1876 in South Africa

The following lists events that happened during 1876 in South Africa.

← 1875 1874 1873 1876 in South Africa → 1877 1878 1879
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: Henry Barkly.
• Lieutenant-governor of the Colony of Natal: Henry Ernest Gascoyne Bulwer.
• State President of the Orange Free State: Jan Brand.
• State President of the South African Republic: Thomas François Burgers.
• Lieutenant-Governor of Griqualand West: William Owen Lanyon.
• Prime Minister of the Cape of Good Hope: John Charles Molteno.

Events

January

• The inaugural Champion Bat Tournament is held, a predecessor of first-class cricket in South Africa.
• 15 – Die Patriot, the first Afrikaans newspaper, begins to be published in Paarl.

February

• 5 – The ship Memento sinks off East London and two 2nd Class 2-6-2TT locomotives intended for the Eastern System of the Cape Government Railways are lost.[1]

March

• 27 – The Cape Times, the first daily newspaper in South Africa, begins in Cape Town, Cape Colony

June

• 16 – The railway line from Cape Town to Worcester is officially opened.

July

• Construction begins on the Cape Town Central Station as hub to the Cape Government Railways.

October

• 19 – The 2,700 ton steamer Windsor Castle sinks off Dassen Island.

Unknown date

• A Dutch Reformed Church is built at what is now the town of Amersfoort in Mpumalanga Province.
• Prime Minister Molteno travels as plenipotentiary to London to discuss Britain's proposed confederation model for southern Africa.
• The "Molteno Unification Plan" is put forward as an alternative model for eventual political consolidation in southern Africa.[2]
• Isigidimi Sama Xhosa, the first Xhosa-run newspaper, is begun in Lovedale, Cape Colony.
• Britain admits wrongful action in its annexation of Griqualand West.
• President Johannes Brand of the Orange Free State rejects any discussion of Carnarvon's proposed confederation system for Southern Africa.
• The country's first official archives are created when the Cape Government appoints a commission to assemble, sort and index the records of the Cape.[3]
• Southern Africa's first railway tunnel, the Hex River tunnel on the railway line between Osplaas and Matroosberg, is completed.[4]

Births

• 9 October – Solomon Tshekisho Plaatje, intellectual, journalist, linguist, politician, translator, and writer, is born near Boshof, Orange Free State.
• 21 October – Sir Fraser Russell, Governor of Southern Rhodesia. (d. 1952)

Railways

CGR 1st Class 2-6-0 1876 Beyer-Peacock

CGR 1st Class 2-6-0ST

CGR Fairlie 0-6-0+0-6-0

Natal Railway 4-4-0T Perseverance

New lines

• Construction begins on the East London-King William's Town line.[5][6]
• In Natal construction begins on the Cape gauge railway line inland from Durban.[5]

Railway lines opened

• 1 January – Namaqualand – Kookfontein to O'okiep, 32 miles (51.5 kilometres).[7]
• 1 April – Cape Midland – Addo to Sand Flats, 22 miles 30 chains (36.0 kilometres).[8]
• 16 June – Cape Western – Ceres Road to Worcester, 24 miles 38 chains (39.4 kilometres).[8]
• 14 September – Cape Western – Bellville to Muldersvlei, 13 miles 37 chains (21.7 kilometres).[8]
• 18 December – Cape Eastern – East London to Breidbach, 38 miles 73 chains (62.6 kilometres).[8]

Locomotives

Cape

Six new locomotive types enter service on the Cape Government Railways (CGR):

• The first ten of eighteen 1st Class 2-6-0 Mogul goods locomotives on the Western system.[1][9]^:28–29[10]
• A pair of Stephenson's Patent back-to-back 2-6-0 Mogul type side-tank locomotives on the Cape Midland system.[1][11]^:118–121
• The first of eight 2-6-0 Mogul tender locomotives on the Midland system, also designated 1st Class, all later rebuilt to saddle-tank shunting engines.[1][9]^:28[11]^:118–121
• A single experimental 0-6-0+0-6-0 Fairlie locomotive and a pair of 0-6-0 Stephenson's Patent permanently coupled back-to-back tank locomotives for comparative trials on the Eastern system. The Fairlie is the first articulated locomotive to enter service in South Africa.[9]^{:25–28, 31–32}[12][13][14]
• The first of three 1st Class 0-4-0 saddle-tank locomotives with domed boilers on the Eastern System.[1][11]^:118–119

Natal

• In January the Natal Railway Company obtains its third and last 4 ft 8 ¹⁄₂ in (1,435 mm) broad gauge locomotive, a side-tank engine named Perseverance.[9]^:20–22

References

1. C.G.R. Numbering Revised, Article by Dave Littley, SA Rail May–June 1993, pp. 94–95.
2. Cana, Frank Richardson (1911). "South Africa" . In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. 25 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 475.
3. http://www.westerncape.gov.za/your_gov/108#searching
4. Lewis, Charles; Pivnic, Les. "Soul of A Railway". System 1, Part 3: Wellington to Touws River, pp. 31–32. (Retrieved on 3 September 2016)
5. The South African Railways - Historical Survey. Editor George Hart, Publisher Bill Hart, Sponsored by Dorbyl Ltd., Published c. 1978.
6. Statement Showing, in Chronological Order, the Date of Opening and the Mileage of Each Section of Railway, Statement No. 19, p. 181, ref. no. 200954-13
7. Bagshawe, Peter (2012). Locomotives of the Namaqualand Railway and Copper Mines (1st ed.). Stenvalls. ISBN 978-91-7266-179-0.
8. 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.
9. Holland, D.F. (1971). Steam Locomotives of the South African Railways. 1: 1859–1910 (1st ed.). Newton Abbott, Devon: David & Charles. ISBN 978-0-7153-5382-0.
10. Dulez, Jean A. (2012). Railways of Southern Africa 150 Years (Commemorating One Hundred and Fifty Years of Railways on the Sub-Continent – Complete Motive Power Classifications and Famous Trains – 1860–2011) (1st ed.). Garden View, Johannesburg, South Africa: Vidrail Productions. p. 36. ISBN 9 780620 512282.
11. 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.
12. Dulez, Jean A. (2012). Railways of Southern Africa 150 Years (Commemorating One Hundred and Fifty Years of Railways on the Sub-Continent – Complete Motive Power Classifications and Famous Trains – 1860–2011) (1st ed.). Garden View, Johannesburg, South Africa: Vidrail Productions. pp. 21–22. ISBN 9 780620 512282.
13. Abbott, Rowland A.S. (1970). The Fairlie Locomotive, (1st ed.). South Devon House, Newton Abbot, Devon: David & Charles, Newton Abbot. pp. 34, 36-38. ISBN 0 7153 4902 3.
14. What were these, 2-6-0T or 0-6-0T?