This page was last updated on 11 August 2021

Click here to 
Print this page

Biography finder

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

Q

R

S

T

U

V

W

X

Y

Z

 

 

Index of first names

Douglas, Northern Cape

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Douglas, Northern CapeDouglas is a town situated near the confluence of the Orange and Vaal Rivers in the Northern Cape province of South Africa. On this fertile soil nestles the town of Douglas. The town itself is a green patchwork of dramatic contrast - space for the solitary and activity for the energetic. Douglas is divided in three sections or locations named Bongani, Breipaal and Douglas.

Douglas lies about 120 km on the R357 road Southwest of Kimberley, the famous city of diamonds.

The town was founded in 1848 as a mission station on the farm Backhouse by the Reverend Isaac Hughes. In 1867, a group of Europeans from Griquatown signed an agreement giving them the right to establish a town. The town was named after General Sir Robert Percy Douglas, Lieutenant Governor of the Cape Colony.

 

This is probably the location of the action at Sunnyside Farm on 1 January, 1900, when Lt-Col Pilcher, commanding a mixed force of Australians, Canadians and Imperial troops from Maj-Gen Sir Elliott Wood's force at Belmont, surprised and routed a Boer commando. They then occupied the town of Douglas for one night before returning to Belmont. British casualties were 2 killed and 2 wounded; Boer losses are known to have been about 15 killed and 38 prisoners.

 

Douglas Weir is a dam on the Vaal River, near Douglas, Northern Cape. It was established in 1977.

 

Any contributions will be gratefully accepted

 

 




Errors and Omissions

The Forum

What's new?

We are looking for your help to improve the accuracy of The Douglas Archives.

If you spot errors, or omissions, then please do let us know


Contributions

Many articles are stubs which would benefit from re-writing. Can you help?


Copyright

You are not authorized to add this page or any images from this page to Ancestry.com (or its subsidiaries) or other fee-paying sites without our express permission and then, if given, only by including our copyright and a URL link to the web site.

 

If you have met a brick wall with your research, then posting a notice in the Douglas Archives Forum may be the answer. Or, it may help you find the answer!

You may also be able to help others answer their queries.

Visit the Douglas Archives Forum.

 

2 Minute Survey

To provide feedback on the website, please take a couple of minutes to complete our survey.

 

We try to keep everyone up to date with new entries, via our What's New section on the home page.

We also use the Community Network to keep researchers abreast of developments in the Douglas Archives.


Help with costs

Maintaining the three sections of the site has its costs.  Any contribution the defray them is very welcome
Donate

 

Newsletter

If you would like to receive a very occasional newsletter - Sign up!

 
 
 

 

Back to top

 



The content of this website is a collection of materials gathered from a variety of sources, some of it unedited.

The webmaster does not intend to claim authorship, but gives credit to the originators for their work.

As work progresses, some of the content may be re-written and presented in a unique format, to which we would then be able to claim ownership.

Discussion and contributions from those more knowledgeable is welcome.

Contact Us

Last modified: Monday, 25 March 2024