"Every day has a story about Kimberley's past."

On this day...

The fourteenth day of January reminds us how quickly the Diamond Fields grew from isolated diggings into a connected community. Nearly thirty years later, during the Siege of Kimberley, communication with the outside world would once again become one of the town's greatest challenges.

1871 – The First Mail Leaves for the Diamond Fields

On this day in 1871, the first official mail destined for the Diamond Fields was dispatched from Cape Town to the receiving station at Klipdrift (today's Barkly West).

Only a few years earlier, the discovery of diamonds along the Vaal River had transformed what had been a remote frontier into one of the busiest regions in southern Africa. Thousands of prospectors, traders and entrepreneurs now depended on reliable communication with the Cape Colony and the rest of the world. Five days later, on 19 January 1871, the first Post Office opened at Klipdrift, providing a permanent postal service to the rapidly expanding diamond fields.

Although Kimberley itself had yet to emerge as the dominant mining town, these early postal services laid the foundations for the communications network that would soon serve the richest diamond discovery in history. As the centre of diamond mining shifted from the river diggings to the dry diggings around Colesberg Kopje, the postal network expanded with it, helping Kimberley become the commercial heart of the Diamond Fields.

Did You Know?

Before regular postal services were established, letters to and from the Diamond Fields often travelled with wagon drivers, traders or fellow prospectors, making deliveries slow and unpredictable.

1900 – Milk Becomes a Precious Commodity

91 days into the Siege of Kimberley

By 14 January 1900, food shortages in Kimberley were becoming increasingly serious, and fresh milk had become one of the town's most valuable resources.

In The Diary of a Doctor's Wife – During the Siege of Kimberley, October 1899 to February 1900, Winifred Heberden described the opening of a Milk Depot, where supplies were carefully controlled through a permit system.

Condensed milk was almost exhausted and was now restricted to one tin per week, available only to those with medical certificates. Adults were no longer eligible, leaving many elderly residents particularly vulnerable. Fresh milk remained available, but only in tiny quantities. Patients certified by doctors could receive half a bottle per day at a cost of sixpence a bottle. Much of the remaining supply was reserved for Kimberley's hospitals, where more than 50 patients were suffering from typhoid fever.

Meanwhile, Boer marksmen continued to fire at Kimberley's grazing cattle in an effort to reduce the town's food supply. To protect the herds, British forces deployed 7-pounder field guns alongside a Maxim machine gun whenever cattle were taken out to graze.

The newly completed Cold Storage Chamber continued to fill with meat as military authorities prepared for the possibility that the remaining livestock might be lost soon.

Communication with the outside world remained equally frustrating. Although heliograph messages were being exchanged with the Relief Column, little useful information reached the people of Kimberley. Winifred summed up the mood simply: "We are told little or nothing, and are afraid that there is nothing to tell."

Did You Know?

A heliograph transmitted messages by reflecting sunlight with mirrors. In clear weather, experienced operators could communicate over distances of more than 50 kilometres using Morse code.

Kimberley's Story Continues

These are just two of the many events that helped shape Kimberley. Every date on the calendar reveals another chapter in the city's remarkable history.

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