{{Infobox settlement | name = Port Beaufort | image_skyline = Barry church.jpg | image_caption = Barry Church, Port Beaufort | pushpin_map = South Africa Western Cape#South Africa | coordinates = {{coord|34|23|45|S|20|49|25|E|region:ZA|display=inline,title}} | subdivision_type = Country | subdivision_name = [[South Africa]] | subdivision_type1 = Province | subdivision_name1 = [[Western Cape]] | subdivision_type2 = District | subdivision_name2 = [[Garden Route District Municipality|Garden Route]] | subdivision_type3 = Municipality | subdivision_name3 = [[Hessequa Local Municipality|Hessequa]] | subdivision_type4 = Main Place | established_title = Established | leader_title = Councillor | area_footnotes = <ref name="census2011">{{cite web |url=http://census2011.adrianfrith.com/place/175010 |title = Main Place Port Beaufort |work=Census 2011}} </ref> | area_total_km2 = 2.71 | population_footnotes = <ref name="census2011" /> | population_total = 321 | 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 = 9.7% | demographics1_title2 = [[Coloureds|Coloured]] | demographics1_info2 = 2.2% | demographics1_title3 = [[Indian South African|Indian]]/[[Asian South African|Asian]] | demographics1_info3 = | demographics1_title4 = [[White South African|White]] | demographics1_info4 = 87.2% | demographics1_title5 = Other | demographics1_info5 = 0.9% <!-- demographics (section 2) --> | demographics_type2 = [[First language]]s (2011) | demographics2_footnotes = <ref name="census2011" /> | demographics2_title1 = [[Afrikaans]] | demographics2_info1 = 72.3% | demographics2_title2 = [[South African English|English]] | demographics2_info2 = 26.0% | demographics2_title3 = | demographics2_info3 = | 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 = | postal2_code_type = [[Post-office box|PO box]] | postal2_code = | area_code_type = [[Telephone numbers in South Africa|Area code]] }} '''Port Beaufort''' is a settlement in [[Garden Route District Municipality]] in the [[Western Cape]] province of [[South Africa]].
==History== It is a seaside resort, formerly also a harbour, on the north bank of the [[Breede River]] estuary. The settlement was named after [[Henry Somerset, 5th Duke of Beaufort]], the father of [[Lord Charles Somerset]].<ref name=raper>{{cite book|last=Raper|first=R.E.|title=Dictionary of Southern African Place Names|publisher=[[Human Sciences Research Council (South Africa)]]|url=https://archive.org/stream/DictionaryOfSouthernAfricanPlaceNames/SaPlaceNames#page/n369/mode/2up}}</ref>
[[Joseph Barry (South African businessman)|Joseph Barry]]'s business had a large influence on the city. He came from [[London]] to South Africa in 1819 and quickly saw that it was easier to transport goods by sea between [[Cape Town]] and the [[Overberg]]. It took [[Bullock cart|oxcarts]] three weeks to travel from Cape Town to [[Swellendam]]. Barry immediately built a harbour on the north shore of the [[Breede River]], which became Port Beaufort.
Once boats crossed the [[sandbank]] by the mouth of the river, they could travel 40 km upriver to [[Malgas]],<ref name="Stan01">{{Cite book |last=Potgieter |first=D. J. |url=http://archive.org/details/standardencyclop0009djpo |title=Standard Encyclopedia of Southern Africa |others=Internet Archive |year=1973 |pages=13}}</ref> where Barry also built a [[wharf]] and [[warehouse]]. After several ships sank near the mouth of the river and lost their cargo, Barry commissioned the construction in [[Scotland]] of a 150-ton steamship called the ''Kadie'', which proceeded to successfully navigate the [[estuary]] for six years, until November 17, 1865, when it too foundered on the rocks on the southern shore.<ref name=Stan01/> Barry's empire collapsed the following year, as the arrival of the [[railway]]s eliminated the need for this sea route.
The town of [[Witsand]] is nearby.
==References== {{reflist}}
{{Eden District Municipality}}
[[Category:Populated places in the Hessequa Local Municipality]]