Anglo-Boer War records: concentration camps and prisoners of war
Almost every Afrikaans family was touched by the war of 1899–1902. Women, children and older men were held in concentration camps, and thousands of Boer fighters were sent to prisoner-of-war camps overseas. The records of both are a rich source: they list whole families, with ages and their farms.
The concentration camp database
The British Concentration Camps of the South African War database, hosted by the University of Cape Town, lists people held in the camps, drawn from the camp registers and other sources. You can search by surname (three letters or more) and camp, and browse who died in each camp. An entry often gives age, the farm and district the family came from, when they arrived and, sadly, when someone died and why.
The same family can appear more than once, and names are often misspelled – try variations, and compare ages to make sure you have the right people.
Deaths in the camps
Transvaal civil death records for 1899–1902 are filed separately by camp and district, and are on FamilySearch. A death in a camp may also be recorded in the camp register and in a later death notice.
Prisoners of war
Boer prisoners were sent to camps on St Helena, in Ceylon (Sri Lanka), Bermuda and India, and some to Portugal. The records of the Staff Officer, Prisoners of War, Cape Town (1900–1903) include lists of prisoners in those camps; FamilySearch has filmed them. The War Museum of the Boer Republics in Bloemfontein also helps with prisoner-of-war research.
Useful links
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