The Carnegie Family – three generations in the country by 1933
The photograph below is of interest because it portrays four generations of family, three of which were born in Southern Rhodesia, present day Zimbabwe, by 1933.
(L-R) Mrs M.C. Sykes, Bernard Carnegie, Mr W. A. Carnegie, Mrs M.M. Carnegie,
The oldest member of the group is the late Mrs Margaret Charlotte Sykes, widow of the Rev William Sykes, who came to Inyati[1] in 1859 with Rev Robert Moffat, the founder of the London Missionary Society's (LMS) Mission in Matabeleland.[2] With them came the Rev Thomas Morgan Thomas,[3] who later settled at Shiloh Mission and John Smith Moffat[4] who subsequently figured prominently in Rhodesian history. Mrs Sykes was the daughter of the Rev F.W. Kolbe, a missionary of the LMS at Paarl for 19 years. The Sykes lived through the troublesome times of Mzilikazi’s reign and established the Inyati Mission that was the first white settlement in Matabeleland. The Rev W. Sykes was an accomplished scholar and rapidly acquired fluency in Ndebele, the local language around Bulawayo. It is said of him that he was able to translate directly from his Greek testament into the Ndebele language. He was the author of many hymns and the translator of many others, many of which are still being sung. He died at Inyati in 1887 after 29 years’ service. Mrs Sykes lived on and died at the age of 92 in 1920, the year in which the above photograph was taken. She is buried at Hope Fountain Mission.
The Sykes eldest daughter, later Mary Margaret Carnegie was born at Inyati in 1862 and on the day of her birth was presented with a cow and calf by Mzilikazi, King of the Matabele. She remembered the coronation of Lobengula in 1870 and then the battle at Zwangendaba in the same year when Lobengula defeated Umbigo, the Induna who refused to recognise Lobengula as king.[5] She also remembered many of the early hunters and explorers who came through Inyati on the Hunters Road to Mashonaland including Thomas Baines, ‘Baas’ Hartley, Karl Mauch, F.C. Selous, ‘Elephant’ Phillips and others.[6] In 1885 she married the Rev David Carnegie,[7] who joined the LMS in 1882. They were stationed successively at Hope Fountain Mission and Centenary Mission near Figtree.[8] Mr Carnegie died in 1910 and is buried at Hope Fountain Mission. Together with her husband, Mrs Carnegie translated ‘the Pilgrims Progress’ into Ndebele and she also translated ‘Line upon line.’ Both books were still in demand in 1933.
Hope Fountain Mission in 1896 the buildings damaged – David Carnegie in the foreground
The graves of David Carnegie and Mary Margaret Carnegie at Hope Fountain
Hope Fountain Cemetery and the grave of Margaret Charlotte Sykes
Their eldest son, W.A. Carnegie,[9] also in the photograph, was born at Inyati in 1886. As Secretary of the Agricultural Association he was for many years responsible for the arrangements for the Bulawayo Agricultural Show and he is the secretary of a number of other local bodies.
Bernard Carnegie, who was born in Bulawayo in 1914 is the first of the third generation of Carnegie’s. In recognition of this, the late Dr L.S. Jameson presented him with a silver christening bowl.
Reference
Occupation of Matabeleland: A Souvenir. November 1933
Notes
[1] See the article Inyati and the activities of the London Missionary Society in Matabeleland from 1859 under Matabeleland North on the website www.zimfieldguide.com
[2] Three wagons left Kuruman on 14 July 1859 with John Moffat and his wife Emily, Thomas Morgan Thomas and his wife Anne, eight Kuruman artisans and two girls carrying two years supply of stores. Robert Moffat and William Sykes left on 1 August and the party united at Bakwena, Bechuanaland. After a long and hard journey, frequently short of water, they reached the amaNdebele outposts and Mzilikazi, now in Matabeleland, sent a messenger to say, “The king longs exceedingly to look on the face of Mtjete again.” By 10 September they reached the western edge of the Matobo Hills at Makobi’s kraal and saw running once streams again but halted because they heard that lung sickness had broken out and did not wish to spread it amongst the amaNdebele herds.
[3] Thomas Morgan Thomas started work at 7 years old on a Welsh farm and educated himself sufficiently to train for the ministry at Brecon College in Wales. He felt out with Sykes and John Moffat and eventually the LMS because he traded to supplement his poor salary and gave presents to the amaNdebele for attending church and school. Wrote in 1872 Eleven Years in Central South Africa which describes not only mission work, but amaNdebele customs, fauna and flora. His wife Anne died three days after their third child had died on 7 June 1862. He married Caroline Elliott and brought her and his two elder sons to Inyati. He successfully treated Mzilikazi’s gout which greatly increased his standing. In 1867 he walked to the Zambesi Valley but did not see the Victoria Falls. After Mzilikazi’s death he interfered in amaNdebele politics and was present at Lobengula’s coronation at Mhlahlandhlela in on 22-24 January 1870. In 1875 he moved away from Inyati to a new mission at Shiloh given to him by Lobengula where he lived for the rest of his life teaching, trading and farming and died there on 8 January 1884
[4] John Moffat, son of Robert, was deeply religious, liberal in outlook with a keen sense of justice and explosive temper on occasion. His salary was paid by David Livingstone until 1864 when he received a letter saying the Zambesi Expedition was recalled and he could not support him any longer. He then applied for a post with the LMS. However because of his wife Emily’s ill-health and his discouragement with the lack of success making converts, they left Inyati in 1865 and was his father’s assistant at Kuruman until 1870 when Robert retired and then in charge until 1877. He then took government posts. Native Commissioner at Zeerust until 1881, Resident Magistrate at Maseru, Basutoland until 1884, then at Taungs until 1887 when he was appointed Assistant Commissioner of the Bechuanaland Protectorate. In 1888 he was British Resident at Gubulawayo and on 11 February obtained Lobengula’s mark on a treaty of friendship with Britain.
[5] For details see the article The arrival of the AmaNdebele in Matabeleland and the succession of King Lobengula under Matabeleland South on the website www.zimfieldguide.com
[6] There are articles on most of these early explorers, hunters and traders on the website www.zimfieldguide.com
[7] David Carnegie was born at Menmuir, Scotland. He studied at Rotherham College and was appointed to Hope Fountain where he arrived on 18 October 1882. In 1885 he married Mary, daughter of William Sykes of Inyati. After the 1896 Rebellion when Hope Fountain was destroyed, he founded Centenary Mission near Figtree in 1897. He died in Bulawayo Hospital on 29 January 1910 aged 55 years and was buried at Hope Fountain. The Carnegie’s translated The Pilgrim’s Progress (‘Bunyane’) and Line upon Line (Izilayezelo) into Ndebele.
[8] Centenary Mission is also described in the article Inyati and the activities of the London Missionary Society in Matabeleland from 1859 under Matabeleland North on the website www.zimfieldguide.com
[9] The Geni website does not list a W.A. Carnegie. The sons listed are Frederick William Sykes; Arthur Arnold Sykes; Simon Joseph Sykes and Not Known Sykes