The Genealogical Society of South Africa
eGSSA branch
The Genealogical Society of South Africa
eGSSA branch
Introduction:
Frequently Asked Questions Page, by Steve Hayes, Maureen Brady, Dafanie Goldsmith and Heather MacAlister
Researching in South Africa - a very useful introduction by Dafanie Goldsmith
South African Genealogy how to start, by Anne Lehmkuhl
South African Genealogy, Beginner's Page by Conrod Mercer
South African Genealogy Primer, by Janet Melville and Delia Robertson - in pdf format
Locating Death Records on LDS Films by Ellen Stanton
Published genealogies
The main ones are these two, available in most of the larger South African libraries. The second is the more up to date. Always be aware that these are not infallible - they have only been put together by human beings and inevitably contain mistakes and errors. Use them as a guide, not a source.
Genealogies of Old Cape Families, by C.C.de Villiers, revised, augmented and rewritten by C.Pama, A.A.Balkema, Cape Town, 1966
The original edition of 1894, compiled by G.M. Theal from the work of C.C. de Villiers, in three volumes, can be found in Adobe Acrobat pdf format on the University of Pretoria's web site: Geslacht-register der oude Kaapsche familien (Genealogies of old Cape families)
South African Genealogies, compiled by J.A. Heese, edited by R.T.J. Lombard, GISA, 1986 - 2008.
A good number of other books have been published over the years which may (or may not!) be found in South African libraries. You can find a list of some here ... but we are unable to provide locations for these. You will have to find them for yourself!
Institutions and Museums:
Africana Library, Port Elizabeth, contact person: Africana Librarian, Ruby Tumela, email address: Africana@mandelametro.gov.za. This library deals mainly with information from the Port Elizabeth district. This is a free service. When sending a query to Ruby, please ensure that: 1. Subject header reads - Att. Ruby [and the surname look-up], 2. Please give Ruby as much information as possible.
Cory Library for Historical Research with a searchable catalogue
Fish Hoek Valley Museum, a private Museum with displays on Peers' Cave, local history, local environment.
Genealogical Institute of South Africa, in afrikaans only
Genealogical Society of South Africa
National Archives of South Africa - with a searchable index
National Library of South Africa - searchable catalogue
Museums Online South Africa - search for museums, organisations, associations and societies
Simon's Town Museum, collects and exhibits the cultural history of the people of Simon’s Town. It offers talks, guided walks and undertakes research and provides copies of historical photographs and pictures.
The Stellenbosch Heemkring, a non-profit cultural organization for the collection and preservation of material of cultural and historical significance for Stellenbosch
Genealogical and Historical Societies
Genealogical Society of South Africa
Durban and Coastal Branch - postal address: P O Box 50063, Musgrave Road, 4062. Contact: Judy dbncoastal@ggsa.info
East Cape Branch, Port Elizabeth - postal address: PO Box 63774 GREEN ACRES 6057 - email enquiries to: oskaap@ggsa.info
Free State Branch, Bloemfontein - email enquires to: vrystaat@ggsa.info
Johannesburg Branch, re-established 2008, Secretary Diane Brear diane@lensinger.co.za
Natal Midlands Branch, Pietermaritzburg - postal address: P.O. Box 1567 Pietermaritzburg 3200 - email enquiries to: moconnor@futurenet.co.za
Northern Transvaal Branch, Pretoria - postal address: Posbus 75292 Lynnwood Ridge 0040 - email enquries to: ntvl@ggsa.info
Northwest Branch, Potchefstroom and Klerksdorp - postal address: PO Box 1493 Potchefstroom 2520
Vaal Triangle Branch, Vanderbijlpark - postal address: P.O. Box 1174 Vanderbijlpark 1900 - email enquiries to: vaaldriehoek@ggsa.info
Western Cape Branch, Cape Town - postal address: P.O. Box 4674 Tygervallei 7536 - email enquiries to: weskaap@ggsa.info
West Gauteng Branch, Witwatersrand - postal address: P.O. Box 794 Randparkrif 2156 - email enquiries to: jhbwesgauteng@ggsa.info
Cape Town Family History Society
South East Witwatersrand Family History Society
Simon's Town Historical Society, for the collection, collation and preservation of information, objects of any kind and documents, plans, photographs and books concerning the history of Simon's Town.
The South African Military History Society, is a non-profit society of enthusiasts dedicated to the study, recording and dissemination of military aspects of South Africa's history.
Searchable data:
British Concentration Camps of the South African War 1900-1902, by Elizabeth van Heyningen
Cape Master Death Notice Index Project - by Adelbert Semmelink
Cape Slave Transactons, by A.M. van Rensburg. Includes several seachable databses concerned with slaves at the Cape.
Cape Town Baptisms, part of Daniel Jacobs' Gendata web site. An index of baptisms of various denominations at the Cape (mostly of English speaking people and mostly situated in the Cape Peninsula) as well as some baptisms at the Cape Town Lutheran Congregation. It covers the period 1808 to 1854, but not for every congregation. You will need to use FireFox or Chrome browsers to view this database as it does not appear to be compatible with Internet Explorer.
Inventories of the Orphan Chamber of the Cape of Good Hope by the TEPC team of transcribers and editors - this series is now complete and contain 75 volumes, 1673-1834. It now also contains the first 5 volumes of the Venudrollen (auction records), the series MOOC 10, dating from 1691 to 1748. This is an amazing piece of work and immensely valuable, both for genealogists and historians.
Resolutions of the Council of Policy of Cape of Good Hope - the TANAP project
South African Jewish Rootsbank. Database containing many different types of information, but only accessible by searching for a name. If you have a download accelerator installed on your computer, you will need to remember to disable this in order to access this information (there is usually a key combination available to disable the download accelerator).
South Africa War Graves Project, by Ralph McLean
Stellenbosch Death and Burial Registers, with related regsiters and information, compiled by Ockert Malan (in afrikaans).
Passenger Lists:
Lists of South African passenger arrivals and departures 1891 to 1923 - transcribed from the South Africa Magazine by Ellen Stanton
Natal Passenger Lists 1846 to 1909. These passenger lists were transcribed from the newspapers Natal Witness and Natal Mercury. Be sure to read the introduction at the foot of the page.
Passenger Lists from Hamburg to South Africa, by Joachim Schubert. Ships that left Hamburg during the second half of the 19th Century to bring Germans to South Africa.
South African Passenger Lists, author not stated.
Calculations:
Birth Date Calculator, by Ben Buckner. Calculate a birth date from the date and age at death.
Mailing lists and other groups:
British Immigrants - discussion and sharing of information about immigrants from the United Kingdom to South Africa prior to 1900. Past messages are available in the Rootsweb archives and can also be searched in a rudimentary fashion.
Buitenposten - a South African genealogy and social history discussion group. The main language medium is Afrikaans and English, but contributions in other languages are welcome. Past messages are available in the Rootsweb archives and can also be searched in a rudimentary fashion.
SAGenealogie - South African Genealogy discussion group with Afrikaans as the discussion language. Its web page is here. Its archives are only availabie to its members.
South Africa - a mailing list for anyone interested in Southern African genealogy and related topics. Discussion is conducted mainly in English and Afrikaans but other languages are welcome. Past messages are available in the Rootsweb archives and can also be searched in a rudimentary fashion.
South Africa - Eastern Cape - mailing list for anyone with a genealogical, cultural or historical interest in the province of Eastern Cape, South Africa. Discussion is conducted mainly in English. Past messages are available in the Rootsweb archives and can also be searched in a rudimentary fashion.
Southern Africa Jewish Genealogy Special Interest Group, edited by Dr Saul Issroff. Its aims are to bring together Jewish genealogy researchers with a common interest in Southern Africa.
West Gauteng Branch of the GSSA Blogspot - an interesting collection of articles on various subjects of interest to genealogists.
South African surname interests:
Afrikaans Families and their Researchers - maintained by Anne Lehmkuhl, a list of surnames interests, mainly Afrikaans surnames.
Southern African Region Surname Interests Page - by Conrod Mercer, mainly English surnames
Stamboom, a listing of South African surnames and the individuals interested in them, maintained by Francois Greeff. Afrikaans only.
Historical and other information:
South Africa, every sort of fact, but mostly dates, by Ben Cahoun
South African History Time Line maintained by Dennis Pretorius. The web site states that the initial details of these pages were supplied by David Morris, Anne Lehmkuhl and Ian Scholtz (as does the site below), but these two timelines do differ in many instances and it is worth checking both.
South African Orientated Time Line by Anne Lehmkuhl, David Morris, Ian Scholtz Dick Whitlock. A chronological list of dates and historical events mainly pertaining to South Africa.
Army Nursing in the Boer War, by Keiron Spires, a short account of the medical and nurseing back ground and a long list of around 900 nursting staff, on the British side only, involved in the Anglo-South African War of 1899-1902
British 1820 Settlers to South Africa
- by Paul Tanner-Tremaine. Also presents, under the heading 'Downloads', family trees for a selection of these settlers. These are presented in a much more readable style than on the previous web site, but sources of the information, although some are included, are few.
The other particularly valuable section is included under the heading 'Topics' and includes extracts from contemporary newspapers and letters as well as modern articles.
Some sections of the web site are unavailable except on free registration of your details.
Church Record Archives in South Africa a useful listing of where and how these can be found
Die Groot Trek - by Dr L. E. Oberholster. A great deal of information about the Great Trek, in Afrikaans.
Genealogy World This web site has some useful information, particularly on Natal settlers of English origin, with numerous ship passenger lists transcribed from newspapers of the time.
German South African Resource Page - by Joachim Schubert. Dedicated to German South Africans, including genealogy, local history and church matters. Where ever possible, identical pages have been made available in English and German.
History of the Cape of Good Hope under the VOC - an excellent survey up to 1795, by Dr Helena Liebenberg
Let them Speak:Slave Stamouers of South Africa, by A.M. van Rensburg. Includes several seachable databses concerned with slaves at the Cape.
Natal - European Immigration Registers. Rosemary Dixon-Smith describes these registers indexes held in the Pietermaritzburg Archives which can help trace the arrival of immigrants to Natal. One of the many useful articles on GenealogyWorld.net
Natal Passenger Lists 1846 to 1909. These passenger transcribed from the newspapers Natal Witness and Natal Mercury. Be sure to read the introduction at the foot of the page.
Numbering Systems in Genealogy by Richard A. Pence. If you wonder what the strange a1b2c3 codes are in South African genealogies!
Roman Numeral Year Dates, A Conversion Guide by Christopher Handy. An excellent guide to interpreting Roman numerals.
South African Genealogy, by Sharon Warr. German Military Settler Marriages 1857, Ships & Passengers, Wrecks & Survivors, Books & Cds, Medical Practitioners In The Cape Colony 1863.
South African Passenger Lists, author not stated.
Stamouers of South Africa - lots of information - maintained by André van Rensburg
Pretoria
EMAGAMENI, the Place of Names by Denise le Roux. A collection of books and articles on Pretoria history written by Tom Andrews in the form of Adobe Acrobat (pdf) files.
Graves and Cemeteries in South Africa:
GGSA National Cemetery Recording Project, Project Leader, Fanie Blignaut
eGGSA's Graves and Graveyards. A large collection of gravestone photographs, maintained by Alta Griffiths and her band of volunteers.
Cemeteries and Crematoria, some information and lists of cemeteries in Cape Town and Gauteng.
Cemeteries in Johannesburg, Johannesburg City Parks. Includes a searchable database.
Jewish Graves, part of the South African Jewish Rootsbank. Apparently all Jewish graves in South Africa are covered. Only accessible by searching for a name. If you have a download accelerator installed on your computer, you will need to remember to disable this in order to access this information (there is usually a key combination available to disable the download accelerator).
Stellenbosch Death and Burial Registers, with related regsiters and information, compiled by Ockert Malan (in afrikaans).
War Graves and Military Personnel:
The International Armed Forces Memorial, by Richard Holman
South Africa War Graves Project, by Ralph McLean
The War Graves Photographic Project, Project Co-ordinator Steve Rogers
SA Roll of honour. A roll of SADF personnel who died for their country; from the establishment of the republic until 1994, by John Dovey.
The Cemetery, Graveyards, Memorials and War Graves Pages, by Derek Walker. War and Military memorials.
Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Includes graves of South African military personnel.
Other lists of South African genealogical links:
The Genealogical Society of South Africa a page of links
Genealogical resources - Genealogical Institute of South Africa.
Photographs and their dating
Secure the Shadow: The Story of Cape Photography from its beginnings to the end of 1870, by Marjorie Bull and Joseph Denfield, Terence McNally, 1970
From data collected it has been possible to compile a Studio Establishment Index, an invaluable work of reference which will enable all types of photographs which show the photographer's name and place of practice to be dated more accurately than has ever before been possible. The inclusion of 34 biographies enhances the full story of the pioneer photographers, many of whom were prominent in professions other than photography.
Date an Old UK Photograph, by Roger F.Vaughan. Extremely useful information, also applicable to South African photographs.
Roughly Date the Photograph of a Victorian or Edwardian Lady, by Roger Vaughan. The dates are mostly my best estimates - actual dated photos are used where possible.
European and International Links:
Central Bureau for Genealogy is the Dutch information and documentation centre for genealogy, family history and related sciences
Institute of Netherlands History
Internet Atlas of the Netherlands
The Netherlands as it was: the environment: an amazing collection of maps, some national ( the 17th century atlases, field maps, aerial photographs), some regional (Deft, Friesland, Heino, Leek, Nijmegen, Norg, Overijssel, Roden, Utrecht and Veere)
Genlias, a searchable database of births, deaths and marriages since 1811, when compulsory registration was introduced in the Netherlands. All marriage records have now been included in this database, the inclusion of births and deaths is not yet complete. For more information see: Wat zit in Genlias?
Regional:
Amersfoort, Archief Eemland - not yet completed
Amsterdam Gemeentearchief
Baptisms 1564-1811 a superb, searchable database of baptisms. PDF copies of register pages can be purchased and downloaded online, taking credit card payments. NB. The downloading process works in Firefox browser but not in my Internet Explorer version 7.
Genealogy introduction to Amsterdam genealogy
Brabants Historisch Informatie Centrum, including a searchable database of baptisms, marriages and burials, 1582-1902
Delft Gemeentearchief another wonderful database of baptisms, marriages and burials 1575-1953
Eindhoven, Regionaal Historisch Centrum - apparently more or less complete
Friesian Historical and LIterary Centre, including a searchable database of baptisms, marriages and burials
Noord Holland, Archiefsdienst voor Kennemerland - apparently only since 1811
Haags Gemeentearchief (The Hague). Little, if any, online data avaiable
Leiden
Leiden Archief still building and therefore limited, searchable database of baptism, marriages and burials
Rotterdam, Gemeentearchief Rotterdam
Utrecht
Utrecht Archief Notarial Deeds a searchable database, 1663-1782, of deeds which may be downloaded
Zeeland
Zeeuws Gezocht, A searchable database of many records held in the Zeeuws Archief, including emigration 1839-1900 to South Africa and the USA
Dutch East India Company (VOC):
De VOC Site, an alphabetical list of ships with dates and voyages, as well as other material, including descriptions of the various types of ships in use
The Dutch East India Company, Dutch-Asiatic Shipping 1595-1795 , including an Overview of Voyages and a database searchable by, among others, Ship's name and place and date of departure and arrival
TANAP study of VOC archives
VOC employees
VOC links, a huge collections of relevant links
VOC Shipwrecks, every Dutch VOC ship that's ever been wrecked and their stories. (Use the menu at the bottom of the page - top one doesn't work)
Batavia
Daghregister Van ‘t Casteel Batavia van het Jaaren 1683-1701, contents of the Diary held at the VOC center of Batavia, 1683-1701, by the Indonesian National Archives. In Adobe Acrobat pdf format.
Miscellaneous:
Atlas of Mutual Heritage, maps, drawings, prints and paintings of locations related to the VOC
A History of the Dutch Language
Online English/Dutch, Dutch/English dictionary, a very useful aid.
Van Dale Onlinewoordenboek, another excellent Dutch dictionary, but not a translating one.
Britain:
Census Returns
Census Records - what they are and where to find them
1911 Census, newly released. The National Archives in association with a company called FiindMyPast, the online version is, as yet, very expensive. One has to buy credits and, quoting from the web site: Viewing the images of the household pages uses 30 credits, which costs from £2.50 to £3.48, depending on the package of credits that you buy. The returns can be viewed without charge by visiting the National Archives at Kew, near London.
1881 census can be consulted free at FamilySearch.org, web site of the Church of the Latter Day Saints.
other censuses, 1841 to 1901, can be viewed through using the online facilities of various companies, among others, for a fee: Ancestry.co.uk, FindMyPast.com, UKCensusOnline.com, BritishOrigins.com (not all censuses)
British National Archives - an enormous collecton of documents, indexes and articles.
Wills - a guide to the Prerogative Court of Canterbury wills (1384 - 1858), searchable and orderable on this site, and also a comprehensive explanation and guide to wills stored elsewhere.
Research guides - an enormous collection of information, on specific records as well as general guides such as Family History, Beginners' Latin, and Palaeography.
The National Archives Podcast Series - various talks, no pictures - includes family history, for instance Tracing pre-1914 army ancestors and Emigration records
Research Tools - information to help research with documents of various types, wills, WW1 records and other collections, as well as some general information about using the site.
Naturalisation and Citizenship: Grants of British Nationality
Equity Pleadings Database - A rich source of information, particularly legal, social and economic history as well as genealogical sources.
1911 Census returns,
Gazettes - Official Newspaper of Record for the UK, including the London, Edinburgh and Belfast Gazettes. Searchable. The London Gazette has over 350 years published a diverse range of official information such as: change of name by deed poll, naturalisation, military, judicial, and ecclesiastical appointments, honours and medals, bankruptcy/insolvency, death.
Yesterday's Journeys - by Mike Spencer. Records of people on the move in Britain who had dealings with documents and Officials. The Records come from Derbyshire, but often deal with many people from other regions passing through. Do read the Information Page.
England and Wales:
General Register Office, for birth, marriage and death certificates
Records held, what records you can find there
Information to be found on Birth Certifcates, Marriage Certificates, Death Certificates
Frequently asked questions about ordering certificates
England and Wales Birth, Marriage, and Death Certificate Information, by Barbara Dixon
FreeBMD, maintained by the Trustees of FreeBMD. Online searchable transcription of the England and Wales index to births, marriages and deaths 1837 to 1949 - very nearly complete. With this information one can apply for a copy of the certificate from the General Register Office (see above).
Scotland:
Scotland's People, for Births, Marriages, Deaths, Wills and Census returns.
Germany
Links for German Genealogy on the Internet, by Joe Beine
The Hamburg Passenger Departure Lists 1850-1934, by Joe Beine
German South African Resource Page, by Joachim Schubert. Deals with German South Africans, including genealogy, local history and church matters.
The Eastern Cape's German Settlers, by Dr Keith Tankard
German Military Settler database, by Nolene Lossau
Archives in Germany, by Andreas Hanacek. Details of some German Archives, in German
Gen-Wiki, all about Geraman Genealogy - you will need to understand German for this site.
Rest of the World Links:
The Huguenot Society of Australia
Ceylon - Dutch Burgher Union
Ireland, The National Archives of Ireland, Census of Ireland 1911
Guide to Free Online Birth Indexes, Transcriptions and Records, author not stated
General Family History Books online:
Latter Day Saints - Brigham Young University: - digitised family histories. Mainly United States contents but other countries are represented in the current online collection.
| ||||
