Timeline of Pietermaritzburg explained

The following is a timeline of the history of Pietermaritzburg. It is part of the Msunduzi Local Municipality in the Umgungundlovu District Municipality, KwaZulu-Natal province, South Africa.

19th century

• 1839
  • Pietermaritzburg founded by Voortrekkers; named after Gerrit Maritz and Piet Retief.
  • October: Settlement becomes capital of the newly formed Natalia Republic.
• 1840 - Voortrekker Church of the Vow consecrated.
• 1843
  • British established.^[1]
  • Natalier newspaper begins publication.^[2]
  • Settlement becomes capital of the newly formed British Colony of Natal.
• 1846
  • Natal Witness newspaper begins publication.
  • Book Society founded.^[3]
• 1847 - Natal Independent newspaper begins publication.
• 1851
  • Natal and East African Society and Agricultural Society founded.
  • In vicinity of Pietermaritzburg, development of Edendale begins.^[4]
• 1856
  • Pietermaritzburg incorporated as a borough.
  • D. D. Buchanan becomes mayor.
  • Pietermaritzburg officials issue "ordinance permitting the establishment of African locations" (i.e. racial segregation).
• 1862 - Prison built on Burger Street.
• 1863 - Mr. William Calder opens High School Maritzburg, later to become Maritzburg College, or, simply "College."^[5]
• 1868
  • William Macrorie becomes bishop of Anglican diocese of Maritzburg.
  • St Saviour's Cathedral, Pietermaritzburg opened.
• 1874 - Botanical Garden established.
• 1878 - February: Natal Society Museum opens.
• 1879 - Pietermaritzburg County Football Club formed.^[6]
• 1880 - Durban-Pietermaritzburg railway begins operating.^[7]
• 1885 - Pietermaritzburg Chamber of Commerce active (approximate date).
• 1888 - Alexandra Park established.
• 1893 - 7 June: Civil rights activist Gandhi removed from train in Pietermaritzburg for defying racial segregation law.
• 1897 - St. John's Diocesan School for Girls founded.

20th century

• 1901 - Town Hall rebuilt.
• 1904
  • Electric tram begins operating.
  • Natal Government Museum active.
  • Population: 31,119.
• 1910
  • Natal University College founded.http://www.ukzn.ac.za/about-ukzn/history/
  • Pietermaritzburg becomes part of the newly formed Union of South Africa (British dominion).
• 1911 - Population: 30,555.^[8]
• 1912 - Voortrekker museum founded.http://www.msunduzimuseum.org.za
• 1919 - Fort Napier becomes a hospital.
• 1920 - Pietermaritzburg Girls' High School founded.
• 1921 - Comrades Marathon (Durban-Pietermaritzburg) begins.
• 1924 - Beer hall in business on Pietermaritz Street.
• 1925 - Shuter & Shooter Publishers in business.
• 1927 - Afrikaansmediumskool (school) established.
• 1929 - "Native Village at Sobantu" built.
• 1931 - Natal Bantu Football Association formed.
• 1934 - Nux student newspaper begins publication.
• 1944 - Pietermaritzburg Italian P.O.W. Church built on Epworth Road.
• 1948 - Alexandra Park Street Circuit (motor race track) opens.
• 1951 - Dusi Canoe Marathon to Durban begins.
• 1953 - Roy Hesketh Circuit (motor race track) opens.
• 1954 - Edendale Hospital founded.
• 1960 - Alexandra High School for white boys opens.
• 1961 - Pietermaritzburg becomes part of the newly independent Republic of South Africa.
• 1962 - Statue of Piet Retief unveiled.
• 1972 - 6 April: "In the Natal Supreme Court in Pietermaritzburg, at the end of the longest trial of its kind in South Africa, thirteen defendants...are sentenced...for contravening the Terrorism Act."
• 1979 - Maritzburg United F.C. (football club) formed.
• 1976 - St Saviour's Cathedral, Pietermaritzburg deconsecrated and demolished in 1981.
• 1981 - Anglican Cathedral of the Holy Nativity consecrated.
• 1985 - 5 August: Treason trial begins.
• 1987 - September: Flood.
• 1989 - Napierville prison begins operating.
• 1990 - March: "Seven Day War" occurs.
• 1991 - Population: 156,473 city; 228,549 metro.^[9]
• 1993
  • April: Unrest.
  • 6 June: Gandhi memorial unveiled.
• 1996 - Children in Distress Network (CINDI) organized.^[10]
• 2000
  • Pietermaritzburg becomes part of the newly formed Msunduzi Local Municipality (which includes Edendale, Imbali, etc.).
  • Hloni Glenford Zondi becomes mayor.

21st century

• 2001 - Population: 223,519.
• 2002 - Pietermaritzburg Chamber of Business formed.^[11]
• 2004 - University of Natal becomes University of KwaZulu-Natal.
• 2005 - Website Msunduzi.gov.za launched (approximate date).^[12]
• 2006 - Zanele Hlatshwayo becomes mayor of Msunduzi.^[13]
• 2010 - May: Mike Tarr becomes mayor of Msunduzi.^[14]
• 2011 - Chris Ndlela becomes mayor of Msunduzi.^[15]
• 2013 - Spring Grove Dam at Mooi River begins operating in vicinity of city.
• 2016 - Themba Njilo becomes mayor of Msunduzi.^{[16] [17]}
• 2021 - 2021 Pietermaritzburg power outage

See also

• Pietermaritzburg history
• List of mayors of Pietermaritzburg
• List of heritage sites in Pietermaritzburg
• List of governors of Natal (British colony), headquartered in Pietermaritzburg 1843–1910
• Timelines of other cities in South Africa: Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg, Port Elizabeth, Pretoria

Bibliography

• • + Street Directory
• Book: Story of an African City . J. Forsyth Ingram . C. Coester. Pietermaritzburg . 1898 . . (About Pietermaritzburg, with illustrations)
• Book: C.W. Francis Harrison. Natal: An Illustrated Official Railway Guide and Handbook of General Information . 8287214 . 1903 . London . Payne Jennings. City of Pietermaritzburg . 51–63. https://books.google.com/books?id=4cooAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA51.
• Book: Twentieth Century Impressions of Natal: Its People, Commerce, Industries, and Resources . . Lloyd's Greater Britain Publishing Company . Natal . 1906. Pietermaritzburg. https://books.google.com/books?id=0XA5AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA220. .
• Pietermaritzburg . 21 . 592 . 1910 . . 1.
• Book: Alan F. Hattersley . Pietermaritzburg Panorama: A Survey of One Hundred Years of an African City . 652246540 . Pietermaritzburg . . 1938.
• Book: Alan F. Hattersley . Portrait of a Colony: The Story of Natal . 776806583 . Cambridge University Press . 1940.
• Book: Alan F. Hattersley . 776806581 . Portrait of a City . Shuter & Shooter . 1951. (About Pietermaritzburg)
• Book: Pietermaritzburg 1838-1988: a new portrait of an African city . John Laband and Robert Haswell . Pietermaritzburg . 1988.
• Matthew Kentridge. An Unofficial War: Inside the Conflict in Pietermaritzburg (Cape Town: David Philip 1990)
• Book: Anthony Lemon . Homes Apart: South Africa's Segregated Cities . https://archive.org/details/homesapartsoutha00lemo . registration . Indiana University Press . 0-253-33321-0 . 1991. Pietermaritzburg . T M Wills.
• Dominy . Graham . An emblem of peace and security': The construction of Fort Napier and its impact on Pietermaritzburg, 1843-1848 . Southern African Humanities . 1 October 1992 . 4 . 10 . 89–106 . 10520/AJA16815564_343 . free .
• . Bolsmann . Chris . Sport and Post-Apartheid South Africa: Revisiting The Race Game . Journal of Sport History . 2014 . 41 . 2 . 331–338 . 10.5406/jsporthistory.41.2.331 . 10.5406/jsporthistory.41.2.331 . 160428518 .
• Thompson . P. S. . Pietermaritzburg in the Great War : corporate patriotism and civic sacrifice . Historia . 1 November 2014 . 59 . 2 . 171–193 . 10520/EJC163424 . free .
• Whelan . Debbie . eMatsheni: The central beer hall as social and municipal infrastructure in twentieth century Pietermaritzburg . Historia . 2015 . 60 . 1 . 75–91 . 10.17159/2309-8392/2015/v60n1a5 .

External links

• Web site: Registry: (Pietermaritzburg) . . Rondebosch . (Directory of South African archival and memory institutions and organisations)
• Web site: (Pietermaritzburg) . . (Bibliography)
• Web site: (Pietermaritzburg) . . 225596326 . University of KwaZulu-Natal . (Articles, images etc.)
• Items related to Pietermaritzburg, various dates (via Europeana)
• Items related to Pietermaritzburg, various dates (via Digital Public Library of America)

Notes and References

1. Book: Graham Dominy. Last Outpost on the Zulu Frontier: Fort Napier and the British Imperial Garrison. 2016. University of Illinois Press. 978-0-252-09824-6.
2. Book: Robert Russell. Natal: The Land and Its Story. 1899. . London.
3. Web site: History . Natalia.org.za . Natal Society Foundation . 3 October 2017 .
4. Book: Marc Epprecht. Welcome to Greater Edendale: Histories of Environment, Health, and Gender in an African City. 2016. . 978-0-7735-9966-6.
5. College 1863-1963, R.W. Kent pp 10, 24
6. Book: John Nauright . Sport, Cultures, and Identities in South Africa. 1997. Leicester University Press. 978-0-7185-0072-6.
7. Web site: . Cape Town . Sahistory.org.za . 2 October 2017 .
8. Book: Statesman's Year-Book . Statesman's Year-Book . 1921 . London . Macmillan and Co.. British Empire: Province of Natal . 2027/njp.32101072368440 . .
9. Book: Africa South of the Sahara 2003 . Regional Surveys of the World . . 2003 . 0065-3896 . South Africa . 9781857431315 .
10. Web site: Alan Paton Centre & Struggle Archives . University of KwaZulu-Natal . Pietermaritzburg . 5 October 2017 .
11. Web site: About Us . Pietermaritzburg Chamber of Business . 3 October 2017 .
12. Web site: https://web.archive.org/web/20051030182902/http://www.msunduzi.gov.za/home/Home.php . Msunduzi.gov.za . 30 October 2005 . dead . Msunduzi Municipality . .
13. Web site: Hlatshwayo snatches mayorship from Zondi . 16 March 2006 . .
14. Web site: MEC fires official for 13 charges . 21 January 2011 . Iol.co.za .
15. Web site: Tough year for Msunduzi Municipality . 23 December 2011 . Iol.co.za .
16. Web site: Njilo to run for mayor . . 20 June 2016 .
17. Web site: 'There will be no aloof councillors'-Njilo . Maritzburgsun.co.za . 24 August 2016 .