{{More footnotes needed|date=August 2023}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2015}} {{Use South African English|date=January 2015}} {{Infobox settlement | name = Aberdeen | image_skyline = Straattoneel Aberdeen.jpg | image_caption = Street in Aberdeen | pushpin_map = South Africa Eastern Cape#South Africa | coordinates = {{coord|32|29|S|24|4|E|region:ZA|display=inline,title}} | subdivision_type = Country | subdivision_name = [[South Africa]] | subdivision_type1 = Province | subdivision_name1 = [[Eastern Cape]] | subdivision_type2 = District | subdivision_name2 = [[Sarah Baartman District Municipality|Sarah Baartman]] | subdivision_type3 = Municipality | subdivision_name3 = [[Dr Beyers Naudé Local Municipality|Dr Beyers Naudé]] | subdivision_type4 = Main Place | established_title = Established | established_date = 1856<ref name="established">{{cite thesis |last=Robson |first=Linda Gillian |title=The Royal Engineers and settlement planning in the Cape Colony 1806–1872: Approach, methodology and impact |date=2011 |type=PhD thesis |publisher=University of Pretoria |chapter=Annexure A |chapter-url=https://repository.up.ac.za/bitstream/handle/2263/26503/05back.pdf?sequence=6&isAllowed=y#page=31 |url=https://repository.up.ac.za/handle/2263/26503 |hdl=2263/26503 |pages=xlv–lii}}</ref> | leader_title = Councillor | area_footnotes = <ref name=census2011>Sum of the Main Places [http://census2011.adrianfrith.com/place/261005 Aberdeen] and [http://census2011.adrianfrith.com/place/261006 Thembalesizwe] from Census 2011.</ref> | area_total_km2 = 15.4 | population_footnotes = <ref name=census2011 /> | population_total = 7162 | population_as_of = 2011 | population_density_km2 = auto <!-- demographics (section 1) --> | demographics_type1 = Racial makeup (2011) | demographics1_footnotes = <ref name=census2011 /> | demographics1_title1 = [[Bantu peoples of South Africa|Black African]] | demographics1_info1 = 19.4% | demographics1_title2 = [[Coloureds|Coloured]] | demographics1_info2 = 73.0% | demographics1_title3 = [[Indian South African|Indian]]/[[Asian South African|Asian]] | demographics1_info3 = 0.4% | demographics1_title4 = [[White South African|White]] | demographics1_info4 = 6.7% | demographics1_title5 = Other | demographics1_info5 = 0.4% <!-- demographics (section 2) --> | demographics_type2 = [[First language]]s (2011) | demographics2_footnotes = <ref name=census2011 /> | demographics2_title1 = [[Afrikaans]] | demographics2_info1 = 80.7% | demographics2_title2 = [[Xhosa language|Xhosa]] | demographics2_info2 = 15.5% | demographics2_title3 = [[English language|English]] | demographics2_info3 = 2.2% | demographics2_title4 = | demographics2_info4 = | demographics2_title5 = Other | demographics2_info5 = 1.6% <!-- blank fields (section 2) --> <!-- Other information --> | timezone1 = [[South African Standard Time|SAST]] | utc_offset1 = +2 | postal_code_type = [[List of postal codes in South Africa|Postal code]] (street) | postal_code = 6270 | postal2_code_type = [[Post-office box|PO box]] | postal2_code = 6270 | area_code_type = [[Telephone numbers in South Africa|Area code]] | area_code = 049 }} '''Aberdeen''', officially '''Xamdeboo''' after a name change in February 2026,<ref name='bt_kg'>{{Cite web |title=East London and Graaff-Reinet are officially no more |url=https://businesstech.co.za/news/government/850166/east-london-and-graaff-reinet-are-officially-no-more/ |access-date=2026-02-07 |language=en-US}}</ref> is a small town in the [[Sarah Baartman District Municipality]] of the [[Eastern Cape]] province of [[South Africa]]. With its numerous examples of [[Victorian architecture]], it is one of the architectural conservation areas of the [[Karoo]].

Aberdeen lies some 55&nbsp;km south-west of [[Graaff-Reinet]], 155&nbsp;km east-south-east of [[Beaufort West]] and 32&nbsp;km south of the [[Camdeboo Mountains]]. Laid out on the farm Brakkefontein as a settlement of the [[Dutch Reformed Church, Aberdeen|Dutch Reformed Church]] in 1856 (now the [[Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa (NGK)|NGK]]), it became a municipality in 1858. It is named after the [[Scotland|Scottish]] city of [[Aberdeen]].<ref name=dosapn>{{cite book|last=Raper|first=Peter E.|title=Dictionary of Southern African Place Names|url=https://archive.org/stream/DictionaryOfSouthernAfricanPlaceNames/SaPlaceNames#page/n51/mode/2up|publisher=Internet Archive|access-date=28 August 2013|page=51|year=1987}}</ref>

In 2023, it was proposed for Aberdeen to be renamed to Camdeboo.<ref>{{Cite web |date=13 October 2023 |title=Name changes coming to 4 more towns in South Africa |url=https://businesstech.co.za/news/government/724870/name-changes-coming-for-4-more-towns-in-south-africa/ |access-date=26 September 2024 |website=BusinessTech}}</ref> In 2024, this was rejected by the [[Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture]], Gayton McKenzie.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ndawonde |first=Zamokuhle |title=DA’s Graham-Maré welcomes McKenzie's decision not to change Karoo towns' names |url=https://www.news24.com/citypress/news/das-graham-mare-welcomes-mckenzies-decision-not-to-change-karoo-towns-names-20240924 |access-date=2025-09-13 |website=News24 |language=en-US}}</ref> In 2026, a name with a slight difference in spelling (Xamdeboo) was officially approved by the minister in January,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2026-01-28 |title=Goodbye East London, hello KuGompo City, as name changes approved |url=https://www.theherald.co.za/news/2026-01-28-goodbye-east-london-hello-kugompo-city-as-name-changes-approved/ |access-date=2026-01-30 |website=The Herald |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=East London is getting a new name |url=https://www.jacarandafm.com/shows/breakfast/east-london-getting-new-name/ |access-date=2026-01-30 |website=Jacaranda FM}}</ref> with the name change taking place in February.<ref name="bt_kg" />

==History== [[File:Aberdeen Church, South Africa.jpg|thumb|Dutch Reformed Church in Aberdeen]] Aberdeen began as one of six congregations established in 1855 in what was then the [[Cape Colony]], and the penultimate of the year.{{Refn|Jansenville, also in the Eastern Province, was first on 4 February, Ceres was second on 21 March, Sutherland third, then Aberdeen, Heidelberg fifth and Simon's Town sixth.|group=note}}

On 10 September 1855, the church council of the [[Groote Kerk, Graaff-Reinet|NG congregation of Graaff-Reinet]], the oldest congregation in the [[Eastern Cape]], considered a request for the separation of a new congregation in the vicinity of where Aberdeen would later be established. Like many towns in the former Capeland, Aberdeen was founded as a church town. On 16 October, the Presbytery of Graaff-Reinet, the so-called third precinct (after [[Cape Town]] and [[Swellendam]]), formally separated the congregation during a session at [[Cradock, South Africa|Cradock]]. The Brakkefontein farm was selected as the location for the town and church. Reverend Andrew Murray Sr.{{Refn|father of the better known minister [[Andrew Murray (minister)|Andrew Murray]]|group=note}} was appointed as a consultant. The farm, owned by Jan Vorster, was purchased for £4,875, and on 16 October 1855 the Presbytery signed the congregation's establishment. The locality's name was changed from Brakkefontein to Aberdeen, after Murray’s birthplace in Scotland. (The following year, the town and congregation of [[Murraysburg]] were also named in his honor.)

Lots were surveyed and sold, while the church council retained control over the town land and the right to levy the inheritance tax<!--or property taxes in general, need to check-->. Nearly a century after its founding, in 1949, as was the case with [[Steytlerville]] (another Eastern Cape church town), the church council transferred all its rights to the town council, which had been established in 1858. From this arose the later municipality.

A small church building was erected, but the town grew very slowly. On 21 January 1856 a man named Swarts was appointed as the first reader, sexton and schoolmaster of the town at a salary of £50 per year. After years of unsuccessful searches for a minister, the congregation's first minister, Reverend Thomas Menzies Gray, accepted his post on 21 September 1862.

Ministers of the Dutch Reformed Church in Aberdeen: * Thomas Menzies Gray, 1862 - 1886 (emeritus; returned to Scotland) * Daniël Hendrik Cilliers, 1887 - 1917 (emeritus; his only congregation; died on 21 January 1925) * Abraham Faure Louw, 1917 - 1920 * Jacobus Joubert Krige, 1948 - 14 March 1970 (emeritus) * Frederik Simon Vivier, 1971 - 2003 (accepts his emeritus) * Jury Hendrik Wessels, 2003 - 2007 * Abraham Jacobus Beyers, 2007 - 28 February 2022 (emeritus)

==Education== Schools in Aberdeen are the Aberdeen Senior Secondary School, Luxolo intermediate School, Camdeboo Primary, and the Aberdeen Primary School

==Healthcare== The [[Aberdeen Provincial Hospital (Eastern Cape)|Aberdeen Provincial Hospital]] is situated in Aberdeen.

==Notable people== *[[Oswald Pirow]] (1890–1959), lawyer and far-right politician *[[Conan Doyle (cricketer)|Conan Doyle]] (1913–1942), cricketer *[[Anaso Jobodwana]], athlete

==Notes== {{Reflist|group=note}}

==References== {{Reflist}}

==Bibliography== * Olivier, ds. P.L. (samesteller), ''[[Ons gemeentelike feesalbum]]''. Kaapstad en Pretoria: N.G. Kerk-uitgewers, 1952.

==External links== * [https://web.archive.org/web/20070427133730/http://www.ectourism.co.za/districts_eastern_cape.asp Eastern Cape Tourism Board] * {{Commons category-inline}}

{{Cacadu District Municipality}} {{Authority control}}

[[Category:Populated places in the Dr Beyers Naudé Local Municipality]] [[Category:Populated places established in 1856]]