SAHO global search
63,723 records
EventAnglo-Boer War 2: The British evacuate Rustenburg to occupy Commando Nek and Silkaatsnek
After the fall of Pretoria on 5 June 1900, the British maintained a favourable command of several strategic points in the Transvaal area. Western Transvaal…
EventAnnexation of the Orange Free State is announced
At the begging of May 1900, the British Army, under Field Marshal Lord Roberts, launched an attack on the Orange Free State. President M T Steyn and General C…
EventC James reports that South Africa is a poor market for produce
In 1900, C James, an official of the British colonial administration, went on a voyage to South Africa to evaluate the market for produce. He undertook this…
EventThe South African War: The lifting of the siege of Mafeking
The Siege of Mafeking (now known as Mafikeng) was an important battle in the South African War (Second Anglo-Boer War). The war began in late 1899; President…
EventEsther Franks, physician and first woman ophthalmic surgeon to practise in SA, is born in Zurich
Esther Franks, physician and first woman ophthalmic surgeon to practise in SA, was born in Zurich, Switzerland. Her parents emigrated from Russia via England…
EventLord Kitchener And Louis Botha engage in doomed peace talks during the Second Anglo-Boer War
On February 28 British commander Lord Kitchener met Boer commander Louis Botha at Middelburg. The talks ultimately came to nothing, resulting in Kitchener…
EventBritish reinforcements arrive at Ladysmith
British reinforcements arrive to relieve troops stationed at Ladysmith after a siege of 4 months, during the Second Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902). Ladysmith was…
EventBoers occupying Magagabe Hill shell Rhodesian positions at Basuto Kop
The action that culminated with the Boers shelling Rhodesian positions at Basuto Kop on 16 February 1900 can be traced in part by Rhodesian fears that the…
EventSiege of Kimberley is raised
During the Second Anglo-Boer War between the two Boer republics and Britain, Gen. French relieved Kimberley after a siege of 123 days. Despite numerous…
EventBritish Withdraw from Colesburg Area during the South African War
14 February 1900 British Withdraw from Colesburg Area during the South African War The British withdraw from their positions around Colesberg and…
EventLabram, manufacturer of ‘Long Cecil’ is killed by shell from ‘Long Tom’
George Frederick Labram, manufacturer of a cannon popularly known as 'Long Cecil' in the De Beers' workshop in Kimberley, was killed by a shell from a Boer …
EventBattle of Vaalkrans begins
Among the reasons for the South African War (Anglo- Boer War), 1899 - 1902, was that the Afrikaners attempted to assert their independence as a nation in the…
EventThe 104mm field-gun known as ‘Long Cecil’ is test fired for the first time
The 104mm field-gun designed by American George Labram and manufactured in the De Beers workshop in Kimberley, known as 'Long Cecil' after Cecil John Rhodes,…
EventKruger repudiates execution of cattle–herds
During the Siege of Mafeking (presently known as Mafikeng) in the Second Anglo-Boer War, two Black cattle-herds were captured and summarily executed near…
EventLord. Roberts arrives at the Cape
Lord Frederick S. Roberts arrives at the Cape, replacing Sir Redvers Buller as commander-in-chief of the British forces in South Africa during the Second Anglo…
EventField Marshal Lord Roberts is appointed British supreme commander in South Africa
The appointment of Lord Roberts as Supreme Commander of the British forces in South Africa came after a series of failed campaigns against Boer Commandos in…
EventThe British attack in the battle of Colenso
During Anglo-Boer War 2, the British troops under General Redvers Buller launched a frontal attack in the Battle of Colenso with the intention to relieve the…
Methuen is defeated in the Battle of Magersfontein
EventWinston Churchill, is captured by Boer forces during the Anglo-Boer War
Winston Churchill joined the British army in 1893 and developed a keen interest in war correspondence. Some of his early literary works were reports on various…
EventCanada offers a second contingent of troops to the British in the South African War
The Canadian government offered a second contingent of troops consisting of infantry, cavalry and field artillery to bolster British troops in the South…
EventThe New Zealand Mounted Rifles leave Wellington for the South African War
The first contingent of New Zealand Mounted Rifles (NZMR) departed from Wellington aboard the SS WAIWERA ship bound for South Africa on 21 October 1899. As the…
EventThe siege of Mafeking starts
During the first week of Anglo-Boer War 2, Boer forces besieged the small town of Mafeking (now Mafikeng) in the Northern Cape (now North West Province),…
EventThe second Anglo-Boer war, also known as the South African war, breaks out
A number of interrelated factors led to the Second Anglo-Boer War. These include the conflicting political ideologies of imperialism and republicanism, the…
EventSouth African War: Thousands of Black men and women forced to walk home
With the outbreak of the Second Anglo-Boer War (or South African War) imminent, thousands of Black men and women were left stranded in Johannesburg. The mines…
EventMary Elizabeth Barber, pioneer naturalist, dies
On 4 September 1899, an 1820 Settler and early South African naturalist, Mary Elizabeth Barber died in Malvern, Natal Province (now known as Kwazulu Natal)…
EventCape Colony Prime Minister opposes War
William Philip Screhreiner, prime minister in the Cape Colony at the start of Anglo-Boer War 2 (South African War), summarised the pssure his government has…
EventJan van Riebeeck’s statue, presented by Cecil John Rhodes, is unveiled in Cape Town
On 18 May 1899, a statue of the first European to settle at the Cape, Jan van Riebeeck, was unveiled. The statue stands on Heerengracht Street in Cape Town. It…
EventHunting is prohibited in the area that is now the Kruger National Park
On the 26 March 1898, a proclamation was published in the Official Gazette of the ZAR. This proclamation prohibited the hunting of game in the area between the…
EventWoolf Joel is killed due to his refusal to kidnap President Paul Kruger
On 14 March 1898, 34 year old Woolf Joel, Barney Barnato's nephew, was shot and killed by Baron Von Veltheim because he refused to assist in kidnapping…
EventTravelling in a cab no longer in fashion
The Star reported that travelling in a cab was falling out of favour. This trend was attributed to the changing socio-economic conditions in Johannesburg and…