Marriage and immigrants in Cape Town: 1930–1970

In colonial settler societies, a shortage of white marriageable women was often a concern, and until 1936, there were more white men that white women in Cape Town. The question of who marries who becomes particularly interesting in such contexts, especially in light of a constant stream of European...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Contree Vol. 92; no. 2
Main Authors: Rommelspacher, Amy F., Fourie, Johan
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: AOSIS 31.03.2025
African Online Scientific Information Systems (Pty) Ltd t/a AOSIS
Subjects:
bride deficits
Cape Town
gender ratios
Immigrants
immigration history
Marriage
marriage history
marriage migration
marriage records
sex ratios
Surveys
White women
South Africa
United Kingdom
Netherlands
India
ISSN:0379-9867, 2959-510X
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:In colonial settler societies, a shortage of white marriageable women was often a concern, and until 1936, there were more white men that white women in Cape Town. The question of who marries who becomes particularly interesting in such contexts, especially in light of a constant stream of European immigrants to the city in the first half of the 20th-century. In our previous work, we discussed the merits of church marriage records as a source. Here we analyse marriage records from 1930 to 1970 and a household survey from 1938 to 1939 to gain insights into how immigrants acted in the marriage market in Cape Town during the period, with a focus on white inhabitants of the city in the context of a historical shortage of white women. Contribution In this preliminary study, we find that most immigrants married other immigrants, and that if immigrant women married South African-born men, they married the wealthier men.
ISSN:0379-9867
2959-510X
DOI:10.4102/nc.v92.885