Bøger af David Hilton-Barber

The short story has taken its place in literature as a distinct genre and can encompass parable, myth, folktale and anecdote. It often speaks simply of important things or, conversely, reveals importance in trivia. Frank O'Connor, an Irish writer of over 150 works, best known for his short stories and memoirs, and whose name is commemorate in the O'Connor International Short Story Award, observed that the short story has never had a hero. This has particular relevance to the short story in South Africa, according to Jean Marquard1, where many of these describe the 'unremarkable struggles of people in a harsh and bureaucratic society.' She goes on to write: 'The reasons for this are historical just as much as they are artistic, since English-speaking South Africa is quintessentially a society without heroes.' The short story writer may not consciously choose his audience - he may be writing for himself or, like Horace, for posterity. His attitude to his reader may be one of condescension or even hostility. He may assume his reader has a liberal education, a sense of humour or, in general terms, someone who is merely seeking entertainment and possibly enlightenment. As a writer of mainly South African non-fiction historical works, my intention with this volume of short stories is to portray something of the life and times of ordinary people in the Cape and beyond; how they coped with the often harsh conditions of their day, and how the events of that time have with some relevance to present-day challenges.

Private Robert Hart, just 18, in the green-and-black kilt of the Argyllshire Highlanders, gazed in awe at the wild skyline of fantastic mountains in the Cape spring of 1795. This was at the end of a four-month voyage of confinement, scurvy, and general misery in a troopship. Hart did not guess that this would become his home and he himself the first of all English-speaking South Africans. Had he kept a diary, it could have been taken as a text book to the history of the Colony - from the arrival of the British troops at the first taking of the Cape, through the uprising in Graaif-Reinet, the arrival of the 1820 Settlers and the ensuing turbulent frontier wars - until his death in 1865. He served as adjutant of the Cape Regiment, he chose the site where Grahamstown now stands, he took Thomas Pringle on a memorable journey through the lichen-hung forests of the frontier, he managed the Somerset farm on the slopes of the Boschberg to supply produce to the British troops engaged in the hostilities and when this became Somerset East, he developed his own farm, the first fine wool grower in the Eastern Province. He was a close friend of Piet Retief and lived to see Port Elizabeth become, with Grahamstown, the trading base of the Free State and Transvaal Voortrekkers. Hart was a sincerely religious man who always had the welfare of the Presbyterian Church in mind. He was host to visiting missionaries who toured the country on horseback and would ask them to hold services in his house or garden which his Hottentot labourers and domestic servants could attend.

The war against Malaboch has been extensively covered in articles published by the South African Military History Society and South African History Online, as well as in the Standard Encyclopaedia of Southern Africa. However, it was my reading of Notes from my Diary on the Boer campaign of 1894 against the chief Malaboch of Blaauwberg, district Zoutpansberg, South African Republic by the Rev Colin Rae (published by Juta in 1898) that sparked this fresh look at the campaign. The Rev Rae observes that "through the campaign the poor Malabochians were seldom aggressors, their attitude being nothing more or less than a gentle protest against what they considered an unjust encroachment on their ancestral rights." In May 1894 he accompanied the commando led by General Joubert by request of the Bishop of Pretoria. "I lost no time in acceding to this request, having but little doubt as to its purport. It was, as I conjectured, to consult me as to my willingness to accompany the troops, and act as Chaplain if so required. He warned me of all dangers likely to be incurred, as well as the hardships likely to be endured. I immediately consented, as these did not deter me, promising to be ready to start at half a day's notice." It is unclear why the Bishop wanted an Anglican priest to attend the expedition. There were only a handful of Englishmen "commandeered" and they were hardly willing recruits. Nevertheless, Rae held services at the request of Colonel Ferreira, the Acting-Commandant for the Pretoria Town Contingent. While at the scene of the campaign, "The Rev Coetsee of Pietersburg, arrived in camp and held a service for the Dutch, returning home a few days afterwards. I held regular services every Sunday morning and evening." Rae attributed the success of his ministry amongst the troops chiefly to the faithful prayers of friends and well-wishers. His diary was published soon afterwards; the reasons given were as follows: In presenting the following account to the indulgence of the public, I am keeping a promise made to my comrades in the Malaboch campaign, who were kind enough to think that a published diary of events would be of interest, not only to those who were engaged in the expedition, but to a larger number who watched the proceedings of each day with anxiety, and who are deeply interested in South African affairs generally. I believe the reasons given by Rae are no less relevant today. Moving on to the chapter on the Ndebele nation, I am cognisant of its almost total decline and degradation in today's Zimbabwe. Once a proud state which conducted treaties in its own name with Britain and other countries, it has now been reduced to tatters. This started with the horrendous Gukurahundi, from January 1983 until December 1987, when a ZANLA crack regiment, exclusively composed of Shona soldiers trained by North Korean experts in manslaughter, killed close to 50 000 civilians in Matabeleland and Midlands. Millions more were left traumatized, displaced and disorientated after being subjected to brutal experiences including torture and rape. This was followed by the Ndebele economy being substantially converted into Shona control, financial institutions, manufacturing industry, parastatals, public institutions and the private sector all coming under Shona control. In the education sector, all schools in Bulawayo have a Shona majority in terms of staffing. SiNdebele has been relegated to an inferior language. In some churches Ndebele people are not permitted to worship in their language. I recently came into possession of a file compiled by the late Ernest Mtunzi, resident in London and personal assistant to Joshua Nkomo until the latter's death.

David Hilton Barber traces the ancestry of his and other Pioneering South African families. Going back five generations, this highly entertaining, factual and interesting book is full of snippets of life at the turn of the last century. (the Saint) Frederick York St Leger was a classical scholar first, a clergyman second and the founder and first editor of the Cape Times. He was ordained in 1857 and for 14 years was an Anglican priest in the Eastern Cape (he was the second headmaster of St Andrews School). In 1871, at the age of 38, in an extraordinary change of course, he resigned his living with the church and took his family to the newly-opened diamond fields in Kimberley. In 1876 he returned to Cape Town to found the first daily newspaper in South Africa which grew steadily in stature and influence to become the leading paper in South Africa by the early 1990s. (the Surgeon) Dr William Guybon Atherstone made a profound contribution to medical science, geology and natural history placing him firmly in the forefront of South African pioneers. He performed the first operation in South Africa under anaesthetics. He identified the first diamond discovered near Kimberley. He co-discovered the first dinosaur fossil in South Africa. He was given the Freedom of London. In Grahamstown, he was the originator of the Botanical Gardens and the founder of the Scientific and Literary Society, later the Albany Museum. He was also an artist, a musician and an astronomer of no mean repute. (the Unsung Botanist) Mary Elizabeth Barber Although having no formal education, yet through her observation and knowledge of natural history, she developed a lifelong correspondence with Charles Darwin whom she supplied with much valuable information for the Origin of Species (1859). Eight of her numerous monographs on South African botantical, entomological and zoological subjects were published by the Linnaean and other learned societies in Europe. As an artist of no mean attainments, Mary Elizabeth greatly enhanced the value and effect of her scientific observations with drawings and painting of professional standards - birds, reptiles, plants and moths and butterflies.

This book is a story of success, of the triumph of man over a wilderness; of the triumph of science over disease; of the conversion of a Valley of Death into a paradise. It tells of the shaping of one of the cornerstones of South Africa from a stone which the earlier builders not only rejected, but found an almost insurmountable obstacle.

"Gold mined at Tati was identified with the dynasty of the Queen of Sheba and the ancient rulers of biblical Ophir. David's book records how this notion, mentioned in Milton's Paradise Lost, was discarded as being romantic fiction. But romance there is here a-plenty." -John Gordon Davis, best-selling author of Hold My Hand I'm Dying.