UPDATED: 23/03/2023 23 March 1872, First game of cricket in Kimberley when Natalians beat Port Elizaberthans. 23 March 1876, Dedication of the “new” Freemasons Hall in Dutoitspan Road. 23 March 1878, First issue of the Diamond Fields Advertiser, Kimberley’s newspaper. ...
Read More »
UPDATED: 03/03/2023 Assuredly something important happened on this day in Kimberley’s history, but has not yet been found. Research continues… IMMEDIATE AFTERMATH OF THE SIEGE OF KIMBERLEY The immediate aftermath of the siege of Kimberley, despite the intense suffering of ...
Read More »
UPDATE: 20/02/2023 20 FEBRUARY 1899, England cricket team arrive in Kimberley to play match. 20 FEBRUARY 1912, A serious earthquake hits Kimberley causing great damage at Kenilworth. 20 FEBRUARY 1918, Four miners die in a mud rush at Bultfontein mine. 20 FEBRUARY ...
Read More »
UPDATED: 20/01/2023 20 January 1900, Proving, sighting and slight adjustments to the Long Cecil gun (pictured) are made. DEATH FROM DISEASE RUNS RAMPANT DURING THE SIEGE Rationing of foodstuffs was not seriously adhered to until the military authorities realized that ...
Read More »
UPDATED: 16/01/2023 16 January 1889, Kimberley awarded the cricket Currie Cup by England. 16 January 1891, Fabricius has five men working the new Wesselton mine. 16 January 1900, Soup kitchen opened at the Hull St Convict Station. Pictured is the Wesselton Mine ...
Read More »
UPDATED: 13 JANUARY 2023 13 January 1900, The price of meat raised – beef 1/- and horse flesh 9 pennies per pound. Excerpt from “The Siege of Kimberley” – Its Humourous and Social Side – by T Phelan. Week ending ...
Read More »
UPDATED: 10 January 2023 10 January 1884, Dynamite explosion kills two miners at the De Beers Mine. 10 January 1887, Irvine Grimmer takes 16 wickets for 83 runs for Strayklips vs WP CC. Some snippets from the Queenstown Free Press ...
Read More »
UPDATED: 16/11/2022 16 November 1883, The SA Perm founded in Kimberley. 16 November 1896, Theodore Samuels, who scored the first ever try for the Springboks, dies. 16 November 1898, Foundation stone of the Market Square Town Hall laid by Moses Cornwall. ...
Read More »
UPDATED: 15/11/2022 15 November 1869, Bultfontein Mine bought by Lilienfeld, Webb and Hond. 15 November 1914, Robert G Kekewich commits suicide in England. 15 November 1965, Don McHardy Memorial Fountain (pictured) unveiled at railway station. 15 November 1977, Robert Sobukwe ...
Read More »
31 October 1883, Samuel Austen elected the first Mayor of Beaconsfield. 31 October 1899, Food rationing introduced during the siege. 31 October 1899, Boers fire first shell at Wesselton from Olifantsfontein position. 31 October 1936, Dick Beewers survives a fall ...
Read More »