Civil Registration: - South Africa

Background

The Cape Province (or Cape) is, in terms of European settlement, the oldest. It was the Dutch colony of the Cape of Good Hope from 1652 to 1795. From then until 1910 it was the British Colony of the Cape of Good Hope. In 1910 it became the Cape Province in the Union of South Africa with Cape Town as the legislative capital. 

Natal was first a Boer Republic in 1838 but became a British colony in 1843 until 1910 when it formed another province in the Union.

The Orange Free State (Free State, or OFS) was, for a few years from 1848, under British sovereignty as the Orange River Colony. In 1854 it became a Boer Republic. The OFS capital Bloemfontein, was now the Union's judicial capital.

The Transvaal, established by the early Voortrekkers, was a Boer Republic in 1852 and later called the Zuid Afrikaansche Republiek (ZAR). In 1910 its capital Pretoria became the Union's administrative capital.

Each province has its own depot of state archives, libraries and museums and historical societies. In 1910 four provinces were combined to form the Union of  South Africa which in 1961  became the Republic of South Africa  (RSA)

 

Compulsory civil registration began at different dates for the various parts of South Africa

Cape Province

Birth (1895 onwards)

Not Open to the Public

Marriage (1840 onwards)

Coverage	Name	Year	Name	Date of Death	Ref #	LDS Film #
1895-1908	Cape District		None			1,864,318
1897-1903						1,864,319
1912-1923			None			1,864,320
1923-1927 1929-1933	Cape Town Province	1922	Fred Ismay	24 Sep 1922	1359	1,864,321
1934-1940						1,864,322
1954-1961			None			1,864,318

Death (1895 onwards)

Cape Master Death Notice Index Project  

This index has been captured by the Genealogical Society of South Africa (Western Cape Branch) in co-operation with the Master's Office.

The following records which are at the Master's Office in Cape Town have been captured:

Number	Year	Surname	Name	Death
6642	1951	Ismay	Esther
1044	1959	Ismay	Cedric	Mar
4163	1953	Ismay	Hannah Maria	Jul

Natal

Birth (1868 onwards)

Not Open to the Public

Marriage (1845 onwards)

Death (1888 onwards)

Orange Free State

Birth (1903 onwards)

Not Open to the Public

Marriage (1848 onwards)

Death (1903 onwards)

Transvaal

Birth (1901 onwards)

Not Open to the Public

Marriage (1870 onwards)

Death (1901 onwards)