South African Place Categorization

Question

There is some encouragement that South African profile managers are beginning to place categorize their profiles based on prominent life events.  It should be pointed out that place name categories are time frame specific based on certain parameters which are set out in the free space page for South African locations.  In summary:

• Dutch Cape Colony : Up and until 1806
• British Cape Colony : 1806-1910
• The Union and Republic : 1910-1994
• The Republic (post provincial name/structural change) : post 1994

Thus, for a town which has suffered no place name change there are four options:

1. [[Category:Swellendam District, Dutch Cape Colony]] – the Dutch Cape Colony is categorised only by districts up until 1806;
2. [[Category:Oudtshoorn, Cape Colony]] – between the Dutch Cape and the Union in 1910;
3. [[Category:Oudtshoorn, Cape Province]] – both the Union and the Republic are categorized contiguously; 
4. [[Category:Oudtshoorn, Western Cape Province]] – after 1994 there was significant provincial re-structuring and place name changing.

Therefore, it is essential that we only categorize profiles for life time events (i.e. birth and deaths principally).  If you choose the wrong category, this will eventually identify as an error “886 Died before category time frame”, and should pop up in your suggestions list.  A person born in Oudtshoorn between 1806-1910 and who died in Oudtshoorn in say 1915 would be categorized simply as [[Category:Oudtshoorn, Cape Colony]], and [[Category:Oudtshoorn, Cape Province]]. Some are adding all the time frames to their profiles.

May you be encouraged to read the free space page linked above and please note that I make myself  available to help anyone with place and cemetery categorization issues in Southern African countries.

Comments

May I thank Louis Heyman for bringing this to my notice this morning.  I am working through the corrections right now!

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Thanks Andrew for your help, and the information provided

You are a star!!

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Hi Andrew,  I know that you have worked really hard on this so my apologies, this is a Devil's advocate question. In the English project we tend to. categorise by parish rather than hamlet within a parish. We don't categorise by farm.  It's relatively simple since we have ancient administrative areas.. What will be the policy as regards to categorising smaller areas?

I'll give an example. I am lucky enough to have a family tree drawn up from notes written by a lady born in 1889. I'm a sceptic and little is yet on wikitree since I try to verify her information.

Here's a snippet from the notes  about one Henry Edkins " Their first home was Binfield farm (Binfield was his mother's maiden name.She was an 1820 emigrant) ... Henry was a Wesleyan  preached at Lushington Church ... He gave the land fo Tyume Church."These are  tiny places .However, even Binfield farm still survives . https://www.mindat.org/feature-1019376.html Is there anyway of defining the smallest areas that should be categorised? 

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Good morning Helen,

I think the entire concept with South African place name categorization has to be 'keep it simple' and this was very much the wish of the SA Root Project.  My first proposals were, lets say, a touch too difficult to implement, with project managers in mind.  I hasten to add that some may still be confused with what has been implemented, others believe there is over-categorisation.  They may be right, so the scope for drilling down to smaller locations with categorization would be resisted.  So, for the Dutch Cape, we limited the smallest area to administrative districts, and from the British Cape Colony thereon to settlements, villages and towns, within Provinces.  I think the answer to your query may be to place the detail of the farm name or small place in the data fields provided for life events and then just categorize the profile to the town in which the district usually follows the town name.  Some of my profiles have on farm deaths i.e. Doornpan, Schweizer-Reneke and the farm next door Doornbult, Wolmaransstad.   My unwritten rule for Southern Africa is on farm life events are categorised to the town which the district follows by name.  Hope that makes sense.

Answer 1

Hi All

Would it be possible to enrich the naming for the areas the early settlers and Voortrekkers moved to?

I have seen many official documents from the Orange River Colony, Transvaal Republic etc as many of my families moved via the Karoo or Langkloof to the older Capitals of Boshoff, MartinusWesselsStroom (Wakkerstroom) Etc. Many of the DRC records of the time were transcribed or sent to the Cape, but did not originate in areas under the control of the Cape.

I am far from knowing enough in this area but feel we are losing historical detail.

All the best and stay safe

Riaan

Comments

Hi Riaan,

For the purpose of categorisation to group profiles into the most simple logical groups, consult the page Andrew provided the link to.

For place names on a profile, use the WikiTree guideline Use what they used at the time. A broad regional guide can be found on the Page Country Naming 

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Riaan

I agree the historical details can be lost and should be added 

The "trekking" of the person can be added to the Bios under the Events Heading. Adding dates and places  can be very useful when one read the Bios of our ancestors to find sources to enhance the profile, and also add historical detail 

Regarding the place names added to the data field, the WikiTree guideline is to add the place names of our ancestors as our ancestors would have known it, in the language they used. Using MartinusWesselsStroom, (Wakkerstroom distrik) if a child was born there  would therefore be recommended as that was the historical correct name at the time.     

If a child was born in a place, and a category for that town or dorp does not exist the category can be created for your profile.  You can ask Andrew or myself should you need help, doing that. 

We are a long way away from having all the place names in place, :-)

 

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We must not lose the historical details, and this must surely be retained in life event place names in the data fields provided and also in the biographies, where there is scope for expansion of the historic detail.   

I do not believe categorization serves in any way to retain historic detail, but that said, historic geopolitical structure drove the design of the categorization structure.  We use historical names of places for genealogy and categorisation caters for that.  Categorization serves to bring together lists of common life event elements (like cemeteries, places, and thematics).

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Hi Ronel, good morning to you!
Just want to make the point, that no place name categories shall be created where there are no profiles in them.  In fact, profiles so created may be deleted (unless the creator can stuff them with profiles).
The rolling out of place name categories is going very well.  Altogether 503 places have been created: 8 in the Dutch Cape; 234 in the pre 1910 period; 183 pre 1994; and 78 post 1994 (most with new cemeteries).   Each has its unique category information box with GPS location and start and end dates.

Answer 2

Andrew I am confused  

The high level Category Category: Cape of Good Hope Colony, British 1807-1910

This category added was  [[Category:Aberdeen, Cape Colony]] timeframe  on profile 1847-1892 falling well into the time zone for the category added  for both birth and death 

 It is still showing the  error report  886 Died before category time frame  (Info added for the error is Category: Aberdeen, Cape Province) 

Even after it was fixed 

See https://www.wikitree.com/index.php?title=Hockly-23&diff=next&oldid=99146068 

Comments

Die "suggestions" word gewoonlik een maal per week op Maandae se kant opgedateer. Kliek regs op "status" merk "corrected hide until next update"

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Good morning Ronel...  Louise is correct... these lists are refreshed weekly so changes you made must be endorsed "corrected hide until next update"

Principal problem as I see it, is profile managers are categorizing to the wrong time frame, because the category in the right time frame has not yet been created.  Several place categories have been newly set up to cater for this.   If profile managers cannot find the appropriate place name in the right time frame, then they should create the category according to the guideline, or make a request that I set it up.  If a newly created category is endorsed with the category Category:Field-4274 Place Category Work in Progress, then it will sit in my list and be attended to... I do a few towns each day.

Another issue it the start and end dates being set up wrong.  In my wisdom I set up the start dates when many towns were founded, and often that does not taken into consideration the reality that a town was a community settlement well before being founded.

The listing will be monitored and both category and profile corrections shall form part of the implementation project, which remains ongoing.

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I am also finding that profile managers are categorising profiles with place names where no place of death is contained in the data fields.

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All of the above are understood, Andrew Thanks,

 Hockly-23 was corrected by you and I presumed you took the hide option and was probably a bad example choice.

With the clean a thon starting on the 24th of April I am worried