Did you know that in the outlying districts of the Cape Colony, law and order were maintained by a Landdrost or magistrate who was assisted by several Heemraden or councilors appointed from the ranks of citizens in the district?

In 1827 the courts of the Landdrost and Heemraden were abolished and replaced by a magistrate and civil commissioners. The various magisterial archives contain a great variety of documents of interest to the genealogist. They include among other things registers of births, baptisms, marriages, and deaths, wills drawn up by Landdrosts, muster rolls for military purposes, field cornets’ lists of inhabitants, lists of arrears in taxation, notarial deeds, post-mortems and information on criminal and civil court cases brought before the magisterial courts.

Before the institution of municipalities, the Landdrost and Heemraden were also responsible for local administration in the different towns. It is not an easy task to glean information from the documents in the magisterial archives, since many of them are incomplete and unclassified. The Cape Almanacs were published from 1813 until 1870 and you can find the names of the civil commissioners and magistrates in this treasure trove of books. The following references are to be found in the Cape Town Archives and are not indexed or digitized and are the oldest magisterial districts in the Cape Colony:

Cape Town (I/CT).
Stellenbosch (1/STB). The first Heemraden were appointed in 1682 and the first Landdrost in 1685.

Swellendam (1/SWM). Founded in 1745, separated from Stellenbosch.

Graaff-Reinet (1/GR). Founded in 1785, separated from Swellendam.

Tulbagh. Founded in 1804, separated from Stellenbosch. The Landdrost’s office was moved to Worcester in 1822 and Tulbagh became an independent district again in 1848.

Worcester (1/WOC). An assistant Landdrost from Tulbagh was sent there in 1819, the town was laid out in 1820 and the Landdrost’s office was moved there from Tulbagh in 1822.

Uitenhage (1/UIT). Founded in 1804, separated from Graaff-Reinet.
George (1/GEO). Founded in 1811, separated from Swellendam and Uitenhage.

Beaufort West (1/BW). The town was founded on 27 November 1818, and an assistant landdrost from Graaff-Reinet was seconded there. It became an independent district, separated from Graaff-Reinet and Tulbagh, in 1836.

Albany (Albanie) (I/AY). This district was first known as the Suurveld. It became the new district of Albany on 7 January 1814, separated from Uitenhage.

Cradock (1/CDK). The town was founded in 1813 and an assistant-landdrost from Graaff-Reinet was sent there. It became an independent district, separated from Graaff-Reinet, in 1837.

Simonstown (1/SMT). Founded in 1814.

Clanwilliam. An assistant landdrost from Tulbagh was appointed to Jan Disselsvlei in 1808. Then on 1 January 1814 the name of the place was changed to Clanwilliam and it became an independent district when it was separated from Worcester in 1837.

Somerset East. Founded in 1825.

Colesberg. The Dutch Reformed Congregation of Torenberg (Toverberg) was founded in 1826. The name was changed to Colesberg in 1830 and a town was laid out there. It became an independent district when it was separated from Graaff-Reinet in 1837.

Malmesbury. Founded in 1839.
Mossel Bay. Founded in 1848.

Riversdale. Founded in 1848.

There is a card index to the wills in the archives of the Landdrost of Stellenbosch (1/STB 18/21-29).