colour, noun

Origin:
EnglishShow more Special senses of general English.
1. Obsolete except in historical contexts In the phrase free person of colour, a Khoikhoi; any person of mixed ethnic descent who was not a slave.
1822 in G.W. Eybers Sel. Constit. Doc. (1918) 26Hottentots and other free persons of colour have been subjected to certain restraints as to their residence, mode of life, and employment.
1828 in Davenport & Hunt Right to Land (1974) 12Ordinance 50..Whereas doubts have arisen as to the competency of Hottentots and other free Persons of colour to purchase or possess Land in this Colony: Be it therefore enacted and declared, That all Grants, Purchases and Transfers of Land or other Property whatsoever, heretofore made to, or by any Hottentot or other free Person of colour, are and shall be, and the same are hereby declared to be of full force and effect.
1832 Graham’s Town Jrnl 8 June 94The propriety of a concentrated population was equally apparent, and hence it was offered exclusively to Hottentots and other free persons of color, as being the most suitable class of the community to answer the end proposed by its colonization.
1833 S. Afr. Almanac & Dir. 204Abbreviations. — E.R. European Race..C. Caffer. F.C. Free person of Color. S. Slave.
1989 Reader’s Digest Illust. Hist. of S. Afr. 97Ordinance 50 of 1828..guaranteed to all ‘Hottentots and other free persons of colour’ residing in the Cape the same freedom and protection as enjoyed by whites.
2. obsolete. In the phrase person of colour, coloured noun sense a.
1833 Graham’s Town Jrnl 10 Jan. 3Jephta, a person of colour, who deposed — That he is the defendant’s slave.
1836 Albany Settlers 1824–36 (Soc. for Relief of Distressed Settlers) 16Two persons of colour, named Willem Willems and Jager Jantjes, appeared next. They were wagon-drivers in the employment of Messrs. Simpson & Ford, Caffer traders.
1836 R. Godlonton Introductory Remarks to Narr. of Irruption 12To prevent the possibility of his return, the country was subsequently occupied by Hottentots and people of colour, and now forms the Kat River Settlement.
1837 Moderator 10 Jan. 3Hendrik Rygaard, a person of color, residing in the Cape District, was charged before the Magistrate.
1841 B. Shaw Memorials 16Perhaps more than half the population of the Cape districts are persons of colour, who are generally either heathens or Mahommedans.
In the phrase free person of colour,a Khoikhoi; any person of mixed ethnic descent who was not a slave.
In the phrase person of colour, coloured noun sense a.
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