Eadie Diary

Eadie Diary (1900)

David Eadie ‘left the Glascow Postal Department and was sent to South Africa as a telegraphist', starting with the General Post Office, South Africa in May 1885. As a member of the permanent Civil Service he did not remain in the postal services- he ended 43 years of service as Chief Magistrate of Port Elizabeth in 1928.

He happened to be posted in Kimberley during the siege, and his reporting style is straightforward and unemotional, but with obvious attention to how his account ‘sounds’, since there is evidence of self–editing.

Part of the page here reads: '14th Jan?Sunday. Very hot all the morning and no rain wh. is badly wanted. Blowing clouds of dust until after sundown ... 15th Jan?... Later when the sun ... woke up and began his day's journey the result of the battle for ascendance between the shafts of bright gold and the sombre clouds was very beautiful. The usual sniping was indulged in between the enemy and our cattle guards ..."

?Eadie Diary 1900 (141KB)

Diaries Catalogue

Cory Library holds a number of diaries in various collections. This older printed finding aid lists a selection of these, with biographical details, supplemented by notes on the texts, and transcribed samples.

Diaries catalogue, Cory Library (8MB)

Last Modified: Tue, 03 Jun 2014 09:12:28 SAST