Ward 2 Development Forum

John Malcolm Stewart

Properties3
descriptionThe first British owner of Weltevreden, the farm on which Greyton was later built. He owned it from 1839 until Herbert Vigne bought it in 1846. Almost nothing else about him has been found.
tagstheme/heritage, lang/en
aliasesJ.M. Stewart

3 min read

John Malcolm Stewart became the first British owner of Weltevreden in 1839 [IC]. He held the farm until 1846, when Herbert Vigne bought it and later laid out Greyton on it [IC]. Apart from these two dates, the sources found so far say nothing about him. His page records what is known, so that anyone who finds more can add it.

What the letters in square brackets mean

Facts on this page are followed by a tag that shows where they come from.

  • [IC] Independently Corroborated. Confirmed by at least two sources that do not depend on each other, or by an official record.
  • [MS] Mission-Sourced. Comes from one community’s or organisation’s own sources. For Greyton figures, much of what is told comes from local histories and tourism sources that repeat each other, so they often share one origin.
  • [TBV] To Be Verified. Seems likely, but nobody has confirmed it yet.

At a glance

BornNot known
DiedNot known
Known forBeing the first British owner of Weltevreden [IC]
Link to the valleyOwner of the farm on which Greyton was built, from 1839 to 1846 [IC]

What is known

The British took over the Cape from the Dutch for good in 1806 [IC]. In the decades that followed, British settlers and merchants bought land across the colony [TBV]. Stewart acquired Weltevreden in 1839, the year after slavery ended completely at the Cape [IC].

He owned the farm for about seven years. In 1846 it passed to Herbert Vigne [IC].

How he came to own the farm, whether he lived on it, and what he used it for are not recorded in the sources used for this page. It is also not known who owned Weltevreden between the death of Hendrik Cloete in 1799 and 1839.

What is still open

  • Who he was, where he came from, and when he lived and died.
  • Whether he lived at Weltevreden, and what he farmed there.
  • How the farm passed to him, and to Vigne. The Deeds Office and the Cape Archives hold the title records.

References

  • Greyton Transition Town. About Greyton. Stewart as the first British owner of Weltevreden in 1839.
  • Xplorio Greyton. History of Greyton and Genadendal. The owners of Weltevreden, including Stewart in 1839.
  • Valley of Grace: Significant Dates (2026). Forum research notes, held by the Forum. Stewart as the first British owner in 1839.

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