George Rex

(1765-1839) Businessman and dramatist. * Mysterious character, who claimed to be the illegitimate son of King George III of England. He married a Quaker, Hannah Lightfoot and the couple had 13 children, including Frederick Rex. Rex bought Melkhoutkraal in Knysna in 1804, opening up the river in order to send timber out by sea. lived in Grahamstown and Knysna. *** George was apparently a friend of Andrew Geddes Bain, with whom (according to Bosman, 1928, Fletcher, 1994, et al.) he is reputed to have co-written the sketch in verse and prose called Kaatje Kekkelbek or Life Among the Hottentots, the first publically performed piece of dramatic writing in Afrikaans (Grahamstown 25 October 1838). However, according to Binge (1969) the family tradition indicates that his son Frederick Rex (qv) might have been the co-author in question.

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