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.
23 March 1899, Missionary Reverend John MacKenzie dies.
23 March 2020, First two cases of Corona Virus reported in Hartswater.
The Reverend John Mackenzie (pictured) was born on 30 August 1835 in Knockando, Moray, Scotland, and died in Kimberley on 23 March 1899. His family were devout Church of Scotland members.
Rev John Mackenzie
A missionary (London Missionary Society), Mackenzie volunteered to serve in 1855, coming to southern Africa in 1858 and being posted to the Makololo mission in Bechuanaland (now Botswana). He was ordained in Edinburgh in 1858, and was married that same year to Ellen Douglas before travelling to Cape Town and then Kuruman before heading to Makololo in 1860. By 1862 he was based at Soshong. He was the tutor in the Moffat Institution school for teachers and evangelists at Shoshong and then at Kuruman by 1876. He also visited Matabeleland in 1863 and 1873.
Troubled by the growing encroachments on Tswana territories by Boers from the Transvaal to the east, he was active from 1867 in attempts to have Britain declare a protectorate over Tswana territories, claiming that the British would safeguard black African rights from Boer racism. In 1884 a protectorate was declared over the southern Tswana territories, known as British Bechuanaland, with Mackenzie appointed as its deputy commissioner, having resigned as a missionary. He lost this job to Cecil Rhodes in 1885 but remained in politics, retaining a great deal of influence.
Later that year he participated in the Warren Expedition, which resulted in the Tswana lands north of British Bechuanaland being declared the Bechuanaland Protectorate (Botswana). In 1889 he retired to resume his missionary activities at the Hankey mission.
Mackenzie died in Kimberley from his third stroke while visiting his son and was originally buried in the Gladstone cemetery before being reinterred at Kuruman. He and his wife Ellen had three sons and six daughters, one of his sons being the well-known Kimberley physician, Dr John Eddie Mackenzie.
(From a variety of sources including Encyclopaedia Britannica).
UPDATED: 23/03/2022
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.
23 March 1899, Missionary Reverend John MacKenzie dies.
23 March 2020, First two cases of Corona Virus reported in Hartswater.
The Diamond Fields Advertiser newspaper turns 144 years old today, the first issue having appeared on the streets of Kimberley on Saturday 23 March 1878.
The DFA, as it is known locally, has outlived all of its competitors, and is Kimberley’s fifth oldest surviving business behind legal firm Haarhoffs (founded 1872), the Halfway House Hotel (1872), Cheers (Dutoitspan Club 1869 in Barkly West and 1872 in Kimberley) and Elliott Maris Wilmans and Hay (1873).
It was John Radford, a compositor working for the Diamond News, who first published the then free newspaper in 1878, The Diamond Fields Advertiser and Commercial Guide, with editions on the streets twice weekly, Wednesdays and Saturdays. By 1879 Radford was charging sixpence (6d).
The newspaper today (2022) has become a weekly edition published on Fridays.
The newspapers first premises were on the corner of Natal and Stockdale streets for a year before moving to more commodious premises on the corner of Dutoitspan Road and Chapel Street where they remained until 1901. They then moved to a substantial bricked building in Stockdale Street.
The DFA remained there until 1949 when it moved to Currey Street, OK Bazaars taking over the building when the DFA next moved to Permanent Way in November 1961. In 1985, the DFA made its final move, this time to Villiers Street, the home of Northern Cape Printers.
Originally a broadsheet, the newspaper became a tabloid in 1976. In the early 1980s it dropped the Saturday issue then came out from Monday to Friday, but not on public holidays and has since become a weekly newspaper that is published on Fridays. By the middle 1990s, the printing was done in Johannesburg and the newspaper delivered to Kimberley.
Prominent journalists who worked, or wrote, for the DFA over the years included Vere Stent, Sol Plaatje, Benjamin Bennett, Cyril Harris, and in more recent times, Dan Retief.
Sol Plaatje was a regular contributor to the DFA.
During the Siege of Kimberley 14 October 1899-15 February 1900, the newspaper was the subject of a feud between Cecil Rhodes and garrison commander, Colonel Robert George Kekewich. The local newspaper, which was sympathetic to Rhodes, printed a story that vehemently attacked the military situation. The result was that the DFA ceased production for a week and the editor, George Green, went into hiding. Kekewich obtained permission from his superior to place Rhodes under arrest if necessary.
Editors of the DFA:
1878 – 1884 Henry Tucker, secretary of the Kimberley mining board and one time Member of the Cape Parliament.
1884 – 1896 Robert Fisher Wilson, independent spirit and fearless writer. Went on to become editor of the Johannesburg Times.
1896 – 1898 Albert Cartwright. Went on to edit the SA News and the Johannesburg Times.
1898 – 1910 George A L Green, Rhodes’s ‘Prince of Journalists’. Went on to edit the Cape Argus.
1910 – 1923 Frank Ireland
1923 – 1932 Henry Lissant Collins
1932 – 1938 George A Simpson. Was one of Sol Plaatje’s pallbearers at his funeral at the West End cemetery.
1938 – 1939 Hastings H Beck
1939 – 1942 A Harrington
1942 – 1949 Rex Hall. Later helped to establish South Africa’s Iron and Steel Corporation.
1949 – 1959 David Brechin
1959 – 1962 Archie Atkinson
1962 – 1967 Conrad Lighton
1967 – 1977 Mike Lloyd
1977 – 1984 Graham Etherington
1985 – 1991 Anthony Ball
1991 – 1992 Charles Guild (acting)
1992 – 2002 Kevin Ritchie. Went on to edit The Star.
2002 – present Johan du Plessis
UPDATED: 23/03/2017
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.
23 March 1899, Missionary Reverend John MacKenzie dies.
DID YOU KNOW
The St Matthews Church (Anglican) on Barkly Road has its origins in early Kimberley in that a Richard Miles started holding services in a ramshackle shelter. The info states 1870 but this is more likely to be 1871.
The first building, some 60’ by 20’, was erected by Canon Bevan in 1877, and in 1883 a new site adjacent to the church building was acquired. In 1888 the foundation stone was laid and on 2 June 1889 the church was dedicated.
In 1895 Father Lawson took charge and built the schoolroom.
The two wings were added in 1915. (All information above from the St Matthews file at the Africana Library).
TWO MEMORIAL PLAQUES in ST MATTHEW’S
Two of the memorial plaques in St Matthews Church are for men who were killed in the battle of Tweebosch on 7 March 1902, where Lord Methuen’s force was defeated by General JH de la Rey and Methuen was captured. While Moore is on the battle roll of honour as being in Ashburner’s Horse, Abrahams is not on the roll. Abrahams is quite probably one of approximately 100 men who served in the very irregular unit known as the Cape Special Police, a unit made up of Africans and Coloureds. This unit was also nicknamed Tilney’s Gang as well as the Kimberley Killers and had a fine reputation. Those Special Police who surrendered at Tweebosch were executed and buried in a mass grave that remains undiscovered.
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.
23 March 1899, Missionary Reverend John MacKenzie dies.
DID YOU KNOW
The earliest paper on the Diamond Fields was a weekly called the Diamond Field, published from 15 October 1870 at Pniel. It moved the following year first to Du Toit’s Pan and then to New Rush (later renamed Kimberley), and had a strongly anti-imperial view point. Another of the early papers was the pro-British Diamond News of Richard William Murray.
Diamond Fields Advertiser Newspaper (DFA)
The Independent, owned by William Ling in 1876, was acquired by J. B. Robinson. By the late 1870s the success of the Independent had forced the Diamond Field to close, but with the Diamond Fields Advertiser then emerging as a third paper alongside the Diamond News and the Independent keeping local politicians on their toes in the turbulent years that followed.
During the Siege of Kimberley 1899-1900, the newspaper was the subject of a feud between Cecil Rhodes and garrison commander, Colonel Robert George Kekewich. The local newspaper, which was under Rhodes’ control, ignored the military censor and printed information that compromised the military. Kekewich obtained permission from Lord Roberts to place Rhodes under arrest if necessary.
Prominent journalists in Kimberley in the early years included R. W. Murray, and Frederick York St Leger, later founder of the Cape Times.
Sol Plaatje was a regular contributor to the DFA and had such respect for Fredrick St Leger that he named one of his sons after him – St Leger Plaatje, known as Sainty to his friends.
Editors of the DFA since that first issue:
1878 – 1884 Henry Tucker, secretary of the Kimberley mining board and one time Member of the Cape Parliament. 1884 – 1896 Robert Fisher Wilson, independent spirit and fearless writer. Went on to become editor of the Johannesburg Times. 1896 – 1898 Albert Cartwright. Went on to edit the SA News and the Johannesburg Times. 1898 – 1910 George AL Green, Rhodes’s ‘Prince of Journalists’. Went on to edit the Cape Argus, and father of Lawrence Green the writer 1910 – 1923 Frank Ireland 1923 – 1932 Henry Lissant Collins 1932 – 1938 George A Simpson. Was one of Sol Plaatje’s pallbearers at his funeral at the West End cemetery. 1938 – 1939 Hastings H Beck 1939 – 1942 A Harrington 1942 – 1949 Rex Hall. Later helped to establish South Africa’s Iron and Steel Corporation. 1949 – 1959 David Brechin 1959 – 1962 Archie Atkinson 1962 – 1967 Conrad Lighton 1967 – 1977 Mike Lloyd 1977 – 1984 Graham Etherington 1985 – 1991 Anthony Ball 1991 – 1992 Charles Guild (acting) 1992 – 2002 Kevin Ritchie 2002 – present Johan du Plessis.
(From Wikipedia with additions).
From Kimberley Calls and Recalls on Facebook By Steve Lunderstedt
Shortlink for this post: https://www.kimberley.org.za/?p=8450
