The 'White' Population of South Africa in the Eighteenth Century.

This paper presents an attempt to elucidate the character and mechanics of population growth among a group that can be loosely equated with the Whites or Afrikaners in the Cape Colony in the eighteenth century. Essentially it is an overview, because many of the details, which are needed for a full demographic analysis, are lacking. Nevertheless, it is hoped that it may be interesting to demographers, for the purposes of comparison, especially since many of the features of the South African population have close parallels in other settler situations, such as French Canada and New England. It is also hoped that this paper will form the beginning of the establishment of the social history of early South Africa on a basis, which the concerns of previous historians have not given it. After an evaluation of the reliability of these sources, it proceeds to give estimates of the gross population growth rate, of the importance of immigration, of the sex ratio and of such aspects of nuptiality and fertility as can be ascertained in the absence of systematic information on the dates of death of individuals. Finally, it attempts to show the effect of the demographic structure on the social development of the colony.