1899 in South Africa

List of events

* 1898
* 1897
* 1896
*   *

| | |

|

1899

South Africa |

* 1900
* 1901
* 1902
*   *

Decades:|

* 1870s
* 1880s
* 1890s
* 1900s
* 1910s

See also:|

*   * List of years in South Africa

The following lists events that happened during 1899 in South Africa.

## Incumbents

[edit]

* Governor of the Cape of Good Hope and High Commissioner for Southern Africa:Alfred Milner.
* Governor of the Colony of Natal: Charles Bullen Hugh Mitchell.
* State President of the Orange Free State: Martinus Theunis Steyn.
* State President of the South African Republic: Paul Kruger.
* Prime Minister of the Cape of Good Hope: William Philip Schreiner.
* Prime Minister of the Colony of Natal: Henry Binns (until 17 August), Albert Henry Hime (starting 17 August).

## Events

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April

* The Transvaal government orders Asiatics to move into Locations specified by the government before 1 July.

May

* 4 - Cape Town based food packaging company Imperial Cold Storage and Supply Company is founded in London.[1]
* 5 - Sir Alfred Milner, High Commissioner of South Africa and Governor of the Cape of Good Hope, sends a telegram to Joseph Chamberlain urging him to intervene in the South African Republic.

October

* 1 - Jan Gysbert Hugo Bosman, aka Bosman de Ravelli, a concert pianist and composer, leaves South Africa for London.
* 11 - The South African Republic declares war on Britain and launches the Second Boer War which will only end in 1902.
* 13 - The Siege of Mafeking begins.
* 14 - The Siege of Kimberley begins.
* 20 - In the Battle of Talana Hill, the first major clash of the conflict near Dundee, Natal, the British Army drives the Boers from a hilltop position, but with heavy casualties, including their Commanding General Sir Penn Symons.

November

* 2 - The Siege of Ladysmith begins.

## Births

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* 30 January - Max Theiler, a virologist and the first South African to receive a Nobel Prize, is born in Pretoria.
* 18 February - Aegidius Jean Blignaut, short story writer and creator of Hottentot Ruiter, is born in Kroonstad.

## Deaths

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* 6 June - Sir Henry Binns, sugar cane farmer, founder of the Umhlanga Valley Sugar Estate Company and Natal politician, dies in Pietermaritzburg at the age of 61.

## Railways

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### Railway lines opened

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NGR Class C Reid Tenwheeler Walvis Bay engine Hope

* 31 January - Free State - Wolwehoek to Heilbron, 30 miles 61 chains (49.5 kilometres).[2]
* 12 April - Cape Central - Roodewal to Swellendam, 41 miles (66.0 kilometres).[2]
* 1 May - Transvaal - Potgietersrus to Pietersburg, 39 miles (62.8 kilometres).[2]
* 25 October - Natal - Pietermaritzburg to New Hanover, 29 miles 51 chains (47.7 kilometres).[2]

### Locomotives

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* The Natal Government Railways places the first of 101 Class C 4-10-2T Reid Tenwheeler locomotives in service. In 1912 they will be designated Class H on the South African Railways (SAR).[3]
* The New Cape Central Railway places its first Cape 7th Class 4-8-0 Mastodon type locomotive in service. In 1925 they will be designated Class 7E on the SAR.[3][4][5]
* The Walvis Bay Railway places a single 2-4-2 tank locomotive named Hope in service.[6][7]
* Rand Mines acquires two narrow gauge 0-4-0 tank steam locomotives from Avonside Engine Company.[3]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Measuring Worth, Relative Value of a UK Pound Amount – average earnings, retrieved 27 December 2010
2. ^ a b c d Statement Showing, in Chronological Order, the Date of Opening and the Mileage of Each Section of Railway, Statement No. 19, p. 184, ref. no. 200954-13
3. ^ a b c Paxton, Leith; Bourne, David (1985). Locomotives of the South African Railways (1st ed.). Cape Town: Struik. pp. 31, 46–48, 114. ISBN 0869772112.
4. ^ Holland, D.F. (1971). Steam Locomotives of the South African Railways. Vol. 1: 1859–1910 (1st ed.). Newton Abbott, England: David & Charles. p. 78\. ISBN 978-0-7153-5382-0.
5. ^ Pattison, R.G. (1997). The Cape Seventh Class Locomotives (1st ed.). Kenilworth, Cape Town: The Railway History Group. pp. 10, 15. ISBN 0958400946.
6. ^ Espitalier, T.J.; Day, W.A.J. (1948). The Locomotive in South Africa - A Brief History of Railway Development. Chapter VII - South African Railways (Continued). South African Railways and Harbours Magazine, January 1948. p. 32.
7. ^ Dulez, Jean A. (2012). Railways of Southern Africa 150 Years (Commemorating One Hundred and Fifty Years of Railways on the Sub-Continent – Complete Motive Power Classifications and Famous Trains – 1860–2011) (1st ed.). Garden View, Johannesburg, South Africa: Vidrail Productions. p. 379\. ISBN 9 780620 512282.

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1899 in Africa

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