By using this database you will be able to determine where you ancestors lived as well as indentifying other possible family members who reside in the vicinity.

Information covers the Western Cape including:  Cape Town District, Green Point, Southern Suburbs, Paarl, Stellenbosch, Worcester, Malmesbury, Piquetberg, Namaqualand, Clanwilliam, Swellendam, Caledon, Riversdale, Oudsthoorn and George.

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More information can be read in our Learning Centre on Voting Information in South Africa 1853 – 1970

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Cetshwayo, son of Mpande - Source: Cape Archives, E3248

What were our ancestors doing in 1882?

Who was making the headlines and What did they talk about around the supper table?

Here is a look at some of the people, places and events that made the news in 1882.

Huguenot Memorial School

The Huguenot Memorial School (Gedenkschool der Hugenoten) was opened on the 1st February 1882 on the farm Kleinbosch in Daljosafat, near Paarl. It was a private Christian school and the first school with Afrikaans as teaching medium.

The school was under the auspices of the Genootskap van Regte Afrikaners. Past pupils included the writers Andries Gerhardus VISSER, Daniël François MALHERBE and Jakob Daniël DU TOIT (Totius). The first classes were given in a small room but soon an old wine cellar was converted into a two-storey building which housed two classrooms downstairs and the boarding school upstairs. The first Afrikaans newspaper, Die Patriot, as well as the first Afrikaans magazine, Ons Klyntji, came from this school.

The Coat of Arms of "Die Genootskap van Regte Afrikaners"

The school was closed down in 1910 as by then Afrikaans was taught in government schools. In 2001 renovation work was started after a fundraising campaign brought in more than R1-million. Most of the money came from readers of the Afrikaans newspapers, Die Burger and the Volksblad. Naspers, the Stigting vir Afrikaans and KWV also made important contributions. The renovated building was opened in March 2002. It has an Afrikaans training centre upstairs and guest rooms downstairs.

The main people behind the renovation project were writer Dr. Willem Abraham DE KLERK (1917 – 1996) and Fanie THERON (chairman of the Simon van der Stel Foundation and the Huguenot Society, deceased 1989). Others who were also very involved included Sr. C.F. ALBERTYN (Naspers director), Van der Spuy UYS and Dr. Eduard BEUKKMAN. In 1985 they launched the Hugenote Gedenkskool Board of Trustees and with a R10 000 donation from the Helpmekaarfonds, a servitude on the building and land was bought. De Klerk’s wife, Finnie, and Theron’s wife, Anna, were at the official opening as their husbands did not live to see their dream come to fruition.

Dutch as official language

After the second British occupation of the Cape in 1806, English became the only official language. In 1856 J.A. KRUGER, the M.L.A. for Albert, asked for permission to address Parliament in Dutch. His requested was denied, and this started a campaign to get Dutch recognised as an official language in Parliament. On the 30th March 1882, Jan Hendrik HOFMEYR (1845 – 1909), also known as Onze Jan, appealed for the use of Dutch as an official language in Parliament alongside English. He was supported by Saul SOLOMON, a Jewish newspaper publisher and printer in Cape Town. On the 9th June the campaign finally got a positive result when an amendement was made to the Constitution allowing the use of Dutch in Parliament.

Official status was granted on the 1st May and the Act was later passed. On the 13th June, Jan Roeland Georg LUTTIG, the Beaufort-West M.L.A., was the first to officially deliver a speech in Dutch. There is no official record of the speech in Dutch, but the English version was published in the 14th June 1882 Cape Argus newspaper. The other version is in the Cape Parliament Hansard.

It was a short speech – “Meneer die Speaker, ons is baie dankbaar dat die opsionele gebruik van die Hollandse taal in albei huise van die parlement toegelaat is. Wanneer ek sê dankbaar, dink ek praat ek namens diegene wat die twee huise met hul petisies vir dié doel genader het. Ek put vreugde daaruit dat my Engelssprekende vriende die voorstel nie teengestaan het nie, my komplimente gaan aan hulle.

Ek hoop om die raad in die toekoms ook in Engels, in my ou Boere styl, toe te spreek. Sodoende kan dié Engelse vriende wat nie Hollands verstaan nie, die geleentheid hê om te verstaan wat ek probeer oordra. Ek vertrou ook dat alle nasionale verskille in die toekoms sal verdwyn en dat mense van alle nasionaliteite en standpunte hand aan hand sal beweeg om die welvaart en vooruitgang van die kolonie te bevorder”. According to the Hansard, the Speaker pointed out that the Act had not yet been proclaimed, so members could not yet make speeches in Dutch, but that the House would accommodate him this time.

On the 15th June, Cape school regulations were amended to allow the use of Dutch alongside English.

On the 26th and 27th June, the town of Burgersdorp celebrated the use of Dutch. The celebrations were organised by Jotham JOUBERT (M.L.A. and later a Cape Rebel ) who also proposed a monument to mark the occassion. A country-wide fundraising campaign was launched. The monument was built by S.R. OGDEN of Aliwal-North for £430. It consisted of a sandstone pedestal on which stood a life-size marble statue of a woman. She points her finger at a tablet held in her other hand on which the main inscription reads “De Overwinning de Hollandsche Taal “. The monument was unveiled on the 18th January 1893 by D.P. VAN DEN HEEVER, with Stephanus Jacobus DU TOIT (1847 – 1911) delivering the main speech.

During the Anglo-Boer war, the monument was vandalised by British soldiers who took parts of it to King William’s Town where they buried it. After the war, Lord Alfred MILNER had the rest of the statue removed from Burgersdorp. After much protesting, the British eventually provided Burgersdorp with a replica in 1907. This one was unveiled at ceremonies on the 24th and 25th May 1907 when former President M.T. STYEN and the author D.F. MALHERBE addressed the crowd. The original monument was found in 1939 and returned to Burgersdorp. In 1957 the damaged original monument was placed next to the replica.

In 1883 knowledge of Dutch was compulsory for some government positions. In 1884, it was permitted in the High Courts and in 1887 it became a compulsory subject for civil service candidates. Afrikaans only gained equal status with Dutch and English as an official language in South Africa via Act 8 of 1925. Dutch remained an official language until the 1961 Constitution stipulated the two official languages in South Africa to be Afrikaans and English.

Goosen and Stellaland republics

In 1882 a group of Boers established the short-lived republics of Stellaland and Het Land Goosen (aka Goshen ) to the north of Griqualand West, in contravention of the Pretoria and London conventions by which the Zuid Afrikaansche Republiek had regained its independence.

On the 1st April the republic of Het Land Goosen was declared. The terms of the Pretoria Convention of August 1881 had cut away part of the Transvaal. This led to problems as local Chiefs disputed the boundaries. Britain did not help matters by acknowledging Mankoroane as Chief of the Batlapin and Montsioa as Chief of the Barolong, both beyond their traditional territories. Supporters of Moshete, under the leadership of Nicolaas Claudius GEY VAN PITTIUS (1837 – 1893), established Het Land Goosen. One of the co-founders was Hermanus Richard (Manie) LEMMER, who later became a General in the Anglo-Boer War. Het Land Goosen later merged with the Stellaland republic to form the United States of Stellaland.

Stellaland was also a short-lived republic established in 1882 by David MASSOUW and about 400 followers, who invaded a Bechuana area west of the Transvaal. They founded the town of Vryburg, making it their capital. The republic was formally created on the 26th July 1882, under the leadership of Gerrit Jacobus VAN NIEKERK (1849 – 1896). In 1885 the British sent in troops under Sir Charles WARREN, abolished the republic, and incorporated it in British Bechuanaland.

Shipping accidents

Shipping accidents (wrecks, groundings, etc…) were common along the South African coast. In 1882 there were quite a few:

January – James Gaddarn, a barque, off Durban

February – Johanna, a barque, off East London

March – Poonah, off Blaauwberg

March – Queen of Ceylon, a barque, off Durban

April – Gleam, a barque, off Port Nolloth

April – Roxburg, off East London

April – Seafield, a barque, off East London

May – Francesca, a barque, off East London

May – Louisa Dorothea, a schooner, ran aground at Mossel Bay

May – Clansman, a schooner, off East London

May 28 – two ships, the Agnes (Capt. NEEDHAM) and the Christin a (Capt. G. LOVE), run ashore at Plettenberg Bay

June – Bridgetown, a barque, off Durban

June – Louisa Schiller, a barque, off Cape Hangklip

June – Ludwig, a schooner, off Algoa Bay

June – Gloria Deo, a barque, off Quoin Point

July – Elvira, a barque, off Durban

July – Erwood, off Durban

December – Adonis, a steamer, off Portst Johns

December – Zambezi, a schooner, off Durban

Smallpox

A smallpox epidemic broke out in District Six in 1882. This led to the closure of inner city cemeteries, and the construction of drains and wash-houses in the city. These improvements didn’t go as planned. The cemetery closures led to riots in 1886. The cemeteries along Somerset Road were not in a good condition, so Maitland cemetery was built. As the Muslim community carried their dead for burial, Maitland was too far for them, and along with the Dutch, they protested against Maitland for two years. Once the inner city cemeteries closed, the Dutch compromised but the Muslim community did not. They buried a child in the Tanu Baru (first Muslim cemetery) in protest. About 3 000 Muslims followed the funeral procession, as police watched. After someone threw stones at the police, a riot started and volunteer regiments were called out. One of the Muslim leaders, Abdol BURNS, a cab driver, was arrested. In the end, neither the Dutch nor the Muslims used Maitland. They found a piece of ground next tost Peter’s cemetery in Mowbray and used it as their cemetery.

The smallpox threat was felt further afield. It was believed that smallpox could be beaten by whitewashing the walls of homes, and for this reason lime and carbolic acid was distributed free to residents in Beaufort West. At Modder River, about 35 km from Kimberley, the settlement was used as a quarantine station to keep smallpox away from Kimberley. Travellers enroute to Kimberley had to produce a valid vaccination certificate or be vaccinated at the station.

Zulu King in London

Cetshwayo reigned as King of the Zulus from 1873 to 1884. He made an alliance with the British in order to keep his long standing enemies, the Boers, away. The alliance collapsed when the British annexed the Transvaal and supported Boer land claims in the border dispute with Zululand. This led to the 1879 Anglo-Zulu War where the British suffered defeat at the Battle of Isandlwana and Zulus at the Battle of Ulundi. Cetshwayo was captured and taken to the Cape. In 1882 he travelled to London where he met Queen Victoria on the 14th August. On his return he was reinstated as King in a much reduced territory and with less autonomy. He died on the 8th February 1884.

Sporting moments

Ottomans Cricket Club was founded in the Bo-Kaap in 1882. The Rovers Rugby Club was founded in Cradock on the 6th September 1882. The first rugby match in Mossel Bay was played on Saturday, 2nd September 1882. Mossel Bay Athletic Club played against George Athletic Club. The first bowling green was laid out in 1882 when a club was established atst George’s Park in Port Elizabeth. In 1882 the Jockey Club was founded by 10 horse-racing members at a meeting held in the Phoenix Hotel in Port Elizabeth. The first South African soccer club was Pietermaritzburg County. On the 17th June 1882, its delegates met at the London Restaurant in Durban ‘s West Street and the Natal Football Association was founded.

Transit of Venus

The transit of Venus was observed from stations in Durban, Touws River, Wellington, Aberdeen Road (a railway stop) and at Cape Town ‘s Royal Observatory.

Banking

District Bank was established in Stellenbosch in 1882. It paid between 5 to 6% on fixed deposits and 2% on current accounts, compared to the Standard Bank which paid an average of 3.5% on fixed deposits and no interest on current accounts. The District Bank did not charge cheque fees or ledger fees. It was later taken over by Boland Bank. The Natal Building Society (NBS) was also established in 1882, in Durban.

New brewery

The Old Cannon Brewery in Newlands was established in 1852. In 1882 it merged with Ohlsson’s Cape Breweries.

Steel industry

South Africa ‘s industrial development has heavy roots in its mining industry. With virtually no steel industry of its own, the country relied on imported steel. The first efforts to introduce steel production dates back to the creation of the South African Coal and Iron Company in 1882. The first successful production of pig iron occurred only in 1901, in Pietermaritzburg.

Mariannhill Monastery

The monastery near Pinetown was founded as a Trappist monastery by Father Francis PFANNER in 1882. It became a renowned missionary institute with schools, a hospital, an art centre and a retreat.

Boswell’s Circus

The BOSWELL family has been involved in the circus business since the 1800s in England. James BOSWELL was born in 1826 and went on to perform in various English circuses as a clown, horseman and equilibrist. He died in the circus ring of Cirque Napoleon in Paris in 1859 while performing a balancing ladder act. He had three 3 children, all of whom performed in circuses. His eldest son, James Clements, opened his own circus, Boswell’s Circus, in 1882 in Yorkshire.

Boswell’s Circus toured England and was very popular until it closed in 1898. James Clements and his five sons – Jim, Alfred, Walter, Sydney and Claude – continued performing in theatres and music halls, and eventually put their own show together called Boswell’s Stage Circus. Madame FILLIS, who owned Fillis’ Circus in South Africa, saw one of their performances and signed them up for a six-month contract. In 1911 James Clements, his sons, Walter and Jim’s wives, six ponies, a donkey and some dogs set sail for South Africa. The family and their animals were stranded when Fillis’ Circus closed down some months later. Fortunately for generations of South African children, this did not stop them and they went on to build a successful business that is still in existence.

Pretoria

A public sale on Church Square, Pretoria, in the 1890's

Church Square was created in 1855, on the orders of M.W. PRETORIUS. The DEVEREAUX brothers, town planners, designed a square for market and church purposes. Pretoria expanded around Church Square. During its early days the square was also used as a sports field and in 1883 the long-jumper Izak PRINSLOO set the first world record by a South African. The first church on the square was completed in 1857, but burnt down in 1882. Burgers Park was established as Pretoria ‘s first park in 1882. On the 14th June 1882, the Transvaalsche Artillerie Corps was formed under the command of Cmdt. H.J.P. PRETORIUS.

Stephanus Johannes Paulus KRUGER, later President of the Zuid-Afrikaanse Republiek, was born on the 10th October 1825. He was so respected by his people that the first Kruger Day was celebrated on the 10th October 1882. The following year it was declared a public holiday. After the Anglo-Boer war it lost official status, until it was again declared a public holiday in 1952. In 1994 the day again lost its official status.

Kimberley

On the 2nd September Kimberley became the first town in the southern hemisphere to install electric street lighting. It was an initiative of the Cape Electric Light Company. Electric lighting was also installed in Parliament in 1882, and an arc-lighting installation was commissioned in the harbour. Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, Christmas 1882 saw the world’s first electrically-lit Christmas tree installed in the New York house of Thomas EDISON’s associate Edward H. JOHNSON.

The Kimberley Club was founded in August 1881 and opened its doors on the 14th August 1882. Cecil John RHODES was one of the men behind the club’s establishment. Amongst the first members were Charles D. RUDD, Dr. Leander Starr JAMESON, Lionel PHILLIPS and J.B. ROBINSON.

Knysna

The farm Melkhoutkraal was laid out in 1770. In 1808 George REX, who arrived at the Cape in 1797, bought the farm. In 1825 Lord Charles SOMERSET decided to establish a town on the lagoon, to make use of the surrounding forests for ship building. George REX donated 16 ha of land for the new village, named Melville for Viscount MELVILLE, First Sea Lord from 1812 – 1827. Knysna was formally founded in 1882 when the two villages, Melville and Newhaven (founded in 1846) amalgamated.

Muizenberg

In 1882 the railway line reached Muizenberg. The area was originally a cattle outpost for the VOC before it became a military post in 1743. It was named Muijs se Berg after the commander Sergeant Willem MUIJS. Muizenberg was a staging post between Cape Town and Simon’s Town. After the railway line was extended, the area developed fast and became a popular holiday destination.

One of Muizenberg’s prominent residents was Professor James GILL. He was born in Cornwall in 1831 and came to the Cape in 1860, where he took the post of professor of Classics at Graaff-Reinet College. In 1871 he moved to Cape Town as Classics professor at the Diocesan College. He was an opininated man who did good things throughout his career but was also involved in many controversies. He was dismissed from the College in 1882. He opened a private school in Muizenberg and became the editor of the Cape Illustrated Magazine. He died in Muizenberg on the 1st February 1904.

Villiers

The town of Villiers, on the Vaal River, was established in 1882 on the farms Pearson Valley and Grootdraai. It was named after the owner, L.B. DE VILLIERS. In 1882 the Volksraad was requested to open a post office there, and this led to Villiers being proclaimed in 1891. In 1917 it acquired municipal status.

Newcastle

The first government school in Newcastle was established in 1882 as a junior primary school with 47 boys and 30 girls.

Okiep

The Cornish Pump House was built in 1882. It was used to pump water from the mine and this pump house is the only remaining one of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere.

East London

A view of East London in the 1880's

The prison in Lock Street was built in 1880, replacing the old one on the West Bank. It was built by James TYRRELL and comprised an officers’ quarters, administration block, hospital, kitchen and two single-storey cell blocks to hold 100 prisoners. The first execution happened in 1882, for which a drop gallows was placed in the hospital yard. St.Andrew’s Lutheran Church was established by German settlers in 1872. It is the second oldest church in East London and was dedicated on the 30th November 1882.

Grahamstown

City Hall was officially opened on the 24th May 1882 by the acting Mayor Samuel CAWOOD. The foundation stone was laid on the 28th August 1877 by Sir Henry Bartle FRERE, Governor of the Cape.

Durban

Durban Girls’ High School was established in 1882. The old theatre Royale was built in 1882 and had seating for 1 000. It was closed in 1937. The Natal Herbarium was started in 1882 by John Medley WOOD, then Curator of the Durban Botanical Gardens. It was initially known as the Colonial Herbarium but changed its name in 1910 when it was donated by the Durban Botanical Society to the Union of South Africa.

Port Elizabeth

South End Cemetery in Port Elizabeth was started. The country’s oldest art school, Port Elizabeth Art School, was founded in 1882. It later became the College for Advanced Technical Education, originally situated in Russell Road, Central. In 1974 it moved to Summerstrand and became the PE Technikon in 1979.

Kaapsehoop

In 1882 gold was discovered in the Kaapsehoop valley. When a larger deposit of gold was found near the present day Barberton, most of the prospectors moved there. The first payable gold was mined at Pioneer Reef by Auguste ROBERTE (aka French Bob) in June 1883. Barber’s Reef was the next big find in 1884. Sheba ‘s Reef, the richest of all, was discovered by Edwin BRAY in May 1885.

Port Shepstone

Port Shepstone came into being when marble was discovered near the Umzimkulu River mouth in 1867. It flourished from 1879 when William BAZLEY, one of the world’s first underwater demolition experts, blasted away rock at the mouth to form the Umzimkulu breakwater. The town was named after a Mr SHEPSTONE, one of the area’s prominent residents. Before 1901 the area depended solely on a port that was developed inside the river’s mouth. Boats were often wrecked and blocked the harbour entrance, but it provided a vital transport link for the tea, coffee and sugar cane grown by farmers along the river’s banks.

Supplies were brought in on the return voyages from Durban. With the arrval in 1882 of 246 Norwegian, 175 Briton and 112 German settlers, this shipping service became more important. The Norwegians arrived on the 29th August aboard the CHMS Lapland. The new settlers were offered 100 acre lots around the town at 7 shillings and 6 pence an acre. Port Shepstone was declared a full fiscal port in 1893 and, after Durban, became the region’s second harbour. Eventually, with the ongoing ship wreckages and the arrival of the railway, the harbour was closed down.

Harding

In 1882 the first hotel was opened in Harding. The village then consisted of three trading stores and four private homes.

Dundee

Dundee was established on the farm Fort Jones belonging to Peter SMITH, who had bought it from a Voortrekker settler, Mr DEKKER. He named the town Dundee, in memory of his original home in Scotland. By 1879, as a result of the Anglo-Zulu War, a tent town had sprung up on a portion of the farm. British soldiers attracted traders, missionaries, craftsmen and hunters but after their departure the tent town ceased to exist. With his son, William Craighead; son-in-law Dugald MACPHAIL; and Charles WILSON, Peter proclaimed the town in 1882.

Dewetsdorp

The Anglican Church was inaugurated on the 17th December 1882 by the Anglican Bishop of Bloemfontein. It was named St. Bartholomew’s. Before this, Anglicans held services in the town hall. The church’s foundation stone was laid on the 18th August. It cost £395 to build and seated 60. Rev. L.A. KIRBY was the first minister. The first baptism was on the 7th January 1883, that of Arthur SKEA. The church was declared a national monument in 1996.

Fort Hare

Fort Hare was built in 1847. It was named after Lt.-Col. John HARE and remained a military post until 1882, when part was given to Lovedale and part to the town of Alice.

Kuruman

The London Missionary Society (LMS) established the Moffat Institute in Kuruman in 1882, as a memorial to Robert and Mary MOFFATT and in the hope that it would revive the mission station.

Upington

Upington’s history starts with Klaas Lukas., a Koranna chief, who asked for missionaries to teach his people to read and write. In 1871 Rev. Christiaan SCHRODER left Namaqualand for Olyvenhoudtsdrift as the Upington area was then known. He built the first church, which today houses the Kalahari-Oranje Museum. In 1879 Sir Thomas UPINGTON visited the area to establish a police post, which was later named after him.

In 1881 SCHRODER, Abraham SEPTEMBER and Japie LUTZ helped build an irrigation canal. Abraham (Holbors) SEPTEMBER, said to be a Baster and the son of a slave from West Africa, was farming in the area in 1860. He was married to Elizabeth GOOIMAN. He devised a way to draw water from the river for irrigation purposes. In 1882 he was granted land facing the river. In 1896 Abraham and Elizabeth drew up a will, bequeathing the land to the survivor and thereafter to their three sons. Abraham died in 1898. In 1909 Elizabeth appeared before the Court in Upington on a charge that squatters where living on the land. It was here that she heard that Willem DORINGS, a smous, was claiming the land as his. This claim was to have repercussions, even in 2000 when the great-great-grandchildren of Abraham were still fighting for the land in the Land Claims Court.

Elizabeth and her sons owed Willem £326, but Willem produced documents that they sold him the land for that sum. The family were under the impression that they had a debt agreement with Willem. They refused to leave the farm and Elizabeth died there in 1918. In 1920 the family were removed from the farm by the new owners who had bought it from Willem. According to Henk WILLEMSE, Abraham’s great-great-grandson, the family started action in 1921 to get their land back. He has documents dating back all these years, which also show that Willem DORINGS was William THORN. Part of their land claim was for the land on which the Prisons Department building stands in Upington’s main road. This belonged to Abraham’s eldest daughter, Elizabeth, who lost it when service fees were not paid. In 1997 Nelson MANDELA unveiled a memorial plaque to Abraham.

The Waterfront

A view of East London in the 1880's

The Victorian Gothic-style Clock Tower, situated near the site of the original Bertie’s Landing restaurant in Cape Town, has always been a feature of the old harbour. It was the original Port Captain’s office and was completed in 1882. On the second floor is a decorative mirror room, which enabled the Port Captain to have a view of all activities in the harbour. On the ground floor is a tide-gauge mechanism used to check the level of the tide. Restoration of the Clock Tower was completed in 1997. The Robinson Graving Dock was also constructed in 1882, as was the Pump House. The Breakwater Convict Station was declared a military prison in 1882. This allowed military offenders from ships and shore stations to be committed for hard labour.

Sources:

Drakenstein Heemkring

Afrikanerbakens; Federasie van Afrikaanse Kultuurvereniginge publication

Burgersdorp: http://www.burgersdorp.za.net/burgersdorp_photos.html

Maritime Casualties: http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Ridge/2216/text/MARITIME.TXT

The Will of Abraham and Elizabeth September: The Struggle for Land in Gordonia, 1898-1995; by Martin Legassick; Journal of African History, Vol. 37, No. 3 (1996)

Land Claim Case: http://www.law.wits.ac.za/lcc/wp-content/uploads/jacobs2/jacobs2.pdf

Rapport newspaper, 23 Jan 2000

Boswell’s Circus: http://www.boswell.co.za/

Article researched and written by Anne Lehmkuhl, June 2007

Biography of Ruda Wahl

Ruda was born on 18 November 1953 in Hartswater in the Northern Cape and was educated at Hartswater Primary School, Parow Central Primary, Keimoes High School and Upington High School, where she spent her final school years as a boarder. After matriculating she entered the Civil Defence College in George where she undertook voluntary military service for a year in one of the first women's army camps in South Africa.

In November 1977, she married JP Landman and begun her career as a TV newsreader in 1983. Her hobbies include r eading, movies, spending time with friends over good wine and good food and she, like many other South African women, belongs to a monthly book club. Ruda has one son Johannes Petrus who is 20 years old.

Ruda has few memories of her grandparents as most of them died when she was small. She remembers: "Oupa Gert" was my father and Oupa Wahl, his father, "Oupa Jonnie" as we called him, lived with us when I was little. He died when I was four. Unfortunately I don't remember much about him, but my dad talked about his family of course – I knew most of them, and so did my mum.

Oupa Wahl fought in the Anglo-Boer War as a young man and the legend was that he took so many Grandpa headache powders that his sleeping spot was surrounded by little pink papers in the morning. He also fought in the Rebellion – one of his sons (my uncle, my father's brother) was called Manie Maritz Wahl after General Manie Maritz.

Do you have any family heirlooms that belonged to your ancestors?

I have a handcarved wooden jewellery box. Written on the side is "From S van der Merwe T Miss G/T/C (very ornate) Verster Aandenking uit Tokai 1903". That would mean the jail after the Anglo Boer War. I don't know who made it, probably Schalk Willem Jacobus van der Merwe, my mother's grandfather. But who is the mystery Miss Verster? In 1903 he was a married man with children! And the jewellery box is in our family, i.e. his daughter inherited it. My brother has a hand-tied shawl and a little wooden chest from the same period.

Did any of your family members make an impact in your life and why?

I only knew my mother's father, Andries Petrus Viljoen. I lived with him and his sister (his wife died in childbirth in 1933) for a few months when I was nine, and we often visited them for holidays before and after that. He was "Oudad", devoted to his newspaper every evening, quietly comfortable with the neighbours we shared evening with. I was probably more affected by the place, the desert heat and simplicity, than by specific people.

What aspect of you family's history has fascinated or interested you the most?

The War and the Rebellion. I wish I could have talked to my grandfather about that.

Do you have a personal motto which you live by?

From Byron Katie: What is, is. Don't resist what is; don't waste energy on how other people should behave. Accept what is, and decide how you want to respond to it.

Memoirs of the Wahl Family

Stofvlei Farm, in the Magisterial District of Springbok, is where Gert Kotze Wahl was born. The old farm had a petrol pump and a post office. There were three buildings on the farm which included the house, the shop and about 300 metres west from the house was a third tin cottage. According to family legend Grandmother Gerrie's family (the Kotze's – had "money"). Initially grandmother Gerrie was the postmaster, and later it was Grandfather John. Grandpa John, who was General Maritz's attendant, promised him that he would name his next son after the General, and so the Manie Maritz name was brought into the Wahl family on 21 November 1914.

Naturally they were pro-German. Grandfather made a knives/forks bowl from wood in the Johannesburg Jail, as well as a tray. On the bowl it says: "Aan mijn lieve Vrouw van John, Johannesburg Tronk 28 Oktober 1915".

The Wahl's enjoyed playing Bridge and their ancestors were wagon makers. Grandfather John was an Elder in the N.G. Kerk in Loeriesfontein his entire life and the middle services, in-between Holy Communion, was always held on Stofvlei farm.

According to grandchild, Andries Wahl: "We knew grandfather as "Oupa Wahl" and all the other people I ever heard talking to or of him, used the diminutive – or in Afrikaans pronounced with a long "ô", or in English pronounced as "Johnny". During my stay in Keimoes I also managed an agency from the office in Pofadder, and there I dealt with 5 or 6 people who knew him. All of them added the "ie/y". A guy who rebelled against the English didn't want to be "John" if his name was "Adam Johannes".

Many of the area's children went to school at Nuwerus. The school lorry's destination, which was the transport of the area's schoolchildren to and from Nuwerus, was Stofvlei. Both Grandma and Grandpa Wahl's graves are in Stofvlei.

Grandfather Johnie had two sisters and as the family story goes there were two Wahl's that came from Germany. The one Wahl settled himself in Paarl and became Afrikaans and the other in Cape Town who became English – this part of the family included the well-known optometrist.

Grandfather Wahl's one sister married an Englishman, and grandfather never spoke to her again after that – remember it was the time of the Anglo-Boer War. I knew the other sister. She was Aunt Bettie Bodley and lived in Paarl. She had three daughters. Aunt Bettie's husband was Tom Boyley, but he died very young. The daughters were Hettie (her husband was a Van der Westhuizen, teacher at Boys High in Paarl), Magdaleen – married to a Hugo (English pronunciation), and Elise. Elise was a famous artist, especially for her sketches of wild flowers. She was married to Apie van Wyk, also an artist.

Grandfather John was a dignified, strict man with a good sense of humour who could always tell a good story – a trait that goes through all the Wahl's

Behind the scenes

Ruda Landman's birthplace in the dry and dusty town of Keimoes, in the Northern Cape, is a far cry from where her family's humble beginnings started in the lush and fertile valleys of Europe. From the Persecution of her family in France in the 1600's, her ancestry consists of a kaleidoscope of French refugees as well as Dutch and German Immigrants.

When the French Huguenots arrived at the Cape in 1688 as a closely linked group, in contrast to the Germans, they all lived together in Drakenstein, although they never constituted a completely united bloc; a number of Dutch farms were interspersed among them. Until May 1702 they had their own French minister, Pierre Simond, and until February 1723 a French reader and schoolmaster, Paul Roux. The Huguenots clung to their language for fifteen to twenty years; in 1703 only slightly more than one fifth of the adult French colonists were sufficiently conversant with Dutch to understand a sermon in Dutch properly, and many children as yet knew little or no Dutch at all. The joint opposition of the farmers toward W. A. van der Stel shortly afterwards brought the French more and more into contact with their Dutch neighbours; as a result of social intercourse and intermarriage they soon adopted the language and customs of their new country. Forty years after the arrival of the Huguenots, the French language had almost died out and Dutch was the preferred tongue.

In South Africa we are extremely lucky to have such superb and dedicated family historians, as well as exquisite records in our Archives, which begin prior to Jan Van Riebeeck landing at the Cape. Jan's diary of his voyage to South Africa is documented and stored in the Cape Town Archives.

This mammoth task of tracing Ruda's family tree in record time, was compiled to find out how far back the Wahl family and its branches can be traced as well as how many sets of grandparents can be found.  Click here to view Ruda's family tree.

The Wahl Family

Daniel Hendrik Wahl was born circa 1850 and research has proven that there is no legitimate documentation to prove his parentage. On the 17th February 1874, Daniel Hendrik applied for a special marriage license to marry Maria Catherina Reynecke.

Photographer of the Paarl: Daniel Hendrik Wahl's Insolvent Estate (In further documentation, and finding the Liquidation and Distribution account, it is noted that Daniel was known as the “Photographer of the Paarl and Wheelwright of Paarl” in 1883)

And in another image one section of the document refers to the surname as "de Wahl" and not "Wahl", which meant that one would now have to search under the many variants of including de Wahl, Waal and de Waal. Mr D.H Wahl's Insolvent Estate

Further documentation also mentions the "widow Reynecke" Elisabeth Wilhelmina Reynecke, which was his mother in law, as well as a Constant Wahl and Adam J Wahl who thus far cannot be linked to this immediate family as no parentage exists for Daniel. It is assumed that the two men mentioned are possibly brothers as they fit well with other documentation of the same period.

Unfortunately the common problem with variants of name spelling has been a classic example of the "brick wall" scenario, which has been encountered here thus the time limit on this research has been halted. The original Wahl Family whom Daniel Hendrik would have descended is (1) Johan(n) Christia(a)n Wahl, from Strelitz in Mecklenburg (Germany). Arrives here in 1752 as a soldier. Citizen in 1756. Married 10th September 1757 to Christina Gerrits, daughter of Herman Gerrits (2 children) or (2) Johan(n) Coenraad or Conrad Wahl, from Wildungen (Germany). Arrives here in 1774 as a soldier. Citizen in 1780. Died 15th October 1814. Married 12th November 1780 to Catharina Hilledonda van Dyk (7 children). Motto: Factis non verbis.

Most family pedigrees of this extent can take many years to complete and we at Ancestry24 have managed to go back 10 generations in two weeks.

A lineage and direct relation to South African actress Charlize Theron has also been illustrated and Ruda finds herself as the ½ 5th cousin to this Hollywood star.  Click here how Ruda and Charlize are related.

Jaques De Savoye

Jaques De Savoye (Ruda's 7 times great grandfather on her maternal side) was born in Ath, Belgium around 1636 and died in the Cape in October, 1717. He was a merchant and Cape free burgher and was the son of Jacques de Savoye and his wife, Jeanne van der Zee (Delamere, Desuslamer).

Jacques was a wealthy merchant in Ghent, Belgium, but his devotion to the Protestant religion led to his persecution by the Jesuits, and there was even an attempt to murder him. In 1687 he moved to the Netherlands and left for the Cape in the Oosterland on 29th January 1688. In addition to his wife, mother-in-law and three of his children, he was accompanied by the brothers Jean, Jacob and Daniel Nortier.

De Savoye soon became a leader among the French community at the Cape: he was one of the deputation which, on 28th November 1689, asked the Governor and Council of Policy for a separate congregation for the French refugees, and the following year he helped to administer the funds donated to the French refugees by the charity board of the church of Batavia. At various times he also served on the college of landdros and heemraden.

To begin with, Jacques farmed at Vrede-en-Lust at Simondium and in 1699 was also given Leeuwenvallei in the Wagenmakersvallei ( Wellington ), but settled at the Cape soon afterwards. He apparently experienced financial difficulties since in 1701 he owed the Cape church council 816 guilders and various people sued him for outstanding debts. In 1712 he described himself as being without means.

In March 1712 he left for the Netherlands in the Samson, accompanied by his wife and mother-in-law. He enrolled as a member of the Walloon congregation in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, on 16th December 1714, but only four months later, on 20th April 1715, it was reported that he had returned to the Cape. There is, however no documentary proof of his presence neither at the Cape neither after 1715, nor in C.G. Botha's assertion that he died in October 1717.

De Savoye often clashed with other people. During the struggle of the free burghers against Wilhem Adriaen van der Stel, he was strongly opposed to the Governor and was imprisoned in the Castle for a time. He was also involved in a long-drawn-out dispute with the Rev. Pierre Simond, and he and Hercules des Pré went to court on several occasions to settle their differences.

He was married twice: first to Christiana du Pont and then to Marie Madeleine le Clercq of Tournai, Belgium, daughter of Philippe le Clercq and his wife, Antoinette Carnoy. Five children were born of the first marriage and three of the second. Three married daughters and a son remained behind at the Cape, as well as a son who was a junior merchant in the service of the V.O.C. and who died without leaving an heir.

Acknowledgements & Sources:

Ruda Landman
Gert Wahl
Keith Meintjies
National Archives Respository Cape Town
Dr Chris Theron
Janet Melville
Genealogical Institute in Stellenbosch
SAG Genealogies Volumes 1 – 13 www.gisa.org.za

Images Acknowledgement:

Images.co.za / Die Burger / Werner Hills; National Archives Respository Cape Town
Who's Who of Southern Africa (Ruda Landman)

(3) Jacques (Jacob) de Villiers, geb. 1661 op La Rochelle, oorl. 17.5.1735 op “Bosch-en- Dal”. Boer op “La Rochelle” (met sy broers); koop 1717 “Bosch-en-Dal” van sy broer Abraham en 1730 “Lekkerwyn”; ook eienaar van “La Brie”, Franschhoek. Trou ca. 1691 met Marguerite Gardiol (suster van Susanna Gardiol), geb. 1668, oorl. 1749 op die plaas “Bakoven” (11 kinders).

Wapen: Deurgesny:

A in silwer ‘n rooi skuinsbalk; B in blou ‘n silwer Godslam. Helmteken: ‘n gebuigde geharnaste silwer arm wat ‘n skuinsregs geplaaste kromswaard in die hand hou. Dekklede: silwer en blou. Dié wapen is in die Bell-Krynauw-versameling (afb. 243). Uit ‘n studie wat D.F. Bosman van Krynauw se aantekeninge gemaak het, blyk dat Krynauw in die argief van die Hooggeregshof ‘n lakafdruk gevind het met dié wapen: Bo ‘n skuinsbalk en onder ‘n Godslam met die voorletters C.H. ‘n Ander bron vir dié wapen was ‘n afbeelding in die familiedokumente van die familie Faure. Daar bestaan ook variante van hierdie wapen. Heeltemal afsonderlik staan natuurlik die wapen van die baronne De Villiers, hoewel hulle wel tot dieselfde familie behoort. Op 21.9.1910 is sir John Henry de Villiers tot eerste Baron van Wynberg verhef. Hy en sy nakomelinge voer die volgende wapen: In blou ‘n verhoogde silwer skuinsbalk en op ‘n grond in die skildvoet ‘n Godslam van natuurlike kleur. Helm met helmkroon wat versier is met nege pêrels. Helmteken: ‘n gebuigde geharnaste regterarm wat in die hand ‘n kromswaard hou. Skildhouers: twee springbokke van natuurlike kleur, elk om die nek ‘n kroon met nege pêrels.

Wapenspreuk: La main à l’oeuvre.

Source: Groot Afrikaanse Familie Naamboek (C.A Pama)

Rhodes Memorial Under Construction 1907

James Andrew Clift (1867-1944) left his home town Mousehole in Cornwall in 1894 to join thousands of Cornish stonemasons and miners working in the Witwatersrand ‘s gold mines. He soon found work fixing steel head gears onto the large stone anchor blocks that were used to transport men and ore in the underground mines.

In 1895 he headed south to work as a stonemason in the Higgo Quarry in Kloof Neck at the foot of Table Mountain. The quarry was owned by the Higgo brothers, Cornishmen who had immigrated to South Africa with their parents in 1850. The Higgo Quarry was one of the largest in Cape Town and employed as many as 120 masons at a time.

In 1896 Clift’s wife Caroline, son John Andrew (6) and daughter Linda (5) joined him in Cape Town. The Clift family returned to Cornwall at the outbreak of the South African, and settled on the Scily Isles off the Cornish coast for the duration of the war, returning to Cape Town once peace was declared. In 1902 the family lived in Fir Cottage in Higgovale.

By 1906 James Clift was working as an independent granite contractor. His first large contract was to supply and erect the granite for the Rhodes Memorial on Devil’s Peak. The memorial in honour of Cecil John Rhodes was designed by Sir Herbert Baker.

The Rhodes Memorial contract was completed in 1908, and realising that Cape Town ‘s own supply of building grade granite had for all practical purposes come to an end, Clift decided to open his own quarry and masons’ yard in Paarl.

At the time Paarl was at the centre of a thriving granite quarrying and contracting industry. There were several commercial quarries on the slopes of Paarl Mountain. Joseph Allen had a quarry on the farm Labori and Wilson & Carr owned the Bon Accord Quarry. Other quarry owners and operators included McBurny & McGunn, Bishop & Williams, Steward & Co, De Palo, Monteni and Minnaar.
Clift decided to lease the Minnaar quarry on the farm De Hoop in southern Paarl. Today the quarry is just north of the KWV’s head office in Main Street, and surrounded by residential suburbs. He also opened a masons’ yard in Concordia Street near Paarl Station. In 1916 the Clift family moved into Sarnia Villa opposite the yard. This granite double storey house is still in the Clift family. 

Clift continued to supply granite for many of Cape Town ‘s historic landmarks such as the Houses of Parliament, First National Bank in Adderley Street and the Old Mutual and Post Office buildings in Darling Street. In Paarl his business worked on the Town Hall, the KWV’s head offices, the First National Banks in southern and central Paarl, as well as schools such as Paarl Boys’ High. His last major contract was the Huguenot Monument in Franschhoek, completed in 1944.

Today the business James Andrew Clift started is the oldest family owned granite contracting business in South Africa and managed by his great-grandsons. Their quarry on De Hoop farm is also the oldest granite quarry still in use.

James and Caroline Clift in 1938

James Andrew Clift (1867-1944) married Caroline Ethel Davies (1868-1945) on the 10 November 1889 and had seven children: John Andrew (1890-1918), Linda (1891-1966), Karl (1897-1902), Carrie (1899-1899), Elizabeth Emma (1904-?), William (1906-1994) and James Frederick (1908-1981).

Article written by: Marguerite Lombard (nee Lombard)
Marguerite would love to hear from people who have any information on Paarl’s quarry owners, masons or granite industry in general, email her at: [email protected]

IMAGES:
Rhodes Memorial Under Construction 1907
Clift’s masons, during WW2 possibly during construction of the Franschhoek monument. James Andrew Clift is seated in the centre, flanked by his two sons William (Bill) and Frederick (Fred) on his far right. To his left is Kathy Cooper (secretary) and possibly Pieter Haupt (bookkeeper).
James and Caroline Clift in 1938

The first burgher councillor was Steven Jansz Botma, appointed in 1657 to serve on the Court of Justice for a term of one year. After the first year the free burghers were directed to submit a list of names from among which Botma’s successor could be designated. Hendrick Boom was the nominee, but the authorities having increased the number of burgher councillors to two, Botma was retained. One of the two members was to retire in rotation every year. In 1675 the number was increased to three, and in 1686 to six. From the time of Jan van Riebeeck trivial matters came within the purview of the ‘Collegie van Commissarissen van Kleine Saken’, in which two burghers sat with two officials and a secretary.

It had become customary to leave punitive expeditions against the Bushmen in the hands of burgher commandos, and in 1715 the burgher councillors were required to levy the costs of the expeditions from the citizens of Cape Town, the heemraden being responsible for the levy from burghers in the hinterland.

By 1779, under the governorship of Joachim van Plettenberg, agitation among a group of colonists for greater representation in the management of their affairs had gathered considerable momentum. These burghers already referred to themselves as ‘Patriotten’ (patriots). Among the measures they proposed was the appointment of a sufficient number of elected burgher councillors to counterbalance the officials. A strongly worded petition was taken by Tieleman Roos of Paarl and others to the Netherlands . Although this document was even submitted to the States General, it proved of no avail, the Dutch ‘Patriotten’ being at that time in the minority.

The only notable success attained by the petitioners was the concession made by Van Plettenberg in his reply to the Council of Seventeen, that an equal number of burgher councillors and officials could be appointed to the Court of Justice. Neither Van Plettenberg nor the Seventeen would tolerate a position in which the Council of Policy would virtually be dominated by the burgher councillors. The system of burgher councillors continued until the first British occupation, and in 1796 the Burgher Senate took the place of burgher councillors.

BIBL. C. Beyers: Die Kaapse Patriotte 1779-1791 (1930); Cambridge history of the British Empire , vol. 8 (1936); G. M.

Theal: History of South Africa , vol. 3, 4 (‘964); Eric A. Walker: A history of South Africa (1928).

In French Hoek’s historic cemetery near the Huguenot Monument one looks in vain for the grave of a Huguenot immigrant or a first-generation descendant. The `Huguenot cemetery’ at near-by La Motte was laid out in 1760, almost a century after the landing of the Huguenots and the question arises as to the extent to which the people buried there were genealogically still French. The Standard Encyclopaedia of Southern Africa has made its own investigation, based on 300 marriages in the male line, spread over 13 Huguenot families and contracted between 1688 and 1788. This sample revealed that 5-7 per cent of the brides bore French names while 43 per cent were of Dutch, German and Scandinavian extraction. It would therefore appear that the term ‘Huguenot cemetery’ is not entirely a misnomer and that – seen in its true perspective – it is historically justified and culturally desirable to preserve these few graveyards as Huguenot cemeteries.

The National Monuments Council has already erected bronze plaques at La Motte and at Kleinbosch, which provide some protection even though the sites remain unproclaimed. The Kleinbosch cemetery was laid out in about 1692 by the ancestor of the Du Toit family, but the known graves there date from the close of the 19th century. Important Huguenot members of the Genootskap van Regte Afrikaners (1875) lie buried there, as well as a sister of Piet Retief, the famous Voortrekker (see Kleinbosch). At La Motte gravestones were placed for Huguenot descendants known to be buried there but whose graves could not be identified with any degree of certainty. One other graveyard, popularly known as a Huguenot cemetery, is at Wehevreden, Wellington. Here, also, it is impossible to identify the graves of any particular Huguenots of the early years but numbers of Huguenot descendants were buried there.

(Farmers’ Protection Society)

In 1878 a section of the Afrikaans-speaking farmers of the Cape resolved to form an organisation for the purpose of ‘watching over the interests of the farmers of this Colony, and protecting the same’. It arose, in the first place, from opposition to an excise duty imposed on liquor by the Cape parliament in 1878. Later aims of the association were: ‘to endeavour to have all those with an interest in farming registered as parliamentary voters, and to watch against the abuse of the franchise’. J. H. Hofmeyr (‘Onze Jan’) was its leader and its first representative in the Legislative Assembly. On 24 May 1883 the organisation merged with the Afrikaner Bond under a new name: Afrikanerbond en Boeren Beschermings Vereeniging.

Boer Generals in Europe

During the Second Anglo-Boer War 30,000 farm houses were destroyed, and in addition 21 villages (Ermelo, Bethal, Carolina, Amsterdam, Amersfoort, Piet Retief, Paulpietersburg, Dullstroom, Roossenekal, Bloemhof, Schweizer-Reneke, Harte beestfontein, Geysdorp and Wolmaransstad in the Transvaal; Vredefort, Villiers, Parys, Lindley, Bothaville, Ventersburg and Vrede – the last mentioned partly – in the Orange Free State). In extensive areas not a single animal was to be seen. In the Free State , for instance, only 700,000 out of approximately 8,000,000 sheep remained and one tenth of the cattle. The speedy reconstruction of the former Republics was a pressing necessity. In terms of Article 10 of the Treaty of Vereeniging £3,000,000 was granted for this purpose and in addition loans at 3% (without interest for two years). This amount was considered to be totally inadequate by the representatives of the Boer people at Vereeniging, and a head committee (M. T. Steyn, Schalk Burger, Louis Botha, C. R. de Wet, J. H. de la Rey and the Revs. A. P. Kriel and J. D. Kestell) was elected on 31 May to collect further funds. Generals Botha, De Wet and De la Rey were sent to Europe for this purpose. After cordial receptions in Cape Town, Paarl and Stellenbosch they left for England on 5 Aug. 1902. Huge crowds welcomed them in London, and they were presented to King Edward VII. On the Continent they were likewise enthusiastically cheered by thousands of people. (The Hague 20 Aug., Amsterdam11 Sept., Antwerp 19 Sept., Rotterdam 22 Sept., Groningen 27 Sept., Middelburg 30 Sept., Brussels 10 Oct., Paris 13 Oct., Berlin 17 Oct.). In a letter to Joseph Chamberlain dated 23 Aug. they requested an interview to discuss, inter alia, the following matters: full amnesty for rebels; annual grants for widows and orphans; compensation for losses caused by British troops; payment of the war debts of the Republics. At the interview on 5 Sept. Chamberlain stated that if he should accede to these requests a new agreement with the Republics would have to be drawn up and that could not be done. Thereupon the Generals published on as Sept. ‘An Appeal to the Civilised World’ in which they asked for further assistance to alleviate the dire distress. The result was most disappointing. Up to Jan. 1903 the ‘Appeal’ brought in only £116,810. This was possibly due to the unwillingness of the nations to continue assisting the Boers, who were now British subjects, and to the fact that Chamberlain had announced in Parliament on 5 Nov. that the Government would grant further loans if necessary. De Wet returned to South Africa on 1 November, Botha and De la Rey on 13 December.

Boer Prisoners of War – Camps

Generals De Wet, De la Rey and Botha, Germany, 1902

The approximately 27,000 Boer prisoners and exiles in the Second Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902) were distributed far and wide throughout the world. They can be divided into three categories: prisoners of war, ‘undesirables’ and internees. Prisoners of war consisted exclusively of burghers captured while under arms. ‘Undesirables’ were men and women of the Cape Colony who sympathised with the Orange Free State and Transvaal Republics at war with Britain and who were therefore considered undesirable by the British. The internees were burghers and their families who had withdrawn across the frontier to Lourenço Marques at Komatipoort before the advancing British forces and had finally arrived in Portugal, where they were interned.

Prisoners of war were detained in South Africa in camps in Cape Town (Green Point) and at Simonstown (Bellevue), and some in prisons in the Cape Colony and Natal; in the Bermudas on Darrell’s, Tucker’s, Morgan’s, Burtt’s and Hawkins’ Islands; on St. Helena in the Broadbottom and Deadwood camps, and the recalcitrants in Fort Knoll; in India at Umballa, Amritsar, Sialkot, Bellary, Trichinopoly, Shahjahanpur, Ahmednagar, Kaity-Nilgris, Kakool and Bhim-Tal; and on Ceylon in Camp Diyatalawa and a few smaller camps at Ragama, Hambatota, Urugasmanhandiya and Mt. Lavinia (the hospital camp). The internees were kept in Portugal at Caldas da Rainha, Peniche and Alcobaqa. The ‘undesirables’, most of them from the Cape districts of Cradock, Middelburg, Graaf Reinet, Somerset East, Bedford and Aberdeen, were exiled to Port Alfred on the coast near Grahamstown.

In the Bermudas, on St. Helena and in South Africa quarters consisted chiefly of tents and shanties patched together from tin plate, corrugated iron sheeting, and sacking, and in India and Ceylon mostly of large sheds of corrugated iron sheeting, bamboo and reeds. The exiles, whose ages varied between y and 82 years, occupied themselves in various fields, such as church activities, cultural and educational works, sports, trade, and even printing, and nearly all of them to a greater or lesser extent took part in the making of curios.

The exiles in Ceylon and on St. Helena were the most active in printing. Using an old Eagle hand press purchased from the Ceylonese, the prisoners of war in Ceylon printed the newspaper De Strever, organ of the Christelijke Streversvereniging (Christian Endeavour Society), which appeared from Saturday, 19 Dec. 1901, to Saturday, 16 July 1902. Other newspapers, which they published, mostly printed by roneo, were De Prikkeldraad, De Krygsgevangene, Diyatalawa Dum-Dum and Diyatalawa Camp Lyre. Newspapers issued on St. Helena were De Krygsgevangene (The Captive) and Kampkruimels.

The range of the trade conducted among the prisoners of war is evident from the numerous advertisements in their newspapers. There were cafes, bakeries, confectioners, tailors, bootmakers, photographers, stamp dealers, general dealers and dealers in curios. An advertisement by R. A. T. van der Merwe, later a member of the Union Parliament, reads in translation:

Roelof v.d. Merwe, Shop No. 12, takes orders for men’s clothing. Has stocks of all requirements.

Another, by C. T. van Schalkwyk, later a Commandant and M.E.C., may be roughly translated as follows:

Here in Kerneels van Schalkwyk’s cafe a Boer
Be he rich or be he poor
For money so little its spending not felt
Can have his tummy press tight on his belt.

In religious matters the exiles in overseas camps devoted their efforts in the first place to the establishment of churches. In most of the camps building material was practically unprocurable, with the result that most of the church buildings were patched together out of corrugated iron sheets, pieces of tin, sacks, reeds and bamboo. Pulpits were constructed from planks, pieces of timber, etc. There were a number of clergymen and students of theology among the prisoners; with them in the forefront and with the help of others who had gone to the camps for this purpose, congregations were founded and church councils were elected. From these developed Christian Endeavour Societies, choirs, Sunday-school classes for the many youngsters between 9 and 16 years of age, and finally catechism classes for older youths. Many a young man was accepted as a member of the Church and confirmed while in exile. Attention was also given to mission work, and funds were collected by means of concerts, sports gatherings, etc. Many of the prisoners died in exile, and the burial services as well as the care of the graves and cemeteries were attended to by their own churches.

In the cemetery of Diyatalawa 131 lie buried, and on St. Helena 146; in the Bermudas and in India a considerable number also lie buried. Through the years the Diyatalawa cemetery has been maintained in good order by the Ceylonese. Boer prisoners of war in the Bermudas were buried on Long Island. The graves themselves are neglected and overgrown with vegetation, but the obelisk erected in the cemetery on the insistence of the returning prisoners after the conclusion of peace is still in fairly good condition. It is a simple sandstone needle on a pedestal of Bermuda stone. The names of those buried in the cemetery and those who had died at sea on the voyage to Bermuda are engraved on all four sides of the pedestal.

Boer Prisoners of War with their handwork

Cultural activities covered a number of fields. At first debating societies were formed, and from these there developed bands, choirs and dramatic groups; theatrical, choral and other musical performances were given, festive occasions such as Christmas, New Year, Dingaan’s Day (now the Day of the Covenant and the birthdays of Presidents Kruger and Steyn and of Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands were celebrated. Judging by the numerous neatly printed programmes, many of the concerts and other performances were of quite a high standard. Celebrating Dingaan’s Day at Ahmednager (India on 16 Dec. 1901 the prisoners reaffirmed the Covenant. Beautifully art-lettered in an illuminated address, the text reads in translation as follows: ‘We confess before the Lord our sin in that we have either so sorely neglected or have failed to observe Dingaan’s Day in accordance with the vow taken by our forefathers, and we this day solemnly promise Him that with His help we with our households will henceforth observe this 16th Day of December always as a Sabbath Day in His honour, and that if He spare our lives and give us and our nation the desired deliverance we shall serve Him to the end of our days …’ This oath was taken by the exiles after a month of preparation and a week of humiliation in Hut No. 7.

Education received special attention and schools were established; bearded burghers and commandants shared the school benches with young boys and youths. The subjects studied were mainly bookkeeping, arithmetic, mathematics and languages, and fellow-exiles served as instructors. It was in these schools that the foundation was laid for many a distinguished career in South Africa, such as those of a later Administrator of the Orange Free State (Comdt. C. T. M. Wilcocks), a number of clergymen, physicians and others who, after returning to their fatherland, attained great prestige and became leading figures in the Church and social and political fields. Literary works were also produced in this atmosphere of religion and culture, such as the well known poem ‘The Searchlight’, by Joubert Reitz:

When the searchlight from the gunboat
Throws its rays upon my tent
Then I think of home and comrades
And the happy days I spent
In the country where I come from
And where all I love are yet.
Then I think of things and places
And of scenes I’ll ne’er forget,
Then a face comes up before me
Which will haunt me to the last
And I think of things that have been And of happy days that’s past;
And only then I realise
How much my freedom meant
When the searchlight from the gunboat Casts its rays upon my tent.

Sports gatherings were frequently arranged and provided days of great enjoyment, when young and old competed on the sports field, while cricket, football, tennis, gymnastics and boxing matches filled many an afternoon or evening. Neatly printed programmes for the gatherings and the more important competitions were usually issued.

Various daring attempts at escape were made, but few were successful. Five exiles – Lourens Steytler, George Steytler, Willie Steyn, Piet Botha and a German named Hausner – who succeeded in swimming out to a Russian ship in the port of Colombo (Ceylon), travelled by a devious route through Russia, Germany, the Netherlands and again Germany, and finally landed at Walvis Bay. One captive on St. Helena attempted to escape by hiding in a large case marked ‘Curios’ and addressed to a fictitious dealer in London. But he was discovered shortly after the ship left port and was returned to St. Helena from Ascension Island. Of those in the Bermudas two succeeded in reaching Europe aboard ships visiting Bermudan ports, while J. L. de Villiers escaped from Trichinopoly disguised as a coolie and made his way to the French possession of Pondicherry, from which he finally reached South Africa again by a roundabout route through Aden, France and the Netherlands. Among the exiles held in Ceylon two brothers named Van Zyl and a German did not return to South Africa, but went to Java, where they developed a flourishing farm enterprise with Friesland cattle. Among those held in the Bermudas a number went to the United States of America, where in some of the states such well-known Boer names as Viljoen and Vercueil are still found.

Repatriation of Boer Prisoners of War

As early as 1901 Lord Milner realised what a stupendous task the resettlement of close on 200,000 Whites involved, among whom were about 50,000 impecunious foreigners, as well as 1000.000 Bantu who, as a result of the Anglo-Boer War, had become torn from their usual way of life and had either been herded together in prisoner-of-war and concentration camps or scattered all over the Orange Free State and the Transvaal as refugees and combatants. These people had to be restored to their shattered homes and their work in order to become self-supporting. Milner wished Britons employed by the Transvaal mines and industries to be repatriated first. This began after the annexation of the Transvaal in 1900. By Feb. 1901 as many as 12,000 had already been repatriated, and by the beginning of 1902 nearly all of them had returned to the Witwatersrand.

To aid the resettlement of former Republican subjects, special Land Boards were set up early in 1902 in both the new colonies. They were also expected to help settle immigrant British farmers. From April 1902 the repatriation sections of the Land Boards were converted into independent departments in order to prepare for the repatriation of the Afrikaner population. The post-war development of the repatriation programme was adumbrated in sections I, II and X of the peace treaty of Vereeniging. In terms of sections I and II all burghers (both ‘Bitter-enders’ and prisoners of war) were required to acknowledge beforehand the British king as their lawful sovereign. Section X read that in each district local repatriation boards would be set up to assist in providing relief and in effecting resettlement. For that the British government would provide £3m as a ‘bounty’ and loans, free of interest for two years, and after that redeemable over three years at 3 %. The wording ‘vrije gift’, as the bounty was termed, gave rise to serious misunderstanding, and the accompanying provision, that proof of war losses could be submitted to the central judicial commission, created the erroneous impression that this bounty was intended to compensate the burghers for these losses. The eventual British interpretation, that the bounty was intended as a contribution toward repatriation, created a great deal of bitterness. Eventually it turned out that there was no question of a bounty, since repatriates were held personally responsible for all costs, the £3m being part of the loan of £35m provided by the British treasury for the new colonies.

After the conclusion of peace two central repatriation boards, one in Pretoria and the other in Bloemfontein, began to function, and 38 local boards were set up in the Transvaal and 23 in the Orange River Colony. The repatriation departments were reformed into huge organisations, each employing more than 1,000 men. The real work of repatriation came under three heads, viz. getting farmers back to their farms with the least delay; supplying them with adequate rations until they could harvest their crops; and providing them with seed, stock and implements to cultivate their lands.

The general discharge of prisoners of war in South Africa began in June 1902. Many overseas prisoners of war, especially those in India, were sceptical about the peace conditions and refused to take the oath of allegiance to the British Crown. In spite of the efforts of Gen. De la Rey and Comdt. I. W. Ferreira to induce them to return, about 500 of the 900 ‘irreconcilables’ were not to be persuaded until Jan 1904.

In July 1904 the last 4 Transvaalers were discharged from India, but in May 1907 two Free Staters were still there. There were 100 men per district to every shipload, and on their arrival they were first sent to camps at Umbilo and Simonstown, where they were given food and clothing. Those who were self-supporting were allowed to go home. Through judicious selection – land-owning families first and ‘bywoners’ (share-croppers) next – repatriation was made bearable. By the middle of June 1902 almost all the ‘bitter-enders’ had laid down their arms and were allowed to return to their homes, provided they could fend for themselves. In other cases they were allowed, like the prisoners of war, to take up temporary accommodation with their families in concentration camps until they were sent home by the repatriation departments with a month’s supply of free rations, bedding, tents and kitchen utensils.

By Sept. 1902 only the impoverished group was left in the camps. In due course relief works, such as the construction of railway lines and irrigation works, were started to employ them. However, a considerable number of pre-war share-croppers became chronic Poor Whites. Spoilt by their idle mode of existence during the war, many Bantu refused to leave the refugee camps, but when their food rations were stopped they soon returned to the firms to alleviate the labour shortage.

The road to repatriation was strewn with stumbling blocks. Nearly 300,000 ruined people had to be brought back to their shattered homes. Supplies had to be conveyed over thousands of miles of impassable roads and neglected railways, already heavily burdened by the demobilisation of the British army and the transport of supplies to the Rand. Weeks of wrangling preceded the purchase from the military authorities, at exorbitant prices, of inferior foodstuffs and useless animals, many of which died. The organisation was ineffective, and the authority and ditties of the central and local repatriation boards were too vaguely defined, leading to unnecessary duplication. Moreover, the burghers mistrusted the repatriation. By the end of 1902 most of the ‘old’ population had, however, been restored. Unfortunately the long drought which dragged on from 1902 until the end of 1903 made it necessary for many of the repatriation depots to be kept going until 1904, in order to keep the starving supplied on credit. From 1904 conditions gradually began to return to normal, and in 1905 repatriation was complete. A great deal of the £ 14m spent on it had gone into administrative expenses.

Sharp criticism was levelled against the repatriation policy, especially against the incompetence and lack of sympathy among the officials, and financial mismanagement. The composition of the repatriation boards was also suspect. On the other hand, agricultural credit came in with repatriation and prepared the way for the present system of Land Bank loans and co-operative credit. Milner himself considered the repatriation a success, although he conceded that a considerable sum of money had been squandered. Yet it was not the utter failure it has often been represented to have been. Milner deserves praise for his genuine attempt to resettle an impoverished and uprooted agricultural population and to reconstruct an entire economy. The accomplishment of the entire project without serious friction can largely be attributed to the self-restraint and love of order of the erstwhile Republican burghers.

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.