Category: Southern Rhodesia

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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Gloria Cycle Works was located on Abercorn Street, Bulawayo. The wholesale and retail cycle merchant was established in 1907 by Abram Radowsky. It was one of the oldest businesses in the country specialising in cycles and accessories. References Rhodesia and Eastern Africa: Historical and Descriptive Commercial and Industrial Facts, Figures,…

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The Pioneer Column, a military volunteer force of settlers organised by Cecil Rhodes, founded Salisbury on 12 September 1890 as a fort. They originally named the city Fort Salisbury after The 3rd Marquess of Salisbury, the then British prime minister, and it subsequently became known simply as Salisbury. On the 3 May 1935,…

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The town of Bulawayo was declared a municipality on 26 October 1897 and was administered by a mayor and municipal council. On 4 November 1943, Bulawayo achieved city status and the Municipal Council of Bulawayo became the City Council of Bulawayo. Commerce & Industry A F Philip & Co Ltd…

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Johnson & Fletcher Ltd was established in July 1897 by Harold Clarkson Fletcher and George Johnson. The head office was located in Bulawayo and opened as a consulting and general engineering business, supplying parts and equipment to gold mining companies. Additional branches were opened in Salisbury (1899), Beira (1904) and…

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The African buffalo (Syncerus caffer) is a large sub-Saharan African bovine. There are five subspecies that are recognized as being valid. Syncerus caffer caffer, the Cape buffalo, is the nominotypical subspecies, and the largest one, found in Southern and East Africa. The African buffalo is more closely related to other buffalo species…

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In the early 1900s, the only maize grown in Rhodesia was the small, multi-coloured grain grown by the natives. Within ten years, Europeans began farming maize. Most maize was grown in Mashonaland. By the mid 1950s, maize accounted for 15.1 per cent of the country’s agricultural produce. Stamps & Postal…

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William Bain & Co (Rhodesia) Ltd was located on the corner of Second Street and Forbes Ave, Salisbury. It was an extension of William Bain & Co. Ltd of Lochrin Iron Works – a Scottish company. The business began trading in Southern Rhodesia in 1922 as a fencing and machinery…

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G North & Son Ltd was a farm equipment specialist located in Angwa Street, Salisbury.  The firm was established in Durban, South Africa, in 1869 by George North to supply agricultural implements and machinery. In addition to agricultural machinery, the business also supplied tools, paint and other general hardware supplies.…

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