Britain’s Youngest Self-governing Colony

Cameos from the Twenties and Thirties in Southern Rhodesia

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First sight of Africa - Rhodesians returning home - 1934

First sight of Africa – Rhodesians returning home 1934

 

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Riders-enjoying-the-wide-open-spaces in-Rhodesia's Eastern-Highlands

“THIS FREEDOM”

Rhodesia is essentially a land where one may enjoy the great “out-of-doors” untrammelled by the too close proximity of civilisation.  This picture of riders in the freshness of an early morning amid beautiful surroundings epitomises the character of Britain’s youngest self-governing colony.

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Baobab tree on the Fort-Victoria-to-Beitbridge-road-c-1938

A GRAND OLD BAOBAB TREE ON THE ROAD TO BEIT BRIDGE.

Compare this picture (looking South) with a view of the same tree taken looking North in 1974.

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THE BURIAL PLACE OF THE FOUNDER OF RHODESIA

An unusual view from the air of Rhodes’ grave in the Matopo Hills.

The huge boulders surrounding the grave are here dwarfed to the size of mere pebbles.

To the right is the Shangani Memorial erected to the memory of Major Alan Wilson

and his men who were annihilated by the Matabele on the Shangani River in 1893.

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Ox wagon in the Matopo Hills

“In The Matopos”                                       photo by Neville Clayton

The Matopos Hills, which are within a short motor run of Bulawayo, are famous as the resting place of the founder of Rhodesia, Cecil John Rhodes.  The Hills provide some grand scenery, and interesting rock paintings by the former Bushman inhabitants are to be seen in various parts of the range.

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Matabele family at home

A Matabele family in a homely setting.

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Tanganda Tea Estate in the 1930s

A flourishing Tea Estate in the Eastern Districts. 

Rhodesian grown tea was first marketed in 1930.  22,671 lbs of tea was exported in 1937.

The same spot may be seen here as it was in the 1970s

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Main Street, Bulawayo at Sunrise, 1926 from an Oil Painting by T.H. Bryant.

MAIN STREET, BULAWAYO, AT SUNRISE.

From an Oil Painting by T.H. Bryant.

The view above shows Main Street in 1926 with the Rebellion Memorial in the foreground and John Tweed’s statue of Cecil Rhodes beyond.

A similar view little more than 30 years earlier would have shown but wild bush country.

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Montagu Ave in 1930s

Montagu Avenue, Salisbury, Rhodesia 1932

from a painting by M.E. Halford

(Marguerite was known to family & friends as “Daisy”)

Compare this with a similar photographic view from 1977)

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Two pretty young things

“Diana” photographed by F.H.H. Edwins, 1936

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"At the Drift" a painting by R.W. Baylis from the late 1920s
“At the Drift” a painting by A.W. Baylis from the late 1920s.

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Crossing the Sabi River at Moodie's Drift in the late twenties before the advent of the Birchenough Bridge.

Crossing the Sabi River at Moodie’s Drift in the late twenties before the advent of the Birchenough Bridge.

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The foot of the Christmas Pass, Umtali, 1920s
At the foot of the Christmas Pass, Umtali, 1920s  –  (photo by Edwin Payne)