An almanac is here taken to be a book containing a full calendar as well as information on social, economic and similar topics. It becomes a directory if it contains a list of people’s names and addresses, and in its most comprehensive form it becomes a year-book. The old almanacs and their successors are of great value in research into social, economic and cultural history, because they often contain data not easily found elsewhere. A complete survey of those published in South Africa cannot possibly be given, and only those preserved in public libraries will be dealt with here.The earliest South African almanacs appeared at the Cape in 1795-1797 and were printed by J. C. Ritter. A fragment of his Almanach for 1796 is the oldest piece of South African printing that has come down to us. Cape Town was the main centre for the publication of almanacs all through the 19th century. The most important issues, or series of issues, were the following:

1801-27 (1801 is preserved only in manuscript, and 1803 is missing. Known as The African Court Calendar (De Afrikaansche Staatsalmanak), this publication was published ‘under Government approval’ and consisted principally of an account of the Colony’s government as well as the civil list, the army list and the calendar itself, which was bilingual. The 1807 issue gives a summary of the history of the Cape Colony and has a supplement, African theatricals. From 1815 onward each issue includes Governor W. A. van der Stel’s century-old gardening calendar, and from 1810 a list of the principal inhabitants of the Cape.

1828-35. The South African Almanack and Directory , issued by the well-known publisher and printer George Greig. This was a private undertaking, as were all the succeeding almanacs. From 1830 it was considerably enlarged, and contained advertisements, articles and a ground-plan of Cape Town. From 1832 it included lithographs by H.C. de Meillon of important Cape buildings.

1836-50. Continuation of the previous almanac by B. J. van de Sandt. The name varies, but from 1841 is The Cape of Good Hope Almanack and Annual Register. In 1843 it contains an etching of Table Mountain and an account of the fight of Comdt. J. I. Rademeyer near Trompetter’s Drift in the Frontier War of 1835. The issues for 1845 and 1846 are, typographically and otherwise, editions de luxe, for example in the advertisements, which give a good picture of the times.

1852-62. Continuation of the preceding by Van de Sandt’s foster-son, B. J. van de Sandt de Villiers. The almanac has now a smaller and handier format. Attention is given to new parts of South Africa : Natal , the Orange Free State and the Transvaal, to the explorations of Livingstone and others, and to local events and politics. The almanac for 1853 contains lists of edible fishes, and that for 1855 lists of indigenous trees by C. W. L. Pappe.

1863. Continuation of the preceding by a new proprietor, John Noble. There was no issue in 1864.

1865-67. Continuation by C. Goode under the title of The Cape Town Directory . There are interesting articles on the history of the Cape Colony by A. Wilmot.

1868-97. The Almanac was taken over by Saul Solomon & Co., at first under the title (sometimes slightly changed) of The General Directory and Guide Book to the Cape of Good Hope and its Dependencies. In 1888 this became The Argus Annual and Cape of Good Hope Directory , from 1889 to 1894 The Argus Annual and South African Directory, and from 1895 to 1897 The Argus Annual and South African Gazetteer. The almanac had now become a statistical year-book and directory; it is comprehensive and instructive, and crammed with information about the whole of South Africa. Other important publications were the following: 1819: The Cape of Good Hope Calendar and Agriculturists’ Guide, by Geo. Ross, published for the British Settlers of 1820.

1826: The Cape of Good Hope Almanack, by W. Bridekirk, which contains a chronological list of events at the Cape in 1824-25.

1832-54 (probably with interruptions): De Kaapsche Almanak en Naamboek, by Joseph Suasso de Lima.

1840: De Zuid-Afrikaansche Blygeestige Almanak en Naamlyst, by J. J. de Kock (Cape Town), a remarkable literary almanac.

1850-1926: Almanak voor de Ned. Geref. Kerk van (since 1885: in) Zuid-Afrika. With alterations to its title from time to time, the well-known ‘Kerkalmanak’ has appeared regularly up to the present day. Its founder and compiler – until his death in 1882 – was Dr. Philip Faure. Immediately afterwards the Cape Synod accepted responsibility for the work, which was since then undertaken by the church administration of the N.G. Kerk. After 1926 the title appears in Afrikaans as hereafter.

1927-29: Almanak vir die Nederduits(-)Gereformeerde Kerke in Suid-Afrika. In 1927 the Almanak was taken over by the Raad van Kerke (Council of Churches) with the archivist of the N.G. Kerk, the Rev. A. Dreyer, mainly responsible for its compilation. He remained the central figure in the evolution of this work until his death in 1938. He changed its title.

1930-43: Jaarboek van die Ned. Geref. Kerke in SuidAfrika. In 1940 the work was entrusted to the Church archivist, Dr. J. A. S. Oberholster. He continued it until 1950, with a slight change in the title as hereafter.

1944-62: Jaarboek van die Gefedereerde Nederduitse Gereformeerde Kerke. From 1950 until his death in 1964 the Rev. J. Norval Geldenhuys was the chief compiler.

1963- : Jaarboek van die Nederduitse Gereformeerde Kerke (Mother, Mission and Bantu churches). Under its new title this work remains an indispensable source of information regarding ecclesiastical and related matters and is by far the oldest South African work of reference in this field.

1870 until today : Almanak voor de Geref. Kerk in Zuid-Afrika. The title later appears in Afrikaans.

1907 until today: Almanak voor de Nederduitsch Hervormde Kerk in Zuid-Afrika (later: Afrika). From 1930 in Afrikaans, it developed greatly under Prof S. P. Engelbrecht.

1866-1908: The S.A. Agriculturists’ Almanac, by J. H. F. von Wurzburg-Schade (Wynberg).

1877-1918 with some interruptions: Die Afrikaanse Almanak, burgerlik en kerkelik , by the Rev. S. J. du Toit and others (Paarl). One of the principal publica ions of the First Afrikaans Language Movement.

1887: Deutscher Volkskalender , published by Hermann Michaelis at Cape Town . Continued 1912-14 as (Illustrierter ) Sud-Afrikanischer Volkskalender in Johannesburg. A rich source of knowledge about the German community and literature in South Africa.

1875: Descriptive Handbook of the Cape Colony : its condition and resources, by J. Noble.

1886: Official Handbook: History, productions, and resources of the Cape of Good Hope, by J. Noble.

1893 and 1896: Illustrated Official Handbook of the Cape and South Africa, by J. Noble.

1848-72: Eastern Province Annual Directory and Almanac, continued as Eastern Province Year-book and Commercial Directory, Grahamstown, 1872-78 (?).

1872-1874-8; 1883-90; 1892-93: Port Elizabeth Directory and Guide to the Eastern Province, Port Elizabeth.

1896-1910: P.E. Year-book and Directory, Port Elizabeth.

1888-89 et sqq.: The General Directory of South Africa, etc. by Dennis Edwards. This gradually supplanted the Argus Annual (see above). From 1909/10 it bore the title United South Africa.

Outside the Cape may be mentioned:
1863-?: The Natal Almanac, Directory and Yearly Register, P. Davis & Sons (Pietermaritzburg). A comprehensive and compendious almanac, which continued at least into the 1920′s.

1876: De Oranjevrijstaatsdshe Almanak ( Bloemfontein ). A kind of almanac of public affairs, which two years later became:

1878- 1939(?): De Boerenvriend Huisalmanak (Bloemfontein). Its title was afterwards preceded by the word ‘Express’; it was eventually published in Afrikaans. Carl Borckenhagen was the principal figure in its production.

1904-32 (or after): De Boerenvriend (afterwards Die Boerevriend ) Huisalmanak ( Bloemfontein ). An imitation of the above-mentioned almanac, which in consequence added the word Express to its title.

1893-94: Vijstaatsch Jaarboek en Almanak – Free State Annual and Trades Directory, Bloemfontein.

1892-99: Staats-Almanak der (later: voor de ) Zuid Afrihaansche Republiek. This was an official publication, a complete and dependable annual review of the government institutions of the Transvaal, with a historical calendar.

1877-98(?) with interruptions: Jeppe’s Transvaal Almanac and Directory. Compiled by the well-known F. H. Jeppe, cartographer and publisher.

1893 et sqq.: De Kaap Annual (Transvaal), printed at Barberton.

Towards the end of the 19th cent. the transition from almanacs to directories is much clearer, as appears from the following list:

1891; 1893-97: Natal Directory, later Braby’s Natal Directory.

1893: 1897-98: The Dennis Edwards Cape Town Directory

1894; 1896: Longland’s Johannesburg and Districts Directory

1897: Juta’s Directory of Cape Town

1898: Juta’s Directory of Cape Town and Suburbs

1899-1927: Juta’s Directory of Cape Town, Suburbs and Simonstown. There are further changes of title to Cape Peninsula, etc.

1899: The Dennis Edwards S.A. Year-book and Directory of Cape Town. This year-book appeared until 2932.

1899: Longland’s Transvaal and Rhodesian Directory

1900-03; 1906-0: Kimberley Year-book and Directory, by Mark Henderson.

1900; 1904-05: Donaldson and Hill’s Eastern Province ( Cape Colony ) Directory

1901 : Complete Guide to Cradock – professional and trade directory, compiled by W. Taylor and published by Thomas Scanes, Cradock.

1901/2; 1905/06;1908/09; 1909/10 et sqq.: Guide to South Africa for the use of tourists, sportsmen, invalids and settlers. This continued until at least 1949, with a change of title to Guide to South and East Africa, etc.

1901; 1902-04: Longland’s Cape Town and District

Owing to the growth of communal life year-books and directories became dominant in the 20th century as information and reference books concerning social, political and commercial conditions. The contents are usually sufficiently indicated by the titles. Among the most important should be mentioned:

1902/03 ; 1903/04: The South African Year Book , by S. M. Gluckstein ( London and Cape Town ).

1905-10: Het Z.A. Jaarboek en Algemene Gids, by G. R. Hofmeyr and C. G. Murray ( Cape Town ), (later B. J. van de Sandt de Villiers), the first complete general South African year-book in Nederlands.

1910 until today: Official South African Municipal Year Book. An indispensable source of information about cities and towns.

1911-12: The South African Almanack and Reference Book, by E. Glanville, Cape Town . Excellent summaries of a diversified nature.

1914 et sqq. (?): The South African Year Book, by H. W. Hosking, London

1914 et sqq.: Laite’s Commercial Blue Book for South Africa. A good and popular work in its field. Along with the General Directory of South Africa of Dennis Edwards, it belongs to the stream of bulky South African directories published during the present century, among which those of Donaldson and Hill (afterwards Ken Donaldson and Co., or Donaldson and Braby, or Braby, etc.) are particularly important.

They are indispensable sources of social and commercial information. Mention must also be made of:

1898 et sqq.: The Transvaal and Rhodesia Directory

1901 et sqq.: The Natal Directory

1902 et sqq.: The Orange River Colony Directory

1902/03 et sqq.: The Western Province ( Cape Colony ) Directory

1907 et sqq.: The United Transvaal Directory

1912/13 et sqq.: Cape Province Directory

In due course titles change (e.g. Colony becomes Province), as do regional divisions. So there are now Cape Times Directory of Southern Africa (1964, 31 st edition), Directory of Southern Africa and Buyers’ Guide (1964, 31 st edition ), Braby’s Commercial Directory of South, East and Central Africa (1964, 40th edition), to which may be added the special Braby’s Directories for Natal , Transvaal, the O.F.S. and the Cape, and many city directories.

Since 1907 Donaldson produced an annual South African Who’s Who, with photographs; the title for a time included the words Social, Business and Farming. Since 1961 Who’s Who of Southern Africa, under this new title, has been published by Wootton & Gibson, Johannesburg. It is an indispensable work of reference about people. The following English works of this Directory nature, with photographs, may also be mentioned:

1905, 1907, 1909: Anglo-African Who’s Who and Biographical Sketch Book with photos in 1909, by W. H. Wills ( London ).

1905: Men of the Times: Pioneers of the Transvaal and glimpses of South Africa, Transvaal Publishing Company, Johannesburg

1906: Men of the Times: Old Colonists of the Cape Colony and Orange River Colony , Transvaal Publishing Company, Johannesburg. A particularly valuable work, with excellent pictures.

1910: Souvenir of the Union of South Africa, Cape Town. People of political importance in the Union and the four provinces.

1913 : Women of South Africa, Cape Town, by C. I. Lewis.

1926: Sports and Sportsmen in South Africa, Cape Town

1929: Sports and Sportsmen in South Africa and Rhodesia, Cape Town

1933-34: The Arts in South Africa, W. H. Knox. Knox Printing and Publishing Co., Durban. Photos of artists are included.

1938: The South African Woman’s Who’s Who, Biographies Ltd., Johannesburg

1958/9 and 1959/60: Who’s Who in Entertainment and Sport in South Africa, by Don Barrigo, Johannesburg

Smaller, sporadic publications were The Natal Who’s Who, 1906.

Who is Who – Wie is Wie in Pretoria, 1951.

In Afrikaans there are no regular publications of this nature. The following sporadic publications may, however, be mentioned:

1930: Die Nasionale Boek, compiled by I. M. Goodman, Johannesburg, and dealing with the history, leaders and members of the National Party.

1942: Die Afrikaner Personeregister, Johannesburg, compiled by N. Diederichs and others.

1953: Die Triomf van Nasionalisme in Suid-Afrika (1910-53), compiled by D. P. Goosen and others. A commemorative album of the National Party.

1955: Die Afrikanerfamilienaamboek en Personalia, Cape Town, by J. J. Redelinghuis.

1958 et sqq. (irregularly): Wie is Wie in Suid-Afrika, Johannesburg, compiled by D. F. Kruger. Bilingual.

There are also, mainly in English, numerous national, provincial, and municipal handbooks and guide-books, generally well illustrated. Only a few can be mentioned here. From the S.A. Railways we have Natal, 1903; Cape Colony today, by A. R. E. Burton, 190 et sqq.; Natal Province, 1911; Travel in South Africa, 1921 et sqq. The Cape Town City Council came out with a series of handbooks: The Cape of Good Hope, 1909 et sqq., and the Pretoria City Council (with the Railways) with The City of Pretoria and Districts, 1913. An excellent handbook dealing with economic and social matters, Die Afrikanergids (1942-1944/5) by J. J. Haywood, was’specifically intended for the Afrikaner.

Particularly important is the Government’s Official Year Book of the Union of South Africa -Offisiele jaarboek van die Unie van Suid-Afrika, 1910-60, though it did not actually appear every year. In 1964 it was supplemented by a Statistical Year Book – Statistiese Jaarboek. Since 1957 there has also appeared an unofficial year-book State of the Union , in 1962 renamed State of South Africa. There are also the calendars of the various universities. Another important private publication is the Year Book and Guide to Southern Africa, compiled by the Union-Castle Mail Steamship Company since 1893, of which the 67th edition appeared in 1967. It was divided into two volumes in 1950, since when the Year Book and Guide to East Africa has been appearing separately each year. Both were edited by A. Gordon-Brown until 1967.

Another type of annual, of a literary nature, is represented by the many Christmas and New Year annuals appearing from time to time. Mention may be made, for example, of the Cape Times Christmas Number, 1899-1905, and Cape Times Annual, 1910-41; Ons Land Kerstmisnummer, 1906-29; Die Burger Nuwejaarsnommer (at first Kerstmis Nummer ), 1915-25; Suid-Afrika, 1938/39-40/41; the British S.A. Annual, 1915/16 et sqq.; the South African Annual , 1906 et sqq.; De (afterwards Die) Koningsbode Kerstnummer (afterwards Kersnommer), 1914 up to the present, etc. At the year’s end popular magazines such as Die Huisgenoot and Sarie Marais regularly issue bulky Christmas or holiday numbers.

Today there are also year-books for almost every industry in South Africa – for farming, mining, engineering, fisheries, textiles, footwear, finance, the hotel industry, medical services, etc.

Since the settlement at the Cape, there has been an interest in genealogy. The Netherlands’ habit of recording births, marriages and other family events on the fly-leaf of the family Bible, was continued at the Cape, and the old colonists knew their family relationships well. Several families also brought documents, relating to their descent with them; few of these have, however, been preserved. In the middle of the 19th century, there was a revival in Europe of an interest in genealogy and heraldry.

This movement did not leave South Africa untouched, and people like Willem Hiddingh and Charles Bell left several manuscripts on South African families of those times. John Noble was especially interested in the Huguenots and searched in Franchhoek for old family papers. SJ du Toit also gave a number of genealogical surveys of Huguenot families in the annexures to Die geskiedenis van ons land in die taal van ons volk.

South African branches of Netherlands families are mentioned in AA Vorsterman van Oyen’s Stam- en wapenboek van aanzienlijke Nederlandsclme familiën , and his correspondence proves that he was in touch with prominent South Africans. Christoffel Coetzee de Villiers, who began his gigantic task in 1882, was probably inspired by this work. He worked systematically through the old baptismal, marriage and funeral registers of the Cape church and documents in the Cape Government Archives, and arranged these data according to families. This is how the Geslacht-register der oude Kaapsche amiliën originated.
It was intended to contain the descent of all the Afrikaner families up to the time of the Groot Trek.

Unfortunately this work overtaxed his strength, and he collapsed in 1887 before he was able to give any definite shape to it. On his deathbed he asked George McCall Theal, the Cape Archivist, to complete the work. Funds were collected, but these were exhausted when the genealogies of the families whose names begin with the letters A-D had been completed. In 1892 the Cape Colonial government advanced money for the first volume, which appeared a year later and covered the letters A -J. After this much new information was found in De Villiers’s papers, and the second volume again ran from A-O. Finally the third volume appeared in 1894 and completed a work of 1 600 pages.

For a while it seemed as if this work would provide the answer to all genealogical questions and queries about South African families up to the middle of the 19th century. The untimely death of the compiler was the reason for the omission of a number of families; other genealogies were incomplete, and there were many mistakes. The Cape Government now instructed the Netherlands historian HT Colenbrander to supplement the work from Netherlands sources. In collaboration with JW Vlok, he took nineteen months to complete his investigations, and the result was published in 1902 under the title De afkomst der Boeren.

The statistical interpretation of the material, which was a new approach, showed 50% of the families to have come from the Netherlands, 27% from Germany, 17% from France and 6% from other countries. Colenbrander’s work was in turn supplemented by DB Bosnian, who gave the following percentages in 1924: 53% Dutch, 28% German, 15% French and 4% others.

Such statistics gave rise to endless efforts by investigators who wished to prove descent from a particular country. Not only was it very difficult to draw an exact line between Netherlanders and Germans speaking low German, but many `French’ were really Southern Flemings. The percentage of non-European blood was also a subject of much conjecture. Because of these questions, which also touched on fields other than genealogy, considerable genealogical investigations have been carried out.

In the end, J Hoge decided to study the whole matter afresh by renewed research into the original sources. In 1946 his Personalia of the Germans at the Cape 1652-1806 appeared, dealing with 4 000 Germans, and shortly before his death in 1958 his Bydraes tot die genealogie van ou Afrikaanse families was published. In these books Hoge not only improved on and supplemented the data of CC de Villiers, but also added the families that had been omitted. A thoroughly revised edition of CC de Villiers’s work in both languages by C Pama was published in 1966, incorporating research done up to this date. Thanks to these books, South Africa has at its disposal fuller data concerning the descent and the first generations of the old Colonist families than any other former colony.

It had, however, become clear that the supplementation of the genealogies right into the 20 th century would be an impossible task for one man. The Great Trek broke up the continuity of many records. Church registers were often deficient and incomplete, and many of them, as well as other historical records in the North, were lost. After the Second Anglo-Boer War very few families still possessed their own family documents, Bibles, etc. An almost unbridgeable gap thus often occurs between the North and the South.

If anyone applies himself specially to a particular family, surprising results are often achieved; such was the case with CGS de Villiers’s research into the Swart family, DP de Villiers’s research into the De Villiers family, and the work of other researchers such as DF Bosman, CP van der Merwe, JJ Scheepers and DG Venter. Heavy expenses were involved, and in order to bear them collectively numbers of family associations were formed; they have in view the eventual publication of books on their families. These associations often have other aims as well, such as acquiring funds for study and benevolent purposes. DF du Toit Malherbe compiled in 1959 his Driehonderd jaar nasiebou , which contains important data on families who came to South Africa in the 19th and even in the 20th century. In 1966 he superseded this work by a revised and augmented edition entitled Family register of the South African nation.

On the English side, the descendants of the 1820 Settlers were naturally especially interested. With The story of the British Settlers of 1820 in South Africa, HE Hockly did for those families what C Graham Botha did for the French families in The French Refugees at the Cape.

Family registers for several English families exist, and in particular I. and R. Mitford-Barberton, as well as Eric, Mark and John Pringle and Emma Horn produced important work in this regard. A large quantity of genealogical data has also been collected in the Albany Museum, Grahamstown.

The number of research workers is still growing, among both English-speaking South Africans and Afrikaners. In 1939 a genealogical association was founded in Pretoria, but it ceased to exist during the Second World War. The members published important articles in the Historiese Studies of the University of Pretoria. The Genealogical Society of South Africa, which publishes the quarterly journal Familia , was founded in 1964. Articles on genealogy also appear in other periodicals and local newspapers. It has repeatedly been urged that a State office for genealogy, such as exist in other countries, should be created in South Africa. In 1970 the Human Sciences Research Council decided to establish such a research bureau in the near future.

Source: SESA (Standard Encyclopedia of Southern Africa)

In December 1823 the printer George Greig obtained permission from the Governor, Lord Charles Somerset, to publish a newspaper in Cape Town, and the first issue was dated 7 January 1824. Quite soon reports of a legal case, reflecting unfavourably on the administration, caused the authorities to demand the right of censorship. Rather than submit, Greig informed readers in the issue of 5 May 1824 that he would discontinue publication. He promised further details. To prevent this, the press was sealed, but the type remained untouched. Undaunted, Greig distributed free, on 10th May 1824, a hand-pressed broadsheet, ‘Facts connected with the stopping of the South African Commercial Advertiser’ (reprinted in 1963). The administration was not pleased. Greig returned to England, where he obtained permission to publish free from governmental censorship. He resumed publication on 31st August 1825, fifteen months after the previous issue. Publication was continuous until 10 March 1827. This time the paper was suppressed for reprinting an article from the London Times. Changes in the ministry in Britain, and of governors at the Cape, were followed by the reappearance of the paper on 3rd October 1828. In the following year ordinance 60 (April 1829) guaranteed the Press its freedom.

Names intimately associated with the early issues (in Dutch and English) are Dr. Abraham Faure, a prominent Dutch Reformed minister, and the poet Thomas Pringle, joint editor, with his friend John Fairbairn, of No’s. 13-18. Fairbairn retained the editorship until his death in 1864. First John Noble and then R. W. Murray succeeded him. Ownership passed from Greig to Fairbairn, who took William Buchanan of the Cape Town Mail as partner in July 1853, and the two papers were amalgamated. The South African Advertiser and Mail, as the combined papers were named from 6th August 1860, did not prosper. In September 1869 another amalgamation was entered into with The Cape Standard, and they continued under the name Cape Standard and Mail until the end of 1879, when publication ceased altogether. The paper under its various names appeared at irregular intervals, weekly from January 1824 and twice weekly from July 1826; then regularly three times a week from July 1853 to July 1858, when it reverted to twice weekly publication. In January 1862 it appeared 4 times a week, but this was reduced to 3 times a week from January 1867. The Advertiser and Mail ceased publication on 29th September 1869, and the Standard and Mail on 30th December 1879. Under Greig the South African Commercial Advertiser demonstrated the need for a free press, and under Fairbairn, whose able pen never departed from his principles, played an important part in Cape politics for forty years, in particular by its support of responsible government and of Dr. John Philip as against the frontiersmen. So vigorous was its stand in the Anti-Convict Movement that the Government side was forced into the expedient of publishing The Cape Monitor from 18th October 1850 to 1861

The Cape Monthly Magazine, which first appeared in 1857, was not only superior to The Cape of Good Hope Literary Gazette that preceded it, but had the longest life of any periodical other than a newspaper. When The Cape Argus eventually replaced the Commercial Advertiser, the Colony had found outlets for such talents of individual expression as it possessed; and this tradition was carried over to the 20th century, with such papers as The Cape Times (edited by Sir Maitland Park), The Cape (edited by A. D. Donovan) and the university journal, The Critic (edited by Prof H. A. Reyburn).

Acknowledgements and Source: Standard Encylopedia of South Africa.