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From: "Sharon Warr" <>
Subject: Re: History of SA gold mining [Re: [ZA] Re: SOUTH-AFRICA-D DigestV03 #652]
Date: Thu, 27 Nov 2003 08:56:54 +0200
References: <sfc31a01.028@cs-emo.csir.co.za> <00ac01c3b379$ad2b0bc0$605623c4@oemcomputer>


Hi Listers
Scribes Publishers in South Africa also have a Cape of Good Hope Handbook
published in 1886 available on CD - it has a comprehensive coverage of all
aspects of the Colony and makes fantastic reading. Their website is
www.genealogy.co.za/scribes_ink.html

Regards
Sharon


----- Original Message -----
From: "Rosemary Dixon-Smith" <>
To: <>
Sent: Tuesday, November 25, 2003 7:27 PM
Subject: Re: History of SA gold mining [Re: [ZA] Re: SOUTH-AFRICA-D
DigestV03 #652]


> Hello everyone:
>
> For those interested in SA Goldfields generally, the Archive CD
> Book publication "The Emigrant's Guide to South Africa" includes
> Cape Colony, The Diamond Fields, Bechuanaland, Transvaal, Natal,
> OFS and territories of the British South Africa Co; first
> published 1880.
> Primarily intended as a guide for passengers travelling to SA by
> steam ships of the Union Line.
> There are some individual names mentioned in the text though not
> searchable by such. (Scanned images of pages of the original
> book.)
> I'm reading through the CD at the moment and its all good
> background e.g. routes to the Goldfields are given, miles and
> hours and much on each area in SA. It should be noted that the
> book as presented was then in its sixth edition, dated 1890; the
> preface to the 1880 edition is included.
>
> From a newspaper review of the book 24 February 1880:
>
> "The different provinces are treated separately, and intending
> emigrants will find detailed information about the products,
> soil, climate and customs of each; as well as about wages, cost
> of living, probabilities of finding work of different kinds and
> facilities for becoming proprietors of land."
>
> CD is number 5 060042 680016
>
>
> Regards,
> Rosemary
> in Durban
>
>
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Pat Brown" <>
> To: <>
> Sent: Tuesday, November 25, 2003 8:58 AM
> Subject: History of SA gold mining [Re: [ZA] Re: SOUTH-AFRICA-D
> DigestV03 #652]
>
>
> > Hi Maureen,
> > The first gold nugget was discovered in the Knysna area in
> 1876 and
> > by 1879 there was a thriving goldrush on the go. Unfortunately
> (or
> > fortunately for the forests) by 1890 barely a ghost town
> remained. When
> > you stand on the site of the old town at Millwood you can feel
> the
> > ghosts and it is easy to draw mind pictures of a hustling,
> buslting town
> > with the usual hard working goldseekers, the drifters, the
> business men
> > all hoping that this will be THE gold strike. Would that we
> could go
> > back in time and just observe.
> >
> > All the best,
> >
> > Pat
> >
> > >>> "Editor" <> 24/11/2003 09:26:13 >>>
> > Hi Jill, Sarah
> >
> > What many people don't know is that there was a very
> short-lived gold
> > rush
> > along the rivers running through the Knysna forests, but I
> don't have
> > dates
> > to hand (the books I read years ago were from the Knysna Public
> > Library).
> > Today, a small ghost town still exists as a tourist attraction,
> as well
> > as
> > old adits (opening or passages into mines).
> >
> > The first important gold finds were not in or near what was to
> become
> > Johannesburg. From about 1870, there was a huge rush to
> Pilgrim's Rest
> > in
> > the Eastern Transvaal, which turned out to be part of an
> extensive
> > goldfield
> > around the Pilgrim's Rest, Lydenburg, Barberton area, first
> alluvial,
> > then
> > surface, then mining proper -- for instance, Sheba Mine near
> Barberton
> > (town
> > founded 1884). About the same time, gold was found in today's
> Zimbabwe
> > in
> > the Tati area. Prospecting along the Witwatersrand started in
> 1883, &
> > the
> > Main Reef was found on the farm Langlaagte in September 1884
> (source
> > Rosenthal's "Encyclopaedia of Southern Africa").
> >
> > Many foreign miners travelled by ship to the Eastern Transvaal
> via
> > Delagoa
> > Bay (today's Maputo in Mozambique) & from there via Komatipoort
> along
> > the De
> > Kaap valley by ox waggon. I recently learned that a lot of
> silver
> > miners
> > from America came here to mine for gold because the bottom had
> dropped
> > out
> > of the silver market.
> >
> > For Kimberley, the port of disembarkation may have been Cape
> Town, but
> > many
> > more would have chosen to go via Port Elizabeth (estab 1820) or
> East
> > London
> > (estab 1845), which shortened the overland trip by several
> hundred
> > miles. In
> > those days, you would have wanted to keep your overland travel
> to an
> > absolute minimum -- it was extremely slow & arduous, no
> StarStops or
> > motels
> > back then! For Johannesburg, Port Natal (Durban estab 1824),
> even
> > Delagoa
> > Bay, were closer. The route via Delagoa Bay, however, ran
> through
> > fever
> > country, infested with malaria & tsetse fly.
> >
> > I read something interesting about the alluvial gold in the De
> Kaap
> > valley -- the rivers didn't hold as much of it as the miners
> expected
> > from a
> > completely unexploited area. This is because African tribes in
> the area
> > had
> > been collecting the alluvial gold, & also mining on a small
> scale, for
> > some
> > centuries. This is the legendary gold of Monomotapa that was
> traded
> > with
> > Arabs via places like Mapungubwe & Great Zimbabwe to Sofala
> (modern
> > Beira in
> > Mozambique) on the coast in exchange for goods from India,
> China. When
> > Vasco
> > da Gama reached Quelimane and Sofala in 1498, he discovered
> Arab
> > settlements
> > that had been there for hundreds of years. Early Arab trade
> down the
> > East
> > African coast dates back to about 600 AD, but not all the way
> down the
> > coast
> > to Sofala -- it was a slow process that took generations. I
> think
> > Swahili is
> > a language that evolved from contact between Arabs & Africans,
> a
> > lingua
> > franca along much of the coast.
> >
> > Regards
> > Maureen
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Sarah Fulguirinas" <>
> > To: <>
> > Sent: 24 November 2003 02:15
> > Subject: [ZA] Re: SOUTH-AFRICA-D Digest V03 #652
> >
> >
> > > Dear Jill
> > > I looked up in Naairs for McElvenny (and as many variations i
> could
> > > think of) but could find none. The major port would have
> been Cape
> > > Town, with perhaps a stop at Port Elizabeth or Durban. Most
> people
> > going
> > > to the gold or minefields would have gone to Cape town and
> then gone
> > up
> > > probably by train or oxwagon to Kimberley or Johannesburg.
> For
> > diamonds
> > > then I would try Kimberley, perhaps the curator of the museum
> there
> > may
> > > be able to find something, or a researcher. Gold wa up in
> the
> > > Witwatersrand and the place would be Johannesburg or some of
> the
> > towns
> > > around it in the new province of Gauteng.
> > > Diamonds
> > > http://www.kimberley.co.za/
> > > http://www.southafrica-travel.net/kalahari/e6ofs09.htm
> > > http://www.bdb.co.za/kimberley/diamonds.htm
> > > http://www.bdb.co.za/kimberley/diamonds.htm
> > > http://www.places.co.za/html/bighole.html
> > > goldmines in Witwatersrand., Gold is found in the Free State
> but
> > this
> > > was found later.
> > >
> > > How common is MCELVENNY, I could only find one in the white
> pages,
> > may
> > > be a link if rare. I tried that with BURTLES and it was the
> > > greatgrandson of my great-grandfather, the only son's
> grandson, but
> > of
> > > course may not be related at all. I do not know about
> jewellers but
> > I
> > > would imagine that Johannesburg would have been the best
> place to
> > go.
> > > Sarah
> > > http://www.joburg.org.za/facts/gold.stm
> > > http://www.southafrica-travel.net/north/a1johb04.htm
> > >
> > >
> > > ==== SOUTH-AFRICA Mailing List ====
> >
> > ---------------------------------------------------------------
> ----
> > > Try Cyndi's List for all the genealogical links you will ever
> need:
> > > http://www.CyndisList.com/
> > >
> >
> >
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