GSSA Logo

Genealogical Society of South Africa

Durban and Coastal Branch

Volume 22   Issue 3/2006

 

 

New  Members

We would like to extend a very warm welcome to our new member, Richard Main, and wish him lots of success in his research and a fruitful association with the Society.

 

***

 

Message from the Treasurer

For those members who have not yet paid their subscription fee of R100-00 for 2006 please note that payment can now be deposited directly into the Society’s bank account.  Banking details are as follows :

Account Name :   The Genealogical Society Of South Africa

Bank :                 Nedbank

Account No. :       2144 092 346

Branch Code :      114405

For Internet Banking :  Details as above – but please ensure that the correct Branch Code 114405 is used.

 

***

 

Library  News

For the benefit of our new members and for those of us who haven’t had time to take stock of our library, here are some great finds :

Files :

·         Cemetery File – contains the following cemeteries

Old Fort / St. Thomas / Verulam Settlers / West Street

·         Cape Index Files – these are indexed in the following manner

- List of Cemeteries in the Cape,

- Name and Burial Place : A – Leibrandt  and Leigh – Z,

- Names and Death/Birth Dates.

Books :

·         “1857 – 1867, Aided Immigration from Britain to South Africa” by E. Bull

Also included in this great book are chapters on

- 1848 – 1851 British Settlers,

- European immigration to South Africa,

- Emigration from SA to New Zealand and Australia, and others.

·         “History of Italians in South Africa, 1489 – 1989” by Gabriele Sani.

·         “Cornish Immigration to South Africa, 1820 -1920”.

To be continued….

 

Diary Dates

 

August : Visit to the Pietermaritzburg Archives

This is a reminder that the Society has on its diary, a visit to the Pietermaritzburg Archives on Saturday 12 August, 08:30 to 12:30, when you will be able to do your own research.

Should any member be interested in this visit please could you let us know as soon as possible so that we can make arrangements with regard to transport.  Also please indicate whether you would be able to assist if possible with transport.

 

 

GSSA August Meeting

Please note that the August meeting will still go ahead for those who will not be visiting the Pietermaritzburg Archives and wish to do there own research.

 

 

September : Family History Fair

Pietermaritzburg

A Family History Fair will be held in Pietermaritzburg in September, organised by The Msunduzi Museum (formally Voortrekker Museum), the Pietermaritzburg Archive Repository and the Natal Inland Family History Society.  This is a Fair not to be missed so please look out for details in our August newsletter.

 

***

 

Corporal Kelly’s

World War I Diary Found!!!

(Submitted by Member Margaret Huber)

Margaret has been researching her family tree for many years, however there was always one vital piece of the puzzle that she just couldn’t find.  This is Margaret’s story :

“Like so many people who research their family tree I did not realise, earlier in my life, that I would have such passion and determination in finding out who my grandparents and great-grandparents were.  It all started with a portrait that we had hanging in our lounge when I was a child, I was told that it was my paternal grandfather, my father’s father that is.  He was in uniform – a soldier!  That portrait had always fascinated me and I had never forgotten it until one day I decided that I would like to know more about him.  What battles had he fought?  What regiment had he served in?  At that stage I was not even sure of his full names!  But I was determined to find out so the search began - a long journey! 

Firstly I found out that my brother had inherited the portrait of my grandfather, but when he put his furniture into storage the precious portrait disappeared.  I was very disappointed as I thought I would be able to identify from his uniform what regiment he belonged to.  Then I remembered my father saying that some of the family lived at Grasskop, so I decided to go there to see whether I could find some trace of them.  I struck it lucky when I enquired at a local curio shop if they had any knowledge of my family, and was thrilled when they said yes they did and promptly gave me the street address of the house in



Grasskop.  I discovered that this part of the family were the grandchildren (my generation) of my grandmother and her first husband (we all shared the same grandmother).  My grandfather was from her second marriage!

The family told me that my grandmother had kept my grandfather’s papers and that when she died in 1943 it was handed over to a daughter whom the family had adopted.   I then visited her adopted daughter and was told that she in turn had been staying with her daughter in Pretoria and had handed all the papers over to her.   I had come this far and I was determined not to be beaten.  Then begins my roller-coaster ride!!  I went to visit her daughter in Pretoria only to be told that the papers were there but the rats had eaten them!!!  She then added that there was also a diary!!!

I broke down and cried I could not believe it, these treasured papers which had been lovingly cared for after all these years had been eaten by rats!! 

I felt terrible, I had such a deep sense of loss which I carried around with me for months then, one day the phone rang and it was my grandmothers adopted daughter saying “I have your grandfathers papers”.  I repeated, “My grandfather’s papers!! And the DIARY!!!”   “Yes and the DIARY” she replied.

I cannot explain the feeling of elation that day, I was so excited, at long last I would get to know my grandfather!  All those questions I had would at last be answered.  When I fetched these precious papers and the diary I reminded her of what she had said and the anxiety she had caused me.  She told me that rats had indeed got into some boxes she had stored at her daughter’s home, but they didn’t get to my grandfather’s papers.   And so I have a diary that my grandfather wrote eighty nine years ago, while he was a soldier! 

I am proud to say that his full name was JOHN KELLY, he fought in the First World War and he was in the SA Pioneers regiment! 

In my heart I feel it was divine intervention, as I firmly believe that Cpl. Kelly wanted to be found and to become real again after such a long time”.

 

***

 

Ancestry Quick Tips

The following e-mail was received from Jenny Harries with regard to our article “Writing in the Electronic Age” which is a great idea :

“Every couple of weeks my family and I print out the letters written to each other and put them into our journals.  That way when you are writing a letter to children, for example, you are at the same time actually recording the events of your life and it doesn’t take much time to paste it into your journal.  Obviously there will be some personal or spiritual moments which are just for your journal, but the bulk of it will be in the letters.  (I’m hoping that the ink of a printer will stand the test of time – so far so good!!!)”

 

***

 

 

 

 

Index To The Dutch Reformed Church Baptism Records

At the time when all the baptism registers from the congregations were on hand in the archive of the Dutch Reformed Church (DRC) in Cape Town, officials wrote up an index which made their task so much easier in finding the entry for any child that had been baptised anywhere in the Cape Province. This index book would make reference to say book no 80, page no 1120 and in that book the full detail of the event could be seen.

When the DRC agreed to allow their records to be filmed, amongst the books so filmed were these index books.  The good news for patrons at the Durban library of the Family History Centre is that the microfilm version of these index books are now available as part of the permanent stock of films and visitors may search through these films whenever the library is open.  Do keep in mind that the library does not have the staff to do research on behalf of patrons but generously provides facilities and stock to enable visitors to make their own research possible.  The open times of the library are on display elsewhere in this newsletter.

A possible negative is that these index books only state the name of the child, it's date of birth and it's place of baptism.  The names of the parents and witnesses and possible comments are not shown.  Now that all these books are on film the library staff will be able to guide you to ordering the appropriate film for viewing at a subsequent session.

For people outside Durban but within reach of a FHC library I mention the film numbers below and no doubt the staff in your library will be able to obtain a copy for you to view.

Film 2197085

Baptism and marriage indexes for Cape Town 1665-1742

Baptism indexes for Stellenbosch 1688-1732,

Graaff-Reinet 1811-1822, Colesburg 1826-1837,

Cape Province 1856-1860, 1860 (A-B)

 

Film 2197086

Baptism indexes for Cape Province 1860-1875 (B-R)

 

Film 2197087

Baptism indexes for Cape Province 1860-1875 (R-Z), 1875-1882 (A-K)

 

Film 2197088

Baptism indexes for Cape Province 1875-1882 (K-Z), 1882-1888 (A-T)

 

Film 2197089

Baptism indexes for Cape Province 1882-1888 (T-Z), 1885-1895 (A-L)

 

Film 2197090

Baptism indexes for Cape Province 1885-1898 (L-Z)

 

 

***

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bulletin  Board

·             “Out-of-Towners” : For those members who don’t live in Durban and are unable to get to the Centre, the committee is now committed to helping you, where possible, with your research at the FHC.  Please pass your queries on to us and we will try and assist you.  But please realise that patience is required!

·             FHC CD : Just a reminder that there is a great CD available for sale for R5-00 (excl postage) compiled by the FHC which is a MUST for everyone – this CD contains info of family tree software and lots of websites.  To name a few :

-          1901 Census for England and Wales

-          Ancestral Scotland

-          British Army in World War I

-          County FHC, e.g. Cornwall / Kent / Lancashire / Yorkshire etc.

-          English Villages

-          Gazetteer of English Place Names

-          Irish Research

-          Isle of Wight FHS

-          Jewish Genealogy

-          Mailing Lists

·             GSSA CD-Roms : There are a number of CD-Roms available for sale at the GSSA Shop.

Payment may be made via PayPal or Bank Transfer.

 

Title

Price

Postage

Estate Notices (Index to 1994-2001)

  120-00

    40-00

Cemetery Recording Project 3rd Edition (new purchasers)

    80-00

    40-00

Cemetery Recording Project 3rd Edition (previous purchasers)

    50-00

    40-00

Indian Passenger Lists

  120-00

    40-00

Van Wyk Family Register

  120-00

    40-00

Stellenbosch Doopregister 1688-1732 (Palmkronieke No. 1)

  100-00

    30-00

Huguenot Bulletin Archive 1963 – 2004

  120-00

    30-00

1820 Settler Family Tree – 6th Edition

    90-00

    30-00

Naudé Familiekroniek 1550-2001

    90-00

    30-00

Cape Melting Pot – The Role and Status of the Mixed Population at the Cape 1652 – 1795

  160-00

    40-00

 

 

***

 

The Sea Messenger

This extract is from the publication “History As Hot News1865 – 1887” containing articles which appeared in the “The Illustrated London News” and “The Graphic” over that period. 

“The little vessel represented in our Illustration has been invented by Mr J.A.R. Vandenbergh of Portsmouth, to be freighted with letters and papers belonging to a ship in danger of foundering at sea, or in any danger of being wrecked.  It will, in such a case, serve as the best vehicle for the preservation of records and important documents, and in all probability for their conveyance, by favouring winds and tides, to some near or distant shore.  It is certainly much better than the ordinary glass bottle, which may be fractured by any floating spar or fragment of wreck; or may be dashed to pieces by the wave casting it upon a rocky coast.

The water-tight and air-tight metallic hull of the “Sea Messenger”, with its extreme buoyancy, will ride in safety through the most violent storms, and it has capacity to hold not only the ship’s papers, records of the voyage, list of the passengers and crew, and a brief report of the disaster, specifying the latitude and longitude and time


of its occurrence, but letters from those on board to their friends, wills, or draughts of money, or bills of exchange, or any other papers affecting their private interests.  Other uses of this contrivance will become obvious with its more frequent trial at sea.”

Now we know what happened to those missing passenger lists!!  An illustration of the Sea Messenger will be posted on the GSSA notice-board at the FHC.

 

 

***

 

 

My Memories of Old Durban – by Elizabeth Robb – Continued

(Kindly submitted by Doreen Nicholson)

I was one of the fortunate ones to welcome home the man I was engaged to after an absence of four years, wounded in body but not in spirit!  So many of us married and settled down to build a home and raise a family.  One of the events I recall was the visit of Earl Haig.  After the men returned they had started the ex-Service Men’s League which they called Comrades of the Great War.  In Britain they had started the British Empire Service League and Earl Haig wanted the Commonwealth Countries to unite.

A meeting was called in Mitchell Park to hear Earl Haig speak.  Thousands of men and women attended the meeting.  Then was born “The British Empire Service League” and what wonderful work it has done for nearly fifty years.  Later the Corporation gave us the old Tea Room for our headquarters which remained standing after the hall of the Pavillion had been burnt down.  By this time a women’s branch had been formed and we all worked together to raise funds to furnish it, holding all sorts of entertainment.  How we women sewed, making curtains and turning it into a worthwhile Club.

The people who had been evacuated from the East, who had lost all their possessions used to meet once a month.  We charged a small fee for their tea and cakes.  How they loved getting together, talking about the past.  Many of them didn’t know if their men folk were alive or not, and some had not heard anything of their men for four years.  I still remember the day they met when Japan was finally conquered, with gay and sad memories intermingled.

We were very proud to organise the first Victory Ball in the City Hall, a great success it was.  Later the new B.E.S.C.L. Club and offices were built in the Old Fort Road along with the Moth Hall, St. John’s and the Scout Hall.

And so the years passed by, people trying and doing it too, to settle down to the art of living and bringing their families up in the way they should, until once again the dark clouds of War hung over us again.  I remember the day in 1939 so well, we were picnicing and fishing, family and relations at Umhloti Beach, when the manager of the hotel sent a waiter down from the hotel to tell us to turn our car radio on at twelve o’clock to hear some important announcement.  We all gathered round the car radio where we heard first Mr Chamberlain the Prime Minister and then the Late King George the sixth, announce that we were once again at war with Germany.  How sad we felt the horrors of war had descended upon the world once again.  My schoolboy son felt quite excited and he said he hoped that it wouldn’t be over before he could




join.  We couldn’t keep him back as soon as he passed his matriculation examination he was accepted as a pupil pilot.  So many of the fathers who had fought in the First World War felt the futility of it all.

The one consolation for them had been that they had taken part in the Great War, the war to end wars to make it secure for their sons!

 

To be continued…..

 

***

 

1735  Epitaph

(Contributed by Member Shirley Richardson)

Here lyes BESSIE ANNAN, spouse to George Young, wright in Fisherrow, who dyed the 26 of Jan. 1735, aged 52 years.  Also 8 of their children lyes here.

 

Here lyes the woman that hath shown

All virtues that her sex cou’d own;

Nor dare my praise too lavish be,

Lest her dust blush, for so would she:

Nature can scarce form such an one,

For, ah! Her pattern now is gone.

Reader, if thou hast a tear,

Stop a while and shed it here.

(An extract from http://www.ancestorabel.co.uk/inv/mi1857.html)

 

 

***

 

 

Diary Dates

12 August               PMB Archives

09 September         Personal Research

14 October             Speaker/Activity

11 November          Personal Research

09 December                  Ancestral Tea

20 January 2007     AGM

 

 

Committee Members 2006 - 2007

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) 563-0522    Cell: 072-146-7922

E-Mail: kdee@mweb.co.za

 

 

Librarian

Dawn van Niekerk, 3 Beaconsfield Road, Westville 3629

Phone: (031) 262-4308   E-Mail : matthysv@iafrica.com

Octogenarian

Annelise Peters  -  Ph: (031) 208-2910

 

***

 

Our Venue for Meetings

Family History Centre,

Church of the 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 except in August when we have an arrangement to go to the Pietermaritzburg Archives between 8.30am and 12.00pm.  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

 

 

“Old genealogists never die, they just lose their census”