SAHO global search
63,739 records
Isaac Baumann, Bloemfontein pioneer and trader, is born in Germany
Judges of the Black Circuit return to the Cape
EventSlave rebellion at the Cape led by Louis of Mauritius. Over 300 slaves and Khoi Khoi servants from outlying farms marched on Cape Town demanding their freedom
This was the first such 'mass movement" against slavery and oppression at the Cape, and suggests a deep awareness around issues of abolition and freedom held…
EventLand beyond the Great Berg River is annexed
The district of Clanwilliam celebrates its second centenary on 1 February 2008. On 1 February 1808 the territory north of the Great Berg River, at the foot of…
EventBritish Parliament passes the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act
On this date, The British Parliament passed the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act. The Act outlawed all slave trade within the British Empire, but did not…
EventThe Battle of Blaauwberg takes place
On 8 January 1806 the Battle of Blaauwberg takes place, and part of the defending force capitulates two days later. Cape Governor Janssens and the rest of the…
Huguenot Church is consecrated
EventJacob Abraham Uitenhage de Mist and his daughter Augusta leave on an exploration of the interior
On 9 October 1803, Jacob Abraham de Mist, Commissioner General, left Cape Town on a 167 day journey into the interior, accompanied by his daughter, Augusta, a…
Henry Francis Fynn, Natal pioneer and settler, dies in Durban
EventBritain returns the Cape to the Netherlands and the flag of the Batavian Republic is hoisted on the Castle
In terms of the Treaty of Amiens, signed in 1802 (between England and France), the British officially returned the Cape Colony to the Netherlands on 21…
EventThabo Mbeki is elected 2nd President of a democratic South Africa
Thabo Mbeki was sworn in as South Africa's second democratically elected president in front of a vast crowd of dancing and cheering supporters. The…
EventExtracts from one of South African President Thabo Mbeki’s most stirring speeches
"I am an African. I owe my being to the hills and the valleys, the mountains and the glades, the rivers, the deserts, the trees, the flowers, the seas and the…
Karl Ludwig Phillip Zeyher, SA botanist and collector of plants, is born in Germany
EventNapoleon assembles his army near Aboukir, Egypt
The First Battle of Aboukir was a decisive victory for the French and secured France's occupation of Eqypt. In June 1798 Napoleon's army departed France to…
EventKuruman missionary Robert Moffat is born
Robert Moffat, missionary of the London Missionary Society at Kuruman and father-in-law of Dr David Livingstone, was born in Ormiston, Scotland, to a working…
The Swellendam Republic accepts British rule
The Reverend Abraham Faure is born
EventOldest example of written Afrikaans appears in a poem
On 7 August 1795, British forces launched an amphibious assault on Dutch defensive positions at Muizenberg during their campaign to capture the Cape Colony…
Cape district of Graaf
EventThe ship São José is wrecked
The Portuguese battleship São José Paquete Africa (also, São José-Paquete de Africa) was grounded in Camps Bay, Cape, with nearly 500 slaves on board. The ship…
Early Cape lawyer Johannes de Wet is born
EventAndries Hendrik Potgieter is born
Andries Hendrik Potgieter, the leader of a Voortrekker group which he led during the battle of Vegkop when attacked by the Matabele (Ndebele), was born in the…
EventSimon Hendrik Freykenius and Sebastiaan Cornelis Nederburgh arrive at the Cape to assist dissatisfied burghers
On 23 June 1792, Simon Hendrik Freykenius and Sebastiaan Cornelis Nederburgh arrived in the Cape. Both Freykenius and Nederburgh were Commissioner-Generals of…
EventFearon Fallows, first Astronomer Royal at the Cape, is born in England
Fearon Fallows, the first Astronomer Royal at the Cape, was born in Cockermouth, Cumberland on 4 July 1789. The son of a weaver, he was brought up in the…
EventBritish create the settlement of Sierra Leone, for freed slaves
The colony of Sierra Leone was conceived by British philanthropists and abolitionists as a home for African slaves freed in England. A Temne king sold a strip…
Graaff-Reinet
EventLouis Trichardt, Voortrekker leader, is born near Oudtshoorn 225 years ago
Louis Trichardt was one of the Voortrekker leaders. He was born near Oudtshoorn in the Karoo on 10 August 1783. The Voortrekkers (Afrikaans and Dutch for…
EventPiet Retief is baptized in Drakenstein, Western Cape
Piet Retief was one of the leaders of the Great Trek that introduced Afrikaner settlement to the interior. Prior to their departure from Cape Town he wrote a…
EventPiet Retief, Voortrekker leader, is born
On 12 October 1780 Voortrekker leader, Piet Retief was born at Wagenmakers Vallei, now known as Wellington. Retief grew up on the vineyard, Welvanpas, in what…