Record Atlas
6 eras · 1800–2026 · 1 places

Natal South Coast

Port Shepstone, Margate, Port Edward. 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
1800–1843 Before registers. no registers survive

Before registers.
1843–1856 Natal, a British colony run from the Cape NAAIRS — National Archives of South Africa · eGGSA — Genealogical Society of South Africa · FamilySearch

Natal was proclaimed a British colony on 4 May 1843 and was administered from the Cape Colony until 1856.
1856–1893 Colony of Natal NAAIRS — National Archives of South Africa · eGGSA — Genealogical Society of South Africa · FamilySearch

Natal became a separate colony in 1856. Port Shepstone was founded in 1867 after marble was found near the mouth of the Mzimkhulu, and 246 Norwegian immigrants settled there in 1882 and founded Marburg. Civil registration in Natal is listed from 1868 for births, 1845 for marriages and 1888 for deaths (approximate dates).
1893–1910 Colony of Natal - responsible government NAAIRS — National Archives of South Africa · eGGSA — Genealogical Society of South Africa · FamilySearch

Responsible government began in 1893, the year Port Shepstone was declared a full fiscal port. Zululand was annexed to Natal in 1897, and the railway reached Port Shepstone in 1901.
1910–1994 Union and Republic of South Africa - Natal Province NAAIRS — National Archives of South Africa · eGGSA — Genealogical Society of South Africa · FamilySearch

On 31 May 1910 Natal became a province of the Union of South Africa.
1994–2026 KwaZulu-Natal NAAIRS — National Archives of South Africa

Port Shepstone is in KwaZulu-Natal province.

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.

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