Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1899-1900 (Creation)
Level of description
Fonds
Extent and medium
Holograph; 157 pages; with 33 photographs inserted
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Edward Bushnan Rose, a British subject, remained in Johannesburg and Pretoria during the South African War (Anglo-Boer War, 1899-1902) under permit from the British Government, and later recounts his experiences and gives an account of conditions in the Transvaal during the War.
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Content and structure area
Scope and content
A keen observer, Edward Bushnan Rose in his notebook records everything of interest, including an interview with General Smuts when the Boer forces were about to surrender. He included a number of photographs, which he must have obtained from the Barnett's shop in Johannesburg, which was by then run by David Barnett after the death of his brother Joseph.
Rose gives an account of the exodus from Johannesburg prior to the outbreak of war on the 11 October 1899; the alarm in the town; the journey in coal and cattle trucks; the effect in Johannesburg of the declaration of war and under martial law; looting; formation of the Uitlander corps; manufacture of ammunition; commandeering of horses and gold; government proclamations affecting rents and foodstuffs; how the news of Stormberg, Scholtzuch and Colenso was received; Christmas at Johannesburg; cautioning of rumour mongers, relief and other funds; the ambulance corps; hospitals; President Kruger and the British; conduct of Uitlanders; behaviour of the Boers during the war; Boer withdrawals, and casualties up to the relief of Kimberley and Ladysmith; the great explosion at the Begbie's Foundry, which had been used for armaments production by Boer forces, on the 24 April 1900 ; restarting the mines; Smuts ultimatum; termination of the war; condition of British prison camps; surrender of Johannesburg; Dr. Krause's proclamation; hoisting the Union Jack and the surrender of Pretoria.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
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System of arrangement
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Conditions governing reproduction
The notebook was digitised by the Historical Papers Research Archive in 2014, with permission for the photographs by David Barnett, which are included in this notebook and which are subject to copyright by "The Star" newspaper.
Language of material
Script of material
Language and script notes
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
The writing on a number of pages runs into the spine which could not be remedied by digitisation, as it would have jeopardised the integrity of the notebooks' binding.
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Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Publication note
Small portions of the text from the notebook appeared in the form of articles in "The Reformer" and "The Sphere". The text though is quite distinct from Rose's book "The Truth about the Transvaal", published in 1902.