Description: AFRICANA BOOK - A MERCHANT FAMILY IN EARLY NATAL, SOUTH AFRICA THIS AFRICANA BOOK MAKES USE OF THE DIARIES AND LETTERS OF Joseph and Marianne Churchill to tell the story of a successful pioneering merchant family in early Natal, South Africa. Joseph settled in South Africa from England in 1850 for health reasons like many of his English compatriots. He entered a trading partnership with another Englishman, A. W. Evans - and it was the start of a long and successful enterprise. He became a prominent citizen and philanthropist in Durban, Natal's largest city and port. MARIANNE WAS JOSEPH'S SISTER AND SHE WENT OUT TO SOUTH AFRICA to keep house for her brother until he married Emma Gillespie (whose brother later married Marianne). In this book Daphne Child, a Durban-born historian and writer, edits their letters and diaries that tell a fascinating story of their lives and travels as pioneers in a developing but turbulent sub-continent. The Churchills made several business trips into the interior, traveling by ox-cart and noting with interest the natural wonders they experienced and the people they met. It was not unlike the wagon journeys that pioneers were making in America, Australia and New Zealand at the time - except it was in Southern Africa. Marianne was an amateur artist and her watercolors are still treasured today. Some are used in this book (in black-and-white) to illustrate the text. THE BOOK WE OFFER WAS PUBLISHED IN 1979 BY THE CAPE TOWN FIRM OF A. A BALKEMA which has done much down the years to make Africana texts available to collectors as well as general readers. Now that South Africa is a non-racial democracy, there is a deep focus on and fascination with its past. Hence the continued interest in books like this one. OUR BOOK HAS LOST ITS DUST-JACKET AND THE SPINE IS SUN-FADED AS A RESULT. Otherwise it is in sound condition, the pages are clean and unmarked by margin notes or other embellishments. The binding is firm and square. There is no sign of previous ownership such as an inscription or bookplate. There are several contemporary illustrations by Marianne Churchill as mentioned above and an index for quick reference. It would make a nice addition to a collection of AFRICANA books, an activity that is growing in popularity since the socio-political transformation of South Africa in 1994 has focused more attention on the country. This book is in the Mackie Books inventory in California and does not have to be imported from South Africa. We are very pleased to include it in our Africana selections. + Click here to see our other Africana listings. + All books sold by Mackie Books are packed in bubble-wrap to guard against accidental damage during shipping. We use recycled materials for shipping when we can and we encourage clients to do this too - especially bubble-wrap. + Click here to look at other listings by Mackie Books on eBay. We have a wide range of books of all kinds. + We ship internationally through eBay's Global Shipping Program. + The pictures we post with our eBay postings are from the actual book on sale and are not stock pictures.
Price: 22.95 USD
Location: Sausalito, California
End Time: 2025-01-15T07:06:19.000Z
Shipping Cost: 3.5 USD
Product Images
Item Specifics
Restocking Fee: No
All returns accepted: Returns Accepted
Item must be returned within: 30 Days
Refund will be given as: Money Back
Return shipping will be paid by: Buyer
Country/Region of Manufacture: South Africa
Topic: Merchant family in 19thC Natal, South Africa
Format: Hardcover
Author: Edited by Daphne Child
Subject: History
Publication Year: 1979
Language: English
Special Attributes: Collectible memoirs of a Natal family, Illustrated
