The Edgar Demonstration
Item
Barnett and Company, “The Edgar Demonstration”, Cory Library and Historical Archives, accessed 29 December 2025, https://digitalarchives.ru.ac.za/s/cory/item/12706
- Title
- The Edgar Demonstration
- Creator
- Barnett and Company
- Description
- In December 1898 Transvaal police shot an Uitlander called Tom Edgar. The officer responsible said that it was in self-defence, but the Uitlander community reacted as if it was a political incident. This made the franchise issue an important factor in the outbreak of the war because political tension between Boers and British subjects in the Transvaal became worse. The death of Tom Edgar, an Uitlander working in the Transvaal, in 1898, signalled another definite lurch towards war. Edgar was shot by Zarps (a colloquialism for the South African police) after a drunken brawl, in seemingly cold blood (at least this was how it was portrayed at the time, although evidence suggests that he was trying to attack the policemen at the time of death). This prompted a demonstration by some five thousand Uitlanders to assert their rights as British subjects after having been treated "like Helots", and then with their leaders arrested, launched another demonstration.
- Subject
- South African War, 1899-1902 -- Causes -- Photographs
- Witwatersrand (South Africa) -- History,Edgar, Tom
- Type
- Image
- Format
- jpg
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10962/20140
- Date Issued
- 1898
- Rights Holder
- Barnett and Company
- Location - Copy -- Shelf Locator
- PIC/M 261
- useGuidelines
- Public Domain
- Item sets
- South African War (1899-1902) Collection
- Hierarchies
-
South Africa at War Collection
- The Frontier Wars (1811-1878)
- South African War (1899-1902) (103 items)
- World War II (3 items)
Barnett and Company, “The Edgar Demonstration”, Cory Library and Historical Archives, accessed 29 December 2025, https://digitalarchives.ru.ac.za/s/cory/item/12706
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