Did your Ancestors immigrate to South Africa in the past 100 years?

Search  thousands of records of people who applied for citizenship in South Africa.

This collection will help you research your parents, grandparents, and other relatives from the 1920′s onwards in South Africa.

You will find your immigrant ancestors Surname, First Names, Alternate Name (original names) Title, Nationality Prior to grant of Certificate of Naturalization and occupation. Although these immigrants’ records do not always provide dates of birth for every person, it will provide you with their place of birth and the name of the town they came from. You are also likely to find spouses, siblings and children of these immigrants as well.

These records will provide you with a vivid portrayal of your family member’s background.

We found in these records, Jan Ploeger well known journalist and Cape Town furniture shop owner Demtri Mamacos, George Hadjidakis owner of the 7 Eleven shop franchise and former Hellenic Football Club as well as Gabriel Verhoef, father of well known painting company director, Gordon Verhoef.

Names like Adler, Archer, Baker, Barclay, Bereletowitz, Bloch, Blumberg, Brenner, Chemaly, Dahl, De Lorenzo, De Quintal, Di Pasqualie, Lindgren, Factor, Fine, Forrester, Futeran, Galombik, Gamsu, Gerasimo, Hadjidakis, Hammerschlag,  Haviland, Hirschfield and many more are included.

Were your ancestors “Free Blacks” in South Africa”?

Start searching this amazing collection of names of Free Blacks from 1807. This database has Census of the Free Black Community on the Eve of the Abolition of the Oceanic Trade.
This census is important for when it was taken, the year before the importation of slaves into the Cape ceased. The origins of the free blacks listed here reveal who was manumitted and where they were born. The census also contains details of their spouses and partners and their origins. This was clearly a “groep sonder grense” to use Hans Heese’s title.

Purchase Robert Shell’s E-Book Changing Hands with over 130 000 records pertaining to Land, Slaves and Slave owners

Martin Blignaut

Ek was vandag in Somerset-Wes by die begrafnis van Ds. Martin Blignaut – argivaris van die NGK Argief in die 1980′s. Dit was in die tyd toe ek as argivaris daar gewerk het. Oom Martin is op 16 Augustus in die ouderdom van 86 jaar oorlede. Hy was o.a. predikant in Knysna, Albertinia, Babanago en Calvinia. Later ook weermagkapelaan.

Oom Martin – wat ‘n stil man was – het altyd ‘n storie of grap te vertel gehad. Hy het o.a. vertel van die tannie in die Calvinia-distrik wat met ‘n wewenaar getrou het wat bekend was daarvoor dat hy sy vorige vrou geslaan het. Toe hy die dag van die troue oor die drumpel stap toe wag sy hom met ‘n koekroller agter die deur in. Sy gee hom ‘n hou oor die kop en sê iets in dier voege: “Laat dit nou vir jou ‘n les wees om nie jou hand aan my te slaan nie.”

Hy het ook van die tannie in dieselfde distrik vertel wat baie netjies was. As hy aan die deur klop kom sy met ‘n stoflap in die een hand en ‘n verestoffer in die ander om die deur oop te maak. Nadat sy die deur vir hom oopgemaak het, het sy eers die deurknop met die stoflap afgevee. Soos wat hy dan voor haar uitstap na die sitkamer stof sy die vloer agter hom met die verestoffer.

On the 16^th October 2010 Ancestry24 will carry on with their mammoth project of photographing every headstone in the Cemetery. Browse the Gallery of photos already taken at Maitland Cemetery

To help photograph and tag the images from this cemetery please contact Heather

As part of their civic duty and preservation of National Heritage these headstones once photographed and tagged will be available to the public for free on the Ancestry24 website’s gallery.

With over 100 000 souls buried in this huge cemetery it covers a massive span of 100 hectares. The first burial took place on 16 January 1886. This graveyard is now nearing its capacity and needs to be retained as a haven of remembrance as well as a place where it is safe to walk around the rich heritage of the famous and not so famous people who have made the City of Cape Town what it is today.

A large proportion of bodies from the old Somerset Road Cemetery have been re interred in Maitland Cemetery. Many of the headstones are laid out as paths, some put up against the wall and others lay buried under mounds of mole hills.

Burials from 1888 have already been transcribed 

Die volgende is ‘n storie uit my boek oor die Vosloo-familie (vir meer inligting oor die boek sien http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=78593&id=723756666&l=28d399184f)

“Die Engelsman het ná ’n paar dae bygekom, maar Ol het vas geglo dat hy hom doodgeslaan het. Terwyl hy weg was, het hy ook vals gerugte gehoor dat die man inderdaad dood was. Ná ’n jaar of twee kom daar eendag ’n Rhodesiër op Lydenburg aan en verneem of die polisie nog vir Ol soek oor die man wat doodgeslaan is,” vertel Laurens Gerhardus (1948) van Hartenbos van sy oupa se broer, Jurie Wessel (Ol) (1882).

Hy het die inligting gekry by Oom Giel Hoffman van Lydenburg. Laurens vertel verder: “Ná die Tweede Anglo-Boereoorlog het dit gebeur dat ’n Engelse bokser deur die land sou toer en dan al die sterk manne van ’n dorp uitdaag om teen hom te boks. Daar is gewoonlik ook bedrae geld verwed op die gevegte. Die geveg het sonder bokshandskoene plaasgevind en het eers geëindig wanneer een van die boksers òf uitgeslaan is òf oorgegee het. So ’n bokser het eendag op Lydenburg opgedaag en die sterk manne van die omgewing in die agterplaas van die Royal Hotel aangevat. Ná ’n aantal gevegte was hy nog onoorwonne en toe het van die ouer manne van die omgewing vir Ol, wat in sy twintigerjare was, oorreed om met die besoekende bokser deur die toue te klim.

“Ná ’n bloedige geveg wat ure geduur het, met beide boksers se ribbes al blou geslaan, het Ol die ander man met ’n vreeslike regter planke toe gestuur. Hulle het probeer om die man by te kry, maar tevergeefs. Die mense wat die geveg georganiseer het, het bekommerd geraak en die hotel se eienaar laat kom. Dié het nie kans gesien dat die man op sy perseel sterf nie en het die landdros laat kom. Ol, onder die indruk dat hy die man doodgeslaan het, vertek toe maar stil-stil na die plaas Krugerspost waar sy ouers gewoon het. Hy het vir sy ma gesê hy wil gaan jag en sy het toe vir hom biltong en beskuit ingepak. Hy het sy kos, geweer en patrone gevat en is toe daar weg. Hy het egter nie weer teruggekom nie.’’

Ná ’n paar jaar daag ‘n Rhodesiër op Lydenburg op om te hoor of die polisie nog vir Ol soek oor die man wat doodgeslaan is.

“Dit moes iemand gewees het wat hy in Rhodesië geken het en wat op besoek aan die Unie was. Hy moes toe namens Ol uitvis oor die toedrag van sake. Ol het nadat hy op sy ‘jagtog’ vertrek het o.m. transport gery in Rhodesië en later in die Balla-Balla-omgewing geboer en ook twee goudmyntjies bedryf. Die een myn se naam was die Balla-Balla Peak Myn en die ander die Mickey Mouse Myn. Hy het geboer op die plase Pioneer’s Rest en The Comedy.

“Nadat hy gehoor het dat die Engelsman nie dood is nie, en die polisie hom nie soek nie, het hy weer kom kuier in Suid-Afrika. Hy was ’n groot fris man van by die ses voet ses tot ag (1,98—2,03 m) en met ’n wit snor wat gelyk het soos ’n Afrikanerbees se horings. Sy kleinseun, Ollie Davel, is ongeveer ses jaar gelede in ’n motorongeluk dood. Ollie se familie boer vandag nog op die plase. Ol se enigste ander kleinseun, Michael Davel, woon in Buluwayo.’’

Ek het ook die volgende geskryf oor Sterk Vosloos:

JJ Vosloo

“Gerrit (1768), wat ook bekend gestaan het as Sterk Gert, is op 21 April 1860 op die ouderdom van 92 jaar 2 maande en 28 dae op die familieplaas, Oukraal, in die distrik Somerset-Oos oorlede. Volgens een van sy nasate, Jan Ernst (1938), wat vandag nog sy perdepramkierie het, moes hy, as ’n mens na die lengte van die kierie kyk, langer as 6’6’’ (kort duskant die 2m) gewees het.

Geen wonder dat van sy nasate onder name soos “Big Hans’’ (Johannes Lodewyk — 1878) en “Sterk Jan Vosloo’’ (Jan Hendrik — 1859) bekend gestaan het nie. John William (1953), oor sy oupa, Big Hans: “Daar word vertel dat hy op ’n dag besig was om ’n perd te beslaan en die perd wou nie stilstaan nie. Hy vererg hom toe en slaan die perd met een vuishou plat.’’ ’n Voormalige Springbok-rugbykaptein en voorry, Hannes Marais, tel ook onder sy nasate.

Dit laat ‘n mens ook onwillekeurig dink aan Annette von Droste-Hülshoff, ‘n Duitse digteres, se beskrywing van die mense van Sauerland, die deel van Duitsland waarvandaan stamvader Jan Vosloo afkomstig was: “The people of the Sauerland are really tall and wellbuilt, maybe the tallest breed of people in Germany …”

Ol Vosloo was ‘n nasaat van Johannes Arnoldus Vosloo wat in 1766 gebore is. Johannes Arnoldus was ‘n broer van bogenoemde Gerrit Vosloo wat in 1768 gebore is. Gerrit Vosloo het bekendgestaan as Gert Houtkannon vir sy aandeel in die boere se bou van ‘n houtkannon tydens die Van Jaarsveld opstand in Graaff-Reinet in 1799. Dit is egter ‘n storie (‘n WARE storie) vir ‘n ander dag. As julle nuuskurig is kan julle dit oorweeg om intussen die Vosloo-boek aan te skaf!

Toe ek gister deur die boek The South African Sporting Encyclopaedia and Who’s Who (Donaldson’s Publications-publikasiedatum onbekend)blaai kom ek toevallig af op aangehegte advertensie waarin genoem word dat ONP Vosloo in 1943 die Suid-Afrikaanse swaargewig amateur stoeikampioen was.

Die enigste Vosloo in my boek met die voorletters ONP is Oelofse Nicolaas Petrus wat op 26 Junie 1925 in Nylstroom gebore is. Sy Pa, Michael Diederick is gebore op 19 November 1896 en was ‘n jonger broer van Ol Vosloo. As hierdie ONP Vosloo wel Oelofse Nicolaas Petrus Vosloo is, sal dit beteken dat hy reeds op die ouderdom van ongeveer 18 jaar Suid-Afrikaanse swaargewig amateur stoeikampioen was! Alles dui egter daarop dat dit wel een en dieselfde man is.

Die tweede skandering is ‘n foto van Ol en Michael Diederick se Oupa en Ouma. Die Oupa is Johannes Jacobus Vosloo (geb. 1826) wat in die laat 1870′s vanaf die Queenstown-distrik na Lydenburg verhuis het.

How Ancestry24 helped me

As an adopted child in South Africa and having very little information about my birth parents and my adoption, meant that tracing my ancestors and living relatives was proving to be impossible.

Before 1987, the Social Welfare Services would not divulge any information whatsoever to an adoptee about the circumstances of his/her adoption – even if the adoptee was over the age of 21!  Now things have changed and Ancestry24 helped me.   Even if one has the most wonderful adoptive parents and a very happy childhood (as I did) there is a fundamental need and a natural curiosity to find out about one’s background.

• Where did I come from?
• Who were my natural parents and what were their names?
• Do I have brothers/sisters/cousins out there that I don’t know about?
• What genetic traits have I inherited from my grandparents and great grandparents?
• What were their names and occupations?

A lack of knowledge about one’s background is unsettling.  It doesn’t sit well in one’s psyche, and it affects one’s sense of identity.

What is my Indentity

One’s sense of identity is made up of so many things – your childhood experiences, you family dynamics, your education, your friends, the choices you make and the paths you go down through your life.  It is like a jigsaw puzzle, with lots of pieces, that becomes larger and more complex as you get older.  When you are an adoptee, there is a piece of one’s identity jigsaw that is missing.  The picture is worryingly incomplete.  And the piece that is missing is a significant one as it is right in the middle of the jigsaw.  Weeks can go by when you don’t think about it at all.  But every now and then, it surfaces into your consciousness and is disturbing.

I found Ancestry24 to help me

I had recently watched the TV series of ‘Who do you think you are?’ with great interest.  The message that comes through loud and clear is that tracing one’s ancestors is an enthralling and deeply fascinating exercise.  Ancestry24  provided me with the necessary tools to help me achieve this – knowing some names of relatives and birth dates can help you with your search.

I began actively searching for my birth mother in 1989.  The adoption laws in South Africa had changed, but not so in Zimbabwe where my adoption took place.  The Social Welfare Services in Harare were immovable in my request for information about my natural mother and the circumstances of my adoption.  Letters were written and phone calls were made, but to no avail.  We did not have the power of the internet in those days, and the postal system in Zimbabwe was dire.

I decided to approach the Child Welfare Adoption Centre to see if they could help me.  A report to the International Social Services in Geneva was written to ask them to intervene on my behalf.  It took two years for the Adoption Authorities in Zimbabwe to release information to a social worker giving details of my mother’s name, birth date, and last known address.  At the age of 42, I finally knew my mother’s identity.  It was mind blowing, but unfortunately, this small amount of knowledge didn’t seem to help me very much.

I wish that I had kept a diary of all the avenues I went down in my search for my birth mother, and all the blank walls that I hit.  I have lost count of all the letters that I wrote and the phone calls that I made.  We now had the internet to help me in my search, but nothing came to light.  Life was busy, and the years went by.  Fourteen of them!  I had almost resigned myself to the fact that I was not meant to find her.  So much time had elapsed since my adoption and it was very possible that my birth mother had died.  I thought about my mother on what would have been her 87th birthday in July, but nothing could have prepared me for what happened in the next few days.  Fate intervened and took me totally by surprise.

Using simple methods + records

Fate came in the form of Heather MacAlister of Ancestry24.  She gave me some excellent and simple advice:  “Ask the neighbours”.  In other words, ask the people who lived on the same street as my birth mother if they remembered her, and if she still lived in the same town.  From this point on, things moved very quickly, thanks to the awesome power of Google.  Phone calls were made, new facts emerged, and finally, the estate records of my natural mother were called up using Ancestry24.com Government Gazette records.  She had indeed died, but at the bottom of the record was the name of her daughter, and my half-sister.  My search of 21 years was finally over.

Since then, I have made contact with my half-sister, my half-brother, and a cousin and an aunt.  They have unhesitatingly welcomed me into the family, and given me all sorts of information about my other relatives (hoards of them!) and my ancestors.  Aesthetics have always been important to me, but I have never known the reason why.  I have learnt that creativity and artistic ability are very strong traits in my family.  I am now in a position to use Ancestry24.com to draw up a family tree and I can’t wait to do it!   I now have closure on a matter that has been troubling me for years, and my identity jigsaw puzzle is now complete.

Belinda Press

Over 600 marriages from Diocese of St. Andrews Bloemfontein covering the years 1850 – 1955
These marriage records cover the Parishes of Chapel of St. Patrick, the Native Church, St. Philips Waaihoek, Cathedral of St. Andrew and St. Michael, English Church Building. The Wesleyan Chapel, buildings of the Government School, private dwellings and the  All Saints Church.

There is a discernible difference between the pre and post war period in that the "white" congregation appears to have become more prominent in the records. However there are surprisingly a number of Basutho’s that were married in this Diocese as well

Interesting marriage entries are Theophilus Tylden Shepstone, Widower; Civil Service of the Cape Colony of Barkly East, Cape Colony married Rachel Anna Frederica Every of Karee Poort, District Bloemfontein on 12 July 1892.

Sidney George Moore professional golfer from Kimberley who married Ellen Maria Staughton of Bloemfontein on 22 December 1908 and also John Henry Squires, professional boxer who married Annie Catrina De Beer on 07 March 1923.

Other notable people were early Portuguese and Greek Settlers Antonio Pereira, fruiterer, who married Johanna Heineker on the 01 January 1884 and Apostal Marroudas, fruiterer, who married Alexandra Kassape on 03 April 1906.
 

Over 1000 new marriages for St. Marks District Six. Covering the years June 1925 – November 1939

Start searching now to find out if your ancestor was Abraham the Rat Catcher, Christian Paulsen the Bioscope operator, Ryno Verster the petrol inspector or George Plaatjies the Asylum attendant.

This database with a variety of surnames and occupations is another vital link to your past.

Don’t forget to also make use of our baptisms and burials registers from St. Marks + St. Philips in District six where you will find thousands of families that were born, lived and died in this contraversial area of Cape Town.

If you have any stories to share with us about your families life in District Six – please send them to us now as there are lots of people who would love to hear you story

Ek het by ‘n vorige geleentheid uittreksels geplaas uit die boek Tant Alie van Transvaal. Die aanhalings sal handel oor Tant Alie se ervaringe tydens die Tweede Anglo Boere-Oorlog. Alie Badenhorst is gebore op 14.12.1867 as Alida Margaretha Jacoba de Wet. Haar pa was ‘n onderwyser in die Lichtenburg-distrik. Sy en haar man het op Manana in die Lichtenburg-distrik gewoon. Genl. Koos de la Rey het ook op Manana gewoon. Die eerste aflewering kan by https://ancestry24.co.za/danieljacobs/2010/07/10/tant-alie-van-transvaal-deel-1/ gesien word.

Hiermee nog ‘n aantal uittreksels – meer volg later.

bl. 84 Oor die Slag van Modderrivier op 28 November 1899 skryf haar man in ‘n brief die volgende: “Die getal dooies en gewondes weet ek nie; maar treurig is dit van oom Jacobus de la Rey se seun. Die generaal se seun is gewond deur ‘n stuk bom in die sy en is die volgende oggend oorlede. Dit is Adriaan, die oudste. Ook die oudste seun van veldkornet Hans Coetzee is swaar gewond, en is hier op die hospitaal in Jacobsdal. Van die distrikte Jacobsdal en Boshoff is baie gesneuwel. Daar is vrouens van wie die mans gesneuwel is; sommige het twee seuns verloor, ander weer die vader en die
seun. Dit is treurig om hulle te sien. Daar is baie Engelse. As hulle
aankom, trek hulle ‘n uur te perd breed.”

bl. 93 Die oggend van 14 Desember 1899 – “Ek sit en luister na die klop van my hart, en daar skiet dit my te binne dat dit my verjaarsdag was – ‘n nuwe skrik. Veertien jaar lank het ek altyd my geboortedag begroet aan die sy van my eggenoot, en as ek dan ontwaak, was my eerste woorde altyd: “Loof die Here, my siel, en alles wat binne in my is, Sy Heilige Naam.” Maar op hierdie môre wou dit nie uit nie. My hart was te beswaard. Na die liggaam was ek lydende, en ek dag om spoedig weer na die dokter te moet gaan. In my hart was ‘n pyn wat niemand kan verhelp nie as Hy alleen wat my Hulp op
aarde was.”

bl. 94 In ‘n brief – Hooflaer, Modderrivier, 14 Desember 1899 – skryf haar man: “Sê aan Piet sy pa moet nou ook menige nag ‘n klip onder die kop sit soos ou vader Jakob gemaak het, want as ‘n mens op brandwag uitgaan, moet jy die hele nag uitbly; en dan neem jy net ‘n kombers saam.”

Bl. 104 – Uittreksel uit ‘n brief van haar man, gedateer Moderrivier,
29.12.1899 – verwysende na Engelse soldate se begrafnis: “Ds. Strasheim was daar op die dag toe die Engelse begrawe is; die Engelse predikant het die lykrede gehou; dit was baie aandoenlik. Dominee het homself gesien en met hom gepraat; hy was baie verdrietig. Hulle is mislei gewees, het hy gesê;hulle dag dat hulle met ‘n barbaarse volk sou veg, en nou moes hy sien dat dit ‘n volk is met dieselfde geloof as hulle, en dieselfde Bybel; en nie swart mense soos dit hom vertel is nie. Daar was ook ‘n bejaarde man wat baie gehuil het oor die bloed wat daar gestort is, soos hy gesê het, vir die eer van Chamberlain en die kapitaliste.”

Webtuiste: www.gendata.co.za