Author: thedigitalphilatelist

James E Nicholls was a solicitor with the British South Africa Company. His office was located in Salisbury. Nicholls was an active member of the Associated Members of the 1890 & 1893 Columns and dubbed himself a 20th Century pioneer who sought to get the members of the columns recognised…

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Duly & Co Ltd were located in Bulawayo. The business was started by Charles Duly, a fully qualified engineer of 24 years of age who arrived in Bulawayo in 1894. By 1896, he had opened as a Bicycle Dealer in Abercorn St. In 1902, he imported the first car into Rhodesia…

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The United Tobacco Companies (South) Ltd was located in Moffat Street, Salisbury. In 1902 the British Imperial Tobacco Company and the American Tobacco Company agreed to form a joint venture, the British-American Tobacco Company Ltd. In 1904 the company bought out a number of South African tobacco companies including Holt…

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The Royal Hotel, Umtali was positioned in the centre of Main Street and faced the public gardens. The hotel was established in the 1890s and by 1927 the 24 room hotel became part of Meikles Associated Hotels. References www.ourstory.com

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Umtali was founded in 1897 as a fort, located about 8 km from the border with Mozambique. In 1891, the town was moved to a site known as Old Mutare. In 1896 the construction of the railway between Beira and Bulawayo led to the town being moved a third time…

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Fraser & Chalmers (S.A.) Ltd was located on Angwa Street, Bulawayo . With the expansion of diamond and gold mining in South Africa, the British Rothschilds and Werner, Bait & Co wanted to manufacture mining equipment in Britain for South Africa. They contacted Fraser & Chalmers in Chicago, which was…

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The British South Africa Company (BSAC) developed an interest in tobacco production for colonial economic growth. Originally, the Company concluded that this tobacco had no export value since its flavour was alien to British consumers. Consequently, British settler farmers began to cultivate ‘superior’ varieties of Tabacum (flue-cured, Turkish, and fire-cured).…

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In 1905, Percy W Skerrett, opened a branch of Lennon Limited in Salisbury . He remained in charge of the branch until 1922 when he left Lennon Ltd to open his own pharmacies in Nyasaland called The Nyasaland Pharmacies. References Chemist and Druggist: The Newsweekly for Pharmacy, Volume 106 1927

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Banket was named after the geological formation of gold-bearing rock on the Johannesburg reef called a “banket”. Early prospectors in Rhodesia thought they had discovered a second similar reef and christened the place with the same name. However, the conglomerate was not gold-bearing, although gold and chrome was later discovered.…

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Darwendale is a small town in southern Mashonaland. The village grew from a farm, owned by Otto Christian Zimmerman, which was pegged out in the 1890s to grow tobacco. In the 1920s, chromium mines were opened along the Great Dyke in the Lomagundi district both north and south of town.…

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