1873 in South Africa

The following lists events that happened during 1873 in South Africa.

← 1872 1871 1870 1873 in South Africa → 1874 1875 1876
Decades:	1850s 1860s 1870s 1880s 1890s
See also:	List of years in South Africa

Incumbents

• Governor of the Cape of Good Hope and High Commissioner for Southern Africa: Sir Henry Barkly.
• Lieutenant-governor of the Colony of Natal:
  • Sir Anthony Musgrave (until 29 April).
  • Thomas Milles (acting from 30 April to 21 July).
  • Sir Benjamin Pine (from 22 July).
• State President of the Orange Free State: Jan Brand.[1]
• State President of the South African Republic: Thomas François Burgers.[2]
• Lieutenant-Governor of Griqualand West: Sir Richard Southey (from 17 July).[3]
• Prime Minister of the Cape of Good Hope: Sir John Molteno.

Events

April

• 30 – Thomas Milles becomes acting Lieutenant-governor of the Colony of Natal.

May

• 1 – The use of Dutch is officially allowed in the Cape of Good Hope's parliament.
• 14 – The Ohrigstad area is proclaimed a public gold field after gold is discovered in the Selati River.

July

• 5 – New Rush in Griqualand West is renamed Kimberley after John Wodehouse, 1st Earl of Kimberley.[4]
• 17 – Sir Richard Southey becomes the first Lieutenant-Governor of Griqualand West.[3]
• 22 – Sir Benjamin Pine becomes Lieutenant-governor of the Colony of Natal.

August

• 20 – Prime Minister John Molteno authorises construction of the new Cape Eastern railway line from East London.

December

• 4 – HMS Challenger, on its worldwide marine research expedition, is officially welcomed in Cape Town.
• 26 – HMS Challenger arrives at Prince Edward Islands and contacts survey and charts the islands[5]

Unknown date

• The University of South Africa is founded in Cape Town as the University of the Cape of Good Hope.
• The Cape Government establishes the first district boarding schools to educate children from rural areas while education is standardised at the Cape.[6]
• The town of East London is officially established through the proclaimed merger of the three settlements of Panmure, East London and East London East.
• Warmbad is established as Hartingsburg at the hot springs north of Pretoria.

Births

• 13 August – C.J. Langenhoven, playwright, poet, journalist, politician and author of Die Stem van Suid-Afrika. (d. 1932)
• 20 August – William Henry Bell, musician, composer and first director of the South African College of Music. (d. 1946)

Deaths

• 1 May – David Livingstone is found dead on his knees beside his bed at Lake Bangweolo. (b. 1813)

Railways

East London Harbour Board 0-4-0

Railway lines opened

• Namaqualand – Muishondfontein to Kookfontein, 15 miles (24.1 kilometres).[7]

Locomotives

• Two Cape gauge 0-4-0 saddle tank locomotives enter service at Port Elizabeth on the Midland System of the Cape Government Railways. They are the first Cape gauge locomotives to enter service in South Africa.[8]^:117–118[9][10]^:6
• East London's first steam locomotive is landed at East London Harbour, a 7 ft ¹⁄₄ in (2,140 mm) Brunel gauge 0-4-0 vertical boiler engine acquired for work on breakwater construction.[11]

References

1. Archontology.org: A Guide for Study of Historical Offices, Orange Free State: Heads of State: 1854-1902 (Accessed on 14 April 2017)
2. Archontology.org: A Guide for Study of Historical Offices, South African Republic (Transvaal): Heads of State: 1857-1877 (Accessed on 14 April 2017)
3. The British Empire: Griqualand West Administrators (Accessed on 16 April 2017)
4. Roberts, Brian. 1976. Kimberley, turbulent city. Cape Town: David Philip, p 115
5. Exploring Polar Frontiers: A Historical Encyclopedia
6. Amersfoort Legacy Timeline 1658-present
7. Bagshawe, Peter (2012). Locomotives of the Namaqualand Railway and Copper Mines (1st ed.). Stenvalls. ISBN 978-91-7266-179-0.
8. Holland, D. F. (1972). Steam Locomotives of the South African Railways. 2: 1910-1955 (1st ed.). Newton Abbott, Devon: David & Charles. ISBN 978-0-7153-5427-8.
9. C.G.R. Numbering Revised, Article by Dave Littley, SA Rail May–June 1993, pp. 94-95.
10. Paxton, Leith; Bourne, David (1985). Locomotives of the South African Railways (1st ed.). Cape Town: Struik. ISBN 0869772112.
11. Holland, D.F. (1971). Steam Locomotives of the South African Railways. 1: 1859–1910 (1st ed.). Newton Abbott, Devon: David & Charles. p. 19. ISBN 978-0-7153-5382-0.