WILLIAM’S father, Henry, moved to South Africa in 1896 and WILLIAM followed him in 1897. The background to Henry’s move was the death of his wife in 1892 and the discovery of diamonds and gold. On Page 11 of the Journal WILLIAM records that ‘In 1895 my father signed on to go to South Africa to the mines in Rhodesia , but before he got away news came of the Jameson Raid into the Transvaal.’ South Africa in the second half of the 19th century was also characterised by tensions between the British, the Boers and local Africans. This resulted in two Anglo-Boer Wars, the second of which is partly detailed in WILLIAM’S Journal.
Background to Henry and William’s move to South Africa
The discovery of
diamonds at Kimberley
in 1867 took place in an area claimed by local African and not taken over by either the Cape Colony which was British controlled or the South African Republic (also known as Transvaal) and the Orange Free State (both areas controlled by the Boers). Due to its economic dominance in the area, the British annexed and controlled the new diamond fields.
Even more important was the
discovery of gold
in 1886 on the Witwatersrand, near Johannesburg in the South African Republic (Transvaal). Unfortunately for the British the deposits were located in the centre of the Boer controlled area.
The discovery of diamonds and gold and the tense political situation between the British, the Boers and the local Africans resulted in dramatic changes occurring over a very short period of time. These impacted on WILLIAM in the short term, providing significant personal opportunities. They also had a longer-term effect on him in terms of his health and future generations of his family.
Much of the gold in the Witwatersrand was located deep underground and required extensive machinery which had to be imported and skilled deep-level miners to operate the mines. The mine owners used some miners who were already in South Africa working on the diamond fields or copper mines in the Northern Cape. But new labour was needed in large numbers; many came from Cornish tin mines and the coal mines of Northumberland and South Wales. In the early years these skilled miners were in great demand and could command relatively high wages.
Manchester Evening News, Tuesday 12 September 1871
Within a few years of the discovery of gold in 1886 the mines of the Witwatersrand brought riches to the government and to the Randlords, a relatively small group of financiers and magnates running the mining industry. In addition, a unique labour system, based on racial disparity, began to emerge which consisted of a small group of skilled white miners, paid relatively high wages, and a mass of unskilled African migrant labour, paid very low wages. WILLIAM’S Journal doesn’t make it clear what precipitated Henry’s trip to South Africa in 1896, but perhaps the prospects there seemed much more enticing than the coal fields of North East England. Also his wife Margaret had died in 1892 and his children were old enough not to be completely dependent on him – WILLIAM is 21 and Sarah Ann is 18. Newspapers reported on the ease with which diamonds could be found in South Africa and implied a man could get rich very quickly. This continued with the discovery of gold.
William’s journey to South Africa
WILLIAM’S father sent for him, presumably thinking that there were opportunities for him. William sailed from Southampton on the Union Boat Athenian on 22 February 1897. The boat was part of the Union Line which won a contract in 1857 to carry mail to South Africa. The company later merged with the Castle Line in 1890 to provide journeys to South Africa. The map below shows the principal route of travel to South Africa and then the routes inland.
By 1889 the railway had reached Kimberley from the coastal ports of Cape Town and Port Elizabeth and East London; and in Natal the railway went as far as Ladysmith. Within the borders of the map there are distances from Cape Town to Johannesburg in miles and hours. In 1889 the journey from Cape Town to the Witwatersrand via train and then by mail or passenger coach took approximately four days.
The article Travelling to South Africa via the Union Castle Line provides great detail about travelling to South Africa at this time. Of particular interest is the reference to a book entitled South Africa and How to Reach itby the Castle Line by Edward P. Mathers. It seems that at least 20000 copies were printed and it must have been a very common guide book to help plan the journey to the Cape and then inland by train and coach to the gold fields. The book detailed the sea voyage to the Cape, statistical and general information about the South Africa of 1889 including the gold fields and describes the shortest route. There is no mention in the Journal whether WILLIAM had access to a copy, but its existence demonstrates the demand for information on how to travel to the Witwatersrand gold fields.
William’s arrival in Johannesburg
When WILLIAM arrived in 1897, the original shanty town of some 3000 people that had sprung up around Ferreira’s Camp had developed into an emerging town with more permanent buildings, as this picture of Commissioner Street from 1892 shows. Johannesburg was still rough and raw but it was more than a mining camp. More permanent double storey buildings, either commercial or residential, had appeared.
WILLIAM soon moved to Krugersdorp on the West Rand and began working in the gold mines. Krugersdorp at this time was both a British mining town and a Boer settlement. The Stand Town was dominated by a small English-speaking middle class of professionals and shopkeepers together with a larger group of English-speaking miners, mostly from Britain and Australia. The District Town was created in 1894, to serve the mostly Dutch-speaking white farmers in the rural hinterland. Whilst Stand Town had a British character and its residents were mostly English-speaking, it was governed by the Dutch-speaking officials of the South African Republic (Transvaal). Although Krugersdorp was a violent town during the 1890s, there was co-operation between the two communities until the mid-1890s. The social harmony that existed during the first seven years of Krugersdorp’s existence as a town was shattered by the Jameson Raid of 1895 which WILLIAM mentions in the Journal. The raid was intended to trigger an uprising by the primarily British workers (known as Uitlanders) in Transvaal, but failed to do so and resulted in the growth of Boer republican nationalism. By the time William arrived in Krugersdorp a degree of harmony had been restored, but was not to last. Much more powerful forces were shaping events; Britain wanted to incorporate the Boer Republics and keep them under British control. Negotiations between Britain and the Boer Republics in 1899 failed and with British troops congregating on the borders of both Transvaal and the Orange Free State, the Boers declared war. Soon after WILLIAM enlisted in the Kaffrarian Rifles.
Anglo-Boer War
The National Army Museum has a very clear timeline of the events of the Anglo-Boer War. Rare footage of the the Anglo-Boer War can be seen by clicking on Film of the Anglo-Boer War. WILLIAM’SJournal shows that he had three separate periods of service:
SERVICE
DATE
Joined Kaffrarian Rifles
19 Oct 1899
Left
5 Nov 1900
Re-joined Kaffrarian Rifles
21 Nov 1900
Left
20 May 1901
Joined Burgersdorp District Mounted Troop
10 June 1901
Left
25 Sept 1902
The British Government sent regular army units to South Africa; this included troops from across the Empire, especially from Canada and Australia. Eventually, over 400,000 soldiers were involved. There were also locally raised Colonial Regiments which recruited volunteers when war was declared. The Kaffrarian Rifles was one of those regiments; it was established in East London on 20 December 1883, though there were connections with an earlier regiment – The Buffalo Volunteer Rifles. On 16 October 1899 the Government issued a proclamation calling on all Uitlanders to volunteer for active service. Steps were immediately taken to re-equip The Kaffrarian Rifles (still armed with obsolete Martini Henry rifles when war was declared) and recruit suitable extra volunteers. William was one of those volunteers. Attestation for service was for the duration of the war, which was expected to be over by the end of 1900. Therefore those who signed up did so for a period of twelve months with the option of re-enlisting again, but for a period of six months. This explains William’s two periods of service with The Kaffrarian Rifles.
Kaffrarian Rifles October – December 1899
WILLIAM immediately volunteered for service in The Kaffrarian Rifles on 19th October 1899 in East London. The Regiment was soon operating north of East London, with the headquarters established at Sterkstroom. WILLIAM doesn’t record the activities of the Kaffrarian Rifles during this period, but The Diary History of The Kaffrarian Rifles Boer War from The Buffalo Volunteer Rifles Military Museum in East London, South Africa provides details of the Regiment’s activities. The Regiment included three companies, a Maxim Detachment and a Signallers and Cyclist Section. It is interesting to speculate whether WILLIAM’S cycling background resulted in him being posted in the Signallers and Cyclists Section. Early in November 1899 The Kaffrarian Rifles were at Bushman’s Hoek, Molteno and other infantry men were guarding bridges on railway lines. This period was the first phase of the Anglo-Boer War which was characterised by Boer offensives. This resulted in serious defeats for the British at Stormberg, Magersfontein and Colenso (known as TheBlack Week) between 10th and 17th December 1899. There were several advances and retreats for The Kaffrarian Rifles in the Stormberg area, but the Regiment didn’t directly participate in the Battle of Stormberg. WILLIAM would have been involved, but for some reason he doesn’t record any detail in his Journal. He may have been pre-occupied with duties at this time.
The Kaffrarian Rifles 1899
Kaffrarian Rifles Maxim Gun Group
The Royal Scots and Kaffrarian Rifles camp at Bushman’s Hoek
The Kaffrarian Rifles camp at Bushman’s Hoek
Fatigue Party of Kaffrarian Rifles taking a 12lb naval gun up Looperberg Mountain
Kaffrarian Rifles camp at Looperberg looking towards Molteno
Kaffrarian Rifles January – November 1900
WILLIAM provides significant detail of the engagements during this period. The Kaffrarian Rifles were now 600 strong and part of The Colonial Division under Brigadier General Brabant. On the 30 January 1900 they become a mounted regiment. WILLIAM’S activities in The Kaffrarian Rifles were reported in an unnamed newspaper article from the family collection.
The Colonial Division was broken up in October 1900 and many members of the corps were allowed to return to their homes. The Kaffrarian Rifles returned to East London on 3rd November and received a magnificent reception. WILLIAM’S Journal ends on 7 October 1900 (Page 22) and then re-starts in 1904 (Page 23). The gap is discussed in The Missing Years and Mary Sarah Bevington, though we know he re-enlisted with The Kaffrarian Rifles (November 1900 – May 1901) and then signed up for The Burgersdorp District Mounted Troops (June (1901 – September 1902).
Source: Miners and their works underground : stories of the mining of coal, of various metals, and of diamonds by Holmes, F. M. (Frederic Morell), 1896
Source: Miners and their works underground : stories of the mining of coal, of various metals, and of diamonds by Holmes, F. M. (Frederic Morell), 1896
Contents
The Missing Years and Mary Sarah Bevington
READ MOREBefore William’s Birth
READ MOREWilliam’s Early Life
READ MOREWilliam’s cycle trip to North East England
READ MORELater Years
READ MOREAfter William’s Death
READ MOREWilliam’s move to South Africa
READ MOREBackground to William’s ‘Poems’
READ MOREWilliam’s move to South Africa
WILLIAM’S father, Henry, moved to South Africa in 1896 and WILLIAM followed him in 1897. The background to Henry’s move was the death of his wife in 1892 and the discovery of diamonds and gold. On Page 11 of the Journal WILLIAM records that ‘In 1895 my father signed on to go to South Africa to the mines in Rhodesia , but before he got away news came of the Jameson Raid into the Transvaal.’ South Africa in the second half of the 19th century was also characterised by tensions between the British, the Boers and local Africans. This resulted in two Anglo-Boer Wars, the second of which is partly detailed in WILLIAM’S Journal.
Background to Henry and William’s move to South Africa
The discovery of diamonds at Kimberley in 1867 took place in an area claimed by local African and not taken over by either the Cape Colony which was British controlled or the South African Republic (also known as Transvaal) and the Orange Free State (both areas controlled by the Boers). Due to its economic dominance in the area, the British annexed and controlled the new diamond fields.
Even more important was the discovery of gold in 1886 on the Witwatersrand, near Johannesburg in the South African Republic (Transvaal). Unfortunately for the British the deposits were located in the centre of the Boer controlled area.
The discovery of diamonds and gold and the tense political situation between the British, the Boers and the local Africans resulted in dramatic changes occurring over a very short period of time. These impacted on WILLIAM in the short term, providing significant personal opportunities. They also had a longer-term effect on him in terms of his health and future generations of his family.
Much of the gold in the Witwatersrand was located deep underground and required extensive machinery which had to be imported and skilled deep-level miners to operate the mines. The mine owners used some miners who were already in South Africa working on the diamond fields or copper mines in the Northern Cape. But new labour was needed in large numbers; many came from Cornish tin mines and the coal mines of Northumberland and South Wales. In the early years these skilled miners were in great demand and could command relatively high wages.
Within a few years of the discovery of gold in 1886 the mines of the Witwatersrand brought riches to the government and to the Randlords, a relatively small group of financiers and magnates running the mining industry. In addition, a unique labour system, based on racial disparity, began to emerge which consisted of a small group of skilled white miners, paid relatively high wages, and a mass of unskilled African migrant labour, paid very low wages. WILLIAM’S Journal doesn’t make it clear what precipitated Henry’s trip to South Africa in 1896, but perhaps the prospects there seemed much more enticing than the coal fields of North East England. Also his wife Margaret had died in 1892 and his children were old enough not to be completely dependent on him – WILLIAM is 21 and Sarah Ann is 18. Newspapers reported on the ease with which diamonds could be found in South Africa and implied a man could get rich very quickly. This continued with the discovery of gold.
William’s journey to South Africa
WILLIAM’S father sent for him, presumably thinking that there were opportunities for him. William sailed from Southampton on the Union Boat Athenian on 22 February 1897. The boat was part of the Union Line which won a contract in 1857 to carry mail to South Africa. The company later merged with the Castle Line in 1890 to provide journeys to South Africa. The map below shows the principal route of travel to South Africa and then the routes inland.
By 1889 the railway had reached Kimberley from the coastal ports of Cape Town and Port Elizabeth and East London; and in Natal the railway went as far as Ladysmith. Within the borders of the map there are distances from Cape Town to Johannesburg in miles and hours. In 1889 the journey from Cape Town to the Witwatersrand via train and then by mail or passenger coach took approximately four days.
The article Travelling to South Africa via the Union Castle Line provides great detail about travelling to South Africa at this time. Of particular interest is the reference to a book entitled South Africa and How to Reach it by the Castle Line by Edward P. Mathers. It seems that at least 20000 copies were printed and it must have been a very common guide book to help plan the journey to the Cape and then inland by train and coach to the gold fields. The book detailed the sea voyage to the Cape, statistical and general information about the South Africa of 1889 including the gold fields and describes the shortest route. There is no mention in the Journal whether WILLIAM had access to a copy, but its existence demonstrates the demand for information on how to travel to the Witwatersrand gold fields.
William’s arrival in Johannesburg
When WILLIAM arrived in 1897, the original shanty town of some 3000 people that had sprung up around Ferreira’s Camp had developed into an emerging town with more permanent buildings, as this picture of Commissioner Street from 1892 shows. Johannesburg was still rough and raw but it was more than a mining camp. More permanent double storey buildings, either commercial or residential, had appeared.
William at Krugersdorp
WILLIAM soon moved to Krugersdorp on the West Rand and began working in the gold mines. Krugersdorp at this time was both a British mining town and a Boer settlement. The Stand Town was dominated by a small English-speaking middle class of professionals and shopkeepers together with a larger group of English-speaking miners, mostly from Britain and Australia. The District Town was created in 1894, to serve the mostly Dutch-speaking white farmers in the rural hinterland. Whilst Stand Town had a British character and its residents were mostly English-speaking, it was governed by the Dutch-speaking officials of the South African Republic (Transvaal). Although Krugersdorp was a violent town during the 1890s, there was co-operation between the two communities until the mid-1890s. The social harmony that existed during the first seven years of Krugersdorp’s existence as a town was shattered by the Jameson Raid of 1895 which WILLIAM mentions in the Journal. The raid was intended to trigger an uprising by the primarily British workers (known as Uitlanders) in Transvaal, but failed to do so and resulted in the growth of Boer republican nationalism. By the time William arrived in Krugersdorp a degree of harmony had been restored, but was not to last. Much more powerful forces were shaping events; Britain wanted to incorporate the Boer Republics and keep them under British control. Negotiations between Britain and the Boer Republics in 1899 failed and with British troops congregating on the borders of both Transvaal and the Orange Free State, the Boers declared war. Soon after WILLIAM enlisted in the Kaffrarian Rifles.
Anglo-Boer War
The National Army Museum has a very clear timeline of the events of the Anglo-Boer War. Rare footage of the the Anglo-Boer War can be seen by clicking on Film of the Anglo-Boer War. WILLIAM’S Journal shows that he had three separate periods of service:
The British Government sent regular army units to South Africa; this included troops from across the Empire, especially from Canada and Australia. Eventually, over 400,000 soldiers were involved. There were also locally raised Colonial Regiments which recruited volunteers when war was declared. The Kaffrarian Rifles was one of those regiments; it was established in East London on 20 December 1883, though there were connections with an earlier regiment – The Buffalo Volunteer Rifles. On 16 October 1899 the Government issued a proclamation calling on all Uitlanders to volunteer for active service. Steps were immediately taken to re-equip The Kaffrarian Rifles (still armed with obsolete Martini Henry rifles when war was declared) and recruit suitable extra volunteers. William was one of those volunteers. Attestation for service was for the duration of the war, which was expected to be over by the end of 1900. Therefore those who signed up did so for a period of twelve months with the option of re-enlisting again, but for a period of six months. This explains William’s two periods of service with The Kaffrarian Rifles.
Kaffrarian Rifles October – December 1899
WILLIAM immediately volunteered for service in The Kaffrarian Rifles on 19th October 1899 in East London. The Regiment was soon operating north of East London, with the headquarters established at Sterkstroom. WILLIAM doesn’t record the activities of the Kaffrarian Rifles during this period, but The Diary History of The Kaffrarian Rifles Boer War from The Buffalo Volunteer Rifles Military Museum in East London, South Africa provides details of the Regiment’s activities. The Regiment included three companies, a Maxim Detachment and a Signallers and Cyclist Section. It is interesting to speculate whether WILLIAM’S cycling background resulted in him being posted in the Signallers and Cyclists Section. Early in November 1899 The Kaffrarian Rifles were at Bushman’s Hoek, Molteno and other infantry men were guarding bridges on railway lines. This period was the first phase of the Anglo-Boer War which was characterised by Boer offensives. This resulted in serious defeats for the British at Stormberg, Magersfontein and Colenso (known as The Black Week) between 10th and 17th December 1899. There were several advances and retreats for The Kaffrarian Rifles in the Stormberg area, but the Regiment didn’t directly participate in the Battle of Stormberg. WILLIAM would have been involved, but for some reason he doesn’t record any detail in his Journal. He may have been pre-occupied with duties at this time.
Kaffrarian Rifles January – November 1900
WILLIAM provides significant detail of the engagements during this period. The Kaffrarian Rifles were now 600 strong and part of The Colonial Division under Brigadier General Brabant. On the 30 January 1900 they become a mounted regiment. WILLIAM’S activities in The Kaffrarian Rifles were reported in an unnamed newspaper article from the family collection.
The Colonial Division was broken up in October 1900 and many members of the corps were allowed to return to their homes. The Kaffrarian Rifles returned to East London on 3rd November and received a magnificent reception. WILLIAM’S Journal ends on 7 October 1900 (Page 22) and then re-starts in 1904 (Page 23). The gap is discussed in The Missing Years and Mary Sarah Bevington, though we know he re-enlisted with The Kaffrarian Rifles (November 1900 – May 1901) and then signed up for The Burgersdorp District Mounted Troops (June (1901 – September 1902).