User:Heather Hodgson/Cape Town Caledonian Society

The Cape Town Caledonian Society otherwise known as the ‘Cape Town Callies’ is a organization formed to preserve Scottish heritage, culture and traditions. The Society aims to bring Scots together to cultivate and foster [Scottish history]] and tradition; to encourage the study of Scottish music, literature and art; to maintain Scottish customs and the practice of Scottish games and pastimes in Cape Town, South Africa.

The Society forms part of the Federated Caledonian Society of Southern Africa.

History
The founding of the Society more than 130 years ago in 1881 owes its origin to a tragic event, the sinking of the steam ship, RMS Teuton. The ship sailed from Plymouth, England and arrived in Cape Town 23 days later on 29 August 1881. The ship left Table Bay on 30 August for Natal but struck an object off Quoin Point that night and sunk. The records of survivors and those lost vary in number but only 36 of some 226 people on board survived. The only female survivor was a young Scottish lass of 15, Miss Elizabeth Ross. Elizabeth was taken in by the Elders and Minister of the St Andrews Presbyterian Church in Cape Town and cared for by Mr and Mrs Runciman..

The Society was founded to “give aid and pecuniary help to those who require it under distressing circumstances” and to promote Scottish heritage and culture. At the first Council meeting on 6 October 1881 it was decided to hold a St Andrews Nicht Celebration in November to raise funds. A Burn’s Nicht Supper was held in February 1882 when nearly the whole Scottish community in Cape Town attended – though only the men, women had to watch the men enjoying the celebrations from the balconies until they could become Members in their own right. The first Highland Games and Sports Gathering in Cape Town was held at Easter of the same year.

Members of the first Council included The Speaker of the House of Assembly and Astronomer-Royal at the Observatory. The first Chief of the Society was Captain James Murrison, who ran a shipping line between Cape Town and Durban and was a member of the Legislative Council. In 1906, during Sir George Buchannan’s term of office as Chief, ladies were first accepted as Associate Members of the Society. Past chiefs of the Society include Mr William Duncan Baxter who endowed the University of Cape Town’s Women’s Residence, Baxter Hall and the Baxter Theatre, and Dr Bennie Hewat, an educationalist whose name was given to the Hewat Teachers Training College and to the Main Hall at what was then the Cape Town Technikon, now part of the Cape Peninsula University of Technology.

The Society went into recess during the two World Wars. The post World War II years saw many immigrants from Scotland arriving by ship in Cape Town.

The Society currently convenes a Highland Gathering every three years as well as annual St Andrew’s Nicht and Burns Nicht Dinners.