The Story of The Zulus

Now this is an interesting one!( If you can hear a sigh in the background please don’t be perturbed, it is just one of relief from my family, in response to the fact that I have actually chosen one of the books from my sales listings to Blog about!)
The book in question is over 100 years old, published by Longman’s and Green 1911 a revised and extended edition of an earlier work, written by J.Y. Gibson who was for some years a magistrate in Zululand. That’s here in South Africa, in case any of you are wondering. He writes in detail of the history of the Zulu tribe under their various kings including the well known Tshaka and includes an interesting table of Zulu genealogy. A review of the book, in a journal of the same era says that it tells in excellent literary form the repeated struggles and efforts of one of the bravest tribes in Africa.
And, well…….. you know me, I can’t resist adding a little genealogy into the mix! Once I had picked up the book. I wanted to know something of the background of the author who knew so much about the Zulus and lived among them prior to 1911. Hmmm, do you think perhaps I have subconscious “Miss Marple” tendencies?
I consulted my copy of the 1912 Who’s Who of South Africa, but sadly Gibson was not included. However, as we all know, behind every great man there is a great woman spurring him on and so when I turned to my copy of Women of South Africa 1913 ( discussed in a previous blog post) lo and behold there she was, Mrs Harriette Augusta Gibson, wife of J.Y. Gibson. Esq., Magistrate.
The book records that Harriette was born in Devonshire, England , daughter of Charles Blake Norman,Esq. Harriette and J.Y. lived for four years in Nongoma, Zululand experiencing exciting times there during the Boer War. Especially when the Boers moved into close proximity as many Zulus resided in the district under Dinizulu. Harriette must have been a little perturbed when James Young was transferred to Mahlabatini , due to the fact that on the 4th June 1906 his predecessor had been shot by natives, but like so many of those strong pioneering women she accompanied her husband to his post and resided with him there for two years. Perhaps the fact that she had trained as a nurse before marrying, helped her to cope with having to live so far off the beaten track. Apart from the fact that he lived from 1857 – 1935. This is all I have managed to dig up on the elusive James, but then again, he probably made a habit of keeping his head down considering the fate of his predecessor!
Keep reading! – Nikki

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