Richmond's beginnings

P. J. van der Merwe's farm Driefontein, which was located on the banks of the Onregs River, was identified in 1843 as a suitable place to found a town. As the farm name tells us, there were three fountains on the farm, and water in the Karoo is valuable. 

The first plots were sold on 19 April 1845. The town's people asked the Governor of the Cape Colony (1844 to 1847) Sir Peregrine Maitland if they could name the town after him, but he declined the request and suggested they named the town after the Duke of Richmond, the father of Lady Sarah Maitland, his wife. So Richmond officially got its name in October 1845. In 1848 the town became a magistrate district and in 1854 the town became a municipality.

Sources:

• Bulpin, T., 1992. Discovering Southern Africa. Fifth Edition ed. Muizenberg: Discovering Southern Africa Productions.
• Nell, L., 2008. The Great Karoo. Cape Town: Struik Publishers.
• Schoeman, C., 2013. The Historical Karoo. Capetown: Zebra Press.