Notes

Daniel Hockley was an English silversmith and 1820 settler in the Cape Colony. Born in London, he sailed for the Cape aboard the Chapman in December 1819 with his wife and children. During the voyage his wife, Elizabeth, gave birth to a daughter, while their five-year-old son, Daniel, tragically died before they reached their destination. The family arrived at Algoa Bay in April 1820 and Hockley, together with John Rose, was among the first English silversmiths to go ashore. They initially settled at the mouth of the Fish River before moving successively to Uitenhage, Grahamstown, Cradock, and Graaff-Reinet where Hockley died in 1835.

Among Hockley’s notable commissions was a staff-of-office, created at the request of Sir Benjamin D’Urban, the then Governor of the Cape Colony in December 1834 and presented to Andries Waterboer, chief of the Griquas, in 1834. The staff marked their signing of the first ever written treaty between the English authorities and a native ruler at the Cape.

Stephan Welz (1976), Cape Silver and Silversmiths, Cape Town: AA Balkema, pages 17, 19, 94 & 95.

Provenance

Private Collection.