Fort Beaufort

The roots of Fort Beaufort lie in a mission station that the Reverend Joseph Williams of the London Missionary Society established in 1816. In 1822, Colonel Maurice Scott of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment constructed a blockhouse about three miles from the mission station as a military frontier post and stronghold against raids by the Xhosa under their chief, Maqoma. The British named the martial structure Fort Beaufort in honour of the Duke of Beaufort, father of Lord Charles Henry Somerset—Governor of the Cape Colony (1814 to 1826). After the 6th Xhosa War (1834–1835), Governor Sir Benjamin d'Urban authorised construction of a fort at the site of the original blockhouse. The new buildings included a military hospital, guard houses, infantry barracks, and officers' quarters.

In 1839, the British commenced work on what is probably the world's only inland Martello tower, a small, circular Napoleonic era design hitherto used only in coastal defences. The tower was completed in 1846. Today, the original howitzer remains mounted on the roof on a traversing carriage that gives it a 360-degree field of fire. The tower has been restored after having served for some time as a public latrine.

In 1840 Fort Beaufort became a town. Around this time Andrew Geddes Bain built the first road, including the Ecca Pass, linking Grahamstown and Fort Beaufort.

During the 8th Xhosa War (1850–53), also known as the War of Mlanjeni, anti-British forces unsuccessfully attacked the town. Harmanus Matroos, alias Ngxukumeshe, was a half-Khoikhoi and half-Xhosa. He started the war on 30 December 1850 by capturing a small outpost near Fort Beaufort. Matroos had served the British in the 7th Xhosa War (1846–47), also known as the War of the Axe. Matroos fell on 8 January 1851 during his third attack on Fort Beaufort.

British troops continued to be stationed in the town until 1870.

In 1949 the first congregation of the Nederduitse Gereformeerde Kerk (Dutch Reformed Church) seceded from Alice due to demographic changes.

Schools in the area include the historic Healdtown Comprehensive School. Fort Beaufort has number of high schools that include:

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Eyabantu High,
Inyibiba High,
Lindani High,
Winterberg High,
Thubalethu High,
Sakhululeka High, and the newly built
Lighthouse Academy.

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Fort Beaufort has three governmental hospitals, namely Fort Beaufort Provincial Hospital, Tower Psychiatric Hospital, and Winterberg TB (previous SANTA) Hospital. There are also seven primary healthcare clinics in the area, namely C.C. Lloyd (in the CBD), Newtown, Hillside, Thozamile, Lulama Kama, Healdtown and Mxelo.

• Raymond Mhlaba (first Premier of the Eastern Cape)
• Josiah Gumede (President of the ANC 1927–1930)
• Charlotte Maxeke (First President of the ANCWL)
• Ken Gampu (Actor)
• Ian Roberts (Actor/Director)
• Donald Gray (Actor)
• Tony Yengeni (Politician)
• Oliver Zono (Rugby Player)
• Ali Mgijima (Rugby Player )(Went to school in the area)
• John Dugard (Professor of International Law)
• Ollie le Roux (Rugby Player)

{{Weather box|width=auto

|metric first=y

|single line=y

|collapsed = Y

|location = Fort Beaufort, elevation {{convert|455|m|ft|abbr=on}}, (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1998–2023)

|Jan record high C = 44.5

|Feb record high C = 43.3

|Mar record high C = 42.9

|Apr record high C = 38.6

|May record high C = 34.5

|Jun record high C = 32.2

|Jul record high C = 31.9

|Aug record high C = 36.8

|Sep record high C = 41.5

|Oct record high C = 43.6

|Nov record high C = 41.5

|Dec record high C = 43.0

|Jan record low C = 9.0

|Feb record low C = 8.4

|Mar record low C = 6.4

|Apr record low C = 0.0

|May record low C = 0.5

|Jun record low C = -2.0

|Jul record low C = -2.6

|Aug record low C = -0.5

|Sep record low C = 0.2

|Oct record low C = 3.8

|Nov record low C = 4.6

|Dec record low C = 8.0

|Jan high C = 32.8

|Feb high C = 32.2

|Mar high C = 30.8

|Apr high C = 27.5

|May high C = 25.6

|Jun high C = 24.0

|Jul high C = 23.8

|Aug high C = 24.7

|Sep high C = 26.1

|Oct high C = 28.4

|Nov high C = 29.2

|Dec high C = 30.8

| year high C =

|Jan mean C = 24.8

|Feb mean C = 24.5

|Mar mean C = 23.1

|Apr mean C = 19.7

|May mean C = 17.5

|Jun mean C = 15.4

|Jul mean C = 15.2

|Aug mean C = 16.1

|Sep mean C = 17.7

|Oct mean C = 20.0

|Nov mean C = 21.1

|Dec mean C = 23.2

| year mean C =

|Jan low C = 16.7

|Feb low C = 17.0

|Mar low C = 15.3

|Apr low C = 12.1

|May low C = 9.4

|Jun low C = 6.8

|Jul low C = 6.5

|Aug low C = 7.6

|Sep low C = 9.4

|Oct low C = 11.6

|Nov low C = 13.3

|Dec low C = 15.6

| year low C =

|precipitation colour = green

|Jan precipitation mm = 52.7

|Feb precipitation mm = 63.7

|Mar precipitation mm = 71.8

|Apr precipitation mm = 42.5

|May precipitation mm = 26.1

|Jun precipitation mm = 16.1

|Jul precipitation mm = 17.0

|Aug precipitation mm = 22.7

|Sep precipitation mm = 35.4

|Oct precipitation mm = 48.2

|Nov precipitation mm = 54.5

|Dec precipitation mm = 56.0

|year precipitation mm =

|unit precipitation days = 0.25 mm

| Jan precipitation days = 6.4

| Feb precipitation days = 6.9

| Mar precipitation days = 7.6

| Apr precipitation days = 5.3

| May precipitation days = 3.8

| Jun precipitation days = 2.7

| Jul precipitation days = 2.5

| Aug precipitation days = 3.3

| Sep precipitation days = 4.5

| Oct precipitation days = 6.4

| Nov precipitation days = 6.3

| Dec precipitation days = 6.0

| year precipitation days =

|source 1 = Starlings Roost Weather (precipitation 1877–2023){{cite web |url=http://starlingsroost.ddns.net/weather/worldclimate/graphs.php?climate=9120&code=SF000782270

|title= FORT BEAUFORT, SF Climate: 1991–2020

|publisher=Starlings Roost Weather

|access-date= 27 December 2024}}{{cite web |url=http://starlingsroost.ddns.net/weather/worldclimate/graphs.php?climate=allyears&code=SF000782270

|title= FORT BEAUFORT, SF Climate: All Years

|publisher=Starlings Roost Weather

|access-date= 27 December 2024}}

}}

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Category:Populated places in the Raymond Mhlaba Local Municipality

Beaufort

Category:Populated places established in 1822

Category:1822 establishments in the British Empire