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South African Historical Journal Volume 28, 1993 - Issue 1
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ARTICLES/ARTIKELS

Women and Education in Nineteenth-Century South Africa: The Attitudes and Experiences of Middle-Class English-Speaking Females at the Cape

EDNA BRADLOW University of Cape Town,
Pages 119-150 | Published online: 14 Jan 2009

  • Hunt , F. 1987 . “ ed. ” . In The Schooling of Girls and Women 1850–1950 Oxford xii.EJ. Hobsbawm, The Age of Capital (London, 1975), 244–5 defines the middle class as persons of ‘power and influence’ with a group consciousness based on shared beliefs and actions
  • Black , E. C. 1973 . Victorian Culture and Society 385 London See
  • Banks , O. 1964 . Feminism and Family Planning in Victorian England New York J.A. and
  • F. Hunt, ‘Divided Aims’, in Hunt, Schooling of Girls, 4
  • Hunt, Schooling of Girls, xii
  • Witwatersrand University Library (hereafter Wits), A85, Mrs Jane Philip, letters to Miss Wills, 1829–1844, 8 Feb. 1841. Miss Wills ran a school for missionary daughters at Walthamstow, Essex: Cory Library, Rhodes University (hereafter Cory), MS 6154–6157, Eliza Fairbairn, letters to her sister Mary Christie, 1836–38, 16 Feb. 1836
  • University of Cape Town, Jagger Libraries (hereafter UCT Libs), BC 597, Brown Family Papers, D5, Mary Brown Diary, 1873–1892, 15 Feb. 1873
  • Natal Archives Depot (hereafter NAD), A924, Maria Elizabeth Buchanan, Diary, pp. 81–2, 8 Mar. 1858, 10 Mar. 1858
  • Bradlow , E. “ Women at the Cape in the Mid-19th Century ” . South African Historical Journal, 19 (Nov. 1987), 52: he spoke of the ‘softening and humanizing influence which female society exercised generally upon men’
  • Wits, A85, Jane Philip to Miss Wills, 9 July 1839; her italics
  • Cory, A6056–6081 passim, Mrs Mary Moffat, Kuruman, Letters to Janey, 1849–1870, passim, 6063, 6 Apr. 1852; R. Moffat, Missionary Labour and Scenes in Southern Africa (New York and London, Johnson Reprint Corporation, 1969) provides the African background to these letters
  • South African Library (hereafter SAL), MSB214, Lucy Gray Papers, Lucy Gray to her brother, 25 Jury 1850; NAD, A924, Mary Buchanan Diary, 1 Jan. 1858—8 Jan./S60, passim Dutch girls married as early as 12 years of age
  • Tropp , A. 1957 . The School Teachers: The Growth of the Teaching Profession in England and Wales from 1800 to the Present Day 8 London
  • Vincent , D. 1982 . Bread, Knowledge and Freedom: A Study of Nineteenth Century Working Class Autobiography London 85, 89, 94
  • Delamont , S. , Delamont , S. and Duffin , L. 1978 . “ eds ” . In The Nineteenth Century Woman: Her Cultural and Physical World London SeeA. Tumbull, ‘Learning her Womanly work: The Elementary School Curriculum 1870–1914’ in Hunt, Schooling of Girls. S. Fletcher, Feminists and Bureaucrats: A Study in the Development of Girls' Education in the Nineteenth Century (Cambridge, 1980), 77, indicates, however, that in the ‘Hospital’ schools, which were part educational, part poor relief establishments, the girls received an elementary education like the boys, but the ultimate intention from the first was ‘to make [the girls] good servants’
  • Cory, MS6060, Maty Moffat to Janey, 28 Aug. 18S0
  • Vincent, Bread, Knowledge, 104
  • Wits, A85, Jane Philip to Miss Wills, 20 Jan. 1832. See Cape of Good Hope, G.12–83, Preliminary Report on the State of Education…by Donald Ross, 1883
  • See E. Bradlow, ‘Children and Childhood at the Cape’, Kleio, 20 (1988), 8–27; Cape of Good Hope, G.8–81, Report of the Superintendent-General of Education for the Year ended 30 June 1880 (SGE Report)
  • Wits, A85, Jane Philip to Miss Wills, 28 Mar. 1834(7)
  • UCT Libs, BC597, Diaiy, p. 131, 24 Jul. 1874, p. 133,19 Aug. 1874: Willie came home from school early, having seen the master beat two children and ‘thought he would beat me’. Thereafter she kept him at home lest he ‘would take a dislike to school’
  • Cory, MS6155, Eliza Fairbairn to Mary Christie, 8 Sep. 1836, 16 Feb. 1837
  • Wits, A8S, Jane Philip to Miss Wills, 9 Jul. 1839
  • Wits, A85, Jane Philip to Miss Wills, 17 Feb. 1838; Coiy, MS6056,18 Jan. 1849,1 June 1849
  • Coiy, MS61S4, Eliza Fairbairn to Mary Christie, 16 July 1836. Reading, for example, was taught by the children's sing-song repetition of the same lines four or five times
  • Cory, MS6072, Mary Moffat to Janey, 30 Apr. 1857
  • Wits, A85, Jane Philip to Miss Wills, 9 Jury 1839
  • Wits, A85, Jane Philip to Miss Wills, 8 Feb. 1841; Coiy, MS6065, 10 Nov. 1852. Variations on this theme constantly surfaced, for example, MS6062, 8 Sep. 1851, ‘I hope dear Janey that you have surrendered your heart to Him, to become a temple of the Holy Ghost’;MS6070, 20 Aug. 1856, ‘advancing the interests of the kingdom of Christ’
  • Cory, MS6062, Mary Moffat to Janey, 8 Sep. 1851, “whether we ever meet again or not in this world-we shall assuredly do so in that happy state where separation shall no more rend our hearts'
  • Cory, MS6069, Mary Moffat to Janey, 20 Aug. 1855; MS6066, 1 Aug. 1853, comments on Janey's letter of the previous year with its ‘frank and open disclosure of the state of your mind…to know and feel that you are a helpless sinner’. See also R. Slater, ed., The Carnarvon Dale Papers (Grahamstowif, n.d.), vol. 4, Miss Sarah Slater to her niece aged 23, 3 May 1873: i hope and trust that you have taken a decided stand for the Lord's side.' See also G.P. Ferguson, The Builders of Huguenot (Cape Town, 1927), 28, a young child at the Huguenot Seminary in 1874 weeping with joy that her mother “wants to find Jesus'
  • Wits, A85, Jane Philip to Miss Wills, 30 Oct. 1843,1 Apr. 1837, she did not find Genadendal ‘spiritual enough’. See Bradlow, ‘Children’, 11, on child mortality
  • Cory, MS6061,20 Aug. 1850; MS6056,18 Jan. 1849; MS6063,6 Apr. 1852; MS6058,26 Oct. 1849; MS6066, 1 Aug. 1853
  • Cory, MS6156, Eliza Fairbaim to Maty Christie, 16 Feb. 1837
  • Gordon , R. E. Dear Louisa. History of a Pioneer Family in Natal 1850–1888 3rd ed. (Piete-rmaritzburg, 1985), 53
  • NAD, A924, Mary Buchanan Diary, 1 Jan.1858-31 Dec. 1858, 1 Jan. 1859-8 Jan 1860, passim.
  • Slater, Carnarvon Dale, vol. 4, p. 18
  • Vincent, Bread, Knowledge, 106
  • Wits, ASS, Jane Philip to Miss Wills, 28 Oct. 1844, 8 Feb. 1841, 24 Jun. 1844
  • Coiy, MS6057, 1 June 1849; MS6063, 6 Apr. 1852; MS6070, 20 Aug. 1856
  • Gordon, Dear Louisa, p. 101,30 Aug. 1859; p. 112,30 Dec. 1860; p. 120,29 July 1863; p. 126, 28 Nov. 1865
  • First , R. and Scott , A. 1989 . Olive Schreiner 49 London
  • Slater, ed., Carnarvon Dale, vol. 5, p. 2
  • UCT Libs, BC601, Caroline Molteno Papers, Diary, vol. 1, p. 2,12 Sep. 1868; p. 133, 4 Mar. 1869; p. 143,13 Mar. 1869; p. 150, 22 Mar. 1869
  • NAD, A924, Mary Buchanan Diary, 1858, passim.
  • Rees , B. 1977 . The Victorian Lady London 97 ff: Becky Sharp and Jane Eyre were two of the most famous
  • Peterson , M. J. and Vicinus , M. 1972 . “ The Victorian Governess' ” . In Suffer and Be Still: Women in the Victorian Age Bloomington M. Vicinus, Independent Women: Work and Community for Single Women, 1850–1920 (London, 1985), 3, 23; Rees, Victorian Lady, 97 ff
  • Independent Women , 5 Vicinus, 24; Fletcher, Feminists, 13–16; Rees, Victorian Lady, 21. In 1848, Queens College, London was established for this purpose, Bedford College in 1849, Cheltenham Ladies' College in 1854; see L. Bean and E. van Heyningen, eds, The Letters of Jane Elizabeth Waterston, 1866–1905 (Cape Town, 1983), Appendix III, ‘The Higher Education of Women’
  • Banks, Feminism, 31 ff
  • Clarke , P. 1985 . The Governesses: Letters from the Colonies, 1862–1882 174 – 5 . London Bradlow, ‘Women at the Cape’, 65
  • Murray , J. 1968 . “ ed. ” . In In Mid-Victorian Cape Town Cape Town 6, 139
  • Slater, ed., Carnarvon Dale, Vol. 5, Alice Slater to ‘Frances’, 2 Nov. 1890
  • Fawcett Library (hereafter FL), 1/2-1, Female Middle Class Emigration Society (hereafter FMCES) Letterbook 1862–1876, Miss A.H. Jackson, Verulam, to Miss J. Lewin, 10 Oct. 1863
  • The Governesses , 175 Clarke, quoting an advertisement in the Natal Mercury, offering the services of two newly arrived governesses
  • FL, 1/2-1, FMCES Letterbook 1862–1876, see for example, C. Crewe, Durban to Miss M. Rye, founder of the FMCES, 4 Oct. 1862, on the difficulty of finding jobs because of the economic downswing of the past few years as a result of which people were trying to cut expenses; C. Brough, Cape Town to Lewin, 20 Mar. 1863 and A.H. Jackson to Lewin, May 1863, difficulty of finding employment, low pay and so on
  • Slater, ed., Carnarvon Dale, vol. 5, Alice Slater to ‘Frances’, 2 Nov. 1890
  • FL, 1/2-1, FMCES Letterbook 1862–1876, passim;one, E. Glen (Verulam) taught in addition at the local ‘native school’;Clarke, The Governesses, 175
  • FL, 1/2-2, FMCES Letterbook 1877–1882, Mitchenson to Sunter, 29 June 1878; M.E. Jenvey to Lewin, October 1877, ‘The Dutch girls only care for music performance’;C. Sinclair to Lewin, 27 Aug. 1880, ‘the Dutch are very anxious to have their children well educated especially in music’;1/2-1, FMCES Letterbook 1862–1876, S. Haffendon to Lewin, 6 June 1863, in one family she taught, ‘music is the only accomplishment they require’. See Cape of Good Hope, SGE Reports and Statistical Registers 1869–1890, passim, for the importance of music
  • FL, Box 2/3, United British Women's Emigration Association, South African Committee, H. Waide, Cape Town to Mrs Joyce, about March 1900
  • FL, 1/2-1, FMCES Letterbook 1862–1876, A.H. Jackson to Lewin, May 1863; L.H. Geoghegan to Lewin, 29 Apr. 1869
  • Rees, Victorian Lady, 98
  • FL, 1/2-1, FMCES Letterbook 1862–1876, M. Wyett to Lewin, 7 Dec. 1868
  • UCT Libs, BC601, Diary, Vol. 1, pp. 137–38,7 Mar. 1869; see also Slater, ed., Carnarvon Dale, vol. 5, p. 116, Gertrude Macnab started governessing on farms in the E. Cape at the age of 16 for £30. She later became principal of Sidbury House School
  • First and Scott, Olive Schreiner, 71–78; FL, 1/2-1, FMCES Letterbook 1862–1876, J.S. Fowler, Port Natal to Lewin, 30 Nov. 1865; S.A. Hall, Cape Town, 17 Jan. 1868;1/2-2, FMCES Letterbook 1877–1882, C. Sinclair, Natal to Lewin, 27 Aug. 1880, a governess teaching ‘plain English, music, fancy needlework received £40–80 and more for higher qualifications’
  • FL, 1/2-1, FMCES Letterbook 1862–1876 passim, letter to Lewin, for example, A.H. Jackson, Verulam 10 Oct. 1863; E. Glen, Verulam, 27 Oct. 1866, £24; A. Robinson, Durban, 10 Jan. 1868, £25; J.M. Blake, Durban, 18 July 1869, £25; L. Prentice, Durban vicinity, 23 Aug. 1869, £25; National English Literary Museum (hereafter NELM), 88.3.1.1–88.3.1.21, Bancroft, Frances (nee Slater), Letters, 1881–1896;88.3.1.17, to her mother, 12 July 1895
  • FL, 1/2-2, FMCES Letterbook 1877–1882, E. Mitchenson to Sunter, 17 Aug. 1879; S.A. Hall to Lewin, 9 Aug. 1877; C. Sinclair to Lewin, 27 Aug. 1880, salaries ranged from £40 to £120
  • FL, 1/2-2, FMCES Letterbook 1877–1882, Hall to Lewin, 9 Aug. 1877; Clarke, The Governesses, 175, quoting advertisement in Natal Mercury, 6 Mar. 1863; First and Scott, Olive Schreiner, 71: Schreiner, in her first post, served in her employer's shop after teaching hours.
  • For example, see FL, Box 2/3, United British Women's Emigration Association, H. Waide, about March 1900. A Mrs Hobson had three governesses in 12 months
  • Slater , ed. Carnarvon Dale, Alice Slater to ‘Frances’, 2 Nov. 1890 ed., to her mother, 6 Nov. 1898; NELM, 88.3.1.9, Frances Slater to her mother, 18 Mar. 1892
  • Winn , R. , Fowler , J. S. and Glen , E. , eds. See, for example, FL, 1/2-1, FMCES Letterbook 1862–1876, Haffendon, 17 Dec. 1863, riding and driving with her employer;, 27 Oct. 1866, frequent rides; FL, 1/2–2, FMCES Letterbook 1877–1882, Mitchenson, Bedford to Sunter, 29 June 1878; FL, 1/2–1, FMCES Letterbook 1862–1876, Meintjes to Lewin, 18 Oct. 1864. 30 Nov. 1865, 31 July 186?
  • FL, 1/2-1, FMCES Letterbook 1862–1876, Jackson to Lewin, 10 Oct. 1863, referring to Natal;1/2-2, FMCES Letterbook 1877–1882, Hall to Lewin, 10 June 1877, 14 Apr. 1880
  • Notcutt , H. E. , ed. FL, Box 2/3, United British Women's Emigration Association, Mrs, Sea Point to Mrs Joyce, 30 Apr. 1899
  • Bradlow, ‘Women at the Cape’, 73
  • Independent Women , 24 Vicinus, 163; Rees, Victorian Lady, 98
  • Slater, ed., Carnarvon Dale, vol. 5, p. 198, in 1897, at the age of 27, Alice Slater, then a teacher, became a typist in a lawyer's office
  • G20-1866, Census of the Colony of the Cape of Good Hope, 1868
  • Slater, ed., Carnarvon Dale, vol. 5, p. 70
  • Rees, Victorian Lady, 100; NELM, 88.3.1.10, Frances Slater to her mother, 18 Mar. 1892, speaks of the ‘delights of an independent school marm’
  • Slater, ed., Carnarvon Dale, vol. 5, p. 116, Alice Slater to ‘Frances’, 2 Nov. 1890; to her mother, 12 June 18%. The schools were at Somerset East and Adelaide. See SGE Reports 1881–89 for farm schools and other private educational institutions
  • G12–83, Preliminary Report, 13;The General Directory and Guidebook (1886), 156, Catholic girls' schools, private girls' schools in Southern suburbs
  • Slater . One was Mary, later the wife of David Livingstone Edited by: Carnarvon Dale . vol. 5 , ed., pp. 2, 13.
  • Slater, ed., Carnarvon Dale, vol. 4, p. 16; vol. 5, half-yearly report of Pauline Slater, n.d., probably late 1880s or early 1890s
  • Slater, ed., Carnarvon Dale, vol. 4, p. 27; vol. 5,1869
  • John , E , ed. Slater, ed., Carnarvon Dale, vol. 5,. Slater to ‘Susie’, 2 Feb. 1877
  • Standard Encyclopedia of South Africa, vol. 7, p. 370
  • Dyhouse , C. , ed. ‘Miss Buss and Miss Beale’ in Hunt, Schooling of Girls, 27; Bradlow, ‘Children and Childhood’, 25
  • Henning , C. G. , ed. 1975 . Graaff Reinet: A Cultural History 1786–1886 Cape Town 120,128,129: between 1852 and 1860 there were 11 primary schools; FL, 1/2-2, FMCES Letterbook 1877–1882, Hall to Lewin, 4 Feb. 1877
  • SAL, ‘Establishment for Education of Young Ladies, Camp Ground, Rondebosch’-a brief prospectus of Miss Hull's-indicates her charges were similar to Miss Hall's
  • FL, 1/2–2, FMCES Letterbook 1877–1882, Hall to Lewin, 25 Mar 1882
  • Vicinus, Independent Women, 176
  • FL, 1/2–1, FMCES Letterbook 1862–1876, Hall to Lewin, 18 Aug. 1876;1/2–2, FMCES Letterbook 1877–1882, Hall to Lewin, 30 May 1877,3 Apr. 1880; Hart to Sunter, 8 Oct. 1880; UCT Libs, BC330, Molteno-Murray Collection, Kathleen Murray Correspondence, Hall to Betty Molteno, 31 Mar. 1884, the second assistant was paid £150 p.a
  • FL, 1/2–2, FMCES Letterbook 1877–1882, Hall to Sunter, 18 July 1878; Hall to Lewin, 30 Apr. 1879, 23 Nov. 1879; UCT Libs, BC330, Hall to Molteno, 27 Mar. 1884: in her earlier days she worked from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.
  • Boner , K. , ed. “ Private Convents: The Irish Dominicans and Education in the Western Cape 1863–1892 ” . (MA thesis, University of South Africa, 1976), 55–63
  • FL, 1/2-2, FMCES Letterbook 1877–1882, Hall to Lewin, 4 Feb. 1877, 30 Apr. 1879,10 June 1877; UCT Libs, BC330, Hall to Molteno, 18 Feb. 1884, 7 Apr. 1884, Nvhen they return to their sheep farms, the spark that has been kindled will probably die out'
  • FL, 1/2-2, FMCES Letterbook 1877–1882, Hall to Lewin, 30 Apr. 1879, 23 Nov. 1879; UCT Libs, BC330, Hall to Molteno, 18 Feb. 1884–18 July 1886, passim
  • Board of Education, Special Reports on the systems of Education in Cape Colony and Natal, (London, H.M. Stationery Office, 1901), quoting Dr Dale's ‘educational statistics’;UCT Libs, BC330, Notes on Miss E.M. Molteno's Life by K. Murray, Molteno became sole principal on Hall's death
  • Smith , K. W. , ed. 1976 . “ 5 ” . In From Frontier to Midlands. A History of the Graaff-Reinet District 1786–1910 (Grahamstown, chapter; Henning, Graaff-Reinet, 129 ff; A. de V. Minnaar, Graaff Reinet 1786–1986 (Pretoria, 1987), 106
  • Ferguson . The Builders of Hutenot 3; Henning, Graaff-Reinet, 130
  • 1911 . Guide to the Educational Institutions and Advantages of the Cape Peninsula 79 Cape Town The title of this publication indicates an awareness of the expectations of immigrants concerning education by the early twentieth century
  • NELM, 88.3.1.4, Frances Slater to her mother, 12 Aug. 1886
  • Vietzen , S. , ed. 1973 . A History of Education for European Girls in Natal, 1837–1902 Pietenmaritzburg (Information in this section relies largely on this publication. Fees were 6d to 2/6d monthly: Gordon, Dear Louisa, 43
  • Special Reports, Vol. 5, pp. 199, 200, 202; Vietzen, History, 35 ff
  • Verslag van den staat van net Openbaar Onderwijs in den Oranje-vrijstaat, vol. 1, 1881–2, (Pretoria, State Library Reprint, 3 vols., 1971);E.G. Malherbe, Education in South Africa 1652–1922 (Cape Town, 1925), Part IV
  • Venter , U. S. , ed. 1959 . Die Angfikaanse Kerlc en die Onderwys in die Oranje Vrystaat 1854–1900 Pretoria 227,242; E.G. Pells, 300 Years of Education in South Africa (Cape Town, 1938), 57–60
  • Verslag, Vol. 1, p. 32
  • Verslag, Vol. 1,1886–7. In 1874 there were 10 government schools, with 12 teachers and 348 pupils;Dictionary of South African Biography, Vol. 1, p. 117: in 1898,199 schools, 293 teachers and 8157 pupils
  • NELM, 88.3.1.10-18, Frances Slater to her mother, 7 Apr 1892,26 June 1892, ‘Fri. 3rd, 1892’, 22 Sep. 1892, 2 Oct. 1892, 30 Oct. 1892,12 July 1895, 4 Oct. 1895
  • Bot , A. K. , ed. 1936 . A Century of Education in the Transvaal 1836–1936 Pretoria 20; Pells, 300 Years, 53 ff; Malherbe, Education in South Africa, Part III
  • Slater, ed., Carnarvon Dale, Vol. 5, Aimee to Lizzie, 11? 1890 (prior to March);also Aimee to her mother, 2 Apr. 1889
  • Tropp, The School Teachers, 170; P. Williams, ‘Pioneer Women Students at Cambridge, 1869–1881’ in Hunt, Schooling of Girls, 172–90
  • Visagie , J. H.H. , ed. 1970 . ‘n Histories-Kritiese Studie van die Ontwikkeling van die Onderwys in die Kaapse Shereiland 1839–1915 Nasionale Raad vir Sosiale Navorsing
  • Bradlow, ‘Children and Childhood’, 17–18
  • FL, 1/2–1, FMCES Letterbook 1862–1876, Hall to Lewin, 18 Aug. 1876;1/2–2, FMCES Letterbook 1877–1882, Hall to Lewin, 30 Apr. 1879, 4 Feb. 1879; UCT Libs, BC330, Hall to Betty Molteno, 7 Apr. 1884
  • Special Reports on the Systems of Education, Vol. 5, pp. 22 ff, a more primitive system in 1859 had been scrapped in 1864. Gll-73, SGE Report, 1872, p. 8; G8–91, SGE Report, 1890, p. 11
  • Visagie, Histories-Kritiese Studie, Chapter 5; Slater, ed., Carnarvon Dale, Vol. 5, Lizzie Slater at DSG to her mother, 8 Apr. 1876; also Ferguson, The Builders of Huguenot, 69, by 1890 Huguenot Seminary girls were writing university entrance, and teachers’ exams set by the Cape Education Department; Henning, Graaff-Reinel, 130; Minnaar, Graaff-Reinet, 106-Miss Hall and the Midlands Seminary were training pupil teachers; Special Reports, Vol. 5 indicates a middle class certificate qualified the recipient to take charge of a 2nd class public school, or a 1st class girls' school, suggesting there was a difference in the quality of the establishments
  • Slater, ed., Carnarvon Dale, Vol. 5, Alice to her mother, 20 Apr. 1887; also 23 Mar. 1887, 30 Mar. 1887, 6 Apr. 1887
  • Atkinson , P. , ed. “ Fitness, Feminism and Schooling ” . in Delamont and Duffin, The 19th Century Woman.
  • Hunt, ‘Divided Aims’, 6; Fletcher, Bureaucrats, 13–18, 108 ff; Vicinus, Independent Women, 180; S. Delamont, ‘The Contradictions in Ladies’ Education' and ‘The Domestic Ideology: Women and Education’ in Delamont and Duffin, The 19th century Woman.
  • Vietzen, History, 13,14;‘Girls High School, Wynberg, Souvenir Programme 1884–1934’ (1934), 9
  • Bradlow, ‘Children and Childhood’, 13–17; UCT Libs, BC330, Notes on Miss E. Molteno's Life by K. Murray, indicates at school she learnt ‘subjects considered necessary for gentlewomen of that period’
  • Special Reports, Vol. 5; Ferguson, The Builders of Huguenot, 15; Bradlow, ‘Children’, 17
  • First and Scott, Olive Schreiner, 55. The examination included English, scripture, geology, French or German, Harmony
  • FL, 1/2-2, FMCES Letterbook 1877–1882, Mitchenson to Sunter, n.d.;Hall to Lewin, 3 Oct. 1877, 23 Nov. 1879; Hart to Sunter, 8 Oct. 1880; NAD, A924, Mary Buchanan Diary, 1858, passim, refers to practising the piano; Slater, ed., Carnarvon Dale, Vol. 5, Lizzie Slater to her mother, 31 July 1875; McGregor Museum, KM 57/3523, ‘Bess’, Kimberley to her brother ‘Dick’, 15 Nov. 1899, in her private girls' school some pupils were taking French; G8–89, Supplement, SGE Report, 1888
  • Vicinus, Independent Women, 165–7
  • Slater, ed., Carnarvon Dale, Vol. 5, E. Chalmers to her future sister-in-law, Frances Slater, 3 Apr. 1890, 15 Nov. 1888
  • UCT Libs, BC601, Diary, Vol. 1, p. 6, 18 Sep. 1868
  • Slater, ed., Carnarvon Dak, Vol. 5, Lizzie Slater to her mother, 31 July 1875, 28 Aug. 1875; to ‘Amy’, 19 Feb. 1876; Mabel Slater, 27 Mar. 1883, found the girls at Wesleyan School unfriendly to newcomers; Alice Slater to her mother, 6 Apr. 1887; Lizzie to her mother, 31 July 1875
  • UCT Libs, BC601, Diary, Vol. 1, p. 141,11 Mar. 1869
  • Cape Archives Photograph Collection, AG8064, 8065; Slater, ed., Carnarvon Dale, Vol. 5, facing p. 18
  • Slater, ed., Carnarvon Dale, Vol. 5,11 June 1876. Book muslin was a fine muslin sold in book form; also ‘Susie’ to her mother, 2 June 1877
  • Atkinson, ‘Fitness’
  • Slater, ed., Carnarvon Dale, Vol. 5, 31 July 1875, 28 Aug. 1875; also Mabel Slater to Alice Slater, 27 Mar. 1883
  • Slater, ed., Carnarvon Dale, Vol. 5, Thos. Slater to his mother, 16 Feb. 1863; Charles Slater to ‘Sisy’, 17 Sep. 1881; Miss M. Stewart to Carey Slater, 19 Dec. 1881; J.E. Slater (aged 32) to his sister Susie, 2 Feb. 1877
  • Slater, ed., Carnarvon Dale, Vol. 5, 13 May 1876,11 June 1876
  • Slater, ed., Carnarvon Dale, Vol. 5, M. Tindall to Alice Slater, 21 May 1888
  • Gorham , D. , ed. “ The Ideology of Femininity and Reading for Girls 1850–1914 ” . in Hunt, Schooling of Girls, 39
  • UCT Libs, BC601, Diary, Vol. 1, p. 53, 15 June 1869
  • NAD, A924, Mary Buchanan Diary, 1 Jan. 1858
  • UCT Libs, BC601, Diary, Vol. 1, p. 53, 15 June 1869
  • UCT Libs, BC601, Diary, Vol. 1, p. 1, 11 Sep. 1868; also pp. 3–133, passim, 14 Sep. 1868 to 4 Mar. 1869, for example, ‘Betty was too poorly to go to church’ and ‘Betty was not well enough to go to school’, ‘she had an attack of nervousness’ etc; BC330, Betty Molteno, Journal 1871, ‘I feel dreadfully lonely’, ‘I go to bed with a sort of headache every night’ and so on
  • UCT Libs, BC601, Diary, Vol. 1, p. 29, 9 Oct. 1868, at boarding school she ‘looks very well. From what Susan de Villiers says she has been more confidential to her than to me’;p. 65, 19 Dec. 1868, Betty described as ‘so chatty’;BC330, Cape Times, 22 Sep. 1927, obituary E.M. Molteno, she is described as a ‘strong and vivid personality’
  • SGE Reps, 1880–1890; G6–92, Results of a Census…5 Apr. 1891, pp. xd, xxii; G12–83, Ross Report

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