Hi, my name is Marcia. I live in Durban, South Africa. I am currently researching the Portuguese genealogy on my maternal side. The surnames being researched are Serena, Vieira, De Abreu, Caldeira. My g-grandfather was Marcial/Marseal/Marceal Vieira Serena (his first name could also perhaps have been "Marcal" which is also a Portuguese surname). According to his Death Notice in the archives, he was born in Madeira, Portugal (no freguesia (parish) included). He was born circa 1900. My g-grandmother was Maria Clara (Calderia/Caldeira) De Abreu who also came through from Portugal (more than likely Madeira, freguesia (parish) unknown). She was born circa 1905. They were married in Benoni, Transvaal, around 1925/1926 as their first child was born in about 1926 (still to be confirmed) so they would have come to South Africa before then. I am not even sure whether they travelled together, if she came through with some of her family or even what years they would have arrived. I have been looking at the ship lists to see whether I may be able to find the ship on which they came to South Africa, without success. I do not think that my g-grandmother and g-grandfather ever naturalised as South Africans but rather remained Portuguese citizens, with all their children being born in South Africa. My g-grandparents' birth certificates would probably be held in Portugal. Until I find out exactly which concelho (municipality) and freguesia (parish) they were born in, I will probably be unable to obtain those records. Having regard to the fact that I do not speak Portuguese, this research has not been plain sailing. So far I have been unable to locate a marriage certificate, nor death certificates for them, although I have contacted the Department of Home Affairs with regard thereto. My g-grandmother also had a brother who appeared to settle in the then Lourenco Marques (now Maputo). He had a hotel/restaurant there called The Lido. Unfortunately I don't have a name for him although it could have been something like Fernando/Fernandes de Abreu. If anyone can help, it would be greatly appreciated. ... Marcia I am currently researching information on my Great Grandfather, John LEFF, who married Susana Johanna HENN, in Caledon on 18.5.1863. Her Great Grandfather, Michael Henn, from Herbergen, Saxony, Germany, employed by the Dutch East India Company as a sailor, arrived in the Cape in 1748, on the ship Leijden. It is believed that John Leff was a lighthouse keeper at the Cape Agulhas Lighthouse, between 1863 and 1883, or certainly in the lighthouse service. Although Leff is not listed in Harold Williams's comprehensive lists of keepers, there appears to have been an unsettled period regarding the staff at the Agulhas Light around the 1870s and 80's. After 1910 and with changing administrations, various records and documents were lost and mislaid. On the 26th March 1882, Leff's name appeared in the Report of Official Officers and Visitors January 1881 - 31st March 1882, when he visited the Cape Agulhas Lighthouse. It is not recorded if this was an official or unofficial visit and only an address of Struis Bay was given. I understand that there is mention of John Leff in one of Lawrence Green's books, which I think may refer to John Leff as having been in the service. Unfortunately I do not know which book, despite having read through as many of my Lawrence Green collection as possible. I would like to know if John Leff was a Lighthousekeeper at Cape Agulhas or any Lighthouse, or in the Lighthouse service and any information on this or anything about John Leff will be greatly appreciated. ... Suzanne-Jo Leff Patterson ducks8@bigpond.com WRIGHT - LISTER Are you descended from Dr John Wright of Cape Town, who died on 13 June 1890 and is buried with his wife Eliza in St John's Cemetery, Wynberg? Is their son H. Claude Wright [1857- 1931], or are their grandsons, Dr Everard Lister Wright [1882- 1959] and Steuart Wright [1883-1940] in your family tree? Is the Dr Wright living in Manson Road, Newlands in 1963 a relation? Eliza Wright, née Lister, is an older sister of my husband's great-grandfather. If anyone is interested in exchanging information on the Wright family for the background of Eliza Wright and her family in England, including her marriage to Dr John Wright, I should be very happy to correspond by e-mail. ... Jennifer Southorn WILSON / vd MERWE / van NIEKERK / DANIEL - During my research of the DANIEL family I came into possession of an old family album dated pre 1900. This album was kept by a Christina Aletta vd MERWE (b. abt 1892 - d. abt 1965) 1st married to Ernest Redmond DANIEL (b. 17.01.1890 - d. 2.05.1922). They lived on the farm 'Rawnip' in Bloemfontein, SA and had two sons - vd Merwe Thomas Edward and Francis Henry James (my wife's dad). After Ernest died she remarried, to a Cecil WILSON (b.? - d. about 1955 at 'Wilson's Fort' near Bloemfontein, SA). Unfortunately few of the photos in the album are identified. I am very keen to make contact with descendants of the WILSON and vd MERWE families who could possibly assist with identifying the photos as I believe many of the photos are of these as well as the DANIEL families. Inscriptions on some of the photos include 'to Mrs ER Daniel from Nick vd MERWE' (I suspect this could be Christina's brother); (from) 'Uncle Henry WILSON'; 'Pa (father) RJ WILSON'; 'SB van NIEKERK'. I also have the following newspaper clipping taken from an old family bible: - WILSON:- Passed away at Wilson's Fort, district Bloemfontein, on Sunday, September 21, 1930, Elizabeth WILSON (b. 9.06.1856 - d. 21.09.1930) aged 74 years. Deeply mourned by her husband, children, and grandchildren. ..(possibly the mother of Cecil WILSON??) ... Brian Benningfield I continue looking for James Walter MOUNTANY (310/541495) born 28 November 1889 on a ship and, as the story was told by relatives, his mother died 11 days after his birth. He lived with some aunt Mostert (assume adopted but no proof) in Blood Street, Pretoria RSA. For some reason he was named as such and he named his first son Edward Hudson MOUNTANY. He married Agnes Walker LEWIS (310/541496) from Outshoorn RSA round about 1914 -1917, assume Johannesburg ??? Died 31 August 1969 - Estate record MHG8860/69. I have, as yet, found nothing on ship's passenger lists, proof of nationality etc. If anyone is able to help, I would appreciate it. ... Manie I am looking for any information on James Machray Cameron, born approx. 1879 in Inverness, Scotland. He was a Civil Engineer and arrived in South Africa (we think) via India. He married Elsie Peetz in South Africa and they lived in Pretoria (my father was born here), Durban and Matatiele (he died and is buried here in 1933). I would appreciate any information. ... Jeanette G Cameron Looking for information on the family MURGATROYD. As far as we can gather his name was ERNEST MURGATROYD, and he married a young girl (aged 13) whose surname was COETZEE, this was in POTCHEFSTROOM in about 1904, to enable her family to survive, apparently her father was a Dutch Reformed Minister who was shot by the British for being a spy. I am assuming that the family (COETZEE) was in a concentration camp in Potchefstroom. ANY information would be appreciated. I am also trying to trace my Mother In Law's family. She was SARAH DEBORAH MURGATROYD, nee KOTZE, who was born in the HAY DISTRICT of KURUMAN, we have no information on this side of the family. ... Yvonne Murgatroyd I am trying to find any information on the HEYNE family of Cape Town, SA. Daniel Alec HEYNE, born 1890 in Cape Town to Daniel Adriaan HEYNE and Isabella Emma PIKE. Daniel Adriaan died in 1896 and left behind his widow Isabella and 4 children - Maria Matilda (m. Charles HOUGHAM); Viner Isabella, Daniel Adrian and Arthur Vincent. I know that Daniel and Arthur ended up living in the USA sometime after 1905. I do not know what happened to Viner or Isabella and have been unable to find any Pike/Pyke connections in SA as of yet. If you have any information you could share it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you. ... Sharon Heyne Richard Roberts GREENWOOD born 1876 Holloway Islington Middlesex - anybody who may stumble across this name please contact me. He left the Transvaal in 1895 for East London. He claimed compensation from the Government in 1903 for damages to his building during the Begbie Explosion Johannesburg, during the ABW. An R.R. Greenwood was Mayor of Cambridge, Dist. East London in 1926 but no further information found. Correspondence to a younger sister, Maud Marguerite Hiscox in Northern Rhodesia in 1933 where she refers to him "as a regular old hermit". No Death Notice traced. No burial found. He just disappeared! ... Cindy Binks I am looking for all families that were in the Fort Nottingham, Nottingham Road, Rosetta, Kamberg, Mooi River, Middlerus and Rietvlei area of Kwa Zulu Natal. I am trying to record these families right from the first settlers to the 1960's. Your help will be invaluable and all help will be acknowledged. ... Jacqueline CATHERINE TERRY nee FERNS - born c 1870 Basutoland - I know she died in Durban and is buried in Stellawood, can find no death notice at the archives. She married William John Terry in Bloemfontein in 1899. Have the descendants but going beyond her seems beyond me. If anyone has any information please help. ... J. Lancaster I am trying to find out what happened to my great uncle Godfrey MOORE b: 1866 in Western Australia. In 1902 he went on his second tour of duty as a soldier and stayed in South Africa. Occupation: prospector. He married a Maria Petronella Vorster, nee De Wit (Wet), date unknown. Date of death also unknown. I would appreciate any information as he is a complete mystery to everyone here in Western Australia. ... Bev Lane I have been building up a HATLEY family tree (Hatley Family of Southern Africa) but have a couple of missing facts that need resolution. These are: (1) Joseph Henry HATLEY (born London 23/04/1849). He arrived in Natal in May 1875, with his wife and two daughters. His Date and Place of Death - unknown. As far as I can determine the family settled in Newcastle, where his brother (Frederick Nixon HATLEY) had settled. The family then relocated to Dundee (in about 1887), and then moved onto to Heilbron in the OFS (post about 1890). The youngest daughter (Alice) was born in Heilbron in 1894, and the eldest daughter remarried, in Heilbron in about 1896, following the death of her first husband. Joseph then appears to have died. This is borne out by the statement in the death notice of his wife Elizabeth Alice HATLEY (born Rowen) in March 1912 that Joseph died somewhere in the "Transvaal or Rhodesia" before 1899. Following his death, the family seems to have returned to Dundee (in all probability before the start of the hostilities before the Boer War, commencing October 1899) for a few years, where a number of the daughters married. The family appears to have finally settled in Pietermaritzburg. I have searched the Rhodesian (now Zimbabwe) archives but have not located any record of him. He is not listed on the cemetery list for Heilbron. Can anyone help? (2) Descendants of Joseph Henry HATLEY (born London 23/04/1849). Daughter of Joseph Henry HATLEY; Blanche Gertrude HATLEY (born 1892). She had a twin sister Ethel Maud FOTHERGILL (born HATLEY). I can find no record of Blanche Gertrude HATLEY beyond March 1912, which is the date of the death of her mother, where she was listed as a minor on the death notice. Any subsequent records are likely to be in Pietermaritzburg. Can anyone help? ... Vernon N. Hatley, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia I am desperately looking for information on my father's family, the Pieterse family. My great granfather was Jacobus Nicolaas Pieterse who died in 1910/11. My grandfather was Jan George Pieterse who died in 1964. He lived in Machdodorp and Pietersburg. He was adopted at age 3 by his uncle and aunt Jan and Martha Geldenhuys and grew up on the farm Monte Cristo in the Groot Marico district. [The Geldhuys' did not change his name but kept his original name of Pieterse.] He married my grandmother Johanna Petronella Hendrina Niemand. Both were born on 12th November, year unknown. They had six children. I would appreciate any help. Thank you. ... Julie Rowland I would like to know if anyone can tell me who the Lawson was that arrived in South Africa with the Byrne settlers on the ship called the Unicorn in 1850. My great grandfather was James Lawson who was married in Natal in 1861 but I am unable find a record of when he arrived here. I would appreciate any help. ... Maureen Kruger Searching for anyone with the surname MERCER-COYNE who may be related to William Mercer-Coyne who married Annie Hoath in Lewisham, England, in 1916. They had 2 sons born in England: Benjamin CG (born 1917) and Dennis P (born 1919). The family emigrated to South Africa in the 1920s and had another son in 1927 (Terrance Desmond). I have been searching for descendants for many years and have acquired information that they were living in or around Durban, South Africa in the 1960s and 1970s. Terrance was married to Ethel (nee HUTCHESON (later RIJNVIS)) and they had 2 daughters: Patricia Mary and Sharon Ann (born SA 1960/61). Cousins of Benjamin, Denis and Terrance living in England would very much like to make contact with them. If any readers have the surname of MERCER-COYNE or COYNE, or if anyone reading this message knows of anyone with the surname, or is related to them, please contact me. Many thanks. ... Viv Clarke Ravenhill Joseph Howse was born in England in 1905. His father was John Openshaw Howse born in Shoshong ... Khamas Town, South Africa, in 1879. John Openshaw Howse had returned to England by 1901 and on his marriage certificate in 1903 named his father as John Howse, African Trader. I would be grateful for any information on the Howses, Openshaws and Ravenhills in South Africa, and Shoshong in the 19th century. ... Jean Taylor I am looking for Charles Reader who was known to have been in Capetown in 1895. It is thought that his wife was Lucy Pettoni who was born in Italy. Any help totally appreciated thanks. ... Kevin and Lynne Looking for exact date, location and circumstances of death of William George WALTON, Captain of 1820 British Settlers ship Nautilus, who married Adelaide Emily PULLEN enroute to Cape Town. Thanks. ... Stellamaris Newlands (nee WALTON) I am trying to trace the STOPFORTH family in South Africa. The information I have is as follows - but it is the generation after this that I am missing. John STOPFORTH b. 7.9 1782 Westminster, London d. 11.9.1823 George, Cape, SA, m. 2.8.1807 to Maria Johanna BEYER, John Christian STOPFORTH b. 19.2.1809 c. 13.3.1808 d. 19.2.1809, James Grey STOPFORTH b. 26.8.1809 c. 10.9.1809, Maria Barendma STOPFORTH b.14.2.1811 c. 3.3.1811. I pick up the Grey Stopforth line in 1850 and again in about 1900 but I have no connection between these lines even though I am certain they are descendants. Anyone with information to fill in the gap would be appreciated. Thank you. ... Arlene Leggat Who was "the widow of Mr Harry Barnato" mentioned in Jewish World? Her first names were Charlotte Maud, she may have been previously married to someone called Grey, but did she ever marry Henry (Harry) Barnato. She is buried near the Barnato family plot and left a fortune that she had inherited from him. I can find no evidence of a second marriage for Henry Barnato. Who is she? ... Ann I am trying to trace the family origins of my Ggrandfather, Michael Hayes, b abt May 1860, died 26 April 1921, in Marandellas, Rhodesia. He married my GGrandmother, Henrietta Elizabeth Hartley on 22 January 1891 at the Hartley family farm, Thorndale in the Magaliesburg, west of Pretoria. The Hayes family moved from the old Transvaal to Rhodesia in 1907. ... Terry Cockcroft I am currently researching my maternal family history. Mr great grandfather came to South Africa in the early 1900's at the age of 17. He was born in Dundee, Scotland in 1886 and his full name was Thomas Coutts Milne. His father was also Thomas Coutts Milne and his mother was possibly Christina Christie Milne. I have not been able to find which ship he arrived on, or which port. I would really appreciate all the help I can get on this, also if anyone knows whether he had brothers, sisters in Scotland. Thank you. ... Jacqui Greeff Looking for any information on Tolmays or Heymans. Found a small article on Benjamin Moodie, listing James Tolmie as having arrived on the ship Brilliant in 1817 ...... after that .... nothing more. ... Terri Ernest Clifford Dicks married Elizabeth Cornelia Viljoen but that is almost all I know of her. Is there anyone out there who can assist with some information to solve this puzzle? Catherine Cory married Oliver Ishmael Lloyd and that is all I know about her. I am not sure if she is also a descendant of 1820 Settlers but I can find nothing to suggest she was. I also have a puzzle about one of my paternal great grandmothers. Her name is Hermina Elizabeth Berry and she married my great grandfather George Smith. I would love to know more about these ladies so if anyone can help, I would be most grateful. ... Jenny Kenyon I have totally 'lost' Joseph STODDART b. 1850-Whitehaven - Cumbria U.K. and wife Frances who sailed to South Africa somewhere between 1897 and 1901. I believe they went to Pretoria. Any help would be most appreciated. ... Martin Harrowsmith Researching the family MILLARD who lived in New Zealand from the 1860s till the late 1890s. Information has it that they went to South Africa but I do not know whereabouts. Father was John James MILLARD and his wife was Mary Ann BRAZEL. Arthur James MILLARD b.1864 stayed in New Zealand. John James MILLARD b.1867. Eliza Ann MILLARD b.1869 went to South Africa. Agnes MILLARD b.1874 went to South Africa. Walter W MILLARD b.1877. They lived at Wetherstones in Central Otago, New Zealand. 1895 directory has the father and son John James both miners. Any suggestions where I could get any information on the family. ... Helen Hall I'm looking for the marriage between Henry Wesley BELL b.1885 Douglas, Isle of Man, to Violet STEVEN b.1886 Arbroath, Scotland. I believe the marriage took place between 1902 and 1907. Thank you for any assistance. ... Pat G, Mission, B.C. Canada I am trying to find any relations of my Grandfather Esmond John Roberts and Grandmother Phyllis Beatrice Mcintyre, they lived at Fern Hill Farm Hotel in Tweedie near Howick in Natal. ... Cathy Gray I've been working on and off researching the family BADNITZ, there just seem to be too few of them to find! I would like to find a bit more of our origins in Germany, my great-grandfather (Ernest Badnitz) arrived in East London on board the 'Sohpie' [?Sophie] on August 15, 1877. I cannot find anything before then. Can someone help? ... Albert Badnitz More enquiries to be added...