Bygones and Byways

UPDATE: 8 Oct 2025

2025-10-08T09:31:00.002+02:00

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GERMISTON HISTORY

2025-05-06T12:59:00.002+02:00

THE MEYER FAMILY
It is claimed that Johan Georg MEYER (1816-1856) bought the farm Elandsfontein in exchange for an ox-wagon. He had trekked up from Prince Albert 1835 with the Andries Hendrik POTGIETER trek. He staked out three farms: Kliprivier, Elandsfontein and Swartkoppies. He left another trekker, Jacob SMIT, in charge of the farms, while he went back to Prince Albert to sell his farm and fetch his family. He had married Hester Christina Elizabeth MULDER in 1840. After not getting suitable offers, he abandoned the farm and returned to the Transvaal. In 1845 the family settled at Elandsfontein alongside the Natalspruit river and built a farmhouse (present day corner of Hendrik Potgieter Street and 10th Avenue in Alberton). The family cemetery was where the traffic circle in 9th Avenue stands today. The first burial was Cornelius Floris Johann MEYER who died in 1851, aged 10, in a freak snow storm while collecting firewood near the Jukskei River. He was the oldest son of Johan and Hester Christina Elizabeth MULDER.

In 1855 the family trekked to Prince Albert to visit family. On the way back Johan died near Colesburg in October 1856. His eldest son, Johannes Petrus (aka Jan), was 13 years old. The four boys and five daughters and their mother carried on with the return trek. In 1858 Hester married Abraham VILJOEN and he took charge of the farms. The farm Kliprivier was ceded to Jacob SMIT on 25 July 1859. Hester and Abraham's child Jacomina Hendina died in 1862, aged 2 years. Abraham died in 1894. The executor of his estate gave 300 morgen to his widow Hester. She had this land transferred to her four daughters after the Anglo-Boer War and then sold the land to Alberton Estate Syndicate who established the town of Alberton. Alberton was proclaimed a town in 1903 and named for General Hennie ALBERTS, chairman of the syndicate, and the town of Prince Albert in hounour of the MEYER family. After the war, Hester lived with her daughter Wilhermina BEZUIDENHOUT on the farm De Rust in Heidelburg. She died in 1912.

August SIMMER and John JACK circa 1889

JACK & SIMMER
In 1885 half of the original farm, Elandsfontein, was acquired by two merchants, John JACK and August SIMMER, who ran a trading store at Lake Chrissie. John was born in 1849 on the farm Germiston near Glasgow, Scotland. The DINWIDDIE family had owned the Germiston manor in Scotland since the early 1700s. August was from Vacha in Germany. John and August travelled from Durban to Lake Chrissie in 1882 on their way to the Witwatersrand to seek their fortune. They erected sandstone buildings in Lake Chrissie including stables, a gin depot and a small hotel. The hotel was a small 3-room building and remains largely untouched since its original construction, still offering accommodation at the John Jack Inn.

In August 1887, John registered the Simmer & Jack Gold Mining Co. The company included George FARRAR, whose family imported drilling equipment, and Harry STRUBEN who from 1884 had run a small gold mine in Roodepoort. The company was listed in 1924 and became one of the Reef’s most solid mining companies until it was delisted in April 2013.

The village of Germiston was established in 1886 and named after John's birthplace in Scotland. It was officially declared a town in 1903 and a city in 1950. In 1921, the world's largest gold refinery was established in Germiston. Most of the western world's gold passes through Rand Refinery. Gold mining in Germiston eventually ended, but the refinery remains busy.

CHURCHES
Germiston Presbyterian Church was the first church to be established in Germiston in 1890, in a wood and iron building on the corner of President and Church Streets, opposite the Clement Mine Shaft which was opened in 1893. John JACK had given the four stands (from President to Meyer Streets) and 500 Pounds for construction. The church stand was later leased out and the wood and iron church building was physically lifted by hundreds Simmer & Jack mine labourers and moved to the adjacent stand in Church Street. During the Anglo-Boer War, services were held for troops by Major MURRAY. In 1902 it was decided to build a new church on Broad Street (later renamed Odendaal Street). A water well existed on the site, which is directly below the present day altar. In October 1904 an advert was placed in the Rand Daily Mail. It offered a first prize of 50 Pounds and a second prize of 25 Pounds for the best church design. A.W. SIMPSON, of 30 Empire Road in Johannesburg, won the competition. The prize money was held back until the builder’s quotes had been received. The contract was awarded to Smith & Saunders on 24 February 1905. The 50 pound prize as well as the 148 pound architectural fee was paid to Simpson. The cornerstone was laid on 15 March 1905 by Viscount Alfred MILNER, the Colonial Secretary. The silver trowel used for the stone laying was purchased from Mr Bold, the local jeweller. The first church service was held on 08 October 1905, conducted by Reverend John SMITH of Pietermaritzburg and Reverend John SCOTT previously from Yeoville. The official opening and dedication of the church to St. Andrew took place on 27 January 1906. Lord SELBORNE, the High Commissioner for South Africa, performed the ceremony which was attended by the mayor James BLANE and his wife Isabella Mary, John JACK and his wife Jane, and many of the 230 church members. In 1951 the nmae was changed from Germiston Presbyterian Church to St Andrews's Presbyterian Church of Germiston.

The Anglican Parish of Germiston was founded in 1897. Prior to the parish being formally established, it was a mission chapelry of the parish of Boksburg, which had been established in 1890. Baptismal, confirmation and marriage records show that mission work existed prior to 1890, going back to the founding of Germiston in 1886. At that time the work of the mission priests fell under the jurisdiction of the diocese of Pretoria. Originally the parish consisted of the Parish Church of St Boniface (present day inner city of Germiston). The present church building in Meyer Street is the second on the site, designed by Sir Herbert BAKER and built in 1910. The original church was a tin building with a concrete and stone foundation.

ALEXANDER HOTEL
The Alexander Hotel on the corner of President and Jack Streets was partly designed by Sir Herbert BAKER. It was built in 1912 by Alexander STUART who died when the RMS Lusitania was torpedoed in World War I on 07 May 1915. He was born in Banffshire, Scotland. He went to the USA at an early age, where he started working in construction. He emigrated to South Africa in the 1890s with his brothers John and Robert and two sisters Annie and Helen. The family settled in Germiston. One of his sisters, Annie Rhind STUART, married the local doctor, Dr Howard Charles SPAULDING in January 1904 in the Presbyterian church. The other sister was unmarried in 1915 and later moved to New Zealand. John STUART became a Germiston town councillor.

Alexander worked as a builder and cartage contractor in Germiston in partnership with Mr GRATTAN. When the Anglo-Boer War broke out, he joined the Railway Pioneer Regiment and fought for the British, attaining the rank of Captain. In 1901 he married married Petronella Wilhelmina, the widow of Boer commandant General Gerhardus Hendricus GRAVETT. After the war, he started up his business agin on his own.

In 1915, Alexander travelled to the United States with his stepson Jerry GRAVETT. Alexander was originally booked on the Cameronia, but when that ship was requisitioned, he was transferred to Lusitania. Jerry was not listed as a passenger on the Lusitania. Jerry been in England for a couple of years studying for a medical degree and his destination may have been England and not the USA. Alexander was on a business trip as intended starting an iron foundry in Germiston, and had inspected several foundries in Great Britain and ordered machinery. At the time of the sinking, Alexander's father was 86 years old and living in Scotland. The cemetery in Marnoch in the Scottish Midlands has memorials to various family members. Alexander was the principal supporter of the Germiston Rugby Club, contributing funds. The Germiston Tennis Club was also supported by him. The news of the sinking of the Lusitania sparked off a wave of anti-German riots on the East Rand. Several German-owned businesses were burnt down in Germiston, Boksburg and Benoni.

GERMISTON LAKE
Victoria Lake is commonly known as Germiston Lake. It was named after the Victoria Falls, not Queen Victoria. The lake was originally used as a source of drinking water for the city. The Transvaal Power Company was registered in 1910 and became Eskom in 1948. Eskom donated the land to the Victoria Lake Club in the 1930s. The land where the Sea Scouts and canoeing boathouses are built, plus some land on the other side of the main road, forms part of that donation. Initially only the Scouts had a boat shed in the bay area. The boathouse was built in the 1930s on the site of the current bridge and the shed. Rowing was the first water sport to officially become resident in 1906 when small clinker-built boats were used for competition and leisure. Sailing began in about 1910 when 20-foot Scows were used until World War I temporarily stopped leisure activity at the lake. After the war, sailing started up again in the late 1920s when Rand Airport was built. The sport was popular with the nearby aviation workers. The bridge was built in 1948 for the South African Sailing Championships to be used for starting and finishing races. Canoeing began unofficially in the 1960s and officially in 1981. Rowing and sailing merged into the Victoria Lake Club in the 1940s. The club is also home to the all-time South African School Rowing Champions, St Benedict's College. Almost 50 years after rowing first began at the lake, Jeppe High School for Boys and St Benedict’s College built the first sheds in 1987. In the 1990s more sheds were built and other schools became involved.
RAND AIRPORT
The construction of Rand Airport, a privately owned civil airport, started in 1920. It was officially opened in 1931. It was the main airport for Johannesburg, but the city outgrew it and replaced the airport with Palmietfontein Airport in 1948 (which was replaced by Jan Smuts International Airport in 1952). The ownership of the airport originally consisted of 23 private shareholders.

In 1917, Major Allister MILLER landed on Germiston Golf Course and decided that the area close by would be suitable as an airfield. In February 1929 160 hectares (400 acres) of land was set aside for the Germiston Public Aerodrome, as part of an agreement between Germiston Town Council, Elandsfontein Estate Company and the Rand Refinery. Later that year, the Germiston Town Council gained full control. Imperial Airways added South Africa to their schedule and made Germiston their base, with Rand Refinery exporting its refined gold by air. The airline received a £400 000 subsidy from both the South African and UK governments over five years.

In November 1929, the Germiston Town Council bought a further 280 ha (700 acres) of land, after permission was given by the Mining Commissioner, as the land was owned by the Simmer and Jack mine. The Johannesburg and Germiston Town Councils formed a joint committee on 14 November 1930 and £85 000 was set aside for a large and small hangar, administrative buildings, a workshop, floodlights and cottages. The airport was officially opened on 21 December 1931 by the Governor-General Earl of Clarendon and owned jointly by the Germiston and Johannesburg Town Councils. In 1932, Captain Royal (Roy) Victor Nash MAKEPEACE became its manager. Roy became a pilot in 1917 and shortly afterwards founded the Aero Club of South Africa. In World War I he was an infantryman with the 1st SAI, D Company before being transferred to the Royal Flying Corps and commissioned. As an infantryman, he was awarded the Military Medal for bravery after single-handedly taking five German soldiers prisoner. He served with the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and Royal Air Force (RAF) from October 1917 to June 1919) before returning to live in Germiston. He was born in Wales in 1899 and died in 1989 in England.

Roy MAKEPEACE

Rand Airport became the headquarters of South African Airways (SAA) when the airline's head office was moved from Durban to Rand Airport on 01 July 1935. By 1938, development costs had reached £200 000 and losses £20 000, a cost the Germiston Town Council could no longer afford. It sold its share to the Johannesburg City Council. The final transfer took place in 1944.

In early 1939, the Union Defence Force took control of Rand Airport and by May 1940, all commercial flights ended. The training schools based at Rand trained pilots for the war effort and the facilities were extended with fifteen additional hangars. By 1944, a limited number of internal commercial flights resumed from the airport. In 1948 SAA moved its headquarters to Palmietfontein Airport because of runway length constraints.

Rand Airport grew quickly after World War II ended. In 1975, with 133 135 recorded aircraft movements, Rand Airport was the busiest airport in the southern hemisphere. Today, Rand Airport caters largely for light aircraft, flying schools, air charter operators, aircraft maintenance organisations, and is home to the South African Airways Museum.

SCHOOLS
Germiston's oldest high school is part of the combined St Catherine's School. The Catholic school was founded by the Dominican Sisters under the leadership of Mother Rose NYLAND in the city centre in 1908. It relocated to Piercy Avenue in Parkhill Gardens in the 1940s.

Germiston High School was founded alongside Victoria Lake. From the 1940s to 1963, the girls were based in Fourth Avenue in Lambton, at what was known as Germiston Girls' High School, whilst the boys remained at the 1917 campus as Germiston Boys' High School. In 1964, due to the need to relocate the Afrikaans Delville Primary School, the girls were moved back to combine with the boys in the original buildings. Famous past pupils include Dr Sydney BRENNER, winner of the 2002 Nobel Prize. The Germiston Boys' High School cadet band was one of the most successful in South Africa from 1952 to 1964, often recording an average mark of 99% in music performance, drumming, bugle and trumpet ensemble, drill, dress and discipline. The school also had a large music centre for a number of years, which grew due to the work of the late George BURGESS and included jazz and concert bands.

WITS RIFLES
The Witwatersrand Rifles Regiment is a mechanised infantry regiment based in Germiston. The reserve unit is commonly known as the Wits Rifles and was formed by proclamation on 01 May 1903. It absorbed the members of the Railway Pioneer Regiment and the Rand Rifles, both of which had fought in the Anglo-Boer War (1899–1902). In 1907 the regiment absorbed the Transvaal Light Infantry Regiment.

Carnegie Library, Germiston
CARNEGIE LIBRARY
The Carnegie Germiston Library was made possible by the Carnegie Corporation, a philanthropic trust based in the USA. Andrew CARNEGIE established the Carnegie Corporation in 1911 to promote the advancement of knowledge and understanding. The Corporation has supported libraries around the world for over a century, funding the contruction of libraries in English-speaking countries. Between 1883 and 1929, 2,509 libraries were constructed of which 12 were built in South Africa - Harrismith (1907), Hopetown (1908), Muizenberg (1909), Barberton (1911), Moorreesburg (1911), Standerton (1911), Potchefstroom (1912), Benoni (1913), Newcastle (1913), Germiston (1915) and Krugersdorp (1917).

The requests for the corporation to fund a library came from the towns and cities. The first proposals to establish a library in Germiston date to 1905. The first municipal library was established in a small room in the municipal office in 1909. The construction of the Germiston Carnegie Library was given the go-ahead on 16 March 1915 with a grant of $26 407, the largest amount for a Carnegie Library in South Africa. The library, designed by the municipal engineer James BRIGHT (1872-1944), was opened in 1922.

Dumisani Masilela Civic Theatre

The library has seen much neglect and vandalism. At one time it became a restaurant, then a club and by 2013 was derelict when a fire broke out and destroyed what remained of the library. Only the outer walls remain. The original main entrance doors were put into safekeeping with the municipality. In 2015 the municipality decided to convert what remained of the building into a 400-seat theatre for the performing arts, although such a plan dates back to 2010. The project was completed in 2016 and named the Dumisani Masilela Civic Theatre. Dumisani MASILELA was an actor who was killed during an attempted hijacking in 2017.

WELL-KNOWN RESIDENTS
Albert JOHANNESON, professional footballer and first black player to play in the FA Cup
André NEL, South African cricket fast bowler
Andre WATSON, rugby referee
Arlene DICKINSON, South African-Canadian entrepreneur
Bobby LOCKE, professional golfer
Daisy Louisa DE MELKER, nurse that poisoned two husbands and a son
Dr Sydney BRENNER, winner of the 2002 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
Ernie ELS, professional golfer, attended Delville Primary School and Jan de Klerk High School.
Helen SUZMAN, politician
Jeannie DE GOUVEIA (aka Jeannie D), TV presenter, media personality, founder of Finery Gin.
John CUNDILL, journalist and playwright
Marie WARDER, journalist who went on to champion the cause of hemochromatosis
Mimi COETZEE, opera singer, attended Delville Laerskool
Neville COLMAN, hematologist and DNA expert
Pierre ISSA, Lebanese-South African footballer
Stanley SKEWES, mathematician
Trevor DENMAN, American sportscaster in thoroughbred horse racing
Viv VERMAAK, award-winning investigative journalist, writer and director

PRIMROSE CEMETERY, GERMISTON

2025-05-02T10:42:00.005+02:00

Primrose Cemetery in Germiston dates back to 1893. It is the second oldest cemetery in the greater Johannesburg region, after Braamfontein Cemetery. Its 20,000+ graves tell stories of the early gold mining days, an Anglo-Boer War battle, the 1914 Rebellion, the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic, and the 1922 Rand Revolt. It includes a military Garden of Remembrance.

The first burial was recorded as R. LAMBERT on 25 June 1893. There is no existing gravestone. There is Ettie Fanny Ross RUSSELL who was born circa 1868 in Cape Town. She married Robert James Ernest LAMBERT (1860 – 1922) on 28 April 1886 in Vrede. She died on 24 June 1893 in Germiston.

On Christmas Day 1896, the CROSBIE family was enjoying a picnic at Primrose Dam when the dam wall collapsed. Six of their children drowned:
Adelaide Jane (1880-1896)
Frances Ellen (1885-1896)
Kate Anne (1889-1896)
Albert (1891-1896)
Francis (1893-1896)
Baby (1896-1896), age 2 months.
They were buried in Primrose Cemetery.
Three children survived:
James Pierce born on 23 June 1879 in Kimberley, died on 25 August 1958 at Addington Hospital, Durban.
Janet Mary born on 26 August 1884 in Kimberley, died on 20 May 1979 in Bergville. Married Charles Cummins HAINE on 03 March 1908 in Germiston.
William Thomas born on 15 July 1887, died in 1980. Married Amy Mary ASPELING on 28 April 1914. He was working at Rose Deep Gold Mine, Germiston, in 1914.
The children's parents, Francis (aka Frank) CROSBIE and Janet FISHER, were married on 02 July 1878 in Kimberley, South Africa.
Janet died on 14 January 1904 at the home of Thomas BELL in Belgravia, Johannesburg and was also buried in Primrose Cemetery. Her last residential address was Rose Deep Gold Mine, Germiston.
Their father married Florence Montagu RICHARDS on 10 August 1908 in Durban. She died in 1920.
Francis was born in 1857 in Newchurch, Rossendale, Lancashire, England, and died on 28 May 1943 at Germiston Hospital. His last residential address was Hotel Alexander in President Street, Germiston.

The military Garden of Remembrance contain the remains of 544 Imperial soldiers from the Anglo-Boer War, of which 181 died in battle or from their wounds. The remains of soldiers who died at Bakenlaagte, Bethal, Boschmanskop, Devon, Leslie, Nooitgedacht, Oshoek, Elandsfontein and Springs were also reinterred here. Two monuments erected by the National Monuments Council list the names and regiments of the Imperial soldiers buried here.

Gerhardus Hendrikus Johannes GRAVETT was born on 28 June 1858 in Alexandria, Cape Colony. He was the grandson of George GRAVETT, an 1820 Settler from Rustington, Sussex, England. In 1888 he was living in Elandsfontein, Germiston, and was a transport rider building a successful business. He married Petronella Wilhelmina OOSTHUIZEN. They had two sons and three daughters. When the Anglo-Boer War broke out, Gerhardus joined the Boers as an ordinary burgher. He served with distinction on the Colesberg front, where he was elected field cornet. He was promoted to commandant and led the Boer retreat from the Orange River through the eastern Free State. He took part in the battle of Donkerhoek in June 1900. His men were known as Gravett’s Guinea Fowls. He was heavily involved in the Boer attempts to prevent the British capture of the Eastern railway line. In August 1900 he participated in the Battle of Bergendal and was promoted to a fighting General in charge of the Boksburg Commando. The Boksburg Commando was mobilised on 27 September 1899 and was made up of 1,050 Boers and about 300 black agterryers. Gerhardus saw action in Natal, the Free State, the Cape Colony and the Western Transvaal. He suffered serious shrapnel wounds on 12 October 1900 while on commando near Roosenekal. A Dr. NEETHLING attended to him but without much-needed medicines he contracted bronchitis. He was buried in Primrose. His gravestone also commemorates his son Richard Edward GRAVETT (15 May 1893 - 20 October 1903).

Lieutenant-Colonel George BENSON is the highest rank buried in Primrose. He was killed at the Battle of Bakenlaagte on 30 October 1901, which was the last major battle in the Eastern Transvaal. He was the commander of No. 3 flying column based at Middelburg in the Eastern Transvaal. His unit was tasked with burning farms and taking Boer prisoners to Brugspruit station (present day Cluwer) for transportation to concentration camps. On 24 October 1901, 800 burghers ambushed the rearguard of the column and 14 of Benson's men were killed or wounded. On 30 October, various Boer commandos under the command of General Louis BOTHA gathered to attack Benson’s unit near Bakenlaagte. Seventy seven of Benson’s men were killed with another 161 wounded. Fifty two Boers were killed and wounded. Captain Eyre LLOYD of the 2nd Coldstream Guards was also killed, after leaving the Imperial camp to go save his commander, despite being wounded along the way.

There is a monument to the Queen’s Bays Regiment in memory of the soldiers who died in battle on 01 April 1902. The battle involved 312 men of the Queen's Bays and 40 National Scouts who were stationed at Springs. The Imperial soldiers planned to raid what they thought was a small Boer laager, but instead came across a large Boer laager consisting of about 800 men near Boschman’s Kop (near present day Devon). Other Imperial forces monuments are the 84th Battery Royal Field Artillery Memorial and the King's Royal Rifles Mounted Infantry Memorial.

James BLANE

Germiston's first mayor, James BLANE, is also buried here. He was a mining engineer / manager and died on 10 April 1909 at home on New Goch Mine of stomach cancer. He also owned Bultfontein farm in Kroonstad district, on which he kept cattle. The farm was sold on auction after his death. He was born on 01 March 1866 in Louden Kirk, Galston, Ayrshire, Scotland, the son of Robert BLANE (1834 – 1896) and Agnes McLAUCHLAND (1835 – 1886). He married Isabella Mary RYAN on 13 April 1891 in the Presbyterian Church, East London. They had six children:

Agnes Elizabeth BLANE (born 1892)

Gladys Beryl BLANE (born 1894)

James Starr BLANE (1897 – 1961)

Robert BLANE (1900 – 1993)

Gordon John BLANE (1902 – 1902, Glencairn Gold Mine)

Isabella Marrion BLANE (born 1904)

A monument commemorates Germiston men who died while serving in World War I. An obelisk commemorates Knights Deep Gold Mine employees who died in World War I. Private James COWARD of the South African Infantry 1st Regiment died on 09 April 1917 at the Battle of Arras. He was 25 years old and was the son of Anne COWARD of 10 Long Street, Germiston. His gravestone had a memorial plaque known as Dead Man's Penny, which has been been stolen. The Dead Man's Penny was issued to the families of soldiers of the British Empire who were killed in battle during World War I. The round bronze plaque was inscribed with "He died for freedom and honour" and the soldier's name.

Captain Jacobus Everhardus NOLTE was shot and killed at Treurfontein (present day Coligny) in October 1914 and was buried in Primrose. He was married to Francina Stephina GROBLER who died in 1976. He had served with the Boksburg Commando in both Natal and the Transvaal during the Anglo-Boer War. After the war, he became a successful lawyer in Heidelberg and owned the farm Driefontein in Heidelberg district. He joined the Heidelberg Commando and by 1914 he held the rank of Captain. He was on active service fighting the 1914 rebels in the Western Transvaal. While near Treurfontein, a group of six mounted rebels approached the commandos under a white flag. The commandos were under Commandant Louwrens NOLTE. The rebels stopped about 500 yards from the commandos and signalled with their hats. Commandant NOLTE wanted to fight but his brother Captain NOLTE called for calm. The captain wrote a note to the effect that the commandant wanted to know what the rebels’ intentions were, and if bloodshed could be avoided. Captain NOLTE took off his revolver and, unarmed, walked towards the rebels with the note held high in his hand. He gave the note to someone on his left, just before someone to his right fired three shots instantly killing him. The government forces charged the rebels and captured a few hundred, killing 13 and wounding 36. A rebel, Field Cornet Hendrik Cornelis Wilhelmus VERMAAS (aka Hennie Natreen) was charged with the murder of Captain NOLTE, but was acquitted because the State could not prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Dr. Herbert John ORFORD of Klerksdorp had Nolte’s body exhumed and examined. Vermaas was charged with treason for his part in the Rebellion and sent to the Fort in Johannesburg. He died on 23 August 1948 at Witpoort, Ottosdal district.

In the Dutch Reformed section, there are two gravestones noting the cause of death as myntering (silicosis). Petrus Cornelis Johannes POTGIETER died on 22 September 1918, and Johannes Andreas SWANEPOEL died on 14 October 1911. Petrus was married to Martha Maria LANDMAN. Johannes was married to Jacomina Christina POTGIETER. Myntering was known as miners’ phthisis. The underground miners were exposed to silica dust.

Some gravestones name the mine where the deceased worked, such as Simmer and Jack, Village Deep, Glen Deep, Jupiter, Glencairn Main Reef, New Rietfontein, May Consolidated, Witwatersrand Deep, Bantjes, Rose Deep and Ginsberg. Forbes MERVYN-SMITH died in a mining accident at Knights Deep Mine in 1917. He was married to Lilian BROWN who died on 22 October 1918 during the Spanish flu pandemic.

Dr. Howard Charles SPAULDING nursed many of Germiston's sick and dying during the Spanish flu pandemic, before he too died on 14 October 1918 at the government hospital in Germiston. He was buried in Primrose. He was from the coal mining town of Virden in Illinois, United States, having arrived in South Africa before the Anglo-Boer War and offered his services as doctor to the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek government. He married Annie Rhind STUART in January 1904 in the Presbyterian church in Germiston. Annie was born in Scotland. Three of her brothers had also settled in Germiston. Her older brother Alexander, who was a builder, married Petronella Wilhelmina, the widow of Boer commandant General Gerhardus Hendricus GRAVETT. Another brother, John, became a Germiston Town Councilor. By 1918, Howard and Annie had five daughters and one son. After the death of her husband, Annie married George MATHERS, an electrical engineer, and had another daughter.

Privates George BROWN and Albert Vernon HIGHAM share a gravestone, both of the Transvaal Scottish Regiment who were killed at Dunswart Railway Crossing on 10 March 1922 during the 1922 Rand Revolt. The gravestone was was erected by the Regiment in 1970. George was a clerk in civilian life. Albert was a commercial traveller in civilian life, and the son of Gertrude HIGHAM of Germiston. Tjaart Johannes VAN DER WALT was killed in action at at Brixton Ridge on 12 March 1922 while serving with the Railways and Harbours Brigade. He was married to Theresa Allan Jane SHOOTER. Sergeant James TANNER of the South African Railways died on 10 March 1922 from gunshot wounds. He was a Guard Inspector with the Railways. He was married to Annie BEITH. Lance-Sergeant Paulus Petrus JOUBERT of the South African Police was shot during the night of 11 March 1922 when on his way to Germiston with colleagues to arrest suspicious men in Germiston. He was married to Maria Magdalena SMIT.

2020

There have been many instances of vandalism and neglect at the cemetery. In mid-2020 one of the cemetery gates was stolen and the main gate was damaged while being forcibly opened. There was a fire in the cemetery store room in June 2020, and the cemetery office in a separate building had a bonfire in the middle of the room. All records of burials pre-1970, kept in the storeroom, were destroyed in the fire. Both cemetery buildings had been broken into and all equipment stolen. The Jewish Ohel was broken into and the palisade fence systematically stolen. In the past, the Jewish community had a garden service clear the Jewish section of overgrowth, weeds, and litter. The Jewish section was consecrated on 11 August 1907.

2020

In January 2023, the city council did a clean-up at the cemetery. In April 2025, the City of Ekurhuleni blamed the cemetery's unkempt state on recent rainfall and lack of manpower to maintain the cemetery, after residents raised concerns. They found the cemetery had overgrown grass and bushes covering the graves. Some of the tall headstones were only partially visible. Other grievances included the overgrown trees, missing gates and broken palisade fencing. Vandalism of facilities is one of the biggest challenges that the city is confronted with. Safety at the cemeteries due to their state is also a major concern. I recently drove past Primrose Cemetery, and was saddened to see that it was again overgrown and unkempt.

March 2025

THE TITANIC AND ITS SOUTH AFRICAN CONNECTIONS

2025-04-22T13:17:00.000+02:00

On 17 April 2007, my original article on the Titanic and its South African connections was published by News24. Since then, the article has been used by various media, societies and individuals for their publications, websites and articles. One hundred and thirteen years later on the anniversary of the iconic ship’s sinking, 14-15 April 2025, I revisited my research notes and updated the article with new information.

April 15 is regarded as Titanic Remembrance Day. The ship struck an iceberg in the North Atlantic at 23:40 the evening of April 14 and sank at 02:20 the following morning. Of the 2,208 passengers and crew on board, only 712 survived (the Halifax list gives 891 crew and 1,317 passengers). Most victims’ bodies were never recovered.

Some of the Titanic's passengers had connections to South Africa. There may be other passengers with South African connections, as yet undiscovered, but these are the ones I found and researched.

Captain Edward John SMITH
Captain Edward John SMITH (27 January 1850 – 15 April 1912) joined the White Star Line in 1880. He also joined the Royal Naval Reserve, receiving a commission as a lieutenant. He retired from the RNR in 1905 with the rank of Commander. When Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902) broke out, he was captain of the Majestic which was called upon to transport British Imperial troops to the Cape Colony. He made two trips to South Africa. In 1903 King Edward VII awarded him the Transport Medal with the South Africa clasp in recognition of his service during the war. In 1914, his daughter unveiled a statue of him at Lichfield. The sculptress was Lady SCOTT, widow of Captain Robert Falcon SCOTT who had died in the Antarctic two weeks before the Titanic sank. Captain SCOTT’s last port of call was Cape Town, where a monument to him exists on the foreshore.

Thomas William Solomon BROWN
Thomas William Solomon BROWN (60), his wife Elizabeth Catherine (née FORD) and their daughter, Edith Eileen, were from Worcester.
Thomas was born on 13 July 1851 in Kuils River, the son of James Solomon BROWN and Harriet HOLLOWAY. He was baptised on 25 August 1851 in the Anglican church in Cape Town. His death notice listed his father as Thomas William BROWN and was signed by Elizabeth Catherine.
His father was born in Greenwich, Kent. He died in 1866 in Cape Town, where he owned The Rose & Crown Inn in Wharf Street. His mother was born in Surrey, England, and died in 1878 in Kuils River.
During his life, Thomas had lived in Cape Town, Worcester, Kuils River, and Bloemfontein.

His first marriage was to Isabella Gracilia (Griselda Isabella) WILLOUGHBY on 06 May 1873 at St John’s Anglican church in Cape Town. He gave his occupation as hotel keeper and lived in Waterkant. Isabella was born in Constantia and died on 28 November 1889 in Kuils River.
Thomas and Isabella’s children:
1) William James BROWN born and died in 1875.
2) Lilian Henrietta BROWN was born on 26 April 1878 in Cape Town.
She died on 05 July 1946 at home: 17 Suffolk Mansions, Smal Street, Johannesburg.
She married Joseph Augustus WOOLF on 08 January 1909 in Cape Town. He was a billiard room owner.
3) Harriet Elizabeth Maria BROWN was born on 27 May 1880 in Cape Town.
She died on 17 February 1961 at home: 28 Barnard Street, Mowbray.
She married Willem Adriaan BOSMAN on 27 December 1898 in Worcester. He was a cycle engineer.
4) Thomas Andrew Ralph BROWN was born on 18 February 1882 in Cape Town.
He died in 1958.
He married Cornelia Magdalena COETZEE on 22 February 1905 in Cape Town. He was a hotel manager in Observatory, and she was from Boksburg.
5) Ernest Herbert Willoughby BROWN was born on 28 January 1886 in Kuils River.
He died on 29 April 1914 at Klipfontein Farm, Boksburg.
He was a miner and unmarried.

Thomas’ second marriage was Elizabeth Catherine FORD on 11 August 1890 at St Mary’s Anglican church in Woodstock. She was from Moorreesburg. He gave his occupation as hotel keeper and was living in Kuils River. Elizabeth was born in 1871 in Cape Town.
Thomas and Elizabeth’s children:
1) Dorothy Beatrice BROWN was born on 09 October 1899 in Worcester.
She died on 16 October 1906 at home: Mountain View Hotel in Long Street (diphtheria cardiac failure).
2) Edith Eileen BROWN was born on 27 October 1896 in Worcester.

Thomas registered various mortgage bonds at the Cape between 1884 and 1904, while Elizabeth registered one in 1904. He was the owner of the Masonic Hotel in Worcester but business had declined, so he retired and decided to move to Seattle, USA, where Elizabeth's sister, Josephine, lived with her husband Edward ACTON. The family left Cape Town on board the Saxon for Southampton. On 10 April 1912, they boarded the Titanic at Southampton as 2nd Class passengers bound for New York (ticket number 29750 for £39). After the collision, Thomas placed his wife and daughter in lifeboat 14 and stepped back, smoking a cigar and awaiting his fate. His last words to his family were, "I'll see you in New York". He did not survive. Elizabeth and Edith were rescued by the Carpathia. They stayed in New York for a few days before going to Seattle to join Josephine. Soon afterwards, mother and daughter returned to South Africa. Elizabeth married Henry J. PARROTT in Salisbury, Rhodesia, where she died on 29 June 1925.

Edith married Frederick Thankful HAISMAN, an engineering draughtsman, on 30 June 1917 in Johannesburg. He died on 26 November 1977 in Southampton, England. One of their children, David, was educated at Simonstown Secondary School until the age of 11 years, when the family returned to England as Frederick’s contract with the Admiralty in Simonstown came to an end. David left school at 15 years of age and joined the Merchant Navy. He visited Cape Town and other ports along the coast while employed with the Union Castle Line. He wrote three books, I'll See You in New York: Titanic - the Courage of a Survivor, Titanic: The Edith Brown Story and Raised on the Titanic: An autobiography. According to David, his father was a friend of Robert HICHENS before he met Edith and married her.

In 1993 Edith was presented with the gold watch that her father was wearing when the ship went down. The watch was found by RMS Titanic Inc of New York City, a salvaging company. She appeared in the 1994 TV movie, Titanic: The Legend Lives On, as herself, as well as in Titanic: Secrets Revealed (1998). Edith was an honorary member of the Titanic Society of South Africa and the oldest Titanic survivor until her death on 20 January 1997 at the age of 100 in a nursing home in Southampton. Her life story was published as A lifetime on the Titanic - the biography of Edith Haisman.

Frederick & Edith HAISMAN & Fred jnr

Walter Edward BULL
In my original article of 2007, he was listed as William BULL and his granddaughter as Margaret CHARLESWORTH of Lyndhurst, Johannesburg. New information shows that his correct name was Walter Edward BULL and Margaret lived in Lyndhurst, England (not Johannesburg).

Walter Edward BULL was born on 28 October 1875 in Shanklin, Isle of Wight, the son of Walter William BULL and Rosa LININGTON. Walter was in a relationship with Edith Jane CARTER. She was born on 27 September 1879 in Newport, Isle of Wight. They had a son, Walter William, born in 1904 in Ryde, Isle of Wight. In the 1911 Census, Walter William BULL born in Ryde in 1904, was living with his grandmother Rosa GIBBS at 26 Joseph St, Gosport, Alverstoke. Rosa married Bertram GIBBS after her first husband’s death.

When Walter signed-on to the Titanic on 04 April 1912, he gave his address as 27 Chandos Street, Southampton. Like many others among the crew, Walter had previously worked on the Olympic. He worked as a scullion in the galley which served the 1st and 2nd Class passengers, and would have earned £3 10s per month. On board the Titanic he shared a dormitory cabin with nine other scullions who washed and polished the silverware. Walter did not survive.

Walter’s son was granted a weekly allowance from the Titanic Relief Fund. There isn’t reference to Edith receiving support, which may indicate that the couple were not legally married or they were separated. The Titanic Relief Fund was created to support widows and dependents of the Titanic’s crew who were lost in the disaster. The fund was wound up in 1959, with the remaining money used to purchase annuities for the surviving dependents. Some families were given weekly allowances, while others applied for help with education and apprenticeship fees. For those who were given a weekly allowance, the support was split into seven classes:

Class A: officers and engineers. Widow £2 0s. 0d., children 7s. 6d.
Class B: saloon stewards and bedroom stewards. Widow £1 12s. 6d., children 6s. 3d.
Class C: lower class stewards, catering, boots, bakers, bedroom stewards. Widow £1 7s. 6d., children 5s. 6d.
Class D: stewards. Widow £1 0s. 0d., children 3s. 6d.
Class E: second class stewards, stewardesses, senior firemen. Widow 17s. 6d., children 2s. 6d.
Class F: greasers. Widow 15s. 0d., children 2s. 6d.
Class G: firemen, scullions, lower class stewards. Widow 12s. 6d., children 2s. 6d.

It is not clear what happened to Edith. According to Walter’s granddaughter Margaret, he was commemorated on Edith’s grave stone. Edith had married SKEATS and lived in Longmoor Avenue, Woolston. She died in 1937. Margaret believes that there are other relatives, some in South Africa. However, there is an Edith Jane BULL, born 27 September 1879, who died in 1970 in Isle of Wight. This mystery needs more answers.

Margaret R M S BULL married John E W CHARLESWORTH in 1959 in Southampton. They had two children: Andrew and Susan. John died on 14 November 2017 at Southampton General Hospital.

Francesco CELOTTI
Francesco CELOTTI was a sailor from Cape Town but originally from Italy. He applied for a passport at the Cape and was granted one on 16 February 1911. He was 24 years old when he boarded the Titanic in Southampton as a 3rd Class passenger (ticket number 343275, £8 1s). He did not survive.

Charles Henry CHAPMAN
Charles Henry CHAPMAN was born on 19 June 1859 in Cape Town, the son of James CHAPMAN and Catherine Cecelia ROOME (daughter of Capt. William ROOME and Catherine Cecelia BUSHNELL).
His father was born in Cape Town and became a photographer, hunter, trader and explorer. He died in Du Toit's Pan, Kimberley in 1872.
Catherine was born in Virginia, USA. Her father was a sea captain who settled in Nova Scotia, Canada. Catherine died on 16 November 1916 in Port Elizabeth.
Charles had three siblings: William James Bushnell CHAPMAN (1858-1832), Ada Cecelia CHAMPMAN (born 1861) and Catherine Romania CHAPMAN (born 1864). The family lived in South Africa and Namibia.

He married Ellen Virtue LAWRENCE on 22 May 1880 at St Augustine's Cathedral in Port Elizabeth.
His son William's 1921 passport stated that Charles had been an unnaturalised resident of the US since 1875.

Charles and Ellen’s children:
1) Alice Ethel Ellen Lawrence CHAPMAN was born on 12 October 1875 in Southampton, England.
2) Charles Lawrence Roome CHAPMAN was born on 06 September 1882 in New York.
He died on 24 February 1941 in White Plains, New York.
He married Selma Ida FRITZ.
He worked as a purchasing agent. By 1920 he lived in New Rochelle, Westchester, New York.
3) William Charleston CHAPMAN was born on 29 August 1886 in Charleston, South Carolina.
He married Annabella AYRES on 18 September 1912 in New York.
He worked as a bonds salesman. By 1930, he was living in Gardiner, Ulster, New York.
4) Ralph Howard CHAPMAN was born on 12 January 1889 in Atlanta, Georgia.
He died on 27 May 1945 in San Mateo, California.
He married Ella Ursula MURRAY on 29 April 1914 in the Bronx, New York.
He was an accountant and lived in the Bronx and Chicago.
5) Adele C. CHAPMAN was born on 16 March 1891 in Charleston, South Carolina.
She died on 29 August 1959 in Princeton, Illinois.
She married James Francis CONNOLLY on 21 December 1934 in New York.

The 1905 US census shows Charles and his family living at 106th Avenue, Manhattan, and in the 1910 census as residents of 22 St. Nicholas Place in New York. On both occasions Charles’ occupation is given as publisher. His son Ralph was an accountant, son William an auto-parts salesman and his daughter Adele a stage actress. His wife Ellen died on 27 November 1910.

He had spent a few months in South Africa where he still had relatives, and left Durban on board the Kinfaus Castle in January 1912, arriving in Southampton on 23 March 1912. He boarded the Titanic in Southampton as a 2nd Class passenger (ticket number 248731 which cost £13, 10s). His body was recovered and the following were found in his suit pockets: silver cigarette case, garnet tie-pin, garnet ring, papers, gold mounted cuff-links, $200, gold studs, fountain pen, knife and pipe. Charles was travelling with the family Bible belonging to his maternal grandparents’ family in Virginia. He was buried at Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx.

Nathan GOLDSMITH
Nathan (Neshenye) GOLDSMITH was He was born circa 1871 in Kreidburg, Russia. In about 1897 he married Sorah METT in Panev?žys, Kovno, Lithuania. Their first child, Michael, was born on 09 June 1898 in Lithuania.
In 1907 Nathan, Sorah and Michael, and Sorah’s mother Dineh, left Libau on board the Rassa for England, from where they boarded the Petersburg as 3rd Class passengers to New York. Nathan was listed as a shoemaker. They arrived in New York in June or July 1907. The family was going to join Sorah’s brother who lived at 126 Bainbridge Street, Philadelphia. Nathan and Sorah had a second son, Irving, who was born on 24 December 1907 in Philadelphia. He died in 1970 in Tennessee.

Nathan left the family in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, and went to South Africa, where he worked as a boot maker in Cape Town (possibly also Johannesburg) before the Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902). He sent money to his wife every week. In early 1912 he decided to return to the US to join his family living at 2027 South 7th Street in Philadelphia. He sold his business and travelled to England. He boarded the Titanic in Southampton as a 3rd Class passenger (ticket number SOTON/O.Q. 3101263, £7, 17s). He did not survive.

Herbert Gifford HARVEY
Herbert Gifford HARVEY was born on 03 February 1878 in Belfast, Ireland, the son of James Thompson HARVEY and Elizabeth Garston GIFFORD. His father was a partner at Messrs. Lawther and Harvey, ship owners, in Belfast. Herbert volunteered to serve in the Anglo-Boer War and joined the 46th Company Imperial Yeomanry. He earned the Queen's Medal with three clasps and the King's Medal with one clasp. After his return, he joined Harland & Wolff and later went to sea as an engineer with Lowther, Latta & Co before leaving to join the White Star Line. He lived in Southampton. Junior Assistant Second Engineer HARVEY was on duty in the engine room at the time of collision. He did not survive.

Samuel Emest HEMMING
Samuel Ernest HEMMING was born on 24 December 1868 in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, the son of John William HEMMING and Elizabeth. He joined the Royal Navy on 12 February 1884. By 1888 he was an able seaman. He was pensioned off on 05 January 1907 and the next day he joined the Portsmouth Royal Fleet Reserve and went to work for the White Star Line the same year as boatswain’s mate, lamp trimmer and boatswain.
He married Elizabeth Emily BROWNING on 04 June 1903 in Portsmouth. They moved to Southampton in about 1910. They had three children: Ernest Harry, Jessie Dorothy and Thomas Robert.
He signed-on to the Titanic on 06 April 1912 as a lamp trimmer. He was in life boat 4. He testified at the US Inquiry on 25 April 1912 and at the British inquiry on 24 May 1912.

He rejoined the Navy during World War I as 1st Class Petty Officer. He served aboard Roedeau which was struck by a mine and sank on 13 January 1915. He was discharged on 06 March 1919 and was decorated with the General Service and Victory Medals. He lived in Shirley before moving to Blighmont Nursing Home where he died on 12 April 1928.

Two or three of Samuel's brothers had immigrated to South Africa, where they started a law firm. His brothers were: John William (b. 1859), Frank (b. 1861), Elizabeth Mary (b. 1862), Ellen (b. 1864), Francis Joseph (b. 1866), Harry (b. 1870) and John Walter (b. 1879).

Robert HICHENS
Robert HICHENS was born on 16 September 1882 in Newlyn, Cornwall, the son of Philip HICHENS and Rebecca WOOD. On Robert's birth certificate the spelling is HICHENS. On his marriage certificate it is HITCHENS. He married Florence MORTIMORE on 23 October 1906 in Manaton, Devon. His occupation was listed as master mariner.

He worked on mail boats and liners of the Union Castle line and British India line. On Titanic he was one of the six Quartermasters. He signed-on on 06 April 1912 and gave his home address as 43 St James Street, St. Marys, Southampton, where he lived with his wife and two children. Robert was at the wheel, having relieved Q.M. OLIVER at 22:00, when the warning came from the lookout that an iceberg had been spotted ahead. He was ordered by First officer MURDOCH to turn the wheel 'hard-a-starboard' to avoid the iceberg, but it was not enough to avoid the collision. At about 23:23 he was relieved by Q.M. PERKIS. Robert was put in charge of Lifeboat 6. The lifeboat left the ship at about 23:55 and the occupants taken to New York on board the Carpathia. Robert was one of the most important witnesses at both the US and British inquiries, answering hundreds of questions. His testimony became the story of the tragedy. After the US inquiry, he returned to England aboard the Celtic, arriving in Liverpool on 04 May 1912. On 07 May 1912 he testified at the British Enquiry.

It is claimed that he became a harbour master in Cape Town, according to Henry BLUM in a letter to Thomas GARVEY in New York. Henry was an acquaintance of Robert, and was a Quartermaster on a British ship that docked in Cape Town in 1914. According to him, the harbour master who met the ship was Robert. So far, no research has found this to be true and it may be a tall tale. Henry BLUM was born in Norway and was recorded in the 1940 US Census. The Leitrim Observer dated Saturday 29 July 1933 carried an interview with Robert and no reference was made to being a harbour master.

Robert’s brother, William, lived in Johannesburg in 1915. Family members recalled that he spent time in Durban and Johannesburg. In 1917 a fellow Titanic survivor (likely Edith HAISMAN) claimed to have met Robert in Johannesburg. William HICHENS returned to England in 1918 and married Penelope Rouffignac COTTON in Newlyn. Shortly afterwards, they moved to South Africa. Penelope died in Johannesburg in 1959.

In 1910, Robert received a Royal Naval Reserve long service medal. During World War I, he served in the Royal Naval Reserve, having been called up on 02 August 1914. He was invalided out of the reserves having been diagnosed with neurasthenia (a nervous condition which would now be termed post-traumatic stress disorder). He managed to serve in the Royal Army Service Corps. He arrived in France for a tour of duty in the supply lines on 06 December 1914. A description of a river trip on the Thames for convalescing soldiers, published in The Times on 04 September 1915, mentions a member of the Army Service Corps who is also a survivor of the Titanic disaster. Army records show that he served until 1918 with the Royal Army Service Corps.

By 1919 he was working as a third officer on a small vessel out of Hull. In the 1920s he spent time China and Hong Kong. By the late 1920s Robert and his family moved to Torquay, Devon, where his wife’s sister Beatrice was living. Robert was working in a boat charter. In 1930 he purchased a boat from Frederick George Henry HENLEY (aka Harry) for £160 of which he paid the initial sum of £100 with the remainder to be paid within two years. Robert obtained a £100 loan from J.E. SQUIRES in Torquay. He was able to repay £50 but due to a poor season in 1931 he was unable to repay the balance to SQUIRES who then took the boat to settle the debt.

By the end of 1931, Robert’s wife and children had left him and moved to Southampton. Robert spent the next year looking for work all over the country but was unsuccessful. Towards the end of 1933 he wanted to kill Harry, blaming him for his misfortunes. He bought a revolver and arrived in Torquay on 12 November 1933. He met up with Thomas Robert John HOLDEN, a fisherman he knew. That evening, Robert was drinking with another acquaintance, Charles Henry STROUD, who tried to dissuade him from carrying out revenge. After the bars closed, Robert took a taxi to Harry’s house at 6 Happaway Court, Stentiford's Hill. The two men had some words before two shots rang out. One of the shots hit Harry in the head but did not strike a bone. He managed to punch Robert in the face and Robert fell down. Harry ran to the police for help. Robert was taken to the police station in a semi-conscious state. In his pocket he had a suicide note to his brother. The following morning, Robert appeared in the Torquay Court and was remanded in custody for a week. On 29 November 1933 he appeared at the Winchester Assizes. His wrists were bandaged as he had attempted to cut his wrists. He was sentenced to five years prison for attempted murder.

He was released from Parkhurst Prison in 1937. He worked on a cargo ship during World War II, delivering coal. By mid-1940, he was working as Third Mate aboard the ship English Trader. On the evening of 19 July 1940 Robert informed the ship’s doctor that he was too ill to keep his watch on the bridge. He had been unable to keep food down and had a fever. On 24 July, the doctor examined him and stated he was suffering from asthmatic bronchitis. Robert recovered by 05 August. On 19 September, Robert reported ill again, complaining of stomach pains and fever. He did not eat on 20 and 21 September. On 23 September he had still not eaten, and by 10:00 the doctor found him in a coma and was declared at 10:35. His body was removed to the Aberdeen police mortuary. The post mortem gave cause of death as heart disease. Robert was buried at Trinity Cemetery in Aberdeen in a grave with three other people.

In 1939 Florence began to suffer severe headaches and was later diagnosed with a brain tumour. Robert returned to the family home in Shirley Road, Southampton and stayed until Florence’s death on 23 March 1940 at the age of 53. She was buried at the Stoneham Cemetery in Southampton. Soon after her funeral, he left Southampton and never returned.

Robert and Florence’s children:
1) Edna Florence born 1908 in Torquay.
She died at age 48 of cancer.
She married Bernard McKNO. They owned a pub in Southampton and had two daughters, Vivian and Brenda.
2) Frances born 1910.
She had a common-law relationship with Percy KELSEY and had two sons: Barry and Noel.
3) Phyllis May born 1912.
She died at age 63 of cancer.
She was known as the Titanic baby.
Her first marriage was to Alfred Stanley RUSSELL and had three sons: Graham, Bev, and Warner.
She divorced him and married George VEAL.
She managed a café where she met John WATERS and married him. They had a son: James Michael. They lived in Telford.
4) Robert born 1913 in Southampton.
He lived in Cadnam and was an accomplished pianist and songwriter.
He lost his leg in an accident with a tram while riding his bicycle.
During the Black-Out in World War II he was the driver of a vehicle that hit and killed a cyclist on Christmas Eve. The man left twin boys and the tragedy haunted Robert.
He was employed as a wages clerk in Cadnam prior to his death of a heart attack at age 57.
5) Ivy Doreen born 1915 in Southampton.
She died at age 58 of cancer.
She had a relationship with the married Fred WOOLGAR. They had two children: Paul (a boxer / prize-fighter in London) and Susan.
6) Frederick John born 1925 in Southampton.
He died at age 60 of a heart attack.
He served in the British Army during World War II.
He married Dorothy and had three children: Janette, Robert and Frederick.
He was a flooring contractor in Sandhurst, Camberwell, Surrey.

Robert’s great-grand-daughter, Sally NILSSON, wrote The Man Who Sank Titanic. In April 2002, some of Robert’s grandchildren attended the British Titanic Society Convention in Southampton and were introduced to Muffet BROWN (great-granddaughter of Margaret Tobin BROWN of Denver, Colorado, who was on lifeboat 6).

Sydney Samuel JACOBSOHN
Sydney Samuel JACOBSOHN was born on 23 October 1869 in Cape Town, the son of Moritz JACOBSOHN and Juliet SOLOMON. His father was a general merchant who had a shop on the corner of Main and Church Streets in Riversdal. In 1902 Sydney was an attorney at Walker & Jacobsohn, 16 Wale Street. He registered mortgage bonds in 1898 and 1906. Sydney, his parents and several siblings later moved to London, England. He is the man in Frans van Wyk’s book, Riversdal 150 Jaar, as the former resident of the town that was on the Titanic and did not survive.

He married Amy Frances COHEN on 06 September 1910 in London. She was born on 08 April 1888 in Lewisham, Kent, the daughter of Moreno COHEN and Alice Frances JONES. Her mother worked as a psychiatric nurse before she was married in 1885. Her father died in 1890. Alice remarried in 1902 to Frederick Alexander CHRISTY.

Sydney and Amy spent their honeymoon in Torquay, before settling at 7 Pembridge Square in London. In the 1911 England census they are listed as visitors at the Hotel Inverness, in Ealing, and Sydney’s occupation was listed as a colonial lawyer. Sydney and Amy had a daughter who died at birth.

The couple boarded the Titanic as 2nd Class passengers, on their way to Montreal, Canada (ticket number 243847 which cost £27). Amy’s widowed mother Alice Frances Christy, and her sister, Rachel Juli, were accompanying them. Alice’s children adopted the surname CHRISTY. Sydney did not survive. The women survived, rescued by the Carpathia, and returned to England on 11 May 1912 on board the Meganti.

While on honeymoon, Sydney had drawn up his will and had it witnessed by a Mr and Mrs WRIGHT. On her return to London, Amy started legal proceedings in July 1912 to get Sydney's estate passed to her. Her lawyers managed to trace Mr and Mrs WRIGHT who gave evidence that they had read the will and that Amy was the sole heir. Sydney's brother, who lived in 34 Anson Road, Cricklewood, waived all claims which he might have had to the estate. The estate was settled on 07 October 1912 in Amy’s favour.

Amy remarried to William FENWICK and had two children. She moved to Nairobi, Kenya before returning to England for a while. Following a period of ill health, she returned to Nairobi and spent her last days in the Maia Carberry Nursing Home. She died on 09 July 1947 and was buried at City Park Cemetery in Nairobi.

In a January 2019 episode of the TV show Antiques Roadshow, a green engagement ring featured. It belonged to Amy, who had worn it on the Titanic.

Amy’s brother, Jaques Moise CHRISTY (born 1885), worked as an electrical engineer and settled in Vancouver, Canada. He married Hattie Alberta MACKAY and had two sons: John (born 1913) and Robert Frederick (born 1916). Robert later became a prominent theoretical physicist and astrophysicist. During WWII he became an American citizen and was one of the scientists who worked on the Manhattan Project, the research and development programme that produced the first atomic weapons. He died in Pasadena, California on 03 October 2012.

Henry F JULIAN

Henry Forbes JULIAN
Henry Forbes JULIAN was born on 09 May 1861 in Cork, Co Cork, Ireland, the son of Henry JULIAN and Marie. His father was a coach builder. Henry was 13 years old when the family moved to Bolton, Lancashire. He studied at Owens College in Manchester and later in South Kensington, London. He became a metallurgical engineer.

In October 1886 he travelled to South Africa. He became a consulting engineer and mine manager in Natal, Barberton, Johannesburg and Kimberley. Henry stayed in South Africa for seven years, during which time he invented and patented an extracting apparatus for the mines. In 1893 he moved to Germany where he worked as a technical adviser on mining and metallurgy. His work also took him to Mexico, Canada, the USA, the West Indies and eastern Europe. In 1895, he moved to South Devon where he rented Ness House. He also kept a residence in London.

He was a founder member of the Royal Automobile Club and a member of the British Association. By 1902 he was living in Torquay. He joined the Torquay Natural History Society and became an active member of the Devonshire Association, both of which were founded by his future father-in-law William PENGELLY, an eminent geologist. of Torquay. He married Hester PENGALLY on 30 October 1902.

Henry had to attend a business meeting in San Francisco, and was booked to travel on the Olympic, leaving Southampton on 03 April 1912. However, because of the disruptions caused by the national coal strike, his trip was re-scheduled for 10 April on the Titanic. His wife stayed home as she had influenza. He was travelling in 1st Class, cabin E-90 (ticket 110344 costing £26). He did not survive.

Charles KENNELL
Charles KENNEL was born circa 1882 in Cape Town. When he signed-on to the Titanic on 04 April 1912, he gave his address as 6 Park View, Southampton. He previously served on the Titanic’s sister ship, the Olympic, which took its maiden voyage in 1911. He was the ship’s kosher cook, earning a monthly wage of £4. He did not survive. There were 69 Jewish passengers on board. The kosher kitchen was located on F deck, the back half of the ship, which split from the front during the sinking.

Samuel Beard RISIEN
Samuel Beard RISIEN was born in Deal, Kent on 03 June 1842. He married Mary Louisa LELLYETT on 08 June 1867 in London. She was the daughter of Walter LELLYETT and his wife Charlotte BOYETT.

Samuel was well-off, he was a successful businessman and hotel owner in Texas. He was widely travelled and had spent time in South Africa before he settled in the USA and became an American citizen. He sailed on the CSS Alabama in the Civil War. He belonged to the Joe Johnston Camp of the Confederate Veterans.

Samuel and Mary had four children. They immigrated to the USA shortly after the birth of their first child in 1868 and the remaining children were born in Michigan. By 1880 they were living in Groesbeck, Texas and Samuel was working as a carpenter. In about 1889 he married Emma Jane LELLYET, his wife's sister. Emma was born in 1848 in Havant, Hampshire, England.

In late 1910, Samuel and Emma travelled to Durban, where Emma’s family lived. They spent about a year there, before sailing to England. In London they stayed with Samuel's brother Jonathan, who was a jeweller and diamond dealer. They were on their way back to the USA, after spending about 14 months in Durban. On 10 April 1912, Samuel and his wife boarded the Titanic in Southampton as 3rd Class passengers (ticket number 364498, which cost £14, 10s). They did not survive.

William Thomas STEAD
William Thomas Stead was a newspaper editor, author and publisher. He lived at Cambridge House, Wimbledon Park, London, and Holly Bush, Hayling Island, Hampshire. He was pro-Boer during the Anglo-Boer War and published articles about the concentration camps. He opposed the war and wrote Shall I Slay my Brother the Boer and also published the weekly paper of the Stop the War Committee, War against War in South Africa. He boarded the Titanic in Southampton and was going to a peace congress at Carnegie Hall on 21 April at the request of President William Howard TAFT. He sat reading a book in the 1st Class Smoking Room while the ship sank.

Henry SUTEHALL
Henry (aka Harry) SUTEHALL jnr was born on 23 July 1883 in Fulham, England, the son of Henry SUTEHALL and Sarah STANTON. On 01 January 1910, Henry jnr started a round-the-world trip and purposefully planned to return home to the USA on the Titanic's maiden voyage. His family boarded the Paris in Southampton on 16 March 1895 for Buffalo, New York. Henry snr worked as a plasterer and worked on the cathedral on Delaware Street, designed by architect and a Titanic passenger Edward Austin KENT. Sarah ran the family's corner store at 2852 Delaware Avenue at the intersection of Mang Street in Kenmore, Buffalo.

Henry jnr became a trimmer for E. E. Denniston in Buffalo, installing and repairing upholstery in carriages and early cars. Here he met the Canadian-born Howard Albert IRWIN who became his closest friend. The two friends decided to go on a world tour, working wherever they could find employment. During 1910, they travelled all over the USA. In mid-1911, they left for Australia. While in Sydney, Henry won a sweepstakes that helped fund the rest of their trip. The two friends wanted to visit different places and at this stage, they each went their own way. They met up again in Durban and made plans to meet in England early in 1912 to conclude the voyage home together. While in Durban, they entered a talent contest and won a trip. Henry played the violin and Howard played the clarinet. Howard most likely used the prize to fund his travels, arriving in England a week before Henry. On the day of their departure from Southampton, Howard did not show up. Henry had already put Howard's trunk on board the ship. Henry did not survive.

In 1993, during recovery efforts at the wreck site by RMS Titanic, Inc. Howard's trunk was found. Among the contents was a diary that Howard kept for 1910. The diary and several of Howard's possessions can be seen in museums in St. Petersburg and Boston. Howard married Ivy M. CURRISTON. He died on 23 September 1953 in Haledon, New Jersey. A book, The Man Titanic left Behind, by K. Sohail and Claude Irwin, tells his story.

Austin Blyler VAN BILLIARD
Austin Blyler van Billiard (35) and his sons, James William (10) and Walter John (9), were 3rd Class passengers on their way to South Wales, Pennsylvania, USA. None survived.
Austin was born on 09 February 1877 in Hellertown, Pennsylvania, the son of James Wilson VAN BILLIARD and Phoebe BYLER. His father was a marble merchant. Austin left the USA at a relatively young age for Europe. He was working in France when he met Maude MURRAY whose father was in Paris on business. They were married on 03 November 1900 in Paris.

Austin and Maude’s children:
1) James William VAN BILLIARD was born on 20 August 1901 in North Wales, Pennsylvania.
2) Walter James VAN BILLIARD was born on 28 February 1903 in Cape Town.
3) Dorothy Jane VAN BILLIARD was born on 04 March 1905 at the Cape.
She died on 07 July 1960 in Philadelphia.
She married BELL.
4) Donald Diamond VAN BILLIARD was born on 02 June 1907 at Winter Rush, Beaufort West District.
He died in 1977.
5) Richard VAN BILLIARD was born on 19 November 1909 in Kimberley.
He died in 1988 in Pompano Beach, Florida.
6) George Austin VAN BILLIARD was born on 14 February 1912 in Cape Town.
He died in 1965 in Florida, USA.

From 1902 the family lived in South Africa, where Austin owned part of a diamond claim. He had sold his share and wanted to move permanently to the USA. In 1906 he applied for letters of patent for his invention - a mechanical suspension conveyancer. In 1910, he wrote to the American Consul in Cape Town that he had come to South Africa to establish international trade in diamonds. Owing to the depression following the Anglo-Boer War 1899-1902, his financial situation didn’t enable him to return to the USA, explaining his extended stay in South Africa. He regarded the USA as his permanent residence.

He left Cape Town for England with his wife and four children on board a French steamer. Maude's parents lived in London. He decided to go to New York where he might get a better price for his uncut diamonds. Maude became ill and remained in England with the youngest children until she was well enough to travel. Austin and his two eldest children boarded the Titanic as 3rd Class passengers (ticket number A/5. 851, £14, 10s). Austin carried at least 12 uncut diamonds, which were found on his body when it was recovered. John’s body, if recovered, was never identified. Walter and Austin were buried at Union Cemetery, Zion Lutheran Church, Flourtown, Pennsylvania. In February 1913, Maude moved to South Wales, Pennsylvania, with her remaining children. She never remarried and died in a nursing home on 17 January 1968.

William Jeffery WARE
William Jeffery WARE was born in 1889 in Calstock, Cornwall, England, the son of Samuel WARE and Ann Louisa WITHERIDGE. His father was a blacksmith. William became a blacksmith. His father had been making trips to South Africa for work since the 1890s and had been living in the country since 1908. William had been on an extended visit to his father. He returned six weeks before departing England again. He boarded the Titanic in Southampton as a 2nd Class passenger (ticket number 28666, which cost £10, 10s). He was travelling to Butte, Montana. He did not survive.
His father eventually returned from South Africa and died in Gunnislake on 21 August 1945.

James WEBBER
Mary GRIFFIN (née WEBBER) died on 17 June 1897 in Main Street, Ferreira, Johannesburg of Brights disease and was buried at Braamfontein Cemetery. She was from Kea, Cornwall, England. Mary was 33 years old when she married the widower, James GRIFFIN, on 05 November 1863. They moved to South Africa.

Her brother, James WEBBER, was on the Titanic on his way back to his home at the Southern Hotel in San Bernardino. James was born in 1846 in Kea, Cornwall, the son of Richard WEBBER and Mary RICHARDS. He was 15 years old and already working as a miner in Kea. By 1871 he was likely living in the USA. He boarded the Titanic in Southampton as a 3rd Class passenger (ticket number SOTON/OQ 3101316, costing £8, 1s). He did not survive.

James left from Southampton after an 18-month trip that took him from the USA to China, Japan, and Korea. He had visited two sisters in Cornwall and Mary in Johannesburg. He owned properties in San Bernardino and Los Angeles counties. His estate was administered by his sister Harriet JULIAN (née WEBBER), wife of Edmund JULIAN. Harriet died in 1914 in Liskeard, Cornwall.

In 1914 J. GRIFFIN of Kynevin Cottage in Port Elizabeth purchased the private rights to Mary's grave and a stone was erected commemorating Mary and James. This was Mary and James’ son, John (23 January 1864, Cornwall – 23 July 1920, Port Elizabeth). The inscription reads: In loving memory of Mary Griffin of Kea, Cornwall who died at Johannesburg 17th June 1897 aged 66 years. Also, James Webber brother of the above who was drowned on the "Titanic" April 15th 1912 aged 62 years. Safe in the arms of Jesus.

The following are stories that have been passed down as being passengers on the Titanic with a connection to South Africa, but have not been proven as fact:

Edith BOON
Edith BOON claimed to be a passenger on the Titanic, probably aged 15 years, along with her grandfather (name unknown). She wrote a letter on 26 April 1918, addressed to "Dear May", which was written while in Retreat, Cape Town. In it she writes that she knows May is very interested in the Titanic, and so tells her what she recalls, even though it is difficult for her to deal with the memories. The 5-page letter is "a personal account of the sinking of the Titanic" and is in the National Library of South Africa in Cape Town as part of the A.A. FULLALOVE Collection. Arthur Anthony FULLALOVE (1911-1978) was a South African Railways employee and amateur researcher and writer. He collected books, documents, photographs and diaries.

Edith's letter includes the following “On the boat we had a glorious time; all the way round the deck was a cycle track and also beautiful gardens – really the Titanic was a moving palace... The cabins were beautifully furnished and very large. We had four bunks our cabin, including a dressing table, washing stand and wardrobe, and leading from our cabin into the next was a beautiful bathroom.” She further describes the disaster... "Oh! Never shall I forget that scene. My grandfather told us that our lives were now almost at an end and that only prayers shall help and comfort us. He helped to get us a boat, kissing us goodbye and taking his wedding ring and slipping it onto mine. He left us with a prayer on his lips and tears in his eyes. Oh! Never, never! will I forget that moment, he turned away and we lost sight of him among the crowds that were struggling for a seat on the boats. We then saw hundreds of people struggling in the icy water on the one side of us and on the other we saw the huge iceberg floating away, and without exaggeration it seemed to be as large as Table Mountain, well I dare say it is only natural that it should seem huge for we were not too far away from it. The last I can remember is the awful cry of the drowning; then of the explosion..."

Edith was living in Holland with her parents and little sister (she also refers to her as her twin), when her grandparents arrived for a visit from England. A week later, her sister became ill and died. Her mother was hospitalised with shock, and her grandparents stayed on to look after Edith during the day, while her father was out working. When Edith's mother was released from hospital, she found it difficult to see Edith without her sister, so she asked the grandparents to adopt her. This happened when Edith was four years old. Edith and her grandparents left for England for a short while and then to Africa. It is not known where in Africa. Her mother later adopted other children.

Edith and her grandparents stayed in Africa until she was 14 years old, after which they left for England and then Holland. In Holland, Edith was told who her parents were, as she had regarded her grandparents as her mother and father. After so many years, she decided to remain living with her grandparents. After a stay in Holland, Edith and her grandparents returned to England in 1912. On 02 April 1912, they left England aboard the Titanic for the USA, as 1st Class passengers.

Edith's grandfather found a life-boat for her and his wife. He took his wedding ring off and gave it to Edith, and kissed them goodbye. He turned into the crowd and they lost sight of him. Once they were safely on board the life-boat and rowing away from the ship, they saw him one last time on the deck, bidding them a last farewell. Edith wore the ring all her life. She ended her letter by signing off as "I remain a Titanic survivor" and asks May not to show the letter to anyone else as it is badly written.

The only Edith on board who matches in age was Edith BROWN (later married to HAISMAN). However, she was in 2nd Class, and the letter writer specifically stated that her grandfather would not allow her to go down to the other Classes so she did not know what they looked like. Also, the two girls’ memories of their grandfathers on the fateful night are very different.

Herbert Linford GWYER
A man who became the Bishop of George circa 1950s/1960s, spent his honeymoon on the Titanic. Different lifeboats picked up the newly-wed couple and they were separated for three weeks, neither knowing that the other was alive. The following were the bishops of George during those years: Herbert Linford GWYER 1937-1951, John HUNTER 1951-1966 and Patrick Harold Falkiner BARRON 1966-1978. Herbert was a survivor of the sinking of RMS Lusitania, which may have been confused with the Titanic over time.

William Harold WELCH
William Harold WELCH was born on 15 December 1890 in Southampton, the son of Charles William WELCH and Mary Jane. He had a brother, Charles Leslie, born in 1896.
When he signed-on to the Titanic on 04 April 1912 he gave his address as Northern Bond Road, Bitterne Park, Southampton. His last ship had been the Edinburgh Castle. As an assistant cook, his monthly wage was £4 10s. William did not survive.
His parents remained in Southampton, where his mother died in 1931 and his father in 1948. His brother was said to have settled in South Africa. Charles Leslie died in 1987 in Leicester. He married Katherine Mary TOMLIN in 1921 in Belgrave, Leicestershire. At the time, Charles lived at 5 Halkin Street, Leicester.

Josef (Joseph) Argon ROTHENAIGNER
Josef (Joseph) Argon ROTHENAIGNER claimed to be a wine steward in 2nd Class on board the Titanic and was rescued by the lifeboats. He is not listed in any Titanic passenger lists or survivor lists.
He was born on 14 March 1891 in Triftern, Rottal-Inn, Bavaria, Germany. Archival records confirm that he was in internment camps in South Africa from 1914 to 1919.
On 19 April 1933 he married the widow Christina Wilhelmina CYSTER (née ROBERTSON) in Cape Town. At the time, he was 42 years old, a hotel manager and lived in Pniel. Christina had six children from her previous marriage to Andre Johann CYSTER who died in 1930. The marriage did not last long. According their divorce record, Christina left in about 1937. Joseph filed for divorce in 1947 and it was granted on 06 August 1947. Christina died on 07 July 1981 in Pretoria.
On 18 September 1947 Joseph married the spinster Auguste Wilhelmine DIENER in Paarl. They lived at 371 Main Street, Paarl.
He became a tailor in Paarl and had a shop in Mernoleon Street.
On 18 May 1956, he arrived in Southampton on board the Athlone Castle from Cape Town. He gave his occupation as farmer, and was going to Kapuziner Street, 11/4 Munich.
He died on 22 November 1970 in Paarl.
Auguste died on 17 May 1991 in Paarl.

An article in the Cape Argus dated 23 November 1970 referred to him as a Titanic survivor:
Paarl. Monday. - A German immigrant to South Africa who spent 12 years in internment camps in South Africa during World Wars I and II, and who is believed to be the only survivor in South Africa of the sinking of the Titanic in 1912, died at his home at 2 Mernoleon Street, Paarl, at the age of 79.
He was Mr. Argon Rothenaigner, who was well-known in the tailoring trade here before he retired in 1967.
Mr. Rothenaigner had narrow escapes as a German soldier during the South West African campaign in 1914 and 1915.
He miraculously escaped death when he was a steward on the ill-fated ship, the Titanic, which sank in 1912 drowning more than 1,000 passengers and crew. When the ship went down, he jumped into the sea in a lifebelt and drifted for 10 hours before he was picked up by rescue boats. He was one of the few survivors.
Mr. Rothenaigner was taken as a prisoner of war by South African forces in S.W.A. during 1915 and spent five years in internment camps in South Africa. After the war her returned to Germany, but immigrated to South Africa in 1938. He was again interned during World War II, but released in 1947.
He leaves a wife in Paarl, and a daughter from a previous marriage in Switzerland.

Joseph and Christina had two children:
1) Angela ROTHENAIGNER was born on 22 March 1933.
She died on 15 March 2019 in Port Elizabeth. Her last residential address 412 Fernkloof, Park Drive, Port Elizabeth. She married Corrado PASSERINI on 03 July 1954 in Stellenbosch. At the time, he was a general dealer and lived at 154 Main Street, Paarl. She lived at 6 Zeederburg Square, Paarl.
2) Rosemarie ROTHENAIGNER born in 1934.

IVAN DE VILLIERS IN NORTH AMERICA

2024-07-10T16:24:00.002+02:00

Ivan DE VILLIERS was born on 31 March 1892 in the Griquastad area of South Africa, the son of Pieter Gysbertus DE VILLIERS and Agnes Margaret Josephine MELLE. His nickname was Slim. His father was born on 05 December 1839 in Paarl. His mother was born on 11 July 1852 in South Africa, the daughter of Dr George Alexander MELLE and Alison Mary. She died in Los Angeles in 1925.

Ivan last lived at 1811 Cimarron Street, Los Angeles, USA. He died on 22 March 1931 in Los Angeles, California, USA, and was buried at Inglewood Park Cemetery. An obituary was published in the Daily Illinois State Journal, which listed him as an aerial advertising promoter.

His siblings were:
1) Maude Allison Jessie DE VILLIERS born 04 November 1878 in Philipstown. She married Geoirge Barker BUDLER in Griquastad in 1894.

2) Xavier DE VILLIERS born 23 December 1881 in Philipstown. He died in the Anglo-Boer War.

3) Irene Margaretha Annie Mary DE VILLIERS born 11 March 1890 in Griquastad. She married Knox BAXTER. She married MEDFORD.

4) Cecil Bulwer Mophey DE VILLIERS born 08 September 1893 in Cape Town. He died in Los Angeles. He married Marie BARTHELL. He is listed in the USA World War I Draft Registration Cards as living at 725 Madison, Oakland, California and married. He became a USA naturalised citizen on 09 October 1936. He immigrated to the USA from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, aboard the ship Railway on 15 September 1910. At the time of naturalisation, he was married to Marie and they had a child, William DEVILLIERS, and Cecil was a branch manager. In the WWI draft registration, he was living in Los Angeles, working as a salesman for American Magazine Bureau. The World War II Draft Registration Cards list him as Cecil Bulwer DEVILLIERS. In 1940 he was living at 3701 W. 9th Street, Los Angeles and was a publisher. He died on 16 August 1953 in Los Angeles and was buried at Inglewood Park Cemetery.

Ivan was a pilot, according to various records, but was also referred to as an aerial advertising promoter and stunt flyer for motion pictures. He performed aerobatic stunts in movies, and was said to have been a member of the Thirteen Black Cats and White Phantoms. He was a passenger in the monoplane that Miss Aline MILLER (22) was flying when it crashed in Los Angeles. The aircraft took off from Grand Central Air Terminal in Glendale.

Aline was from Pascagoula, Mississippi, and was the daughter of Norman MILLER and Jeanne KREBS. She began flying at age 18 and became a prominent and proficient pilot. She worked as a demonstration pilot and saleswoman for the Emsco Aircraft Company at Downey Field in Los Angeles. Besides corporate flying, she was also a flight instructor. She received the Air Transport rating on 06 February 1931, and was one of the youngest air transport-rated female pilots in America. Aline was a member of the Betsy Ross Corps (BRC), a women's flying association. Circa 1930, she got engaged to Cecil ALLEN, a trans-Pacific pilot and sales manager for a manufacturing company. Her family believed that Ivan's stunt flying was as a wing walker, not as a pilot, and that he was responsible for the crash.

Ivan may have lived in Canada before immigrating to the USA.
On 23 September 1908, Ivan DE VILLIERS arrived at Ellis Island, New York City from Southampton, England, aboard the Teutonic. He was 16 years old, a student, and had last lived in Johannesburg before going to England. His final destination was listed as to his brother, Cecil DE VILLIERS, c/o Gordon Bros., Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The ship left Southampton on 16 September. His passage was paid by his mother who lived at 51 Height Street, Doornfontein, Johannesburg. From New York, he sailed further on the Oceanic.

As Sargeant Ivan DE VILLIERS, he made a parachute jump at a Dominion Day celebration in Pickering, Ontario, Canada. He fell into the sea and was in hospital. The news report referred to him as an aviator, world and Boer War veteran. Ivan couldn't have been an Anglo Boer War (11 Oct 1899 – 31 May 1902) veteran as he was aged 7 to 10 years at the time.

Another news report refers to Sargeant Ivan J DE VILLIERS as a Canadian recruiting officer, a Boer War veteran and the son of General DE VILLIERS of Boer War fame. He was not the son of a Boer War general. This report mentions that he was attacked by a pro-Germany Pennslyvania German. He was cut on the head and stabbed in the arm, while recruiting men for the Canadian army.

Ivan was married four times:
Elsie LEMPORT (born circa 1892), married in 1917 in Chicago, Illinois.
Myrtle SULLIVAN (1893 - 1968), married in 1920 in Butte, Montana.
Marion Gerrish BOOTH, married in 1921 in Vancouver, Washington.
Hazel Mae ROE (1892 - 1953), married in 1925 in Los Angeles.

The Cook County, Illinois, Marriages Index (1871-1920), lists Ivan J DEVILLIERS (age 25) marrying Elsie LEMPORT (22) on 29 May 1917 in Chicago.
In the 1930 United States Federal Census, Elsie DE VILLIERS is living in Reno, Nevada. Her age was listed as 29, born in Illinois and was divorced.

Ivan's US World War I draft registration dated 1918, lists him living at 104 W. Oak Street, Chicago. At the time, he was a discharged soldier (British) and was working for the Western Relief Fund. The Fund was for the benefit of the men in Chicago and the adjoining district who enlisted for the war in Canada or Great Britain. He was married to Elsie. He had blue eyes and brown hair, and had a severe head wound.

His mother, Agnes Margaret Josephine DE VILLIERS, arrived at Ellis Island on 03 November 1918 aboard the City of Lahore, which had departed from Calcutta, India. She was 63 years old. Her final destination was to her son, Cecil, at the Hotel Oaks in Oakland, California. Her last address in Cape Town was at her daughter, Irene at 2 Upper Orange Street, Cape Town.

The Montana County Marriages (1865-1950) for Butte, County of Silver Bow, lists Ivan J. DE VILLIERS (age 26) marrying Myrtle SULLIVAN (27) on 20 August 1920.
In the 1940 United States Census, Myrtle is living in Los Angeles and listed as single. She was a secretary at a law office. She died in Placer County, California, on 30 January 1968.

In March 1921, Ivan DE VILLIERS arrived in Seattle, Washington, USA, from Vancouver, Canada. He was listed as 26 years old. He had a Dodge motor vehicle registered in Oregon, USA in September 1921 under the name Ivan J DEVILLIERS.

There is a marriage recorded for Ivan DE VILLIER in Vancouver, Clark County, Washington, USA to Marion BOOTH (maiden name GERRISH) on 18 October 1921. He was listed as 28 years old, the son of P.G. DE VILLIER. His occupation was flyer.

Ivan Jess DEVILLIERS born on 31 March 1892 married Hazel Mae ROE on 09 March 1926 in Los Angeles. Ivan is listed as divorced and that this was his second marriage. His occupation was aviator. They had two children:
1) Mary Agnes DEVILLIERS born 16 June 1927 in California. She died on 05 December 1986 in Los Angeles. She married Warren BURBANK.
2) Clotine Matilda DEVILLIERS born 22 December 1928. She died on 23 April 2007 in California. She married Norman Tarrant McELWEE in 1946.

Hazel Mae ROE was born on 11 August 1892 in Illinois, USA, the daughter of James Cusion ROE and Mary Matilda REINHART. She died in Los Angeles on 07 September 1953.
Her first marriage was to Charles Leonard WILLIAMS in 1915 in Champaign, Illinois, USA. The 1920 United States Federal Census lists her still married to him and living in Camargo, Douglas, Illinois, with two children: Frances Elizabeth WILLIAMS (4) and Gertrude M WILLIAMS (2).

In the 1930 United States Federal Census, Ivan was listed as renting 1811 Cimmaron Street, Los Angeles, and that he was 31 years old when he first married. His spoken language was given as French. He immigrated to the USA in 1909 and was a naturalised citizen. His occupation was listed as Advertiser in the areoplane industry. The rest of the family were listed as Hazel R DEVILLIERS (age 38), Mary A DEVILLIERS (3) and Clotine M DEVILLIERS (1).

In 1934, Hazel was living at 9714 Otis Avenue, Los Angeles. In the 1940 United States Federal Census, Hazel is listed as a widow living at 218 East Hillcrest Street, Inglewood, Los Angeles (rented home) with Mary and Clotine.

FLIGHT SA406 (RIETBOK)- 13 MARCH 1967

2024-06-19T16:54:00.013+02:00

I have done extensive research in archival records to add details to the crew and passenger manifest. This article is a record of who they were. R.I.P.

On Monday 13 March 1967, South African Airways flight SA406 took off from Port Elizabeth en route to East London with five crew members and 20 passengers. The Vickers Viscount aircraft, named Rietbok, with the registration ZS-CVA, crashed into the sea, off Kaysers Beach, while on approach to East London Airport. There were no survivors. The flight was a return flight from Johannesburg to Bloemfontein, East London and Port Elizabeth.

That Monday, the Viscount Rietbok had two incidents on the flight down from Johannesburg. The first occurred immediately after take-off from Jan Smuts when the nose-wheel refused to retract due to a malfunction. The flight was aborted, and the fault was rectified and departed on its way. On arrival at East London at 17:50, the weather was poor but the crew landed without difficulty after an instrument approach. On take-off from East London at 18:15, the Rietbok struck a bird. The captain decided to press on to Port Elizabeth where the aircraft was inspected and passed as serviceable. Flight SA406 to Johannesburg, with stops in East London and Bloemfontein, was readied for take-off. The aircraft reported at 19:09 to East London that it was “at 2000 ft seaward, with the coastline in sight.” One minute later at 19:10, the aircraft struck the sea.

The Rietbok

THE CREW

1) Captain Gordon Benjamin LIPAWSKY (48)

He was born on 17 July 1918 in Mowbray, the son of Adolph Bernard LIPAWSKY and Jessie FANSTONE.

His nickname was Lippy.

His last residential address was 32 Northridge Avenue, Sunnyridge, Germiston.

He married Rosemary June STEWART on 1949 in Durban. St the time, he was a pilot in the South African Air Force and lived in Randfontein. She was a florist.

Their children:

John Gordon LIPAWSKY

Jennifer Jessie LIPAWSKY

Heather Ann LIPAWSKY

His airline transport pilot’s license was No. 211A. He had 12,344 flying hours, of which 3,231 hours were on the Vickers Viscount.

During WWII, he commanded No. 1 Fighter Squadron in Italy, being awarded the DFC and bar. After the war he joined the South African Air Force's Permanent Force , based in Durban in 1948 as the officer in charge of a detachment of Spitfires at Stamford Hill Aerodrome. With their withdrawal from service, he joined 35 Squadron and converted to Sunderland Flying Boats. He also served with the flying Cheetahs during the Korean War for which he was awarded the American Distinguished Flying Cross. On his return to South Africa, he joined SAA.

2) First Officer Brian Albert Richard TRENWITH (30)

He was born on 27 March 1936 in Flint, Michigan, USA, the son of Albert TRENWITH and Florence Hosking LEGGO.

His last residential address was in Third Avenue, Roodepoort.

He was unmarried.

He had a 1958 Morris Minor, registration TU 19628.

His airline transport pilot’s license was No. 393 A. He had 3,995 flying hours, of which 109 were on the Vickers Viscount. He was also a Grade 3 flight instructor. He joined SAA in 1953.

3) Senior Flight Steward Petrus Lukas BEZUIDENHOUT (26)

He was born on 21 April 1940 in Fort Beaufort, the son of P.N. BEZUIDENHOUT and Zacharia Elizabeth VAN SCHALKWYK.

His last residential address was 2 Sanview, Reynolds Street, Kensington, Johannesburg.

He married Johanna Dolphina GERICKE in Port Elizabeth.

They did not have children.

He had a 1956 Ford Consul and a Borgward motor car.

4) Flight Steward Zacharias Christiaan DE BEER (27)

He was born on 11 October 1939 in Boksburg, the son of Dewald Lambertus DE BEER and Anna Margaretha RICHARDS.

His last residential address was 1 Stephanie Court, Greyilla Styreet, Kempton Park.

He married Maria Elizabeth VAN DER MERWE in Pretoria.

They did not have children.

5) Air Hostess Alberta (Bertha) Petra VAN DER POEL (22)

She was born on 28 April 1944 in Pietermaritzburg, the daughter of Albertus Petrus Jonas VAN DER POEL and Emily Harbin FOUCHE.

Her last residential address was 2 Acapulco, West Street, Kempton Park.

She was not married.

Her sister: Catharina Maria VAN DER POEL (married ZIETSMAN)

THE PASSENGERS

6) Clifford Ross ANDERSON (55)

He was born on 07 October 1911 the son of David ANDERSON and Clementina Mitchell HUNTER.

He was a company director.

His last residential address was 43 Tyrwhitt Avenue, Melrose, Johannesburg.

He married Margaret Atholie STONE on 04 February 1941 at St Wilfred's Anglican Church in Hillcrest, Pretoria.

Their children:

Ian Kilwa ANDERSON

Atholie ANDERSON

7) Joseph BLANKFIELD (47)

He was born on 05 July 1919 in Johannesburg, the son of Abraham Isaac BLANKFIELD and Ada Rachel FINKELSTEIN.

He was a company director.

His last residential address was 21 Primrose Drive, Victory Park, Johannesburg.

He married Myra Martha MORRIS in Johannesburg.

Their children:

Mark Ian BLANKFIELD (married JAFFE)

Robyn Rose BLANKFIELD (married LICHTER)

Paul Bernard BLANKFIELD

Prof. BRUWER

8) Professor Johannes Petrus van Schalkwyk BRUWER (52)

He was born on 23 September 1914 in Barrydale, the son of Abraham Petrus van Schalkwyk (Piet) BRUWER and Margritha Petronella Magdalena HAASBROEK.

He was the acting chairman of the Broederbond and vice-rector of the University of Port Elizabeth. He was enroute to Johannesburg, catching the connecting flight from East London. He was due to be picked up by his daughter Griet. He was going to Pretoria where he was going to be appointed as a roving ambassador for African countries based in Zambia.

His last residential address was 1 Avon, Surbiton Street, Port Elizabeth.

He married Cornelia Dorothea GUTTER in Nyanje, Zambia.

Their children:

Bertha Magrieta BRUWER

Pieter Gutter BRUWER

Margaritha (Griet) Petronella BRUWER (married LE ROUX)

Johannes Petrus van Schalkwyk BRUWER (journalist)

Cornelia Dorothea BRUWER

9) Desmond Page CLEAR (43)

He was born on 04 June 1923 in Port Elizabeth, the son of Francis Phillip CLEAR and Gladys Florence PAGE.

He was a manufacturer's representative.

His last residential address was 22 Skegness Road, Summerstrand, Port Elizabeth.

He married Audrey Joan THURTELL on 08 July 1950 in Port Elizabeth.

They did not have children.

10) Hans-Jurgen Willi DORN (22)

He was born on 23 March 1944 in East Germany, the son of Karl Friedrich Wilhelm DORN and Gerda.

He was a boiler maker.

His last residential address was Caravan Park, St George's Strand, Port Elizabeth.

Anna ROTHER was also listed as a next-of-kin, living at 56 Drummond House, 59 de Villiers Street, Johannesburg.

He married Monika Ingrid PLOOG on 09 February 1967 in Port Elizabeth.

They did not have children.

11) Vernon Desmond EDKINS (39)

He was born on 27 April 1927 in Johannesburg, the son of Ernest Vincent EDKINS and Iris Doreen COOPER.

He was a manager.

His last residential address was Bevan Road, Rivonia, Johannesburg.

He married Alethea Rosalie HIND on 04 February 1950 in Germiston.

Their children:

Graham Vernon EDKINS

Robert Christopher EDKINS

Ernest Phillip EDKINS

12) Graham Edward EVANS (35)

He was born on 26 January 1932 in Port Elizabeth, the son of Thomas Richard EVANS and Verna Florence BREDELL.

He was a manager.

His last residential address was 8 Smeeton Road, Framesby, Port Elizabeth.

He married Beryl Maud MATTHEWS on 19 December 1959 in Port Elizabeth.

Their children:

Wayne Thomas EVANS

Reginald Graham EVANS

Garth Deon EVANS

Anthony Richard EVANS

13) Douglas Hudson LAMB (32)

He was born on 23 November 1934, the son of James Henry Hudson LAMB and Rose VAN DER RIET.

He was a sales manager.

His last residential address was 44 Ruth Street, Glenhurd, Port Elizabeth.

He married Diana Mary MANSFIELD at Hill Church in Port Elizabeth.

Their children:

Graham Hudson LAMB

Sharon Diane LAMB

Ian Peter LAMB

14) Lothar Wilhelm LAUE (45)

He was born on 07 January 1922 in New Hanover, Natal, the son of Hermann Frederik Johannes LAUE and Marie Anna Magdalena (Leni) KLINGENBERG.

He was a company director.

His last residential address was 2 Fourth Avenue, Parktown North, Johannesburg.

He married Hazel Millicent EDWARDS on 07 August 1948 at St Paul's Church in Durban.

Their children:

John David LAUE

Mark Daryl LAUE

MELMED

15) Max MELMED (54)

He was born on 28 June 1912 in Queenstown, the son of Meyer Itzak MELMED and Dora KAHANOWITZ.

He was a manufacturer's representative for Anglo American.

His last residential address was 49 Windermere Road, Port Elizabeth.

He married Annette JANKELSON in Johannesburg.

They did not have children.

16) Archibald Richard Eaton MEGSON (53)

He was born on 19 July 1913 in Hove, England, the son of Archibald John Eaton MEGSON and Ada Eleanor WITTINGTON.

He was a chief engineer.

His last residential address was 279 Harley Road, Blackheath, Johannesburg.

He married Myrtle Ruth WEDDELL in Florida, Johannesburg. They did not have children.

17) Leslie Scott PEARSON (53)

He was born on 25 February 1913 in Port Elizabeth, the son of Paul Philip PEARSON and Hilda Jane SCOTT.

He was a company director.

He was unmarried.

His last residential address was 27 Milner Avenue, Sydenham, Port Elizabeth.

His siblings:

Philip Arthur Nelson PEARSON

Marion Gertrude PEARSON (married NILSEN)

Leonard Bruce PEARSON

Thelma Joyce PEARSON (married KOHLER)

Pauline Phyllis PEARSON (married CALDERWOOD)

Niels Peter PEARSON

ROSENTHAL

18) Audrey Anne ROSENTHAL (27)

She was born in December 1939 in Detroit, Michigan, USA, the daughter of Samuel Allan FAREN and Dorothy SINGER.

Her sister: Lois FAREN.

She married Aaron Richard ROSENTHAL on 25 August 1959 in Multnomah, Oregon. They were later divorced.

She graduated from the University of Michigan, and received her doctorate in history from the University of California. After university, she worked in London for two years as a consultant for children's teaching aids.

In April 1998, her lover Martin Chatfield LEGASSICK, a professor of history at the University of the Western Cape, said he had recruited her to work for the Defence and Aid Fund, a group run by Canon COLLINS, dean of St Paul’s Cathedral. They met in London in 1966. At the time, the group was trying to provide clandestine financial support for family members of the African National Congress and Pan Africanist Congress in South Africa. Prior to her death, she had spent five weeks in South Africa gathering information for the Defence and Aid Fund. One of the last people to speak to her was the Eastern Cape journalist, Jimmy MATYU. He met her at Court Chambers in Port Elizabeth, just hours before the crash. He was one of the people she wanted to meet in Port Elizabeth. She walked into his office on the afternoon of 13 March, carrying a light brown briefcase. They then walked to a cafe at the bottom of Theale and Main Streets. He gave her the names and addresses of families of activists. They returned to the office and left in the late afternoon in a taxi to the airport.

19) Jurgen ROTHER (27)

He was born on 27 November 1939 in Germany, the son of Alfred ROTHER and Auguste.

He was a construction fitter / boiler maker.

His last residential address was 56 Drummond House, 59 de Villiers Street, Johannesburg.

He married Anna in Johannesburg.

They did not have children.

20) Mr N. SUSNOW

Of London, England.

No further details found.

21) Julie Dora VENTURAS (24)

She was born on 01 March 1943 in Springs, the daughter of Panos VENTURAS and Helene.

She was a senior laboratory assistant.

She was unmarried.

Her last residential address was 201 Maubern House, 78 Third Street, Springs.

22) David Bertil WEST (32)

He was born on 04 September 1934 in Cape Town, the son of Lawrence Arthur WEST and Vera MELLSTROM.

He was a sales manager.

His last residential address was Hotel Majella, Pretoria.

He was unmarried.

23) Charles Dennis WILLIAMS (29)

He was born on 29 December 1937 in Johannesburg, the son of Alfred Dutson WILLIAMS and Gladys Mary.

He was a sales engineer.

His last residential address was 93 Central Avenue, Illovo, Johannesburg.

He was unmarried.

His siblings:

Peter Dutson WILLIAMS

Suellen Patricia WILLIAMS (married FORBES)

Melanie Ann WILLIAMS

24) Edith Verena Lavinia WOOD (62)

She was born on 20 September 1904 in Jamestown, the daughter of RICHARDSON and Martha.

She was a housewife.

Her last residential address was Uplands, Grahamstown.

She, and her husband, were on their way to go visit their daughter Ursula. She lived at 38 Cotswold Crescent, Willowvale, Ontario, Canada.

She married Victor Baden-Powell WOOD in Lady Grey.

Their children:

Ursula Verena WOOD (married ALLEN)

Valerie Elaine WOOD (married BOWEN)

25) Victor Baden-Powell WOOD (66)

He was born on 04 January 1901 in Riebeeck West, the son of William Thomas WOOD and Emily Mary MARMETSCHKE.

He was a retired school teacher.

His last residential address was Uplands, Grahamstown.

He married Edith Verena Lavinia RICHARDSON in Lady Grey.

Their children:

Ursula Verena WOOD (married ALLEN)

Valerie Elaine WOOD (married BOWEN)

A TRIBUTE TO FLIGHT SA228 - 20 APRIL 1968

2024-06-16T17:04:00.003+02:00

On Saturday 20 April 1968, Souh African Airways flight SA228 from Johannesburg crashed seconds after take-off from Windhoek's then J.G. Strijdom Airport just before 21:00. Twelve crew members and 111 passengers died. Five passengers survived the crash.

The Boeing 707-344C, registration ZS-EUW, was known as the Pretoria and was on a scheduled flight from Johannesburg to London via Windhoek, Luanda, Las Palmas and Frankfurt. The aircraft took off from Jan Smuts International Airport in Johannesburg with 105 passengers and 12 crew. In Windhoek, 35 passengers disembarked. For the next sector, 46 new passengers boarded, making up 116 passengers along with the 12 crew.

For this article and tribute I traced the crew and many of the passengers through extensive archival records in order to add details to the names on the manifest.

ZS-EUW

THE DECEASED CREW

1) Captain Eric Roy SMITH (49)

He was born on 18 January 1919 in Queenstown, South Africa, the son of Charles Thomas SMITH and Alice Margaret ROY.

His first marriage was to Dorothea Ada RUDDOCK (1922-2004) in 1942 in Johannesburg. At the time, he was a soldier and she was in the Women's Auxillary Army Service, they lived at Donavon Court, Joubert Park. They divorced in 1960.

Eric and Dorothea's children:

Margaret May SMITH (married CLANCY).

Yvonne Erica SMITH (married McDONALD).

Patricia Ann SMITH (married BARAGWANATH).

Eric's second marriage was to Eithne Concepta (1932-1978) in Cape Town.

Eric's last residential address was Flat 4 The Gables, Bradfield Drive, Fairmount, Johannesburg.

This was to be his last international flight before he retired. He had 18,102 flight hours and was one of SAA's most experienced pilots.

2) First Officer John Peter HOLLIDAY (34)

He was born on 10 December 1933 in Pretoria, the son of Frederick HOLLIDAY and Winifred DAVIES.

He married Phyllis Susan HOWELL (1934-2020) in Durban.

Their children:

Yvonne HOLLIDAY

Jeffrey Stephen HOLLIDAY

Gregory John HOLLIDAY (married LAW)

John's last residential address was 66 Goodman Street, Rynfield, Benoni.

He had 4,109 flight hours.

3) Second Officer Richard Fullarton ARMSTRONG (26)

He was born on 01 September 1941 in East London, the son of Raymond Fullarton ARMSTRONG and Dorothy PLEDGER. At the time, his father was a Captain in the South African Air Force.

He married Maria Elizabeth WEBER in Cape Town.

Their child:

Justin Raymond ARMSTRONG (married RILEY)

Richard's last residential address was 4 Grenada Court, Palm Avenue, Kempton Park.

He had 1,000 flight hours.

4) Flight Engineer Officer Phillip Andrew MINNAAR (50)

He was born on 24 August 1917 in Potchefstroom, the son of Phillip Andrew MINNAAR and Charlotte Eugenie EBERHARDT.

He married Florence Edith FICHARDT in 1945 in Bronkhorstfontein, Senekal. At the time he was in the South African Air Force (No. 68 Air School) in Pretoria.

Their children:

Peter Andrew MINNAAR (married KNOBEL)

John Carlyle MINNAAR (married Ann-Charlotte)

Roy James MINNAAR (a doctor)

Phillip's last residential address was 25 Poinsettia Road, Wychwood, Germiston.

5) Flight Navigator Henry (Harry) Charles HOWE (44)

He was born on 20 September 1923 in Fulham, London, England, the son of Harold Archie HOWE and Bessie Louise ECCLES.

He married Elizabeth Margaretha POTGIETER in Cape Town in 1957.

Their children:

Caroline Louise HOWE (married MILLHOUSE)

Marion Elizabeth HOWE (married MacKINNON)

Peter Scott HOWE (married RACKHAM)

Henry's last residential address was 27 Louw Avenue, Lakefield, Benoni.

6) Flight Traffic Officer Alexander George MANSON (30)

He was born on 05 October 1938 in Durban.

He married Hildegarde Pauline HEESE in Johanneburg.

They did not have children.

Alexander's last residential address was 9 Braleen Court, 122 Donnelly, Turffontein.

He had a 1966 Volkswagen, registration TJ 2661.

7) Chief Flight Steward Johannes Andries ERASMUS (39)

He was born on 04 December 1929 in Klerksdorp, the son of Mrs Cootie ERASMUS.

He married Feika Memoria BERGSMA in 1957 in Johannesburg.

They did not have children.

Johannes' last residential address was 63 Buckingham Road, Kensington, Johannesburg.

He had a 1959 Jaguar.

8) Senior Flight Steward Hercules Stanley LOUW (36)

He was born on 28 April 1932 in Calvinia.

His first marriage was to Petronella Wilhelmina DE WET. They divorced in 1956.

Their child:

Christiaan Stefanus Van der Berg LOUW (married COETZEE).

His second marriage was to Dorothy Jacqueline GREYLING in 1957 in Glencoe.

Their children:

Gordon Stanley LOUW

Charmaine Jacqueline LOUW (married 1. VAN JAARSVELDT 2. VAN WYNGAARD, )

Debra Ruth LOUW (married ADAMSON)

Hercules' last residential address was 30 Mulberry Road, Primrose, Germiston.

He had a 1960 Vauxhall, registration TB 5323.

9) Flight Steward Rudolph Johannes BESTER (34)

He was born on 08 April 1933 in Sterkstroom, the son of Gotly Rudolph BESTER and Petronella.

He married Stanislawa Teresa DONCER in 1956 in Malvern, Johannesburg. At the time, he was a traffic inspector.

She was born in Poland.

Their children:

Lynette Teresa BESTER

Wanda Diane BESTER (married MORGAN-SMITH)

Rudolph's last residential address was 8 Lesman Court, 54 Page Street, Yeoville, Johannesburg.

10) Flight Steward John Wardle JESSON (24)

He was born on 27 July 1943 in East London, the son of Sidney John JESSON and Louisa WARDLE.

He married Wilhelmina Elizabeth VAN LELYVELD in East London.

Their child:

Alma Rene JESSON (married DU PREEZ)

John's last residential address was 11 Oranjehof, Pine Avenue, Kempton Park.

11) Flight Stewardess Marietta NORTIER (22)

She was born on 18 December 1945 in Boksburg, the daughter of William Warren NORTIER and Hester Martha Aletta BOTHA.

She was unmarried.

Her last residential address was 59 Second Street, Boksburg North.

12) Flight Stewardess Elza JANSE VAN RENSBURG (22)

She was born on 19 September 1945 in Johannesburg, the daughter of Petrus Johannes JANSE VAN RENSBURG and Margaretha Cornelia TRIEGAARDT.

She was unmarried.

THE DECEASED PASSENGERS

13) Edna W. AVERY (54)

Listed as S.W. on the passenger list.

Daughter of Elizabeth SOMMERFIELD.

Sister of Ronald SOMMERFIELD (of Greystoke Gardens, Westbury-on-Trym).

She worked in the linen department at the Royal Infirmary.

She married George A. AVERY in 1939 in Bristol.

14) George A. AVERY (54)

Of 381 Southmead Road, Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol.

He was a clerk at the Guided Weapons division of British Aircraft Corporation.

He married Edna W. SOMMERFIELD in 1939 in Bristol.

The couple were visiting their only daughter, Janice (23) and her husband Ernest George DAVIES who lived in Kenmare, Krugersdorp.

15) E. BACHMANN

16) F. BACHMANN

17) D.A. DE O. BARBOSA

18) I. BARTELS

19) A.E. BEGLEY

20) C.B. BLACKWOOD

21) Ingrid H. BÖHM (29)

She was born in 1939 (maiden name LIEBIG).

22) Sybille BÖHM (2)

She was born in 1966.

23) Hester Anna BRAND (60)

She was born on 11 November 1907 in Bloemfontein, the daughter of Nicolaas Johannes Jacobus JOOSTE and Johanna Maria Sarah FOURIE.

She married Johannes Hendricus BRAND in Bloemfontein.

They lived in Ladybrand and had no children.

24) B.A. BRANDT

25) T.A. BRANDT

26) K.G. BROCK

27) Raymond Battersby BROCKBANK (39)

He was born on 07 March 1929 in Ladysmith, Natal.

28) H.W.F. BRONS (32)

He was born on 07 February 1936 in Groothusen, Aurich, Niedersachsen, Germany.

His wife was KEMPE.

29) Wilhelm Heinrich BRONS (47)

He was born on 27 June 1920 in Emden, Ostfriesland, Germany.

30) Frieder Karl Wilhelm BURZLAFF (2)

He was born on 04 February 1966 in Windhoek.

31) Helga BURZLAFF (29)

She was born on 25 October 1938 in Bremen, Germany (maiden name GERDING).

32) Susie Jean CHEAL (23)

She was born on 25 July 1944 in Harrow, Middlesex, England.

33) P.K. COATES

34) Margaret Patterson COLLINS (59)

She was born on 30 August 1908 (maiden name ORR).

She married John COLLINS and they lived in Luderitz.

She was a secretary.

35) Francoise Joseph Marie-Theresa DE CHAZAL DE CHAMAREL

She was also known as Joseph Francoise Marie-Therese.

She was born in Mauritius (maiden name LALOUETTE).

She married Edouard Auguste Roland DE CHAZAL DE CHAMAREL.

36) J.H. DE GROOT

37) Petronella Adriana DE KOK (51)

She was born on 12 July 1916 in Frankfort, Orange Free State, the daughter of Jacobus KOTZE and Petronella.

She married Johan Leonardus Formyn DE KOK in Carolina.

Their children:

Johan Adriaan DE KOK (married DIPPENAAR)

Jacobus Marinus DE KOK

38) E. DE RAUVILLE

39) M.E. DE RAUVILLE

40) Philippe Du Hecquet DE RAUVILLE

41) Vida Evelyn ENGELBERT (56)

She was born on 30 July 1911 in Bethlehem, Orange Free State, the daughter of Johan Adam FRONEMAN and Anna Jacoba VICTOR.

Her first marriage was to Angus WATTS on 02 September 1933 in Springs. He was Australian. They divorced in 1938.

Her second marriage was to Robert George MOORE on 17 February 1943 in Johannesburg. He was British. At the time, she was a nurse. They divorced in 1952.

Her third marriage was to Kurt Martin ENGELBERT on 04 May 1954 in Durban. He was German.

42) Alice Clarke FERGUSON-DAVIE

She was born in London, England (maiden name NEWMAN).

She married Charles Francis FERGUSON-DAVIE (deceased in 1967).

43) Edith Wally FITZE (46)

She was born on 05 May 1921 in Berlin, Germany, the daughter of Paul KARCZ and Wally.

She married Paul Gerhard Rudolf FITZE in Berlin in 1942.

She was a manageress.

Her last residential address was 171 Ivy Road, Norwood, Johannesburg.

Their children:

Hannelore Jutta FITZE (married BLACKMORE)

Marion FITZE (married 1. POTTER, 2. FAITHFUL)

44) J. FORREST

45) H.A. FUSSENEGGER

He was an American doctor, connected to an Austrian textile business.

46) Louwrens Pieter GELDENHUYS (44)

He was born on 14 November 1923 in Kroonstad, the son of Johannes Albertus GELDENHUYS and Cornelia Gertruida Dina PRINSLOO.

He was the CEO of the South African Wool Board.

He married Gertie Pieternella SAULEZ in Pretoria in 1949.

Their children:

Martha Elizabeth GELDENHUYS

Susanna Hermina GELDENHUYS

Johannes Albertus GELDENHUYS

47) Joyce L. GILBERT (43)

She was a South African school teacher (maiden name SPENCER) that moved to England in 1947.

She married Michael A. GILBERT in 1947 in Surrey.

He was the deputy headmaster at Derwent School in Derby in 1968.

Her last residential address was 9 Wilsthorpe Road, Chaddesden, Derby.

She had spent six weeks with her parents in Johannesburg for their golden wedding anniversary. She was booked on a later flight but changed flights to fly home earlier.

She had three children:

Lynne GILBERT

Meryl GILBERT

Patrick GILBERT

48) W. HANISCH

49) E. HEINZ

50) Hellmuth Werner Rudolf HINSCH (50)

He was born on 14 November 1917 in Hamburg, Germany.

He was an electrician.

51) T.P. HOOPER

52) M.W. HOOPER

53) Yolanda JOOSTE (22)

She was born on 30 September 1945 in Cape Town, the daughter of Petrus Johannes JOOSTE and Johanna Frances FOORD.

She was a radiographer and umarried.

Her last residential address was Rusticana, 14 Elgin Road, Milnerton, Cape Town.

54) Ingo Heinrich Joachim KANNEGIESER (56)

He was born on 19 March 1912.

55) K.H. KECK

56) Ingeborg D.M.A. KIRSTEN (55)

She was born in 1912 (maiden name PREUF).

57) L. KNISPEL

58) Grada KROMMENHOEK (34)

She was born circa 1934 in Zutphen, Netherlands, the daughter of J.H. TERWEL of 21 Groen van Prinsterer Street, Zutphen.

She married Marinus KROMMENHOEK in the Netherlands.

Their children:

Marinus KROMMENHOEK

Grada KROMMENHOEK

Christelle KROMMENHOEK

Dirk KROMMENHOEK

59) Marinus KROMMENHOEK (39)

He was born on 22 December 1929 in Scheveningen, Netherlands (his mother lived at 266 Pluvier Street, Scheveningen).

He married Grada TERWEL in the Netherlands.

He was a building contractor and they lived in Gobabis.

60) V.B. KRUFINSKI

61) Gertruida Johanna Geraerds LANGERMANN (46)

She was born on 28 September 1921 in Boksburg, the daughter of Mattheus Hendrik Gerhardus THESINGH and Christina Catharina BESTER.

She married Jorgen LANGERMANN in Bethal. They had no children.

Her last residential address was 17 Irwin Street, Messina.

62) Jorgen LANGERMANN (52)

He was born on 28 May 1915 in Copenhagen, Denmark.

He was a horticulturist.

His first marriage was to Petrus Jacobus Nicolaas ERASMUS (female). They divorced in 1951.

His second marriage was to Gertruida Johanna Geraerds THESINGH.

63) Mario de Barros LOBO (38)

He was born on 13 March 1930 in Lourenco Marques (Maputo), Mozambique, the son of Octavio Rodrigues LOBO and Elvira GOMES.

He was a company director and lived in Lourenco Marques.

He married Anna Maria Nunes Prata DIAS in Lourenco Marques.

Their child:

Cristiana Maria Prata Dias de Barros LOBO

64) F. LORENTZ

65) Jacobus Willem LOUBSER (39)

He was born on 17 December 1928 in Calvinia, the son of Johannes Jacobus Abraham LOUBSER and Louisa Johanna Jacoba BOOYSEN.

He was a senior lecturer.

His last residential address was 296 Die Rand, Menlo Park, Pretoria.

He married Stephania Cornelia JORDAAN in Sterkstroom.

Their children:

Johannes Jacobus Abraham LOUBSER (married BOTHA)

Rudolph Philippus LOUBSER (married SWART)

Stephan Wilhelm LOUBSER

66) Stanley Lourens LOUW (41)

He was born on 29 September 1926 in Worcester, Cape, the son of Lourens Johannes LOUW and Johanna Helena Albertha VAN DER MERWE.

He was the principal engineer at the General Post Office.

His last residential address was 1208 Caley Lane, Queenswood. Pretoria.

He married Lola Charmain MASKE on 01 January 1949 in Cape Town.

Their children:

Alan John LOUW (married KRUGER)

Clive Michael LOUW (married TAMERIS)

67) Frederick George MAGEE (52)

He was born on 05 January 1916 in Plymouth, England, the son of David MAGEE and Violet BUNKER.

He was a manager.

His last residential address was 304 Walton Heath, Jacobs Avenue, Illovo, Johannesburg.

His first marriage was to Ethel GALBRAITH.

His second marriage was to Mercia SCHREUDER on 14 November 1950 in Cape Town.

His children:

Fredrick George MAGEE

Peter MAGEE

Roshea MAGEE (married HAVEL)

Deirdre MAGEE (married SMUTS)

68) Hans Ulrich MATERNE

He was born circa 1930 in Breslau, Germany.

He married Sarepta Aletta GERBER on 11 December 1954 in the NGK Randfontein. At the time, he was a shift boss.

69) R. MATERNE

70) Sarepta Aletta MATERNE

She was born on in Bloemfontein circa 1935, the daughter of Edward GERBER and Hester Magrieta KRUGER.

She married Hans Ulrich MATERNE on 11 December 1954 in the NGK Randfontein.

71) W. MATERNE

72) I.M.I.S. MERZ

73) K.L. MERZ

74) Rose MININBERG (58)

She was born on 03 September 1909 in Springs, the daughter of Phillip DUNCHEN and Ethel

Her last residential address was 7 Bentinck Street, London, England.

She married Zvi Dov MININBERG on 06 January 1935 in Johannesburg.

Their children:

Victoria MININBERG (married to BERNSTEIN)

Helen Adeline MININBERG

75) B.A.C.D. NOTZON

76) G.A.R. NOTZON

77) J.S. NOTZON

78) K. NOTZON

79) R.M. OSE

80) K. OSTMANN

81) L.A. OSTMANN

82) H. PACK

83) H.W. PACK

84) R. PACK

85) W. PACK

86) Michael Arnold PARKER (34)

He was born on 30 July 1933 in Salisbury, Rhodesia.

87) Kathleen Mary PATTERSON (58)

She was born on 10 February 1910 in Johannesburg, the daughter of James Livesey PATTERSON and Harriet Lidsey ANDREW.

She was a typist and unmarried.

Her last residential address was 69 Eighth Street, Orange Grove, Johannesburg.

88) Winifred Eliza PATTERSON (60)

She was born on 24 May 1908 in Johannesburg, the daughter of James Livesey PATTERSON and Harriet Lidsey ANDREW.

She is listed as W.A.G. on the passenger list.

She was a typist and unmarried.

Her last residential address was 69 Eighth Street, Orange Grove, Johannesburg.

89) Martinus Arie Joseph PETERS (46)

He was born on 15 March 1922 in Gelderland, Netherlands, the son of Cornelius PETERS and Adriana.

He was a businessman.

His last residential address was 40 Van Lill Street, Witpoortjie.

He married Grada PETERS in the Netherlands.

Their children:

Cornelius Eugene Antonius PETERS (deceased 2007)

Maria Helga Theresa PETERS (married BRUNETTI)

90) Desiree PETRICK (22)

She was born on 09 November 1945 in Pretoria, the daughter of Arthur Johannes PETRICK and Catharina Helena ROOS.

She was a travel agent at SATOUR and umnarried.

Her last residential address was in Brummeria, Pretoria.

91) H.E. POHL

92) Victoria May PURCOCKS (68)

She was born on 15 May 1899 in Amsterdam, Transvaal, the daughter of Frederik Ambrose STOW and Victoria Cornelius Johannes RIES.

She was a housewife and widow at time of death.

Her last residential address was 1 Van Riebeeck Place, Piet Retief.

She married David Richard Vincent PURCOCKS (deceased 1954).

Their children:

Catherine May PURCOCKS (married to ATHERSTONE)

Vincent Ambrose PURCOCKS (married BEKKER)

Stanley Richard PURCOCKS (married HEYDENRYCH)

93) M. RADOVANOVIC

94) K.M. RICHARDS

95) Ieuan ROBERTS (56)

He was born in 1912 in Wales, the son of Evan ROBERTS and Keturah ELLIS.

96) Paul ROCH (57)

He was born on 02 October 1910 in Comanche, Texas, USA, the son of John David ROCH and Bertie Ann HANSON.

He married Emma Lee GENTRY on 02 July 1935 in Brazoria, Texas.

97) Sheila M. ROOKE

98) Gustav Oswald RUMMEL (53)

He was born on 09 August 1914 in Cologne, Germany, the son of Gustav Max Oswald RUMMEL and Elisabeth.

He owned the Hansa Hotel, Post Street, Swakopmund.

He married Elisabeth RICHTER in Essen, Germany.

They had no children.

99) Esme May SALTERS (60)

She was born on 21 April 1907 in South Africa, the daughter of Francis Louis THORNHILL and Johanna Hendrina Magdalena FORD.

She married Reginald McLelland SALTERS on 05 September 1936 at St John's Anglican Church in Boksburg.

100) Reginald McLellan SALTERS

He was born circa 1904 in Krugersdorp.

He married Esme May THORNHILL on 05 September 1936 at St John's Anglican Church in Boksburg.

101) Dr Christa Luise SATTLER (26)

She was born on 12 June 1941 in Anklam, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany (maiden name PLOGER).

She grew up in Brazil, where her parents lived in Sao Paulo.

She was a zoologist.

102) Dr Werner SATTLER (41)

He was born on 12 August 1926 in Wetzlar, Lahn-Dill-Kreis, Hessen, Germany.

His father was an optician in Leitz.

He worked at the Max Planck Institute, and was in South West Africa on a safari holiday with his wife.

He married Christa PLOGER in 1964 in Brazil.

103) Flori Irma SCHREIBER (46)

She was born on 06 September 1921 in Neuenhagen bei Berlin, Märkisch-Oderland, Brandenburg, Germany.

She is listed as E. SCHNIEBER on the passenger list.

104) Bryan William SEWELL (50)

He was born on 01 March 1918 in Wynberg, Cape Town, the son of Lewis Arthur Edward SEWELL and Gwendoline Mary BARTLE.

He was a managing director.

His last residential address was 57 - 5th Avenue, Illovo, Johannesburg.

He married Helen Dorothy VAN ZIJL in Kenilworth, Cape Town.

Their children:

Bryan Trevor SEWELL (married ROUSSEAU)

Glendyr Helen SEWELL (married LOUW)

105) Howard Joseph SIGSWORTH (41)

He was born on 12 March 1927 in Cardiff, Wales, the son of Joseph SIGSWORTH and Alice ANDREWS.

He married Doris Margaret WILLIAMS in 1952 in Glamorgan, Wales.

106) David Gilchrist SIMPSON

He was born in Glasgow, Scotland.

He married Janey Freeland McCowan STEVENSON.

107) Jacobus SMIT (49)

He was born on 19 September 1918 in Velsen, Netherlands, the son of Jacobus SMIT and Ariaantje VERKUIL.

He was a diamond merchant and lived in South West Africa.

He married Hermine Elisabeth PASSCHIER.

Their son:

Jacobus Ariaan SMIT

108) R. SMITH

109) Margit Ruth STAIGER

She was born in 1934.

110) Bernd Hugo Eckart STALMANN (36)

He was born on 13 June 1931, the son of Otto STALMANN and Margarte.

He married Ruth-Dagmar Anna Katharina ROBRECHT.

111) W.R. STERN

112) Benjamin THOMAS jnr.

He was born circa 1910 in Nashua, Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, USA.

He was a director of European operations for South-eastern Engineers Inc. of West Point in Georgia.

He had been living in Oxenhope, Yorkshire, England.

He married Mildred Marie PHILLIPS.

Their children:

James F THOMAS

Richard D THOMAS

Barbara THOMAS (married PAYNE)

113) Clarence A. THOMAS

114) E. THOMAS

115) Philip M. THOMAS (44)

He was born on 12 February 1924.

He was the CEO of a cooperative wholesale society, and was also an author and genealogist who published arricles in Burke's Peerage.

He lived in Alderly Edge, Cheshire, England.

He married Elise BARBUTO in 1952.

Their child:

Antonia THOMAS

116) E.N. THOMPSON

117) Robert TIGNER

He was born on 02 June 1925 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, the son of William TIGNER and Sophie.

He was an engineer.

His last residence was 48 Cotswold Drive, Saxonwold, Johannesburg.

He married Joyce SOLARSH on 16 December 1955 in Johannesburg.

Their children:

Michael Searle TIGNER

Carolyn TIGNER (married WILKOV)

Sandra TIGNER (married SCHREIBER)

118) J. De 0. TRINDADE

119) David F. USHER

120) Dr Jan Georg VAN DER WATH (60)

He was born on 25 August 1907, Ladybrand, Orange Free State, the son of Cornelius Jacobus Hendrik VAN DER WATH and Anna Catharina VAN DER WALT.

He died on 15 May 1968 in Pretoria. Initially, he survived the crash but died the following month in hospital from his injuries.

His last residential address was in Ermelo and he also owned the Tati Ranch in Botswana.

He was a veterinarian, farmer and businessman. He was a member of the South African Wool Board (1948-1966), and its chairman in 1960, chairman of the International Wool Secretariat, chairman of the South African Wool Textile Research Institute (1962-1966), member of the Wool Commission (1960-1966), and its chairman in 1965.

He married Margaretha Elizabeth STEENKAMP on 10 September 1937 in Ermelo.

Their children:

Carel Steenkamp VAN DER WATH

Anna VAN DER WATH (married ALBERTS)

Anna Catharina VAN DER WATH (married VAN ROOYEN)

Cornelius Jacobus VAN DER WATH

Jan Georg VAN DER WATH

Willem Nicolaas VAN DER WATH (married NIEBUHR)

121) Frits Cornelis VAN ELTEN (44)

He was born on 01 April 1924 in the Netherlands, the son of Maria.

He was a consultant engineer.

His lasdt residential address was Alphen, 15 Collins Street, Kensington B, Randburg.

His first marriage was to Cornelia Maria Anna DE KOCK. They divorced.

His second marriage was to Margaret Rose JONES in Johannesburg. They had no children.

122) C.H. WICHERT

123) Alma Therese WILLIAMS (34)

She was born on 16 September 1933 in Johannesburg, the daughter of Charles Francis Norman JUCHAU and Marie DANKWORTH.

She was a housewife.

Her last residential address was 1 Jordaan Street, Parkdene, Boksburg.

She married Peter Trevor WILLIAMS in Alberton.

Their children:

Karen Jean WILLIAMS (married MOFFAT)

Rhett Owen WILLIAMS (married SWANEPOEL)

Tracey Lee WILLIAMS (married WRIGHT)

Tamr Andria WILLIAMS (NEYLAND)

124) J.D. WYLIE

PASSENGER SURVIVORS

125) B.R. ARNTZEN

126) A. DERBYSHIRE (62)

He was an engineer and managing director of Controlled Heat & Air Ltd of Smethwick.

He lived in Fairways, St Johns Hill, Shenstone.

He was returning from a business trip to the Phillipines, Australia, India and South Africa.

Ten years prior, he was booked on a flight which he later changed to another at the last minute - the first flight (Salisbury to London) crashed near Salisbury.

His son: Anthony DERBYSHIRE

127) W.E. ROOKE

He was employed as a foreman by the Royal Ordanance factory at Puriton, Somerset, England.

He lived in Buckland St Mary, Somerset.

He was returning from a 4-month government work contract in Cape Town.

He married Sheila.

Their children:

Geoffrey ROOKE

Valerie ROOKE

128) Thomas W. TAYLOR (36)

He was known as Tom. After the crash, he got the nickname Miracle Man.

He was an American diplomatic courier. The diplomatic bag he was carrying was found in the wreckage and delivered.

He lived in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, USA.

129) Peter Trevor WILLIAMS (35)

He was born on 21 August 1932

He died on 31 December 2003 in Parkrand, Boksburg.

His first marriage was to Alma Therese JUCHAU in Alberton. She died in the crash.

His second marriage was to Alida Aletta STEYN in 1974.

Their children:

Karen Jean WILLIAMS (married MOFFAT)

Rhett Owen WILLIAMS (married SWANEPOEL)

Tracey Lee WILLIAMS (married WRIGHT)

Tamr Andria WILLIAMS (NEYLAND)

THE AMERICAN BEHIND POPULAR SOUTH AFRICAN WINES

2024-05-18T18:30:00.002+02:00

If you’ve had a glass of Chateau Libertas, Nederburg, Lieberstein, Grünberger, Tassenberg, Graça or many other wines, you can raise a glass to Dr William Charles WINSHAW. Many of South Africa’s most popular wine brands belong to present-day producer-wholesaler Distell Group Limited, which links to Dr WINSHAW in the early 1900s.

Dr William Charles WINSHAW

Dr William Charles WINSHAW was born on 21 November 1871 in or near Somerset in Pulaski County, Kentucky, USA, the eldest son of a doctor, Dr Carl WINSHAW and his first wife. His mother died when he was five months old (circa April 1872). His father re-married and had a son, Otto WINSHAW, with his second wife. William Charles died in Stellenbosch, South Africa on 11 March 1968.

According to an interview he gave in 1968, he ran away from home at the age 12 as he didn’t get on with his stepmother. His stepmother was German and it is claimed that she was one of the first female doctors in the USA. There was a snow storm the afternoon he left, with a pumpkin pie baked by the family's cook Dinah. She was a former slave and her son, Rastus, was the young William's friend. He recalled taking on any job he could get - cutting bacon for a grocer, working as a stoker on a train in Dixieland, unloading bananas in New Orleans, joining the Yukon gold rush in Canada and the Klondike gold rush in Alaska. At a St Louis racetrack, he offered to hold a horse named Mulligan. He asked the bookmaker what the odds were on that horse. He only had one dollar and the bookmaker said he'd give him 1,000 to one. The young William got his first lucky break - the horse won. He bought a good suit, a couple of guns and a ticket to Texas. It is claimed that he became a Texas Ranger in 1893, and fought on the Mexican border in the Yaqui War. Next he set off for New Orleans determined to study medicine at Tulane University and become a doctor like his father. To pay for medical school, he played faro at night. To date, I have not found the WINSHAW name among the university's medical graduates. An opportunity to study tropical diseases in Germany came up and he enrolled at Berlin University for a year. He returned to America where he practiced medicine for some time in New Mexico

.
In 1899 he met an Englishman, Lieutenant McGUINESS who was fighting in the Anglo-Boer War and was sent to the USA to buy horses and mules for the British Army. Great Britain had established a military base in New Orleans, Louisiana, for the shipment of horses and mules from the USA to South Africa. Some of the horses and mules came from Argentina via New Orleans. From October 1899 to June 1902, 109,878 horses and 81,524 mules were shipped from New Orleans in 65 different British steamships making 166 voyages.

The Lieutenant offered William a job overseeing the 2,080 mules from Argentina aboard the Manchester City from New Orleans to Cape Town. The ship departed New Orleans on 23 November 1899 and arrived in Cape Town on 26 December 1899. When the Manchester City arrived in Cape Town, 187 mules had died. I have found reference that the ship William sailed on was the Larinaga but I have found no such ship arriving in South Africa during the Anglo-Boer War with mules and/or horses.

William intended to do a return trip, but he ended up remaining in South Africa. Once the mules were delivered, Dr WINSHAW is said to have joined the British military as a doctor (so far, I have not found records to prove this). In his 1968 interview, William said that he was appointed chief plague officer of the Cape, and later on also came down with bubonic plague. I did find that he was appointed as Head of Removal Staff in 1901-1902.

Bubonic plague came to South Africa in 1899-1900 through the port cities of Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, and Durban. After the start of the Anglo-Boer War in October 1899 the amount of shipping to South African ports increased dramatically. With the first cases and ensuing panic, public health officials began quarantining people, killing rats, disinfecting and even burning whole neighbourhoods down. On 5 March 1900 the SS Kilburn arrived in Table Bay from South America carrying people with plague aboard, and was sent in quarantine to Saldanha Bay. The bacteriologist of the Cape Colonial Administration, Dr J. A. MITCHELL, recently arrived from Glasgow and Edinburgh, was put in charge. The five patients recovered, and the ship was disinfected. In October 1900, Dr MITCHELL had to deal with a limited outbreak in the King William's Town district. The first patient was a man who had recently returned from a British remount station. It was found that he had probably been infected via rats concealed in forage transported from Cape Town with horses imported from South America for the British cavalry.

On 6 February 1901 Dr MITCHELL was recalled to Cape Town. Dr A. J. GREGORY, Medical Officer of Health for the Cape Colony, informed him that rats were dying of plague in the Cape Town docks. That area of the docks had been in the hands of the military authorities since the start of the Anglo-Boer War. It housed stocks of grain and forage imported from South America. Before the year was out 766 cases of plague had been confirmed and 371 people had died.

On 12 April 1901, several bubonic plague-infected rat carcasses were discovered in Port Elizabeth, in the vicinity of a large stock of forage which had been shipped from Beunos Aires some months before. Four days later, a case of bubonic plague was discovered in a man that had worked on the stock. It was later confirmed that the infection had spread from the forage to the nearby military remount station in North End which had received forage from Buenos Aires.

According to his 1968 interview, William was not popular with the British junior officers at the time. When he heard that they complained about "this alien", he applied to become a British South African citizen. His application, dated January 1905 in Port Elizabeth, lists him as a government plague disinfecting officer. At the time, he was living in Port Elizabeth and had been in South Africa for five years. As William's first marriage was in Port Elizabeth in September 1902, it is clear that he first worked in Port Elizabeth. His first two daughters were born in Graaff-Reinet where he also worked as a doctor.

At about the same time as William applied for citizenship, his hopes of continuing to work as a doctor in South Africa were dashed. The British had used his medical expertise during the war, but afterwards refused to accept his American and German credentials unless he did a six month medical course at the University of Edinburgh. William refused. By 1905 he rented the farm Patrysvlei (Brown Hills) near Stellenbosch from a Cape Town dentist, Dr George NATHANIEL. This is where he started to experiment with making wine in his kitchen from mostly Hermitage and Pontac grapes. He took the product to Fred GREEN of the wine merchants EK Green & Co. The first order was for 500 hogshead at £10 per leaguer (a Dutch measure equal to 153 US gallons). He later imported Vitis Labrusca grapes (also known as fox grapes) from Concord, Massachusetts. He soon had regular customers, and started the Stellenbosch Grape Juice Works in 1909.

By 1909, William was doing well and was a respected figure in the wine industry. An over-supply in a depressed market after World War I saw his business in financial trouble. In January 1921 a banruptcy order was filed, one of the biggest insolvencies in the country at the time. KWV bought William's stocks, cellar and equipment. He left for America in 1922 but returned to Stellenbosch in 1923 and worked as a consultant to wine farmers.

William's travels in the early 1920s included:

On 03 October 1921 he arrived in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, from Hong Kong aboard the Empress of Asia. He was listed as a manufacturer and an Anglican by religion. He was en route to the USA and gave his destination as: P BARKLEY, Lincoln, Nebraska (a friend).

From Victoria, the ship stopped in Seattle on 04 October 1921. William was in transit and was going to spend two months in the USA. The shipped originally left from Yokohama, Japan on 24 September 1921. He further gave the following details:
Birth place: Somerset, USA.
He stated he was last in the USA from 1871 to 1895 in Texas (where was he from 1895 to the end of 23 November 1899 when he departed New Orleans?)
Complexion: Light
Eye Colour: Blue
Hair Colour: Gray
Height: 6 Feet
Address of relative or friend in South Africa: friend - C. MURPHY, Plein Street, Cape Town.
Wife: Ada, in Cape Town.
His intended departure from the USA was to be 19 November 1921 from New York, with Cape Town as his final destination.

William visited Lincoln, Nebraska for one day in late October 1921, according to a report in The Lincoln State Journal of 02 November 1921. The report stated that he became friends with the "late James BARKLEY" in Cape Town. On this visit, he visited Mrs BARKLEY and her daughters whom he knew as children in Cape Town. He also attended a lunch arranged by W.B. BARKLEY at the Chamber of Commerce. The report described him as having "the appearance of an out of doors American. He is almost shy in his bearing, with a quaint style which is made doubly fascinating by his speech, made up of the cultivate English accent superimposed upon his soft Kentucky drawl." He had left South Africa in June and travelled via India, China and Japan.

James was James Allen BARKLEY born 04 December 1870 in Newport, Indiana, son of William Elliott BARKLEY and Nancy Ellen. He died in 1918 in Lincoln, Nebraska. He was an electrical engineer. He married Phoebe GERRARD in Columbus, Nebraska. In 1916 they lived at Northam, Sea Point, Cape Town. James left the USA in 1900 and settled in Cape Town in May 1902 where he was in business. Phoebe was born in Columbus, Nebraska. They had three daughters: Dorothy Elizabeth born 1901 in Honolulu, Phoebe Hope born 1904 in Cape Town, and Olivia Grace born 1909 in Port Elizabeth. His relative in the USA in 1916 was listed as Mr E. BARKLEY, 126 North 11th Street, Lincoln, Nebraska.

On 04 May 1922, William arrived in New York aboard the Homeric from Southampton, England. He intended to visit New York for three months, visiting the Foreign Traders Co., 154 National Street, New York. He gave his occupation as grape juice manufacturer.

On 21 October 1922, William arrived in Southampton, South Africa, aboard the Olympic from New York. He gave his occupation as farmer, and the address in the UK as 61 St John Hill, Clapham, London.

On 28 October 1922, William departed Southampton, England, aboard the Briton for Cape Town. He gave his occupation as farmer, and the last address in the UK as 89 York Road, London.

On 02 May 1923, William arrived in Boston, Massachusetts, aboard the Eastern Crown from Durban, South Africa. The ship left Durban on 24 March 1923. He gave his final destination as New York City, and the addres as: friend J.A. HIRSCH, 105 Hudson Street, New York. He intended to visit for two months. In his physical description it was noted that he had a glass left eye (he was known as Eagle Eye). He gave his occupation as farmer.

On 21 December 1923, William arrived in Southampton, England, aboard the Majestic from New York.
Dr Charles William Henry KOHLER, a dentist, was trying to set up a wine co-operative to help the struggling wine farmers. All the wine farmers were to sign a draft constitution. One farmer, VAN DER MERWE of the farm Merwida near Rawsonville, refused to sign. Charles approached William to see if he could convince VAN DER MERWE to sign. William left early one morning and arrived at VAN DER MERWE's farm while he was still eating breakfast. After breakfast, William offered up one of the four bottles of brandy that he had brought with him. The two sat and drank. By the time the last bottle was opened during supper, VAN DER MERWE said "You bleddie Yankee Doodle! Give me the papers to sign!" On 08 January 1918, the Ko-operatiewe Wijnbouwers Vereniging van Zuid-Afrika was founded with Charles as chairman. It became KWV, still in existence today. Under Charles' leadership KWV saved the wine industry from certain ruin. He guided KWV as chairman of the board until his death in 1952.

In March 1924, William was formally rehabilitated from his insolvency. In 1925, at the age of 53, William joined Gideon Johannes KRIGE and his wife Susanna Elizabeth RABIE, in a distillery venture in Stellenbosch. GJ Krige en Zoon (GJ Krige and Son) of the farm Oude Libertas had been in business since 1918 at least. Gideon's father had purchased the farm in 1867. The partnership was called The Stellenbosch Farmer's Winery, Wine and Spirit Merchants, Producers and Wine Growers. It was situated at Oude Libertas and was founded on 01 April 1925 as a ten-year partnership with William and Susanna as the two partners. William served as its first chairman and managing director.

In the 1929 Cape Town telephone directory, William is listed at Lower Dorp Street in Stellenbosch and his phone number was 145. His son, William Joachim (Bill), is listed at Virgin Way, Dorp Street, Stellenbosch with 258 as his phone number. The WINSHAW family lived in a red brick house in Bosman's Crossing, near the Oude Molen estate, until William bought La Gratitude in Dorp Street in 1932. It was built between 1795 and 1798 by the Rev. Meent BORCHERDS, minister of the Dutch Reformed of Stellenbosch from 1786-1830. William had extensions done circa 1935.

La Gratitude today

William's friend, Mark MARKOTTER, was a lawyer and a director at the Stellenbosch District Bank. When the ten-year partnership with KRIGE expired, William asked for his help to get a bank loan of £6 000 to buy out Susanna's share. A new company, The Stellenbosch Farmer's Winery (Pty) Limited, was registered on 18 March 1935, and William was joined by his two sons, Bill and Jack. In 1935 The Stellenbosch Farmers’ Winery (SFW) Limited was registered as a public company.

Zonnebloem was one of his main customers. William was so impressed with Zonnebloem's 1945 Cabernet that he described it as "a great red wine ever to be produced in South Africa". In the late 1950s he re-labelled 120 bottles as W.C. Winshaw Private Cellar 1945 and with his family crest in honour of his 78th birthday. These bottles were only opened at special family ocassions.

William's business was doing well with products such as Mellow Wood brandy (made by Gideon J KRIGE, launched in 1915), La Gratitude dry white wine, and the red blend Chateau Libertas. He had a flair for marketing, which made him a leader in wine marketing during the post-war years, capturing about 70% of the market for SBW. In 1956 Stellenbosch Farmers Winery Ltd. was listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. In 1959, SFW introduced Lieberstein, a semi-sweet table wine which sold 46,000 bottles that year. In 1964, Lieberstein broke sales records by shipping 31 million liters, making it the world’s largest selling bottled wine at the time.

In 1960, the family sold a controlling share to South African Breweries and Bill stayed on as managing director. William remained as MD of SFW until 1962 when he retired at the age of 92. A painting of William hangs in Distell’s Adam Tas Building. Prior to his retirement, the South African government increased the tax on fortified wines and lowered tax on natural wines, much to William's delight as he had campaigned for this. SFW merged with Distillers Corporation on 4 December 2000 to form Distell Group Limited and listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange as Distell with assets of R3.8 billion. Distillers Corporation was founded in 1945 by Dr Anton RUPERT of the Rembrandt empire.

William's wife Ada became ill prior to his retirement. A home care nurse, Susan Valerie BUTLER, was employed to care for her. Susan had been the matron at the Allied Forces hospital in Cairo during World War II. She became William's second wife after Ada'a death. William later suffered a stroke and spent most of his day in a wheelchair. It was at this time that the late Peter VELDSMAN became a friend of William and Susan. He helped Susan with her social events, and it was William who suggested he make a career in the food and wine industry. Peter learnt cooking skills from Rosy, the WINSHAW's cook. He went on to cook for their guests such as Commodore Norman BARNES of the Royal Navy and Lady Vere de Vere. One day, William sent his driver, Apollus, to SFW to collect a package. When he returned, it was with 12 bottles of wine, of which six were W.C. Winshaw Private Cellar 1945 from Zonnebloem Estate and these were given to Peter. Years later, Peter donated the last bottle to SFW as a museum piece. When William died, Peter accompanied the family to St Mary's Anglican Church for the funeral service.

Despite his wealth, William remained a charming and down-to-earth idealist. He was fondly known as the Oubaas. The family motto was "Ne cede malis" (yield not to misfortunes). The family crest, awarded by the Royal College of Heralds, was a vine wreath and white grapes surrounding a galleon in full sail. The galleon was used on various SFW brands. He was a regular bridge player. William disliked petty-minded authority and cheap sherries, doctored wine, and witblits which he referred to as belly wash. He often served home-made Kentucky pumpkin pies. He travelled throughout South Africa, camping in open spaces, and argued with rigid prohibitionists and hotel keepers that served sub-standard food. According to the 1968 interview, the family once stayed at a hotel in Estcourt, a town known for its quality bacon. At breakfast, William was not impressed by the bacon on offer. He left and bought a good piece of bacon from a local butcher, and cooked it in the hotel's front garden. All the hotel guests were invited to taste what good bacon tasted like.

THE FAMILY
Mrs Susan Winshaw and Natalie circa 1968

William's first marriage was to an English nurse, Ada Charlotte DAY (1874 England-1959 Stellenbosch) on 01 September 1902 at St Mary's Collegiate Church in Port Elizabeth. In England, the Hampshire Post & Southsea Observer newspaper dated 03 October 1902 published a marriage announcement. Ada was the daughter of William DAY of Fareham, Hampshire, and had come to South Africa to nurse in the Anglo-Boer War. They had four children:

1) Virginia WINSHAW born 13 July 1903 in Graaff-Reinet.
She was baptised on 25 August 1903 at St James' Anglican Church in Graaff-Reinet. At the time, her father was working as a doctor in Graaff-Reinet.
She died on 21 January 1999 in Stellenbosch.
She married Ockert Almero OOSTHUIZEN on 08 March 1930. They divorced in 1946.
Children:
a) Mary-Anne OOSTHUIZEN (1930–1967). She married Alfred Walter CROMPTON.
b) Virginia OOSTHUIZEN (1933–). She married Oystein LILTVED (opera singer) in 1959.

2) Natalie WINSHAW born 31 December 1904 in Graaff-Reinet.
She died on 27 July 1994 in Stellenbosch.
She married Cecil Alfred NUTTLEY on 04 October 1939. They divorced in 1950.

3) Nancy Ada WINSHAW born 30 October 1906 in Stellenbosch.
She died on 09 February 1994 in Stellenbosch.
She married Albert Waldemar (Wally) MITCHELL (1911-2001) on 14 January 1939. They divorced in 1969.
Children:
a) William Jack Campbell MITCHELL born 11 June 1946. He died on 13 May 2019. He was a racehorse owner.

4) William (Bill) Joachim WINSHAW born 19 March 1908 in Stellenbosch.
He died on 31 July 1997 in Stellenbosch.
He married Dorothy Jean BOSMAN (1912-2004) on 24 June 1939.
Children:
a) Jill Clare WINSHAW (1941-). In November 1967, she spent American Thanksgiving with the family of William TEMPLER in Waco, Texas. She was visiting the USA with a school friend, after attending school in England. According to the local newspaper, Jill's family had moved to South Africa "100 years ago from England". Jill was a school teacher.
b) John William WINSHAW (1942-2019). He married Jeanette JOUBERT in 1980. Children: Pierre William WINSHAW (1981-), John Philip (JP) WINSHAW (1983-), Sue-Marié WINSHAW (1986-), Lorraine WINSHAW, Jean WINSHAW. Owned Klein Welmoed.
c) Valerie Jean WINSHAW (1944-2010). She married Michael de Villiers HELLAWELL (1939-1997).
d) Gail Adrienne WINSHAW (1947–2016)
e) William Brian WINSHAW (1951-). He married Naudéne BARNARD (daughter of Dr Marius BARNARD and Inez NAUDE). Children: Charles WINSHAW.

5) Jack WINSHAW born 11 March 1910.
He died on 18 August 1997 in Robertson.
His first marriage was to Hazel KOTZE (1913–2002) on 16 January 1937 in Durban. They divorced in 1946.
His second marriage was to Dawn Averil BAXTER (1930–2016) on 27 November 1948 in Heidelberg, Transvaal. They divorced in 1965. HOOPER
His third marriage was to Brenda SCAIFE (1929–1997) ENGELS
Children:
a) Charles WINSHAW (1939-1973)
b) William Brian WINSHAW (1951-)
c) Averil Anne WINSHAW. She married Kevin H DALY in Paddington, London in 1976.
d) Geoffrey Harold WINSHAW (1958-), adopted son. In looking for a Kentucky, USA, connection, I found that the Lexington Herald-Leader newspaper of August 1990 had a listing under Marriage Licences, Woodford County for Katherine Mary GORTON (1960-) and Geoffrey Harold WINSHAW (1958-). They were married in July 1990. Geoffrey was in businesses with Jack WINSHAW and William Brian WINSHAW.

On 12 August 1912, William and Ada arrived in Plymouth, England, aboard the Ballarat from Cape Town.

William's second marriage was to Susan Valerie SANSUM (1902 Wales-02 June 1978 Stellenbosch) on 29 February 1960 at St Mary's Anglican Church in Stellenbosch.
He was 88 years old and she was 57 years old.
Her first marriage was to BUTLER.

A booklet of 62 pages was written by the South African author, Eric Rosenthal, called Gold dust and grapes: W.C. Winshaw and his story. Eric passed away in 1983, and this booklet was only published in 1998 in Cape Town. It was a small print run as there are only two copies in South Africa's National Library in Cape Town. If anyone has a copy they would like to sell, I would be interested.

William's great-grandsons, Pierre and John Philip (JP) WINSHAW, are following in their great-grandfather's footsteps on the Klein Welmoed farm on Baden Powell Drive near Stellenbosch. They've been making wine under the Usana label since 2010 and launched the Winshaw range in 2017. The farm was bought by their father, John, in the 1970s. John originally bought the farm to grow grapes and sell to the SFW. The Usana brand sells meat, eggs, and wines. Ten persent of their grapes are used in their own winemaking, the rest is sold to other winemakers.

LOOKING FOR THE PULASKI COUNTY CONNECTIONS

There are no confirmed records for the WINSHAW family in Pulaski County, Kentucky, that I have found. In the US Census of 01 June 1900, there is a Jenni A. WIMSHAW at House 508, Chattanooga, Hamilton County, Tennessee. She was born in July 1861 in Germany and was a widow at the time of the census. Jenni had immigrated to the USA in 1874. She had three children. Listed with her are two boarders: Otto B WIMSHAW (born October 1876 in Missouri, parents born in Germany) and Jenni WIMSHAW (born February 1882 in Missouri, parents born in Germany). Otto and Jenni were both single at the time of the census, All three WIMSHAWs are boarders at the home of Electar SPEERS, a widow. Electar was 75 years old (born in December 1825 in New York), a widow and mother of three children (one child was deceased by June 1900). Could these WIMSHAWs be William Charles WINSHAW's relatives? If anyone has information that can confirm the US relatives, please let me know.

CHATEAU LIBERTAS

Believed to be South Africa’s oldest red blend, Chateau Libertas was launched by William in 1932. It has been produced every year since - through wars, droughts and pandemics. William wanted a wine to enjoy with food. It was considered good for the digestion and part of a healthy lifestyle. The problem was there wasn’t much choice on the local market in the years between the two World Wars and most of what was available was sweet and fortified. That prompted him to create a dry red blend. It was originally conceived as a Cabernet Sauvignon-based, wood-matured blend. Cinsaut was a component of the blend until the turn of the century. The current blend still features Cabernet Sauvignon but also Shiraz, Merlot, Ruby Cabernet and Petit Verdot.

An advertisement in The Wine Book of South Africa 1936, urged readers “When travelling by rail or motor insist on being served” his special blend with their meals. He advised them to “please complain to the Management” if it wasn’t available and assured them that this was a wine “not to intoxicate but give just the right stimulation to the digestion needed by travellers”. Chateau Libertas was so popular that when the British Royal Family visited South Africa in 1947 it was served at the official state banquet. It was also served to Viscount MONTGOMERY of Alamein when he visited the country in 1954 and again, in 1960, to honour British Prime Minister Harold MacMILLAN. In 1985, a bottle of 1940 vintage was sold for R20 000 at a charity auction. In 2011, 3 bottles from 1961 sold for R20 000 at the Nederburg Auction, while a six-bottle case of the 1965 sold for R14 000 and a six-bottle case of the 1967, for R8 800.

FIND YOUR ROOTS
I started this research with only William's name, and from there it was a fascinating journey of discovery. If you'd like me to research your family history, email me and let's discover what your story is.

THE FAMOUS RECIPE BOOK

2024-04-13T16:31:00.007+02:00

1961 edition

The classic South African recipe book Kook en Geniet was first privately published in 1951 by S.J.A. (Ina) de Villiers, after commercial publishers weren't interested in the 700 recipes manuscript. The first English edition, Cook and Enjoy It was published in 1961, also privately published. In 1961, Kook en Geniet was published by Central News Agency (CNA), and from 1972 by Human & Rousseau.

In 1990 Human & Rousseau obtained the production and marketing rights of the Afrikaans edition. The 1992 edition was a revised edition with a new look and incorporated the use of modern kitchen appliances such as microwaves and food processors in many recipes. Some recipes were newly tested and rewritten in an easier-to-follow style. Although a few recipes were edited and replaced, it retained the essence of Ina de Villiers' classic.

In 2009 Human & Rousseau published an updated and revised edition. Eunice van der Berg, the author's daughter, was in charge of the process. This edition returned to a format more in line with the original edition, but also incorporated a modern approach and look. Amongst the changes was a truncated title for the English edition, Cook and Enjoy. By 2005, about 500,000 copies of Kook en Geniet had been sold. When Ina passed away on 20 September 2010, more than a million copies of her books had been sold, making it the most successful South African recipe book to date. The book has never been out of print.

A children’s edition was also published, and co-authored with Eunice. In 2017, the iconic recipe book got its cooking TV show, Kook en Geniet, where the presenter visited a variety of South Africans in their kitchens to find out how the book influenced their cooking.

The 1972 edition only had 4 colour photos, and the rest were black & white. The books' photos, through the years, tell a story of interior decor and style in the South African house. Thousands of South African women grew up learning cooking from her books - in the early years, no bride in an Afrikaans family was married without a gift of the book.

SJA de Villiers

Stoffelina Johanna Adriana (Ina) de Villiers was born on 24 February 1919 in Boshof, the middle daughter of Johannes Zacharias (Jan) van Schalkwyk and Eunice (Ina) Mehetabeel Ferreira. She was named after her grandfather, Stoffel Johannes Adriaan. The family lived in Pastorie Street in Boshof, where Ina grew up with her sisters, Louisa Talia and Hester Eliza. Their father was a teacher and later a school inspector and their mother was a housewife involved in community groups.

The girls matriculated from Rooidakskool (Boshof Gekombineerde Skool). Ina’s father wanted her to study medicine, but after a few weeks at the University of Pretoria in 1937, she decided to change course. She moved to the University of Stellenbosch to study Home Economics. After graduating, she taught at Oranje Meisieskool in Bloemfontein for a year, before taking a job with the Department of Agriculture in Pretoria.

Ina met her husband, Jacob (Japie) Eliza de Villiers (1912-1990) at a tennis match in Pretoria. He was a geologist with the Geological Survey Office in Pretoria. The newlywed couple were featured on the front page of Die Volksblad in February 1945. Ina suffered a miscarriage late in her first pregnancy, and to help her recover, Japie encouraged her to write a book. At the time, Ina's job involved travel by train to rural communities where she gave Home Economics lessons but realised that cooking lessons were more needed, so she started writing a cooking and kitchen guide - from how to measure ingredients, oven's best use, preparing vegetables and meat, to how to freeze food. She spent a year writing and learnt to type. When commercial publishers weren't interested in the manuscript, Japie decided they would publish it themselves, with Prof. Mattie Jooste of Stellenbosch as an adviser. They found a printer, Kaap en Transvaal Printers, who let Ina go in every day to help with the typesetting. Japie sold his gold shares and used the money to publish the book in April 1951. Marketing was done by word of mouth and mailing letters to bookshops. The book was mostly sold via mail order from their home in Marais Street, Brooklyn, Pretoria, for 23 shillings.

SJA de Villiers

Four years later, Eunice was born, and Heleen two years later. Ina spent her days working on the book and sales. The family's meals were mostly cooked by a domestic helper. Ina retired from her publishing business in 1990. Japie had retired at 55 and loved travelling. He died on 27 September 1990 at age 78, three days before returning from his long-awaited trip to China. Ina moved to the Azalea Court Old Age Home in Stellenbosch and died at age 91 on 20 September 2010 after battling dementia.

Eunice van der Berg followed in her mother’s footsteps, studying Home Economics. Her husband is an Economics Professor at the University of Stellenbosch. They have two sons, Willem and Servaas, who live in the USA. Their daughter, Ineke, lives in Stellenbosch.

Japie's favourite pudding

This classic self-saucing citrus dessert is from the original edition - Japie se Gunsteling. He had to test Ina’s recipes, and declared this his favourite, earning the recipe’s title.

2 eggs

250 ml sugar

62 ml flour

250 ml milk

187 ml orange juice

12,5 ml lemon juice

Zest of 1 lemon (finely grated)

25 ml melted butter

Beat the egg yolks well and fold in the sugar.

Add the flour and milk.

Add the juice, zest and melted butter and fold in the whisked egg white.

Pour the batter into a greased baking dish.

Place the baking dish in a large baking pan filled with about an inch of hot water.

Bake at 180ºC until golden or for about 45 minutes.

Serve with cream or ice cream.

THE MANY CHILDREN OF MOLL

2024-04-09T13:03:00.007+02:00

Cornelis MOLL was born on 12 March 1815 in Cape Town as the 24th child of Cornelis MOLL snr. His mother was Anna Sophia NEYHOFF, his father's second wife. Cornelis jnr became the co-founder of the first Natal newspaper, De Natalier (1844-46). He had 11 children from two marriages. He died on 25 Apr 1880 in Nylstroom.

IN THE BEGINNING

Cornelis snr was born in Nieuwendam, Holland, in January 1756. He died on 08 November 1837 in Wynberg, South Africa. He was employed by the Dutch East India Company (VOC) as a deputy sailmaker in Julie 1778. He left Texel on 18 August 1778 aboard the Lam and arrived in Table Bay on 08 January 1779. His death notice lists his occupation as a sailmaker. He made mattresses for the military at the Cape. When Cornelis snr died, 13 of his 24 children were already deceased.

His first marriage was to Hendrika LANGE on 30 June 1782. They had 15 children. Hendrika was baptised on 25 November 1759 and was the daughter of Pieter LANGE and Eva VAN DE KAAP. She died on 14 February 1803, shortly after the birth of her last child.

CORNELIS SNR'S CHILDREN OF FIRST MARRIAGE

1) Johanna Margaretha MOLL baptised 06 Apr 1783. died circa 1805 in Cape Town. She married Frederik Hendrik NIEHAUS on 06 Dec 1801 in Cape Town.

2) Cornelis Jacobus MOLL baptised 14 Mar 1784, died in childhood.

3) Dorothea Fredrika Jacoba MOLL baptised 01 Jul 1785.

4) Dina Catharina Johanna MOLL baptsed 17 Sep 1786.

5) Neeltje Cornelia MOLL baptised 04 Nov 1787. She married Petrus Johannes KESSER on 14 Dec 1806 in Cape Town.

6) Cornelis Claasen MOLL born in Cape Town, baptised on 08 Feb 1789, died on 11 Feb 1833 in Swellendam. He was a NGK minister in Uitenhage and Swellendam. He married Rachel Petronella DE VILLIERS in May 1817 in Paarl.

7) Catharina Alida MOLL born 07 Feb 1790.

8) Johannes Cornelis MOLL born 12 Mar 1791, baptised 20 Mar 1791 in Cape Town, died on 28 May 1870 in Cape Town. His first marriage was to Margaretha Aletta BOTHA on 06 Apr 1817 in Swellendam. His second marriage was to Elizabeth BARRY on 21 Jan 1843 in Swellendam.

9) Isabella Anna MOLL baptised 29 Jul 1792. Her first marriage was to Hendrik Barend NEYHOFF on 14 Jan 1810 in Cape Town. Her second marriage was to Petrus Johannes SOESTMA on 06 Nov 1846 in Cape Town.

10) Gerhardus Johannes MOLL baptised 13 Oct 1793.

11) Johan Petrus Hendricus MOLL baptised 11 Jan 1795.

12) Christina Wilhelmina MOLL baptised 07 Aug 1796 in Cape Town, died 20 Sep 1853. She married Marthinus Casper Petrus VOGELGEZANG on 03 Nov 1816 in Cape Town.

13) Cornelis Gysbert MOLL baptised 25 Mar 1798, died 08 Oct 1809.

14) Hendrik Johannes MOLL baptised 13 Oct 1799 in Cape Town, died 30 Dec 1854 in Wellington. He married Maria Johanna DE VILLIERS on 06 May 1827 in Paarl.

15) Hendrika Charlotte Jacoba MOLL baptised 27 Feb 1803.

Cornelis snr' second marriage was to Anna Sophia NEYHOFF (NEUHOFF) on 29 May 1803. They had nine children. Anna was baptised on 15 August 1773 and was the daughter of Johan Heinrich NEYHOFF and Cornelia VAN DE KAAP.

CORNELIS SNR'S CHILDREN OF SECOND MARRIAGE

16) Jacob(us) Frederik MOLL baptised 08 Jul 1804 in Cape Town.

17) Margaretha Cornelia MOLL born 28 Jun 1805, baptised 14 Jul 1805 in Cape Town.

18) Jacobus Cornelis MOLL born 18 Nov 1806, baptised 30 Nov 1806 in Cape Town.

19) Marthinus Petrus Johannes MOLL born 11 Mar 1808, baptised 20 Mar 1808 in Cape Town, died 06 Jun 1884. He was a blacksmith in Potchefstroom. He married Johanna Petronella Maria DE VOS on 28 Nov 1859 in Potchefstroom.

20) Margaretha Cornelia MOLL born 23 Apr 1809, baptised 30 Apr 1809.

21) Margaretha Cornelia MOLL born 30 Jul 1810, baptised 12 Aug 1810 in Cape Town. She married George Michiel GEYER on 11 Oct 1828 in Cape Town.

22) Gerhardus Johannes MOLL born 03 Jun 1812, baptised 28 Jun 1812, died 31 Jul 1840 in Wynberg. He was a printer.

23) Christiaan Cornelis MOLL born 29 Jun 1813, baptised 18 Jul 1813.

24) Cornelis MOLL jnr born 12 Mar 1815, baptised 02 Apr 1815 in Cape Town, died 25 Apr 1880 in Nylstroom. His first marriage was to Josina Elizabeth VERVOORT on 06 Mar 1836 in Cape town. His second marriage was to Helena Gertruida Christina WALDECK circa 1843-46 in Graaff-Reinet.

CORNELIS JNR

Cornelis jnr was baptised on 12 April 1815 in Cape Town. He died on 25 April 1880 in Nylstroom.

His first marriage was to Josina Elizabeth VERVOORT on 06 March 1836 in Cape Town. They had five children.

Josina was baptised on 19 August 1804 in Cape Town and was the daughter of Marinus VERVOORT and Anna Jacoba VAN AS. She died on 29 July 1867.

Cornelis jnr's second marriage was to Helena Gertruida Christina WALDECK on 29 May 1873 in Pretoria. They had 7 children.

Helena was born in Graaff-Reinet and was the daughter of Pieter Nicolaas WALDECK and Helena Gertruida Christina DORMEHL. She died on 24 November 1887 in Steynsdorp, Komati Goldfields.

Cornelis jnr was a printer with an office at 12 Kortemark Street in Cape Town. This address served as a ticket office for Tot Nut en Vermaak in 1837. He worked on several Charles Etienne BONIFACE's theatrical and journalistic ventures in Cape Town in the 1830s. Cornelis bought the first hand-press in Cape Town. On 04 July 1837, he started a weekly newspaper, De Meditator - the third newspaper to be issued in Cape Town. Cornelis was the owner, editor and publisher, and operated from 31 Burg Street in Cape Town. The newspaper was in circulation until the end of 1838. He became insolvent and worked as a butcher, wagon maker, and journeyman for W. BUCHANAN of Cape Town Mail.

In about 1843 he left for Pietermaritzburg with his brother Marthinus MOLL and family. In Pietermaritzburg, his son Cornelis Petrus learnt the printing business from his father. Cornelis (now the snr) co-founded De Natalier on 05 April 1844 with Charles Etienne BONIFACE. It was the first Dutch newspaper in Natal. Charles was the editor. The newspaper was not a success and Charles started working as a lawyer. Never financially successful, he died in Durban on 10 December 1853, having committed suicide by taking laudanum.

In 1846 Cornelis was again insolvent. Later that year he published De Patriot with Arthur WALKER but it was short-lived and Cornelis stopped publishing to focus on printing the Zuid Oost Afrikaans (1853-1855) in Pietermaritzburg, and Die Ware Patrioot in Ladysmith until 1855. Cornelis was offered a printing opportunity in Potchefstroom and moved his family there.

In 1856 he started a Dutch newspaper, De Oude Immigrant, and in 1857 De Staats Courant. The circulation was not good. In about 1863 he printed the Government Gazette but later sold the hand-press to the Transvaal Government.

He was made Secretary of the ZAR, worked as a lawyer and later as magistrate for Pretoria District. On retirement, he was a member of the Transvaal Volksraad. He bought a farm in the Nylstroom District, was appointed Magistrate and became a farmer. His estate was found to be bankrupt when he died.

CORNELIUS JNR'S CHILDREN FROM FIRST MARRIAGE

1) Cornelis Petrus MOLL born 02 Dec 1836, baptised 08 Jan 1837 in Cape Town, died on 07 Jan 1917 at Krokodildrift, Brits district. His first marriage was to Cornelia Jacoba Susanna RADEMEYER on 17 Mar 1865 in Pretoria. His second marriage was to Johanna Maria Catharina DE BEER.

2) Josina (Josephina) Johanna MOLL born 22 Sep 1838, baptised 21 Oct 1838 in Cape Town, died circa 1919. She married William Thompson LAING on 25 Jun 1860 in Potchefstroom.

3) Wilhelmina Jacoba MOLL born 01 Jul 1840, baptised 06 Sep 1840 in Cape Town. She married Hendrik Johannes MORKEL on 11 Aug 1862 in Winburg.

4) Christina Petronella MOLL born 12 Oct 1842, baptised 27 Nov 1842 in Cape Town.

5) Reinier Johannes Vanas MOLL born 28 Jul 1845-48 in Pietermaritzburg, baptised 03 Dec 1845 in Pietermaritzburg, died 28 Jun 1935 in Houghton, Johannesburg. He married Catherine Jane FRANCIS on 19 Jan 1875 in Heilbron. They were both buried on their farm, Marseilles No 87 (also known as Retreat) near Koppies.

CORNELIUS JNR'S CHILDREN FROM SECOND MARRIAGE

6) Helena Johanna MOLL born 28 Jan 1869, died on 04 Apr 1945 in Villiera, Pretoria. She married John (Jan) Thomas Martens LIVERSAGE in Steyndorp.

7) Henry Harris MOLL born 14 Aug 1870, died on 17 May 1934 at Klipkop, Rustenburg district. He married Judith Maria Magdalena Johanna LODING in Pretoria.

8) Charlotte Jacoba MOLL born circa June 1872, died on 26 Jan 1889 in Pretoria.

9) Johannes Johan MOLL born 28 Feb 1874 in Pretoria, died on 11 Mar 1949 in Santa Clara, California, USA. He married Anna Berthinea Elizabeth Sampson HOLLAND on 14 Mar 1906 in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.

10) Pieter Dirk MOLL born 03 Jul 1875, baptised 09 Nov 1875 in Pretoria, died on 14 Jan 1935 in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. He married Jessie in 1905 in the USA.

11) Robert Lourens (Lourenzo Robert) MOLL born 04 Jan 1877 in Pretoria, baptised 14 Oct 1877 in the NHK Waterberg. His first marriage was to Susanna Dorothea VAN KRAAYENBURG. His second marriage was to Maria Isabella WALKER.

12) Cornelius MOLL. Listed as deceased on his father's death notice dated 1880.

SOUTH AFRICA'S EARLY AVIATION STORIES

2024-04-01T14:46:00.001+02:00

South Africa's early aviation is rich in stories and often little-known facts. I've looked at some people and events that shaped the industry.

FACT OR MYTH?

John G. HOUSHOLD in 1871

William John HOUSHOLD immigrated to South Africa from England, with his wife Elizabeth and five children. In 1864, the family settled on a farm, Der Magtenberg, in the Karkloof area near Howick. The youngest son, John Goodman HOUSHOLD, was born on 9 December 1845 in Elm, Cambridgeshire. He had a fascination with birds in flight and yearned to fly like them. Family stories claim that in the early 1870s, John studied a vulture to design a glider. He presented his drawings to Bishop John William COLENSO in Pietermaritzburg. The bishop had studied mathematics at Cambridge University. He encouraged John to build the glider. It is said that John built the glider from wood or bamboo and oiled paper or silk, with the help of his brother Archer Start. Once completed, they perched the glider on a cliff on the farm and Archer pushed his brother over the edge. A second flight but the glider clipped a tree and crashed, breaking one of John's legs. After John's accident, his mother feared that John's obsession with flight would incur God's wrath as she believed that human flight was a sinful and unnatural act. The brothers put the glider's remains away in a shed and eventually, it was burnt or destroyed when the farm was sold in the 1890s.

All the evidence of his flights is anecdotal - no newspaper articles from the era, no letters or correspondence at the time, no drawings of the glider made by an observer or John himself. We do not know for sure whether these flights happened - we only have family stories from later generations, articles in newspapers from the 1950s onwards, and even a plaque, but no primary source evidence. No drawings have been found - surely the bishop would've kept some kind of record for such a feat. He was a prolific author and there are collections of his writings and personal documents in South Africa. The Natal Witness and Natal Mercury newspapers of the 1870s would've reported something as astonishing as flight but there are no known such articles. As John died in 1906, he could've come across accounts of early flight pioneers and come forward with his story, but we do not know if he ever did. It has been said that he left instructions in his will that the glider and all his plans and calculations should be destroyed.

An artist's drawing of what he thinks John's glider looked like. From a Sunday Tribune article dated 4 June 2017

There are photos of John prospecting for gold along the Tugela River. He ended up farming on his farm, Whim Wham, in the Umkomaas valley. John died on 13 March 1906 at Greys Hospital in Pietermaritzburg, age 60 years old, of pulmonary TB and exhaustion. At the time, his occupation was given as a boarding house keeper and he was living in Lower Umkomaas. John never married. I have seen his Last Will dated 24 November 1904 and it does not contain any instructions to destroy a glider or plans and calculations. His brother, William Frusher, was the executor and main beneficiary.

In 1995, a plaque commemorating the flight was erected on the road between Karkloof and Curry’s Post, 23km from Howick.

In 2015, Arnold DE KLERK, a former pilot in the South African Air Force and SAA who retired to Howick in 2004, saw a letter in a local newspaper complaining about the lack of signage to the plaque. He was vice-president of SAAFA in KwaZulu-Natal and after locating the plaque in a section of the Karkloof forest owned by SAPPI, he appealed for funds. SAAFA branches contributed funds, as did SAPPI. SAAFA members cleared the weeds and long grass and added directional signs at both ends of the D293 district road between Karkloof and Curry’s Post. A re-dedication ceremony was held on 7 November 2015.

THE CAT IN THE BALLOON

On 18 December 1816, Theodore COUSSY, a Frenchman from Marseille, launched a balloon from the Castle in Cape Town - sending his cat up. There is a record of Theodore COUSSY serving with the 60th Regiment of Foot 1st Battalion at the Cape. He was issued with a colonial pass to remain in the Cape Colony after his discharge from the Regiment, having served his contract. In 1820 there was a court case against him at the Cape.

The first manned balloon flight in South Africa took place on 9 April 1885 - Major ELSDALE of the Grenadier Guards reached a height of about 180 metres at Mafeking. He arrived in the country with eight non-commissioned officers and 7 tons of hydrogen balloons and equipment aboard the Pembroke Castle in March 1885. The balloons were used for aerial reconnaissance and artillery spotting for the Bechuanaland Field Force.

The first manned balloon flight in Cape Town was made by Stanley Edward SPENCER in his Montgolfier balloon on 6 February 1892. He was famous for ballooning and parachuting in several countries, and later for building and flying an airship over London in 1902.

On 11 September 1892, Harry GOODALL (31) became the first South African air balloon fatality. Harry had advertised a balloon ascent and parachute descent at Jagersfontein. A large crowd gathered to see him. When the balloon was released it rose a short distance, and was then driven by the wind against the side of a hill. Harry struck the side of the basket hard and was dragged over boulders and bushes. He was born in Toronto, Canada circa 1861, the son of Edmund and Winifred GOODALL. He was buried at Maitland Cemetery.

SOMERSET WEST'S GLIDER

Ralph MANSEL (born Raphael Sanzio MANSEL) flew the first heavier-than-air flight in the southern Cape in late October 1908 in a Voisin glider at a farm near Somerset West. At the time he was the chief electrical engineer at De Beers Explosive Works in Somerset West. Ralph imported the glider from the Voisin brothers in France and it arrived in Cape Town on 20 October 1908 aboard the Varzin. To get airborne, two people had to hold ropes fixed to the glider and run as fast as they could down a slope. Ralph managed to get airborne to a height of two or three metres on several attempts. He wanted to fit the glider with an engine, but his failure to stay airborne for long discouraged him and he lost interest.

THE FRENCH CONNECTION

South Africa’s aviation heritage has links to France - the first aircraft flown in the country was a French design and the man who undertook that flight was French-Swiss. Orville WRIGHT achieved the first powered flight on 17 December 1903 at Kittyhawk, USA. Six years later, South Africa's first powered flight - and the first on the African continent - happened on 28 December 1909. Albert Louis KIMMERLING was a 27-year-old aviation pioneer when he flew over the Nahoon Racecourse in East London in a Voisin Canard Seaplane. South Africa had narrowly missed out on claiming the first powered flight in the southern hemisphere - Australia took that honour with its first powered flight on 9 December 1909. The Voison company was founded in 1906 by the French engineer Gabriel VOISON and his brother, Charles. They built the first manned heavier-than-air aircraft, the Voison-Farman I, which achieved its first flight on 30 March 1907.

During the years 1907 to 1909 John WESTON (born Maximilian John Ludwick Weston), a South African civil engineer, built the first powered aircraft made in South Africa at Brandfort in the Free State. His aircraft was based on the Voison design and that of Henri FARMAN, but it was underpowered and never flew. John shipped the aircraft to France where he had it modified and first flew it on 10 December 1910.

The journal L’Aero reported on 1 January 1911 that John made a solo flight at Étampes on 30 December 1910. On 8 January 1911, the same journal reported that he had passed his pilot’s test on 5 January. He was granted Aviator’s Certificate No. 357 by the French Aero Club on 3 February 1911.

After shipping his aircraft back to South Africa, John was able to fly the aircraft on 16 June 1911 and became the first person to pilot the first South African-designed and built aircraft. The Weston-Farman biplane flight happened outside Kimberley and lasted for eight-and-a-half minutes. He had secured agencies for Gnome engines, Bristol and Farman biplanes and the Bleriot monoplane. In 1911 he spent much of his time in South Africa and Mozambique demonstrating flying and taking up paying passengers. John's fascination with flight led to the founding of the Aeronautical Society of South Africa in 1911.

While John was modifying his aircraft, the East London town council issued a public notice in early 1909 calling for interested parties to demonstrate a flying machine at the town’s Gala in December. Howard Farrar, Robinson & Co., a manufacturer of mining and general machinery, offered to import an aircraft and a pilot for the event. The company managed to secure a Voison biplane and Albert Louis KIMMERLING who was employed by the Voison brothers.

Albert became interested in aviation following Louis BLÉRIOT's cross-channel flight in July 1909. In October, he joined the Voisin brothers in Mourmelon, where he learnt to fly. His first flight was on 20 November 1909. He sent his family in Lyon a telegram with the news. On 27 November 1909, Albert (not yet having a pilot's licence) and his mechanic J. MOLLER, left France for South Africa with the Voisin aircraft in crates aboard the Kenilworth Castle. The voyage was almost a month-long, with a stopover in Madeira. They arrived in Cape Town on 14 December. Albert wrote to this family:

"Wednesday, December 15: I finally got to know Africa. Wonderful feeling […] yesterday morning at four o'clock in wonderful weather. The spectacle was truly unique. When I arrived in the land of gold, I had the impression that life was truly golden. We disembarked and our arrival was truly curious. The city is very beautiful. Imagine a very pretty English town: large low houses with huge verandas, cars, trams, big stores with splendid vegetation, and sunshine! I had lunch at the Mount Nelson Hotel, the chic place; a park which is a marvel, ultra English comfort […]. In the evening I went to the theatre. Excellent troupe, clothing and great necklines."

They sailed further, arriving in East London on 18 December. Another letter from Albert to his family:

"Camping is the big sport here. There are around 400 tents around the hotel and on the beach where entire families from the interior of the country stay. A group of sportsmen wanting to follow the trials have already decided to go camping next to me. The population here considers me a phenomenon […]. They are in ecstasy and the other day when I revved the engine I thought all my spectators fell to their knees. I have invitations everywhere. I am a member of all clubs, free entry with nods to all shows. I wonder what will happen next if it succeeds. As for the misses, I am presented with an average of 5 per hour. They all want to come with me […]. There's a charming girl at the hotel who I'm flirting with and I think she'll get the prize. This will make me enemies! I would love to have you here."

EAST LONDON'S HISTORIC DAY

After unpacking the crates and getting the aircraft ready for flight, the first flight happened on 28 December at East London’s Nahoon Racecourse (the present-day site of Stirling High School). Albert flew over the racecourse at a height of 20 ft and and a speed of 30 miles per hour.

East London’s daily newspaper, The Daily Dispatch, carried an article the following day: "A great surprise greeted a few in the know who were present on the racecourse last evening between the hours of 18:00 and 19:30 and they witnessed the first practice of the flying machine. Monsieur Kimmerling left the garage with the biplane to make a trial of the course. The manner in which he was able to manipulate the enormous machine at the rate of 30 miles an hour, sweeping past with a speed that could almost be said to be appalling, was a sight indeed. The occasion was heightened by a setting sun, which marked the close of day with a gorgeous rosy glow silhouetted against the spires of the church steeples and the residences of Southern Wood. Twice Kimmerling travelled over the racecourse, guiding his machine with great ease, turning off like a flash of lightning when it appeared almost certain that he would crash into the grandstand.".

The Star newspaper reported that "The airplane responds to every wish, swooping, turning and twisting in marvellous ways at about 30 miles an hour."

Early the next day, Albert took the aircraft out for a preliminary flight but before taking off it collided with a fence and suffered minor damage which was repaired the same day. On the same day, the event sponsors made an announcement calling for a female passenger to be the first woman to fly in South Africa. Miss Ismay NANGLE was chosen from more than 200 volunteers to join Albert on 01 January 1910. On the first day of the new year, the aircraft took off, rising to a height of about 15 ft and continued flying before it disappeared over a hill as the spectators watched. They heard a bang and the flight ended in a minor crash - South Africa's first air crash - with a damaged propeller. Flying was cancelled for the day as there was no spare propeller available. To notify people whether flying would take place, the city had a flag system in place. A white flag signified that the weather was favourable for the flight, a red flag that the flight would take place at the advertised time, and a black flag meant flying was cancelled for the day. As a black flag was flown that day, Ismay missed out on the chance to make history.

On 8 January 1910, Albert informed his mother that everything had gone well until then, but that he had a small propeller accident. Albert, his mechanic, and Michael Joseph RIES left for Johannesburg on 15 January, along with the aircraft. Michael had previously been employed by Howard Farrar, Robinson & Co., and he was nominated to witness the flights so that Albert could be paid. In Johannesburg, Silvio Fonio MARUCCHI , an Italian immigrant tool maker, made a metal propeller as ordered by the company Condac & Robert. The work was done by hand and took seven weeks. A flight was arranged for 19 February but was postponed to 22 February. The flag system was installed above Corner House and Cuthberts Building. Due to heavy rainfall over a few days, the flights only happened on 26 February.

On 26 February 1910, Albert flew from the top of Sydenham Hill. It was in Johannesburg that South Africa's first fare-paying passenger, Thomas THORNTON from the South Africa Aero Club, was taken for a short flight from Sydenham Hill on 19 March 1910. Thomas paid £100 for the flight that lasted a few minutes over present-day Orange Grove, according to The Friend newspaper dated 21 March 1910.

On 2 March, Albert undertook a few flights and on the seventh flight a fragment of cable damaged the propeller. The final demonstration flight was set for 19 March - and on that day Albert flew 4 km, the longest flight in South Africa at the time The crowd asked for one more flight, so numbered entry tickets were issued. The owner of the winning ticket would get a chance to fly with Albert. On 25 March a large crowd gathered at Sydenham. During the test flight, Albert turned too sharp and had to land, damaging one of the elevators. The winner of the winning ticket did not come forward. Albert took newspaper reporter Julia Hyde STANSFIELD on a flight, making her the first female aircraft passenger in South Africa. After her flight, she said, "Flying is like being in a runaway motor car with a clear road ahead, there being a glorious feeling of recklessness."

Albert's mechanic, J. MOLLER, left South Africa in 1910 and was replaced in March by Horace BARNES of East London.

On 26 April, Albert and his team arrived in Durban and booked into the Marine Hotel. He flew a test flight on 28 April at Jacobs. The following day he flew again but on landing the right side of the aircraft touched the ground. The damage was repaired and the public display began in the afternoon with a 1,6 km flight. Albert flew two more flights that day. On 01 May, another public display took place in the afternoon at the Durban Bay Lands Estate in Clairmont. A crowd, estimated at 1,500, watched Albert make three flights, the last of which was 10 km and described by Albert as his first real flight in South Africa. The next day, another two flights were flown over Clairmont.

Albert's last flight in South Africa was on 7 May in Clairmont. A notice in the Natal Mercury announced that Albert would take a passenger with him and if the weather was favourable, Horace BARNES would make his first solo flight. In an interview, Albert said he'd spent a few days training a South African pupil to fly the Voisin. Horace later went on to fly the Voisin on occasions when Albert wasn't well. He became the first South African to fly an aircraft in South Africa. His daughter, Molly Edna, had many newspaper clippings of her father's flying. On 6 May, King Edward VII died and South Africa joined the Empire in mourning. Albert's final public display was officially postponed for a week. However, he decided to arrange three flights on 7 May.

On 8 May, Albert took the train to Johannesburg as he had to appear in court on 10 May. An advertising agency was suing him for £7.10.0 for placing advertising on windows and tramcars during February and March. There was no dispute over the fact that Albert and Michael had ordered the advertising and that G. Fox & Co., were previously responsible for advertising but their contract had been cancelled due to non-payment. As a result, the advertisements were being arranged by Howard Farrar, Robinson & Co. Albert argued that he went with Michael to place the advertisements on behalf of Howard Farrar, Robinson & Co., and this could not have been done in his personal capacity as he was only the pilot on a fixed salary of £300 for each 10 days’ display. The court accepted that he was not liable for the advertising costs. In the second case, he was found liable for £16 in respect of services rendered by the Orange Grove Hotel.

Albert returned to Durban to undertake his last flight in South Africa at Jacobs on 14 May. The wind had risen and Albert couldn't take Horace with him, nor let him fly solo. Albert took off in front of a crowd of about 400 spectators. It was a bumpy flight at 50 ft and he came down roughly, the right side of the aircraft hitting the ground while the motor was still working. The impact wrecked the aircraft beyond repair. During his time in South Africa, Albert had five crashes. He left Durban on 15 May by train to Cape Town where he boarded the Armadale Castle to return to France.

A group of Durban businessmen had formed the Durban Aviation Syndicate and bought the aircraft from Albert. Horace BARNES would be the pilot. On 31 May 1910, the Union of South Africa came into existence. As part of the celebrations, the Voisin was put on display in its crashed state in the centre of Durban for a week and funds were raised from the public for repairs. The Durban Aviation Syndicate announced that it intended to establish a permanent aviation ground at Clairmont, from where the Voisin would be flown by Horace. They hoped to acquire another aircraft to train student pilots and maintain aircraft. The aircraft was repaired by 6 June. Michael claimed ownership and arranged for the aircraft to be exhibited at the Royal Agricultural Show in Pietermaritzburg in June 1910. The aircraft was transported to Pietermaritzburg on 14 June and was ready for viewing on 17 June. There is no record that the aircraft ever flew again, nor records that the Syndicate made good on their plans.

In 1978 the National Monuments Council erected a commemorative plaque on the corner of Gleneagles and John Bailie roads, outside Stirling High School. The French Consul at the time, Jean Pierre Fernand VIAENE, was in attendance. In 2020 the Border Historical Society commissioned a new commemorative plaque, which was installed on the original concrete plinth. The plaque was manufactured, donated and installed by John SMALL of Plastic Art and Sign.

FIRST LOCALLY BUILT AIRCRAFT TO FLY IN THE COUNTRY

It was another Frenchman, Alfred Louis RAISON, who built the first South African-built aircraft to fly in the country. He came to South Africa during the Anglo-Boer War, and remained. He went into partnership with a wealthy Johannesburg timber merchant, Cecil Joyce Vergottini BREDELL after he'd repaired Cecil's car. Cecil bought a JAP V aircraft engine and asked Alfred to build him an aircraft. Alfred built a monoplane similar to that in which BLÉRIOT had crossed the English Channel, using a manual sent by his brother who worked at BLÉRIOT’s factory. Cecil flew the aircraft on 30 April 1911 at Highlands North, Johannesburg. He made several flights. The aircraft was later flown by M.L. WEBSTER, but it is not known what became of it. Alfred never built another and went back to mechanical engineering.

Eighteen days after Cecil's first flight another aircraft built in South Africa flew at Rosebank in Johannesburg. It was a Farman-type biplane, built by Adolph BRUNETT, but it crashed during a flight the next day.

BELGIAN VISITOR

On 29 May 1911 a Belgian aviator, Josef Henri Charles CHRISTIAENS, flew a Bristol Boxkite at the Pretoria Racecourse as part of a Pretoria festival for the first anniversary of the Union of South Africa. He brought two Bristol biplanes (Nos. 27 and 28). He took delivery of them on 19 January 1911, and after successful flights in Singapore on No. 27, he went on to Cape Town and Pretoria, where he sold No. 28 to John WESTON, who became the Company’s agent in South Africa. Josef completed several flights in Pretoria, and took up passengers: Mrs Matt LOCHHEAD (wife of the secretary of the Festival Committee; Carrie BAIDWIN who married Matthre LOCHHEAD) and Mrs GLENNON. After the festival, he took part in an aviation display at Turffontein. John WESTON bought the Bockite and flew it in Johannesburg, Lourenço Marques, Bloemfontein, Cape Town, East London, King William's Town and Queenstown.

AFRICAN AVIATION SYNDICATE

Evelyn Frederick (aka Bok) DRIVER was born in 1881 in Pietermaritzburg. He attended Hilton College and SACS, where he earned his nickname because of his rugby skills. He received Aviator’s Certificate No. 110 of the Federation Aeronautique Internationale on 1 August 1911. On 11-12 September 1911, Bok took part in the Royal Mail Aerial Postal Service flown to mark the coronation of King George V. He flew with Clement GRESSWELL and Gustav HAMEL. The flight was from Hendon Aerodrome to Windsor, and on his return Bok landed at Nazeing Common, North London.

In 1911 Bok, Guy LIVINGSTONE and Cecil Compton PATERSON (Aviator’s Certificate No. 30) formed the African Aviation Syndicate. Bok and Cecil were the pilots and instructors, while Guy was the managing director. The syndicate had a Paterson biplane and a Bleriot monoplane to start with. In 1912 it acquired another Paterson and Bleriot. On 25 December 1911, Cecil was airborne for 35 minutes, a South African record, but he crashed the next day. On 27 December 1911, Bok flew the first airmail to Oldham’s Field in Muizenberg from Kenilworth Racecourse in Cape Town. This made him the only aviator to have flown the inaugural airmail service in two countries. Bok flew a second mail from Kenilworth to Muizenberg on 2 January 1912. The syndicate also gave demonstrations in Durban and from Turffontein Racecourse in Johannesburg. Bok made the first cross-country flight from Kimberley to Klerksdorp, with six stops during the flight of four hours and forty-two minutes.

The African Aviation Syndicate moved to Kimberley and established its headquarters at Alexandersfontein. Plans were made for the establishment of a flying school, but disagreement between the principals forced the syndicate into liquidation in September 1912. A group of Kimberley men bought the assets at a public auction in 1912. Cecil went on to start the Paterson Aviation Syndicate in July 1913. Guy returned to England. Bok went to England in 1914 and was given a commission in the Royal Flying Corps. In 1915 he was sent to German South West Africa as a military pilot, but a year later he began to suffer ill health. He died on his farm in Tylden near Ladysmith on 22 July 1946.

Bok used to take his son Lynn flying from the age of three. His wife, Minnie, didn't approve. She later remarried the non-flying Dr Harold (Heli) JOWITT. Lynn's son, Jon DRIVER-JOWITT, flew gliders and powered aircraft recreationally. Jon’s son, Simon DRIVER-JOWITT, was a southern African bush pilot and later joined Nippon Cargo Airlines.

PRETORIA BUILT

Sydney William (Jack) VINE, was the chauffeur and Rolls Royce mechanic to the first Governor-General of the Union of South Africa (Viscount GLADSTONE from 1910-1914), built an aircraft at Government House in Pretoria in 1922. As he could not get an engine for it, he used it as a glider on several flights.

SOMERSET EAST'S AIRCRAFT BUILDER

Christoffel Johannes J ERASMUS is a South African aviation pioneer often forgotten by history. He was born on 29 January 1909 in Somerset East, the son of Phillip Daniel Stephanus ERASMUS and Cornelia Margaretha NEL. In the early 1930s, Christo lived at Charlton in Somerset East and attended Gill College. After finishing his schooling, he chose engineering instead of the family farming tradition. He started as an apprentice at a local motor garage. In 1927, at age 18 years, he left for the USA and took a course in motor engineering and construction. He met Ed HEATH, an aircraft engineer, test pilot and daredevil. This meeting led to Christo changing his studies to aeronautical engineering. and he enrolled at Michigan State University. He gained his Ground Engineering and Pilot's Certificates in Chicago. After graduating, he worked he worked as a test pilot for Heath's company. Modifications were made to the Heath Parasol based on Christo's evaluation and suggestions. Christo also flew the company's Baby Bullet in pylon racing.

In 1930 Christo took part in an aerial display using his aircraft. He was involved in a collision with another aircraft and suffered head injuries. He spent two weeks in a coma before making a full recovery.

He returned to South Africa in 1931 and set up the Erasmus Aircraft Company of SA with his brother. The company's first aircraft was a single-seat high-wing monoplane based on the Heath Parasol - the Erasmus SA 40 (ZS-AEL). Once built, Christo carried out a successful test flight in March 1932, circling over the town at a height of over 3,500 ft. Christo applied for a Certificate of Airworthiness. Months later, Major Allister MILLER, D.S.O. visited Somerset East to inspect the aircraft. He took it on a test flight. He was highly impressed, but in Port Elizabeth, the civil aviation officials decided that the tubular axle was bent. They had it removed and straightened by a local blacksmith, who failed to restore the original temper. William (Bill) Henry PIDSLEY flew the aircraft to Somerset East. On landing, the weakened axle gave way. Christo later used the aircraft when he started the airmail flight between East London - Port Elizabeth Cape Town with Allister MILLER. Shortly thereafter the aircraft was written off after a collision. Christo built another monoplane, SNA-40, and took it on a test flight. On 15 July 1936, he removed the engine from the aircraft for the final time.

When World War II broke out in September 1939, Christo stopped his aircraft building. At the time, he was the country's only qualified and licensed pilot and flight engineer. He focused on being a ferry pilot and ferried many Junkers aircraft from Germany for Union Airways. During one such flight, he had engine problems over the Mediterranean Sea but he managed to get the aircraft to Eygpt where he repaired it himself and flew home.

Christo died on 28 July 1957 at the Boksburg-Benoni Hospital of an aneurysm. At the time he was a director of Leggats Garage in Benoni and lived at 75 Fifth Street, Northmead, Benoni. He married Magdalena Maria BOSHOFF in Bethal. They had two sons: Phillip Daniel Christoffel (1944-) and Alexandre Georg (1947-). In the 1960s Christo's sons Phillip and Alex started rebuilding their father's aircraft in Benoni.

THE PEOPLE BEHIND THE NAMES

John WESTON was born Maximillian John Ludwig Weston on 17 June 1871/2 in the vicinity of Fort Marshall in the Vryheid District of Natal, the son of an unknown father and Anna MacDOUGAL. In May 1879 a British military supply depot named Fort Marshall was established not far from Isandlhwana. The Fort was in use until July 1879 by British units. Little is known of John's parents and his early childhood and there are many stories but little evidence. It is believed that his father was a Scotsman and his mother was American or English. His father died when he was 12 years old. His mother and his sister, Lucy, died in China in 1928 from cholera whilst undertaking relief work. In a letter dated 1941 to his daughter Kathleen, he wrote that “my separation from my parents in youth has always weighed upon me as the saddest tragedy of my life”.

When John was seven years old, the family moved to Somaliland where his father trained the locals to fight the slave merchants. The family moved to the USA when John was 10 years old. By 1888 he was in Liège, Belgium, as an engineering apprentice. He worked with J. Jaspar and later with the de Puydt and Poncin Lighting and Power Company. He lived in Liège until about 1900 when he was still working with de Puydt and Poncin but had established his own company, M Weston and Co, in Birkenhead, England.

For some time during the Anglo-Boer War, he fought on the Boer side. He applied for British citizenship on 4 January 1902. He also applied for membership in the British Institution of Electrical Engineers in January 1902. In September 1904 he applied for membership of the Royal Geographic Society.

In an interview that he gave to the South African Sunday Times in 1924, he stated that he had lost everything in the Anglo-Boer War. After the peace treaty was signed on 31 May 1902, he borrowed £100 from a friend and left for the USA in July or August. There he was in contact with the Russian Embassy in Washington DC and obtained a post as engineer on railway construction in the Far East on the lines the Russians were building (this was likely around Lake Baikal). His family said he was fluent in Russian.

John's successful application for membership of the Royal Geographical Society was dated 17 September 1904 and gave his address as “c/o Mr Papendorf, Somerset East, Cape of Good Hope, S. Africa”. On top of the page, a handwritten addendum reads “up to Jan 3.05 address Poste Restante, Guillemins, Liege, Belgium, after to address below”. By early 1905 he was in South Africa.

In 1906, John decided to travel through Africa. He placed an advert in The Friend newspaper, looking for two travel companions. Two brothers from Stellenbosch answered him. He travelled to Stellenbosch to meet with them, but their father had passed away and they could no longer do the trip. John met their sister, who had arrived from Koffiefontein for the funeral. In August, while John was living on a farm in the Bultfontein district, he decided to marry her and went to Koffiefontein to propose. She accepted and they went to Bloemfontein where they got married in the Magistrate's Court. John and Elizabeth Maria Jacoba (aka Lily) ROUX had three children: Anna Stuart born in 1908, died in 1998 (married Alfred Murray WALKER in 1938), Kathleen born in 1912, died in 1989 (married Carl REIN in 1949) and Maximillian John born 1915, died 1998 (married Joan Isabella SAUNDERS in 1943). The young family lived at Doornpoort, then Kalkdam (Hoopstad before moving to Brandfort in about May 1909. They lived at 26 Loop Street, in Brandfort. John had his workshop behind the house. In February 1913 a fire destroyed his workshop and with it his dreams of establishing a flying school in Bloemfontein. At the time, there were five completed aircraft engines in the workshop. A plaque was unveiled in the 1960s: "The first Aeroplane to be completed in South Africa was assembled on this site by Rear Admiral John Weston, and was used by him for demonstration flights in 1911. In 1913 his workshops were destroyed by fire." The Brandfort house was sold in April 1928.

In June 1913, John was back in Britain. A letter from him to the Diamond Fields Advertiser in October 1913 stated “I am conducting my experiments, and work a few hours daily with Willows Aircraft Company Ltd., builders of military dirigibles”.

Early in 1914, he was granted British Aeronaut’s Certificate No. 38 as well as the Airship Pilot’s Certificate No. 23. He left Britain for South Africa on 21 February 1914.

With the outbreak of World War I, he joined the South African forces and was in charge of preparing an airfield in German South West Africa.

The Saxon docked at Tilbury on 9 September 1915 with the Weston family onboard. John transferred to the Royal Naval Air Service. His Royal Naval Air Service record of service shows that, on 1 July 1916 he was commissioned as a Temporary Sub Lieutenant in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve. On 28 September he was re-appointed, as Temporary Acting Lieutenant. While in France, he did French-English interpreting work. On 5 January 1917, he was appointed to compass and intelligence duties. On 2 April 1917, he was appointed to No. 2 Wing for compass duties on the island of Lemnos in Greece. During 1917 he was also in Egypt for a short period, being transferred on 8 June to intelligence duties in Port Said and back to Lemnos on 3 September for compass duties.

John's contribution to the Royal Hellenic Naval Air Service is confirmed by Thanos MURRAY-VELOUDIOS, a pilot and officer in the Royal Hellenic Naval Air Service. There was a Greek squadron under direct Royal Naval Air Service command which carried out operations in the northern Aegean. The squadron was originally organised in 1917 by Captain John WESTON of the British RNAS jointly with Lieutenant Commander A. MORAITINIS RHN, in Mudros on the Island of Lemnos.

The 1 April 1918 Air Force list shows John as a Lieutenant RAF in the Administrative Branch. In the March and April 1919 lists, he is a Major RAF in the Administrative Branch. In the October and November 1919 lists he is a Squadron Leader in the Technical Branch. When the Royal Air Force was created on 1 April 1918 by the merger of the Royal Naval Air Service and the Royal Flying Corps, John was transferred to the FAR with the rank of Lieutenant. In August 1918 he was a temporary Major whilst "specially employed” - his posting to the British Naval Mission to Greece as Head of the Technical Section. On 9 January 1919, he was made a Major “in recognition of distinguished service”.

In July 1919 John was awarded the Cross of Officer of the Royal Hellenic Order of the Redeemer. Four years later he was given the honorary rank of Vice-Admiral in the Royal Hellenic Navy for services rendered to the Greek Ministry of Marine. Major John WESTON left the military on 22 November 1923. He was awarded two medals, the Victory and the British War Medal, and retained the rank of Major. He never returned to aviation.

In 1919, John travelled to the USA for two weeks "on duty to the US Navy". On 25 March 1921, he was returning from another trip to the USA, aboard the Panhandle State bound for Britain - as a naval officer in First Class.

During one of these USA trips, he bought a Commerce truck. He shipped it to Britain where he converted it to a motor caravan over six months. He named it Suid-Afrika. When the conversion was completed the family travelled around Britain. In about 1921, took it on a cross-channel ferry to Belgium. From Antwerp, they drove to the river Scheldt where a yacht left to John by a friend was tested. His wife did not enjoy sailing and the yacht was sold. The family travelled overland to Greece where they lived for two years.

In 1923-24 they made the return journey from Greece to Britain. In early May 1924, they left Britain for South Africa aboard the Adolf Woermann. Once in Brandfort, the motorhome was renovated and used in trips around southern Africa in 1925.

In 1931 the family started a Trans-Africa trip, with The Star newspaper reporting that in June 1931 the family had arrived in Johannesburg by motor caravan en route to Cairo. The journey started at Cape Agulhas and ended in England. By October 1932 John was back in South Africa on a short trip.

The family returned to South Africa in 1933, and in June 1933 John paid £5,500 for three farms (Newcastle 2378, Kilburn 2466, and subdivision A of the District of Bergville) in Natal. He named the property Admiralty Estates. He continued to travel often. The motorhome was used by John until his death, after which it was stored and later rebuilt according to its Suid Afrika phase. In 1975 it featured in the International Veteran and Vintage Car Rally from Durban to Cape Town and later was donated to the Winterton Museum in KwaZulu-Natal by John's son-in-law, Carl REIN.

By 1937-1938 the children had left the family home. This led to a bitter fracture between John, Anna and Max, even into 1950.

On 21 July 1950, John and his wife were in the dining room of the farm Newcastle when they were attacked and robbed by three masked men. Lily regained consciousness three days later in the Harrismith Hospital, but John died three days after the attack after having undergone surgery for head injuries. The death certificate listed his occupation as Naval Officer and his age as 78 years and 1 month. He was cremated in Johannesburg on 27 July at Braamfontein Crematorium. Fred MZIMELA (aged 40), a butcher, Mpondo ZONDO (30), a police constable, and Msolwa ZONDO (18), a labourer and brother of Mpondo, were found guilty of first-degree murder in the High Court in Ladysmith.

After John's death, Kathleen and her husband Carl were involved in a three-year legal battle against her mother, sister and brother regarding Admiralty Estate, which they finally inherited in a settlement. Lily died on 14 April 1967.

Albert Louis KIMMERLING was born in Saint-Rambert-Île near Lyon, France on 22 June 1882, the son of Jean Victor and Marie KIMMERLING. He was of Franco-Swiss heritage. He studied at the Ampère school in Lyon and was interested in mechanics. After finishing school, he joined Etablissements Cottin-Desgouttes, a truck and automobile manufacturer, in Lyon. While travelling in Canada he observed ice hockey and introduced it to Europe. He excelled as an ice hockey player. Albert also raced cars until the Wright brothers gave a demonstration at Le Mans in August 1908. He left ice hockey and got involved in aviation. In October 1909 he joined the Voisin Company, a factory for the construction and sale of aircraft, and learnt to fly. On 8 November 1910, Albert was awarded his Aviator's Certificate by the Aéro-Club de France (No. 291). In November 1910 he was hired by an aircraft builder, Roger SOMMER, who later founded the Bron Aviation School with Albert as its first director. During 1911-1912, Albert took part in numerous aviation shows and races in France and Switzerland. He left Lyon in 1912 to take charge of the Sommer flying school in Bouzy in Marne. He died on 9 June 1912 at Mourmelon, France, when a new two-seater Sommer monoplane he was piloting on a test flight crashed. His passenger, the Sommer factory engineer, Marcel TONNET, also died in the crash. Albert was buried at Bursinel cemetery in Switzerland.

Alfred Louis RAISON was born on 2 March 1883 in Les Essarts, France, the son of Pierre and Louise RAISON. He came to South Africa to fight in the Anglo-Boer War on the Boer side. After the war he established a mechanical engineering business in Zeerust, repairing bicycles, engines and cars. In 1910, he moved to Johannesburg to work as foreman at R. and T. Burgess, Motor Engineers. Alfred and a friend later established an engineering firm, Raison and Massi, in Booysens, Johannesburg. After his retirement he settled on the farm Buffelskloof in the Naboomspruit district. He became a South African citizen in 1958. He married Beatrice Isabel HARGREAVES-SMITH on 10 February 1925 in Johannesburg, with whom he had two sons: Lawrence Alfred and Victor Louis Hargreaves. He died on 26 October 1964. One of his grandsons, Alfred Pierre RAISON, was an aviation technician at South Afican Airways.

Thomas THORNTON was born circa 1862 in England. He died on 26 December 1915, age 53 years, in a hospital in Pretoria of double pneumonia. He was buried at the New Cemetery (Rebecca Street) in Pretoria. His last occupation was Sanitary Inspector at Van Ryn Deep Gold Mine in Benoni. He never married.

Julia MURPHY was born circa 1864 in England, the daughter of James MURPHY. She was adopted by Thomas HYDE and used his surname. Julia married James Walter STANSFIELD on 03 January 1889 in Blackpool, England. She died on 06 March 1936, age 73 years, in London, England from peritonitis. Her last residential address was 12 St George's Square, Westminster, London. She wished to be cremated and her ashes scattered in the River Thames or the sea. In 1907 she was presented with a silver tray from the Journalists of Johannesburg, for her journalism at the Rand Daily Mail and Sunday Times.

She had two children with James - Walter Hyde STANSFIELD (born 1891 in Blackpool, lived in Blantyre, Malawi) and Margery STANSFIELD (born 1907 in Bedford, England, lived at 91 Smirrells Road, Birmingham, England). She owned land on Seventh Street, Parkhurst and Tenth Avenue, Orange Grove, which was bequeathed to her son.

In Malawi, the Stansfield Regatta is held annually in memory of Walter Hyde STANSFIELD, who was a keen sailor. He built a home in 1930 - the present-day Le Meridien Resort - on the shores of Lake Malawi. Walter served in World War I and was mentioned in despatches. He was a driver in the British Army (Nyasaland Rhodesia Force / Mechanical Transport). In 1921 he was a transport contractor in South Africa. He died on 17 August 1991 at Salima, Malawi.

Michael Joseph RIES was born circa 1871 in King William's Town, the son of Nicolaas and Mary Ann Elizabeth RIES. He died on 10 April 1921 at Umtata Hospital. At the time, he was a merchant in Umtata. He married Harriet ALLEN and had three children: Antony Michael, Esme Geraldine and Doreen Olive. He had a farm in East London, as well as other land.

Ralph MANSEL was born Raphael Sanzio MANSEL on 24 October 1874 in Glasgow, Scotland, the son of Robert and Agnes Douglas MANSEL. He died on 8 September 1927, at age 52 years, at home (44 Wanderers Street, Wanderers View, Johannesburg) of paraffin poisoning. He was buried at Brixton Cemetery in grave number 8923. He was a mechanical/electrical engineer. He never married. His brother, Robert, died in Rhodesia in 1928. His sister, Agnes Liddell, married Michael Alexander GREIG and lived in London, England. According to his estate, he had registered patents in Canada, Norway, Japan, England and the USA.

In November 1893, the board of directors of De Beers Consolidated Mines Limited decided to build a factory for the manufacture of explosives in the Cape Colony. Colonel William Russel QUINAN of Pinole Works, California was appointed to undertake this task. Until 1896 when Modderfontein in the Transvaal commenced production, all explosives used in the diamond and gold mines in the Cape and Transvaal were imported. The location of this factory was at Paardevlei, still known to residents as the De Beers or Dynamite Factory. Workshops, administrative buildings, a laboratory, management residences, worker barracks, explosive houses shrouded by concrete blast walls, a power station, and a plant for sulphuric acid and nitric acid were built. On 27 July 1903, the licence to manufacture explosives was granted and De Beers Explosive Works went into full production. On 7 August 1903, the first trainload of explosives left the factory for the Kimberley diamond mines. Colonel QUINAN changed the company name to Cape Explosive Works (Capex) in 1906 and later bought a steamer, the SS South Africa. After he died in 1910, his cousin, Kenneth QUINAN, took over. In 1914 a plant to refine crude glycerine was built and another steamer was bought, the SS Gardner Williams. In 1919, Kenneth expanded the products, building a fertiliser factory and a new chemical plant. In 1932 a new plant was built for the manufacture of nitric acid from ammonia. In 1949 the production of paints and vinyl cloth, film and sheet was started. Dynamite was last produced at AECI Somerset West in 1986, after which the plant was decommissioned. The elegant, stately period homes and buildings, designed mainly by Sir Herbert BAKER and set in shady parkland, have been preserved and maintained. The grounds have been successfully rehabilitated and remediated.

Horace BARNES was born on 14 December 1884 in East London, the son of Arthur McDonald BARNES and Amelia McDONALD. He died on 10 August 1972 at Andrew McColm Hospital in Arcadia, Pretoria. His last residential address was 244 Glynn Street, Hatfield. He married Edna Merle LARTER on 10 January 1912 in East London - at the time he was a merchant. She died on 30 June 1970 in Pretoria. They had three children: Daphne Amelia (married LESSON-GREENE), Yvonne Merle (married Victor Emil JOUBERT) and Molly Edna (married Leonard BIRLEY in 1941, married George Ryves WILSON in 1950). Molly Edna died on 03 July 1998 in Port Alfred.

Silvio Foino MARUCCHI was born on 3 July 1887 in Masserano or Biella, Italy, the son of Luigi and Marietta MARUCCHI. He died on 17 January 1968 in Pretoria. His last residential address was 53 Moulton Avenue, Waverley, Pretoria. He married Antonietta Marie PELLA on 30 June 1923 in Pretoria - at the time he lived at 153 Joubert Street, Pretoria. She died in 1931. They had one daughter, Ida Silvia (who married Lewis BUSUTTIL in 1960). He retired from the South African Railways in 1947 as foreman of the toolroom in Bloemfontein.

Ismay NANGLE born circa 1889 was the daughter of Dr Edward Cuthbert NANGLE (1859-1942) and Dorothy Bolland BRISCO (ca 1866- 1932, Salisbury, Rhodesia). Her father was a doctor and moved from Ireland to East London. He married her mother in Port Alfred in 1886. Edward and Dorothy had two sons and a daughter: Dr Edward Jocelyn NANGLE (Lieutenant in the Royal Army Medical Corps, killed on service in France in 1916; Dr Hugh Cuthbert Milo NANGLE (born 1892, served with the RAF/RFC in WWI and was an ace, died in Salisbury, Rhodesia in 1957) and Dorothy Ismay NANGLE (known as Ismay). Ismay married Cecil Charles FREER (a dentist) in 1911 – their son, Dr Edward Jocelyn Nangle FREER (1916, East London-2008, Zimbabwe), changed his name in 1937 to Edward Jocelyn NANGLE, in accordance with his grandparents' Last Will. Ismay and Cecil divorced in 1918. Her second marriage was to Allan THORNEWILL. She died on 02 July 1970.

SOUTH AFRICA'S PICKLED FISH - HISTORY

2024-03-30T12:02:00.002+02:00

Where does the South African tradition of eating pickled fish at Easter come from?

It's origin can be traced back to the early days at the Cape. One of the earliest known recipes is from Marie CLOETE, a wealthy Cape landowner in the 1700s, who left her handwritten recipe for future generations. Lady Anne BARNARD visited Meerlust farm in 1798 and wrote that she was served “fish of the nature of cod, pickled with turmarick”.

In 1653, a year after the Dutch East India Company established a refreshment station at the Cape, the first slaves were imported from Batavia (present-day Jakarta). The Muslim women were often cooks and were known for their use of spices, especially those from the East. Slaves came mostly from the East Indies - India, Indonesia and Malaya - they became known as Cape Malays and brought with them a range of skills like millinery, cobbling, masonry, and fragrant cooking.

Over time, it became a Cape Malay tradition for families to spend the four-day Easter weekend camping near the Kramat (Faure) along the banks of the Eerste River in Macassar. They took food with them that did not need to be refrigerated – typically pickled fish, which could be kept in glass bottles or earthenware jars for up to a week. In those days fish was plentiful and affordable.

A Kramat is where the holy men of Islam where laid to rest when they died. These men were often exiled to Cape from other Dutch colonies. Sheikh Yusuf is regarded as the founder of Islam in South Africa. He was an Indonesian royal who was exiled to Cape Town via Ceylon in 1694, after a failed uprising against the Dutch. His Kramat is visited by Muslim followers as part of a pilgrimage to pay their respects.

Another story of origin that links to Easter stems from the fishermen not going out to sea during the holy week. Without daily fresh fish, people preserved fresh fish by pickling in spiced sauce.

Pickled fish is made with firm, white fish pan-fried or oven-baked before being covered in a curried pickling sauce with lots of sliced onions. It is left for 3 to 5 days before being eaten cold. It is also known as kerrievis, piekelvis or ingeledge vis in Afrikaans. The preferred fish is geelbek (Cape salmon) or geelstert (yellowtail), although hake and snoek is also used.

Some people batter the fish before cooking it, others don't. Some people cook it and then put it in the sauce, others cook it in the sauce.

It is always eaten cold, usually accompanied by bread and butter. Some people serve it with fresh bread and hanepootkonfyt (sweet grape jam). These days many people eat their pickled fish with hot cross buns.

It is enjoyed, especially at Easter, by Muslims, Christians, and non-religious people all over South Africa.

DID YOU KNOW?

2023-08-28T00:09:00.009+02:00

UPDATE 21 May 2024: While researching for an unrelated article, I came across information that contradicts the origins of Milo as I had previously written here.

In 1911, Salim LOUIS immigrated to Cape Town from Lebanon. Later on, he moved to Bloemfontein. In 1913 his brother, Michel (Michael) joined him. The following year, the two brothers started a general wholesale merchant business. By 1933, they were importing tea leaves from Ceylon plantations. They named their tea brand Milo, using the first two letters of Michel's name and the first two letters of his surname. It was this tea company that was later purchased by Nestlé for their well-known hot chocolate malt drink.

ORIGINAL POST DATED 28 AUG 2023: Milo, an iconic Australian brand, was first developed in 1930 by a young trainee chemical engineer, Thomas MAYNE of Smithtown, New South Wales. Nestlé wanted to develop a tonic drink that would address malnutrition in children during the great Depression. The drink was made from malted barley, dried milk and cocoa.

Thomas spent four years developing what we now know as Milo. He wanted to create a mix with vitamins and minerals that would dissolve when stirred, not just fall to the bottom of the glass. One day, he walked into his kitchen to discover his daughter and son scooping the crunchy bits of Milo powder off the top of their drinks. It was then that he realised that the crunch was not a problem, but a feature - and so Milo as we know it today was born. It was named after Milo of Croton, a Greek wrestler who lived in the 6th century BC and possessed legendary strength. Milo Tonic Food was introduced to the public at the 1934 Sydney Royal Easter Show in the iconic Milo tin. Today it's the world's leading chocolate malt beverage that can be prepared with hot or cold milk or water. Nestlé’s Chembong Factory in Malaysia is the world's largest Milo manufacturing site.

The Spanish call it calimocho or kalimotxo. In Germany they call it kora or korea. In Chile, it’s jote and in Croatia it's known as bambus. In Argentina it's known as "Jesus juice". If you're familiar with Africa or Portugal, you know it as catemba. A 50-50 mixture of red wine and Coca-Cola, it is said to have originated at a festival in Algorta, Spain, in 1972 when traders discovered the wine they planned to sell was terrible so they added Coca-Cola and ice to disguise the flavour. But for many years before that, the drink was already well-known in South Africa, Mozambique, and Angola - thanks to the Portuguese communities living there. According to family stories, catemba was invented by the owner of a restaurant on the island of Catembe when it was still a small fishing community. It was common to mix red wine with Sprite, but one day the owner used Coca-Cola instead.

SOUTH AFRICA’S FIRST VETERINARIAN

2023-08-28T00:04:00.002+02:00

The first qualified, non-military veterinarians started arriving in South Africa in the middle 1800s. In 1886, Dr Jotello Festiri SOGA became the first South African-born person to receive a degree in veterinary medicine (MRCVS). The second formally-trained South African veterinarian was Dr Philip Rudolph VILJOEN (1889 - 1964) who qualified in 1912.

Jotello SOGA and his wife Catherine

Jotello was born at the Mgwali Mission in the then Transkei in 1865, the youngest son of Reverend Tiyo SOGA (Xhosa) and his Scottish wife Janet BURNSIDE (Scottish). Reverend SOGA was South Africa’s first black ordained Presbyterian clergyman. After his father’s death in 1871, the family moved to Scotland where Jotello and his six siblings completed their education under the protection of the United Presbyterian Church (Church of Scotland). He completed his matric at the Dollar Academy. He entered the Royal School of Veterinary Studies (later part of the University of Edinburgh) in 1881 and qualified as a Member of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (MRCVS) in April 1886 and earned a gold medal for botany studies. His brothers graduated from the University of Glasgow - William Anderson SOGA (1857 - 1916, medical doctor), John Henderson SOGA (1860 - 1941, missionary and Xhosa historian), and Allan Kirkland SOGA (1862 - 1938, journalist and politician).

From 1886 – 1889 Dr SOGA worked as a veterinarian in private practice in Tutuka, Cape Colony. On 01 November 1889 he was appointed as Dr Duncan HUTCHEON's (Colonial Veterinary Surgeon Cape Colony) second assistant (Dr John D BORTHWICK was the first) and served as a District Veterinarian in many places in the Cape Colony. He was much esteemed by Dr HUTCHEON, and was appointed at the same rate of pay as Dr BORTHWICK. He was first stationed at Fort Beaufort.

From 1889 to 1894 he was employed by the Cape Colony as Junior Veterinarian. He was involved with the vaccination campaign against contagious lung-sickness. While working as veterinarian for the Cape Colony he studied toxic plants and their effect on animals – both for their poisonous and curative effects. He also lectured on diseases of stock and their treatment in Somerset East. After working with the bacteriologist, Dr Alexander EDINGTON, at the Colonial Bacteriological Institute in Grahamstown, Dr SOGA was appointed as District Veterinarian and was transferred to King William’s Town in 1894, where he worked on foot-and-mouth disease, red water, and biliary fever. He did his own inoculation experiments for Contagious Bovine Pleuro-Pneumonia (lung-sickness), after which his vaccination method became standard use. He assisted Professor Andrew SMITH with investigations into the medicinal properties of South African plants. During this time he was appointed as Assistant Veterinary Surgeon in the Veterinary Department of the Cape Colony and Bechuanaland (now Botswana).

In 1892, three years after rinderpest broke out in East Africa, Dr SOGA published two articles in the Agricultural Journal of the Cape of Good Hope, in which he warned of the devastation that the virus would bring. He predicted the rapid spread of the disease towards South Africa and warned that if proper measures were not taken, "I make bold enough to say, that more than two-thirds of Colonial cattle will succumb to its ravages".

In March 1896 rinderpest entered the Northern Cape and Dr SOGA was sent to Mafikeng to help deal with infected animals. Dr SOGA was part of a small team of animal health professionals that eradicated rinderpest, a contagious and fatal disease that almost destroyed South Africa’s herds in the late 19th century. By 1903 the team succeeded in eradicating rinderpest. More than a million cattle died, either from the disease itself or deliberate slaughter to control the disease.

He continued to conduct important research on animal health and frequently contributed articles on veterinary medicine to professional journals - his first article was published in January 1891 in the Agricultural Journal of the Cape of Good Hope. He was a much sought-after speaker at conferences and was a co-founder of the Cape Colony Veterinary Society in 1905 which later became the South African Veterinary Association (SAVA). He often served as a judge at horse shows at the East London Agricultural Show.

Dealing with the rinderpest epidemic was exhausting and depressing work. As a result, Dr SOGA's health suffered and he eventually retired from the Cape Civil Service in 1899, with a government pension. He was commended by the British High Commissioner, Lord MILNER, for his services in combating rinderpest. In 1900 he went into private practice in the Border area. In 1902 he was employed by Carl H MALCOLMESS to supervise his cattle on the farm Itala in the Stutterheim district. He later moved to the farm of Anthony Peter FITCHETT, a farrier, at Amalinda close to East London where he continued with his own small veterinary practice.

Dr Jotello SOGA died at Fitchett's farm on 06 December 1906 from an overdose of laudanum and was buried in Amalinda. He was married to a Scotswoman, Catherine Watson CHALMERS, on 09 July 1892, and they had three daughters: Catherine, Margaret and Doris. After his death, his widow and daughters returned to Scotland.

In 2009, the University of Pretoria named the library of its Faculty of Veterinary Science in Dr SOGA’s honour. The ceremony was attended by Carole GALLAGHER, a great-granddaughter of Dr SOGA, Camagu Malcom SOGA (from King Williams Town) and Thembi SOGA. The Onderstpoort Veterinary Institute created the Jotello SOGA Ethno-Veterinary Garden. The South African Veterinary Association awards the SOGA Medal annually in recognition of exceptional community service rendered by a veterinarian or a veterinary student.

THE MOSSAD AGENT FROM GRAAFF-REINET

2023-08-27T23:48:00.002+02:00

Sylvia Lee RAPHAEL was born on 01 Apr 1937 in Graaff-Reinet to Miriam Helena SMIT (born 1907 in the Orange Free State and a Christian), and Ferdinand RAPHAEL (born in 1886 in the Cape and a Jewish atheist). She was baptised and raised in her mother's Dutch Reformed religion.

When her parents were married in June 1935, her father was an insurance agent and her mother a typist. It was Ferdinand's second marriage, having married the divorced Alice Louise WATTS in Johannesburg in 1917 (they divorced in 1935). Ferdinand and Alice lived at 58 Gracht St, Boksburg, at the time of their marriage. Alice had married her first husband in 1897 and divorced him in 1908. She died in Johannesburg in 1942.

Ferdinand later owned the local cinema in Graaff-Reinet. He died at St Joseph's Hospital in Port Elizabeth in 1958. Miriam died in Worcester in 1993.

Sylvia's grandfather, Solomon RAPHAEL, was born in Odessa circa 1861 and died in Graaff-Reinet in 1933. He was a produce buyer. He married Emilia DAVIS. She died in Graaff-Reinet in 1920.

As a young girl, Sylvia saw some boys pushing a Jewish girl in a wheelbarrow in Graaff-Reinet and chanting, "We're going to take you to Hitler." She was so distressed that her parents sent her away to a girls’ boarding school. After studying at Rhodes University and breaking off her engagement to a South African when his drinking became a problem, she moved to Israel in 1959, working on Kibbutz Gan Shmuel, near Hadera, and later in Tel Aviv as an English teacher.

In 1962, she received a phone call from a man who introduced himself as Gadi. He said he was a representative of an Israeli government agency looking for new female recruits. When she asked what kind of work, he asked her to meet him at the Café Hadley in Tel Aviv the next day and he'd explain. Gadi was Moti KFIR, the commander of Mossad’s School for Special Operations. Sylvia was intelligent, beautiful, and spoke English, Afrikaans, French, German, Hebrew, Spanish and Arabic. A Mossad agent's girlfriend was Sylvia's flatmate at the time and he recommended her to Mossad recruiters. Sylvia joined up and after completing her training she qualified to operate in foreign countries.

She was given a new identity, Patricia ROXBOROUGH, a Canadian photojournalist, and was sent to Vancouver, Canada for six months to create her cover story as a freelance photographer. Next she was sent to Paris, the centre of Mossad's operations in Europe. Her first job there was for an international photographic agency. Sylvia was so good at her job that she held a photography exhibition in Paris. She was a gifted artist, drawing and painting, so photography was natural for her.

Sylvia was one of the first Mossad agents to penetrate Yasser ARAFAT's bases in Jordan and Lebanon in the 1960s. She later survived at least three assassination attempts by the PLO. She was known to have operated in Cairo, Mogadishu, Asmara, Djibouti, Beirut, Amman, and Damascus. She is said to have replaced Eli COHEN in Damascus, after he was publicly hanged in 1965 after the discovery of his high-level infiltration of the Syrian regime. As a close friend of the Jordanian royal family, she is said to have babysat the future King Abdullah II.

In the summer of 1972, the PLO’s Black September carried out the Munich Massacre, in which 11 Israeli athletes participating in the Olympic Games were murdered. When the Israeli government decided to track down the Black September operatives, Sylvia provided intelligence that led to the killing of three. She was then assigned to a covert operation to assassinate others involved in the massacre. In July 1973, Sylvia was part of the team that mistakenly assassinated Morocco-born waiter/pool attendant Ahmed BOUCHIKI in Lillehammer, Norway. He was the brother of Gypsy Kings musician Chico BOUCHIKHI. The team had mistaken him for the mastermind of the massacre. Sylvia had studied the mastermind closely and realised the team had the wrong man but her calls to abort the mission were not heeded. She was arrested shortly afterwards and was convicted in early 1974 of planned murder, espionage, and the use of forged documents. She was sentenced to 5½ years in prison, but was released after serving 18 months and deported from Norway.

While in prison, she was adopted by the Ramat Hakovesh kibbutz in Israel, where her brother had worked. She married her Norwegian attorney, Annæus SCHJØDT, and retired from Mossad. She was deported again after re-entering Norway in 1977. Two years later she obtained a residence permit, but left Norway with her husband in 1992, settling in Pretoria, South Africa. The couple did not have children. Sylvia died in Pretoria on 09 February 2005, having battled cancer. She was cremated in South Africa and her ashes interred in the military section of the cemetery at Ramat Hakovesh.

In Steven SPIELBERG’s 2005 film Munich, Sylvia's character is played by Daniel CRAIG who later became James Bond 007. He played Steve, the South African driver in the Mossad team. After being sentenced in Norway, Sylvia (known for her sense of humour) joked that she went from 007 to 005½. A documentary, Sylvia: Tracing Blood, tells her story through the people who knew her, including her brother David (aka Bunty) and her husband who died shortly after filming finished in 2014. It was directed by a South African, Saxon LOGAN.

While living in Pretoria, Sylvia re-connected with her nephew, Derek WATTS, the Carte Blanche journalist. His father was Basil Havelock WATTS, born in Johannesburg in March 1912 to Alice Louise WATTS and Ferdinand RAPHAEL. Basil died in Bulawayo in 1982. He married Edna Lily TRIGGS in Johannesburg in 1940. They had three children - Derek, Roy and Gaynor. Basil started his working life as a boilermaker on ships, and later worked his way up to Managing Director of an engineering company in Bulawayo.

TRACING GENES TO SAVE LIVES

2023-08-27T23:39:00.005+02:00

After a scientific search of more than 30 years, researchers in the Faculty of Health Sciences at Stellenbosch University, in collaboration with international partners, pinpointed the gene that causes the inherited heart disease known as progressive familial heart block type I, in a group of South African families whose ancestor can be traced to one immigrant who landed at the Cape in 1722.

The disease was first described by Professor Andries BRINK, a cardiac specialist and former Dean of the Faculty, in 1977. In 1986, his son, Professor Paul BRINK, in collaboration with Professor Valerie CORFIELD, embarked on the search for the genetic mutation that triggers the condition and causes a disruption of the electrical impulses that control heart contractions. They traced this to a small area on chromosome 19 which contained about 80 genes. This search came to an end when Brink and Corfield, in collaboration with German scientists managed to pinpoint the exact gene amongst this group.

The study of progressive familial heart block started at Stellenbosch University in the 1970s when Professor Andries Brink, then practicing as a cardiac specialist at the Tygerberg Hospital, treated a baby who was born with a very slow heart rate. The child's condition was so serious that she had to be fitted with a pacemaker, becoming the first baby in South Africa to be treated with a pacemaker. At the time, pacemakers were at an early stage of development and were almost the size of a brick. While Brink was treating the baby, he became aware of another child who also needed a pacemaker. This child was a close relative of the baby under his care. He then examined the mother and found evidence of a similar underlying disease, but not as advanced as that of the baby. This lead Brink to believe that he was dealing with a family problem and he asked Dr Marie TORRINGTON to trace other families. She found most of them living in the Eastern Cape and that the carrier of the defective gene arrived at the Cape from Portugal. He married a woman of Dutch descent in Stellenbosch in 1735. Today, all South Africans affected by progressive familial heart block I are descendants of this couple.

Roughly 50% of children born to an affected person will be carriers. Of these about two thirds will need a pacemaker at some stage, according to Corfield. A very small percentage of them will show no evidence of the disease on an electrocardiogram, even though they carry the gene, while others will display an underlying electrical glitch. The disease can occur any time from birth until old age and in some cases it has been identified in utero. Today it can be managed with the timely implantation of a pacemaker, but before the advent of this device it often claimed the lives of patients affected by the condition.

Ignácio FERREIRA statue
in Humansdorp

Ignácio FERREIRA was born in 1695 in Lisbon, Portugal to Manuel FERREIRA and Antónia Francisca (from Alcântara, a suburb of Lisbon). He was baptised on 01 Nov 1695 in the Catholic church "Nossa Senhora da Ajuda". On 16-17 June 1722 a powerful north-westerly wind hit the Cape. On the morning of the 17th, ten ships were found wrecked and stranded, including the Chandos, an English East India Company ship. The Chandos was on its return voyage from Bengal to England. Today the Chandos is buried under reclaimed land near the Castle in Cape Town. The 27-year-old Ignácio FERREIRA was a surviving sailor on the Chandos. He decided to stay at the Cape and entered the service of the Dutch East India Company as a soldier.

On 06 November 1735, Ignácio (later Ignatius) FERREIRA married the 18-year-old Martha TERBLANCHE in Stellenbosch. They had 10 children. All the children were given Dutch names. In 1748, Ignácio applied for tenure of a stock farm called "De Hartebeest Kuijl" near Mossel Bay. The original homestead and a portion of the farm is today under the water of the dam supplying Mossel Bay. From here the family spread through the Langkloof, Karoo, to the Gamtoos Valley, throughout the Eastern Cape and beyond. Ignácio FERREIRA died on 24 May 1772 at the age of 77 years.

THE POSTMASTER’S MISTRESS

2023-08-27T23:28:00.031+02:00

In October 1945, the Liberty ship SS Samnesse sailed into Durban Harbour, bringing returning servicemen and tanks from Europe. The ship was built in the United States during World War II and transferred to the British Ministry of War Transportation upon completion.

The only woman aboard was Elena VAN PRAAG (born 27 November 1920). She was the girlfriend of Captain George Samuel JENNINGS (born 25 December 1914) of the 6th South African Armoured Division. Elena was of Dutch-Jewish descent and had grown up in Italy where her father, Barend, owned a shipping business in Genoa. In 1940 the VAN PRAAG family was forced into civilian internment. Her father lost his business and Elena’s reign as an equestrian champion was over. Banished from their home in Genoa, they left behind their work helping German Jews escape Europe via Italy, including Albert EINSTEIN's sister. They found refuge in Florence where their apartment in the Palazzo della Gherardesca backed on to a garden which the Germans occupied from 1943 until the Allies took over in 1944. This is where Elena met George.

George was tasked with marking the route north for his division, as well as driving Major-General Evered POOLE on his daily traverse of the Monte Cassino Pass, always under sniper fire. For this he was mentioned in dispatches. Elena’s father often hosted officers at home and one day he offered George a night’s accommodation. Elena met the young officer in the dining-room the next morning. At the end of the war, George managed to get Elena a berth on the SS Samnesse. Elena sailed out with 13 pieces of luggage, including a pasta machine.

In Durban, Elena was met by Stan CONKER, who had served as a Sergeant with George. At the same time, an official approached her and told her that she had been declared an "undesirable immigrant" and was to be repatriated within the week. She had to stay with Stan at his home until she boarded another ship back to Europe, where she worked for the Allies in their clean-up operations until 1947 when George was finally able to take her to South Africa.

The couple were married on 25 April 1947 and leased a guest farm in Munster, Natal. Elena had gone ahead of George and set about clearing lands and setting up a home. The farm had a party line telephone. Not being familiar with this system, every time the phone rang Elena picked it up, until the operator, Dulcie SAWYER, at the Munster Trading Post, shouted at her. Thereafter she wouldn’t touch it and eventually a policeman arrived on horseback to check on her because George couldn’t get hold of her.

Cecil BLAKE, a South African Airways pilot, was often a guest at the farm during sardine season. During his Johannesburg-Durban-Cape Town flights, he would drop a copy of the Sunday Times newspaper, weighted with a bag of sweets, onto the front lawn and repeat the service for the Port Edward Hotel. Whenever he flew over, he buzzed the guest farm. One day he spotted George kite fishing, so he severed his line. George retaliated by launching some kind of explosive device at the Dakota the next time the aircraft flew over. Unfortunately, Cecil wasn’t the pilot and the pilot reported being attacked. Cecil was in the office, overheard him, and realised it must have been George.

When the farm lease ran out, they decided to run the post office in Port Edward. George became the postmaster with Elena as his assistant and telephone operator. There was very little in Port Edward in 1957: a few rondavels at the Police Holiday Camp, the hotel, a couple of stores and a few cottages. John MPOFU, who had come from Munster with them, would wheel the postbags to the railway bus stop at the entrance to Port Edward every day. He would often take a nap in the wheelbarrow, head pillowed on the post bags - he and George started their postal work at 4:00 a.m.

In 1972, George was diagnosed with cancer and given nine months to live. The cobalt treatment worked, but left him with colon problems and he had to retire. Elena took over as postmistress and George spent his time as chairman of the town board for eight years. Although this was a voluntary position, he got the roads tarred and organised the construction of the civic buildings. Elena was also a capable draughtsperson and was responsible for drawing up plans for various buildings. George discovered that the defunct golf course was about to be lost and fundraised enough to revive it and build a small clubhouse. George loved playing golf and continued to play with the aid of a scooter when cancer incapacitated him. He battled poor health for 17 years. He passed away in Port Edward on 21 February 1988. His ashes were scattered on the seventh hole of his beloved golf course.

From the back of her cottage, Elena had a view over the golf course and from the front, a panoramic view of the Indian Ocean. She passed away in Port Edward on 30 October 2016.

Ruth FIFIELD was born in Johannesburg and became an English teacher in Port Shepstone. Her writing interests include local history, and that is how she got to spend Monday afternoons with Elena to record her life story. Eight years later, in September 2014, Ruth’s book, The Postmaster's Mistress, a 316-page biography, was published by Partridge Publishing. The book is available in softcover and e-book on Amazon.

SOUTH AFRICA'S CENTENARIANS

2021-08-02T03:46:00.016+02:00

Corrie WIJNBEEK lived through two World Wars (28 Jul 1914 – 11 Nov 1918 and 01 Sep 1939 – 02 Sep 1945), the Spanish Flu (1918 – 1920), the Great Depression (Aug 1929 – Mar 1933), and the current COVID-19 pandemic. She passed away on 13 July 2021 at the age of 108 in Swartruggens.
She was living with her son, Dirk WIJNBEEK (75) a Gereformeerde Kerk minister, and his wife Nelriet, who looked after her.

Cornelia Geertje VAN DER BURGH (aka Corrie) was born on 18 February 1913 in Den Haag, The Netherlands. She was married on 08 December 1937 and had five children. During WWI, her husband, Dirk Hendrik Petrus WIJNBEEK (13 Jan 1914 - Jul 1981), was a prisoner-of-war in Germany, and one of her sons, Dirkie, died at home. She immigrated to South Africa in 1949 with her husband and four children. They rented a home in Johannesburg before buying land in Bodmin Street, New Redruth, Alberton, and building a house. Dirk Hendrik Petrus worked in the paint business in Alberton, where Corrie lived for 58 years.
In those early years in New Redruth, the roads were still untarred, and there was no sewage system in place, a night wagon came through twice per week to empty the buckets.
A daughter, Yvonne, and her husband Willem RAS, were killed in a car hijacking on the N12 near Eldorado Park in 2008.
Her other son, Marinus (28 Aug 1939 - 02 Aug 2020) was a well-known scientist, journalist and SABC TV presenter. He was a lecturer for 9 years before he joined the SABC as science editor. In 1979 the SABC started broadcasting the Afrikaans science magazine show Brandkluis for 4 seasons, in which Marinus as presenter discussed science subjects. He immigrated to the Netherlands in September 1996 with his wife, Annatjie. He was the founder of Kempton Park Technical College.

Another daughter is Beatrix VAN DER WALT who lives in Brackenhurst, Alberton.
After a break-in at her flat in Alberton, she moved in with Dirk and Nelriet. In 2013 they moved from Steynsburg in the Eastern Cape to Swartruggens.
She had 14 grandchildren, 29 great-grandchildren and 3 great-great-grandchildren.
At the time of her death, Corrie was the second-oldest living Dutch emigrant, after Catharina VAN DER LINDEN (born 26 August 1912)of Adelaide, Australia.

Ella
Ella Johanna POTGIETER, age 101, tested positive for COVID-19 in June 2021, and survived. Ella Johanna THERON was born on 22 July 1920 in Middelburg, Eastern Cape. Her family moved to Pretoria when she was 4 years old. She attended Laerskool Oost-Eind in Sunnyside, and Afrikaanse Hoër Meisieskool. Ella is the high school's oldest living past student, celebrating her 100th birthday in the school's century year. She left school in Grade 10, to work on the family farm in Rosslyn. She married Barend Jacobus Daniel POTGIETER (14 Aug 1916 - 12 Oct 1988) on 08 November 1941. She worked as a school secretary at Laerskool Akasia for many years before retiring in 1982. Ella currently lives in Pretoria North with her daughter Welma JACOBSZ. Ella has three children - two daughters, and a son who died four years ago. She has 8 grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren.

Shariefa
Shariefa KHAN (100) has finally returned to District Six, where she once lived with her husband and six children until the Group Areas Act evictions of the 1960s. On 17 June 2021, she received the news that she was getting a new 2-bedroom flat in Russell Street. She had applied for a house in 1996 and is the oldest living District Six land claimant. She is one of 108 people who were due to move into their new homes this July, but a construction snag has caused a delay.
On 11 February 1966, the government declared District Six a white area and shortly thereafter, the family received a letter that they would have to move. Shariefa and her husband, Dawood, lost their house and their Bombay Cafe (aka Dout's Cafe) at 238 Hanover Street in the evictions in 1968, the buildings were bulldozed. Dawood (aka Dout) was a chef. The family lived in Bailey Flats in Hanover Street, close to the Avalon Bioscope. Their cafe was famous for its Indian and Cape Malay cuisine. The family was forced to move to Rylands Estate on the outskirts of Cape Town in the then newly-formed Cape Flats.
She's been living with her daughter, Sumaya MUKADAM (59), a caterer, in Connaught Estate, Elsiesrivier. Another daughter, Nadiema KHAN (68), will move in with her mother in the new house to care for her as Shariefa had a stroke in stroke in December 2020 which left her whellchair-bound.
Shariefa was born on 25 April 1921in Vryburg, North West, to Ahmad Khan DESHMUKH and Gadija MALLAK - who were Indian immigrants to South Africa. Her family moved to Cape Town in 1928, first living in Muizenberg and later in Kensington where her father had the first halaal butchery in the area. She had eight siblings but only one younger sister is alive and she lives overseas. Shariefa married Dawood KHAN, also an Indian migrant living in District Six.
Dawood died in 1978 at age 63 of heart failure. Shariefa started making samoosas for an income, working into her 90s. Of her six children, only three are alive - Sumaya, Nadiema, and Rashida DA COSTA (63) who lives in Crawford, Cape Town. A daughter, Shamsunisa, died at 21, and another daughter, Zainab, died at 12 in an accident in front of the family's cafe. Her only son, Abdullah, died at age 72. She has 17 grandchildren and 33 great-grandchildren.

Bredenkamp twins
Hendrik and Anna BREDENKAMP, twins born on 31 August 1919 and originally from Bultfontein in the Free State, celebrated their 100th birthday in Garsfontein, Pretoria. The wheelchair-bound twins were the last surviving of 11 children. Anna never married and worked as a missionary in Malawi for 26 years, after which she did counselling work with soldiers at 1 Military Hospital in Pretoria. Besides Afrikaans, she was fluent in English, Zulu and Chichewa. Anna died on 28 July 2020 of COVID-19, at Serene Park Retirement Home in Garsfontein.
The twins lived at Serene Park Retirement Home, with Hendrik living in a private unit across the road with his son Gerhard.
Hendrik was a Magistrate in the Free State, and later the Chief Magistrate in Pretoria. He was also fluent in English, Zulu and Dutch. He married Mona Marie Catharine BAASCH on 26 January 1946 and they had five children. Mona died on 18 October 2002 in Pretoria. Hendrik has 13 grandchildren and 24 great-grandchildren.

Tossie GOUWS celebrated her 100th birthday on 15 February 2021 at Ons Tuis Riviera Retirement Home in Pretoria. She's lived at Ons Tuis since May 2014.
Hendrika Margaretha MEINTJIES was born in Klerksdorp, where she grew up. She outlived two husbands, VAN ZYL and GOUWS. Her oldest daughter is 80 years old, another, Tersia KLEYNHANS is 72. Tossie had 6 children, and has 15 grandchildren, 23 great-grandchildren and 6 great-great-grandchildren.
She once sent some of her smocking work to Princess Anne. Tossie was also a baker and cook. At one stage, she and her husband owned a furniture store, and she was a regional manager for Russels.

Katriena, Jan (back), John-Will, Benjamin

Katriena STRYDOM of Rietvallei farm, near Robertson, was born on 28 June 1919. She grew up in the area, and worked on the farm in the house and in the vineyards. Her first work was as a shepherd on Chris VILJOEN's farm.
Her mother died at age 106. Katriena had 9 children, of which 5 are deceased. She has 25 grandchildren and 5 great-grandchildren, including Benjamin LOUW (grandson) and John-Will ARENDSE (great-grandson).

Janet ROBERTS died at age 101 at Huis Weltevrede in Welkom on 01 June 2014. She was often seen at rose shows, and at age 95 was still doing her own laundry and ironing. Her son, Ian, visited her every day, and until a few weeks before he passing, they would go out forice cream or waffles evey day.
In her younger years she was a league tennis player in Virginia. She stopped playing tennis at age 79.
Janet ARNOT was born on 07 February 1913 in Roodepoort. She married William Robert Charles ROBERTS on 01 June 1940, and they settled in Virginia in 1952. He worked at the Harmony Gold Mine. They had two sons, Ian and Clive. Janet had 2 grandchildren and 1 great-grandchild.

Miss Mary
Miss Mary SWART of Huis Klippedrift in Napier celebrated her 100th birthday on 04 June 2015. She moved to Huis Klippedrift in 2015.
Maria Carolina SWART (aka Miss Mary) was born on 04 June 1915 on Heuningberg farm in Bredasdorp. She died on 18 Julie 2017 at age 102 in Napier.
Her father donated a small hall on his property to the African People's Organisation so that they could have a meeting place. Her sister, Susan and husband Jack VAN RENSBURG, fought to save the buildings that now house the Shipwreck Museum in Bredasdorp. In 1967, the authorities planned to demolish the old Independent Church building and hall. The community joined hands and after a large donation from Gideon ALBERTYN, they raised funds for a museum fund. The buildings, which belonged to the Anglican Church at that stage, were bought under the auspices of the municipality and declared a National Monument. The church building houses the Shipwreck Museum and the old hall next door houses the village museum. Miss Mary was an active member of the Friends of the Shipwreck Museum.

Lydia RADEBE of Villiers in the Free State turned 100 in August 2019. She was born on 13 August 1919 on a farm near Villiers.
In 1995 she received the first low-cost 3-room house built in Qalabotjha, Villiers, where she lived with two granddaughters. For her 100th birthday the community made repairs to the house.

Gerty LÖTTER of Robbertsz Street, Brandwacht in Stellenbosch celebrated her 100th birthday on 29 April 2019. She was born in Hopefield. She lived in Somerset West for many years before moving in with her daughter, Rita DE JAGER. Gerty was the youngest of 9 children and outlived them all. She also outlived her son. Gerty died in November 2019.

Willie SMIT turned 100 years old on 10 June 2021, a few days before moving to Ons Tuis Rivera in Pretoria.
Willem Frederick Jacobus SMIT was born on 10 June 1921 near Boksburg, one of six children. Three of them are still alive. He started an apprenticeship at Simmer & Jack Mine, and worked until his 40s on the gold mines in the Welkom area. He left to farm with sheep and cattle on the Highveld, together with his wife Henriëtte and their 4 children ((of whom two daughters are still alive). They later retired to Hartenbos for a few years before moving to Pretoria. He outlived Henriëtte and 2 children. Willie has 7 grandchildren, 10 great-grandchildren and 1 great-great-grandchild.

Chithekile MaGumede HLABISA, 101, survived COVID-19 and later received her vaccination. One of her daughters, Nelisiwe HLABISA, died from COVID-19. Chithekile lives in Ward 1 near Mzingazi in KwaZulu-Natal.

Eunice
Eunice FICK from Bellville, Cape Town, celebrated her 102nd birthday by getting the COVID-19 vaccine on 26 May 2021. Eunice DE JAGER was born in Oudtshoorn and has lived in her flat behind Eureka Retirement Home in Bellville for 26 years. Welhma LISHMAN is one of two daughters.
Eunice has 7 grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren. Her husband, Gabriel Stephanus FICK (aka Kokkie), died on 04 September 2009 at age 94. They were married on 14 March 1945. She is one of Die Burger newspaper's oldest subscribers, having had a subscription for more than 50 years. Her father was also a subscriber.

Coba SCHABORT of Bloemfontein celebrated her 104th birthday on 29 April 2021, spending the day with her two daughters, 9 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren.
Her daughter, Annalet NEL, lives with her in a townhouse in Langenhoven Park. Helene WILKE is her other daughter.
Coba is the oldest member of the Voortrekkerbeweging, having been a member for 90 of their 101 years. She received an honorary award from them in their centenary year.
She grew up in Reivilo, in North West province. The town was named after her father, A.J. OLIVIER. Coba survived the Spanish Flu pandemic, having been infected in 1918.

JOHN RONALD REUEL TOLKIEN - BLOEMFONTEIN'S MOST FAMOUS BABY

2014-01-03T22:56:00.001+02:00

John Ronald Reuel TOLKIEN was born in Bloemfontein on 03 January 1892, the son of Arthur Reuel TOLKIEN, an Englishman who had taken up a position with the Africa Bank Corporation, and his wife Mabel SUFFIELD (1870–1904). Arthur arrived in Cape Town in 1890, and in 1891 he was transferred to Bloemfontein. He sent for his fiancée, Mabel, and they were married on 16 April 1891 in the St. George's Anglican Cathedral in Cape Town. In 1895 when JRR was three years old, his mother took him and his brother, Hilary Arthur Reuel (born 17 February 1894) back to England. During their absence, Arthur fell ill with rheumatic fever and died of severe brain haemorrhage on 15 February 1896. Arthur's funeral service took place at the Anglican Church in Bloemfontein, and he was buried at the President Brand Cemetery on the corner of Church and Rhodes Avenue.

Handwritten Christmas card photo of the Tolkien family, sent by Mabel from Bloemfontein to her relatives in Birmingham, on 15 November 1892. Mabel is seated, the nanny is holding baby JRR then ten months old. The cook and a servant are also included. The original photo was sepia, Mabel had coloured in some sections and added the writing.

In 1992, Arthur's grave was located after a long search made difficult by the lack of a gravestone. Sarel THERON, who worked for the Department of Parks and Recreation in the Boemfontein Municipality, eventually found a burial register for the President Brand Cemetery. Together with Frans VAN DER WALT, who was responsible for the cemeteries, they located the grave using three registers that finally showed the grave was in Block D, Row 3, Grave number 20. A new tombstone was placed on the grave in 1994 by the Tolkien family and and the South African Tolkien Society.

Arthur Tolkien's grave in Bloemfontein

Arthur was born in Handsworth, Stafford, England, in 1857, the eldest child of John Benjamin TOLKIEN and Mary Jane STOWE (circa 1834, Birmingham; died 13 February 1915, Newcastle upon Tyne). His father had previously been married to Jane HOLMWOOD (circa 1806, Fareham, Hampshire; died 1854, Worcester) with whom he had four children:

1) Jane (born circa 1836, Marylebone, London)
2) Emily (born June 1838, Marylebone, London)
3) Louisa (born June 1840, Marylebone, London)
4) John Benjamin (born March 1845, Birmingham, Warwickshire; died 1883, London)

He married Mary on 16 February 1856 at All Saints Parish Church, Birmingham, Warwickshire. They had the following children:

1) Arthur Reuel (born 1857, Handsworth)
2) Mabel (born 1858, Handsworth; died 1937)
3) Grace Bindley (born 1861, Handsworth; died 1904, Kings Norton, Worcestershire)
4) Florence Mary (born 1863, Birmingham)
5) Frank Winslow (born 28 July 1864, Birmingham; died 24 April 1867, West Bromwich)
6) Howard Charles (born 27 December 1866, Birmingham; died 27 October 1867, West Bromwich)
7) Wilfrid Henry (born 1870, Handsworth; died 08 August 1938, Essex)
8) Laurence George H. (born 1873, Moseley, Worcestershire)

John Benjamin was born in 1807 in Middlesex, London. He died on 01 August 1896 in Kings Norton, Warwickshire, England. He was a piano maker, teacher, and tuner. Arthur did not follow in his father's footsteps into the family trade in pianos, instead he became a bank clerk.

The Africa Bank Corporation was a double-storey sandstone building on the corner of Maitland and West Burger Street. The family lived in the top floor. The building later became a Bradlows furniture store. The building was demolished in 1933 and replaced by an Art Deco building that is still there. A bronze plaque was placed on the building in 1984, but was stolen in 1997. Thanks to an alert policeman, it was recovered a few days later, and is now kept at the Hobbit Boutique Hotel in President Steyn Street.

After Arthur's death, Mabel had no income, so she moved back in with her parents in Kings Heath, Birmingham. In 1896, they moved to Sarehole, a Worcestershire village. Mabel taught her two children herself, teaching them art, calligraphy, maths, science, English literature, and reading Latin and French. JRR liked to draw landscapes and trees, but his favourite lessons were languages.

Mabel became a Catholic in 1900, despite her Baptist family's protests. This led to her family stopping financial assistance to her. In 1904, when JRR was 12, Mabel died of acute diabetes at Fern Cottage in Rednal. She was buried at St. Peter's Roman Catholic Church, Bromsgrove, Worcestershire. The young boys stayed with their aunt, Beatrice SUFFIELD, for a short while. Prior to her death, she assigned guardianship of her sons to her close friend, Fr. Francis Xavier MORGAN of the Birmingham Oratory. After her death, JRR grew up in the Edgbaston area of Birmingham and attended King Edward's School, Birmingham, and later St. Philip's School. In 1903, he won a Foundation Scholarship and returned to King Edward's where he was one of the cadets from the school's Officers Training Corps who lined the route for the 1910 Coronation Parade of King George V.

JRR was known as Ronald by his family, and had the nickname Tollers. While in his early teens, JRR's cousins, Mary and Majorie INCLEDON invented their own language called Animalic. Mary and others, including JRR, went on to invent a more complex language they called Nevbosh. His own first invented language was Naffarin.

The 1901 England Census shows JRR living in Kings Norton, Kings Heath, Worcestershire, with his mother and brother. The 1911 England Census shows him boarding at 4 Highfield Road, Edgbaston, with his brother Hilary (occupation: hardware merchant's clerk).

In 1911, JRR went on a summer holiday to Switzerland. In October 1911, he began studying at Exeter College, Oxford. He initially studied Classics but changed his course in 1913 to English Language and Literature, graduating in 1915 with first-class honours. At Oxford he was friends with Clive Staples LEWIS, who went on to write the Narnia Chronicles. Every Monday morning the two would meet to read each other's writings. They later formed a group of writers called The Inklings.

At the age of 16, JRR met Edith Mary BRATT, when he and his brother moved into the boarding house where she lived. She was also an orphan, and a Protestant, which did not please Fr. MORGAN who forbid JRR from having contact with her until he was 21. He obeyed this prohibition, with one early exception, over which Fr. MORGAN threatened to cut short his university career. The day he turned 21, JRR wrote to Edith, asking her to marry him. Edith replied that she had already agreed to marry another man, thinking he had forgotten her. They met up, after which Edith returned her engagement ring and accepted JRR's proposal. She reluctantly converted to Catholicism, after which her Protestant landlord evicted her. They couple were married at St. Mary Immaculate Roman Catholic Church, Warwick, on 22 March 1916. Mary was born on 21 January 1889 in Gloucester, Gloucestershire, and died on 29 November 1971 in Poole, Dorset. She served as the inspiration for his fictional character Lúthien Tinúviel, an Elven princess and the most beautiful of all the Children of Ilúvatar. The couple are buried side by side in Wolvercote Cemetery, Oxford; below the names on their grave are the names Beren and Lúthien: in Tolkien's legendarium, Lúthien and the Man Beren were lovers separated for a time by Lúthien's father King Thingol.

Edith and JRR

JRR and Edith had the following children:

1) John Francis Reuel (16 November 1917 - 22 January 2003). Became a Catholic priest in 1946.
2) Michael Hilary Reuel (22 October 1920 - 27 February 1984)
3) Christopher John Reuel (born 21 November 1924). He married Faith FAULCONBRIDGE in 1951. Their son Simon Mario Reuel was born in 1959. They separated in 1963 and divorced in 1967. He next married Baillie KLASS (born 1941, Winnipeg, Canada) in 1967. They have two children: Adam Reuel (born 1969) and Rachel Clare Reuel (born 1971)
4) Priscilla Mary Anne Reuel (born 18 June 1929)

JRR in World War I

When World War I broke out, JRR did not immediately volunteer for the British Army as he was completing his degree. He was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Lancashire Fusiliers in 1915, after graduation. After training as a Signals Officer, he was sent to the Somme. In between terms behind the lines at Bouzincourt, Tolkien participated in the assaults on the Schwaben Redoubt and the Leipzig Salient. JRR and Edith developed a secret code for his letters home so that Edith could track his whereabouts on a map of the Western Front. In October 1916, as his battalion attacked Regina Trench, JRR came down with trench fever and was invalided to England on in November. By 1918 all but one of his close friends were dead.

In 1921, while teaching at Leeds University, the University of Cape Town offered him a position. However, Edith was still recovering from the birth of their son Michael in 1920, and JRR turned the offer down. In 1922 he became a Professor of English at Oxford. He became a Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College, Oxford, from 1925 to 1945, and then Professor of English Language and Literature at Merton College, Oxford from 1945 to 1959.

He started writing The Hobbit in the early 1930s. It was published on 21 September 1937. Shortly before the outbreak of World War II, he started writing The Lord of the Rings, taking 12 years to complete. It was published in three volumes over the course of a year from 29 July 1954 to 20 October 1955. The three volumes were titled The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King. Sir Stanley UNWIN, his publisher, said of The Lord of the Rings: ''a book for all times which we will be selling long after my departure from this world... a great work''. The Lord of the Rings was released as a film in 2000. After he retired, JRR started work on completing The Silmarillion, which was inspired by his relationship with Edith. It was only completed after his death by his son, Christopher, and published in 1977. JRR died on 02 September 1973 at Bournmouth, England. He was buried at Wolvercote Cemetery, Oxford.

JRR at the Botanical Garden, Oxford. This is probably the last photograph of him, and was taken by his grandson Michael George in 1973.

In 2003, Bloemfontein launched a Tolkien Route. Sights on the tour included Arthur's grave, and the St. George' Anglican Cathedral where JRR was baptised on 31 January 1892, and a bronze plaque can be seen next to the baptismal font. This was followed by a visit to where the Africa Bank Corporation building stood. The tour ended at the Hobbitt Boutique Hotel in President Steyn Street, where each of its seven rooms is named after one of the hobbit characters in The Hobbit. The privately owned Hobbit house has hosted dignitaries, including the Duke of Kent, and JRR's daughter Priscilla. It is owned Jake UYS, who was chairman of the Haradrim Society, a Tolkien society for Afrikaans speakers in South Africa founded in 2000 and now defunct.

It is often claimed that the Amatola Mountains in Hogsback, Eastern Cape, served as inspiration for JRR's stories, and that his family visited the area when he was a baby. No factual evidence has been found for this claim. It is said that while serving in the Royal Air Force, JRR's son Christopher was stationed in nearby Queenstown and visited Hogsback several times. He sent his father sketches and descriptions of the mountains and forests, which might be the root of this claim. Christopher drew the original maps for his father's The Lord of the Rings, which he signed C.J.R.T.

I have not found reference to him being in Queenstown. Christopher enlisted in the Royal Air Force in late 1943 and was sent to South Africa for flight training at 7 Air School in Kroonstad, and 25 Air School in Standerton. He was commissioned into the general duties branch of the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve on 27 January 1945 as a pilot officer on probation. He transferred to the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve on 28 June 1945, and promoted to Flying Officer on 27 July 1945.

MARY "PICKHANDLE" FITZGERALD - A WOMAN OF MANY FIRSTS

2013-11-24T00:12:00.000+02:00

Mary SINNOTT was born in Wexford, Ireland in 1882, one of five children born to Thomas SINNOTT and Margaret DUNN. The family was Catholic. Her eldest siblings were Dorothea / Dorothy Eleanor (Dorrie) and Dennis, and her younger siblings Sarah and Barbara (Babs). Her mother's family had roots in County Meath. Mary attended Presentation Convent in Wexford, where she learnt shorthand, typing and bookkeeping.

Thomas left Wexford for America, where he found employment as a representative for the Singer Sewing Machine Company. A few months later, he set sail for Cape Town. Having decided that the town had good prospects, he returned to Ireland to prepare the family for immigration to South Africa. In 1900, he left for Cape Town, with Mary who was then an attractive, red-haired, fair-skinned teenager. The rest of the family was to follow once they were established in Cape Town.

Shipping records list the following passengers on the Garth Castle departing from Southampton on 15 December 1900 for the Cape:

Miss M. SINNOTT (age 17, born ca 1883, single)
Mr D. SINNOTT (age 20, born ca 1880, single)
Miss S. SINNOTT (age 14, born ca 1886, single)
Mr F. SINNOTT (age 45, born ca 1855)

In Cape Town, Thomas started selling sewing machines, at 10 guineas each, on 28-month installment plans. Mary found work at The Castle, the headquarters of the British military in Cape Town, working for Colonel LONG as a typist. Dennis found work with the Tramways Department, where he later fell from a tram and died from his injuries. After Dennis' death, Barbara took John Brick FITZGERALD, tram conductor and a friend of Dennis, home to meet the bereaved family. Mary later married John at the Catholic Church Cathedral, and they went on to have five children - Mary (died at 6 months of age), Sidney, Kathleen (Kathy), Margaret (Peggy) and Thomas (Tommy).

Soon after the end of the Anglo-Boer War in 1902, the Sinnott and Fitzgerald families left Cape Town for Johannesburg by train. They settled in Belgravia. Margaret looked after Mary's children, and Thomas carried on selling sewing machines. John applied for a job with the City and Suburban Tramways Company and was employed as a tram driver. Mary found work as a typist for the Transvaal Miners' Association. She always wore an ankle length dress or skirt in maroon, olive green, navy or black, with a crisp white blouse and a tie; with shoes, hat and handbag imported from England.

Mary Fitzgerald

She was very concerned with the miners' well-being and often rode around the mines on her bicycle, collecting funds to bury phthisis victims properly. Phthisis is caused by the accumulation of mine dust in the lungs. She accompanied Union officials to gatherings that they addressed, and later started addressing these gatherings herself. She became very popular with the miners. In October 1909 she attended the South African Labour Party conference, the only woman among 54 delegates.

By 1911, when the workers on Johannesburg’s tram system went out on strike, Mary was a prominent labour activist. She lay on the tramlines, preventing scab drivers leaving the depot. The police arrived at the strike armed with pickhandles, In the subsequent clashes at Market Square, some of the pickhandles ended up in the hands of the strikers. They carried these to protest meetings, and this is how Mary earned her nickname of Pickhandle Mary.

In 1912 she attended a meeting chaired by Dora MONTEFIORE, a British sociologist and suffragette, to form the short-lived United Socialist Party. Mary also met Constance Antonina (Nina) BOYLE, another British suffragette and a journalist. She was one of the pioneers of the women's police service in Britain and in April 1918 was the first woman to be nominated to stand for election to the House of Commons. Two of Nina's brothers served in the Anglo-Boer War and Nina lived in South Africa at the time, working in the hospitals and as a journalist. While in South Africa she began to pursue her interest in women's rights, founding the Women's Enfranchisement League of Johannesburg. She returned to Britain in 1911. This friendship led Mary to campaign for women’s votes and equality of pay and opportunity. The Women’s Industrial League, which she founded, organised low-skilled female workers. She orgainsed a work boycott by Johannesburg waitresses which resulted in their improved pay and conditions.

She was also involved in the miners’ and general strikes of 1913 and 1914. Jammed against a wall by a police horse during the 1913 strike, she used her hatpin on the horse to free herself. She shouted defiance at the police and encouraged the strikers to stand firm. On 04 July 1913 a scuffle broke out between police, mounted soldiers and a riotous crowd in Market Square. The police were assaulted after strikers attacked them with stones. Strikers set fire to Park Station and the offices of The Star newspaper. Shop fronts were smashed, followed by looting. The strikers refused to disperse and fired shots at the military. One of the ringleaders, a tall red-headed miner from Nigel named Johannes L. LABUSCHAGNE, twice walked into the street, threw out his arms and shouted, "Shoot me!" The second time, when the crowd behind him began to move forward, he was shot dead. A 13-year old boy, Monty DUNMORE, was shot through the back while selling Strike Heralds to the crowd outside the Rand Club, and horses were killed in the crossfire. After the arson attacks, Mary was arrested for inciting workers to commit public violence. She refused to have her fingerprints taken and was imprisoned for six weeks at the Johannesburg Fort before the trial at which she was acquitted. She was the first woman to be imprisoned and tried for strike activities.

Mary addressing strikers in Market Square, 1913

Mary was at the front of Labuschagne's funeral procession. At a subsequent meeting of the strikers addressed by General Jan SMUTS, she jumped up on the platform, holding a baby. "This is Labuschagne’s baby, the child of the man that you shot," she shouted. The meeting descended into anarchy.

The 1914 general strike was catalysed by the government's decision to retrench railway workers in the National Union of Railway and Harbour Servants on Christmas Eve 1913. Martial law was imposed from January to March 1914. After the strike, General Smuts, then acting Minister of Mines, ordered the deportation to England of the instigators. They were J. T. BAIN, Archibald (Archie) CRAWFORD, R. B. WATERSON, G. MASON, D. MCKERRALL, W. LIVINGSTONE, A. WATSON, W. H. MORGAN and H. J. POUTSMA. Protests against the deportations followed, and the government rescinded the order, but not before the nine deportees were taken from their prison cells at night (without trial), taken by special train to Durban under armed escort and put aboard the steamship Umgeni, which sailed from Durban for London on the morning of 30 January 1914. The Umgeni arrived in London on 24 February 1914.

Mary first met Archibald CRAWFORD in 1911. Born in Scotland, and a fitter by trade, he came to South Africa as a soldier during the Anglo-Boer War. He became a foreman in the Pretoria Railway's Works soon after, until he was dismissed in 1906 for agitating against retrenchment. He became a trade union activist and a Labour councillor, and published the Voice of Labour between 1908 and 1912. They also printed The Strike Herald, which often publish the names of scab workers. When Archie was deported in 1914, Mary joined him, although still married to her husband and pregnant. She gave birth to her last Fitzgerald child in England.

Archie encouraged her to stand in the first Johannesburg Town Council elections in 1915, after women had received the municipal franchise. She won a seat, becoming the first woman to hold public office in the city. She served from 10 November 1915 to 26 October 1921, becoming chairman of the Public Health Committee in 1915, and deputy mayor in 1921 to Mayor John CHRISTIE. On her retirement she was presented with a car bought by public donations, the first to be owned and driven by a Johannesburg woman.

Mary's election poster

Between 1915 and 1918 union membership increased greatly. Unions were getting more organised, and needed to print more pamphlets. Mary trained as a printer, qualifing as a master printer, and becoming the first female printer in Johannesburg. She became co-owner Modern Press with Archie, which printed Voice of Labour. When Voice of Labour became defunct, they produced the Weekly Herald. In 1929 Mary had to abandon Modern Press.

In 1918, Mary divorced John, who although a striker, had remained uninvolved and unhappy with her activities. She married Archie in 1919 and they set up home in Bramley. In 1921 Mary took part in a strike in Durban and in the same year was appointed by the government as an official adviser to her husband at the International Labour Organization conference in Geneva. This trip made her unpopular with workers.

After 1921 Mary seemed to lose interest in union and political activities. She did not stand for Council again in 1922. Mary and Archie's only child, also Archie, was born in 1922. The Communist Party won leadership of the South African Industrial Federation, ousting Archie. He remained in the trade union movement, and Mary settled into domesticity. In 1924 Archie became ill with enteric fever, and died in hospital. After Archie's death, she took no further part in public life. From 1926 she withdrew almost entirely from public view and after a stroke spent her last years living with her daughter. She died in Johannesburg on 26 September 1960, and was buried at the Brixton Cemetery, alongside Archie.

In 1939 the Johannesburg City Council approved a motion to name the square in Newton, the Mary Fitzgerald Square. The square was previously known as Aaron's Ground and was initially a wagon site, but was used for the many strikers' meetings. The council never got around to the official dedication, and it was only so renamed in 1989. The pickhandle she is said to have used was kept at the Africana Museum in Johannesburg. In September 2005 a plaque in her memory was unveiled at Mary Fitzgerald Square - her son, Archie, was 81 when the plaque was unveiled.

Mary's father died in 1916.
Her sister, Dorrie, married Frederick William BROOKS (born in Grahamstown). She died in 1972, as did Frederick.
Sarah married James KELLY. She died in 1966, he died in 1951.
Mary's son, Tommy, had a daughter Glenda who married VAN OERLE.

A small brewery has named a brew after Mary - Pickhandle Mary Malted Oats Stout.

A book, Mary 'Pickhandle' Fitzgerald: Rediscovering a Lost Icon, was written by Frances Hunter, a South African journalist who now lives in Sante Fe, California.

BOERS IN ARGENTINA

2013-11-17T12:22:00.000+02:00

After the Anglo-Boer War, Boers not only trekked to other parts of Africa, they also looked further afield. Argentina was the focus of a large group of Boers. Today, many of their descendants are still found in the Comodoro Rivadavia and Sarmiento areas. Between 1903 and 1909, up to 800 Boer families trekked by ship to Argentina’s east coast. Some of Argentina’s wealthiest sheep farmers are descendants of the first Boers.

Mr. GREEN and Mr. VIETMA were sent from Argentina to recruit new settlers in South Africa. Louis BAUMANN of Bloemfontein was one of the first Boers to move to the province of Chubut, Argentina. Ds. Louis P. VORSTER (Gereformeerde Kerk) of Burgersdorp undertook an investigative trip to Argentina. Upon his return, many Boers joined the new trek.

In October 1905, 322 Boers left Cape Town on board the Highland Fling. A few of the Boers' servants accompanied them. The ship had arrived in Cape Town in with a load of mules from Argentina, and was refurbished to carry the passengers. They arrived in Buenos Aires, and 17 days later boarded the Presidente Roca for Chubut, arriving in Comodoro Rivadavia on 05 December 1903. Comodoro Rivadavia, 2 500 km south of Buenos Aires, is the capital city of the Chubut province. The Boers settled here on land given to them by the Argentinean government. The government wanted to populate the area and recruited foreign settlers.

Once at their new destination, they found that the land was not suitable for farming, but that sheep farming was a good alternative. There was no fresh drinking water on the land, and drinking water had to be brought in by wagon. The Boers asked for a rig from Buenos Aires to drill for water. In 1907 they hit the the first oil well. If the law had been different the Boers would've been super-rich, as most of the oil was found on their land, but in Argentina the State owns all mineral rights.

In 1925 heavy snowfall led to a large loss of sheep, and many of these Boers had to start all over again. In 1934 there were still 900 Boers in Argentine, mostly in the Chubut province. Today, Comodoro Rivadavia is a city of more than 130 000 people. It has an Air Force base, from which Argentina orchestrated its attack of the Falkland Islands. Driving outside Comodoro Rivadavia one sees oil pumps everywhere.

In 1934, Senator Francois Stephanus MALAN visited the Afrikaans community in Argentina in answer to a plea for church and school aid. In 1938, about 600 Boers were repatriated to South Africa, helped by the South African government and churches.

The Afrikaans service of SABC Radio broadcast two programmes about the Afrikaners in Argentina, “Springbok op die Pampas” in 1979 and “Van Pampas tot Springbokvlakte” in 1980. In 1991 only two of the original settlers were still alive.

In 1992, there were approximately 1 000 of Boer descendants left in Argentina. The older descendants still spoke an old version of Afrikaans and surnames such as BOTHA, GRIMBEEK, HENNING, VENTER, VISSER can still be found. They have an annual festival where traditional dance, dress and food are offered. Many of the men have married Argentinean women. They and their children speak Spanish.

In early 1992, a tour group of 107 South Africans, visited Patagonia for 2 weeks. The visit was organised by Ollie VILJOEN, producer of the SABC-TV’s “Spies en Plessie” programme. The local newspapers, radio and TV took photos and did interviews with the 1992 visitors.

Amongst the visitors were many descendants of the original Boer settlers. One of them was the widow Johanna VAN DER MERWE (then 83 years old) from Bellville, Cape. She returned to South Africa with her parents in 1938. Johanna was married three times. Two of her sisters were also in the tour group. Her younger sister was born in Comodoro Rivadavia. She lives in South Africa and married a son of Pieter Hendrik HENNING (author of ‘n Boer in Argentina, published in 1942 by Nasionale Pers). He was involved in the repatriation scheme of a large group of Boers in 1938.

Enrique Carlos GRIMBEEK was born in Argentina but returned to South Africa with his parents. His parents farmed in the Prince Albert area but Henrique soon returned to Patagonia, where he became a wealthy man and married Petronella (Tant Nellie). Together with his two sons, he had a large amount of Merino sheep on the 180 000 acre farm La Begonia. He also provided water and gas to Comodoro Rivadavia. Another business sideline was the oil pumps on his land which produced millions of litres of oil every day. In October 1991, the New York Times interviewed Henrique, then age 79.

In Sarmiento, a Spanish-speaking shop keeper is a Boer descendant, Martin Sebastian VIVIERS. The local Reformed Church was built by the Boers. Another descendant is Nicholas AYLING who owns El Rancho Grande, the only restaurant in town, and farms sheep on the family farm, Media Luna. His mother is Maria Francina AYLING (maiden name VENTER) and known as Bee. Her grandfather was C.J.N. VISSER from Barkly East, one of the leaders of the trek. A bay north of Comodoro is called Puerto Visser after him. Bee lived in Cape Town during the 1930s and attended Jan van Riebeeck High School. She also attended the laying of the Voortrekker Monument’s corner stone in 1938. When her father died, her mother inherited Media Luna and returned to Argentina with the children. Bee met and married Eric AYLING, a British expat in Buenos Aires. In his book, My Life in Patagonia, Eric describes his Afrikaans bride as "very handy and capable in all moments of trouble".

Nellie BLACKIE (maiden name VAN WYK) was five years old when she arrived in Patagonia with her parents. She married Enrique BLACKIE (63 years old in 1991) and they had 10 children. They farmed northwest of Sarmiento. In 1992, Nellie was a pensioner and living in Comodoro Rivadavia. In 1992, Hester VAN WYK (then 83) was one of the oldest original settlers.

In late 1996, Ester Vera Kruger DE PIERANGELI, a Boer descendant, visited South Africa to look for family members. In 1992 she was the wife of Comodoro Rivadavia’s Mayor.

Today, a documentary feature film is being made to commemorate the 100 years history of the Boers in Argentine.

TWO MINUTES OF SILENCE AND POPPY DAY

2013-11-04T18:29:00.001+02:00

The Two Minutes of Silence on 11 November at the 11th hour was the idea of Sir James Percy FITZPATRICK. He was born in King William's Town in 1862 and died in Uitenhage in 1931, eldest son of James Coleman FITZPATRICK, Judge of the Supreme Court of the Cape Colony, and his wife Jenny, both from Ireland.

On his father's death in 1880, he left college in order to support his mother and family. In 1884, he went to the Eastern Transvaal goldfields where he worked as store man, prospector's hand and journalist, and as transport-rider. In Barberton, he became editor of the Gold Fields News.

As a transport rider on ox-wagons he worked on a supply route through the Lowveld, along the Old Delagoa Road, which was used between May and September (the dry disease-free winter months) by transport riders from the Lydenburg Goldfields (Spitzkop, Macmac, Pilgrim's Rest and Lydenburg) to Lourenço Marques. This time of his life, when he was pioneering in the Lowveld, are vividly described in his book Jock of the Bushveld, and served as the setting for many of his Jock's (a Staffordshire Bull Terrier) adventures. It was Rudyard Kipling, a family friend, who persuaded Percy to write the book. A London artist, Edmund CALDWELL, was brought to South Africa to visit the Lowveld and draw the book's illustrations. Percy later became a government official and politician, which led to his involvement in military topics and eventually the Two Minutes Silence on 11 November.

The silent pause tradition has its roots in Cape Town, and in part with the Noonday Gun on Signal Hill.

Our own Tannie Mossie (Joan ABRAHAMS of Bloemfontein) wrote a well-researched book in the 1990s about this - "Time from Africa - A two minute silent pause to remember - 11:00 on the 11th of the 11th month." The book also shows the correct silence - one minute for the dead and one minute for the survivors (on 11 November) and one minute for one person or two minutes for more than one person (for other remembrance ceremonies).

Sir Harry HANDS K.B.E. was the Mayor of Cape Town in 1912 - 1918. He was also the first accountant at Old Mutual. In February 1918 the War Recruiting Committees of the Union of South Africa conference took place at Cape Town's City Hall. As a result, a recruiting drive was begun on 08 April 1918. The drive was inaugurated by church services throughout the city, with the official service held at St George’s Cathedral and attended by Mayor HANDS and the city's councillors.

Shorty thereafter, Mayor HANDS received a telegram notifying him that his eldest son, Captain Reginald Harry Myburgh HANDS, had died on the Western Front. At the outbreak of the war he joined the Imperial Light Horse and was sent to German South West Africa. He transferred to the South African Heavy Artillery and was posted to the Western Front, where he was seconded to the Royal Garrison Artillery. He was promoted to Captain and became second-in-command of his Battery. During the Germans' final large offensive, begun on 21 March 1918, he was gassed, and died of gas poisoning on 20 April 1918.

The Mayor was sitting in his office at City Hall with his friend, Councillor Robert BRYDON, when they heard the 11:00 hour stroke of the clock in the Clock Tower. Still in the office, an hour later they heard the Noonday Gun, fired from Signal Hill. Mr. BRYDON then suggested a silent street pause similar to the Angelus prayer tradition observed daily at noon at many churches. The Noonday Gun was suggested as the signal to start the silence.

On Monday, 13 May 1918 the following was published in the Cape Times newspaper:

"Pause for three minutes.
In some places in the Union it has been the practice during the past few weeks to call halt at midday in order to direct the minds of the people to the tremendous issues which are being fought out on the Western Front, and to afford a minute or two for silent prayer for the forces of the Allies engaged there.
This seems to be an excellent example to copy. And I now appeal to all citizens to observe the same practice in Cape Town as from tomorrow (Tuesday). Upon the sound of the midday gun all tramway cars will become stationary for three minutes and other trams should halt wherever it may be, for the same period.
Pedestrians are asked to remain standing wherever they may be when the gun sounds and everyone, however engaged, to desist from their occupations and observe silence for this short spell. Employers can greatly assist by advising their staff to this effect. I cannot conceive anything more calculated to bring home to us the critical time through which we are passing and it’s responsibilities for all of us and I hope most fervently that all our citizens will help to make the recognition of the solemnity of the occasion as real as possible.
(Signed) H. Hands
Mayor of Cape Town"

During the first observance, Mayor HANDS stood on Cartwright’s Balcony. Afterwards he decided that 3 minutes was too long, and the following was published in the Cape Argus newspaper on 14 May 1918:

"His Worship decided that the pause will retain its hold on the people if it is altered to two minutes instead of three, and that this change will not in any way diminish the power of its appeal. Consequently the pause will be two minutes tomorrow, when Bugler BICCARD will again sound ‘The Post’."

This pause was seen by the Reuter’s correspondent in Cape Town, who cabled a report to London. This was distributed all over Great Britain and re-cabled to the other Dominions. Within a few weeks Reuter’s agency in Cape Town received press cables from London stating that the ceremony had been adopted in two English towns and later by others, including towns in Canada and Australia. The observance of the daily midday Two Minute Silent Pause of Remembrance in Cape Town continued until 14 May 1919. Mayor HANDS retired from office at the end of his term in September 1918. On 02 August 1919, he again stood on the balcony of Cartwright’s next to the bugler for the Last Post ceremony during the Peace Celebration.

Sir James Percy Fitzpatrick

Sir James Percy FITZPATRICK, author of the classic South African story, Jock of the Bushveld, attended a church service in Cape Town in 1916 where a moment of silence was held for dead soldiers. Mr John Albert EAGAR, a Cape Town businessman, had suggested that the congregation observe a silent pause to remember South Africans lost in battle.

Sir Percy's son, Percy Nugent George, was a Major in the Union Defence Force. He was killed in France in 1917.

Major P.N.G. Fitzpatrick

South African Heavy Artillery, 71st Siege Battery

Died 14 Dec 1917, age 28

Born in Johannesburg.

Volunteered on 04 Aug 1914 and served in the Rand Rebellion and German South

West Africa with the Imperial Light Horse.

Buried at Red Cross Corner Cemetery, Beugny

A two minute silence was held in Cape Town on 14 December 1918, a year after Percy Nugent's death.

When Sir Percy heard that 11 November 1918 was going to be observed as Armistice Day in London, he asked for a two minute silence throughout the British Empire as a tribute to dead soldiers. WWI ended on 11 November 1918 with the guns stopped on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month.

Sir Percy proposed this observance to Lord Northcliffe but was disappointed by his reaction. He therefore approached Lord Milner, who forwarded the proposal to King George V’s private secretary, Lord Stamfordham. On 7 November 1919, The Times of London carried this message from the King:

"Tuesday next November 11, is the first anniversary of the Armistice, which stayed the world carnage of the four preceding years…it is my desire and hope that at the hour when the Armistice came into force, the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, there may be, for the brief space of two minutes, a complete suspension of all our normal activities. During that time, except in the rare cases where this may be impracticable, all work, all sound and all locomotion should cease, so that, in perfect silence, the thoughts of everyone may be concentrated on reverent remembrance of the Glorious Dead".

Sir Percy was in California on business to look at their citrus industry when he read on 12 November 1919 that the first Two Minutes Silence had been observed in England the previous day. The Times newspaper reported:

"Throughout the British Empire, from the jungles of India to the snows of Alaska, on trains, on ships at sea, in every part of the globe where a few British were gathered together, the Two Minute Pause was observed".

On 30 January 1920, Sir Percy Fitzpatrick received a letter signed by Lord Stamfordham, the King’s Private Secretary:

"Dear Sir Percy, The King, who learns that you are shortly to leave for South Africa, desires me to assure you that he ever gratefully remembers that the idea of the Two Minute Pause on Armistice Day was due to your initiation, a suggestion readily adopted and carried out with heartfelt sympathy throughout the Empire”. Signed Stamfordham."

Sir Percy Fitzpatrick was also the prime mover of the project to purchase land from France on which the Delville Wood Memorial was built. He was also chairman of the committee in South Africa which raised funds to build the memorial. One of his first tasks was the replanting of the actual forest, which was accomplished with acorns collected from a tree at Franschhoek, grown from one of six acorns brought from France by a French Huguenot when he fled from France in 1688.

On 10 October 1926 Sir Harry HANDS attended the special service held in Cape Town, which was timed to synchronise with the ceremony at the unveiling of the Delville Wood Memorial in France. The service was held at the Noonday Guns of the Lion Battery on Signal Hill and was arranged by the South African Heavy Artillery Association.

The Two Minutes Silence began to be applied to other events too. When Alexander Graham BELL died in 1922, the whole USA phone network observed a two minute silence. In 1995, as part of the 50th anniversary of VE Day, a two-minute silence was held in many Allied countries. The Two Minutes Silence is has been used to mark major disasters, such as September 11. In 2005, a three minute silence was held to pay tribute to the 150 000 people that died in the Asian tsunami.

THE RED POPPY

The poppy story goes back to 1915 when a Canadian soldier from Guelph, Ontario, Major John Alexander McCRAE, was serving in France as a doctor during WWI. He initially served at a First Aid Station between Poperinghe and Ypres, where he wrote his now-famous poem.

The 22-year-old Lieutenant Alexis HELMER took a direct hit from a German shell at Ypres on the Western Front one May morning in 1915. He was buried at sunset. The officer who spoke over his grave as the battle raged around them was his close friend Major John McCRAE. The next day, 03 May, after a night of tending to chlorine gas victims, he looked out from his first-aid post onto a sea of wooden crosses — his friend’s the latest, mingling with the wild red corn poppies that grew there. Then he tore a page from his dispatch book and began to write. In 20 minutes, it was done:

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
      Between the crosses, row on row,
   That mark our place; and in the sky
   The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
   Loved and were loved, and now we lie
         In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
   The torch; be yours to hold it high.
   If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
         In Flanders fields.

It was first published on 08 December 1915 in the British magazine, Punch. John McCRAE's words were a lament for the sorrow and loss of war, not a glorification of it. They honoured not slaughter but sacrifice, our humanity not inhumanity.

Later he was appointed as Commanding Officer at the 3rd McGill Canadian General Hospital in Boulogne. He died there of pneumonia and meningitis on 28 January 1918. To honour him, comrades searched fields for poppies to lay on his grave but, in the dead of winter, found none. So they ordered artificial poppies to be made in Paris and woven into a wreath.

Lt. Col. John A McCrae

In 1916 artificial poppies were distributed in England for charity at some venues, such as St. Michael’s War Work Party, in South Shields, in August. The Sleights Red Cross Hospital held a Poppy Day in Whitby to raise funds for their hospital’s war effort. Also in August, there was a Poppy Day in Nottingham to benefit orphans.

On 09 November 1918, Moina Belle MICHAEL, a professor at the University of Georgia in the USA, was working in the YMCA Overseas War Secretaries’ headquarters during its training conference at Columbia University in New York City. In the Ladies Home Journal magazine that day, she came across McCrae’s poem and was so moved that she vowed to always wear a red poppy in remembrance. That same month she wrote an answering poem in reply, We Shall Keep the Faith:

Moina Michael

Oh! you who sleep in Flanders Fields,
Sleep sweet - to rise anew!
We caught the torch you threw
And holding high, we keep the Faith
With All who died.

We cherish, too, the poppy red
That grows on fields where valor led;
It seems to signal to the skies
That blood of heroes never dies,
But lends a lustre to the red
Of the flower that blooms above the dead
In Flanders Fields.

And now the Torch and Poppy Red
We wear in honor of our dead.
Fear not that ye have died for naught;
We'll teach the lesson that ye wrought
In Flanders Fields.

She was given $10 by the conference delegates as thanks for her work, and this she spent during her lunch break buying 25 red silk poppies at Wanamaker’s department store. She pinned one to her coat and distributed the rest amongst the delegates, asking them to wear them as a tribute to fallen American soldiers. After returning to the University of Georgia in 1920, she taught a class of disabled veterans. Realising how much support they needed, she thought of selling artificial poppies to raise funds for America’s disabled veterans. She was born in Good Hope, Georgia in 1869, retired in 1938 and lived in Athens, USA, until her death in 1944. By then poppy sales in the USA had raised more than $200-million for the rehabilitation of war veterans. Her autobiography is titled The Miracle Flower: The Story of the Flanders Fields Memorial Poppy (1941).

By 1918, the poppy's symbolism had increased. Men serving in France and Flanders had been sending picked poppies back to loved ones in their letters. In April 1918 American women gave out poppies in New York after accepting war effort donations.

In September 1920, the American Legion held it's annual conference in Cleveland, Ohio. Present was a French woman, Anna E GUERIN, representing the American and French Children’s League.

Anna Guérin, in the 12 June 1918 issue of the Wichita Daily Eagle, Kansas.

Anna Alix BOULEE was born in 1878 in Vallon, Ardèche, France. She married Paul RABANIT in November 897 in Vallon. He was born in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba in 1871. After his mother's death in 1887 in Cuba, his father took the two sons to New York in May 1879. Soon after the marriage, Paul and Anna sailed to the French colony, Madagascar, where they settled in Tamatave. There Anna opened a school in 1899 and ran it until she returned to France in 1909. The couple had two daughters there, Raymonde in 1900 and Renée in 1901. They couple divorced in 1907.

In October 1910, Anna married Constant Charles Eugène GUERIN in Paris. He was a Judge, and working in Kayes, French Sudan. They had met in Madagascar. After the marriage he returned to Sudan. Anna and her daughters moved to England, where Anna worked as a lecturer for the Alliance Française organisation, lecturing all over the UK.

In October 1914, Anna left Liverpool for the USA, onboard the Lusitania, arriving in New York. Her daughters remained at boarding school in England with her mother. Her husband was then in Lyon as a French attaché at the World Fair. When WWI broke out, the World Fair was closed down and become part of an official mission to the Congo, after which he enlisted in the French military, until he was sent back to Africa in 1916 on behalf of the French government.

Anna initially went to the USA as an Alliance Française lecturer. Once there she lectured all over the country at many First World War patriotic drives before the USA entered the war, and became a fundraiser, during and after the war, for the war effort and for France. She lectured in the USA from October 1914 until May 1915, after which she returned to France. By September 1915, she was at the Waldorf Astoria with her daughter Raymonde, when her daughter Renée arrived in the city from Bordeaux. Anna left the USA with her daughters some time after March 1916, as she returned to the Waldorf Astoria in September 1916 from Bordeaux with daughter Raymonde. She returned to France after April 1917 with daughter Raymonde. She was back in the USA in October 1917, joining her sister, Juliette, at the Washington Hotel in New York. Anna continued criss-crossing the USA giving talks at patriotic lectures and raising funds, as can be seen from numerous newspaper reports in the USA. She started selling floral boutonnières in September 1918, raising funds this way for French orphans. She returned to France in November 1918, when her tours were cut short by the Spanish Flu outbreak.

In France, Anna founded the "La Ligue des enfants de France et d’Amérique" in December 1918, officially setting it up in Paris. It was affiliated to the French government and the poppy was used as its emblem. Through her foundation she organised French women, children and war veterans to make artificial poppies out of cloth. She saw that artificial poppies could be sold as a way of raising money to help the French people, especially orphaned children, who were suffering as a result of the war. She became known as the Poppy Lady of France. In the USA, Anna set up her foundation as the "American and French Children's League" in 1919, having returned to the USA in March 1919. She gave her last residential address in France as Vendeuvre, Calvados. Her husband Eugéne was still working in Sudan, and her daughters were in Vallon with her mother. Her sister Juliette was living in Lincoln, Nebraska. Anna spent the year speaking and fundraising across the USA for the US Victory Loan and French orphans.

In Milwaukee, Wisconsin on 06 June 1919, a homecoming celebration was arranged for the US 32^nd Division. A few women volunteers set up a stand selling doughnuts and coffee. One of the volunteers, the widow Mary HANECY, decorated the stand with poppies but the poppies were taken by Americans who left a donation on the counter. The volunteers used that money to help disabled veterans. Mary saw the potential for a fundraiser for the Milwaukee American Legion, and suggested they hold a Poppy Day for Memorial Day. In 1920 on the Saturday before Memorial Day, the American Legion distributed 50 000 poppies. Donations totalling $5000 were received and used for veterans’ rehabilitation. Mary was given a Certificate of Appreciation by the American Legion in 1932.

Mary Ann CALDWELL was born in 1861 in Milwaukee to Irish parents. She married John Joseph HENNESSEY, a fire-fighter. He died in January 1910 while fighting a fire. The surname gradually changed to HANECY. Mary died on 11 September 1948.

WWI ended on 28 June 1919 when the Treaty of Versailles was signed. Anna continued fundraising tours to raise money for the widows and orphans. In the last four years of the war, she had given more than 500 talks in 30 states, and crossed the Atlantic Ocean nine times. In 1919 she was awarded a U.S. Victory Liberty Loan Medal for her service during the US Liberty Loan campaigns.

In September 1920, the American Legion held it's annual conference in Cleveland, Ohio. It was here that it became the first of the WWI allied veterans’ groups to adopt the poppy as a remembrance emblem, after Anna was invited to speak about her "Inter-Allied Poppy Day' idea at the conference. For the first US National Poppy Day in 1921, it was agreed all distribution proceeds would go to Anna's foundation work in France.

After the American Legion officially adopted the poppy, veteran groups of the British Empire nations soon did the same. Anna decided to introduce the poppy to other nations who had been allies of France during WWI. During 1921 she visited or sent representatives to Australia, Britain, Canada and New Zealand.

Field Marshal Haig (left), Field Marshal Smuts (centre) and General Lukin (right) in Cape Town, 1921

Members of veterans organisations in Great Britain, Canada, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand came together to form the British Empire Services League in Cape Town on 21 February 1921. Three prominent soldiers, Field Marshall Douglas HAIG, Field Marshal Jan SMUTS and General Henry LUKIN headed this inaugural meeting in the Cape Town City Hall. Field Marshal HAIG went on from this meeting to start what is now known as the Royal British Legion, and Field Marshal SMUTS and General LUKIN went on to start what is now known as the South African Legion. At this conference the Haig Poppy (named after the Field Marshall) was adopted as the official remembrance symbol.

Anna travelled to Canada, where she met with representatives of the Great War Veterans Association of Canada. This organisation later became the Royal Canadian Legion. The Great War Veterans Association adopted the poppy as its national flower of remembrance on 05 July 1921.

She visited Field Marshall Douglas HAIG, president of the British Legion, and persuaded him to adopt the poppy as the Legion's emblem in 1921. It was also Anna who suggested that the Legion sell artificial poppies to raise money. The Legion signed on and 1.5 million poppies were ordered for 11 November 1921. The first Poppy Appeal made £106,000. Initially the poppies were made by the French women and orphans, and later a poppy factory was set up in South London. By the end of the 20th century, the British Legion was selling over 32 million poppies per annum.

Australia adopted the poppy as from 11 November 1921. Anna's foundation sent a million artificial poppies to Australia for the 1921 Armistice Day commemoration. The Returned Soldiers and Sailors Imperial League sold the poppies for one shilling each. Of this, five pennies were donated to Anna's French orphans, six pennies were donated to the Returned Soldiers and Sailors Imperial League and one penny was received by the government.

In September 1921 Anna sent a representative to the New Zealand Returned Soldiers' Association (NZRSA).They placed an order for 350 000 small and 16 000 large French-made poppies. Unfortunately the delivery did not arrive in time to for 11 November and the Association decided to hold the first Poppy Day on 24 April 1922, the day before ANZAC Day. The first Poppy Day in New Zealand raised more than £13 000. A proportion of this was sent to Anna's French orphans, and the remainder was used by the Association for support and welfare of returned soldiers.

In 1922 the American and French Childrens' League was disbanded. Anna left the USA in early 1922 for England and France, continuing her work with poppy campaigns. She was in charge of the 1922 Poppy Day arrangements in Canada, for that November’s commemoration. Most of those poppies was made by unemployed ex-service men in Canada, with the small balance coming from Anna's French widows and orphans. For the 1922 US Poppy Day, Anna asked the American Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) to help her with the distribution of her French-made poppies. In March 1923, 2 million French-made poppies were sent to the USA, ordered by the American Legion, for their 1923 Memorial Day poppy drives. Anna was also involved in arranging poppy supplies for Australia and New Zealand until 1927 and 1929 respectively.

Following the distribution of the French-made poppies in 1922, the VFW agreed in 1923 that American veterans could also benefit from making and selling poppies. From 1924 disabled ex-servicemen started making poppies at the Buddy Poppy factory in Pittsburgh. Buddy Poppy was registered as a U.S. Patent in February 1924. The Buddy Poppy programme has continued to raise money for the welfare and support of veterans and their dependants. There are now 11 locations where the Buddy Poppies are made by disabled and needy veterans. More than 14 million Buddy Poppies are distributed each year in the United States.

From 1924 until WWII started, Anna travelled to New York about twice a year from France. In February 1925, Anna was with Juliette in New York when her husband Eugéne arrived on St. Valentine’s Day for a two week holiday. She listed him as her next of kin whilst travelling until November 1935, and in December 1938 she listed her daughter Raymonde as next of kin. It is not known whether Eugéne died or they separated. Anna then opened a French antique business in New York. Her sister Juliette and friend Blanche managed it at least until April 1940, when they are listed in the 1940 US Census at an antiques business at 200 E 60th Street, New York. Anna was in France at the time the US 1940 census was taken, and is travelling from Nazaire on the ship Champlain in 19 May 1940 to New York. She most likely spent the WWII years in the USA. After the war, she left the USA in July 1945 and returned in November 1945 from Le Havre. She did these trips about twice a year. From 1946 to 1956, Anna flew into New York from Paris, instead of sailing, with her address given as 957 3^rd Avenue, New York.

Anna died on 16 April 1961 at le Square Charles Dickens 5, Paris, where her daughter Renée lived in one of the apartments above the Musée du Vin. She was 83 years old. History has not always been kind in remembering that it was Anna GUERIN who started the national Poppy Days in the USA and the Allied countries - let us remember her as such, it was her life's work.

In early 1941 Anna wrote about her work regarding her idea for an "Inter-Allied Poppy Day". This writing about the history of the National Poppy Days was sent to Moina MICHAEL. It is today in the Moina Michael papers held at the State of Georgia Archives. In her writing, Anna mentioned that she had organised Poppy Day in Canada with two ladies, her sister Juliette Virginie BOULLE and Anna’s friend Blanche BERNERON, the widow of Eugène BERNERON. Anna then left them in Canada and travelled to England, Belgium and Italy. She mentioned that she "was sending Colonel MOFFAT to South Africa (Natal), Australia and New Zealand" to organise there. As far as is known, this is the only reference connecting Anna to South Africa. Colonel MOFFAT's ship "Aeneas" stopped in Durban (Port Natal), and later at Cape Town enroute from Melbourne to Liverpool.

In South Africa, the South African Legion still holds a few collections in malls to raise funds to assist in the welfare work among military veterans. They do not sell the poppies but accept donations in return. When you buy a poppy for Remembrance Day, you pay tribute to those who died, and you are helping those who survived and bear the scars of war.

HOW AND WHEN TO WEAR A POPPY
The poppy campaigns usually start two weekends prior to Remembrance Day, 11 November. The poppy can also been worn at the funeral of a veteran or a special occasion connected to veterans.
The most common place to wear a poppy is on the left, over the heart or on the left lapel of one’s jacket.
The leaf of the poppy, if there is one, should be positioned at the orientation of 11 o’clock, to symbolise the 11th hour of the 11 day of the 11th month - the time that World War I formally ended. The red represents the blood of all those who gave their lives, the black represents the mourning of those who lost their loved, and the green leaf represents the grass and crops growing and future prosperity after the war destroyed so much.
The poppy is not for sale, they're distributed and donations of any amount are encouraged in exchange.
If you don't keep your poppy, you can leave it on a veteran's gravestone or on a cenotaph as a sign of respect and honour.

THE CURRIE CUP

2013-10-26T17:54:00.004+02:00

Reverend Ogilvie

The Currie Cup has been South Africa‘s premier domestic rugby union competition, featuring provincial / regional teams. The Currie Cup is one of the oldest rugby competitions in the world.

Reverend George “Gog” OGILVIE (born 1826 in Wiltshire, England) is credited with introducing rugby to South Africa, following his appointment as Headmaster of the Diocesan College at Rondebosch in 1861. This game was the Winchester football variety, which the Reverend had learnt during his school days at Hampshire School. The first games were often reported in the local newspapers and featured teams such as “Town versus Suburbs” and “Home versus Colonials”.

It was at a farewell reception for the British Isles rugby team, which was leaving for a tour of South Africa, that Sir Donald CURRIE (17 September 1825 – 13 April 1909), a British ship owner, handed over what was to become the Currie Cup. The reception was held at the Southampton Docks in June 1891. On the 7th July thanks to the sponsorship of Cecil RHODES, the first British Isles rugby team arrived in Cape Town aboard the Dunottar Castle. They were mainly Scottish and English players captained by the Scottish wing William Edward MACLAGAN (5 April 1858 – 10 October 1926). Their first match was against the club Hamiltons which they won 15-1. The only try by the home team was scored by Charles (Hasie) VERSVELD, brother of Loftus VERSVELD. The Cape Times carried reports.

Sir Donald Currie

The first international match in which a South African team played was against the British tourists on the 30th July in Port Elizabeth. The South Africans were captained by Herbert Hayton CASTENS. In 1894 he was also the captain of the South African touring cricket team to England. Herbert was born on the 23rd November 1864 in Pearston, Eastern Cape, and died on 18 October 1929 in Fulham, London. The British beat South Africa 4-0 in that first Test. The 1891 British team won all their matches.

Herbert H. Castens

The golden cup given to the British team was given to Griqualand West during the British team’s farewell reception in September aboard the Garth Castle, but there was no team representative present. Griqualand West were deemed the best opposition team by the tourists. In an early show of typical South African rugby rivalry, Western Province supporters were not happy that Griqualand West was awarded the trophy. They claimed that the hard and grass-less playing field in Kimberley gave them an unfair advantage.

Sir Donald wanted the cup to become a floating trophy for South African inter-provincial champions. Griqualand West later donated the trophy to the Rugby Board, who made it the prize for the Currie Cup competition. The cup was insured for £40 when it was put on display, shortly after its arrival, in a window shop in Adderley Street. The words “South African Football Challenge Cup” were engraved on the cup.

Undated Currie Cup

Although the cup bears Sir Donald’s name, the competition has its roots in an inter-town competition that started in 1884. By the time the South African Rugby Board was founded in 1889, it was decided to organise a national competition. The first tournament was held in Kimberley and was won by Western Province. The winning team received a silver cup donated by the South African Rugby Board. This cup is on display at the South African Rugby Museum in Cape Town. The cup donated by Sir Donald was competed for from 1892 onwards. The 1892 tournament was played in Kimberley from the 12th – 23rd September. It was won by Western Province. The other teams were Natal, Griqualand West, Border and Transvaal. Christiaan BEYERS, who later became a Boer General, was part of the Transvaal team.

In the early rugby years there were no Cup finals. The team that finished at the top of the log was declared the champion. In the early 1900s, the Currie Cup was not competed for annually. The first Currie Cup final was played in 1939 at Newlands where Transvaal beat Western Province. The format varied and finals were held intermittently up until 1968. In its early days and until 1920, the tournament lasted a week and was played in one town. The competition was also interrupted by the two World Wars. The first annual Currie Cup final was held in 1968 when Northern Transvaal, featuring Frik DU PREEZ, beat Transvaal.

Politics was already casting its shadow over South African rugby way back then. In 1895, the 15 British soldiers representing Natal in the Currie Cup tournament had to get permission from Paul KRUGER to enter the ZAR in their uniforms. At this tournament’s official dinner, officials and players made toasts to KRUGER and Queen Victoria. During the 1899 tournament, Western Province, Transvaal and the Free State stayed away because of the Anglo-Boer War. The 1908 Currie Cup tournament, held in Port Elizabeth, was the last one held in Sir Donald’s lifetime.

In the 1898 tournament, the Transvaal team faced tragedy when their fullback David Gill (Davey) COPE was killed in a train accident at Mosterthoek on 16 August 1898 while on his way to the tournament in Cape Town. A week later another Transvaal player, Boy TAIT, died of injuries sustained in the same accident.

The Currie Cup is such a big part of South African rugby, that it is not well-known that there were other Currie Cups involving other sports. All the cups were donated by Sir Donald.

On the 5th January 1808, a cricket match between two teams of English officers took place in Cape Town. In 1862, an annual fixture “Mother Country versus Colonial Born” was staged in Cape Town. In March 1889, the English cricket team played in a Test match against South Africa at Port Elizabeth. Sir Donald sponsored the English team’s tour of South Africa. When the team left England, he gave them a cup to be presented to the best South African team that they faced. As with his request for the rugby cup, the trophy was then to be used in domestic competition. The cup was inscribed with “To the Cricket Clubs of South Africa, 1889?. In 1890 the Kimberley cricket team became the first team to be awarded cricket’s Currie Cup. Cricket’s Currie Cup tournament was later renamed the Castle Cup. When the Wanderers Clubhouse caught fire in 2004, the silver Currie Cup was lost in the fire.

In 1899 he donated a cup for water-polo tournaments. A year later, Western Province won the first water-polo Currie Cup at the first inter-provincial swimming and water-polo tournament.

Another Currie Cup was given by Sir Donald to the Cape Town Highlanders.

MUSICIAN MIKE RUTHERFORD'S SOUTH AFRICAN ROOTS

2013-08-25T01:42:00.002+02:00

Mike RUTHERFORD (62), founding member of Genesis and currently of the band Mike and the Mechanics, has some interesting connections to South Africa. Not only does he own a house in Cape Town's Bantry Bay, but some of his ancestral roots are also in the fairest Cape.

He was born Michael John Cloete Crawford RUTHERFORD on 02 October 1950 in Guildford, Surrey. His father, William Francis Henry Crawford RUTHERFORD, CBE, DSO (1906 Streatham, London - 1986, Surrey) married Annette Jessie Downing WILSON (1908 Cheshire - 1993, Somerset) in 1937 at Westminster, London. He was involved with the sinking of the Bismarck.

William was the only son of Colonel Nathaniel John Crawford RUTHERFORD, DSO, MB, RAMC (1874 - 1960, Surrey) and Lilla Roberta JACKSON (1883, Wynberg, Cape - 1979, Hampshire). William joined the Royal Navy in 1920 and served until 1956, retiring as a Captain. Nathaniel served in the Royal Army Medical Corps and was the author of two books, Soldiering with a stethoscope, and Memories of an Army Surgeon.

Lilla Roberta JACKSON was the daughter of Charles Henry JACKSON (1838, Devonshire, England - 1905, Vredenhof, Wynberg, Cape) and Johanna Reneira Catherina CLOETE (1855, Cape - 1895, Wynberg). Charles married Johanna in June 1874 in Cape Town. He served as a Captain in the 86th Regiment of Foot. They are both buried at St. John's Cemetery in Wynberg.

Charles and Johanna had the following children:

Anna Augusta born in 1875, died in 1949, married Francis William Cubitt CHIAPPINI
Henry born in 1877
Lucy Arabella Bettina born in 1878, married Frank HARVEY
John Sidney born in 1880, died 1927
Lilla Roberta born in 1883, married Nathaniel John Crawford RUTHERFORD
Dirk Cloete van Alphen born in 1885 at Alphen Farm, Constantia, died in 1976 at Silkaatsnek Farm, Brits. Attended Bishop's Shool in Cape Town. He was a member of the Springbok rugby team that toured the UK in 1906-07. He also played cricket for Western Province and Transvaal. Also known as Dirk Cloete JACKSON.
Charles Goss born in 1888
Munton Francis born in 1890
Raneira Catherina

Some of the children were baptised at St. John's Anglican Church in Wynberg, where family members are buried in the church's cemetery.

Johanna was the daughter of Dirk CLOETE (1820, Wynberg - 1894, Wynberg) and Johanna Reiniera Catherina VAN OOSTERZEE (circa 1823 - 1891). Her parents married in March 1843 in Cape Town. Dirk was also known as David. The family lived at Alphen Farm in Constantia.

The history of Alphen dates back to the early 18th century, when 5 morgen and 200 square roods of garden land were granted to Theunis VAN SCHALKWYK. More land was added over the years, until in 1765 it was consolidated into a single property some 16 morgen in extent. In 1850 Johannes Albertus MUNNIK bought the estate, and after his death in 1854, Dirk CLOETE acquired the estate.

The Cloete family of Alphen can be traced back to Dirk CLOETE who lived on the farm Nooitgedacht and farmed there until his death in 1833. Dirk's son married Anna Gesina BORCHERDS, and their only son married Reiniera Johanna VAN OOSTERZEE after which they moved to Alphen. Their descendants are known as the Alphen Cloetes.

Alphen has remained in Cloete family hands for over 150 years and today is owned by The Alphen Trust whose trustees administer the estate for the Cloete family.

a) Jacob CLOETE arrived at the Cape from Cologne, believed to be in 1652, in the service of the Dutch East India Company. Jacob was one of the first free burghers at the Cape, in August 1657, receiving a farm in October 1657, situated on the Liesbeeck River. A free burgher (vryburgher / vrijburgher) was a soldier or employee of the Dutch East India Company who was released from his contractual obligation to the Company and given permission to farm, become a tradesman or work for another employer. In 1671 he returned to the Netherlands, and later returned to the Cape as a Corporal. He was mysteriously murdered on 23 May 1693 by deserters near the Castle. He was married to Fytje (Sophia) RADEROOTJES, who arrived at the Cape in 1658 from Cologne with her brother Peter.

b4) Coenraad CLOETE (1663 - circa 1703) married Martha VERSCHUUR in 1693

c2) Jacobus CLOETE (born 1699) married Sibella PASSMAN

d2) Hendrik CLOETE (1725 - 1799) married Hester Anna LOURENS in 1753

e8) Dirk CLOETE (1767 - 1833) married first to Sophia Margaretha MYBURGH in 1792, and second to Anna Elizabeth VAN DER BYL in 1800 in Stellenbosch.

f1) Hendrik CLOETE (1793 - 1838) married Anna Gesina BORCHERDS (1794 - 1870, Stellenbosch)in 1813.

g2) Dirk CLOETE (1820 - 1894) married Johanna Reiniera Catharina VAN OOSTERZEE in March 1843

h?) Johanna Reneira Catherina CLOETE (1855, Cape - 1895, Wynberg)

Johanna Reiniera Catherina VAN OOSTERZEE was the daughter of Dr. Johannes Knockers VAN OOSTERZEE (1793, Cape - 1829, Rotterdam, Netherlands) and Augusta Wilhelmina Magdalena THALMAN (born 1804, Batavia). Johannes was a medical doctor in Cape Town and Leiden. He married Augusta in August 1819 in Cape Town. Johannes' father, Willem Johan VAN OOSTERZEE, was born circa 1765 in Sas van Gent, Netherlands. He was in the service of the Dutch East India Company at the Cape, where he was a merchant and bookkeeper. He married Reineira Johanna Catharina KNOCKERS (born 1762) in June 1789 in Cape Town.

Mike RUTHERFORD received his first guitar at the age of 8. He was a bassist and backing vocalist with Genesis in the early days, and often played rhythm guitar and twelve-string guitar for the band. In 1977 he became their lead guitarist. He wrote the lyrics to many Genesis songs. He formed Mike and The Mechanics in 1985, and in 2010 was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Furthering his South African connections, he bought a plot of land in Bantry's Bay from a cousin in 1995, and eventually built a house. He has also ridden the Cape Argus Cycle Tour, and is involved in a music education project with Pieter Dirk-Uys in Darling. Last year he recorded a new version of his song, The Living Years, with Cape Town's Isango Ensemble. He lives mostly in Surrey, England, with his wife Angie. They were married in November 1976 and have three children: Kate, Tom and Harry.

SOUTH AFRICAN GHOSTS AND THEIR HAUNTS

2012-11-01T11:37:00.003+02:00

Whether you believe in ghosts or not, South Africa has many ghost stories and mysterious happenings to share with you.

SOMERSET EAST
The Somerset East Old Parsonage Museum has a few ghosts. A tall man in a black suit has been seen sitting behind the desk in the study. The light bulb over the desk switches on and off when people enter the room. Heavy footsteps have been heard, descending the staircase. Slow, heavy footsteps have been heard in the upstairs rooms. It is believed that this is the ghost of a church minister. People have reported seeing a little boy in Victorian dress standing in a corner, or running, with a very sad expression. There is a grave under the floor of the room where he has been seen, where the infant son of a church minister was buried. A soldier roams the Walter Battis Art Gallery. It was the Officer's Mess, built during the time of Somerset Farm. It is said that on some nights, one can hear the English officers throwing their glasses into the fireplace. On dark nights, passers-by have reported seeing a man standing at the upstairs window.

Somerset East Old Parsonage Museum

KIMBERLEY
Kimberley is well-known for its many ghosts. It is said there are 158 haunted houses and buildings with over 200 still to be verified by paranormal experts. The Clyde N. Terry Hall of Militaria, a private military museum, is close to the Honoured Dead Memorial which contains the remains of British soldiers killed during the Anglo-Boer War. An old military trunk in the museum rattles on the floor and moves around while no-one is watching. There is a strong smell of herbs. A baby’s cries can be heard as the lid of a tin trunk mysteriously opens and closes.

Dunluce, a stately home built in 1897 for the diamond buyer Gustav BONAS, was bought in 1903 by John ORR, one of South Africa's early retail barons. Flickering lights and moving figures are often seen after dark. A woman in a pink period dress is often seen walking through closed doors. The house was originally named Gustav Bonas House or Lillianvale, and renamed Dunluce by John ORR, when he bought it with its fittings and furnishings for 6400. He lived there until his death in 1932, after which his eldest daughter and her family moved in until 1975. Dunluce was purchased by Barlow Rand in 1975, restored and donated to the McGregor Museum. It was used as accommodation for Barlow Rand managers until 1985, and was declared a national monument in 1990. The gardens, maintained by Charlie DZENE for more than fifty years, are often used for wedding receptions and garden parties.

Dunluce

John ORR established a drapery store in 1885 in Jones Street, Kimberley. In 1892 he married Mary Ellen HARPER. They had five children. He served as Mayor of Kimberley from 1909 to 1910 and again from 1916 to 1918. In 1910 he issued Kimberley Souvenir Cups to celebrate the formation of the Union of South Africa. He was a member of the first Management Board of the Alexander McGregor Memorial Museum, and was founder of the Kimberley Horticultural Society. His business went on to establish branches in Durban, Johannesburg, Benoni, Lourenco Marques and Springs. In 1918 he was awarded an MBE. He died in 1932 in Dublin whilst on holiday with his wife and youngest daughter Mollie. His other daughter, Eileen, married Lionel COOPER, a pharmacist. They lived with her mother at Dunluce after John's death. Elaine died in 1973. The portraits in the drawing room are of Eileen’s daughters, Rosemary (1928 - 1990) and June (born 1934), and June’s sons, Craig and Glenn. The house still contains the fittings and furnishings left by the ORR family, as well as some from the BONAS family. The dining room suffered a direct hit by a Long Tom shell during the Siege of Kimberley, and was severely damaged. The swimming pool is believed to have been the first private swimming pool in Kimberley.

Rudd House was built on Plot 931 during the late 1880s. Known as The Bungalow, it originally had four rooms. In 1888 the property was occupied by William Henry SOLOMON. In 1896 The Bungalow was transferred to Charles Dunell RUDD, and in 1898 to his son Henry Percy. The house was opened to the public in September 1988. Ghosts have been seen tending the plants in the greenhouse. The ghost of the last owner's son, who committed suicide, is said to pace the garden. In the conservatory an apparition of a governess is said to be visible occasionally through the windows as she tidies the room. Behind the house there are outbuildings, including a garage. Many people have taken a photograph through a gap in the garage door, and later found an unexplained image in the photograph. Some people have heard a baby crying at night in the nursery, and others have heard glass breaking in the pantry. A lady dressed in a white dress is sometimes seen in the sun room on the roof, looking very sad. Sometimes she's seen standing at the tree in the garden. Some have even said she joins visitors in their car when they leave.

Charles Rudd and family at Rudd House

Charles Dunell RUDD was born at Hanworth Hall, Norfolk on 22 October 1844 and died on 15 November 1916 in London, England. He was the third son of Henry RUDD and his first wife, Mary STANBRIDGE. Charles was educated at Harrow and Cambridge. Before he could finish his studies, he moved to South Africa in 1865 on medical advice. He hunted in Zululand with John DUNN, and left for Ceylon before returning to England in 1867. Before the year was over, he returned to Cape Town. In the early 1870s, he worked for his brother Thomas' Port Elizabeth-based trading firm. In 1871 Charles went into partnership with Cecil John RHODES, working diamond claims in Kimberley, dealing in diamonds and operating pumping and ice-making machinery. They ordered Kimberley’s first ice-making machine. Between 1873 and 1881, while Cecil attended college in England, Charles managed their interests. In 1880 they formed the De Beers Mining Company. In 1888 Cecil founded the amalgamated De Beers Consolidated Mining Company. In October 1888 Charles secured an agreement to the mineral rights of Matabeleland and Mashonaland from Lobengula, King of Matabeleland. The agreement became known as the Rudd Concession. Charles remained a director of Gold Fields until 1902, after which he retired to Scotland, buying the Ardnamurchan estate in Argyll. Here he built Glenborrodale Castle. He loved salmon fishing on the River Shiel, grouse shooting and deer stalking on the estate. He had a steam yacht called The Mingary, anchored in Glenborrodale Bay. He died in 1916 after an unsuccessful prostate operation in London. His grave at Archaracle Church is marked by a tombstone. He was the anonymous donor of GBP200 000 for the erection of new buildings at the Mount Vernon Hospital. Rudd Drive in the suburb of Ernestville is named after him.

Charles married Frances Georgina Leighton CHIAPPINI on 05 February 1868 at St George's Anglican Cathedral in Cape Town. She was born circa 1847 in Cape Town, the daughter of Edward Lorenzo CHIAPPINI and Anna Catherine Margaretha GIE. Frances died on 10 September 1896 at Sheildaig Lodge, Gairstock, Scotland. They had four children - Henry Percy born on 05 December 1868, Franklin Martin born in 1870, Charles John Lockhart born on 12 March 1873, and Evelyn Lily born about 1881 who married Sir John Eldon GORST. In 1898 Charles married his second wife, Corrie Maria WALLACE, eldest daughter of R.E. WALLACE of Kimberley. Her father was Charles' partner in the machinery company.

Henry Percy was baptised on 10 January 1869 at St Paul's Church in Rondebosch. He was known as Percy. In 1898 he owned The Bungalow. He married Mabel BLYTHE, daughter of Captain BLYTH, in 1893. They had two sons and two daughters. Their son, Bevil Gordon D’Urban RUDD, was born in 1894. Bevil was a Rhodes Scholar from St. Andrew’s, Grahamstown, and in 1920 he won the 400m sprint for South Africa at the Antwerp Olympics, and later worked as a sports journalist at The Daily Telegraph. He married Ursula KNIGHT. They lived at The Bungalow until 1930. Their son, Bevil John Blyth RUDD, the eldest of four children, was born in the house on 07 April 1927. He was known as John. Bevil senior died in the house in 1948.

John died on 31 August 2009 in Worcester, South Africa. John and his younger brother Robin were sent to Eton. After attending Sandhurst, where he won the Sword of Honour, John was commissioned into the Coldstream Guards. He served for two years in Palestine and was injured in the Irgun attack on the King David Hotel in 1946. Invalided out of the Army with osteomyelitis in 1949, he became personal assistant to Sir Ernest OPPENHEIMER. He joined Sailor MALAN's Torch Commando which in 1951-2 opposed the disenfranchising of Coloured voters. John achieved prominence in May 1961, when the South African police raided his home, Mingary, in Bryanston and found him in bed with Dorothy TIYO, a 21-year-old snake dancer in the African musical King Kong. They were arrested under the Immorality Act, which prohibited relationships across the colour line. The magistrate, Mr. GUSH, sentenced them to six months in jail, and John served four months. Afterwards John worked for the De Beers group in London, sent there by Harry OPPENHEIMER. After two years in New York (1966-68) he spent a decade as head of industrial diamonds for Asia-Pacific, based in Japan. He edited De Beers' magazine, Indiaqua. He married Tessa Marie-Louise LAUBSCHER in 1954, but this ended in divorce in 1958. In 1966 he married Anna KLINGLUND, daughter of Swedish diplomat Karl Ake KLINGLUND, with whom he had a son. They divorced in 1977. Back in South Africa and retired from Anglo American, he became director of Benguela Concessions which mined offshore diamonds on the Atlantic coast. He owned a wine farm in Franschhoek and a five-star guest house in the Karoo.

Percy lived at The Bungalow until 1954, when he moved to St. James in Cape Town. In 1933 he married Emilie Stephanie POOLE, of Evilly, France. She was a former companion to Mabel RUDD. Upon his death at St James on 12 September 1961, Percy left the house to Emilie, who lived there until her death in 1963. She left The Bungalow to her sister and brother in France, who auctioned off the furniture and contents. They were not able to sell the house and it stood empty until 1968, when it was bought by De Beers Consolidated Mines Ltd and donated to the McGregor Museum. Today the house has 22 bedrooms. Percy is said to haunt the former sick room. The servants’ quarters have at least six ghosts. Dr. P.K. LE SUEUR, a Scotsman who has studied the house for many years, has noted orbs of light that appear in photos taken in the house. Haunted North America Investigations, which does investigations world-wide, placed Rudd House on 12th spot in a list of the 25 most haunted places.

The Kimberley Club has a haunted top floor, where an elderly man is sometimes seen moving along the corridor. A ghostly waiter serves in the dining room, and a woman in period dress stands on the staircase. Wealthy philanthropist Joe VAN PRAAGH insisted on building a private bathroom when he resided at the club. His presence is sometimes felt in the reading room on the first floor.

At the old Main Cemetery many apparitions have been seen at night. In the old De Beers offices, with Rhodes's chair, wheelchair and other items, meetings have been interrupted by windows and doors opening on their own. Lights swing mysteriously as a ghost walks by. On the veranda, a ghost dog is heard howling. A ghost rides the elevator in De Beers House.

The ghost of the first Librarian, Bertrand DYER, walks around the Africana Library. He drank arsenic in 1908 after he was found doctoring the accounts. Visitors have seen books crashing to the floor, and heard teacups tinkling at 11am and 4pm. The story goes that it took over three days for him to die. He is seen in his Victorian clothing, pacing the halls of his beloved library. Often books are rearranged or moved and the only clue to their mobility is the sound of hastily retreating footsteps. The librarians say that if they ever need to find a book, they ask him and the book will suddenly fall off the shelf. The Library, now the Africana Museum, was built in 1882 and has a wrought-iron gallery, spiral staircase and chandeliers. Bertrand arrived in 1900 from the United Kingdom where he had worked for the Queen's library.

The McGregor Museum was originally the Kimberley Sanatorium, opened in 1897 as a health resort for people with chest problems. In 1933 it was let to the Sisters of the Holy Family who used it as a convent. The convent closed in 1969, but a ghost of one of the nuns haunts the administration section, roaming the corridors in a flowing white habit.

MAGERSFONTEIN
The Magersfontein Anglo-Boer battlefield has a ghostly Scottish piper and the flickering lanterns of the stretcher-bearers can be seen. A Celtic Cross memorial, dedicated to the dead of the Highland Brigade, sits atop Magersfontein koppie. December 1899 - a British relief column advanced along the Cape railway line and in three earlier clashes, forced the Boer commandos to pull back. The Boers planned to make a stand at Magersfontein, but instead of defending from the heights of the koppie, as the British assumed they would, they dug camouflaged trenches around its base. For two days, the British poured artillery fire on the hill. At dawn on 11 December, the Black Watch advanced in massed ranks. They were 400 metres from the hill when the Boers opened fire. They died while the bagpipers played on. The Highland Brigade commander, Major General A.G. WAUCHOPE, was among the first to die. The Gordon Highlanders were sent, only to suffer a similar fate. All day the wounded lay out in the field and were picked off by snipers. Eventually confused orders led to the troops retreating. Casualties lay on the battlefield all night although stretcher bearers ventured out with lanterns to rescue those they could. A truce was called the next day. The Highland Brigade lost 202 soldiers, and 37 soldiers from the guards and other units were killed. More than 660 British troops were wounded. The Boer forces lost 87 men, including 23 Scandinavian volunteers. Marta VAN SCHALKWYK has run the Bagpipe Lodge and Cafe on the hill for the past 30 years. Her son has seen the ghosts, men with rifles marching forward.

OVERBERG
Henry the ghost has been around Houw Hoek Inn for over 40 years. He is often seen downstairs around reception, in rooms three and four (now used as store rooms) and in the passage on the first floor. In the early days, the sound of footsteps and doors opening were heard coming from the first floor although no one was booked into these rooms. When telephones were installed in the rooms, a call would come in from one of the rooms upstairs or the telephone would ring in the room with no calls going through the switchboard. When televisions were introduced, they would switch on and off on their own. The last person to have seen Henry was Ronnie, a manager between 1988 and 1992, who died about 10 years ago. In the late 1970s, a lady sitting in the lounge started sketching a man standing close to her, but the man vanished before she could finish. When the drawing was shown to the owner's wife, Mrs MCENTYRE, she recognised him as the farmer Henry, a regular who committed suicide on his way home from the inn one night. One of the waiters, Sakhumzi (Sakkie) NDONDO, had a strange experience about six years ago during his first night duty. He locked the back door to the veranda and then sat by the fire in the lounge. He heard a door opening and footsteps on the wooden staircase. Upon investigating, he found the back door wide open. About three months later, he was on duty again when he walked out of reception to the bar next to the staircase. The lights on the staircase and the passage upstairs went off. As the only light-switch was upstairs, he went upstairs to investigate and switched the lights on again. On hearing noises coming from one of the empty rooms he went to look. As he walked down the passage, the lights in the communal bathroom went on and off again. Reaching the room where the noises were coming from, he found the door open and the TV and lights on. He switched off the lights and the TV, and the passage lights went off. That was his last night duty.

Houw Hoek Inn, with the old blue gum tree

The Houw Hoek Inn is one of South Africa's oldest country inns. Its history goes back to Lady Anne BARNARD's days. Anne LINDSAY was born in Scotland in December 1750. She moved to London, where she met and married Andrew BARNARD in 1793. He became the Colonial Secretary in Cape Town, and the couple arrived there in March 1797. On 05 May 1798, accompanied by wagons and eight horses, the couple set off on a month's leave. It took five hours over the sandy Cape Flats to reach Meerlust, the farm of Mynheer MYBURGH. Another four hours later, they reached De Bos, the farm of Captain MORKEL, where they spent the night. The next day, after an hour's travel they reached the foot of the Hottentots Holland Mountains. Going over the mountains along the tracks left by previous travellers, they reached the site of the Houw Hoek Inn, where a Dutch East Indian Company tollgate had been erected. They spent the night on the farm Arieskraal, belonging to Arie Jacob JOUBERT, where supper consisted of "boiled chicken fit for an emperor." The ground floor was erected in 1779. Over the years, the Houw Hoek Inn remained a popular overnight stop situated on the High Road to Grahamstown. Sir Lowry's Pass was opened in 1830, and Houw Hoek Pass was upgraded. The inn was licensed in 1834, making it the oldest licensed inn in South Africa. The upper level was added in 1860. In 1861 Lady Dulcie Duff GORDON stayed there en-route to the Caledon Spa. The proprietor then, and at least since 1848, was a German former missionary, Mr BEYERS. He had five sons and two daughters. In 1848, a daughter, Maria Gertrude, was born and her father planted a blue gum tree to commemorate the birth. The tree still guards the entrance to the inn. Maria married a Scotsman, Walter MCFARLANE, who became co-owner of the inn. The Houw Hoek Inn remained in MCFAELANE hands until they moved to Hermanus, where Walter and Valentine BEYERS built the Marine Hotel in 1902. Walter was the first Mayor of Hermanus. Walter's grandson, Valentine MCFARLANE, lives in Stanford. There is the story of a young man who was on his way abroad and left a bank note on the ceiling in the bar so that on his return he could buy a drink. The tradition continued and there is a collection behind glass. In 1902, the railway to Caledon was opened. The train stopped briefly at the Houw Hoek Inn and meals were served to the passengers on the platform. In the early 1900s, the inn was owned by Anne KAPLAN and her husband.

One of the early settlers in the Overberg was Johannes Jacobus TESSELAAR. He was born in 1748, the son of a German cook at the Cape, Johann TESSELAAR and his wife, Johanna Catharina SMUTS. He became a Lieutenant in the Cape Cavalry. For his military service, he received two farms in the Overberg - Hartebeestrivier and Steenboksrivier - from Governor Willem Adriaan VAN DER STEL. In 1783 he was one of the officials involved in salvaging the Nicobar which stranded near Quoin Point. By 1797 he owned five farms, 14 male slaves, four female slaves, 125 horses, 60 cattle and 505 sheep. He married Aaltje (Alida) VAN DER HEYDE in 1774. They did not have any children. He died in 1810 and she died in 1832. His 1804 will stipulated that the farm Hartebeestrivier be left to the BREDNKAMP boys and HEYSENBERG sisters. His 1809 will added the GERTSE brothers and KOERT to this bequest. It is believed that some of the heirs were from his relationship with a woman of mixed race. The nine who inherited were the twins Barend and Jan Frederik BREDENKAMP, Joggom KOERT, Gert and Jan GERTSE, Alida HEYSENBERG, Christina HEYSENBERG, Elizabeth HEYSENBERG, and Aletta HEYSENBERG. The BREDENKAMP brothers and their children were assimilated into the White community. The GERTSE, KOERT and HEYSENBERG people were regarded as Coloureds. Joggom KOERT married Alida HEYSENBERG, and their descendants still live on part of the farm. Genealogical research on these families has been done by the Caledon Museum.

When he died, Aaltje was left with an estate that included jewellery, 38 servants and 150 horses. She continued farming at Steenboksrivier with wheat and barley. In her last will Aaltje stipulated that the slaves be freed and all those under the age of 15 be educated. Hartebeesrivier was used for sowing and grazing. It was informally exchanged or transferred amongst the families and their descendants. By the early 1900s, a Dutch Reformed Church mission, an Anglican church and a primary school were established on the farm. Hartebeestrivier became Teslaarsdal, said to be the Cape’s most hidden village, among the mountains between Caledon, Napier and Hermanus. The farm eventually became a land claim court case in 1971 with 87 Coloured and 41 White people claiming rights. The case was still on the go in 1982 and as late as 2004. One of the claimants was Clemens REYNOLDS. His maternal grandmother was the granddaughter of the twin Jan Frederik BREDENKAMP. Clemens' mother was Hester REYNOLDS and his father Jan NIGRINI, who was married to Hester's mother and her step-father. Hester was 17 when Clemens was born. She later married Coena VAN DYK.

After Aaltje's death, Steenboksrivier was passed to Johannes' nephew, also Johannes Jacobus TESSELAAR. He married Cornelia in Stellenbosch. Upon their return to the farm, a feast was held, attended by the bywoners, tenants, neighbours and friends. One of the guests presented the bride with a large bouquet. She smelt the flowers and promptly fainted, and the strange guest disappeared. Once revived, Cornelia refused to speak about the incident. As time went by, the couple received fewer and fewer visitors. Farming became disastrous. The couple were childless. Johannes died in Cape Town in 1869. Dr. James Ross HUTCHINSON, a Scot, bought the farm and renamed it Dunghye Park. The locals called it Donkiespad. The next owner was Thys DE VILLIERS. A crying baby can be heard in the old farm house, the outbuildings and around the yard. Thys decided to dig up the area. A child’s skeleton was found, and after a proper funeral was held, the crying stopped.

Ratelrivier, originally known as Buffeljagt aan de Ratelrivier, was loaned out to Matthys LOURENS in 1745. A loan farm was land that leased grazing rights to farmers, usually for a year, and was not registered in the farmer's name but remained government property. On 16 June 1831 Hans Jacob SWART, age 45, became the first registered owner of the farm. When he died in 1835, his widow Catharina Elizabeth (maiden name MOOLMAN) continued farming with her sons and slaves. She was a harsh woman, punishing any slave who did wrong by burying hi in sand with only the nose sticking out. One fatal day, she forgot a buried slave for four days. By the time he was pulled from the sand, close to death, he had placed a curse on Ratelrivier. In the late 1860s, Dirk Gysbert van Reenen VAN BREDA bought the farm. He was also a member of the Legislative Council of the Cape Colony’s first elected Parliament and a Cape Town municipal commissioner. His two sons, Dirk Gysbert junior and Pieter Johannes Albertus, were known for their violent tempers, heavy drinking and abusive behaviour towards slaves and their own wives. Barely six months after their father’s death, had they both killed their wives.

Jacoba Alida MORKEL

Dirk Gysbert junior was a brewer in Cape Town. His first wife, Ellen, died in 1855 after the birth of their first child. Eighteen months later he married the 15-year old Jacoba Alida MORKEL, daughter of a wealthy butcher, Pieter Loret MORKEL. They had seven children. On 30 July 1865, Dirk Gysbert junior was declared insolvent and his father appointed him manager of Ratelrivier. The farm was profitable and the family had a housekeeper, a governess for the children, a cook and many servants. They often entertained guests at dinner dances and hunting parties. According to one of Dirk Gysbert's daughters, Susanna Petronella Hendrina, her parents were not on good terms at the time of her mother’s death. Eight days before her death there was a party at which there were Scotchmen. Her mother danced with a Mr. MCMILLAN. During the party Dirk Gysbert junior went outside and returned with a razor, looking for his wife. She tried to evade
him, but got hold of her and assaulted her in front of Susanna. On 21 March 1871 while having supper, her father continued his quarrel with his wife about her dance. He grabbed a revolver and in the ensuing struggle a shot went off. The children called the farm manager, Jurie GERMISHUIS, and Dr. ALBERTYN from Bredasdorp was sent for. Jurie helped his employer get rid of the revolver. Jacoba died early on the morning of 22 March before the doctor arrived. Legend has it that the dying Jacoba left a bloody handprint on the passage wall, which subsequent farm owners could not erase. The doctor did not do an autopsy, believing her death to be an accident. The Cape Supreme Court dismissed the death as an accident. Three years later, Dirk Gysbert junior attacked a servant, who then filed a complaint against him. His wife's case was re-opened and Susanna was called as a witness. On 06 May 1874 Dirk Gysbert junior pleaded not guilty to the murder charge, but was found guilty of culpable homicide. He was sentenced to five years hard labour. He died in 1901, a poor man. Seventeen days after Jacoba's death, Dirk Gysbert junior's brother, Pieter Johannes Albertus, a doctor in Fort Beaufort, stabbed his wife to death.

Baardskeerdersbos used to belong to the Stanford Congregation. The land was donated by one of the congregation members, Aunt Luitjie, on the condition that it would only be used for services. The building was completed in 191. Soon afterwards the young people organised a meeting of the Young Men and Women’s Christian Association in the hall one evening. Aunt Luitjie was not pleased and predicted that, like Jericho, the walls would come tumbling down. Three years later, after heavy rainfall, the roof and walls of the cursed building collapsed. The church hall was later rebuilt. Aunt Luitjie passed away. One night the church bells suddenly started to ring at midnight. The residents came out but saw no one. Every fourteen nights thereafter, the bell rang at midnight for months. Then it suddenly stopped. Years later a retired farmer and a Colonel were sitting in front of a local shop one day. Having found jobs elsewhere, before they left they had a party and later decided to go ring the church bell. Before they could do so, the bell started to ring. Instantly sober, they hid away. Up in the ridge of the roof above them, the bell kept ringing, without a rope.

POTCHEFSTROOM
Flickering lights, knocking at the door, the ice machine switching on and off, condiments from all the tables mysteriously all landing up on one table only, and a tap on the shoulder are some of the strange happenings that waiters have experienced since the Longhorn opened its doors on the corner of Lombard Street and Mooirivier Drive in 1988. It is said that Jurie SCHOEMAN’s ghost is responsible for the closure of six restaurants near his grave. Six restaurants have come and gone on the River Walk corner, even though the site is perfectly situated to attract passing trade from the N12 Treasure Route. According to Rob SCHOEMAN, his father, Jurie, owned the site where River Walk Shopping Centre now stands. He bought it in 1951 for 10000 pounds. When Jurie died in 1982 his ashes were buried on the same corner. His granddaughter, Kay’s ashes were added alongside his in 1988. In 1979 the family built the Checkers Centre. The adjacent restaurant premises were built in 1988 and occupied by Longhorn. In 1989 it burned down under mysterious circumstances. The restaurant was rebuilt as Mike's Kitchen. It did well until it was sold after 1995. It eventually closed after the new owners were liquidated. Shortly after the Checkers Centre was sold in 1995, Mike’s Kitchen became Food Construction Company. The owner sold to his brother, and went on to own four Spar franchises in Johannesburg and Pretoria. Towards the end of 1999, the restaurant became a MacRib franchise, and was sold within three years. It was followed by Saddles, until that was liquidated in 2009. A Keg and Mulligan was opened, closing down in 2011. Rob SCHOEMAN recalls that as a young child in the early 1950s, his grandparents owned the old Potchefstroom Cheese Factory where Toyota is now.

CAPE TOWN
The Western Cape Premier's official residence, Leeuwenhof, has its own ghosts. Sometimes the lights mysteriously go on after they were switched off. There are also the sounds of someone walking in the corridors. One of the stories is about a young woman who committed suicide after she had a child with someone who did not have her parents' approval. Those who have seen her on the teak stairs, say she will give you the baby if she likes you. She is dressed in white, has brown hair and blue eyes. An older woman is said to haunt the ground floor sitting room.

The Castle of Good Hope is the country's oldest building, built between 1666 and 1679. It was already occupied in 1674. The Castle is said to be one of the 100 most haunted places in the world. It has many apparitions, of which Governor Pieter Gysbert VAN NOODT is one of the most infamous. During his time as the Governor of the Cape in the 1720s, he enforced strict discipline and ruthless punishments for soldiers who disobeyed him. After the execution of seven soldiers who had tried to escape in 1729, he was found dead in his chair in his room with a look of horror on his face. The chair is in the Koopmans-De Wet Museum. No cause of death was found, a heart attack was suspected. He is said to still haunt the Castle. The soldiers were unjustly condemned to death, after the Governor overturned the Council's more lenient sentence. He also haunts Rust-en-Vreugd in Buitenkant Street. It is said to be linked to the Castle by a secret passage. The ghost of a woman appears at an upstairs window, next to a ghostly cot, watching for the return of a seafaring lover. A floating woman in a long dress has been seen on the ground floor, and an invisible hand taps people on the shoulder. Mysterious footsteps are heard. The house, now a museum, was built in 1777.

The Donker Gat is a windowless dungeon that also served as a torture chamber. During winter rains, the water rose three feet in there, drowning some of the convicts who were chained to the dungeon walls. The Zulu King Cetewayo was imprisoned in the Castle, along with some of his wives. In 1915, an unidentified two-metre tall figure was seen on the Castle's battlements. It was seen again in 1947 over a period of weeks. It walked between the Leerdam and Oranje bastions. This may be the same ghost who rings the Castle bell from time to time, since a guard hanged himself with the bell rope hundreds of years ago. A large black dog also haunts the Castle, leaping at visitors but vanishing at the last moment. In the Buren bastion, lights are switched on and off by themselves. Near the guard room, the voices of an unseen man and woman have been heard arguing.

Lady Anne Barnard

Lady Anne BARNARD sometimes appears at parties in the Castle. In the late 18th century, she lived at the Castle as the colony's First Lady. The Governor, Lord Macartney, had left his wife in Britain, and he lived outside the Castle, leaving the Colonial Secretary and his wife to do the entertaining. She made the large hall of the Kat residence into a ballroom, which was used for that purpose until the South African Army vacated the Castle in recent years. Her curly-haired ghost appears at parties held in honour of important visitors. Lady Anne's drawing room in the Castle has, above the fireplace, a cursed painting. Anyone who moves it will die, or so it is said. It is a picture of peacocks in a garden. Peacocks are symbols of Juno, wife of Jupiter. The Trojans found it dangerous to offend Juno. During World War II, the painting was covered with a canvas. Some have said that a treasure of the Dutch East India Company is hidden behind the painting. Others have said that it hides a secret passage leading to Government House (now called Tuynhuys). Lady Anne's ghost also appears at the Dolphin Pool, where she bathed. She also haunts the bird bath at Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens. The pool was built after she left the Cape. It is said that she bathed at the spring where the pool is located. Lady Anne was in her forties when she arrived at the Cape. She was very pretty, and her husband, whom she had married four years before arriving at the Cape, was 12 years younger than her. She had travelled to the colony's interior. After her the Castle, she moved to the cottage Paradise, in Newlands. The foundations of the cottage can be seen in Newlands Forest. Later she moved to the house Vineyard, also in Newlands. This is now the Vineyard Hotel, and has a fine display of Lady Anne's illustrations.

A lady in grey haunts both the Castle and Tuynhuys. At the Castle she was seen weeping with her hands covering her face. She may be connected with a woman's skeleton which was unearthed near one of the Castle's old sally gates. During the Royal Tour of 1947, the Royal Family stayed in Tuynhuys, and Princess Elizabeth celebrated her 21st birthday there. During the Royal stay, the ghost was seen by several people. By 1949 the ghost had not been seen since the skeleton was discovered. Also at Tuynhuys is a portrait of Governor Lord Charles Somerset, which causes dogs to bristle and snarl.

Verlatenbosch on Table Mountain has the ghost of a Governor's son who was maliciously infected with leprosy and forced to live and die alone in a cabin on the mountain. A vengeful citizen who held a grudge against the Governor, tempted the boy into using a flute that had been used by an old leper. When evening falls, the haunting sounds of this flute can be heard.

In 1641 the Flying Dutchman, a Dutch ship, was getting close to rounding the Cape of Good Hope after a difficult voyage to the East. The crew were desperate to get home. No one took note of the slightly stronger wind and ominous clouds. Before the lookout could shout a warning, the ship had sailed into an intense storm. The crew begged Captain Hendrik VAN DER DECKEN to turn back, but he refused, uttering a blasphemous curse he vowed to round the Cape even if he had to keep sailing until Doomsday. The terrified crew caused mutiny on board, and the Captain killed the instigator, throwing his body overboard. As the body hit the water, a ghostly figure appeared on the deck and condemned the Captain's stubbornness before being shot by the Captain. The figure cursed the Captain and his crew to sail the oceans for all eternity, enduring hardship and bringing death to all those who cross their path. Ever since, ships have reported sightings of a ghostly ship and some have been led astray to be crushed against unseen rocks.

The most famous Royal Navy sighting of the Flying Dutchman was recorded by King George V, who in 1881 was a midshipman on HMS Bacchante. In his diary of 11 July, he wrote "At four a.m., the Flying Dutchman crossed our bows." The lookout on the forecastle, and the officer of the watch, also saw the ghost ship off the port bow. Prince George described "a strange red light, as of a phantom ship, all aglow in the midst of which light the mast, spars and sails of a brig two hundred yards distant stood out in strong relief as she came up." The ghost ship was sighted from other ships in the squadron, the Cleopatra and the Tourmaline. Thirteen crewmen reported seeing the ship. The squadron was commanded by Prince Louis of Battenberg, great uncle of the present Prince Philip. The seaman who first reported the ghost ship died from a fall, seven hours afterwards. Prince George published his account as The Cruise Of H.M.S. Bacchante.

Keepers of the Cape Point lighthouse often reported seeing her during storms. In 1835, Robert Montgomery MARTIN, South Africa's first statistician, described a personal encounter with the ship. In 1879, the steamer SS Pretoria changed course, after the passengers and crew saw lights which they thought to be a distress signal. A strange sailing ship was seen, but it vanished when the steamer approached it. In 1959, the crew of the freighter Straat Magelhaen reported a near collision with the Flying Dutchman.

Another ghost Dutch East Indiaman that haunts the Cape is the Libera Nos. Captain Bernard FOKKE and his crew are often mistaken for the Flying Dutchman.

Many South African children remember the saying: "Be good or Antjie Somers will get you". Antjie Somers was said to be a slave who worked herself to death and came back to avenge her hard life. She tormented those who did her wrong. She is also often described as a man in women's clothes, with a hare lip and really bad teeth. At night, when husbands are away, Antjie plunders a house and kills the children. Pretending to be a woman in need of a lift, it attacks and robs travellers. Apparently there were two outlaws in the early nineteenth century, one known as Antjie Somers and the other as Antjie Winters. The legend of Antjie Somers began in Tuinstraat (now Queen Victoria Street) in central Cape Town. Near the top of the street was a dark area with many trees, where the Dutch colony's last executioner hanged himself. The executioner was paid a fixed amount for hanging the bodies of suicides on the gallows. His livelihood was ruined when the new British Governor banned torture and cruel punishments. In the 1840s the same area became the haunt of a ghostly man in women's clothing. It became known as Annetjie, and as it appeared mostly in warm weather, the surname Somers was added.

Bellevue in the grounds of St. John's Hostel near Upper Kloof Street has a kitchen where some children were said to have been hidden to save them from slaves trying to harm them.

Waterhof in Hof Street, Gardens has a ghost dog that searches the ground for buried treasure. The ghost of a bearded old man roams the house at night, and the story of children hidden in an oven, to escape murderous slaves, has also been associated with this house.

Tokai Manor

Tokai Manor was completed in 1796 and in the early 1800s was owned by Hendrik Oswald EKSTEEN. Hendrik and his son were both fond of entertaining and New Year's Eve was an especially big night at Tokai Manor. The house's high veranda and its twin flights of steep steps would overflow with guests. One night, Hendrik's son, Frederick or Petrus Michiel who was prone to bragging, was deep into describing what a fine rider he was when someone urged him to prove it. The dare required him to ride his horse up the steep steps, onto the veranda and into the dining room. Petrus completed the task without too much difficulty, but as he began to celebrate, the horse bolted, slipping on the steep steps and they plunged to their deaths. News Year's Eve remains a frightening time to be in Tokai Manor. Drunken laughter and the neighing of horses can often be heard. Some even claim to have heard the sounds of thundering horse hooves and a sudden, high-pitched whinny before the air falls silent. The only tangible evidence left of Petrus and his horse is one solitary hoof print ingrained in the dining room floor.

Hiddingh House in Newlands Avenue has lights that turn on and off by themselves. A young lady has been seen here. It had been the officer's mess of a cavalry regiment, in the time of Lord Somerset. At different times, the South African artists Gregoire BOONZAAIER and Frank SPEARS lived here. Somebody is said to have been walled up in the house, but another explanation of the haunting is that a maid fell down the stairs, during a drunken party with the officers.

Groot Constantia has Simon VAN DER STEL strolling to the ornamental swimming pool on summer mornings. He was a well-loved Governor, and wasn't White, a fact that was not known for many years. He was the son of a Dutch official and his East Indian wife, and was the first commander of the settlement to be given the title Governor. He retired to Groot Constantia, but his wife, Johanna SIX lived in Holland. His older son, Willem, succeeded him as Governor. Willem's administration was marred by corruption and incompetence, and he and his brother Frans were banished from the Cape in 1708. Their father continued to live at the Cape until he died in 1712. Shortly before his death, he freed the slave Christina van Canarie. In 1713 she bought the house and estate of Stellenberg, from Simon's exiled son Frans. Stellenberg still stands in Stellenberg Avenue, Kenilworth.

99 Milner Road in Rondebosch was used by a cult in the 1970s. An old man wanders around and doors open of their own accord.

At 71 Bree Street, an 18th century house demolished in 1950, was haunted by an elderly woman in a long dress. She was seen by many people, even by the contractor who demolished the house. A séance revealed that she was Martha CILLIERS, whose child Henrietta had been buried in the garden.

Westoe House in Mowbray had a Chinese room, which had so many manifestations that it was locked for many years before finally being demolished. The house dates from the 17th century and with 18th century additions. A bedroom with a four-poster bed is haunted by an old man in 18th century clothes. An old man haunts a four-poster bed. Klein Schuur in Mowbray became the official residence of South Africa's Minister of Justice. A room in the basement, where slaves were housed, is haunted. Mowbray was once called Driekoppen because the heads of executed slaves had been placed on spikes here.

At Kronendal in Hout Bay, the ghost of Elsa CLOETE haunts the house that is now a restaurant. She fell in love with a British soldier, but they could not marry. He was so distressed that he hanged himself from a tree in Oak Avenue. Elsa died of a broken heart, and is now often seen at a window. A table is set each evening for the couple in the restaurant. Her father, Abraham Josias CLOETE, owned the farm from 1835 to about 1849.

The Mount Nelson Hotel in 1899

The Mount Nelson Hotel has its fair share of ghosts. Sir Arthur Conan DOYLE used to hold séances in his room when he stayed there in 1928. Fondly known as The Nellie, it was opened on 06 March 1899 to cater to the wealthy escaping northern winters. It was the first hotel in South Africa to have hot and cold running water. In the Castle Shipping Line's first print advertising brochure, the hotel was advertised as "a piece of London in South Africa." It was the idea of Sir Donald CURRIE, the shipping magnet who owned Castle Shipping Line. He competed with the Union Line, which owned the Grand Hotel in Strand Street, opened in 1894. It was considered the most luxurious hotel in the southern hemisphere, having a dining room for 250 guests, wall-to-wall carpets on all four floors, electrical light, an elevator and a French chef. The Grand was rebuilt a few times and eventually demolished in 1972 to make space for a retail chain store. With the outbreak of the Anglo-Boer War on 12 October 1899, Britain used the Mount Nelson as military operations headquarters. The young war correspondent, Winston CHURCHILL, was a guest there after escaping from the Boers. Lord KITCHENER spent most of the war at the hotel. He wasn't popular with the officers, who were used in the servant quarters on the fourth floor, until he banned them and sent them off to Stellenbosch by goods train. The fourth floor is haunted by an old lady wandering around. It used to be an area were slaves lived. Room 68 or 69 in the new wing sometimes doesn't let anyone in the room, shutting the door firmly. An old lady in a white night gown and long grey hair has been seen barefoot in the new wing, looking at photos of the Union-Castle Line.

The cloud that covers the top of Table Mountain in summer when the south-easter wind blows, is believed to be the ghost of the retired Dutch pirate, Jan VAN HUNKS. He lived on the slopes of Devil’s Peak with his sharp-tongued wife. To stay out of her way, he spent his days on the mountain smoking his pipe. One day a stranger showed up and challenged him to a smoking contest. It went on for days until he finally beat the stranger. The stranger turned out to be the devil himself, and upon being beaten, struck Jan with thunder, leaving a scorched dry patch where he sat. The tobacco smoke from the contest turned into the table-cloth over Table Mountain. Whenever it appears, Jan and the devil are smoking again.

The Cape Argus building is haunted during storms by Wilberforce, a hanged pirate. He rattles windows and apparently once left a poem.

Green Point Lighthouse dates back to 1824 and it is believed that it is haunted by a one-legged lighthouse-keeper, known as Daddy West. This is most likely W.S. WEST who became keeper in September 1901 and retired in 1912.

Dr. James Barry

Beneath Lion's Head and the Twelve Apostles, lies Camp's Bay. Above Camp's Bay, in The Glen on Kloof Road, is the Round House. Dating from the early 19th century, it was the shooting box of the Lord Charles SOMERSET. There were leopards as recently as the 1930s, and in the 1830s, the astronomer Sir John HERSCHEL recorded hippos near his observatory in Claremont. The Round House is now a small restaurant. This is where the ghost of Dr. James BARRY has been seen on many occasions. Dr. Barry also roams the surrounding mountains, in British military uniform. He arrived at the Cape in 1815 or 1817. Red-haired, he wore three-inch soles on his shoes, and his shoulders seemed to be padded, so that the Malay people called him the Kapok Doctor. He studied at Edinburgh University, sponsored by the Earl of Buchan. Graduating at the age of 18, he served in Spain, Belgium and India, before being posted to the Cape. Dr. Barry would ride about in dress uniform and cocked hat, carrying a parasol, and accompanied by a black manservant. He carried a large cavalry sword. Though privately commenting on his effeminacy, the officers were wary of his bad temper. At the house Alphen, Dr. Barry fought a pistol duel with Josias CLOETE, with the latter being banished to the garrison on Tristan da Cunha. He was later knighted, and the family bought the Alphen estate, which today is the Alphen Hotel, haunted by ghostly revellers. James escaped punishment, probably because of protection from the Earl of Buchan, believed by some to have been his father or grandfather. James was promoted to Medical Inspector, only weeks after his arrival, thought to have been helped by saving the life of one of Lord Somerset's daughters. His bad temper sometimes led to being sent home under arrest. He performed the first Caesarean section in the English-speaking world in 1826, on on Mrs. Wilhelmina MUNNIK. The baby was named James Barry MUNNIK. This child became godfather to James Barry Munnik HERTZOG, later Prime Minister of South Africa. The grateful Munnik family commissioned the only known portrait of Dr. Barry, which is in the Alphen Hotel. Barry also traced the cause of Cape Town's impure water supply, and arranged for a better system. He was a vegetarian, and took a goat everywhere for its milk. He advised patients to bathe in wine, as he believed that the alcohol reduced the risk of infections. Barry did not handle cases which he considered to be beneath his skill as a surgeon. When a clergyman sent a message asking Barry to pull a tooth, Barry sent him a farrier. He denounced the cruelty and negligence of the officials regarding the care of prisoners, lepers and lunatics. This led to accusations of defamation, but he tore up the summons and refused to answer questions. The Fiscal sentenced him to imprisonment, but Lord Somerset set aside the punishment. The matter may have led to him losing his position as Medical Inspector, and sent back to Britain in 1828. Postings followed in Mauritius, Trinidad and Saint Helena. From Saint Helena, he returned to England without official leave. Next he served in Malta, Corfu, the Crimea, Jamaica and Canada. He reached the rank of Inspector General, HM Army Hospitals. He retired in 1864 and returned to England, still with John, his black manservant and a poodle called Psyche. He died in July 1865. A doctor signed the death certificate without realising that Dr. Barry was a woman. A charwoman, Sophia BISHOP, who laid out the body was more observant. Dr. Barry was buried in Kensal Rise Cemetery, London. Friends of Dr. Barry arranged John's passage to Jamaica. Some believe that Dr. Barry went to South Africa to follow a surgeon with whom she was in love. Lawrence Green believed that this was Andrew SMITH, founder of the South African Museum and later knighted, but there was no proof. Her real name was Margaret Ann BULKLEY, born to Jeremiah BULKLEY and his wife Mary-Ann. Mary-Ann was the sister of Irish artist and professor of painting at the Royal Academy in London, James Barry. Jeremiah was a grocer from Cork. The story was finally discovered Dr, Hercules Michael DU PREEZ, a Cape Town urologist. He wrote an article about his discovery in the South African Medical Journal of January 2008.

Dr. James Barry, John the manservant and Psyche the dog

The Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve has a homestead, Buffelshoek, which became a tea room. A ghostly woman in white has been seen in the building. It has also been seen outside, under a cypress. Screaming and wailing has been heard at night. She may be the wife of a man who killed himself, after learning that she was pregnant by another man. Near an old cemetery in the reserve was another house, at which the manifestations were so frightening that the house was demolished. There is also Skaife House, on the west of the reserve. Here a man used gas to kill himself, and his ghost still wanders there, At Klaasjagersberg, there is a group of cottages in which the reserve's rangers live with their families. The lounge of the oldest cottage is a rondavel, where a suicidal man is seen hanging from the rafters.

Along the famous Chapman's Peak scenic drive, a procession of ghostly monks has been seen. The origin of this haunting is unknown.

SIMON'S TOWN
In the days of Dutch rule, Simon's Town was the Cape's winter harbour. The main road, St. George's Street, is also known as the historic mile. The town was also the South Atlantic base of the Royal Navy for many years, and is still used by the South African Navy.

Simon's Town Museum has a haunted portrait of a young lady. If you try to take a photo of it, the photo comes out blurry or not at all. Ibeka House, a private residence, apparently has three ghosts. The rectory in Cornwall Street has ghostly footsteps and banging of doors. Admiralty House has Naval officers and a woman in a grey dress. At the Palace Barracks there is an old sea captain and an elderly woman.

The Residency, now housing the Simon's Town Museum, was originally built as a residence for Dutch Governors on their occasional visits to the port. When the Royal Navy occupied Simon's Town in 1814, it became the seat of the Government Resident or Magistrate, and remained so until 1980. Some of the doors in the Residency were once cabin doors on sailing ships. There are stocks where prisoners were restrained as punishment, and cells where men were chained. In one cell, there are bloodstains and, sometimes two ghost prisoners are seen. An old sailor, unjustly flogged to death, has been seen in the building, as has the ghost of a warder's wife, who in life had abused female prisoners. Photos of a mural in the Residency are often, for no apparent reason, blurred or blank. The bar room, originally for visiting sailors, has a portrait of a young gentlewoman. She is sometimes called the Lavender or Lilac Lady. She was often seen by the wives of Magistrates. One magistrate, Duncan NEETHLING saw her following his wife around the kitchen. She has also been seen since the Residency became a museum. It was thought she was the teenaged Eleanor MACARTNEY, daughter of the first British Governor. Others believe she was a young woman who loved Horatio NELSON. In 1776, he came ashore from his ship, The Dolphin, to be nursed through an illness. This was long before the Cape was British. In 1776, the building had already been used by the Cape's Governors for five years, and it was the year in which the building ceased to be used for that purpose. It was sold to Gideon ROUSSEAU, a wealthy businessman with 12 children. The ghost might be one of Gideon's daughters who drowned herself when her lover had to leave the Cape.

The building now called Admiralty House has been standing since at least 1740, with alterations through the years, especially after it was damaged by a storm in 1853. During the American Civil War, the house was visited by the Captain of the Confederate raider Alabama. This visit inspired the song, Daar Kom Die Alabama, sung by Cape Town's Muslim community. In 1947, the Royal Family attended a garden party here. In the 1950s Lady CAMPBELL, wife of Vice-Admiral Sir Ian CAMPBELL, saw the ghosts of men in naval uniform on the stairs. In the 1970s Mrs. JOHNSON, wife of Vice-Admiral J.V. JOHNSON, saw a ghostly gentleman who opened a door for her, and closed it behind her. Admiralty House is also haunted by a woman with brown hair, who wears a long, grey dress. It is thought she might be the same woman who haunts the Residency. Another naval building, Ibeka, is also haunted by her. The three buildings are apparently linked by tunnels. The Ibeka might be linked to a governess who hanged herself on the attic landing. Ibeka also has a ghostly old man, who is seen sitting on the toilet.

The Palace Barracks was once linked to the seashore by a cable car. It is haunted by an old sea Captain, who disturbs officers in their billets. The sounds of drinking and billiard playing are heard from the billiard room. Upstairs, the ghost of an elderly woman is seen making beds. Another ghost at Palace Barracks is that of Mary KINGSLEY, the famous explorer of West Africa. In 1900, Mary, age 37, volunteered to nurse Boer prisoners during an outbreak of enteric fever. She contracted the illness herself, and her ghost wanders around the building.

In Black's Lane there was a group of three houses known as Mafeking Terrace. House No. 3 was haunted by a tall, dark man, nicknamed Wilbur by the family that lived there. He was Robert MartinCOUPAR, who, while a boarder at the house shortly after the Anglo-Boer War, strangled his seamstress girlfriend's baby and threw it in the sea. The court hearings in Cape Town in 1906 were packed, due to his good looks. He was sentenced to death, and a public outcry followed with a petition gathering 10 000 signatures. He was hanged at Roeland Street jail in 1907. Mafeking Terrace was abandoned in 1992.

St. George's Church, also known as the Sail Loft Church, is on the upper floor of 18th century stone building where sail makers once worked. The building has a clock tower, a gable decorated with an anchor, stinkwood entrance doors, and yellowwood floors. There is a mural by the South African artist Joy COLLIER, who has heard ghostly footsteps in the church. The former rectory of the Anglican Church, next to the Simon's Town Museum, is a stone-built residence, where ghostly footsteps and banging doors have been heard. In 1949 Mrs. MARTIN, the wife of the Anglican minister, wrote a letter to the Cape Times about the haunting. She also mentioned a ghost called the White Lady, which haunted a house a few doors down in the same street.

The Old Gaol in Grahamstown

GRAHAMSTOWN
Grahamstown started life as a military outpost. By 1830 it had libraries, newspapers, courts and museums. The Old Gaol on Somerset Street was most recently a backpackers' lodge, but it is famous for being one of Grahamstown's most haunted spots. The ghost of Henry NICHOLLS doing the dead man's walk from gaol to gallows (between the Old Gaol and Drostdy Arch) is often heard. He was the last person to be publicly hanged in the town in 1862 on charges of rape. He was not offered final words or last prayers, and many say his spirit cannot rest. He pleaded guilty and spent four months hoping to escape execution (rape was not a capital punishment in English law). He was a military man and fell under military law in which rape fell under capital punishment. On 19 February 1862 a large crowd witnessed his execution. Rhodes University's Journalism Department is occasionally visited by a man and girl in period dress.

St Andrews College is one of the oldest schools in South Africa. The founding headmaster, Arthur (Foxy) KNOWLING, died from a heart attack shortly after retiring. He still makes his presence known in Mullins and Holland Houses.

PORT ELIZABETH
The city's architecture lends a wonderful backdrop to its wandering spirits. Haunted places include the Public Library where an unhappy policeman wanders; a row of terraced houses where a nun, woman and child have been seen walking through walls; and a murder house in Walmer.

The Cleghorn, Harris and Stephen's building, next to where the present Port Elizabeth Public Library was later built, burnt down on 06 May 1896. Police Constable MAXWELL was killed when stone coping fell onto him while firemen tried to put out the fire. A remembrance stone was placed on a low wall in what was to become the Library grounds. When construction of the Library started, the stone was moved to the Library gardens. From then on, his ghost haunted Room 700 until the stone was returned to its original place, after which no more sightings were reported. Another Library ghost is caretaker Robert THOMAS, who died on 06 February 1943. He was a bachelor and started looking after the Library in 1912 until his death. Staff say doors open and shut of their own accord, books are removed from shelves and stacked on the floor, and books fall for no reason. Others feel his presence, including one man who hid in the building in the 1980s at night on a dare and had to call the police to let him out.

Port Elizabeth Public Library

Richly House is said to be the most haunted house in Port Elizabeth. Built by William James WILLS in 1906, it has been a general nursing home to a World War II brothel and a post-war boarding house. A nun is accompanied by an unseen baby's cries. A woman and child in period clothing are often passed in the hallway. A grumpy man in a grey coat storms through the dining room to the kitchen where he rattles pots and pans. One ghost appears in the servants' quarters and tries to strangle people.

Cradock Place is haunted by a young slave girl who was murdered by her jealous lover. He threw her into the large oven in the kitchen, locked the door and built a fire. She had been employed in the house, and the drawing room was her favourite. She took great care dusting the piano. After her death, soft music was often heard in the empty room.

In the 1880s, the British and Irish were at loggerheads. A group known as The Invincibles decided to protect Irish interests. When Lord Frederick CAVENDISH was chosen as Chief Secretary to Ireland, the group was enraged and he was assassinated. Dublin-based James CAREY turned State witness against the assassins and sent five Invincible leaders to their deaths. In exchange, he was granted a new name and life in South Africa. When he boarded the Melrose Castle bound for Durban, he was followed by an Invincible assassin, who shot him when a passing fishing boat caused a distraction. The assassin was arrested, and John's body was eventually buried in a pauper's grave in Port Elizabeth. Shortly after his burial, the cemetery was moved to make way for a new power station. An employee tasked with the moving the remains from the cemetery took a liking to John's skull and used it for many years as an ashtray and candle holder. The ghost of John refuses to leave the boiler room or the site where the cemetery once was.

PRINCE ALBERT
In 1845 Queen Victoria agreed that a village in the Karoo could be named after her consort, Prince Albert. Ailsa THUDHOPE is an expert on the village ghosts, including the doomed bride killed in a cart accident on the eve of her wedding and is seen in the parlour of the Fransie Pienaar Museum. An elderly gentleman greets pretty ladies from the veranda of a house in Mark Street. When new owners took over the house and filled the veranda with bookshelves, he threw books on the floor. When the owners asked him to stop, he did so. The house of Dr. MEARNS is haunted. The doctor treated Boer Commando Gideon SCHEEPERS in 1901 after he was wounded by a British bullet during the Anglo-Boer War. A young lady in a white night gown with lace at her throat and tiny buttons down her front, bounces on the bed of Mearns House.

JOHANNESBURG
One of Johannesburg's ghosts is known as Mr Chips, a worker at the potato sheds in Newton, who was killed by a falling sack of potatoes. He is said to haunt Museum Africa’s costume collection section, where he is heard ruffling the clothes and re-arranging shelves. The potato shed buildings were built in 1912 as part of the original Indian market between Carr Street and Museum Africa. The Johannesburg Fresh Produce Market relocated from the city centre to Newtown in 1913. In 1974 the market was relocated to larger premises in City Deep.

The old Florence Nightingale Nursing Home has a blonde Afrikaans nurse with maroon epaulettes. She would speak to patients and change their drips correctly. She still roams the building at the corner of Constitution Hill.

The Breytenbach Theatre in Gerhard Moerdyk Street started out as a German club. The building was later used by Emily HOBHOUSE for a weaving and crafts school. During the flu epidemic of 1918, it was a temporary hospital. It was later used as a film and artists' studio before staging its first production in 1958. The cellar below the stage once housed the bodies of those who died in 1918, including that of a nurse named Heather. She was in charge of the children admitted in 1918 and eventually caught the disease herself. After her death, she never left her post, patiently waiting to care for any sick child that needs her.

Daisy de Melker was the first serial killer to be convicted in South Africa. In the 1920s, she killed two husbands and a son, for insurance money. She poisoned them with arsenic or strychnine. She was hanged in 1932. Her home in Club Street, Turffontein is still standing and sometimes she can be seen there, peering out the upstairs window. Passers-by have noticed the curtain moving and a ghostly hand appearing at about 6pm. The Supreme Court's Court 3 is also haunted by her, where she was sentenced.

The View, a Parktown Ridge mansion, was once the home of Sir Thomas and Lady Annie CULLINAN. She is often seen at the top of the stairs in a beautiful dress and the sounds of footsteps have been heard on the first floor. The sound of someone climbing a staircase can also be heard, but the staircase has long since been removed.

Aurora in Central Avenue, Houghton, is haunted by Bubbles SCHROEDER. She was popular with high society. She was found dead in a blue gum plantation near Wanderers Sports Club in August 1949. Her ghost can be heard walking around the building and howling.

Foxwood House is an historic boutique hotel in Houghton. Built in 1924, it was one of the first houses in the area. It is filled with antique family heirlooms, such as the radio gramophone which has been in the same spot since 1936. Apart from mysterious footsteps, several guests claim to have seen a lady with a child on the balcony and some have sworn they’ve seen Paul KRUGER.

SOWETO
On 16 June 1976, school children assembled in school grounds in Soweto, singing Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrica before starting their protest march against Afrikaans at Orlando Stadium. During the march, Hastings Ndlovu and schoolboy Hector Peterson were killed by police bullets. The ghost of Hector is often seen by some as a schoolboy with his hand clenched in the Black Power salute, at the foot of the rocky knoll after dark. The faint sound of gunfire can be heard by some.

PRETORIA
Sammy MARKS was a successful industrialist at the turn of the 19th century. His home, Zwartkoppies Hall (now the Sammy Marks Museum) and apparently still lives there, his icy presence felt along with doors that open and close on their own. Some have heard a baby crying in what was the nursery, which could be the ghost of one of his children who died there in 1890. It is the only Victorian mansion in the country whose interior is authentic and intact. The mansion’s 48 rooms include a Scottish ghost. Employed as the children’s tutor, he died in the mansion and now pinches the bottoms of ladies.

The former home of General Jan SMUTS in Irene is said to be haunted by a little grey man and a Royal Hussar who committed suicide on the premises. The grey man has a Kruger-style moustache. He is reported to be the keeper of a secret regarding the whereabouts of Boer treasure buried on the property.

A home in Silverton has a ghost who enters the sitting room in the evening, sits down in a particular chair wearing a red jacket and reads a newspaper.

An English soldier from the Anglo-Boer War, whose remains were stashed in the Uncollected Goods section of the Pretoria Railway Station, before being moved to Lost Goods, is seen wandering about the station late at night.

Victoria Hotel was opened in 1880 and was then known as Hollandia. One of its ghosts is Alfie, who turns taps on and off. He is also seen in the kitchen. An old, grey lady haunts the majestic staircase just after 10pm.

There are a few ghosts who are said to roam the old State Museum. Once a military hospital, the groans of soldiers are said to be heard at night, while two angry ghosts haunt the corridors. Some claim to have been confronted by the ghost of a woman in a nurse’s uniform brandishing a scalpel.

Erasmus Castle is now a National Monument, said to be haunted by the ERASMUS family who were the original owners. Staff have heard footsteps and claim taps are turned on and lights switched off. Apparently two or three of the children, who contracted leprosy and were confined in a room under the main tower until their death, have been seen roaming the staircase and corridors.

Erasmus Castle in Pretoria

KWAZULU-NATAL MIDLANDS
The Nottingham Road Hotel has a sad ghost. Charlotte, a turn-of-the-century prostitute, fell in love with a British Army officer who didn't feel the same way about her. She committed suicide because of her broken heart, but some believe she was murdered. She died after she fell or was thrown over the balcony of her favourite room in the hotel - Room 10. She hangs around the hotel until this day, and can often be found re-arranging flower arrangements, moving mirrors around, and ringing the service bell in the non-existent Room 22. Some who have slept in Room 10, have woken up to neatly folded clothes and Charlotte having a long conversation with an unseen friend.

Doc ROBINSON and his wife ran a convalescent home at the beginning of the 20th century. They had a young daughter that they nicknamed Tiny Pie. She died in 1905 and Doc never recovered, dying of a broken heart. Shortly after his death in 1906, he appeared at his home's front gate. He was seen often. When St Winifred's School for Girls took over the premises in 1910, his ghost made girls feel uneasy as he appeared as they were getting dressed. The building became Kings School in 1922 and he still appears every 14 August.

MATJIESFONTEIN
James Douglas LOGAN built the Hotel Milner in 1899, which still stands today. His ghost still appears in the lounges at the back of the hotel. Kate is the most poignant ghosts there, and can often be seen staring out of the window of the top turret, her white dress flowing in the breeze. The young woman worked as a nurse in the hotel's earlier days. She loved to play cards with the patients and was popular. At 19 years of age, she died suddenly without cause or reason. At the top of the second floor, a steep staircase leads to a tiny room, known only as Kate's Card Room. Here the noises of cards being shuffled and soft crying can often be heard. She sometimes comes out of her room and can be seen floating around one of the lower passages, always in her nurse's uniform. Another ghost, known as Lucy, floats around the passages and stairs in a negligee.

Johnnie is the resident entertainer and will tell you the story of the ghost in the photo. He had the picture taken with the two little girls and the one asked "Who's the lady?" No-one else could see the lady, but she was there when the photo was developed and posted to Johnnie by the family. It may be the ghost of Olive SCHREINER, who lived in Matjiesfontein and wrote The Story of An African Farm there. Her house is near The Lairds Arms.

KEMPTON PARK
The old Kempton Park Hospital, now named Khayalami Hospital, was closed down on 26 December 1996 after the then MEC for Health, Amos MASONDO, declared it "underutilized and in an inappropriate location" as reported in the Mail and Guardian newspaper. The hospital is still abandoned with its operating theatres, beds, confidential files and equipment. The equipment has been estimated to be worth R10 million. Security costs R1 million per year. A team from Supernatural Phenomena Investigation Team of SA (SPITSA) investigated the hospital. They specialise in paranormal investigations on request, using sophisticated equipment and scientific methods to record, document and analyse findings to reach conclusive decisions on what is happening on a specific site. They uses thermal imaging cameras, digital recorders, night vision, infrared cameras, digital voice recorders, electromagnetic field detectors, digital thermometers, and other equipment.

Ronald HART was born at this hospital in 1991. He found his birth records there, showing the theatre he was born in. He runs a Facebook group, A true history of the untold – Kempton Park Hospital, where people share stories of the hospital and upload pictures of their visits there. As long as you have R40, keep your torch down when you are near a window and don’t make too much noise, the security guards fade away with the ghosts.

In early 2012, a family of six moved out of a rented house in Craig Street, Birchleigh North, after several strange experiences. While their 12 year old daughter was watching TV in the main bedroom, the water started flowing in the shower. This happened four more times. The family also claimed hearing footsteps in the wooden floor passage while they were all in the dining room. Doors also slammed open and close, even after they had been locked.

VICTORIA BAY
Twenty minutes from George Airport there is Land's End, the closest guest house to the sea in Africa, according to owners Rod and Shanell HOSSACK. Many years ago, the property was owned by Mr. MARAIS and his wife Daphne, where they had retired. Daphne died in the house. A clairvoyant who stayed at the house saw an elderly woman sitting at the breakfast table. Her description fitted Daphne's appearance. Ever since, the owners have set a place for her.

PILGRIM'S REST
Alanglade was the home of Richard Allan BARRY, general manager of Transvaal Gold Mining Estates, and his wife Gladys Isabel VAN DER BYL, until 1930. Built between 1915 and 1917, it is now a museum. Richard was born on 20 October 1874 in Barkley, Eastern Cape, the son of Jacob Dirk BARRY and Charlotte MERRIMAN. His uncle was John X. MERRIMAN, the last Premier of the Cape Colony. Richard married Gladys on 06 February 1902 in Cape Town. Her family were Anglicised Afrikaners, who had owned the land which is today Woodstock - from De Waal Drive to Salt River beach. She grew up in Roodebloem Manor. From 1900 to 1952, Gladys kept a daily diary, listing the day's activities and whom she had corresponded with that day. The original diary is part of the Africana collection of the National Library in Cape Town. The diary consists of 53 note books. She started the diary when she was 18 years old, while living with her parents in Cape Town. Richard also kept a diary, with an entry each month, including family events such as births, deaths, triumphs and trials, his work and financial situation. The couple had seven children - Erica Agnes born 1903, Mary Gladys born 1907, Margery, Adrian Michael, Richard Vincent, Nathaniel John, and Barbara Deidre born 09 December 1922. Richard Allan died on 07 October 1949, and Gladys in 1954.

Alanglade House

The family fortunes changed with the collapse of Wall Street in October 1929. The mines were no longer financially stable and Richard was retrenched in June 1930, while he was alone at Alanglade, Gladys and the children being in England for Mary's wedding. The family were given until the end of August to leave the house. The family moved back to the Cape, to a cottage on Keerweder, the fruit farm in Franschhoek previously purchased by Richard and co-owned by another family, the EGLINGTONs. In 1940 Richard sold Keerweder to Mr. BURTON. Richard was a hunter and the cottage was full of hunting trophies and memorabilia. The dining suite, made from tambuti wood, was made in Pilgrim's Rest.

Margery died at Roedean School from meningitis at the age of 13 years. The family dog, Jock, and his favourite chair was next to Margery’s bed, with a dent in its cushion. Sometimes photographers are unable to focus on it, as if there is something moving there. One photographer's camera shattered inexplicably as he left the house. Some cameras only work in certain rooms and steam up in others. Margery’s room is much colder than the others. Sometimes there is a strong smell of cologne or talcum powder. Sometimes Margery slams her bedroom door and nobody can get in until the next day. Toys are often moved, a pram mysteriously goes from the playroom to the governess's room. Margery’s brothers also have a tragic ending. Richard Vincent died in a mountaineering accident in 1938. Adrian, a surgeon, died in 1942 when HMS King George V crashed into HMS Punjabi. In October 1940 Nathaniel was shot down and killed in the Battle of Britain. Barbara married Marthinus VERSFELD in 1942, a Doctor of Philosophy at Cape Town University. She was an active member of the Black Sash.

At the cemetery, Naboompi is sometimes seen standing next to visitors. He had his legs sawn off below the knee because he didn't fit in his coffin. Mrs. STOPFORTH had 11 children before her husband left her for another woman. She sometimes walks around the cemetery shaking hands with all its inhabitants.

VICTORIA WEST
The house in which rugby legend Mannetjies ROUX grew up is known by the locals as the Ghost House or Spookhuis. His parents lived on a farm when he was born in the local hospital. After his father's death, when Mannetjies was two years old, his mother moved to the town with her children. They lived in the house, which is actually named Rotsvas. This is where he got his nickname - the veranda is quite high, and the children's nanny would warn him in Afrikaans: "Mannetjie, you will fall off." The name stuck, and many years later his wife added the extra s. The house has been empty for many years. After the ROUX family, it was inhabited by Jack CLOETE, a lawyer, and his wife Paddy. They had three children - John, Garth and Barry. Next, the Co-op manager, Hennie SPANGENBERG, lived there. The PRETORIUS family were the next residents, staying for many years. Mannetjies owns the antique shop in town. The building was previously used as a library, cinema, synagogue and Methodist church. He doesn't know why the locals call it a ghost house, but believes that it is because it has been empty for so long.

UNIONDALE
At the Barandas turnoff 19 kms before Uniondale, you'll find the most famous South African ghost, the Uniondale hitchhiker Maria ROUX, who died in 1962. She was asleep on the back seat of the car her fiancé, G.M. PRETORIUS, lost control of. She was killed and he survived. The first reported sighting was in 1976, when she hitchhiked on the same road. Anton LE GRANGE noticed a young woman hitchhiking on the side of the road, so he pulled over and offered her a lift. A few minutes later, he realised that he didn't know where she wanted to go, he turned to ask her but she was gone. He reported the incident to the police. Sceptical, they were finally convinced to go with him to check the area where she disappeared. As they were driving there, the police officer noticed the back door of the car opening and closing by itself. Back at the police station, Anton identified his mysterious passenger from an old photograph of Maria. In 1978, Army Corporal VAN JAARSVELD had a similar experience. He stopped his motorcycle and offered a lift to a young woman with long dark hair and dark clothing. She climbed on, putting his spare helmet on her head and wrapping her arms around his waist. A few miles down the road, he felt a small jolt and turned to see that she was gone. He turned around to go and look for her, only to notice a few minutes later the spare helmet fastened to his luggage rack.

STANDERTON
On the road to Standerton, about 24 kms outside town on the Balfour road, a ghost car is sometimes seen. Marita MCKECHNIE was a 20 year old student at Pretoria University when her mother and younger sister picked her up in the mid-1960s to spend the April holidays in Newcastle, where the family lived. They left Pretoria in a Ford Zephyr at dusk, with Marita driving. Shortly before Standerton they noticed a car without lights on and going in the same direction as them. As they went over a hill, the car was standing in the middle of the road. She swerved right to avoid hitting the car, and at that moment the car disappeared. There were no people in the car, which looked like an old black Buick. Years later her brother-in-law told her his uncle lived in Standerton and he used to tell the story of the ghost car. The car was used as a hearse and it stops on the spot of an accident which took the life of a young girl. Frans SWANEPOEL of Ruimsig said he often heard the story in the 1950s.

FISH HOEK
Fish Hoek Farm dates from 1818 and was the sixth farm to be granted in the valley, after Slangkop (Imhoff’s Gift), Poespaskraal and De Goede Hoop in 1743; Brakkloof in the late 1700s, followed by Groot Zilvermijn in 1813. The farm consisted of three sections - Lot A (The Great Whalery - Sunnycove to Fish Hoek Beach corner), Lot B (The Harring Fishery - from the shoreline towards Sun Valley / Ou Kaapse Weg) and Lot C (Kleintuin - known as Clovelly now). On 05 October 1883, the farm was bought by Hester DE KOCK, a former school mistress. She was already 69 years old when she married Jacob Isaak DE VILLIERS of Noordhoek in 1901. By 1916 they had both died and were buried on the family plot next to the Dutch Reformed Church on Kommetjie Road. The farm was sold off as plots. Hester and Isaak pioneered holidaying in Fish Hoek, offering the first beach front accommodation. The farm house later became the Homestead Hotel, which once stood where the Naval Mess SAS Southern Floe stands today. There are at least six ghosts on the old farm.

Originally the Glencairn Hotel, the Glen Lodge and Pub between Fish Hoek and Simon’s Town, has two ghostly residents. Some claim to have seen a woman and a little boy on the stairs of the hotel and their presence is occasionally felt when furniture is moved around.

MACHADODORP
Uitkomst farm south of Machadodorp was the scene of a tragedy at the waterfall. No one is sure of the date, stories range from the 1960s to "many years ago". A honeymoon couple were captivated by the beauty of the waterfall and spent many hours there. The bride posed on the edge for a photograph. As she turned to smile at her husband, she slipped on the wet rocks and plunged to her death. A year later, her husband returned and in his grief, threw himself off the rocks in the same spot. People who go to the waterfall on moonlit nights are never alone. The reunited couple are sitting hand-in-hand at the top of the waterfall.

SEWEWEEKSPOORT
Seweweekspoort is in a mountain ravine and used as one of the three major gateways linking the Central and Little Karoo. The 17 km winding route is quite distracting. It was known as Smuggler's Route in days gone by, being the main route for brandy smugglers, runaways, slaves and outlaws. To stop these people, a toll-house was built. The ruins can still be seen at the northern entrance to the Poort, along with the ghost of the first toll-keeper. He runs frantically into the road on cloudy nights, waving his lantern to warn of a threatening storm or raging river up ahead. He sometimes flags down motorists to take their toll fee, but vanishes when the car comes to a stop.

PIETERMARITZBURG
One of Africa's leading independent girls' schools, The Wykeham Collegiate, in Clarendon, is still visited by the ghost of Mary MOORE. She was the headmistress of Wykeham Girls' School from 1905 until 1919, and was feared by the girls that she taught. Her broad-brimmed hat and stern demeanour made her the epitome of a headmistress. In 1990 the school amalgamated to become The Wykeham Collegiate. The Wykeham building was sold and everything was packed up and moved. Awakened by the move, Mary now keeps an eye on the girls from the end of Geekie Hall, alongside her portrait and desk. Her eyes in the portrait match the stern look she had in life.

Miranda was the 19 year old daughter of a high-ranking official at Government House. She fell in love with a lowly stable boy and they tried to elope, getting as far as the Star and Garter Inn before they caught on the road to Durban. He lost his job and Miranda was locked in her room where she eventually died of a broken heart. Today, she still roams Government House at the head of Longmarket Street (now Langalibalele), which became the old Natal Training College.

On Howick Road there is a house called Ketelfontein. It was built in 1862 and was a hostel where the transport riders could change horses or rest overnight before continuing on their journey to Durban from Johannesburg. One stormy evening a traveller arrived with a horse so exhausted that it was unable to continue to Durban. The stables had no fresh horses left to exchange, so the man had to spend the night. He was being pursued by the police for being in possession of stolen diamonds. During the night the police arrived and a gun-battle ensued. The traveller was shot dead. His body, horse and possessions were searched and no diamonds were found. The diamonds have never been found by the traveller, who comes back often to look for them.

A mystery lady in white inhabits Macrorie House. She was the wife of the head warder of the jail in Burger Street, but was having an affair with someone at Government House. There was a reputed tunnel that ran from Government House to Fort Napier, built as an escape route for the Governor. This is where the lovers met. One night her husband followed her. He used his bunch of keys, killing them both directly beneath Macrorie House.

Sergeant BOSCH is known as the Polo Tavern Ghost. He died in 1919 by crashing his Harley-Davidson motorbike with side car into a lamppost outside the Polo Tavern, which he frequented often. After his body was removed, a local newspaper photographer took a photo of the accident site. In the photo the fuzzy figure of a man can be seen climbing the steps to the tavern, even though onlookers, pictured in the photo, swore that no one entered it while the photo was being taken. Over the years patrons and owners have said he still frequents the pub, leaving an empty beer bottle and glass on the bar counter, which is found by staff the next morning after the bar has been thoroughly cleaned and locked up the night before.

The Alexandra Park cricketers appear on summer afternoons when the thick fog rolls up from the Duzi and shrouds the cricket pavilion. The voice of the umpire echoes round the field. Other men's voices join in, shouting "run!" or "stay!". In the grandstand, a single pair of feminine hands can be heard and a lovely voice cries "Bravo! Well done!" The mist lifts and there's no one there. The Pavilion is empty and the pitch bare.

The old Forsythe’s Jewellers in Church Street was a theatre in former years. A lovesick actor hanged himself there when his advances were spurned by an actress. He was known to haunt the shop.

In the Great Gale of 31 August 1902, 21 boats either sank or were blown onto North End Beach. Forty-one crew and rescuers died this disaster and many were buried in the South End Cemetery. Some of their ghosts are said to wander through this graveyard.

DULLSTROOM
During the Anglo-Boer War a young British soldier, Sergeant LARLEY was injured. He was cared for by a young Afrikaans girl, Magda. They fell in love, but her family accused her of treachery and locked her away. The soldier was heart-broken and, he soon died. Not knowing what happened to him, Magda sat at the log fire in the Dullstroom Inn for many years, waiting for him to come and fetch her. If you stand on the corner outside the Dullstroom Inn, just after the sun sets, you might hear the sound of thundering hooves as he comes to rescue her. Those who are see him are said to be forever lucky in love.

DURBAN
The Old Fort is set in beautiful gardens and was once the headquarters of the Durban Light Infantry. Brigadier-General G. MOLYNEUX haunts the gardens named in his honour. The Warrior’s Gate building is home to the ghost of a soldier who likes to re-arrange furniture and displays.

53 Hospital Road on the corner of Point Road was the office of Rosie DRY, a famous madam in the 1940s who had a string of brothels. The building is said to be haunted by the ghost of a soldier whom she had killed in 1944. She dumped his body in a barrow and wheeled it to a nearby dance floor.

BULWER
The Mountain Park Holiday Resort Hotel is a manor house with creaking floors and Tudor-style accommodation. It has seven ghosts. Two ghostly drunkards reside in the pub. Three men reside on the third floor. There's the childminder Ruth, seven-year-old Matilda and Wisp, a ghost dog.

STELLENBOSCH
The Zorgvliet Country Lodge is one of the Cape’s oldest wine farms. Travellers once feared to here as the dense forest was inhabited by gangs, escaped slaves and wild animals. The mischievous ghosts today only open and close doors or play with light switches in the tasting room.

WATERVAL-ONDER
The Wayside Inn is a 19th century coach inn. There is a peppercorn tree in the grounds, under which a nurse and an officer of the Inniskilling Dragoons used to meet. They were killed in an attack during the Anglo-Boer war. Their ghosts continued to meet there, until the tree blew over in the 1960s and the officer's grave was moved to Barberton. Also in the grounds, is the Krugerhof, where President Paul KRUGER stayed before his exile in Europe. Before he left, he and his Cabinet met in a railway carriage, and it was from here that they are said to have disposed of the gold of the South African Republic, known as the Kruger Millions.

KAAPSEHOOP
Wild horses roam the area, descendants of animals left behind by British forces during the Anglo-Boer War. The area was once called Duiwel's Kantoor. One of the village's ghosts is an old woman, said to have been an alcoholic who murdered her husband with an axe. Another elderly woman haunts the veranda of the Green Venus, now a pub but once a trading store. The screams of a child crying for help have also been heard in the pub. A mother and child burned to death there in the 1940s. Children can also be heard laughing outside, among the nearby rocks. Breaking crockery has been heard when loud music is played. The mining commissioner's house was built in 1884.

Reinette VAN NIEKERK looks out for the welfare of the wild horses. She moved to Kaapsehoop in 2004 to work with horses. After owning the local backpackers’ lodge for a few years, she became the Horse Lady. She also acts as booking agent for all the accommodation in Kaapsehoop, and is a tour guide.

One of the outside buildings that was previously used as a hospital by the only doctor in town is thought to be haunted. Many miners died from malaria and TB. The buildings have been used as servants’ quarters. Many have seen a big White man with a beard who threatens them with a whip if they dare lie down and sleep. He swears at them in their native tongue, and makes them stand up. Kaapsehoop's graveyard dates back to the 1800s. The local pub, the Salvador Bistro, is believed to be haunted.

NOORD-KAAP
In the gardens of the Bougainvillea Hotel, there is Hanging Tree, where horse thieves and claim jumpers are said to have been hanged by lynch mobs. Sometimes, when there is no breeze, the tree shakes violently.

BARBERTON
The Barberton Provincial Hospital was haunted by Sister BROWN, who nursed in the early 20th century. During a break from her work, she was taken on a hunting expedition, where she was mauled by a lion. She is said to wear an old-fashioned grey uniform and her feet are invisible. The hospital was renovated since her death, and the floor raised.

GERMISTON
The Old as Gold Guest House in Primrose was said to have been haunted by the ghosts of Chinese mine workers. The building dates from about 1880, and was built as the home of a Cornish mine manager. There were three underground rooms that once housed Chinese mine workers. A secret staircase leads to the rooms, which may have been used to hide unregistered workers. Smugglers, known as black birders, traded in people. Joff VAN REENEN, an auctioneer who researched the history of the house, believes that three tunnels, now sealed off, once led from the rooms to the gold mines in the area.

GHOST TOURS
Mark Rose-Christie owns the Mystery Ghost Bus Tours. Tours are available in Johannesburg, Pretoria, Cape Town, Port Elizabeth and Durban. Each tour includes haunted sites, the history and science of the paranormal, and an historical cemetery at midnight.
www.mysteryghostbus.co.za

Kimberley Ghost Tours by Steve Lunderstedt
Tel: +27 (0) 83 732 3189

Prince Albert Ghost Walk by Ailsa Tudhope
www.storyweaver.co.za

INVESTIGATIONS
Supernatural Phenomena Investigation Team of SA (SPITSA)
www.spitsa.co.za

BOOKS
Ghosts of Pretoria, by Eric Bolsmann, published by My Guest Publishers, Pretoria, 1997
An Historical Meander through the Midlands of KwaZulu-Natal, by Bill Bizley and Pat McKenzie, published by the Midlands Meander Association.
Haunted Corners, by Margaret Williamson
Ghosts of South Africa, by Pat Hopkins