Admiralty House

The original house dares from 1743 and is one of the oldest houses in South Africa in continuous use. Admiralty House not only represents the history of the house  but also that of its many distinguished occupants and visitors over nearly two centuries.
Much of the book consists of richly illustrated chapters describing the furniture, valuable paintings and objects d’art as well as the beautiful gardens.

The Palace

The palace is a companion volume to Admiralty House -Simon’s Town. Both buildings date from the 1780’s when they constituted the Widow Hurter’s Lodging House and Annexe. The origin of the name itself reflects a flamboyant in its history and is in sharp contrast to the sad role it played as a hospital during the Anglo -Boer War.
The story continues as the Palace becomes an army barracks through two world wars, and later recalls the experiences of young naval officers who lived there more recently.

Simon’s Town Its History

An  introduction to the history of Simon’s Town from the early days when Simon van der Stel named the Bay after himself and it became the safer winter anchorage for ships formerly anchored in Table Bay, to the changes which have evolved into the charming modern town and naval base of today with its community living and various tourist attractions.

Simon’s Town and the Anglo-Boer War

1899 – 1902 The war, also known as the South African War was fought between the British Empire and the two independent Boer states i.e. the South African Republic and the Orange Free State over the Empire’s influence in South Africa.  This book covers the involvement of Simon’s Town and the Royal Navy and daily life during this time as camps to hold Boer prisoners of war were established in Simon’s Town which was regarded as sufficiently distant from ‘civilisation’. The majority of Boer prisoners were eventually sent on to St Helena, Bermuda, India and  Ceylon.

When First We Practise

Researched and written by the late Prof O. Pryce-Lewis, The Life of Jan Michiel Endres is the story of the Surgeon who was born in Germany in 1767 and after finishing school was apprenticed to a ‘balneator’ for training to practise general medicine.  in 1790, after a medical mishap he fled and after several adventures ended up in South Africa around 1794, taking up abode in Simon’s Town.  The book paints a fascinating  picture of life at the Cape at the turn of the late 18th and early 19th centuries?