X-Nico

unusual facts about British Cape Colony



Battle of Modder River

When the war broke out, one of the Boers' early targets was the diamond-mining centre of Kimberley, which stood not far from the point where the borders of the Boer republics of the Transvaal and the Orange Free State, and the British-controlled Cape Colony met.

Ferreirasdorp

The suburb's origins lie in the Turffontein farm set up by Colonel Ignatius Ferreira, a Boer adventurer from Cape Colony.

Francis Dundas

General Francis Dundas (c.1759, Sanson, Berwickshire – 15 January 1824, Dumbarton, Scotland was a British general and acting governor of the Cape Colony between 1798 and 1803.

George Lohmann

Returning to the British Cape Colony to maintain his health, Lohmann played no more first-class cricket until February, yet on the matting wickets in three "Tests" (the England eleven was no more than England "A" of today), Lohmann was so unplayable that he took 35 wickets for the remarkable average of just 5.80 runs each.

George Thomas Napier

He was governor and Commander-In-Chief of the army in the Cape Colony from 1839 to 1843, during which time the abolition of slavery and the expulsion of the Boers from Natal were the chief events.

Henry Edward Napier

His brothers included General Sir Charles James Napier, Commander-in-Chief, India and conqueror of Sindh; Lieutenant-General Sir George Thomas Napier, Governor and Commander of the Cape of Good Hope; and General Sir William Francis Patrick Napier, Lieutenant Governor of Guernsey, and author of the History of the Peninsular War.

Natal Railway 0-4-0WT Natal

It was, however, not the first locomotive to arrive in South Africa, having been denied that honour by nine engines in the Cape Colony.

Union of South Africa

It came into being on 31 May 1910 with the unification of four previously separate British colonies: Cape Colony, Natal Colony, Transvaal Colony and Orange River Colony.


see also