Henry Bailey 1898

Lorraine Van der Spuy nee Bailey has spent many years trying to find out who her grandfather Henry Bailey’s parents were.  Writing and visiting various archives and other repositories has taken up much of the research time. Numerous birth certificates have also been ordered, in trying to find that missing and vital clue to this fascinating story.  This story has captured my interest and I hope that someone out there can help. In my correspondence with Lorraine I even discovered that her grandfather and my grandfather’s brother  Samuel Hindson Penrith were colleagues in the Cape Town Branch of the Musicians Union of South Africa.

Henry Bailey was born on 4th July 1873 somewhere in London.

He wrote in his memoirs that he had been orphaned at an early age, and was confirmed in c.1886 by the Bishop of London (who later became the Archbishop of Canterbury). When Lorraine was a child he told her that he had been placed in a home by an “uncle”. This could of course have been some government official. He left school just after his confirmation and “walked to London” where he met the Philanthropist Sir Quentin Hogg, who took him in his care and arranged that he complete his education at the Regent Street Polytechnic, one of his subjects being science. He then joined the Army Medical Services (which later became known as the Royal Army Medical Corps) at Aldershot, studied medical subjects and was transferred to the Royal Victoria Hospital, Netley, Southampton. Here he studied bacteriology at the Army Medical College.

The Professor of Surgery took him to London to learn a new discovery, and he became the first man in the

Henry Bailey - Vaccine Institute, Rosebank

British Army to learn and work the Röntgen Rays, now accepted as X-Rays. (Lorraine has obtained a copy of his service in the Royal Army Medical Corps from the National Archives in Kew). He then joined the Army Medical Corps in 1893, spent four years at the Royal Infirmary, Netley and was then sent to Malta for three years.

He came to South Africa with his X-Ray equipment from around 1900 until the end of the Anglo-Boer War, which ended in 1902. He was with a mobile Field Hospital in General French’s charge, scouring the Eastern Transvaal. Soon he was promoted as Sergeant in charge of the Surgical Division in Natal until 1902. Because of the bubonic plague in Cape Town shortly after the War he was seconded by the Army to the Cape Town health authorities to help combat the bubonic plague epidemic.

We found the baptism of Henry Bailey’s first born in our records.

Having no known living relatives he decided to settle in Cape Town and sent for his future wife, who had been waiting for his return to England, and they were married in Cape Town in 1903. From 1906 to 1933, until he retired, he was the Superintendent of the Government Vaccine Institute in Rosebank, first under the Cape Government and later under the Union Department of Health. In 1918 he founded the Dellville Wood Service, which was then a musical service, before it took its form of a religious service. He was a cornet and trumpet player and occasionally played with the Cape Town Orchestra during the 1920s. He founded the Cape Musicians’ Association before World War 1. Henry became an Honorary Bacteriologist to the Free Dispensary of the Cape Town Hospital Board, examining specimens for rapid diagnostic purposes.

See the Bailey Family Tree

He died in Pinelands, in 1958, still not knowing who his parents were.

Lorraine would love to find out not only who his parents were but also would like someone to identify the uniform in the video clip below. If you can help her please email us.

Search our over 500 burials from Diocese of St. Andrews Bloemfontein covering the years 1900 – 1906. This new database of primarily military burials highlights the hundreds of soldiers who died during the 2nd Anglo Boer War. Some children and a few nurses are included too.

Information included in this database is:  Surname, First names, date of burial, age,  regiment, rank,  regiment number, grave number, name of minister and notes.

If you want to find out more about the Boer war we suggest you buy Cassell’s History of the Boer War.

Other databases covering this period are the St. Andrews Bloemfontein Marriages, St Helena Prisoners of War, The Suburban Town Guard of the Boer War and the 1899 – 1900 Free State Voter’s List.

Below is a list of names available in this collection:

Adams , Alderdice , Aldridge , Anderson , Andrews , Angel , Anstead , Appleton , Armstrong , Arthurs , Ashton , Aston , Atherall , Atkinson-Clarke , Austin , Bacon , Bailey , Baillie , Baker , Banks , Barker , Barnard , Bashford , Batt , Beattie , Bellany , Bennett , Benson , Bently , Benton , Beresford , Berry , Best , Biggins , Binningley , Bird , Bishop , Black , Bleach , Bliss , Bloye , Bone , Bouch , Boultbee , Boultwood , Bousfield , Bowing , Bowley , Boyce , Bragg , Brewis , Bridge , Brill , Bringeman , Brookes , Broomwich , Brown , Browning , Buchanan , Buckley , Budge , Bull , Bunn , Burchett , Burns , Burridge , Burrowes , Burrows , Burston , Butler , Caldwell , Cales , Camm , Cannon , Capstick , Carding , Carr , Carter , Cassidy , Champion , Chandler , Chapman , Chappell , Charman , Cheeseman , Childs , Chinnery , Clapham , Clarke , Clayton , Clissold , Codrington , Colbrin , Cole , Coleman , Collins , Compton , Condon , Conway , Coomber , Cooper , Copp , Cordy , Corner , Couzins , Cowley , Cox , Cribb , Dallard , Dallow , Darby , Darke , Darlington , Datson , Davies , Davis , Dean , Dennant , Denton , Deykin , Dodge , Dodwell , Donnelly , Draper , Dunn , Dunsbee , Dutton , Edmunds , Edwards , Elkington , Elliott , Elswood , Evans , Eve , Fallowes , Fegan , Field , Fisher , Fletcher , Floyd , Follis , Fountain , Fox , Franklin , Fraser , Fray , Freeman , Frost , Fry , Gallagher , Garnett , Gath , Gibbs , Giblin , Gillett , Glanlly , Golding , Goldsmith , Gore , Gray , Green , Greenacre , Gregory , Grey , Gribbell , Griffin , Griffiths , Grigg , Grogan , Groom , Guest , Hackney , Hall , Hamilton , Hamm , Hammon , Hanson , Hardeman , Hargreaves , Harmley , Harris , Harrison , Hastings , Hatton , Haughey , Haverson , Hawkey , Hawson , Hawthorn , Haydon , Hayes , Heathcart , Heathcote , Heatherbed , Heaton , Heenan , Hembow , Hemmings , Hibberd , Hick , Hickey , Hicks , Higson , Hilder , Hill , Hinton , Hodgson , Hollingdale , Honey , Hook , Hooper , Horton , Hough , Houghton , Howard , Howarth , Howat , Howston , Hucker , Humber , Humphrey , Humphries , Hyde , Hyland , Iddison , Invia  , Inwood , Jack , Jackson , Jacobs , Jacques , Jandey , Jardine , Jarvis , Jeffs , Jenkins , Johnson , Jones , Keen , Kelly , Kemp , Kenyon , Kew , Keys , King , Kirley , Kitch , Knight , Knowlden , Lacey , Lake , Lambert , Lamborne , Lapper , Law , Lee , Lenton , Lewis , Lightfoot , Little , Livingstone , Lloyd , Loader , Lock , Longher , Longmore , Lupton , Lynch , MacGregor , Maisey , Mallon , Mannion , Marshall , Martin , Massey , Maxwell , McAllan , McClelland , McCormick , McGill , McIntosh , McKee , McLennon , McLeod , McLoughlin , McNally , Meaden , Merchant , Minnis , Mitchell , Morgan , Morley , Morris , Morrison , Moulder , Moullon  , Mulvaney , Mumford , Murray , Mycock , Nelles , Newsham , Newson , Nimms , O’Hare , O’Neill , Oldfield , Orr , Osborne , Oswald , Over , Owen , Parker , Parkinson , Parry , Parsons , Partridge , Paterson , Patterson , Pauls , Pennett , Perryman , Phillips , Pigott , Pile , Pinchin , Pitt , Pollard , Pooler , Priddle , Procter , Pye , Quin , Quinn , Rabone , Raikes , Rainer , Ramsey , Rea , Read , Rees , Reid , Rendle , Reynolds , Rice , Richardson , Roberts , Robinson , Rodgman , Rogers , Rolfe , Russell , Salter , Sanders , Saunders , Scammell , Scanlon , Scott , Scrivener , Scrofton , Seaman , Semple , Seymore , Sharman , Shelley , Shelly , Shephard , Sherrard , Shopland , Shrimpton , Siddle , Simmons , Simpkins , Simpson , Small , Smart , Smith , Smithies , Soames , Soloman , Southworth , Speatt , Spencer , Spiers , St John , Staite , Stannard , Stapelton , Steed , Stephenson , Stone , Strickson , Strode , Summer , Surname , Sutcliffe , Swan , Sweet , Symons , Tattersall , Taylor , Theobald , Thomas , Thompson , Thornton , Tolley , Toon , Trickey , Tucknott , Turner , Tyas , Tyson , Vince , Vonder , Waddell , Waites , Walker , Ward , Wardle , Warner , Warren , Washer , Watkins , Watts , Way , West , Weygood , Whibley , White , Whitehead , Whitfield , Whitman , Wigham , Wilcox , Wilder , Wilkinson , Williams , Wills , Wilson , Winter , Winton , Withers , Woodley , Woods , Workman , Worwick , Wyatt , Wylie , Wynne , Yates , Young

Do you have any of your ancestors  who were soccer players? Ancestry24 would love to share your stories.

Thomas Keegan an Irishman by birth, and in 1881 in Queen’s County, Ireland, first saw the light of day. He was educated at a private school at Worcester, and while at this school participated in all port, but showed special talent at soccer, representing the school at this game and also at cricket.

On completion of his school-days he decided to adopt the career of a veterinary surgeon, but in 1899, attracted by the lure of a country which promised rich return, he decided to emigrate to South Africa with his younger brother. On arrival in the country he joined the firm of Messrs. Playford and Fitzpatrick, solicitors, Johannesburg, and on the expiration of a certain period he was attached to the staff of Mr. Dale Lace. On the occasion of the outbreak of the Anglo-Boer war, he went to Cape Town and obtained employment in the municipal offices. He enlisted with the Western Province Mounted Rifles, but the sudden outbreak of bubonic plague enforced his return to the Municipality.

In 1902 he severed his connection with the Municipality and returned to Johannesburg, where he received a billet in the Consolidated Goldfields. He was associated with the head office of this corporation for five years, and was then transferred to the Robinson Deep, Ltd., of which concern he was appointed secretary in 1914, an office which he still holds.

The day after his arrival in Johannesburg, 1899, Mr. Keegan joined the Wanderers’ Club, and since 1913 has been a member of the parent committee. He played hockey for the Wanderers’ from 1904 to 1912 and was captain of the team for several seasons. In 1909, with others, he was instrumental in starting the first golf course, with grass greens, in Johannesburg, on the property of the mine, viz., the Heronmere Golf Club, with a membership of three hundred. Owing to the mine extending its operations this had to be abandoned in 1915. He was captain of the Wanderers’ second eleven (Soccer), and has been a member of the Rand Hunt Club for ten years, and Master for a couple of seasons. He is now the honorary treasurer of the club.

He is keenly interested in horses, always keeping a couple in his stables, and last year secured a first and third prize in the hack classes at the Witwatersrand Agricultural Society Show. He is a lover of dogs, especially smooth-haired fox-terriers, and has a few prize-winners.

Mr. Keegan is a member of the Witwatersrand Agricultural Society, and frequently acts as honorary steward of the horse section. He has been chairman of the Mine Sick and Benefit Society since 1914, and is also a member of the committee of the Recreation Club.

Source Sport + Sportsmen of  South Africa 1919

Vincent VAN GOGH, famous Dutch painter, had a younger brother, Cornelis Vincent (aka Cor), who fought in the Anglo-Boer War on the Boer side. Cornelis arrived in the Transvaal in 1890. He worked for the Nederlandsch Zuid-Afrikaansche Spoorweg Maatskappij at the Cornucopia Mine in Elandsfontein near Germiston, where he helped build trains. He is said to have also helped build the railway track to Lourenço Marques. When war broke out, he took leave and joined the Hollanderkorps, a commando unit under Cmdt. J.S.F. BLIGNAUT's command.

Not much is known about his whereabouts during the war. He may have joined as an ambulance driver. He was taken risoner by the British in March 1900 near Kroonstad, fell ill and put in a makeshift hospital in Brandfort where he died on 14 April 1900. He was buried in an unmarked
grave in the Brandfort churchyard.

The cause of death is a mystery – some people believe that he committed suicide, like his brothers
Vincent and Theodorus, as there was one bullet wound. The official report stated it was an accidental shooting. Others believe he died of malaria or tuberculosis. In the Dutch Reformed Church in Pretoria, Cornelius's name (C.V. van Gogh) is on the memorial plaque which
commemorates the Dutch who died in the war.

Cornelis was born 17 May 1867 in Zundert, North Brabant, to Theodorus VAN GOGH and Anna Cornelia CARBENTUS. He married Anna Catharina FUCHS in February 1898 but the marriage did not last long.

Sources:
Discover Pretoria, by Henie Heydenrych & Abrie Swiegers, J.B. van Schaik, Pretoria, 1999
Nederlanders in Transvaal 1850-1950, by Jan Ploeger, J. L. van Schaik, Pretoria, 1994
Cornelis Vincent van Gogh in Transvaal, by Dr. Jan Ploeger, Lantern journal, Dec 1981
Newspaper article: De Volksstem 26 Sept 1906

Written by and with kind permission Anne Lehmkuhl

Riaan discovers his roots

In the 2009 series of  “Who do you think you are?” on SABC2, Ancestry24 helped to trace the family tree of Riaan Cruywagen, the longest standing TV-presenter in South Africa. Riaan did not know much about his paternal family, other than occasional stories from his grandfather.

Amongst others, we used the Transvaal and the Cape Deceased Estates Index as well as the Groot Familienaamboek and Robert Shell’s Changing Hands e-book on Cape Slavery.

His journey took him to Beaufort West, where his mother was born. He discovered details about his family’s involvement in the Anglo Boer War, why the Cruywagens came to the Cape with the Dutch East India Company and what role they played in the slave trade. He found out why the family had huge assets in the form of land, livestock and agriculture which in today’s market value may have made him one of the richest people in South Africa.

Ready to you find your ancestors?

Ancestry24 offers the most extensive South African genealogy archives online. Read some success stories of how others found their family members on this website.

• Search for your ancestors through millions of records, updated daily.
• Find images in the gallery, especially in the growing tombstone collection.
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• Post a question in the Forum, which is a valuable resource if you need help.

Trailer from the episode with Riaan

Construction workers digging on a site in King William’s Town have uncovered a large cache of weapons believed to be dating to the Anglo-Boer War, also called the South African War, reports Msindisi Fengu. See our amazing video below

Workers initially discovered the rifles late in the afternoon on Monday, which expects believe were buried there by the British army after the Anglo-Boer War.

The find consisted of flintlocks, swords, barrels, bayonets and ashes of wooden rifle handlers.

Site manager from Gordon Builders, who asked not to be named, said workers initially discovered few rifle barrels and reported the matter to the institutions’ management.

He said the following day, while busy digging a trench, workers noticed that more military equipment was buried underneath the ground.

“Management this morning decided that we stop working on the site,” he said.

Lovedale FET College campus manager Nicky Dickson said he had been instructed by the South African Heritage Resources Agency (SAHRA) to condone-off the site and immediately seize construction operations.

“Workers will continue with operations at the site once we’ve received further notice from SAHRA,” Dickson said.

Dickson said workers were busy digging the foundation for the first phase of the institution’s development when they came across the find.

Amazing find eh? One often wonders how many buried treasures are out there that we are not even aware of.

Source: Dispatch

List of Soldiers Shipped to South Africa

During the Anglo-Boer War

transcribed from the London Times Shipping List for July 1899 – December 1902 and the Cape Times Weekly Edition Shipping List for January 1899 – December 1902

Smallpox

The first recorded epidemic of smallpox in the Cape was in 1713 and later 1735 and 1767. However many people seem to forget the outbreak in 1755 which hit the small settlement very hard – a quarter of the White inhabitants died in the first epidemic, and nearly half the slaves. Further smallpox epidemics occurred at the Cape in 1767, 1807, 1812, 1839, 1858 and 1881. That of 1881 was the most virulent.

Typhus

In 1867 a Typhus epidemic broke out. Typhoid is a disease of unsanitation, spread by contaminated human excrement. During this time it was not unusual for people to throw sanitary waste into the streets as well as carcass remains and other unsavory remnants of human and animal waste. The only serious epidemic of this disease occurred in South Africa at the beginning of the century as a result of the disorganisation brought about by the Second Anglo-Boer War. The mortality among civilians and military personnel was severe. Fairly high incidence continues in primitive, unsanitated communities.

A Cholera epidemic broke out in 1869 not long after the Typhus one a few years prior. These epidemics still occur in Southern Africa every few years.

Poliomyeltis epidemics occur periodically in South Africa. The public tends to be gravely frightened of this disease because of the pitiful crippling of children that so often results. The total number of cases occurring has, however, been relatively small compared with the other diseases that occur in epidemic form. There were epidemics in 1918, 1948 and (the worst one) the summer of 1956-57. `Epidemics’ of some hundreds of cases occurred in 1960 and 1966. In epidemic years vast numbers of children became infected without showing any sign of the disease. Such children are naturally immunised, but this is a very risky method of acquiring immunity, as the paralytic form may so easily be triggered off; e.g. by violent exercise or trauma of any kind. Subsequent crops of babies will not acquire such immunity and will provide material for the next epidemic unless submitted to vaccination.

Influenza

Some of the entries for one day (15 Oct. 1918) at the Maitland Cemetery, Cape Town, when the influenza epidemic was at its peak.

Epidemics of influenza or grippe occur at intervals. In South Africa extensive pandemics were experienced in 1918 and in 1957, which swept through the country within two months. The 1918 epidemic caused nearly 140 000 deaths in the Union of South Africa, mostly among the Bantu and Coloured sections of the population, although the death-rate among Europeans was also unusually high. The 1957 pandemic was not nearly so severe: most patients had a relatively minor illness and there were very few deaths. Epidemic outbreaks occur frequently in Southern Africa, but do not present unusual features as compared with epidemics elsewhere, although the illness tends to be more severe in the Bantu than in persons of European descent, and complications involving the lungs tend to be more frequent.

South Africa experienced outbreaks of influenza in not only in 1918 but also 1836, 1854, 1862, 1871, 1890 and 1895. The 1918 epidemic first manifested itself in Europe, where so many German and Austrian soldiers fell ill that a German offensive was delayed until March. It spread to Spain, where 8m people were affected. The death-roll in Europe was comparatively light however, and in Spain only 700 people died. The disease was spread by carriers, and it was soon contracted by British, French and American troops in France. Outbreaks were reported as far afield as Norway, Switzerland, Hawaii, China and Sierra Leone. There is little doubt that ships brought the epidemic to South Africa. At first it affected the ports and principal towns. It was reported in Durban on 14 Sept., in Kimberley on the 23rd, and in Cape Town and Johannesburg on the 25th.

Like the earlier epidemics, the 1918 `flu’ attacked men rather than women, and all races alike. There the similarity ended, for whereas previously the very young and the old were more prone to contract influenza, now adolescence and old age seemed immune, and the special incidence fell on the group between 25 and 45 years of age. The epidemic spread rapidly, following the lines of communication: the railways and roads. Hundreds of thousands of people fell ill, and the economy of the country, including the mines, was nearly brought to a standstill. Coal was no longer being produced, and factories closed their doors. Commerce almost ceased, only food-shops remained open, and transport was more precious than gold. The railways operated a skeleton service, trams ran spasmodically, and motor-cars were short of petrol. In the towns essential foodstuffs were scarce – no bread, since the bakers were ill; no milk, since the farmers were unable to bring it to town. The greatest shortage, however, was of people – hands to nurse the sick, feet to bring essentials of life when whole families lay ill.

At first the death-rate was low – then suddenly it began to rise. Doctors, many of them ill themselves, could not cope with the flood of patients, emergency hospitals overflowed, the supply of coffins gave out, and people were sometimes buried in mass graves. Nor was there safety in the country, for refugees spread the epidemic far and wide. The Transkei, with practically no medical assistance available, was particularly hard hit. The authorities did their best to cope with the situation, but thousands died without ever seeing a doctor. Then, as suddenly as it had begun, the epidemic ceased.

In 1889 the Marist Brothers opened their first school in Johannesburg. ‘Three Brothers came by horse-coach from Kimberley, which at the time was the nearest railhead to the city. They were Brothers Frederick, Dominic and Euphrase who had come north from Port Elizabeth to found a school.They interviewed the landdrost and were allowed to take over a stretch of ground lying to the north of the mining area at the foot of the low range of hills that bounded the camp to the north, now in the centre of the modern city which has replaced the camp.

For three weeks they lived in a small bell-tent until a rough cottage was built and later a little school house, and then they were ready to open what was the first boys’ high school to be established in Johannesburg.
A story is told that one day a small boy was sent by his father to look for a good school, and as he passed the new school building, a bearded man wearing a black habit stopped him, and asked him where he was going. The boy replied that he was looking for a school. “This is a school” he was told.
“Yes, but a good school.”
“This is good school”, said Br. Frederick, the principal familiarly known to the boys as “Boots”, conducting him inside, and so another pupil was enrolled in the school.
Within a short time after the opening of the school it had to be enlarged and within a few years the enrolment had increased to over 300, resulting in pupils having to be accommodated in a marquee.

As there was no matriculation centre in the South African Republic at the time, the first matric class in 1894 comprising but three pupils had to be sent to Bloemfontein accompanied by Br. Frederick to write the examination, and all three passed.

At the outbreak of the Anglo Boer War in 1899, the enrolment dropped to 150, because many English families had left Johannesburg during this period. Part of the school was requisitioned for a military hospital under the care of the French Red Cross Society. The school was placed under the protection of the French Government, and the Brothers assisted in the care of the wounded after school hours. Permission was granted in 1900 during hostilities for the matriculation examination to be held in the school.

On the occasion of the Golden Jubilee of the College in 1939, messages of congratulation were received from the Governor General Sir Patrick Duncan, from the Prime Minister General Smuts, from the Administrator of the Transvaal and many others. The school’s first principal Br. Frederick, who was then 93. attended the celebrations. He lived to be 100.

In its later years Koch Street became a junior school to the newer Marist Brothers Schools in Observatory and lnanda. In the grounds when the school was closed in 1965 still stood the school house in which the first pupils were taught with the little cottage in which the three Brothers lived. All the school buildings were finally demolished to make room for the present Mariston Hotel.

The Transvaal Staats Courant of 9 May 1900 carried an instruction to field commanders to record the names of members of the Transvaal forces who ‘exceptionally distinguished themselves through bravery’ during the then current operations of the Anglo-Boer War. The notice went on to state that the Government wished to present a medal or a cross to the men concerned, after the war. The Transvaal Republican government did not, of course, survive to implement its intention, but, after some delay occasioned by the First World War, the Union government, on 21 Dec. 1920, rectified the omission by instituting two medals and a special wound ribbon.

The ‘Anglo-Boere Oorlog’ medal was awarded as a campaign medal to all burghers of the two Republics who were still under arms when the end came at Vereeniging. The second and more important award, the ‘Dekoratie voor Trouwe Dienst’, was given to 65 officers of the two Republics who had rendered distinguished and specially meritorious service during the war. Like the medal, this decoration bears the arms of the Transvaal on one side and those of the Orange Free State on the other, but in the case of the decoration the background of the arms is in the shape of a cross, the traditional symbol of an award for valour. In the field surrounding the cross, on each side, is the inscription VOOR TROUWE DIENST 1899-1902. The ribbons of the decoration and the medal, and the wound ribbon, are all composed of the combined colours of the Transvaal and Orange Free State flags (green, orange, red, white and blue), but they can be distinguished by their differing arrangement of the colours and width of the stripes.

Del’eoratie voor Trouwe Dienst (decoration for loyal service) showing side with O.F.S. coat of arms

South Africa Medal, with bar (1878) obverse (left); with exceedingly rare bar (1877) reverse.