Record Atlas
5 eras · 1839–2026 · 16 places

Natal

Durban, Pietermaritzburg, Ladysmith, Newcastle, Vryheid. 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
1839–1843 Republic of Natalia (Voortrekker) eGGSA — Genealogical Society of South Africa

The Boers took control of Port Natal in May 1838; Wikipedia's infobox dates the republic 1839–1843.
1843–1856 Natal — British colony, administered from the Cape from 1844 NAAIRS — National Archives of South Africa · eGGSA — Genealogical Society of South Africa · FamilySearch
1856–1910 Colony of Natal NAAIRS — National Archives of South Africa · eGGSA — Genealogical Society of South Africa · FamilySearch

Natal became a distinct colony with its own legislative council in 1856, had responsible government by 1893, and Zululand was annexed to it in 1897.
1910–1961 Union of South Africa — Province of Natal NAAIRS — National Archives of South Africa · eGGSA — Genealogical Society of South Africa
1961–2026 South Africa — KwaZulu-Natal NAAIRS — National Archives of South Africa

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, 1839–2026, 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.

16 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