Record Atlas
7 eras · 1800–2026 · 4 places

The Transkei, Griqualand East and Pondoland

Mthatha, Kokstad, Matatiele, Dutywa, Mount Frere, Lusikisiki. 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
1800–1862 Before registers. no registers survive

Before registers. Pondoland runs from the Mthatha River to the Mtamvuna River, and King Faku allowed Wesleyan missionaries to set up a mission in 1820.
1862–1879 Chiefdoms and Griqualand East no registers survive

Griqualand East (New Griqualand) was a Griqua state from about 1862 to 1879, with Kokstad its capital from 1872. Britain took control of it in 1874.
1879–1894 Cape annexations of the Transkeian Territories NAAIRS — National Archives of South Africa · eGGSA — Genealogical Society of South Africa · FamilySearch

The Transkei, Pondoland, Tembuland and Griqualand East were incorporated into the Cape Colony between 1879 and 1894. The annexation act for Griqualand East was passed in 1877 and took effect on 17 September 1879.
1894–1910 Cape Colony - Transkeian Territories NAAIRS — National Archives of South Africa · eGGSA — Genealogical Society of South Africa · FamilySearch

Britain annexed the Mpondo region in 1894 despite resistance. Civil registration of Cape births and deaths began about 1895 (approximate).
1910–1963 Union of South Africa - Cape Province NAAIRS — National Archives of South Africa · eGGSA — Genealogical Society of South Africa · FamilySearch

Griqualand East became part of the Cape Province in 1910.
1963–1994 Transkei NAAIRS — National Archives of South Africa

Transkei was given nominal self-government in 1963 and declared nominally independent on 26 October 1976 with Umtata (now Mthatha) as capital; only South Africa recognised it. Pondoland became part of the Transkei in 1963, and Griqualand East was partly incorporated in the 1980s. Transkei was reincorporated on 27 April 1994.
1994–2026 Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal NAAIRS — National Archives of South Africa

Transkei became part of the Eastern Cape; Griqualand East, including Kokstad, joined KwaZulu-Natal in 1994.

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.

4 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