Description: Voices from a distant colony, recorded at the very moment they addressed power. In this landmark colonial archives summary, H. C. V. Leibbrandt gathers the official precis of petitions and memorials submitted at the Cape of Good Hope between 1715 and 1806. These voices still speak today. Drawn from South African colonial records originally kept under the Dutch East India Company and later administrations, the volume offers a structured archival records index to the concerns, conflicts and ambitions that shaped Cape Colony administration and eighteenth century South Africa. For historians and researchers, local historians and family historians alike, it is a meticulously organised historical documents collection, opening paths into Cape of Good Hope history, Dutch colonial history and the early British era. Names, dates and subjects trace lives across generations, making this a powerful genealogy research resource as well as an essential guide to colonial petitions and memorials and the machinery of rule at the edge of empire. Out of print for decades and now republished by Alpha Editions. Restored for today's and future generations. More than a reprint - a collector's item and a cultural treasure. This careful modern edition allows general readers, students and collectors to approach a foundational work of South African archival scholarship with ease, preserving the spirit of the original while renewing its value as a cultural and intellectual touchstone.
