9 – Herbert Kitchener reports that Christiaan de Wet has shot a British peace envoy and flogged two more who had gone to his commando to ask the Burghers to halt fighting.[1]
26 – The Middelburg peace conference fails as Boers continue to demand autonomy.
May
31 – Officially unrecognized Zulu king Dinuzulu kaCetshwayo refuses British instructions to take up arms against the Boers.
June
Emily Hobhouse reports on the genocide in the 45 British concentration camps for Boer women and children in which, over an 18-month period, 26,370 people would die, 24,000 of them children under 16. Exact mortality figures in the 64 concentration camps for black displaced farm workers and their families are not known, but likely even worse.[3][4][5]
16 – The Fawcett Commission is established to look at living conditions of women and children, including water supply, sanitation, medical care and the mortality and birth rates in the concentration camps.
18 – Boer commandos invade the Cape Colony and come to within 50 miles of Cape town.
December
22 – On Peace Sunday Charles Aked, a Baptist minister in Liverpool, says: "Great Britain cannot win the battles without resorting to the last despicable cowardice of the most loathsome cur on earth; the act of striking a brave man's heart through his wife's honour and his child's life. The cowardly war has been conducted by methods of barbarism... the concentration camps have been Murder Camps." A crowd follows him home and breaks the windows of his house.[4]
Births
24 January – Harry Calder, South African cricketer. (d. 1995)
Eight redesigned American-built 6th Class 4-6-0 steam locomotives. In 1912 they would be designated Class 6G on the South African Railways (SAR).[9][10]
21 6th Class 4-6-0steam locomotives, built to the older designs with plate frames. In 1912 they would be reclassified to Class 6H on the SAR.[9][10]
Ten American-built 6th Class 4-6-0 bar framed locomotives. In 1912 they would be designated Class 6K on the SAR.[9][10]
Four 6th Class 2-6-2 Prairie type locomotives that are soon modified to a 2-6-4 Adriatic type wheel arrangement. In 1912 they would be designated Class 6Z on the SAR.[9][10][11]: 11
The first of sixteen 8th Class 2-8-0 Consolidation type locomotives. In 1912 they would be designated Class 8X on the SAR.[9][12]
The Namaqua Copper Company acquires its first locomotive, a 0-4-2 saddle-tank shunting engine named Pioneer.[13]: 35–39
Natal
The Natal Government Railways (NGR) rebuilds one of its Class G 4-6-0 tank locomotives to a Class H 4-6-2T Pacific wheel arrangement. In 1912 it would be designated Class C1 on the SAR.[9][10]
The Natal Harbours Department places a single 0-6-0 side-tank locomotive named Edward Innes in service as harbour shunter in Durban Harbour.[14]
The Imperial Military Railways places 35 tank locomotives in service, built to the design of the Reid Tenwheeler of the NGR.[9]
References
^Grant, Neil (1993). Chronicle of 20th Century Conflict. New York City: Reed International Books Ltd. & SMITHMARK Publishers Inc. pp. 18–19. ISBN0-8317-1371-2.
^ abcStatement Showing, in Chronological Order, the Date of Opening and the Mileage of Each Section of Railway, Statement No. 19, p. 184, ref. no. 200954-13
^Report for year ending 31 December 1909, Cape Government Railways, Section VIII - Dates of Opening and the Length of the different Sections in the Cape Colony, from the Year 1873 to 31st December, 1909.
^ abcdefghiHolland, D.F. (1971). Steam Locomotives of the South African Railways. Vol. 1: 1859–1910 (1st ed.). Newton Abbott, England: David & Charles. pp. rp. ISBN978-0-7153-5382-0.
^ abcdefPaxton, Leith; Bourne, David (1985). Locomotives of the South African Railways (1st ed.). Cape Town: Struik. pp. 18, 28–29, 41–45. ISBN0869772112.
^Classification of S.A.R. Engines with Renumbering Lists, issued by the Chief Mechanical Engineer’s Office, Pretoria, January 1912, pp. 9, 12, 15, 35 (Reprinted in April 1987 by SATS Museum, R.3125-6/9/11-1000)
^Bagshawe, Peter (2012). Locomotives of the Namaqualand Railway and Copper Mines (1st ed.). Stenvalls. ISBN978-91-7266-179-0.
^Holland, D. F. (1972). Steam Locomotives of the South African Railways. Vol. 2: 1910-1955 (1st ed.). Newton Abbott, England: David & Charles. pp. 128–129. ISBN978-0-7153-5427-8.