In April 1806 a Superintendent of Government Lands and Woods was appointed and entrusted with the care of Government Woods. Overseers were stationed at some woods and made responsible to him. The postholder at Plettenberg Bay, Saldanha Bay and elsewhere, the Landdrosts and Heemraden, and, upon the abolition of the latter, the Civil Commissioners, also had functions to perform in connection with forests.
In 1847 a Superintendent of Crown Forests was appointed, and later in the same year he was replaced by a Conservator of Forests, stationed at George. From that date Rangers and Conservators of Crown Forests were stationed in various divisions, and in some of them both these offices existed, while in others there was only a Ranger.
It was, however, not until 1866 that a Ranger was appointed for Crown Forests in the division of King William’s Town. A letter dated 3 November 1866 informed Baron Johan de Fin that “His Excellency the Governor has been pleased to appoint you Ranger of the Crown Forests in the Division of King William’s Town with a salary of £120 per annum from the date of entering on your duties”. Baron de Fin commenced his duties on the 8th of the same month, so that 8 November 1866 must be regarded as the date of establishment of this office.
No forestry records are available for the first sixteen years of this office’s existence, but the duties of Baron de Fin seem to have been limited to the protection of the property of the Crown against needless destruction, and to the issuing of licences for felling timber. Reports of Rangers and Conservators of Forests in the early part of the second half of the 19th century were virtually limited to these matters, and no mention was made of reclamation and reforestation of overexploited areas.
Even Baron de Fin, after seventeen years of service as Ranger and Conservator, was unable to define his own duties and functions. In March 1883 the Civil Commissioner of King William’s Town wrote to the Commissioner of Crown Lands and Public Works that “Mr Nettelton (De Fin’s temporary successor) has a very slight idea of what he is expected to do, and Baron de Fin could give him no information at all”. In his reply the Commissioner gave the following exposition of the Ranger’s duties: “His chief function will be to see that no one cuts wood without authority nor obtains such authority except very sparingly as the Governor has been much alarmed by the destruction in the forests”.
The Ranger of Crown Forests for King William’s Town forwarded his correspondence via the Civil Commissioner, but when “Crown Forests and Plantations” became a separate division of the Department of the Commissioner of Crown Lands and Public Works in 1876, the Conservator (as he was called after 1876) corresponded directly with the ministerial office.
In 1881 the Forest Department was reorganised by Count de Vasselot de Régné, who held the appointment of Superintendent of Woods and Forests for the Cape Colony, from January 1881 to September 1891, when this office was abolished. Count de Vasselot sub-divided the Colony into four Forest Conservatories, namely the Western, Midland, Eastern and Transkeian. Each of these areas was placed under the control of a Conservator of Forests, assisted by District Forest Officers, Superintendents of Plantations and Foresters, who were directly responsible to him.
In 1883 Baron De Fin was succeeded as Conservator by Mr DE Hutchins. With Hutchins’ appointment, the office of the Conservator was transferred from Keiskama Hoek (where it was situated since 1866) to King William’s Town. In 1886 the area of jurisdiction of this office was extended to the whole eastern part of the colony.
In May 1888 Mr J Storr Lister was transferred to the Eastern Province and instructed to proceed to King William’s Town to replace Mr Hutchins as Conservator of the Eastern Conservancy. It was, however, not until October 1888 that he actually commenced service at King William’s Town.
Lister’s appointment was of great importance for the future development of this office. His first effort was directed towards reorganising the forest staff in accordance with Count de Vasselot’s suggestions. With the approval of Government he provisionally divided the Eastern Conservancy into five forestal districts, namely King William’s Town, Keiskama Hoek, Stutterheim, Alexandria and East London. Each forestal district was placed under the immediate supervision of a District Forest Officer. This reorganisation was carried out in accordance with Forest Act No 28 of 1888.
A Government Notice dated 13 June 1889 declared the Eastern Conservancy to consist of the following magisterial divisions: Port Elizabeth, Jansenville, Graaff-Reinet, Middelburg, Hanover, Colesberg, Albert, Cradock, Somerset East, Alexandria, Bathurst, Albany, Bedford, Fort Beaufort, Tarka, Aliwal North, East London, King William’s Town, Cathcart, Komgha, Stutterheim, Barkly East, Herschel and Stockenström. For the first time since 1866 we find a precise definition of the duties of the Conservator for the Eastern Conservancy. These duties may be briefly summarised as follows: The Conservator of Forests, Eastern Conservancy was entrusted with the control of all Crown Forests in this area and was authorized to issue, cancel or amend all licences issued with regard to the felling of timber, grazing of livestock on forest lands, squatting, igniting of fires as well as the hunting of and protection of game. The Conservator was further charged with the disposal of all forest produce, as well as the sub-division of forests into sections for rotational felling.
After the abolition of the post of Superintendent of Woods and Forests in 1891, the Eastern Conservancy as well as the other conservancies existed as independent administrations for the following fourteen years (1891 – 1905). Each conservancy was administrated by its Conservator who was directly responsible to the Assistant Commissioner of Crown Lands and Public Works.
In 1902 Act No 20 was passed as an amendment to the Forest Act and it dealt chiefly with the control of Commonage by municipalities and village management boards.
The Forest Department was reorganised on 1 October 1905 with Mr Lister, who had formerly been Conservator for the Eastern Conservancy, appointed in the new post as Acting Chief Conservator of Forests for the Cape Colony. This position became permanent from 1 July 1906 when he was appointed Chief Conservator of Forest for the Cape Colony. From that date the Conservator of Forests, Eastern Conservancy, once again resorted under the office of the Chief Conservator of Forests (formerly called the office of the Superintendent of Woods and Forests).
This reorganisation had little administrative effect in the Eastern Conservancy, except for the series of letters despatched which was changed accordingly with each step in the reorganisation.
By the extension of the duties and powers of this office by the Forest Act of 1888 and its amendment in 1902, both the staff and the archives of this office showed a corresponding growth. In 1886 the staff of the Eastern Conservancy consisted of the Conservator, assisted by one clerk, while the field personnel totalled seven. By 1910 the office staff was increased by the addition of a clerk and accountant, while the field staff had increased to thirty one. The bulk of the archives originated in the late 1890s.
List of Conservators of Forests:
Baron Johan de Fin, 1866 – 1883
Thomas Nettelton (temporary), 1883
David Ernest Hutchins, 1883 – 1888
Joseph Storr Lister, 1888 – 1905
John Spurgeon Henkel, 1906 – 1907
Arthur William Heywood, 1907 – 1910
Charles Ross, 1910 – 1917
EB Dwyer, 1918 –
