Western Cape, GEORGE, Blanco, St Mary's Anglican Church, cemetery

Cemetery information:- In 1914, almost 65 years after the first Europeans settled in the area, the official consolidation of the English speaking Anglicans in Blanco took place. Documentation from the Anglican archives states, "As early as 1850, Bishop Gray, the first bishop of Cape Town, had inspected plots at Blanco that were donated by private individuals. The archdeacon of George had monthly services for about 40 people. "Henry Fancourt White, an engineer working on the Montagu Pass, was an early parishioner. He laid out the village of Blanco including a plot for a church." Other significant families were the Newbys, Searles and Haws. The Haw family was central to the church community as the original name of St Mary's Blanco was the Alice Haw Memorial Church. The present church building was completed and dedicated on 15 June 1915. The original plan was for this to have taken place a year earlier, but it was delayed due to unforeseen circumstances. In the George Herald of 16 June 1915 it states, "If it had not been for the outbreak of the war, which delayed the delivery of the shingles brought from Canada, the building would have been completed before Christmas." Between 1921 and 1935 many coloured families settled in Blanco from the Langkloof due to severe spells of drought in the area. The early history of the church, despite the fact that it reflected a European dominance, reveals that it was open to all before 1948. The opening of the railway line to Oudtshoorn and the growth of the ostrich industry saw a rapid depletion in the number of white members in Blanco. In the mid-sixties St Mary's was looked after and administered by St Mark's Cathedral in York Street and subsequently by St Paul's Parish in Conville. In 2004 Father Arthur Stephens, the first local priest, was installed. Four years later he was succeeded by Father Roland Prince. Quoted from the George Herald newspaper, article dated 4/8/2014 https://www.georgeherald.com/News/Article/General/st-mary-s-anglican-church-celebrates-100-years-20170711 Album complete, we have photographs of all the headstones in the cemetery. eGGSA captions by: Alex van Niekerk, Lorraine Beechey, James Anderson & Riana le Roux. Information also available on the GGSA Cemetery:- Cemetery ID: 3474 No of names: 21 Information submitted by: Douglas Ewan Google Earth Project Information:- GPSID: 4155 GPS: -33 56.718, 22 24.724