Beautifully set in a valley against the backdrop of mountains, many trees, a number of interesting historic buildings and more gravel than tarred streets, Lady Grey is the jewel in the crown, one of the most scenic towns, in the Eastern Cape.
Lady Grey was founded in 1856 when the farm Waaihoek was bought by the Dutch Reformed Church of Aliwal North to establish a new congregation.
A number of interesting and remarkable people featured in the history of Lady Grey, such as Rev. David Ross, a great leader during the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. He was involved with the layout of the town and is seen as a father of education in Lady Grey.
There was also Rev. Jozef Wolhuter, during whose time the beautiful DR Church was built and the “plucky” Post Mistress, Sarah Glueck, who played an important role during the Anglo-Boer War and made newspaper headlines in Britain.
Then there was the Town Warden, Hendrik Klopper, the legendary giant, in charge of the workers and construction of the road to the dam.
There were also humble farmers, Cloete, Stephenson and the Joubert family, who, against all odds, planned and built Joubert’s Pass.
The historic buildings in Lady Grey include the beautiful sandstone church which is a national monument.
The town is also home to the head office of Senqu Municipality which has achieved clean audits in 2014 to date and also achieved the status of 2nd best Municipality in South Africa in 2019.
