Historical

5 January 1876: Enquiry into allegations of bribery against Cecil Rhodes  DID YOU KNOW The Black Flag Rebellion of 1875, coupled with other matters of social misbehaviour, saw the appointment of Colonel Crossman as a Royal Commissioner with the task ...

4 January 1965: Kimberley’s first black librarian, Roderick Ndaki, begins work. No more information on Roderick Ndaki is available at this time. DID YOU KNOW That there were two luxury railway carriages used by the De Beer’s Company Directors. The ...

On January 3rd 1883 the diamond field (Kimberley) mining companies were supplied with water extracted from the Vaal River for the first time. 3 January 1878, Kimberley’s first Town Clerk, JH Boag, appointed. 3 January 1883, Mining companies supplied with water ...

DID YOU KNOW that the village of Ritchie, a farming settlement, was originally called The Rosmead, possibly named after Lord Rosmead (Sir Hercules Robinson). In 1881 John Fraser offered plots for sale for the erection of buildings for what he ...

Three men killed and four wounded in a shoot-out that starts at Market square and ends at the railway station. The perpetrator is mortally wounded.

31 December 1887: Kimberley (GW) win the 4th Champion Bat cricket tourney. 31 December 1899: Pvt Kelly of the Kimberley Regiment found dead in the Big Hole. 31 December 1938: St Mary’s Catholic Cathedral destroyed by fire. 31 December 1953: ...

John Morrogh (1849 – 4 October 1901) was an Irish businessman and politician. According to his obituary in the Diamond Fields Advertiser he came to South Africa in the late 1860s, and was “…actively associated with the early working of ...

16 DECEMBER 1848, Title deeds to the farm Bultfontein granted to JF Otto. 16 DECEMBER 1899, Mayor of Beaconsfield, Fred Blacking, dies in harness. DID YOU KNOW There were many diggers who moved away from the crowded alluvial diggings along ...

14 December 1937, Heavy rain robs Griqualand West of a rare cricketing victory over Western Province at the Stadium. 14 December 1955, Diamonds stolen from the Johannesburg home of Harry and Bridget Oppenheimer are recovered. DID YOU KNOW On the ...

7 December 1872, Olive Schreiner arrives in Kimberley for her first stay. 7 December 1950, A party held in honour of Miss Maria Wilman. DID YOU KNOW Maria Wilman (pictured) was born on 29 April 1867 in Beaufort West, in the Cape ...