Knysna (F 17)

Name: Knysna

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Historic fact:

1804: George Rex (a timber merchant and the founder of Knysna) purchased the farm Melkhoutkraal, effectively taking ownership of all the land surrounding the lagoon.
- 1817: Knysna became a port for naval and commercial ships bringing supplies into the area, and later, for transporting shipments of timber out of the area.
- 1870: Arnt Leonard Thesen and his family moved from Norway to Knysna and set up the first trading store and counting house.
- 1876: A gold nugget weighing 17 penny-weight was found by James Hooper in a river bed on his farm Ruigtevlei. The find was significant enough for the authorities to make a grant of 100 pounds for further prospecting (a sizeable sum in those days).
- 1881: The settlements of Melville and Newhaven united to form the town of Knysna.


- 1880's: George Parkes, an industrialist from Birmingham, England purchased over 3,400 ha of Knysna forest to provide a source of wood for his factory which was producing edge tools. He established the first primitive sawmill in the forest and a mill conveniently situated in the centre of Knysna.
- 1885: The search for gold recommenced in the Karatara River after years of postponement and proved to be a successful venture. Many fortune seekers descended on the Millwood area over the next 10 years, until it ceased to be a lucrative operation.
- 1904: Charles Wilhelm Thesen bought Paarden Island (part of the Melkhoutkraal Estate) and began processing timber on the island (now Thesen Island) in 1922.

http://www.knysna.co.za/content/view/73/

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