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- A 'Genealogy World' subscriber asks ...
Are there any records about Kaffrarian Rifles?
I have seen a book which has a photograph of my husband's grandfather in it.
I am wondering if anyone has any more details, or lists, of where and what the Kaffrarian Rifles involved?
Reply ...
The Nominal Rolls and Enrolment Forms for the Kaffrarian Rifles are held at The National Archives, Kew. There may be no full roll for these men anywhere in SA, so this reader will need someone to access material at TNA. Look at Genealogy World's Anglo-Boer pages and see the code references under both sections - nominal and enrolment.
Also try asking the King William's Town Museum (Kaffrarian Museum) at stephanie.v@museum.za.net if they have any rolls, but suspect not. They may just have the individual being sought, though, so worth an e-mail. They are very helpful.
- A 'Genealogy World' subscriber asks ...
I have an ancestor who was had their first child in East London - Cape - in the 1880s.
On which ship would they have arrived from England to reach South Africa!!??
I have looked at so many lists without much luck, was wondering if you could give some ideas!
I have noticed that some ships stopped in Algoa Bay, but not many.
Reply ...
It is possible this family docked in Cape Town and travelled to the Eastern Cape.
- A 'Genealogy World' subscriber asks ...
I am trying to find the arrival (in Natal), and marriage, of my grandparents.
They departed England about 1899 and were married about 1901. I am not sure where they got married!
Reply ...
It is advisable to check 'Natal Passenger Lists' in the Main Menu from time to time. Passenger Lists are constantly being added.
The Durban LDS Family History Centre has a collection of Natal Marriage films. If the date of marriage, and place, are unknown, it is possible at times to find the marriage you are seeking by looking at some of these films.
Ellen Stanton has kindly offered to assist those of you looking for Natal marriages between the dates 1895 -- 1911. She has indexed the marriages for this period. She is also at present compiling a partial Natal shipping index. If you require Ellen to look up an entry in the marriage index or shipping index, please e-mail the Editor (as above) so that your request is forwarded to Ellen.
- A 'Genealogy World' subscriber asks ...
Recently I was at the Natal Archives and searched for the Estate File of someone who died in 1970 in East Griqualand. He definitely left a Will - but I was unable to locate any reference to his Death Notice and Will.
Reply ...
As East Griqualand was previously in the Cape and not in Natal, these documents will no doubt have been filed in the Cape Province.
- A 'Genealogy World' subscriber asks ...
How can I obtain Census Records for South Africa?
Reply ...
You can't, unfortunately. SA Censuses are destroyed after statistics are taken. So this valuable avenue of research, used by all family historians in UK research, is denied to us.
- A 'Genealogy World' subscriber asks ...
I have tried to research my mother's family who immigrated from England around the early 1900s and lived and died in Durban. I would like to trace exactly when they arrived in Durban, and how many trips they made back and forth.
Reply ...
Unfortunately, passenger records inwards (arrivals) to Natal are not all-inclusive and towards the late 19th century and early 20th century the situation gets worse - factors being increased volume of shipping and inconsistent record keeping, plus simply records not being preserved. Passenger records outwards (departures) are virtually non-existent, except for occasional lists published in newspapers - but to try and trace these without specific dates isn't feasible. Establishing trips 'back and forth' for your family would be impossible, and finding their initial arrival also difficult. The European Immigration Index held at Pietermaritzburg Archives Repository gives SOME arrivals up to about 1910, better up to the 1880s but after that thinly represented. (See European Immigration Index on this site.) A better approach to find out more about this family would be via the medium of deceased estates, working back, rather than starting at their point of entry into Natal.
- A 'Genealogy World' subscriber asks ...
Did any person from England, Scotland, Ireland or Wales settle in South Africa before the 1820 Settlers? If so where can I find names of these people and any information about them?
Reply ...
Yes, there were British arrivals from the time of the First British Occupation of the Cape (1795-1803) and then onwards through the Second British Occupation beginning in 1806 and after that. Military men, civil servants, missionaries, merchants, mariners, indentured workers etc. Not all of them intended making a long sojourn in South Africa and many were not settlers per se. Peter Philip's "British Residents at the Cape 1795-1819" is a good source for this period, combined with archival documents held at the Cape Town Archives Repository. Also on LDS microfilm FHL INTL Film No. 1224586 Item 2.
- Alison Hunt asks ...
Anglo-Boer War Australian Nurse
I am trying to trace information on an ancestor who came to South Africa with her son about 1900 ... the family legend has it that she came to nurse British troops during the Boer War. I cannot find her name on any of the Oz-Boer sites. Do you have any ideas where I can look? Also I cannot find any shipping lists from Sydney to SA.
Rosemary Dixon-Smith replies ...
First of all, the bad news: it is extremely difficult to track down these nurses who came to SA during the Anglo-Boer War period for the simple reason that their sojourn was usually a brief one (occasionally there was one who remained, married and settled in SA) and during that time they seldom generated any public records. Hence, the online SA national archives index is not usually of much help in such searches.
This really applies to ANY ancestor whose stay in SA was comparatively short.
Secondly, more bad news! From the SA end, it is very rare indeed to find a passenger list for voyages from Australia to SA. A recent and exciting exception was the finding of the St Kilda passenger list which is now on our maritime pages - but this is a much earlier date, 1872. The sad truth is that the closer we get to the 20th century the less likelihood there is of surviving passenger lists (from ANYwhere) because of factors such as the increase in volume of shipping, inconsistent record-keeping, newspapers ceasing to publish passenger lists in their shipping columns - there were just too many arrivals and they couldn't keep up and that is especially true of war years. In a case like yours, I would say that the only hope would be to find a departure at the Sydney end - but without a firm date or even a vague year to start with, the outlook isn't promising.
Now you deserve some good news after the above! Sheila Gray smgray@ihug.co.nz has a database of service records for British and Colonial women including over 1,700 nurses, laywomen and volunteers rewarded for service in the A-B War 1899-1902.
[Anyone requiring 'look-ups' please write to: editor@genealogyworld.net marked For Attention: Pat Frykberg.]
I first became aware of Sheila's work on this topic when I read her article in the Family and Local History Handbook 6th edition UK (2002). I gather that the material has been collated into a book and that: 'separate chapters in the book, each with an explanatory introduction, detail the service of each woman in the different categories of nursing and support staffs: The Army Nursing Service; Army Nursing Service Reserve; civilian nurses engaged local in SA; nursing staff of wards in civil hospitals in SA who nursed sick and wounded troops; the nursing staffs of the privately organised Field Hospitals; nurses of the Natal Volunteer Medical Corps; Canadian nurses; Australian nurses; New Zealand nurses; cooks, maidservants and wardmaids and civilian volunteers."
This seems hopeful and do contact Sheila to see if she can advise you further. Please note that her database cannot hope to include every single individual woman who served at this period.
Lastly, you mention that the idea that this person came to SA to nurse during the Anglo-Boer War stems from family legend. I usually find that there is some kernel of truth, however small, in such legends and that they shouldn't be disregarded. It's worth exploring, but bear in mind that the very nature of wartime - and the Anglo-Boer War in particular - meant that records kept during the conflict were sparse, many records which may have been kept did not survive, and that the scattered and extremely mobile action took place over a huge area covering the two Boer republics (Transvaal and Orange Free State) and the British colonies of Natal and the Cape. There were a large number of nurses and civilian volunteers who did more menial tasks, and most moved constantly between one field or base hospital to the next - or even on to hospital ships! So, you'll understand the magnitude of the task of finding one individual, and regrettably the slim chance of finding her name on a general Anglo-Boer War site, whether Australian in focus or not.
May I make some suggestions?
1. Is there anything known of the son? What regiment he served in, for example? If his mother did indeed come out to SA at the same time (though it's unlikely that she actually travelled with him, he would have been with his regiment), it may be possible to get a beam on HER movements and whereabouts through her son's military activities. If you haven't done a search on the online index www.national.archives.gov.za for the son's name, give that a whirl. It's a long shot but leave no stone unturned. Conversely, it stands to reason that he would have moved around with his regiment and that his mother would probably have been unable to keep in contact with him let alone remain in a similar location.
2. I assume that all family memorabilia have been carefully gone through for any sign of photographs of either the mother or the son at the Anglo-Boer War period? Or for any letters, diaries or other jottings that may help to establish their whereabouts in SA at the time? Or information from living family members who may have heard some clue ?
3. Have you had a look at the Guide to Tracing Anglo-Boer War ancestry which is included on the Genealogy World pages? You will find several useful sites relating to Australians who served in the War.
I believe that you may have more success with this quest at the Australian end rather than in SA records.
- A 'Genealogy World' subscriber asks ...
I have only just started to research the family name - family not informed so cannot answer my questions. Have been onto NAAIRS and only found the divorce of one couple. I have no idea how they got to Natal - when they were born or even passed away. I have searched every conceivable web site and no luck, perhaps you have some information you are prepared to pass on to me.
Reply ...
I would suggest that you get someone to look at the Divorce File since it is apparently the only reference on NAAIRS.
The Divorce Files usually contain a copy of the Marriage Certificate and that might provide a starting point, also other clues may be present in the Divorce Proceedings e.g. what children there were and who got custody, residential address, occupation of husband etc.
Are you sure that this is the only reference - have you searched on whole country i.e. under 'RSA' Database not only Natal; you should investigate all reference to the family name on index in case of links.
Also suggest you join one of the Mailing Lists, SA List or SA Immigrants (Instructions for subbing are at the end of Beginner's Guide which you should read anyway), and post a query giving a decent subject line such as Surname and the Forenames rather than something like 'Can you Help?' - This will give you a fighting chance of a response.
See Main Menu:
Beginner's Guide
BRICK WALL - in case you want to add a query.
- A 'Genealogy World' subscriber asks ...
A couple who left Natal in the early 1920's to work at one of the sugar estates in Kenya, unfortunately died there, and their children had to be brought back to Natal by a grandparent.
- Do you have any idea of where I can start looking for Death Notices?
I haven't been able to get any reply from Kenya as I don't know where the sugar estate was and obviously they need that information.
- Do you perhaps know whether Kenya was still under British Rule then - do you think there will be records in the UK in that case?
I have been trying to find information for two years now and just can't find anything.
Reply ...
Have you tried the Kenyan Archives - they have a website at
http://www.kenyarchives.go.ke
(with 'Access to Archives' mysteriously inactive as to link! which doesn't look hopeful - but their mission statement does state their willingness to assist the public ... )
Tel:254-02-228959
P.O Box : 49210 , 0010, Nairobi, Kenya
E-Mail:knarchives@kenyaweb.com
If this is the route you have already gone, without response, perhaps the Kenyan Police Association, which has branches in various parts of the world, may have some useful contacts - possibly even a genealogy researcher's name in Kenya. Worth a shot?
http://www.kenyapoliceassociation.org/
Go to their contacts page and hit a few of their officers e-mail addresses.
Kenya only got its independence in 1963, so at the time that the couple died there it was still firmly under British government. In fact the 1920's saw a substantial increase in white settlement in Kenya - from about 1919-1922. Before World War I a relatively small group of wealthy (and some aristocratic) white settlers e.g. Lord Delamere, exerted much influence in the govt of Kenya. The white settlers remained prominent until the Mau Mau era (1950s) but were at their peak in the 1920s. So it makes sense that the this family would have been 'imported' to work on sugar estates in Kenya at that period. It was after 1923 that the British govt stated that in Kenya, as in Uganda and Tanganyika, African interests were to be treated as paramount, and that while European interests would be respected, responsible government on the Southern Rhodesia pattern was not to be expected - after that, white settler influence went downhill.
The point is that if this couple died in Kenya in the 1920s, their deaths would presumably have been treated as those of British subjects overseas. Unless they owned assets in South Africa they wouldn't have had deceased estates lodged with the Master of Supreme Court in SA, hence no Death Notices for them here. They SHOULD have had their deaths recorded in Kenya, but whether such records survived the various upheavals in the country is the question - and if they did, whether anyone could trace them at this stage. Very difficult area to make progress in for any colonial material. The name of the farm would not be essential - but a more specific date parameter might be required.
So: perhaps a better approach would be at the UK end, with deaths of British nationals overseas.
The Family Records Centre London holds GRO indexes to Births, Marriages and Deaths of British subjects overseas but some of these have recently been transferred to TNA Kew. Search TNA's online catalogue for what is held there. Also see the Society of Genealogists online catalogue - it may be worth making contact with someone at the Society of Genealogists and asking the basic question re recording of deaths in Kenya in the 1920s.
Problem: would the couple have been considered to be British nationals? Were they born in South Africa? Were they born in Mauritius?
The LDS Family History Library Catalogue lists the following:
Catalog record:
A guide to the Kenya National Archives: to the micofilms of the provincial and district annual reports, record books, and handing-over reports, miscellaneous correspondence, and intelligence reports
- A 'Genealogy World' subscriber asks ...
Someone has been required by the US embassy to produce a South African marriage certificate to change a passport to their
married name. The certificate has Department of Home Affairs logo at the top, but the US are demanding one with an "official marriage certificate stamp" from the SA registrar.
What should be on a marriage certificate from SA and how would one set about getting the required stamp if it's not there?
Reply ...
To apply for certificates from outside South Africa one must do so through the nearest South African Embassy, Consulate or High Commission. There is a charge associated with obtaining copies of these certificates.
For this purpose, it sounds as if they are requesting a Vault copy.
The Vault copy is a photocopy of the original entry in the Registrar Book held by the Department of Home Affairs. It will have two pinkish stamps of that department. One is a date stamp and the other states a "true copy of the original". Full or Unabridged certificates will not be accepted.
- A 'Genealogy World' subscriber asks ...
Would you be able to tell me whether deceased estate files have generally got copies of birth certificates, marriage certificates and death certificates?
Reply ...
Marriage certificates are frequently found in divorce files and this is one very good reason for accessing divorce references.
ABRIDGED death certificates are sometimes found in deceased estate files, but are limited in the information offered - the only fact included on any death certificate which does NOT appear in a death notice is Cause of Death. If you have an ancestor's death notice there may be little point in acquiring the death certificate.
Birth certificates are rarely found in any archival files.
Suggestion: Read the *Beginners Guide very carefully as most questions are answered therein.
*See Main Menu of GENEALOGY WORLD
- A 'Genealogy World' subscriber asks ...
How do I do about finding an ancestor in St. Helena?
Reply ...
St Helena archives may be able to help with birth records for Jamestown;
see http://website.lineone.net/~sthelena/
where there should be contact details for the archives.
Also, the Cullen Library at Wits has Anglican records for St Helena: the Diocese of St Helena falls under the Church of the Province of South Africa. Archives of the Diocese have been filmed and are held at the William Cullen Library, University of Witwatersrand. Contact Carol Archibald Archibald.C@library.wits.ac.za
Suggestion: See Main Menu of GENEALOGY WORLD for further information regarding St. Helena.
- A 'Genealogy World' subscriber asks ...
Are you able to give me any information regarding Bethune's Mounted Infantry?
Reply ...
Bethune's Mounted Infantry, a colonial unit, were originally raised in Natal and composed mainly of Uitlanders (i.e. 'outlanders', the British who were living in the Transvaal prior to the outbreak of the Anglo-Boer War, and who moved down into Natal; many of them joined volunteer regiments.). There were about 500 of them in January 1900, so not a large unit. They were among the special emergency corps raised at the beginning of the war, and their commander was Col EC BETHUNE. They served on the Natal frontier at Greytown.
Suggestion: See Main Menu of GENEALOGY WORLD. You might like to look at Genealogy World's Anglo-Boer pages.
