Genealogical Society of South Africa
Durban and Coastal Branch
Volume 24 Issue 3/2008
Message from the Treasurer
Would
members kindly bear in mind that our 2008 subscriptions became due on January
1st. If you do not intend to renew your
membership please could you let us know
Membership fees may be deposited in ANY
branch of Nedbank in South Africa – our banking details are :
Account Name : The Genealogical Society of South Africa
Bank : Nedbank
Account No. : 2144 092 346 (Durban North)
NB : Members banking via
INTERNET must quote the Code No. 114405 as well as our account number. Please notify the treasurer of your renewal
either by post, telephone (evenings) or by e-mail.
Should you require any
further details, kindly contact Shirley at : therichardsons@telkomsa.net
****
Report Back
Annual Visit to
Pietermaritzburg Archive
Unfortunately due to Saturday 9 August being a
public holiday our annual visit to the Pietermaritzburg Archives, and our
monthly meeting, were cancelled.
Visit to Ikes Books Store
Saturday 16 August 2008
Because
Saturday 9 August was a public holiday, a visit to Ikes Book Store was arranged
in its place for Saturday 16 August.
Although there were only 7 members who joined us, we were a happy little
band who made ourselves at home and absorbed the great atmosphere and smell of
books.
There
was an introduction by Vishnu Padayachee, Prof. Of Economics, the now owner of
the book store, who gave us some insight into the history of the store and how
it was started by Ike. An article on
Ike’s life will be printed in the next newsletter.
A
big “thank you” to Robert Suberg who was kind enough to organise this visit for
us.
For
those who couldn’t attend, the store is opened Mon-Fri : 10am – 5pm and Sat :
9am – 2pm. It is well worth the visit.
****
Natal Marriages Indexing Project
“Letter of Appreciation”
We are very happy to announce that a letter of appreciation was presented by a member of the Stake Presidency of
the LDS Church in Durban, Mr. Ray Holder, to our member LYNNETTE PAUL. Lynette has been a volunteer
transcribing on the Natal Marriage Indexing Project since December 2005. Recently she has been transcribing in excess
of 6500 marriages a month! A staggering amount. Lynette has under-taken this task with great dedication and
diligence and we are very proud of her.
CONGRATULATIONS and thank you from us all.
Project leader, Adrian Rowe, who was also awarded a letter of
appreciation for his tireless contribution, said that at this rate, provided
Lynette can keep it up, the project members should complete transcribing all
the films up to 1955, by the end of 2010!!
Please note that volunteers are still needed so if you are
interested in volunteering for this project kindly contact Adrian Rowe on rowe@xsinet.co.za.
CONGRATULATIONS
AND WELL
DONE LYNETTE !!
****
Bulletin Board
v
“Grow Your Own Family
Tree”
This book by Alan Stewart (published by Penguin Books)
is a guide to researching your family history roots in the British Isles. It
contains information from births to burials, including how to access census
records, free online databases, wills and administrations, and military
information. It also offers a detailed explora-tion of the very best websites
and current Internet resources. There
are also fascinating journeys through
the stories of others who have managed to track their own relatives. For anyone
wishing to purchase this book it can be ordered through Exclusive Books at
R214,00.
v
GSSA Cemetery Project
We have noted that the following
progress has been made by the team on the Cemetery Project :
·
Primrose
has been completed with 18,442 entries,
·
The
photographing of the Prins Albert cemetery,
·
The
cemeteries of Trompsburg, Waterkloof and Petrusville have been done,
·
A list
of cemeteries with the names of the farms and the telephone numbers of people
who may be contacted regarding individual farm cemeteries,
·
The
following towns have been completed: Prieska, Griekwastad, Van Niekerkshoop,
Springfontein, Vredefort as well as a few farm cemeteries,
·
Work
is in progress on Reddersburg, Smithfield (old and new cemetery) as well as
Wepener farms.
Thank
you once again to Colin Moss and his team of volunteers for such great work
done!
v
History of Hermanus and
surrounding area
We
recently had sight of the following delightful booklets on the history of
Hermanus and surrounding area – they are filled with interesting articles and
images, and full of personal stories of the history of the area. These books
will be available in our library shortly.
a)
Ella Gordon and her “Trick Horses” : 1873-1958 : Compiled
by John & Margaret Annandale (Cost R90,00)
b)
Catalina Flying Boat Base at the Bot River Lagoon :
1943-1945 – John Annandale (Cost R90,00)
c)
Onrus Rivier 100 year Centenary : 1902-2004 - John Annandale (Cost R60,00)
d)
Hemel + Aarde and The Leper Colony – John Annandale
(Cost R60,00)
(The
above cost is excluding postage.) If
you are interested in purchasing any of these book for your personal library
please contact : Margaret Annandale at mannandale@hermanus.co.za
v
www.cdbooks-r-us.com
Colin
Pretorius has advised of the following free download and new CDRoms which are
available through his web address above :
·
Uniondale
1901 – a memento of the Anglo Boer War :
free e-book
Colin has uploaded a free e-book to the website. Titled "Uniondale 1901 - a memento of the Anglo Boer War" and written by R Morrow, a doctor resident in Uniondale during the Anglo-Boer War, this 19p booklet gives some interesting insights into the lives of the residents of Uniondale in that period. Please feel free to download the 268kb file from the website.
·
Voortrekkermense 2
Colin has been in the process of digitising
Preller’s Voortrekkermense series of books.
The second in the series is now available on CD at R110, including
postage and packaging. The following is
covered in this book :
- Karel Trichardt’s memories
- The memories of Mrs Anna Steenkamp (Retief)
- The Diary of Rev. Erasmus Smit dated 24 March
1838.
The (Dutch & Afrikaans) book is well indexed and
also contains a register of names. A
number of images are also included. The
intro and table of contents can be viewed at www.cdbooks-r-us.com/downloads/vm2intro.pdf
·
"The
Africanders: A Century of Dutch-English Feud in South Africa"
Published in 1900, this 289-page
book gives an extensive overview of the events in South Africa, covering the
period of the Dutch at the Cape to 1795, British-Dutch interactions, the First
War of Independence, and detailed analysis of the causes of and events leading
to the 2nd War of Independence.
This
book differs form some versions available in that it is fully searchable and
contains a detailed index.
The
book consists of the following 17 chapters and the preface, table of contents
as well as the list of illustrations/photos can be viewed online at:
http://www.cdbooks-r-us.com/supportdocs/africanderintro.pdf
The book is in Acrobat PDF
format, and costs R110.
Should
there be any queries or if you wish to place an order via email rather than on the web, please email Colin
on colin@cdbooks-r-us.com
v
Extracts from the Précis of the Archives of the Cape of Good Hope : 1715 –
1806
Here
is an extract which I recently came across in C B Liebrandt’s Précis which I found to be most
interesting:
“1732 : Graveyard Stellenbosch
The Minister,
Land., and H.H. of Stellenbosch and Drakenstein state that the old graveyard has, for a long while, not been used at all, and has to be cleaned annually, not
without considerable expense, to the Board of L. and H.H., as well as the Kerkeraad, as it cannot be allowed to become a wilderness, or a thicket, which would cause
great danger in case of fire; that the Council know that no land whatever is attached to the minister's residence, which he could use for a kitchen garden, and that therefore memorialists submit that it would be more profitable to give the whole of the graveyard, or as much of it as the Council may deem fit, for a garden for the minister, not only because it would be a great convenience to him, but also because memorialists would be relieved of an
unnecessary expenditure.
(N.B. This document was signed by P Lourensz (Landdrost),
J W Hertzogenraath
(V.D.M.), D. van
der Lith, J. Groenewalt, John. Louw.)”
It makes one wonder how many other graveyards were
turned into vegetable patches!!!
v
Can anyone help ?
I received the following email from Tony Widdows of
Melbourne, Australia who is seeking out help :
“I’m trying to trace an ancestor
who was awarded medals in WW 1 as a Private
in the "East Africa Road Corps". Can anyone tell me what that unit was and did, and where it may
have operated? Google does not help me
other than confirming that National Archives UK admit there was such a unit.”
If you can help Tony Widdows please contact him at widdows@bigpond.net.au
“Catastrophe on Umgeni River”
6 January 1922
(By
Judy Letard)
For as
long as I could remember there had always been a story told in our family of a
tragic drowning in the Umgeni River around the early 1920s where a member of my
grandmother’s family, together with a boat-load of young children, lost their
lives. I remember sitting next to my
grandmother on the veranda of her old Victorian home listening intensely as she
recalled the drowning. She had been a
witness to the tragedy and was always visibly upset when she told the story,
recalling it as though it had just happened that day.
In
later years, when my interest in family history grew I found it difficult to
piece together the facts which gave rise to the drowning. By this time my grandmother, who lived to
the age of 97, had died and so I had to rely on my mother’s generation for
information. Unfortunately they too
couldn’t help me.
Then,
at the turn of the century in 2000, The Mercury newspaper put out a special
supplement of all the most prominent articles which had appeared in their
newspaper during the past 100 years.
And there, under 6 January 1922, was the article on the drowning which
had been lost to our family for so many years.
It read :
TERRIBLE
DISASTER
ELEVEN LIVES LOST
The worst boating disaster
that Natal has every experienced occurred at the mouth of the Umgeni River
yesterday, when a fastly drifting boat turned turtle, broadside on to a wave,
said to be about 10 feet high, and nine members of well-known Mauritian
families residing at Prospect Hall, on the bend just beyond Riverside Hotel,
and the two young African boys, out of a total of 13 people, were drowned. What made the tragedy that more poignant was
that a number of parents saw their children from the bank disappear, and were
powerless to render them aid. The
victims were :
Edith
Renaud, aged 13
Evelyn
Renaud, aged 12
Irene
Renaud, aged 7 and George Renaud, aged 9 all of the same family,
Mrs
Maria Elina Morel, aged 24
Daniel
Audibert, aged 11, and Ralph Audibert, aged 18, brothers,
Andre Judias, aged 17, and Sabini Judias, aged 13, brother and sister.
The two African boys
drowned were about 16 and 14 years of age and in the employ of the Renaud and
the Judias families respectively.
The survivors were MR
LOUIS EDGAR MOREL, aged 34, husband of Mrs M E MOREL (drowned), and Mr Joe
du Pavilloy, aged 21.”
I could not believe that after all the years of
searching, the truth appeared out of nowhere - in its own time. Mr Louis Edgar Morel, was my grandmother’s cousin
and his wife was Maria Elina Morel, whose maiden name was “Renaud”. The article
further read :
“Both these gentlemen were
interviewed last night, and building up a connected narrative from what they
said, no easy matter after the terrible experiences they had had, it appeared
that a party of approximately 22 gathered on the north side
of the river for the purpose of having a picnic. Finding they were somewhat exposed to the sun, they decided to
cross the river about 300 yards from the south at the narrow end, and near the
lagoon. For this purpose they secured,
by some freak of chance, one of the boats used to rescue people from house-tops
at the time of the Umgeni big flood on Sunday, Oct. 26, 1917. Of the boat, subsequent to the affair
yesterday, an experienced Indian man said that it was old and could not safely
accommodate more than six persons, if the conditions were adverse. Still, according to Mr Morel, they had
safely crossed the river about that spot three or four times previously, and, as
on this occasion, without oars, drifting across after it had been pushed off
vigorously from the northern side.
Yesterday, after they had
repeated the performance, wading a short distance for that purpose, the African
boys clambered into the boat. For a
short time all went well, but the current was running strongly, with the sea,
according to the Umgeni police, half way out.
When the realisation came that the drift was strong, the party tried to
work the boat round the 30 yards of water that intervened between them and land
on the northern side. This, it was
found impossible to accomplish, although on several occasions it looked as if
success would be achieved. Then the anchor
was dropped, but by then the boat was about 50 ft from land, and in the direct
route of the current. The progress of
the boat was not materially retarded, and the anchor failed to grip. Using it as a lever to the chain another
endeavour was made to work the boat to shore, without success. The mouth of the river was approached in the
face of a choppy sea, with waves about 10ft high.
By this time everyone was
thoroughly alarmed and shouting for help, and no exhortation would make the
children keep their heads. Their
movements made the heavily laden boat rock dangerously, and it was not long
before portion of the party was bravely occupied baling. Then Mr du Pavilloy tried to fling a fishing
line ashore, but in the excitement of the moment failed first to remove the
hook which caught in the dress of one of the party. By the time it was loosened the boat had gone broadside on to the
water, and Andre Judias after fastening the line around his waist jumped clear
in an attempt to reach land so that the boat could be towed ashore with its
occupants. As he left, one of the young
children followed him. Then a heavy sea
capsized the boat and a desperate struggle in the water commenced.
Mr du Pavilloy’s
description of what followed was tense.
“I don’t know how I got ashore,” he said. “I struggled hard to save Miss E. Renaud. I had her on the one arm. I could not retain my grip, but caught her
again and then one of the African boys caught my other arm and the other
practically got on my back. We all went
down everything went black and I do not know what happened afterwards.”
Mr Morel also struggled
gallantly, but equally without success to bring others safely to shore. “After the boat capsized I caught Evelyn
Renaud by the hair,” he said “But she broke loose, and then I caught my wife. The force of the current made it impossible for
me to hold her. I lost sight of her for
a little, but when she came up I caught her by the mackintosh which came away
in my hands. I swam after her and
caught her a second time but she broke loose, after which I did not see her
again. By then the others had
disappeared. I had seen a shark making
for one African boys, but don’t know what happened to him.
When my wife who had
several times told me to save myself, fastly disappeared I noticed the boat was
floating keel up. I got on top of it,
but could not see
anyone. Then a heavy sea washed me off,
and as the wave passed on I found my footing with water up to my mouth. I commenced wading ashore, and seeing Daniel
Audibert floating I picked him up and carried him to land where it was
ascertained he was dead.”
John Bailie, a youth of 16
years, who resides at 21 Mignon Lane, was fishing at the town side of the
Umgeni River, and he was a witness to the tragedy. He speedily informed Borough Police Constable Alexander Raskine
of Umgeni who was out riding on patrol, and the latter, after seeing that
nothing could be done from the town end attained the services of two Indian men
from Chetty’s barracks and was rowed across the river to the survivors. He subsequently found the boat, a little
further up the river all smashed to pieces.
It was not until about
6.30 pm that a number of bodies were seen in the breakers but as the sea was
running high they were beyond reach.
Shortly after the body of Irene Renaud was washed ashore on the Umgeni
side and the report at 9 pm was that five others were in the breakers, but
still too far out to be approached.
Louis Edward Renaud, who
lost five children in the disaster, Mrs Marie Elina Morel having been a
daughter of his, also gave evidence. He
stated he saw what happened, and made attempts to get to the boat, standing in
the water up to his chin. His daughter,
Mrs Morel, at one time shouted to him:
“Father go back and look after mother.
You have other children, don’t get drowned for us.” He saw the bodies floating in the waves till
9 o’clock that night, quite close to the shore, but in deep water. If a boat had been sent out by the Water
Police the bodies could easily have been recovered. A Borough Police Constable had informed witness that he had
telephoned to the Water Police, but no member of that force visited the scene
of the accident.
This is a tragic story for
any family, but even more so for the Renaud, Audibert and Judais families who
lost so many of their precious children that day.”
****
Diary Dates : 2008
16 August Visit to Ikes Books &
Collectibles, Florida Road
13 September Personal Research
11 October Speaker
08 November Personal Research
06 December Ancestral Tea + Speaker
We will advise you of any changes of
events, or forthcoming outings which do not fall on the second Saturday of the
month, as arrangements are made.
****
Committee Members 2008 - 2009
Chairman
Jacques Benadie, P. O. Box 2337 Pinetown, 3600.
Phone: 031-708-3746 E-Mail: jaqb@telkomsa.net
Treasurer/Membership
Shirley Richardson
Phone:
031-266 1753 E-Mail : therichardsons@telkomsa.net
Secretary/Newsletter
Judy Letard, P O Box 1000, Mount Edgecombe 4300
Phone: 031-508 7304 (w) Cell: 072-146-7922
E-Mail: kdee@mweb.co.za
Librarian
Paul Bower, P O Box
1156, Hillcrest 3650
Phone : 031-765
6512 Cell: 082 973 0221
E-Mail: mtu.bower@daimler.com
Octogenarian
Annelise Peters
- Ph: 031-208-2910
****
Our Venue for Meetings
Family History Centre,
Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter Day Saints,
144 Silverton Road.
Entrance in Montgomery
Road
Phone: (031) 202 3024
Our meetings are held at 2.30 on the 2nd Saturday of every
month. Our AGM is held on the 3rd
Saturday in January.
For the record, the F.H.C.
is also open at the following times:
Tuesday 10 am – 12 noon.
Wednesday 1 pm – 4 pm
Thursday 9 am – 12 noon and 6.30 pm – 9 pm
Last Saturday of every month from 10 am – 4 pm
Or by appointment phone –
cell 083 661 4457
****
“The difference between the
impossible and the possible
lies in a person’s determination”