1881 in South Africa
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Events
- January
- 28 – The Boers defeat the British in the Battle of Laing's Nek during the First Boer War.
- February
- 8 – The Boers defeat the British in the Battle of Schuinshoogte during the First Boer War.
- 27 – The Boers defeat the British in the Battle of Majuba Hill during the First Boer War.
- March
- 21 – Peace is declared and Britain recognizes the South African Republic.
- 26 – Reinhold Gregorowski is appointed a judge in the Orange Free State at the age of 25.
- May
- The Government of Cape Prime Minister Gordon Sprigg falls due to ruinous war expenses. Scanlen and Molteno form the Scanlen Government and begin moves to secure peace on the frontier and stabilise finances.
- August
- 3 – The Pretoria Convention peace treaty is signed, officially ending the war between the Boers and the Britain.
- Unknown date
- The Tshwana-Kora wars break out with white mercenary involvement.
- The town of Roburnia is established as the capital of the Republic of New Scotland. It was renamed to Amsterdam in 1882.
- Gold is discovered in the Barberton area.
Births
- 23 April – South African Test cricket player Claude Pagdett Carter is born in Durban.
- 28 May – Daniël Francois Malherbe, novelist, poet and dramatist, is born in Dal Josafat, Cape Colony.
- November – Benjamin Jennings Caddy, a militant trade unionist who is regarded as the doyen of the trade union movement in South Africa, is born in Australia.
Deaths
- 21 April – Jacobus Nicolaas Boshoff, 2nd president of the Orange Free State, dies in Weston, Pietermaritzburg at the age of 73.
- 9 December – Thomas François Burgers, 4th president of the South African Republic, dies at Richmond, Transvaal at the age of 74.
Railways
New lines
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- Construction begins on the Port Alfred-Grahamstown line.[1][2]
Railway lines opened
Locomotives
- Six 1st Class 4-4-0 side-tank-and-tender passenger locomotives enter service on the Cape Midland system of the Cape Government Railways.[4]: 25–26
- The first three of sixteen 0-4-0 saddle-tank locomotives built for the Table Bay Harbour Board by Black, Hawthorn & Co, Chapman and Furneaux and Hawthorn Leslie and Company enter shunting and construction service.[5]: 122–123 [6]: 25 [7]
- Two 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) Cape gauge 0-4-0 saddle-tank locomotives are placed in service by Teague and Company on Teague’s Tramway at the Kimberley diamond mine.[5]: 110–122
References
- ^ The South African Railways - Historical Survey. Editor George Hart, Publisher Bill Hart, Sponsored by Dorbyl Ltd., Published c. 1978.
- ^ Heritage Portal: The Port Alfred to Grahamstown Railway
- ^ Report for year ending 31 December 1909, Cape Government Railways, Section VIII - Dates of Opening and the Length of the different Sections in the Cape Colony, from the Year 1873 to 31st December, 1909.
- ^ Holland, D.F. (1971). Steam Locomotives of the South African Railways. Vol. 1: 1859–1910 (1st ed.). Newton Abbott, England: David & Charles. ISBN 978-0-7153-5382-0.
- ^ a b Holland, D. F. (1972). Steam Locomotives of the South African Railways. Vol. 2: 1910-1955 (1st ed.). Newton Abbott, England: David & Charles. ISBN 978-0-7153-5427-8.
- ^ Paxton, Leith; Bourne, David (1985). Locomotives of the South African Railways (1st ed.). Cape Town: Struik. ISBN 0869772112.
- ^ Table Bay Harbour locomotives by Black, Hawthorn & Chapman and Furneaux