DIARY OF A NATAL MOLE
August 2005

2 Hear from Clarke's Africana concerning sale of a painting by the artist C J SHRUBSOLE who worked in Natal and in the Cape around 1915-1920s. I would be tempted if the picture was his more usual maritime subject (his favourite was the entrance to the Bay of Natal) but this one is a mountain landscape. The figure with red headgear is certainly typical of his style and the signature unmistakably his. Not much is known of the artist's life. According to a passenger list reference to Shrubsole arriving at Natal on the Conway Castle in March 1892, his occupation was draughtsman and the applicant was ORMSKOLD at Marburg.
Auction is to be held on 8 September, see www.auctionexplorerbooks.com

3 Meet Chrissie BRISCOE in PMB Archives Reading Room researching Charles O'Grady GUBBINS, John VANDERPLANK and related families.

4 Another successful stint in the newspapers; find special edition of the Natal Mercury giving detailed report of the wreck of SS St Lawrence off Great Paternoster Reef in 1876. She was carrying troops of the 2nd Battalion/3rd Buffs, 411 men, women and children. Mention is made of Bandmaster R SWEENEY, good news for Sean Sweeney in the Antipodes. Other finds include funeral notice of Henry FRANKISH for Adele JUDD in Oz, the arrival of the Maritzburg July 1863 with the LUMLEY family for Ros LUMLEY, an account of the voyage of the Silvery Wave November 1863 plus passenger list, and an advert for the sale of the farm Erasmus Dam July 1863, of interest to archivist David CASTLEDINE in North Wales. Newspaper searches take time but are endlessly rewarding.

5 Back from PMB. Hear from Sue EGGETT in Utah (capital of the genealogy world) looking for GOODSELLS.

6 Note from an e-mail contact re difficulty reading microfilm at Killie Campbell - their new reader is excellent, actually, but why anyone living in PMB would want to come to Durban to look at microfilms when the originals are right there at Natal Society Library beats me.

8 Rob Griffiths sends a new index to the Richmond book ('RICHMOND, Natal, Its People and History' by Charmian Coulson).
Robert Blatchford sends leaflets on the Family and Local History Handbook to distribute at the Family History Fair in Durban during September.
More Anglo-Zulu War offerings from Graham Mason for Genealogy World.

9 Spend Woman's Day (ha!) downloading photos from PMB searches.

10 Sending results to Adele Judd (FRANKISH) and Elyse Downham (LOWE). To tell or not to tell, that is the question ... discussions with Kris WHEATLEY on revealing all in narratives where serious skeletons keep tumbling out of the cupboard. I incline towards the Truth at any cost, personally.

13 Envy my elder son on his way to Edinburgh today.

15 PMB finding GOODSELLS for Sue in Utah, and RODE files for David Castledine.

16 Someone's imaginative arithmetic proves that family historians shouldn't disdain to use a calculator to work out ages and dates accurately.
Hear that the PMB Master's Office, during renovations, has moved all their Deed Wills to a temporary storage facility in Durban; seems an alarming and dangerous proceeding. So, patience will be required for a vital Will which happens to be among these documents.

17 Upload text on GADSDEN pages re John O'GADDESDEN and his mediaeval cures, including a photo of an array of grisly medical instruments, courtesy of Roger Morgan, who also provided an amusing key to their various uses. Almost makes one glad one lives in the 21st century. The GADSDEN pages are linked on Genealogy World.

20 Soon to be uploaded, Sapper Mason's article on HOOK of Rorke's Drift fame and the death of James BOOTH, the actor who played the part of HOOK in 'Zulu'. Pity about the timing - Booth was due to take part in the re-dedication of Hook's grave soon.

21 The boys go to Chichester to meet Peter GADSDEN for lunch - I hear later that the visit went off very well, with Peter doing the braai, and a glorious view from his beach pad, all the way to Portsmouth.

22 Hear from Cyril BUNTING, g grandson of Henry HOOK VC- Cyril has a website at
http://freespace.virgin.net/cyril.bunting17/index.htm
Preparations for the Family History Fair are reaching fever pitch. Posters gone up and invitations sent out. Many speakers are on the programme and numerous stalls with items of interest to family historians, including Genealogy World who hope to have an internet connection on the day, so that visitors can access the site.

25 Researching immigration article for Family Tree Magazine and another spell at Natal Society Library.

26 The fascinating story of Tony JONES's recent and controversial research into the ancestry of William JONES VC appears on the rorkesdriftvc.com site, with a chart of the JONES family. What a story! Not to be missed.
www.rorkesdriftvc.com/vc/tony_jones.htm

27 Gales on Friday cause disruption in power supply to many Durban areas - including Musgrave, which means Mole is unable to download 250+ photos taken in PMB. Wailing and gnashing of teeth. But let's keep some perspective: at least it wasn't Hurricane Katrina. Will the old and historic city of New Orleans ever be the same after Katrina's depredations?

29 Two academics, Lynn and Irwing, claim men to be more intelligent than women. These jokers argue that "despite their disadvantage in IQ, there is evidence that women utilize their (lesser) talents better than men". This begs the question of what use IQ tests are if they don't predict anything in the Real World.

30 I'm asked again whether a solution was found to the crisis which arose in UK concerning the preservation of the WWI Medal Index Cards, bearing over five million soldiers' details. The situation is as follows: the Western Front Association stepped into the breach, and 25 tons of records have been moved from Ministry of Defence offices to a storage facility in London. This is temporary: the Association has a year in which to find a suitable home for the records. Problem is bulk: 143 six-foot tall cabinets requiring 5 000 sq foot space. While in storage there are plans to re-scan the cards - hopefully both sides this time, as when the National Archives Kew digitized the cards the backs of the cards were not included - the reverse sides carry addresses to which medals were sent, really useful information for family historians. The Western Front Association is to launch an appeal for funding for digitization and for a long-term home for the records.

Considering the WWI Medal Index debacle, an article by Felix Hull in Genealogists' Magazine as long ago as June 1979 is prophetic:
"It is taken as axiomatic that records once in the archive repository will be retained in perpetuity and indeed this is the intention - but what if those papers are never used - what then? What happens if in the eyes of the Authority costs of storage and retention become prohibitive? What equally if poor quality material, whether tape, film or paper, deteriorates and defeats the very intention of preservation? It may be that the advocates of the 'paperless office' will save us from ourselves, but at what loss? It may be that pressures on space and costs of retention will lead to a radical re-appraisal of archive retention policies and thus to wholesale computerization of information and microfilming with consequent destruction of originals ... At this time there is an awareness of the old, an awareness of family roots and with these a use of records unique in our history. How long can it be maintained without some re-appraisal of needs and of what is to be retained in perpetuity?"

Paul Reed in his column in Your Family Tree June 2005 says "Current attitudes to record conservation are to copy, then destroy original material (this was certainly TNA's attitude in relation to the medal records), but Domesday Book or Shakespeare's will are not being queued for the bonfire. That seems to suggest that some records deserve saving, while others do not. But who makes this value judgement?"

Indeed.

Mole