start. His manager, Master Anton, has whipped a slave to death.

At that moment, a man strode out from the homestead and across the lawns to where Master Anton stood over Jacob. He was wearing black britches, a long, black tunic, a white shirt with a cravat tied at his throat, and he had a grey wig.

‘What’s happening here, Anton? Did you do this?’ he asked, looking at Jacob’s battered and bloody body.

‘Yes, Governor Willem. I caught him stealing.’

‘Bit extreme, wouldn’t you say? Meant to be a couple of lashes, not an execution. You’d better be careful or your temper will get the better of you one day.’

With that, he strode back to the homestead and turned away his son, who had come out to see what had been going on, not realising that his careless actions had cost someone their life.

Next time: Lydia Williams