Afrikaansche Societeit

Literally: "African Society"

A social club which acted as a centre for amusements including balls, card-playing, races as well as theatrical enterntainments, from the late 1700s until 1849. Catering, as it did mostly, for the English officers and itinerant ‘Indian visitors’, the emphasis was on English, especially after 1810, although the name suggests that Dutch also played a large part in its earlier years at least. Known as the Bataafsche Societeit ("Batavian Society") from 1803-1810. (Bosman, 1928;) [JH]

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