Showing 395 results

Makers and Shapers

Reverend Father Franz Mayr

  • Person
  • 1865 - 15 October 1914

[Source - Rosemary Lombard for FHYA, 2017, using material written by Clemens Gütl: Reverend Father Franz Mayr was an Austrian missionary and collector active in southern Africa at the turn of the twentieth century. Born in the Tyrol in 1865, Mayr arrived in the British colony of Natal in 1890. On his arrival, he lived for several months at St Michael’s, an outstation of the Mariannhill Monastery, from whence he moved to the colony’s capital, Pietermaritzburg, where he served under Bishop Charles Constant Jolivet. Mayr quickly became proficient in both English and isiZulu, and the Bishop acknowledged his dedication by putting him in charge of the first Catholic Zulu Mission in Pietermaritzburg. Mayr taught his mission choir hymns in Latin, isiZulu and English, accompanied by himself on the reed organ. At the behest of the Mariannhill Trappists, Mayr left Natal in 1909, to reopen a mission field in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), and then a final mission at St Joseph’s, near Bremersdorp, then the capital of Swaziland. According to missionary sources, he was mugged and murdered at the age of 49, on October 15, 1914, while travelling in his mule cart near Bremersdorp.

While living in southern Africa, Mayr was a proficient collector, amassing a wide range of different items, including examples of local medicinal plants, minerals, animals and ethnological artefacts, such as tools, clothing and weapons. His interest in music and languages also led to his recording isiZulu speakers performing local musical genres as well as mission hymns, with a phonograph given to him for this commissioned purpose by the Austrian Academy of Science’s Phonogrammarchiv. He collected a substantial quantity of material objects – including items such as local beadwork and household goods – at the request of Dr Ernest Warren, director of the Natal Government Museum. Mayr wrote several educational and religious books, including isiZulu language manuals and scholarly articles on aspects of what was regarded as Zulu culture related to his collections. The articles were published in the European journal Anthropos and the Annals of the Natal Government Museum . His publications allow for the gleaning of additional contextual information pertaining to the recordings and collected material.

Mayr’s collections are presently held in geographically dispersed locales. He sent many ethnological items to the Slovenian countess and donor, Maria Teresa Ledóchowska – founder of the Missionary Sisters of St. Peter Claver, dedicated to service in Africa – for use in her travelling exhibitions.
Original sound recordings by Mayr are housed in the Phonogrammarchiv of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (AAS) in Vienna and have been published as a CD collection with booklet. In Pietermaritzburg, the KwaZulu-Natal Museum holds approximately 47 cultural artefacts from Kwa-Zulu Natal which may be Mayr-related – some definitely collected by him, and others attributed to him with questionable certainty – and the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Bews Herbarium, founded in 1910, is the custodian of his ethnobotanical collection, which runs to approximately 240 specimens.

Clemens Gütl’s 2004 publication, ‘Adieu ihr lieben Schwarzen’: Gesammelte Schriften des Tiroler Afrikamissionars Franz Mayr (1865-1914), makes much of Mayr’s correspondence and biographical detail available.]

Richard Patrick

  • Person
  • [195-] - August 2008

Richard Patrick

Riddell, Mr

  • Person
  • [18-?] - YYYY

[Source - Chloe Rushovich for FHYA, 2017, using KCAL materials: Mr. Riddell was was a tailor who lived in Ladysmith. He was interviewed by James Stuart in 1900.]

Rob Rawlinson

  • Person
  • [19-?] - August 1997

[Source - Chloe Rushovich for FHYA, 2017, using KZNM materials: Robert J. C. Rawlinson was an archaeologist who worked in South Africa, particularly in the Natal regions of uMgungundlovu and oNdini. He died in a car accident in August 1997.]

Ronette Engela

  • Person
  • [19-] - present

[Source - FHYA, 2017: Ronette Engela, a graduate of Archaeology, assisted Carolyn Hamilton with the experimentation of the possibility of editing the translation of the Swazi interviews, undertaken by Hamilton in the 1980s, for publication. This lead to the production of a large sample of typescripts based on the recordings (identified by the FHYA as 'rejected edited typescripts').]

Rotter Sicheme Mamba?

  • Person
  • [19-] - YYYY

Does this need editing? [Source - Chloe Rushovich for FHYA, 2017, using WITS materials: Rotter Sicheme Mamba was possibly a translator and transcriber who worked on the interviews undertaken by the Royal House of Dlamini by Isaac Dlamini, Mahlaba, and Maboya Fakudze.]

Rotter Sicheme Mamba

  • Person
  • [19-] - YYYY

[Source - Chloe Rushovich for FHYA, 2017, using WITS materials: Rotter Sicheme Mamba was a translator and transcriber who worked on the interviews conducted by Philip Bonner in Swaziland in the 1970s.]

Royal House of Dlamini

  • Family
  • Fl. 1745 - present

Does this need editing? [Source - Chloe Rushovich for FHYA, 2017, using the Government of the Kingdom of Swaziland website: The Swazi people are descendants from the Bantu people, who originated in Cameroon. The Bantu-Swazi travelled from Eastern Africa through to what is now the Kingdom of Swaziland, led by King Dlamini I as well as by King Ngwane III, who ruled from 1745 to 1780, and who is seen by many as the first king of modern Swaziland. The Kingdom of Swaziland was decolonized and became independent in 1968, with King Sobhuza II as leader. The Dlamini dynasty still rule Swaziland today. The royal family is comprised of the king, the queen mother, the king's wives, the king's children, the king's siblings and half-siblings and their families. Under the direction of King Sobhuza II, the Royal House of Dlamini recorded a series of interviews focusing on the history of Swaziland. These interviews were undertaken by Isaac Dlamini, the official royal tape-recordist and a long serving royal retainer who was based at Nkanini. Maboya Fakudze, a noted authority on the history of Swaziland, and Mahlaba, a son of Sobhuza and a well-known imbongi, also participated in this interview process.]

Royston, JR

  • Person
  • 1860 - 1942

[Source - Chloe Rushovich for FHYA, 2017, using KCAL materials: Brigadier-General J. R. Royston grew up in Natal and fought in the South African War, the Natal rebellion of 1906, and WWI. He was interviewed by James Stuart in 1921.]

Ruth Mavimbela

  • Person
  • [19-] - YYYY

[Source - Chloe Rushovich for FHYA, 2017, using WITS materials: Ruth Mavimbela was a translator and transcriber who worked on the interviews undertaken by the Royal House of Dlamini by Isaac Dlamini, Mahlaba, and Maboya Fakudze.]

Ruth Ndlela

  • Person
  • Ruth Ndlela

[Source - Chloe Rushovich for FHYA, 2017, using WITS materials: Ruth Ndlela was a translator and transcriber who worked on the interviews conducted by Carolyn Hamilton in Swaziland in the 1980s.]

Sambane Dlamini

  • Person
  • [19-?] - YYYY

[Source - Chloe Rushovich for FHYA, 2017, using WITS materials: At this time the FHYA has not been able to locate biographical information about Sambane Dlamini. He was interviewed by Philip Bonner in the Maphalaleni area of Swaziland in 1970.]

Samuel Mhawukelwa Mkhonto

  • Person
  • [19-?] - YYYY

[Source - Chloe Rushovich for FHYA, 2017, using WITS materials: At this time the FHYA has not been able to locate biographical information about Samuel Mhawukelwa Mkhonto (Mkhonta). He was interviewed by Carolyn Hamilton in the eTunzini area of Swaziland in the 1980s.]

Samuelson, SO

  • Person
  • [18-?] - YYYY

[Source - Chloe Rushovich for FHYA, 2017, using KCAL materials: S. O. Samuelson was the Under-Secretary for Native Affairs in the Native Affairs Department in the colony of Natal from 1893 to 1909. He was interviewed by James Stuart in 1907.]

Saunders, CR

  • Person
  • [18-?] - YYYY

[Source - Chloe Rushovich for FHYA, 2017, using KCAL materials: Charles R. Saunders was the first Chief Magistrate and Civil Commissioner, and then later the Commissioner for Native Affairs, in Zululand from 1897 to 1909. He was interviewed by James Stuart in 1906.]

Seme, Pixley

  • Person
  • [18-?] - YYYY

[Source - Chloe Rushovich for FHYA, 2017, using KCAL materials: Dr Pixley Seme was a lawyer who studied in New York and at Oxford, and was a leading figure in black political circles in South Africa from the 1910s to the 1940s. He was interviewed by James Stuart in 1924 and 1925.]

Sende ka Hlunguhlungu

  • Person
  • c.1873 - YYYY

[Source - Chloe Rushovich for FHYA, 2017, using KCAL materials: Sende kaHlunguhlungu was a member of the Zondi people. He was interviewed by James Stuart in 1918.]

Shepstone, AJ

  • Person
  • 1852 - 1912

[Source - Chloe Rushovich for FHYA, 2017, using KCAL materials: Arthur Jesse Shepstone was the son of Theophilus Shepstone and was the secretary for Native Affairs in Natal from 1909 to 1910. From 1910 to his death in 1912 he was the Chief Commissioner in Natal. He was interviewed by James Stuart in 1912.]

Shepstone, John

  • Person
  • 1827 - 1916

[Source - Chloe Rushovich for FHYA, 2017, using KCAL materials: John Wesley Shepstone was the brother of Theophilus Shepstone and the son of Reverend John William Shepstone. He was the Acting Secretary for Native Affairs in Natal from 1876 to 1884. He was interviewed by James Stuart in 1914. He was interviewed multiple times and at least one of these interviews took place at John Shepstone's residence in Pietermaritzburg, Cliff House.]

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