Silver’s Studio Bulawayo Silver’s Studio was a photographic business owned by Dorothy and Leo Silver. Leo’s speciality was portrait photography. The business also produced a number of postcards in the 1940’s. Postcards B Series References Journal of the Rhodesian Study Circle No.240 Contributors Andrew Wilkie James Gavin FB
Midlands Hotel Gweru (Gwelo) The Midlands Hotel was built in the year 1927 by the Meikle brothers and is one of the oldest hotels in Gweru (Gwelo). During the 1970’s, management of the hotel passed over to the Southern Sun Hotel Pty Ltd. By 2008, the hotel was about to be demolished. Due to the challenges faced…
Carlton Hotel Bulawayo Contributor James Gavin Walter Herdzik FB
Puzey & Payne was established in 1897. It was located on the corner of Abercorn Street and Eighth Avenue, Bulawayo. The company was the product of Leonard Grant Puzey and his wife Gertrude Payne. The business first sold ox drawn wagons and bicycles as well as offering repair services. From the early 1920s, the business was…
The Queen’s Hotel Salisbury The Queen’s Hotel was opened on 31 December 1899 on the eve of the twentieth century and consisted of a single storey building on the corner of Manica Road and Kaguvi Street and Pioneer Street. The street side of the building was wrapped in a long timber and iron verandah and…
Cecil Hotel Umtali Cecil Hotel was originally opened c.1890. In 1897 a new building was erected (as above) by Mssrs Snodgrass and Mitchell in preparation for the railway. The first Cecil Taxi, a 1929 Dodge, was used solely to go from the Cecil Hotel to the railway station and back. The hotel eventually became part of Miekle’s…
Meikle’s Associated Hotels Meikle’s Hotel was established in 1915. It was the brainchild of Thomas Meikles who envisioned a commitment to the “highest possible standard of service and product” – something that has become enshrined in the Meikles culture. Branches Cecil Hotel, Umtali Grand Hotel, Bulawayo Grand Hotel, Selukwe Hartley Hotel, Hartley Hotel Victoria, Victoria…
The African Lakes Corporation Limited Livingstone, Northern Rhodesia, Nyasaland, Glasgow The African Lakes Corporation plc (ALC) was a British company originally set-up in 1877 by Scottish businessmen to co-operate with missions in Nyasaland. Despite its original connections with the Free Church of Scotland, it operated its businesses in Africa on a commercial rather than a…
Duly & Co Ltd Charles Duly, a fully qualified engineer of 24 years of age, cycled from Johannesburg, arriving in Bulawayo in 1894. By 1896, he had opened as a Bicycle Dealer in Abercorn St (now the site of the Carlton Hotel). In 1902, he imported the first car into Rhodesia and by 1911…
The Grand Hotel Salisbury In 1911, the The Commercial Hotel was demolished and a new building was erected based on the designs of James Cope-Christie and Thomas Sladdin. The new building cost £11,000 and was re-opened in August 1914 as the Grand Hotel. By 1950, the hotel’s facilities included 110 rooms, Grill Room, Banqueting Hall,…
