Record Atlas
5 eras · 1848–2026 · 76 places

The Orange Free State

Bloemfontein, Kroonstad, Bethlehem, Harrismith, Smithfield. 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
1848–1854 Orange River Sovereignty NAAIRS — National Archives of South Africa · eGGSA — Genealogical Society of South Africa · FamilySearch
1854–1902 Orange Free State NAAIRS — National Archives of South Africa · eGGSA — Genealogical Society of South Africa · FamilySearch

The Bloemfontein Convention of 23 February 1854 recognised the republic; Britain annexed it in 1900 during the Second Boer War.
1902–1910 Orange River Colony NAAIRS — National Archives of South Africa · eGGSA — Genealogical Society of South Africa · FamilySearch

Self-government came in 1907.
1910–1961 Union of South Africa — Province of the Orange Free State NAAIRS — National Archives of South Africa · eGGSA — Genealogical Society of South Africa
1961–2026 South Africa — Free State 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, 1848–2026, 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.

76 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