Diaries

James Stevenson-Hamilton (1867-1957) is familiar to most South Africans as a naturalist and game conservationist. A Scottish cavalry officer, whose regiment fought in the South African War, in 1902 he was appointed Warden of the Sabi Game Reserve, later to become the Kruger National Park. He remained there until his retirement in 1946. What is less well known, however, is that before joining the Transvaal civil service, he had already spent some time in South Africa, had an important military career behind him, and had contributed to European knowledge of the African continent by his largely self-financed visit to Barotseland under the aegis of the Royal Geographical Society in 1898-1899. Stevenson-Hamilton had another virtue – he was an inveterate diarist and recorder of his experiences. Clever, educated, perceptive, and observant, with a well-developed sense of humour, his writings are of great interest. The following is a lively account of a visit he made to Johannesburg in the winter of 1889. The account is enhanced by his own contemporary sketches that form part of his diary. The text has been lightly edited by Jane Carruthers, who is grateful to the Stevenson-Hamilton family for allowing her access to their records.

Originally published in Africana Notes and News 27(3), September 1986, pp.93-104

Portrait of James Stevenson-Hamilton

I was serving as a very young subaltern in the 6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons, which had been stationed in...

Nita Meyer and her husband, Izak, farmed at “Twyfelfontein” near Laffnie’s Drift on the Buffalo River. Her original diary, written in high Dutch and covering hundreds of pages, is held at the Talana Museum archives.

Izak was a burgher of the Utrecht Republiek and a brother of President Lukas Meyer of the Nieuwe Republiek at Vryheid. Nita was the daughter of Doctor Aveling, of Harrismith. They had two children, Marthie and Izzie.

Prior to the outbreak of the war, commando members were mustered and their families banded together for self protection. Sina Uys and her four children, as well as Minnie Van Rooijen and her four children, all came to stay together at “Wydgelegen” with Nita.

The personalities from the Uys family, mentioned below, came from a tragic line of forebears. The patriarch Piet Uys and his son, Dirkie, were killed by the Zulus at Italeni in April 1838. The second generation Piet Uys was killed by Zulus on Hlobane on 28 March 1879 while fighting for the British forces. The third generation Dirkie was one of the first burghers to be killed at Talana on 20 October 1899.

The first excerpt from the diary...