The prodominantly used genealogy numbering/ordering system in South Africa was developed by C. de Villiers and later C. Pama. It uses the letters of the alphabet as well as numbers. While it may take some practice to figure out how to “read” it, once you understand the idea behind it, it is easy to understand. Click… Read more

In the classic, The Sound of Music, Maria (Julie Andrews) sang: “Let’s start at the very beginning; It’s a very good place to start.” I have been thinking about what I would advize as the ‘best’ place to begin doing South African genealogical research. It is an interesting thought that probaby has a different answer… Read more

I discovered this site searchforancstors.com today.You can search a collection of Passenger Lists of people going to South Africa covering the years 1687-1923. Of course not all incoming passenger lists will be indexed here, nonetheless this is a very useful source. To begin you search click.here… Read more

The Genealogical Institue of South Africa is locate in Stellenbosch, Cape Town, South Africa and has been open since 1998 and currently directed by Leon Endemann. Apart from holding their own collections of records and their own library, which can be consulted on the premisis (for a small fee or membership) they also have certain… Read more

I found a site today called “Wholly Genes”. They have genealogical or historical products such as books and CD about countries all over the world. I was glad to see that they have a few books on South Africa to purchase! To discover Wholly Genes click here… Read more

Today, I spoke at the annual Brigham Young University genealogical conference. My part of the presentation was directed at South African research, particularly looking at records to help in “Tracing the South African Immigrant Ancestor”. This was the title of the project that I have been doing since being awarded an ORCA Mentoring Grant, which… Read more

An attempt at a culminated World Genealogy site. Click here to search for a country in Africa or here for a county in the world. South Africa is hosted by Conrad Mercer: Click here for South Africa… Read more

I found another guide to beginning South African research that looks great to me, there is even some humour – and we could always use more humour in life! Its is called the “Absolute Beginners Guide” to South African Family History Research. … Read more

The Western Cape Provincial Archives and Records Service is located on Roeland Street, Cape Town. It is free for the public to visit and search their records. Address: 72 Roeland Street, Cape Town, South Africa. You can part on the street where available, or off-road parking is available for the public on Drury Lane. Call (021) 466… Read more