Category Archives: 20th Century 1900-1999

Posts pertaining to the C20th

New Data Register of the Anglo Boer War 1899-1902

New Data Register of the Anglo Boer War 1899-1902

New data has been added to the Register of those who served in the Anglo Boer War from 1899 to 1902. It now contains the names for the Royal Navy, Royal Marine Light Infantry, Royal Marine Artillery, Royal Indian Marine and local staff who earned medals assisting the Royal Navy.

How did the Anglo Boer War arise?

The Anglo Boer Wars were a major conflict at the end of the 19th century but many of us have little idea as to what caused the British to be at war in the southern most part of the African continent. The Cape Colony had originally been part of the Dutch colonial empire but in 1815, the British had their eyes on Simontown, a vital port on route to India and the wealth that went with it. All the British really wanted was the port, they had little interest in the extensive land that went with it, nor in the problems it might bring with the indigenous population. The Boers numbered about 25,000 in the Cape Colony. They used the indigenous black population as slaves on their farms. When Britain abolished slavery in 1833, the Boers were outraged and fundamentally disagreed with the liberal movement behind emancipation. They also wanted compensation from the British Government for their losses. Little was forthcoming.

The Boers also wanted to take military action against the Xhosa tribe and for a while they had the support of the local British Governor of the Cape, Sir Benjamin d’Urban. He annexed some Xhosa territory but Britain did not want to extend the lands in the Cape and d’Urban was forced to restore it to the Xhosa. This further outraged the Boer and a divide opened up between the British and the Boers about their relations with the native black population.

Anglo Boer War 1899 - 1902
Anglo Boer War

The Boers Great Trek of 1836

The Boers resolved the problem in 1836 by undertaking what is now known as the Great Trek, to seek a new home in the Veld. The Boers themselves split into different factions but one large group settled in Natal on the East coast. Here they came up against the Zulus with whom they fought and triumphed but their victory was short lived as the British had no intention of allowing the Dutch settlers control of the coastline and in 1843 they annexed Natal to the British crown. Other settlements such as the Orange Free State were more successful.

The fear the British Government had about the Cape Colony was the cost of running it and they sought to make the colony self governing. In 1853 two elected Houses of Parliament were set up. Caught up in all of this was the necessity of recognizing the independence of the Boer States of Transvaal and Orange Free State but they had to agree that there would be no slavery under their rule. Not all Boers wanted independence from Britain but Britain could not suffer the costs of defending the Boers against the Xhosa or the Zulu. So a complex arrangement was made, the British and the Boers formed the European part of South Africa whilst being surrounded by Xhosa and Zulu who were not happy with their presence. British Governor of the Cape Colony in 1853, was a man called Sir George Grey who sought peace between the white settlers and the Xhosa. He placed many of the Xhosa lands under the protection of the British Government. He also wanted a Federation of South Africa were the rule could be shared between the British and the Boer. His work was not supported by the British Government and dissent between the groups festered away. When Britain later sought to annex Transvaal in 1867 it was met with fierce opposition from the Boers and the First Boer War broke out in 1880. An uneasy peace broke out which collapsed as it became apparent that the voice of the Boers in the Transvaal was becoming more nationalistic and what they wanted was a united South Africa under the Afrikaaners. The ensuing political debacle ended with Britain rejecting various ultimatums from the Boers and the two were at war again.

Anglo Boer War 1899 - 1902
Statue of Andries Pretorius who led the Boers to war

Find out if an ancestor of yours served in the Boer War and if they were entitled to a medal

In addition to medal entitlement, much more information that can be seen in The Register, including, casualties, honours and awards, miscellaneous references, biographical notes and if the medals have been seen on the open market. You can also use The Register to find missing medals. Simply buy the record you are interested in and you will be notified of all updates. In total there are now 292,487 records on The Register as well as much background information about the Boer Wars themselves.

We found another fascinating history website about South African history

South African History Online is an absorbing website that clearly describes the growth and development of South Africa and the part that the British played in it’s history.

WW1 Postcards

WW1 Postcards a rich resource and a visual opportunity, find out how to discover and use the 20K plus postcards on Europeana for the period 1914-1918 and muse over how you might dig-out what ephemera you might have in your loft or research boxes that might help you and others connect and make that next step n researching your project wehther for your family history social, local or special interest project. In the first year of the 100th centenary of WW1 will there ever be such an opportunity to explore and discover what happened and better understand those momentous events? more

Secret History of our Streets over 125 years BBC iPlayer

Booth’s 17 year study and survey of Poverty in London produced a ground-breaking set of revelations some 120 years later using 6 archetypal streets what has changed, what has not and why is the subject of this new excellent BBC Series. Ideal for anyone with family social and local history interests whether your subject is London and these streets or not. A collaboration between the BBC and OpenLearn from the OU coinciding with the Diamond Jubilee and Olympics some interesting observations, do we ever learn? more

An intriguing afternoon with Lady Carnarvon about The Real Downton Abbey Highclere Castle

Highclere history highlights some intriguing connections after an enjoyable afternoon with Lady Carnarvon. Did the price of grain lead to a significant increase in Anglo-American Marriages amongst the British Aristocracy? Were the aristocratic marriages significant in the development of our society and what impact did they have subsequently through two world wars on the Special Relationship between two Nation-States. Amazing what you can learn from an intriguing lunch-time talk… more

Great Presentation visual tools to communicate complex ideas and narrative in history

See this good example of just using google and images with simple captions to narrate a history project and projection of the future. Here is the challenge can looking at your history through the images of say a dozen objects attract new interest, communicate effectively, make new connections integrate with maps and timelines and with these new and intriguing connections can you gain some new insights? well worth a look tools tipsan technques to adapt for you and your history project. more

The Scream Auction at Sothebys becomes an Artefact on YouTube Forever?

Munch sale captured on YouTube, art history and business in the making, digital transience what will happen to our archives, the equal and opposing forces of clamour for open data and archives and the need to profit to fund invention creativity and innovation. How can you secure your future archives and can we achieve a better balance, inspired by a 12 minute YouTube Moment… more

The protection of ideas yields new important collections: Steve Jobs Patent artefacts @ Smithosonian

Steve Jobs honoured with Smithsonian Patent exhibition, what is the significance and resonance with you and your history project….what were the historic origins of intellectual property, copyright and licensing designs, so much of industry still relies on this protection what will happen going forward in an open world where everyone has access to the same knowledge, the start of a series of articles…. more

How can you build your own personal online art collection and maybe find some new and intriguing resources and information to enjoy and inform the research for your history project!. Automating some legwork sure worked for me, it is a bit like fishing you need to be patient but it yields results and does much more searching than you could do manually, take a look at the Painting I found for my One Name Study. more

Falklands War 30 Years On How Did it Impact on Your Family?

Timeline for Falklands War, 30 years on can you remember were you were and what were you doing? What was the impact on your family history, and in thirty years has very much changed or been learn’t from the lesson and losses of lives from the conflict… more

Gutenberg Project Free Ebook Resources

Gutenberg Project 38,000 Free Ebooks for all, legitimate and great research resources non-fiction as well as fiction. Over 100,000 books with partners and affiliates, it is a great resource for historians. Thanks to it’s late founder Michael S Stearn… more

Open Data, Linked Data accessible to all and able to be shared analysed and used by us all. Listen to short video from the excellent Nigel Shadbolt and you will soon see why this is relevant and important for anyone interested in history as well as just about every other aspect of life. This is not just blue sky thinking, it’s happening here and now and there are opportunities tog et involved…now more

New Ancestry Website

New Ancestry Website

Is the New and major Ancestry upgrade more like colourful building blocks we all treasured as kids, or more like a battleship grey but none less popular Aeroplane kit, less creative and more prescriptive? Take a look a this excellent new interface and find out how together we might take a fresh look at our toolkit and resources for family history spurred on by this latest competitive leap by Ancestry.

The English Accent and Family History

The English Accent and Family History

What English accent did your ancestors speak with back in Elizabethan England? You might be surprised to learn that an American reciting Shakespeare is nearer to the mark than you or I.

Scotland’s Valuation Rolls

Scotland’s Valuation Rolls

The 1925 Valuation Rolls for Scotland have just been launched by Scotland’s People and are free to search.

People of Northern England Database

People of Northern England Database

The People of Northern England (PONE) database is not new but not much heard about either. This database is of the people in the Northern counties of Northumberland, Cumberland and Westmorland from the C13th. It is drawn from two types of material, one financial and one legal. The financial material is drawn from the pipe…

History Pin WWI Hub

Use the History Pin WWI Hub to share your WWI project and let others connect with what you are doing. Your project may be large or small but by sharing it, many more people will be able to make links and connections with you.

Mapping the London Blitz

Mapping the London Blitz

Mapping the London Blitz is a great project which has used the collated and mapped all the census material of all the bombs dropped during the Blitz 1940 – 1941. It is a fascinating resource for family historians with a connection to WWII.

Red Cross POW Records

Red Cross POW Records

The Red Cross POW records are now digitized and available online to search. For many family historians these records complete the story of their ancestors who served in WWI.

New DNA Studies

New DNA Studies

A new study of European DNA has revealed a third population group that make up the DNA of modern Europeans.

WW1 Postcards

WW1 Postcards

WW1 Postcards a rich resource and a visual opportunity, find out how to discover and use the 20K plus postcards on Europeana for the period 1914-1918 and muse over how you might dig-out what ephemera you might have in your loft or research boxes that might help you and others connect and make that next step n researching your project wehther for your family history social, local or special interest project. In the first year of the 100th centenary of WW1 will there ever be such an opportunity to explore and discover what happened and better understand those momentous events?

Operation War Diary

Operation War Diary

Operation War Diary is a crowd sourced project to classify the WWI diaries of the British Army on the Western Front. A project involving the Imperial War Museum and the National Archive.