The Khoikhoi was a nation of widely scattered migrant pastoralist clanswhose economy was not conducive to the creation of permanent settlements.As a result they developed a lifestyle which, although suited to the low rainfalls and seasonal grazing of the southern African interior, it also facilitated the dispossession of their ancestral lands by more sedentary agriculturalist groups. Originally the Khoikhoi inhabited most of the Cape South of the Molopo and West of the Kei River, but Dutch settlement in the Western and Southern Cape slowly drove them ever Northwards until they occupied only the most arid areas of the northern Cape. One such groupwas the Griqua who, by the end of the 18th century, had moved intothe region surrounding the confluence of the Gariep and Ki-Gariep,later known as the Orange and Vaal rivers. Up to the early 1800s this area had only been penetrated by the occasional party of hunters and explorers.

By 1861 the Griquas, tired of the constant friction with their Dutch neighboursin the Orange Free State, sold them their lands and, after an epic migration,settled in the territory of Griqualand East. In 1867 the discovery of diamonds, near Hopetown brought about enormous changes in the social and economic make-up of the region. Virtually overnight it was flooded with fortune-seekers from Europe,North America and Australia, and its ownership became the subject of conflicting claims from Khoikhoi,Tswana and Dutch groups. In March 1871 these claims were resolved in avour of the Khoikhoi leader Nicolaas Waterboer, who immediately petitioned the British for the annexation of his lands to the Cape Colony. As a result, on 27 October 1871 the diamond fields were proclaimeda British territory under the nameof Griqualand West. The divisions of Barkley West, Hay, Herbert and Kimberleywere probably proclaimed at about the same time. However theCape Government, faced with the objections of both European settlers and indigenous residents, refused to incorporate the territory. In 1873 Griqualand West was proclaimed a separate Crown Colony with its capital at Kimberley. 

Building work started on the Griqualand West Supreme Court, on the Market Square in 1882 and took two years to complete, opening in February 1884. This was short-lived as the building was declared unsafe in 1886, partially demolished and rebuilt. The clock tower (with clock) was added on in 1889. The building remained the Supreme Court of Griqualand West until 1968 when it moved to its present position in the Civic Centre (Malay Camp), but was retained as the Magistrate’s Court until May 1990 when the staff moved into their new premises on Knight Street – opened officially by Kobie Coetsee on 22 February 1991. The South African Police Services used the building as offices until 1994 when it was returned to the Dept of Public Works. The building itself, a National Monument (declared 2 November 1990), is built of blue ironstone that came from a kopje overlooking Dutoitspan Mine. Convicts built the entire structure, and most of the fittings and the furniture were made in Kimberley. Restored at a cost of R6.3 million in 2001 by MDH Joint Venture, the building is used by the Public Works. 

On 5 August 1879 the Cape Parliament finally passed a Bill of Annexation,althoughit was only implemented on 18 October 1880. A censustaken in Griqualand West in 1877 revealed that the province had a total of 44,877 residents of whom 12,374 were of European descent.

 

Geolocation
-28° 45', 24° 45' 57.6"
References

https://42.1911encyclopedia.org/G/GR/GRIQUALAND_WEST.htm
https://www.kimberley.org.za/today-kimberleys-history-13-september/

Further Reading

 www.sahistory.org.za › Culture of South Africa