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“According to an Amended Report of the Committee appointed on 21 July 1854 taking into consideration as to places where additional Civil Commissioners and seats of Magistracy should be placed, the Governor of the Cape Colony, acting under the powers vested in him by the Act ‘For Amending and Consolidating the Laws relative to the Courts of Resident Magistrates, 1856 (Act 20 of 1856)’ , erected, constituted and established a Court of Resident Magistrate at Knysna, and declared the boundaries of the district to be as follows – On the west by the Swart River, on the North by the Outeniqua Mountains, on the East by the boundaries of the division of Uitenhage and on the South by the ocean”. The first Civil Commissioner and Magistrate was James Fichat.

On 28 February 1887 a Special Justice of the Peace was appointed at the Millwood Gold Fields in the district of Knysna. Patrick Fletcher was appointed the first Special Justice of the Peace. In the same year a Periodical Court to be held by the Magistrate of Knysna was established at Millwood. During August 1916 a Periodical Court to be held by the Magistrate of Knysna was established at Plettenberg Bay.

As a result of the expansion of the population in the interior a second court of heemrade, similar but subordinate to that at Stellenbosch-Drakenstein, was established with a deputy landdrost as secretary. The new area, known as the Outlying Districts, stretched from the Bree River to past Mossel Bay and relieved the heemrade of Stellenbosch of many of their burdens.

Of the four elected heemrade, one was to hand in a report every three months. Once every two years two heemrade would resign and successors elected. In January 1744 JT Rhenius was appointed as the first deputy landdrost of the Outlying Districts.

Within months discord arose between the deputy landdrost and heemrade as a result of uncertainty regarding rank. This led to a clearer definition of their duties especially with regard to times of meetings, the deputy landdrost’s position at meetings and the reference of cases not settled out of court to the court of the landdrost and heemrade at Stellenbosch.

These measures were, however, unsatisfactory and in August 1745 it was decide to establish a completely independent magistracy with Rhenius as “absolute landdrost” of the Outlying Districts. The same instructions as those for Stellenbosch-Drakenstein were applicable. The jurisdiction of each district with regard to communal matters was to be decided upon jointly. The new district covered the whole area under the Company’s control to the north and east of the Stellenbosch-Drakenstein district and the limits of its jurisdiction were clearly defined.

In 1746 the request by the landdrost and heemrade for land along the Koornland River to build a drostdy and the necessary buildings, was granted. In October 1747 the district was named Swellendam after the governor and his wife, Hendrik Swellengrebel and Helena Wilhelmina ten Damme.

The creation of the new magisterial district of Graaff-Reinet in 1786 limited the jurisdiction of the landdrost of Swellendam to the Swartberg in the north and the Gamtoos River in the east.

In June 1795 the inhabitants of Swellendam rebelled against the government of the Company. Landdrost Faure, the secretary and messenger were forced to hand the drostdy to the burghers, who appointed a National College (“Collegie Nasionaal“) under the leadership of Hermanus Steyn.

After the British occupation of the Cape, peace was restored and the drostdy handed back to Faure in November 1795.

With the revision of the judicial system in 1827 the college of landdrost and heemrade was abolished and replaced with a civil commissioner and resident magistrate. H Rivers and CM Lind were appointed to these positions respectively. In 1834 the positions were united and Rivers appointed.

With the revision of the district boundaries of Swellendam and Stellenbosch and the secession of the George district in 1811, the area to the east of the Hottentots-Holland mountains was added to Swellendam. A sub-drostdy under JH Frouenfelder with the seat of magistracy at the Swartberg Bath was established in the new area.

Like the deputy landdrost of Clainwilliam, in the Tulbagh district, Frouenfelder received his instructions from the landdrost of the main district and reported to him or, where necessary, to the Colonial Secretary. He was assisted by a clerk, a messenger, a constable and two justice officials while personally acting as vendu master of the sub-district.

In December 1813 the sub-district was named after the former governor Lord Caledon.

In October 1822 the sub-district was abolished as a measure of economy, and placed under the supervision of a special Heemraad, assisted by a clerk, a messenger, deputy sheriff, two constables and two justice officials. With the revision of the judicial system in 1827 the position of Special Heemraad was abolished and the duties transferred to the Justice of the Peace.

In 1839 Caledon became an independent district with its own Resident Magistrate.

In 1671 the ship "Isselsteijn" anchored in False Bay to take in provisions. In search of a suitable harbour for Company ships, Simon van der Stel made a survey of the peninsula's coastline in1687 and isolated the bay which he considered had been the one at which the "Isselsteijn" had anchored as the most suitable and called Simon's Bay.

In 1742 the Lords LVII ordered that buildings be erected in False Bay for storing anchors, ropes and other provisions for ships which would anchor in the bay annually between mid-May and mid-August. After Baron van Imhoff personally visited False Bay in 1743, he instructed that a storehouse, a hospital and living quarters for officials be erected in Simon's Bay. Sergeant J Plas (Blas) was appointed as Post Holder and in 1745 promoted to Signal Bearer to give greater authority to the position.

Since the duties connected with the position concerned mainly the supply of ships provisions and therefore comprised largely clerical rather than military duties, the title Standard Bearer and Post Holder was altered in 1762 to Sub-Purchaser and Post Holder.

In 1785 the Sub-Purchaser and Post Holder, C Brand, was appointed to the Court of Justice although he was unable to attend the meetings and in February 1786 he was promoted to Purchaser and Post Holder.

To remove doubt as to the importance of the position, especially from foreign nations, and to grant it greater authority, Brand's title changed to Resident and Post Holder in May 1786, which it remained until the First British Occupation in 1795.

In April 1796 the town, already known as Simon's Town, was occupied by British forces and the commanding officer, apart from his duties as military commandant, was also made responsible for the general welfare of the district.

In 1799 Simon's Town was declared a ward under a sole wardmaster as an aid to the military commandant in preserving the peace. The wardmaster was chiefly responsible for compiling lists of inhabitants, their occupations and especially strangers in the ward. Suspicious persons were to be reported to the commanding officer and murders, thefts, etc to the fiscal. He was also responsible for the supervision of roads and the abattoir.

During the Batavian administration the military commandant and wardmaster were still responsible for the military and civil supervision of the area.

After the Second British Occupation in 1806 Major Tucker was appointed Commandant and wardmaster Roselt Adjunct-Fiscal. The Commandant was to assist the Adjunct-Fiscal in preserving the peace and interfere as little as possible except in cases of obvious neglect of duty or corruption which had to be reported to the Governor. He was also to assist in receiving public revenue and report to the Governor concerning shipping and ships' passengers and roads and buildings.

In 1814 the area south of the line from Muizenberg to Noordhoek was ceded to the Cape district and the district of Simon's Town, under a Government Resident, established. The Resident had the same powers as a landdrost and had to report to the commandant. The district consisted of two field-cornetcies and Simon's Town itself was divided into two wards, each under a wardmaster with the same duties as the wardmasters in Cape Town. The solemnisation of marriages and trial of criminal and civil cases of the district were still, however, the responsibility of the various courts in Cape Town. In 1824 two heemrade were appointed. Together with the Resident they formed a matrimonial court as well as a court for trying cases, making Simon's Town a full-fledged magistracy.

With the revision of the judicial system in 1827 the court of the Resident and Heemrade at Simon's Town was abolished and a magistrate appointed. No civil commissioner was appointed and for fiscal purposes the district fell under the Civil Commissioner of Cape Town. The resident magistrate would form a matrimonial court together with his clerk.

In 1834 the court and office of the Resident Magistrate of Simon's Town was abolished and the district incorporated with the district of Cape Town. A police court under a justice of the peace still functioned in Simon's Town but only in cases punishable by not more than thirty-nine strokes, fourteen days imprisonment or forty shillings fine and complaints in minor criminal cases.

In 1848 the court of the resident magistrate for the district of Simon's Town was re-established. Fiscal independence was only granted in 1879 when Simon's Town was declared a separate division.