Malmesbury, South Africa

• Charné Bosman
• McNeil Hendricks
• Maggie Laubser
• Pieter-Steph du Toit
• Johan du Toit
• Dean Smith
• Marius van Heerden
• Hennie Smit

In 1911 the Encyclopædia Britannica recorded the population of the town at 3,811,{{cite EB1911|wstitle=Cape Colony|volume=05|short=x}} however this may refer to a white population, as a census of 1849 recorded a total of 8,520 residents.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hYsSAAAAYAAJ&dq=malmesbury+cape+of+good+hope+population&pg=PA31|title=Parliamentary Papers|publisher=Parliament. House of Commons|year=1852|volume=33|location=Great Britain|pages=31}} The 1939 edition of the official statistical Year Book of South Africa records a total population of 4,856, with roughly half the population recorded as white (2,574) and half recorded as coloured (2,221).{{Cite book|title=Official Year Book of the Union of South Africa|publisher=Union of South Africa|year=1939|location=Cape Town|pages=1044}}

The following statistics describing Malmesbury are from the 2011 census.

• Area: {{convert|18.8|sqkm}}
• Population: 35,897: {{convert|1909.3|PD/sqkm}}
• Households: 9,473: {{convert|503.9|/sqkm}}

Malmesbury lies on the main railway line between Kraaifontein and Bitterfontein, and its railway station marks the northern end of Metrorail Western Cape's commuter rail network. Metrorail currently operates services to Cape Town via Kalbaskraal, Klipheuwel, Fisantekraal and Kraaifontein where the Malmesbury line joins the main Northern Line to Cape Town.

Malmesbury lies along the N7 highway "Cape Namibia Route" which bypasses the town centre to the west and leads north towards Moorreesburg, Piketberg, Springbok and Namibia and south towards Cape Town. The N7 intersects the R315 Bokomo Street, west of the town centre and the R45 interchange, north-west of the town centre.

Malmesbury is also has at the centre of three regional routes including the R45 which passes through the town as "Voortrekker Road", "Loedolf Street" and "Piet Retief Street" from Paarl (south-east) to Vredenburg (north-west), the R302 which passes through the town as "Voortrekker Road" from Durbanville (south), and the R315 which passes through the town as "Bokomo Street" from Darling (north-west). Voortrekker Road, designated as the R45 and R302 serves as Malmesbury's main street through the town.

Municipality — Malmesbury was a municipality in its own right from 1860 to 2000. By 1931, the council had adopted an emblem depicting a plough in front of a sheaf of wheat, surrounded by a buckled strap inscribed Deo frumentoque vires. This device was depicted on a [http://www.ngw.nl/heraldrywiki/index.php?title=Category:UTC_South_African_town_arms cigarette card] issued in 1931.

In 1963, the council assumed a coat of arms, designed by Cornelis Pama. It registered the arms with the Cape Provincial Administration in December 1963,Cape of Good Hope Official Gazette 3217 (20 December 1963). had them formally granted by the provincial administrator on 8 July 1966Cape of Good Hope Official Gazette 3354 (8 July 1966). and registered them at the Bureau of Heraldry in September 1969.[http://www.national.archsrch.gov.za/sm300cv/smws/sm300dl National Archives of South Africa : Data of the Bureau of Heraldry]

The arms were : Per chevron Sable and Gules, a chevron ermine between in chief two garbs and in base a sea-lion Or. In layman's terms : the shield was divided by an ermine chevron, the upper half displaying two golden sheaves of wheat on a black background and the lower half a golden heraldic sea-lion on a red background. The sea-lion was evidently derived from the arms of Gustaaf Willem van Imhoff, who established the church from which the town developed.

The crest was an upright spade between two rhenosterbos branches, and the motto, once again, was Deo frumentoque vires.

Divisional council — The Malmesbury divisional council, which administered the rural areas of the district outside the town, assumed a coat of arms, designed by Ivan Mitford-Barberton, on 24 June 1958.Western Cape Archives : Swartland Divisional Council Coat of Arms (4/SWL 4/1/5).

The arms were : Per fess Sable and Azure, a fess wavy Gules fimbriated Argent between in chief an eagle displayed between two ears of wheat palewise Or and in base a sea-lion naiant per pale Or and Argent. In layman's terms : the shield was divided horizontally into black and blue and displayed, from top to bottom, a golden eagle between two sheaves of wheat, a red wavy stripe edged in silver, and a gold and silver heraldic sea-lion.

Mother City SkyDiving operates out of a private airfield 12 km to the north of Malmesbury and provides a service for experienced sport skydivers, and offers Tandem Introductory Skydiving.[http://www.MotherCitySkyDiving.co.za Mother City SkyDiving website, retrieved 26 March 2018]

Malmesbury has a variety of Sports Facilities including a Golf, Rugby & Bowling Club. The international organisation Parkrun hosts a regular 5 km run for anyone to join for free.{{Cite web|url=http://www.parkrun.co.za/malmesbury/|title=Malmesbury parkrun {{!}} Malmesbury parkrun|website=www.parkrun.co.za|language=en-US|access-date=2019-03-25}}

{{Weather box|width=auto

|metric first=y

|single line=y

|collapsed = Y

|location = Malmesbury, elevation {{convert|102|m|ft|abbr=on}}, (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1998–2023)

|Jan record high C = 44.1

|Feb record high C = 43.8

|Mar record high C = 42.7

|Apr record high C = 40.8

|May record high C = 34.6

|Jun record high C = 31.0

|Jul record high C = 31.0

|Aug record high C = 30.4

|Sep record high C = 38.2

|Oct record high C = 41.8

|Nov record high C = 41.7

|Dec record high C = 44.8

|Jan record low C = 7.1

|Feb record low C = 5.0

|Mar record low C = 6.3

|Apr record low C = 1.3

|May record low C = 0.2

|Jun record low C = 0.0

|Jul record low C = -2.4

|Aug record low C = -0.3

|Sep record low C = 0.4

|Oct record low C = 1.7

|Nov record low C = 3.3

|Dec record low C = 7.8

|Jan high C = 32.9

|Feb high C = 33.6

|Mar high C = 31.3

|Apr high C = 28.3

|May high C = 24.1

|Jun high C = 20.6

|Jul high C = 20.2

|Aug high C = 20.4

|Sep high C = 22.4

|Oct high C = 27.0

|Nov high C = 28.8

|Dec high C = 31.2

| year high C =

|Jan mean C = 24.1

|Feb mean C = 24.5

|Mar mean C = 22.5

|Apr mean C = 19.7

|May mean C = 16.7

|Jun mean C = 13.6

|Jul mean C = 13.0

|Aug mean C = 13.3

|Sep mean C = 14.9

|Oct mean C = 18.4

|Nov mean C = 20.2

|Dec mean C = 22.5

| year mean C =

|Jan low C = 15.3

|Feb low C = 15.4

|Mar low C = 13.7

|Apr low C = 11.0

|May low C = 9.2

|Jun low C = 6.7

|Jul low C = 5.8

|Aug low C = 6.2

|Sep low C = 7.4

|Oct low C = 9.8

|Nov low C = 11.8

|Dec low C = 13.9

| year low C =

|precipitation colour = green

|Jan precipitation mm = 10.0

|Feb precipitation mm = 10.6

|Mar precipitation mm = 15.2

|Apr precipitation mm = 37.0

|May precipitation mm = 65.8

|Jun precipitation mm = 77.9

|Jul precipitation mm = 71.8

|Aug precipitation mm = 64.1

|Sep precipitation mm = 44.8

|Oct precipitation mm = 29.0

|Nov precipitation mm = 17.5

|Dec precipitation mm = 12.9

|year precipitation mm =

|unit precipitation days = 0.25 mm

| Jan precipitation days = 1.8

| Feb precipitation days = 1.8

| Mar precipitation days = 2.4

| Apr precipitation days = 5.0

| May precipitation days = 7.7

| Jun precipitation days = 8.7

| Jul precipitation days = 8.8

| Aug precipitation days = 8.2

| Sep precipitation days = 6.4

| Oct precipitation days = 4.6

| Nov precipitation days = 2.9

| Dec precipitation days = 2.4

| year precipitation days =

|source 1 = Starlings Roost Weather{{cite web |url=http://starlingsroost.ddns.net/weather/worldclimate/graphs.php?climate=9120&code=SF000414170

|title= MALMESBURY, 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=SF000414170

|title= MALMESBURY, SF Climate: 1991–2020

|publisher=Starlings Roost Weather

|access-date= 27 December 2024}}

}}

{{Reflist}}

{{Commons category|Malmesbury, Western Cape}}

{{West Coast District Municipality}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Populated places established in 1745

Category:Populated places in the Swartland Local Municipality

Category:1745 establishments in the Dutch Empire