1 Getting Started in South African Research Sue McNelly [email protected] ©Sue McNelly, 2021 When researching in a new geographic location: 1) Know your location • Use historical and current maps to understand geographical boundary changes. • Research the history of the area. Historical events create genealogical records. • Records are kept on the local level in each province • 6 main repositories: Cape Town (Western Cape), Pretoria (Transvaal or Gauteng), Pietermaritzburg (KwaZulu Natal), Durban (KwaZulu Natal), Port Elizabeth (Eastern Cape) and Bloemfontein (Free State). Brief South African Timeline • 1652: The Dutch arrive o V.O.C ‘Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie’ or D.E.I.C ‘Dutch East India Company’ • 1680: The French Huguenots arrive • 1600s-1800s: ‘Trekboere’ begin to move inwards • 1795-1806: The British arrive • 1820: Large scale British emigration begins • 1830: Voortrekkers move into the interior in the ‘Great Trek’ • 1899-1902: Boer War • 1910: Republic of South Africa Getting Started in South African Research - RootsTech Connect 2021 © Sue McNelly, 2021 2 Study the FamilySearch Research Wiki on South Africa! Go to FamilySearch.org > Search > Research Wiki. Search by PLACE or TOPIC. Enter ‘South Africa’ or click on the map of Africa. 2) Know your records • First learn about the records available BEFORE you jump into research. Major Genealogical Resources for South Africa • Civil Registration • Church Records • Probate Records (Deceased Estates) • Cemetery Records & Gravestones • Passenger Lists • Settler Records • Military Records • Compiled Genealogies Civil Registration Province Birth Marriage Death Cape 1895 1700 1895 Natal 1868 1845 1888 Transvaal 1901 1870 1901 Orange Free State 1901 1848 1901 • Birth certificate access is restricted • Many marriage and death certificates digitized and online • Government Gazette another option for BMD information. Many available on Google books. For example: o 1832: https://books.google.com/books?id=CUVRAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA169&dq=gover nment+gazette+1830&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiyhZWYt9jkAhUBip4KHS1 ZCrMQ6AEwAHoECAAQAg#v=onepage&q&f=false o 1837: https://books.google.com/books?id=9LRPAQAAMAAJ&pg=RA7- PA8&dq=government+gazette+cape+1830&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwibu7v4 ttjkAhXHuZ4KHSbpD6sQ6AEwAHoECAMQAg#v=onepage&q&f=false • Government Gazette transcriptions from 1826-1832 available at https://www.eggsa.org/newspapers/index.php/cape-of-good-hope-government-gazette Getting Started in South African Research - RootsTech Connect 2021 © Sue McNelly, 2021 3 Find out your ancestor’s religion! It will help direct your search in church records. Church Records • (FREE) Familysearch.org > Search> Catalog>”South Africa”. Click on ‘South Africa- Church Records’ for a list of available record collections. • (SUBSCRIPTION) Ancestry collections: o South African Marriage Index, 1807-2007 https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/southafricamarriageindex/ o South Africa, Church of the Province of South Africa, Parish Registers, 1801- 2004 https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/fs1safricachurchoftheprovsaparishre g/ o South Africa, Methodist Parish Registers, 1822-1996 https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/fs1southafricamethodistparishregiste rs/ o South Africa, Birth and Baptism Records, 1700s-1900s https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/safrbirbap/ o South Africa, Reformed Church Records, 1856-1988 https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/fs1southafricareformedchurchrecs/ o South Africa, Dutch Reformed Church Records, Stellenbosch Archive, 1660-2011 https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/fs1safricadutchreformedchurchrecs/ o South Africa, Dutch Reformed Church Registers, 1660-1970 https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/fs1safricadutchreformedchurchreg/ o South Africa, Free State Dutch Reformed Church Records, 1848-1956 https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/fs1safricafreestatedutchrefchurchrec s/ • (SUBSCRIPTION) MyHeritage collections: o South Africa, Dutch Reformed Church Registers, 1660-1970 https://www.myheritage.com/research/collection-30050/south-africa-dutch- reformed-church-registers-1660-1970?s=232281841 o South Africa, Methodist Parish Registers, 1822-1996 https://www.myheritage.com/research/collection-30300/south-africa-methodist- parish-registers-1822-1996?s=232281841 o South Africa, Free State Dutch Reformed Church Records, 1848-1956 https://www.myheritage.com/research/collection-30275/south-africa-free-state- dutch-reformed-church-records-1848-1956?s=232281841 • Other sites for church records: o Ancestors South Africa https://www.ancestors.co.za/databases/ Getting Started in South African Research - RootsTech Connect 2021 © Sue McNelly, 2021 4 o Cape Dutch Reformed Church Records http://southafrica.mypeoplepuzzle.net/NGK_Cape.html?fbclid=IwAR0WD5TbDizW6LbW ZTjmIM7jRS-6kCQ2tilczz5s8P0htQGTtaJ1vev2sV4 o eGGSA BMD Project http://www.eggsa.org/bdms/eGGSA-project.html o Anglican Records http://www.historicalpapers.wits.ac.za/?50/N/Anglican- Church-Registers-ONLINE Probate Records (Deceased Estates) • One of the most useful sources for South African genealogy! • NAAIRS (National Automated Archival Information Retrieval System) http://www.national.archives.gov.za/naairs.htm • NARSSA (National Archives and Records Service of South Africa) https://www.nationalarchives.gov.za/search-the-collections • Indexes only at NAAIRS/NARSSA. Many digitized by FamilySearch.org Check out Matthew Bode’s excellent YouTube videos here https://www.youtube.com/user/matthewmarkbode Cemetery Records and Gravestones • eGGSA (online branch of the Genealogical Society of South Africa) http://www.graves-at-eggsa.org/main.php?g2_itemId=43 Passenger Lists • No central repository for passenger lists. Many different places to find them! • Emigration scheme passengers easier to find • eGGSA Passenger List Project https://www.eggsa.org/arrivals/eGGSA%20Passenger%20Project.html • Newspaper shipping columns can be helpful. Check eGGSA for transcriptions of newspaper shipping columns. https://www.eggsa.org/newspapers/ • Also check Government Gazette’s for ship arrival and departure notices. • There are various collections on the bigger sites such as FamilySearch, Ancestry, FindmyPast. Searching the catalog at each site will result in a list of South African resources. • Other collections: o Hamburg to South Africa http://www.safrika.org/schiff_en.html o The ShipsList http://www.theshipslist.com/?fbclid=IwAR0WfdiKs0Kfz- F1YDygfGnsF1gVssgaCiSkKJhGi0FZDMHMpDjAcvwKcF0 Getting Started in South African Research - RootsTech Connect 2021 © Sue McNelly, 2021 5 o Norwegian Settlers to Natal http://norsettler.co.za/history.htm o Gjenvick-Gjønvik Archives (Port of Cape Town Passenger Lists) https://www.gjenvick.com/Passengers/Ports/Capetown- PassengerLists.html?fbclid=IwAR0bHyFRXEYqQRbXg3l36RpRkIFSegF1i_dKetcbtylkkNKO_ bJWIF5sw94 o South African Passenger Lists http://sa-passenger-list.za.net/index.php Settler Records • Records exist documenting the journey and lives of settlers to South Africa such as passenger lists, immigration registers, naturalization documents, and immigrant registry files. • There are various collections on the bigger sites such as FamilySearch, Ancestry, FindmyPast. Searching the catalog at each site will result in a list of South African resources. • Many also found on websites of genealogical and historical societies, and individual genealogists. • Some examples of websites: o Germans to South Africa http://www.safrika.org/ o British Settlers to Natal, 1824-1857 http://shelaghspencer.com/ o Norwegian Settlers to Natal http://norsettler.co.za/history.htm o 1820 British Settlers https://www.1820settlers.com/ o South African Settlers http://www.southafricansettlers.com/ (As of 11 Dec. 2020, this site was only accessible via the wayback machine) Military Records • Major conflicts: o 1779-1878: Frontier Wars (Also known as the Xhosa Wars) o 1878: Anglo-Zulu War o 1899-1902: Anglo-Boer War o 1902-1912: Some British troops remained in South Africa as a peace-keeping force. Many join the South African Constabulary or British South Africa Police. o First & Second World Wars • Anglo-Boer War: o Thousands of records digitized by FamilySearch. Search the catalog with the keywords ‘Boer War’. There are 5 pages of results! Getting Started in South African Research - RootsTech Connect 2021 © Sue McNelly, 2021 6 o Ancestry has a few collections, as does Findmypast. MyHeritage has only one collection. ▪ Findmypast specifically has collections on Australian and New Zealand units in the Boer War. o Other sites with Anglo-Boer War collections: ▪ https://angloboerwar.com/ ▪ British Concentration Camps of the South African war: https://www2.lib.uct.ac.za/mss/bccd/?fbclid=IwAR26KLytTy7gAIuoybEpdbNtdR nB02n0g_dU3-TVEDRlOlgdajwR8-BoHRQ ▪ Anglo-Boer War Museum https://www.wmbr.org.za/ o PRO (National Archives, London): Research Guides on locating records of British Soldiers before 1913 https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research- guides/british-army-soldiers-up-to-1913/ • First and Second World Wars o South Africans volunteered in both British and South African units. o Public Records Office (London) holds all service records for those who served in British and colonial South African forces prior to 1912. o South African Defense Force holds records from 1913 onwards for South African military personnel. o Commonwealth War Graves Commission holds names of all who lost their lives in British, Imperial, and Commonwealth services during these 2 wars. https://www.cwgc.org/