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Research in Other Countries => South Africa => Topic started by: vic1047 on Friday 30 November 07 21:44 GMT (UK)
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Hi all,
Can anyone give me some advice on tracing family members who 'emigrated' to Southern Rhodesia. Not sure if they remained UK citizens or if they became Rhodesian.
One family I am interested in has the surname Edwards, and they were in Bulawayo in the mid 1960's. A daughter was born there and I think the father died there. The mother returned to UK and died here in 2004.
Also, another family member's marriage ended in divorce during the late 1960s, having married in the UK. I think at the time they lived in Kitwe, Zambia (Northern Rhodesia ?). She later re-married, I think in Rhodesia, but then moved with her husband's job to Namibia and South Africa.
I have seen the various comments about searching the South African archives, but what, if anything is available for Rhodesia/Zambia/Zimbabwe
Vic
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Hello Vic,
I have been working on research with relatives of my own in the former Rhodesia and the former Northern Rhodesia. The only advice I can offer is to contact the places I've listed below. The archives for Southern Rhodesia are located in Zimbabwe and the archives for Northern Rhodesia will be held in Zambia. I do not know what fees they charge but it doesn't hurt to inquire. I am afraid to say the archives are in declining condition and Zimbabwe itself is in a serious state of decline. I went the route of hiring a private researcher (a former employee at the archives in Zim) and he tells me they are down to having electricity only 3 days a week and the phone service is the same. If you would like more information about my researcher, please send me a message off the board.
Thanks and good luck!
Stephanie
For Rhodesia:
National Archives of Zimbabwe
Private bag 7729
CAUSEWAY
HARARE
ZIMBABWE
Ph: (09263-4) 792741
Fax: (09263-4) 792398
Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages
Makombe Building
Leopold Takawira St
P Bag 7734
Harare
ZIMBABWE
Tel: (09263-4) 702295
For Northern Rhodesia:
National Archives of Zambia
P.O. Box 50010
Lusaka, ZAMBIA
Tel: 260 1 250 446
Fax: 260 1 254 080
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Hi Stephanie
Has your researcher been able to purchase any BMD certs for you?
I have had rellies living in Salisbury from about 1950ish, I do know both my uncle & aunty died there, and they had 3 sons born there, so was wondering if the certs could be got.
It is sad to see the way the country has gone, I lived in Salisbury from 1972-76
Regards
Ken
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Hello Ken,
Yes, my researcher is getting every document he can, including wills, estates, birth, death, and marriage certificates, government compensation, military medal rolls...etc. Pretty much, any legal document with our family's name on it, he is getting.
If you would like information about him, please send me a private message off list. Thanks.
Yes, it is very sad to hear how things are, especially when I tell our relatives' descendants, who were all pioneers and lived there from 1894 to 1979. Now all that is left is some really good memories (and now with our researcher, some documents to go along with that. :))
Regards,
Stephanie
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Hi Stephanie
Thanks for the reply - PM will be on it's way soon.
Have you ever used google earth to look at the street you lived in, the place I lived in has changed so much.
Regards
Ken
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Hi Stephanie and Ken
Not too sure if this thread is still operational?
Another "ex" from Zim who was born, breed and schooled and now has left. Our family were 1890 Pioneers, and we were the last to leave in 2004. My late fathers brass plaque in the Garden of Remembrance at Warren Hills was stolen years to to be melted down and sold. AT least I have a photo.
Please let me know if certificates are still available to be purchased. I can send a PM as requested.
regards
AussieGaz (Gary)
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Hi Gary
I did in the end make contact with someone in Zimbabwe, but they wanted something like $150 US up front to get what I wanted. >:(
Needless to say, I still do not have what I was after, and they dont have my money ;D
I cannot tell you who they/he was as I deleted the emails ages ago.
My uncle lived in Mabelreign and almost sure he was cremated at Warren Hills and like you the brass plaque was stolen to be melted down.
----------------------
Just out of curiocity I have googled earthed Harare and my old School Ellis Robins, it looks in a shocking state, I remember the pristine tennis courts, the running tracks, rugby pitches even the swimming pool looks empty -- what a state the place must be in now.
Regards
Ken
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Hi Ken
Thanks for your reply - much appreciated. Will see what comes up as an alternative.
So an "Fush" old boy - I went to Allie Willie. Those were the days.
Harare is shocking and we made a decision of either earning stacks of cash, or having a life for ourselves and the family. Decided on the second.
Yesterday a list came out of the best and worst cities by the Economist magazine’s global liveability survey. Harare was at number 140 - bottom of the list. We had the best days of our lives.
By your user name, am I right in assuming you are linked to Manchester? My wife comes from Accrington.
Thanks again.
Gary
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Hi Gary
Sad to say but I only lived in Rhodesia from 1972-1976 and my mates made me an honouree Rhodesian, but my uncle and aunt moved there in 1950's and had and 3 kids. If I remember rightly they went to Alan Wilson, I believe one lives in New Zealand but no idea on the other 2.
MancsMan ;) yep I am Manchester Born and Breed or Manchester Born and Red ;D
Facebook was a god send for finding some of my old Rhodie mates who I keep in constant contact with, sadly my best mate committed suicide last year in Jo'burg :'( if you use FB u will find a link in my profile. Rootschat also has an unofficial FB page
Best Wishes
Ken
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Hi my name is Leda I am looking for information relating to my grandmother ancestors that were in Rhodesia Salisbury her name is Elizabeth Whitaker Vaughan.
I have very few details on her past I know her mother's name was Dorothy Grace Whitaker and her father James Arthur Ghan Vauhgan. I would like to obtain her birth certificate because it would mean a lot to my father. I would appreciate any advise...
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Hi Stephani
I saw your post i was wondering if you could tell me how you did your research i am a begin er so any help is welcome.
Rgards
Leda
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Hi Leda
I have received some news about a person who lives in Zim and who might be able to assist us all.
Have not had time to look into it much yet, however will let you know the outcome.
regards
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New to this but am hoping to find out details of my birth (specifically time of birth)in 1955. I have a very aged paper copy that is falling apart but it has an entry # and the date it was registered in what was then Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia. Is it possible to access any info from records on line or do I have to contact the Registry of Births in Zimbabwe......which I'm thinking (considering the state of affairs over there) may not even have records going that far back any more...... ???
Any info on how to go about this would be appreciated! (Also what about shipping records between South Africa and the UK in 1976?)
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Hi Bindura
I would say that your first port of call would be the BDM in Harare. The country is full of surprises. I have no idea if records would be kept by the archives or by the individual maternity hospitals.
On the shipping records, i am still trying to get clarity on arrivals in South from the UK and also Australia. If anything worthwhile comes up, I will share the sources and let you know the progress.
regards
Gaz
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Hi all you Rhodies,
So sad reading about the state of affairs in Zim and I suppose it can only get worse....ditto for S Africa. I lived in Salisbury from 1948 - 1974 and my grandparents and father in law are buried at Warren Hills - too sad to think about the desecration of graves.
I have tried every avenue in trying to obtain info. of my dad's family, oringinally from S Africa and went to Southern Rhodesia in 1948. I need his parents full names and hopefully these will appear on migration lists.
Does anyone know if I can get names from the immigration lists. I have tried to get bmd's from S Africa, but no help there either?
Many thanks
Lorand
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Hi Lorand
Reference to your post.
My late father was buried in Warren Hills in '82. Heavens knows what it might be called now!! Luckily we happended to get a photo of his bronze plaque in the Garden of Remembrance, cause this was stolen to be melted years later. Sums up the situation.
Probably a silly comment, but have you anything from your Dad vis-à-vis to his parents and death certificates or notices? Even his birth certificate which would mention his parents name. The Registrar Generals office which I think was in still in Makombe Building when we left Zim, might have a record.
regards
Gaz
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Hi Gaz,
Thanks for the help. My dad was born in Kimberley and unfortunately I don't know his mother's maiden name nor his father's first names, so very hard to get a certificate there. My birth certificate - also S African, does not state my parents names, so not sure if others would prior to 1940's. My dad died in Durban in 1985 and I have tried archives there hoping his death cert. would reveal his parents full names, but to no avail either. His parents died in S Africa. It was my maternal grandparents who are buried in Warren Hills.
I might try Ancestry 24 as I believe they have a few new websites.
Lorand
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I would suggest trying this web site and then making contact by email to see what, if any, response you get:
http://www.moha.gov.zw/rg_death_births.php
but as everyone has said the state of affairs there dont bode well for you getting anything ,
however you might be lucky enough to get someone who actually does some work there !! regards Damsel
New to this but am hoping to find out details of my birth (specifically time of birth)in 1955. I have a very aged paper copy that is falling apart but it has an entry # and the date it was registered in what was then Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia. Is it possible to access any info from records on line or do I have to contact the Registry of Births in Zimbabwe......which I'm thinking (considering the state of affairs over there) may not even have records going that far back any more...... ???
Any info on how to go about this would be appreciated! (Also what about shipping records between South Africa and the UK in 1976?)
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Hello all, new to this forum and here is to hoping that someone can help :)
I'm also tracking down my grand parents birth and marriage certs. Both were registered in Southern Rhodesia. I do have photocopys of everything, which hopefully will help. I've tried contacting the Zim Embassy both here and in Zim and so far .. nothing. So any further advice on perhaps contact someone in Harare that might be able to go in person?
Any advice would be most appreciated.
thanks
Ange
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Hello Ken,
Yes, my researcher is getting every document he can, including wills, estates, birth, death, and marriage certificates, government compensation, military medal rolls...etc. Pretty much, any legal document with our family's name on it, he is getting.
If you would like information about him, please send me a private message off list. Thanks.
Yes, it is very sad to hear how things are, especially when I tell our relatives' descendants, who were all pioneers and lived there from 1894 to 1979. Now all that is left is some really good memories (and now with our researcher, some documents to go along with that. :))
Regards,
Stephanie
HI Stephanie - not sure how to contact you direct via this forum but am looking for information regarding your researcher.
cheers
Ange
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Hi there,
Not sure if this will be relevant, but my family are also from Bulawayo. Born in the 1950's - Mother: Sharon Timson, Father: Joe Mellett (his brothers John, Harold, Norman). My folks then moved to Chiredzi where I was born in 1976. We then came to SA in 1984. I'm also trying to find my family history (Mellett / Timson), and it is a nightmare, lol. I will ask my folks if they know of any Edwards family from Bulawayo.
Cheers,
Norman
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Hi, i'm also about to start an attempt to research Southern Rhodesia ancestors.
Does anybody know any good researchers?
Thanks, -Glen-
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Hi Bindura,
Just thinking about your attempt to find details of your birth in Zim. My brother was born in The Lady Chancellor Maternity Home in Salisbury in 1952 and a cousin was born there in 1956. This was the only maternity home there at that time. So maybe you could try and contact them via the internet, if they are still there.
Best of luck
Lorand
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Hi all,
you could try looking at the we were Rhodesians website as it is a good source if your family ever served in the Rhodesian Armed forces, Rhodesia became independent in 1964? so prior to that it was a British colonie
Regards Keith
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Hi Lorand,
I have done some research into my history and traced it back to South Africa. My researcher in South Africa has located records of my G-G-Grandfather Charles James Ferguson who left South Africa and moved to Rhodesia after his divorce from his then wife Annie Magdalena Ferguson nee Deale. What is interesting is that he was apparently living in an adulterous relationship with a woman by the name of Johanna SCHOEMAN nee BOTES - and this is a surname you have researched. Any link??? Charles was a POW in Ceylon during the Boer War from 1900-1902 and was diviorced at the end of 1902 before moving to Bulawayo where he worked as a Mason. Annie Ferguson married an Australian after the divorce and moved to Australia with her two children from Charles. If there is a link, and you are willing to share it would be great to hear from you!
Kind regards
Darin Ferguson :)
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Well good news my fellow family historians :) :)
...I received an email regarding a new website that contains former Rhodesian records that have been carefully scanned in their entirety into a database.
The records contain
Zimbabwe Death Notices, 1904-1976
Zimbabwe, Death Registers, 1890-1977
Index to Death Registers, 1892-1977
https://wiki.familysearch.org/en/Zimbabwe_Civil_Registration_%28FamilySearch_Historical_Records%29
I myself am just starting to explore them, but they look good so far..
Best of luck in your own researches!
Regards
Stephanie
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Am after some help. I need a copy of my birth certificate. I was born in hwange and the easiest way that the embassy says in uk is to have some request it from zim. If anyone can help by getting me some information from that side it would be much appreciated. Many thanks
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Am after some help. I need a copy of my birth certificate. I was born in hwange and the easiest way that the embassy says in uk is to have some request it from zim. If anyone can help by getting me some information from that side it would be much appreciated. Many thanks
Hi Shane
I would suspect you have picked up on the new link http://www.bunnyhop.co.za/zimbabwe.htm
Regards
Ken
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Thank you to the person who posted the link to familysearch Zimbabwe Civil registration records. I found my great uncle's death from 1971. I would also like to see his death notice but I cannot find it amongst the records. Did everyone have a 'death notice'? His D.R was 1397/71 so I assumed his death notice would have the same number but they do not seem to go up that high. His death was registered 1st October 1971. Name: Edward John Young. Am I looking for the record in the wrong way?
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Hello Ken,
Yes, my researcher is getting every document he can, including wills, estates, birth, death, and marriage certificates, government compensation, military medal rolls...etc. Pretty much, any legal document with our family's name on it, he is getting.
If you would like information about him, please send me a private message off list. Thanks.
Yes, it is very sad to hear how things are, especially when I tell our relatives' descendants, who were all pioneers and lived there from 1894 to 1979. Now all that is left is some really good memories (and now with our researcher, some documents to go along with that. :))
Regards,
Stephanie
HI Stephanie - not sure how to contact you direct via this forum but am looking for information regarding your researcher.
cheers
Ange
I don't know if this will come out as a private message. Please can you help me with the Researchers contact details. I am desperate
Thank you Sharon.
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Hi
You posted quite a long time ago but did you manage to find anybody who could get a marriage certificate for you/
Thanks
Richard
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Hi
If anybody has a contact email address for anybody who might be able to search for and obtain a copy of a marriage certificate for me from 1967 in Harare (Salisbury) would they kindly just drop me an message.
I desperately need it for a citizenship application for my granddaughter.
I haven't had any luck trying to find anybody myself and I'm sure there must be somebody there who would be glad of some remuneration for doing so.
Thanks very much.
Richard
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I wonder if you're still monitoring this old post.
There are now a couple of good online resources of Rhodesian/Zimbabwian historical genealogical interest:
Rhodesian Death Notices up until 1977 have been transcribed and can be searched by name. The resource is in FamilySearch titled 'Zimbabwe Death notices, 1904-1976', here: https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/1838530
More interesting are the Rhodesian 'Information of a Death' reports -titled ' Zimbabwe Death Registers, 1890-1977; Index to Death Register, 1892-1977 - which give a lot of information about the person apart from the place and date of death there may be the names of his parents, spouse, when and where they married, normal place of abode, childrens' names, and the surnames of married daughters. That is here: https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/1837900
That resource is not yet transcribed, so must be browsed..... scroll down and click 'Browse through 74,045 images', look for the index folders for the particular surname/given names, and copy that image or print-it for reference, you'll need the D.R. numbers to find the images.
- Note there are 3 index folders to search, ie. names starting with B might be in the folders titld 'Death indexes Surnames A-B'or B-C or BH-BY, or could also be in the folder titled 'Death indexes Surnames A-Z', and furthermore could also be found in the folder titled 'Open Files'.
- Having found the D.R. or D.R.B. reference open the folder titled 'Death registers' and look for the folder for that particulat reference. Up until 1962 the ledger volumes were numbered sequentially, so D.R. 8/100 would be document 100 in ledger volume 8, but D.R. 100/63 would be in one of the folders for 1963.
Another useful resource is the Rhodesian Voter Registry 1899-1948. That comprises 10 volumes which can be browsed online (not yet transcribed, so not searchable), all accessed from this page: https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/497705?availability=Family%20History%20Library
rgds, Barry
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Hello Barry
Many thanks for your message out of the blue.
Much appreciated as its always good to learn of new tools and processes that are available coming out of Zimbabwe, especially as most we hear and read about the country is doom and gloom.
Thank & regards
Gary
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Jeaster 1,
The Death Notice for Edward John Young is found easily, just go to 'Zimbabwe Death notices, 1904-1976' here: https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/1838530
In the Search box type in surname 'Young' and Death '1971-1971' (seeing as you know that), and his is then number 3 in the results.
That gives his place of normal residence, age, country of birth, place of death, marital status, number of children, occupation, intended place of burial, cause of death and duration of ilness, and the medical practitioner and funeral directors.
That D.R.1397/71 is in this collection 'Zimbabwe Death Registers, 1890-1977; Index to Death Register, 1892-1977', here: https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/1837900
You find it by clicking the following links from that page:
>Browse through 74,045 images
>Death registers
>1971, #1001-1400.
So that image number 1397, and the first image in that folder is 1001, so that image could be around 1397-1001= page 396 in that file,so that would be where to look first (in actual fact it is page 408 of that volume). Look at the number on the top of the form, calculate how many pages you need to jump forwards or bacjwards, and then you'll reach the image you want.
The URL for that page is: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:939N-CX3W-16?i=407&wc=M6LS-KTL%3A163032901%2C163432301&cc=1837900
rgds, Barry
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Born in Kitwe, my Mum worked for TREVOR CONSTRUCTION in 1948 in Northern Rhodesia (it is a South African company that were building homes near Blantyre, Sunnyside at that time). Does anyone have any information on this company, I have tried so many traces.
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Hi Ware, try this seach, type or copy-paste the following line in it's entirety into Google:
allintext: "TREVOR CONSTRUCTION" AND "Northern Rhodesia" OR Zambia
That'll find you a number of 'hits' to follow.
rgds, Barry
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And Ware, this finds a few more, specific to that year: allintext: "Trevor Construction" AND 1948
--Barry--
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Thanks so much for your reply. Yes I tried every single paste and search but have never found anything at all even linked to Trevor Construction 1948 or around that time. I guess it isnt a date problem but more the huge changes politically that have made record searches so very difficult, I too was happy to pay for searches (I have been successful in this way for South African searches re my grandparents) but cannot find anywhere for Rhodesia searches.
Jackie Ware