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Letters from the London office of the British South Africa Company (microfilm)

 Collection

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Out letters from the London office of the British South Africa Company, 1890-1907. Microfilm.

Dates

  • Creation: 1890-1907

Extent

24 Reels

Language of Materials

  • English

Preferred Citation

Oxford, Bodleian Libraries [followed by shelfmark and folio or page reference, e.g. Micr.Afr.477].

Please see our help page for further guidance on citing archives and manuscripts.

Full range of shelfmarks:

Micr.Afr.477

Collection ID (for staff)

CMD ID 956

Biographical / Historical

The British South Africa Company (BSAC) was a mercantile company based in London. It was incorporated in 1889 under a royal charter (at the instigation of Cecil Rhodes) with the object of acquiring and exercising commercial and administrative rights in south-central Africa. The charter gave the BSAC rights to maintain or distribute vast territory, to make treaties, to establish a police force, and to set up banking firms.

By 1900, the BSAC was administering both Southern Rhodesia and Northern Rhodesia, and by various means had acquired substantial land and mineral rights. BSAC rule ended in Southern Rhodesia in 1923, when the white settlers were granted responsible government, and in Northern Rhodesia in 1924, when the Colonial Office assumed control. However, the BSAC retained its commercial assets and its mineral rights in Northern Rhodesia became a valuable source of revenue following the development of the copper-mining industry in that territory between the First and Second World Wars. On the eve of Northern Rhodesia's independence, the BSAC was forced, by the threat of expropriation, to assign its mineral rights to the local government. The BSAC merged with two other companies to form Charter Consolidated Limited in 1965. Compiled with reference to Encyclopaedia Britannica.

Other Finding Aids

Listed as no. 726 in Manuscript Collections of Africana in Rhodes House Library, Oxford, compiled by Louis B. Frewer (Oxford, Bodleian Library, 1968).

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Acquisition information unknown.

Related Materials

Originals are held by the Rhodesia National Archives.

Title
Letters from the London office of the British South Africa Company (microfilm)
Status
Published
Author
Marion Lowman
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Repository Details

Part of the Bodleian Libraries Repository

Contact:
Weston Library
Broad Street
Oxford OX1 3BG United Kingdom