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Earliest Borthwicks in South Africa / Born Cape Town / Soldiers / Commonwealth War Graves / Miscellany / Lost Borthwicks in South Africa / Today
I have come across a number of references to Borthwicks settling in South Africa but am not sure when the earliest Borthwicks arrived there or how much further members of the family spread through that continent. So ... this is a very short page! If you are connected to any Borthwicks in South Africa or have any information that could be added to this page please get in touch with me. Are all the Borthwicks in South Africa today descended from the same family? One of the first Borthwicks to arrive in
South Africa, happened to be the Mayor of Cape Town. Does anyone know
his name? John Downie Borthwick, (31/10/1867 - 18/6/1936) On a great page devoted to Vets in South Africa there is an excellent biography for John Downie Borthwick. Born in Kirkliston, he was the son and brother of Veterinary Surgeons and qualified MRCVS (New Edinburgh) on 23 May 1888. He came to South Africa on 27 March 1889 as the first assistant to Duncan Hutcheon, Colonial Veterinary Surgeon to the Cape of Good Hope. In 1891 on the appointment of Alexander Edington as Colonial Bacteriologist in Grahamstown, Borthwick was seconded to assist him in his study of animal diseases. This he did from 1891 until 1893. Later he served as Assistant Veterinary Surgeon in various parts of the Cape Colony. He was subsequently (19 July 1906) promoted to the post of Chief Veterinary Surgeon vacated by Hutcheon when the latter was promoted to the post of Director of Agriculture on 17 July 1906. He then had 16 Assistant Veterinary Surgeons under his control in the Cape. There is more about John Downie Borthwick on the site. A visit is highly recommended! He died at his Arcadia North home in Pretoria on 18 June 1936. Another Borthwick in South Africa in the late 1800s was Dr Thomas Borthwick who eventually left there and settled in South Australia. According to his entry in the Australian Dictionary of Biography Thomas was in South Africa from 1882-1883. He graduated in medicine in Edinburgh in 1881, was in. South Africa in 1882-83 and then arrived Adelaide, South Australia in 1883. Dr Thomas Borthwick became a world famous bacteriologist and public health worker. Mary Jane Borthwick, daughter of
Robert Borthwick and Mary Ann Cuddy or Currie, was born (registered?)
in Cape Town in 1851, according to her death record in Victoria, Australia.
William Heron Borwick - Private No 108 in the Fourth Imperial Contingent fought in South Africa in the Boer War. Recipients of the South Africa 1853 Medal included Robert Borthwick, Lieutenant, 91st Regiment and another Robert Borthwick, Gunner/Driver, Royal Artillery. The Militia List for Eskdale includes:
Commonwealth War Graves, Debt of Honour There is just one South African Borthwick listed on the Commonwealth War Graves, Debt of Honour site: In Memory of MATTHEW JACKSON BORTHWICK Serjeant 12060 who died on Monday 11th August 1919. Age 43. Citation: Additional Information: Son of George and Isabella Borthwick. Born at North Berwick, Scotland. Commemorative Information - Cemetery: ROOIDAM MILITARY CEMETERY, Free State, South Africa Grave Reference/Panel Number: 5. N. C. 33. Location: - Historical Information: The cemetery contains over 70 War Graves, as well as a special memorial to 21 soldiers and labourers buried in the unfenced African Cemetery 1 kilometre further South; and a War Cross is erected at the entrance. The burials are mainly from the Tempe Hospital. Borthwick, Rev. J. Douglas - wrote Poems and songs on the South African War : an anthology from England, Africa, Australia, United States but chiefly Canada. - Montreal : Gazette Publishing Company, 1901. - 214 p. - Reproduced in microform format: CIHM microfiche series, no. 71886. On a site devoted to Winston Churchill the importance of a Borthwick in Churchill's life is mentioned: Without the support of Oliver Borthwick, who died very young in 1905, Winston Churchill might never have been sent as war correspondent to South Africa. That assignment, which resulted in the books London to Ladysmith via Pretoria and Ian Hamilton's March, catapulted Churchill to fame, and elected him to Parliament. How much else might have been different had it not been for Oliver Borthwick? Lost Borthwicks from South Africa Peterhouse, a 1,045 student Anglican boarding school on 3,000 acres at Marondera, Zimbabwe, comprises Peterhouse Boys', Peterhouse Girls', the Prep. School, Springvale House, Peterhaven at Nyanga and the 800 acre Gosho Park conservation education project and wildlife sanctuary.The Petrean Bush Telegraph, a website with news of Petreans, has a page for 1950s and '60s leavers. Old students have lost touch with Hugh Borthwick who was last reported to be working as an accountant in England after obtaining an MBA at Cranfield School of Business. In the South African on-line telephone directory in January 2002 there were just 19 Borthwicks listed . Five of these were "Bryce-Borthwick". Anita Borthwick is an innkeeper at Maputaland's major attraction, with two of South Africa's best game parks - Hluhluwe-Umflozi and Mkuze - in the area. Maputaland is home to 60 percent of South Africa's birdlife, says Anita, who manages Mkuze's Ghost Mountain Inn with her husband Paul, "The bird-watching is the highlight," says Anita. The Borthwicks often play host to renowned birder Ian Sinclair, who brings groups of "twitchers" to the inn so that they can see the birds in the nearby game reserves and in the Borthwick's large garden. Actors James Borthwick and Graham Hopkins appeared in a play, Life's a Pitch, in Pretoria in 2001. It seems from my web surfing that James is a well-known South African theatre and television personality. Is this the same James Borthwick as the James who was the drummer in a school band in South Africa and ended up in the South African Broadcasting Corporation? Editors for The Ryersonian Online, published by the Ryerson School of Journalism, last Updated: November 17, 2001, included a Lindsay Borthwick. Scott Borthwick, Amazon Adventurer, and the subject of a book, Amazon Extreme: Three men, A Raft and the World's Most Dangerous River. "The true-life story of the first people to raft the entire length of the Amazon River. In September 1999, three young men set out to travel the Amazon River, a journey that would take them 7,000 kilometer over dangerous waters and rugged terrain. Colin Angus, of Victoria, British Columbia, Ben Kozel, of Australia, and Scott Borthwick, of South Africa, started out at the first trickle of melting snow in the Andes and journeyed the entire distance of the Amazon to the Atlantic Ocean ? in a rubber raft! In their five-month adventure, they crossed a blazing desert, climbed towering mountains, and shot treacherous rapids. This is their true story, of surviving guerrilla gunfire, mosquito-filled drinking water, violent rapids, and dehydration-induced hallucinations. But they also enjoyed the unique luxuries the Amazon has to offer: dolphins, monkeys, lush greenery, and the people who live along the river?s banks. This unprecedented tale of courage and exploration will stir the souls of armchair adventurers everywhere." Kenneth Borthwick, former Lord Provost of Edinburgh, is believed to have lived in in South Africa for some years. In Scotland he had a confectionary shop (known as a sweetie shop!) and later a Hotel/Guest House on the promenade on Portobello Beach. National
Archives Catalogue
This catalogue can be found on the www and it includes many interesting Borthwick references. If any reader has access to the South African Archives, or holds information from them, I would be very interesting in discovering more about some of the Borthwicks mentioned below. The catalgue entries are given here exactly as they appear in the search results.
SELECT SOURCE DESCRIPTION
BEGIN DATE END DATE Pietermaritzburg Archives
Repository A 1918 photograph in the National Archives of South Africa (NASA) is of Pretoria Hospital staff, 1909. (Quite a number absent - Major Bowyer asst. sec., night staff, some office and porter staff). Top row: extreme right Mr. Mossop, Dispenser. Second row: Cook in white cap. (3rd from left); Mr. Randell; Mr. Wilson; Mr. Burton; (head orderley, chief clerk, storekeeper respectively) on right. Third row: (right) Mr. Sweeney (porter); ?; Mr. Duren (?), Clerk. Front row: (sitting) Sister Wigley; C. Benson (resident secretary); Dr. Crux (res. medical officer); Miss C Borthwick (matron); Dr. W Smith (res. medical officer); Miss E Covey (home sister); Sister Watt; Sister ?. (Man standing behind matron is a porter. Probationers and staff nurses in first, second and third rows). And a 1919 photograph in the same archives is of the Durban Cricket Team on tour in East Griqualand. Back row left to right: K Mowat, Fenton, P Wheatly, L Taylor, Clarkson, Allsopp. Middle row left to right: H Mackrory, J Dibbs, R Borthwick. Front row left to right: CP Carter, L Taylor, L Field. National Archives Repository
(Public Records of Central Government since 1910) National Archives Repository
(Public Records of former Transvaal Province and its predecessors
as well as of magistrates and local authorities) Free State Archives Repository Durban Archives Repository George Borthwick, lives in Westville, Natal, South Africa. A web page listing the descendants of the Garvie family in South Africa includes: Janine Borthwick, Neil Borthwick and Gina Borthwick. Trevor Borthwick of Eric Sturgess, sporting store. George Borthwick, of 'Borthwick Electrical' appears here and there on web pages.. Some
References:
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Copyright: Ann Carson 2001 All rights reserved. Page created: 5 January 2002 Last updated: |