George McCall Theal
George McCall Theal | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 11 April 1837 |
| Died | 17 April 1919 (aged 82) |
| Occupation(s) | Historian, archivist and genealogist |
George McCall Theal (11 April 1837, Saint John, New Brunswick – 17 April 1919, Wynberg, Cape Town), was the most prolific and influential South African historian,[1] archivist and genealogist of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century.[2]
Life history
The son of Canadian physician William Young Theal, who wanted him to become an Episcopalian minister, Theal left home early, sailing with his uncle, Captain Francis Peabody Leavitt,[a] and lived briefly in the United States and Sierra Leone before emigrating to South Africa. There he became a teacher but soon moved to journalism, publishing, and an unsuccessful stint as an amateur diamond miner, all in South African frontier communities. His career as a historian began with the publication of his Compendium of South African History and Geography in 1873 following his return to teaching.
Theal spent five years at the
While living in King William's Town, he read everything available on the history of South Africa and started on an outline of his own rendition which was a synthesis of all he had read. By 1875 at Lovedale he was teaching history, geography, English grammar and history of the Bible, and also being in charge of the printing department. He was responsible for the monthly publication of the
Publications
- South Africa As It Is (pamphlet, 1871 King William's Town)
- Compendium of the History and Geography of South Africa. E. Stanford. 1878.
- Kaffir Folk-Lore: Selection from the Traditional Tales. Library of Alexandria. 1970. ISBN 978-1-4655-1735-7.
- Chronicles of Cape Commanders, Or an Abstract of Original Manuscripts in the Archives of the Cape Colony, Dating from 1651 to 1691 ... Richards. 1882.
- Basutoland Records (3 vols. 1883 Cape Town)
- Boers and Bantu: A History of the Wanderings and Wars of the Emigrant Farmers from Their Leaving the Cape Colony to the Overthrow of Dingan. HardPress. 1886. ISBN 978-1-4077-6430-6.
- A Fragment of Basuto History, 1854 to 1871. Cape Town. 1886. ISBN 978-1-103-37604-9.)
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link - The Republic of Natal (1886)
- History of the Emigrant Boers in South Africa. Kessinger. 1887. ISBN 978-1-166-66908-9.
- History of South Africa (5 vols. 1889–1900)
- Geslacht-Register Der Oude Kaapsche Familien. [Edited by G.M. Theal.]. Kaapstad. 1893.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) with C.C. de Villiers - The Portuguese in South Africa (1896)
- Belangrijke Historische Documenten (3 vols. 1896–1911, Cape Town)
- Large number of documentary publications (1897–1905, London)
- Records of the Cape Colony 1793–1831 Copied for the Cape Government, from the Manuscript Documents I. BiblioBazaar. August 2009. ISBN 978-1-113-46059-2. (36 vols.)
- Records of South-Eastern Africa (9 vols. 1898–1903)
- History and Ethnography of Africa South of the Zambesi: From the Settlement of the Portuguese at Sofala in September 1505 to the Conquest of the Cape Colony by the British in September 1795. Allen & Unwin. 1907.
- The Yellow and Dark-Skinned People of Africa South of the Zambezi: a Description of the Bushmen, the Hottentots, and Particularly the Bantu, with Fifteen Plates and Numerous Folklore Tales of These Different People. Swan Sonnenschein & Company. 1910.
- Willem Adriaan Van Der Stel, and Other Historical Sketches. Cape Town: T.M. Miller. 1913.
- Documents Relating to the Kaffir War of 1835: Arranged and Seen Through the Press. Published for the Government of the Union of South Africa. 1912.
- Catalogue of Books and Pamphlets relating to Africa south of the Zambesi in the Collection of George McCall Theal (1912)
- South Africa – Story of the NationsSeries (1917, first edition in 1894)
- Ethnography and Condition of South Africa before AD 1505 (1st of 11 vols. 1919)
- History of South Africa 1873-1884. London: George Allen. 1919.
See also
Notes
- ^ Schreuder 1986, pp. 95–158.
- ^ Rosenthal 1966, p. 374.
- Schreuder, D. M. (1986). "The Imperial Historian as 'Colonial Nationalist': George McCall Theal and the Making of South African History". Studies in British Imperial History. pp. 95–158. ISBN 978-1-349-18246-6.
- Rosenthal, Eric (1966). South African Dictionary of National Biography. London: Warne.
Further reading
- Christopher Saunders, The Making of the South African Past: Major Historians on Race and Class (1988)
