Irish Immigrants to South Africa

[annesapphire5]

Thanks to the help of my Rootschat friends in NewZealand I have found quite a lot of information about my family's emigration to New Zealand in 1863 under the Waikato Immigration Scheme, but  no one has been able to tell me about the immigration to South Africa first and I have therefore decided to ask closer to the  original source.

Can anyone tell me about this movement to Cape Hope from Ireland?  Was it related to an area, church group of other organisation?  Why did they choose South Africa and approximately when did this happen? 

Apparently my Tobin Family originally came from Co Clare, but that is the only information I have on them in Ireland and none at all in South Africa.

[Christopher]

Hi Anne,

Click here to read an article which was originally published in "Familia", the journal of the Ulster Historical Foundation (volume 2, no. 7, 1991), which is published annually.

The article, "The Irish in South Africa - The Police, A Case Study: Notes" was written by Donal P. McCracken, University of Durban-Westville. The first part starts by saying: "Nineteenth-century South Africa did not attract mass Irish migration, but Irish communities were to be found in Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, Kimberley, and Johannesburg, with smaller communities in Pretoria, Barberton, Durban and East London." A reasonable number of those who worked in the British Colonial Service in the African continent were from Ireland.

Dafanie Goldsmith has a page on her website about Researching in South Africa and quotes McCracken, p.13 which says "The Irish came as individuals or family groups and in government assisted schemes - some 14,000 between 1823 and 1900.".

Click here to read "South Africa’s people: the British A brief look at their history" which was written by Anne Lehmkuhl for "Generations" - a South African Genealogy newsletter, ISSN 1480-8854. The article appeared in Issue 12. The word "British" would include Irish people.

Christopher

[nanatrish]

Thank you Christopher.  I am not sure if I contacted at the time. Reviewing my Tobin Family and found your message.

Cannot find records so far for this particular family in Ireland and wondering if they were actually born in South Africa.

Anne

[Johnf04]

Some South African passenger lists are transcribed here:

http://www.eggsa.org/arrivals/lists.html

[Johnf04]

I recently searched South African probate records, following the procedure here:

http://www.eggsa.org/articles/locating-death-records.htm

The probates include a "Death Notice", which has personal information.

An example: