Historical

UPDATED: 24/05/2019 24 May 1870, Jan Christian Smuts born on the farm Bovenplaats, two km north of Riebeek West. His first political speech was in Kimberley on 29 October 1895. 24 May 1932, Sol Plaatje’s last public speech in Kimberley. ...

UPDATED: 23/05/2019 23 May 1886, Foundation stone of All Saints Church in Beaconsfield laid. 23 May 1900, Presentation to Town Council by Dr R Harris of Cecil Rhodes’ portrait. 23 May 2013, Sylvia Lucas inducted as Premier of the Northern ...

UPDATED:  22/05/2019 22 May 1878, Some 100 Griqua casualties in the battle of Driefontein at Griquatown. 22 May 1880, Sir Ernest Oppenheimer, founder of Anglo American Corporation, is born in Germany. 22 May 1937, Marjorie Timlin, wife of William, killed ...

21 May 1878, Griquatown relieved by a Kimberley column. 21 May 1891, YMCA in Newton opens. 21 May 1912, Sir Julius Wernher, pictured, the last Life Governor of De Beers, dies. DID YOU KNOW Sir Julius Charles Wernher, 1st Baronet ...

UPDATED: 20/05/2019 20 May 1883, Robert Milne murdered in Beaconsfield. 20 May 1889, Beaconsfield Public Library and Institution officially opened. 20 May 1895, De Beers Mine Recreation Room, formerly the Boardroom, opens. 20 May 1947, Retired Head librarian John Gow Ross ...

UPDATED: 17/05/2019 17 May 1900, The great Market Square fire. 17 May 1900, Mafeking relieved by a column that included the Kimberley Mounted Corps. 17 May 1938, Duggan-Cronin Gallery opened by Sir Ernest Oppenheimer. 17 May 1972, Sonny Leon resigns ...

16 May 1899, Headmaster of Kimberley Boy’s High School, LC Wilkes, dies of typhus. DID YOU KNOW Leopold Complin Wilkes (pictured) was the second Headmaster of Kimberley Boy’s High School, serving in that capacity from 1893 until his untimely death ...

UPDATED: 15/05/2019 15 May 1915, Ernest Oppenheimer rescued from a mob. DID YOU KNOW The resignation of Ernest Oppenheimer as Mayor of Kimberley and as a Town Councillor on 12 May 1915 as a result of the sinking of the ...

UPDATED: 14/05/2019 14 May 1878, Griquatown besieged by the Griqua people. 14 May 1902, Royal Munster Fusiliers Promenade concert in aid of Nazareth House. 14 May 1903, Three Black miners killed in a mud rush in the De Beers Mine. ...

UPDATED: 13/05/2019 13 May 1888, Telegraphist Alfred Cogill dies. 13 May 1915, Anti-German riots after sinking of RMS Lusitania. 13 May 1980, The Kimberley Drive-In theatre opens to all races. DID YOU KNOW The Cunard ocean liner RMS Lusitania was ...