Record Atlas
7 eras · 1800–2026 · 1 places

Lowveld: Nkomazi and Komatipoort

Komatipoort, Kamaqhekeza, Emtfuntini, Kamhlushwa. Which empire held this ground in which years — and, the part that matters, which archive that means.

Whose archive this ground was

YearsWho held itWhose archive that means
1800–1852 Before registers. no registers survive

Before registers.
1852–1877 South African Republic eGGSA — Genealogical Society of South Africa · FamilySearch

The republic was recognised north of the Vaal by the Sand River Convention of 17 January 1852.
1877–1881 British annexation of the Transvaal NAAIRS — National Archives of South Africa · eGGSA — Genealogical Society of South Africa · FamilySearch

Britain annexed the republic in 1877 and the Boers revolted in 1880-81.
1881–1902 South African Republic - Delagoa Bay railway NAAIRS — National Archives of South Africa · eGGSA — Genealogical Society of South Africa · FamilySearch

Komatipoort was a rough railway construction camp in the 1890s, the last stop on the Pretoria-Delagoa Bay line; the first train crossed the border there in 1891 by one account. From 1900 to 1902 it was a base for Steinaecker's Horse, recruited by the British to fight Boer guerrillas.
1902–1910 Transvaal Colony NAAIRS — National Archives of South Africa · eGGSA — Genealogical Society of South Africa · FamilySearch

The Treaty of Vereeniging of 31 May 1902 turned the republic into the Transvaal Colony. Transvaal civil registration of births and deaths is listed from 1901 (approximate).
1910–1994 Union and Republic of South Africa - Transvaal Province NAAIRS — National Archives of South Africa · eGGSA — Genealogical Society of South Africa · FamilySearch

The Nkomati Accord was signed at Komatipoort in 1984.
1994–2026 Mpumalanga - Nkomazi NAAIRS — National Archives of South Africa

Komatipoort lies in the Nkomazi Local Municipality of Mpumalanga, where the Crocodile and Komati rivers meet.

The rings are approximate — deliberately. They exist to shade which filing system a place fell under, not to adjudicate a border. A place near a ring's edge should be checked against both neighbours.

See the whole span, 1800–2026, on the map →

The map takes a range, and a range that crosses one of the rows above is where records get lost: the family never moved, and the archive on the far side of the handover will tell you it holds nothing.

1 places on this ground

33 FamilySearch collections reach this ground

Ranked with the regional ones first — a collection for a province is usually a better lead than a national index, though the national index is often where a name is actually written down. A free account opens the images.

All record regions · The map