Calamaish Books

Resources: Pawns in a Larger Game


 

 John Forbes Cumming


Born
14 July 1808
Died
17 Aug 1907
Son of
William Cumming & Sarah Cairns
Siblings
2 brothers
3 sisters
Married
Catherine Pringle
Children
John Pringle
William Gordon
Sarah Cairns
Robert Forbes

Cumming family
The Cumming Dynasty
l to r: John Forbes Cumming, John Pringle Cumming (son), Alan Cumming (grandson). Jack Cumming (great grandson)


Biographical Notes

Arrived in the Cape in 1839 as a missionary of the Glasgow Missionary Society. He was at the centre of events during the War of the Axe and Mlanjeni's War. His diaries and papers are a major primary source for Pawns in a Larger Game. His life is treated in detail in Chapters 15 - 21.

The J F Cumming Collection

In 1945 a substantial collection of John F Cumming’s papers was deposited at the South African Library in Cape Town (now the Cape Town Campus of the South African National Library) by a descendant, Miss J C D Cumming of Rondebosch. They consist of 16 diaries covering the period from 1836 to 1890, various notebooks and loose items and numerous letters and documents.