Search the over 37 000 records from Maitland Cemetery .

When did it start?

The very first burial in Maitland Cemetery was on the 16 January 1886. With over 100 000 souls buried in this huge cemetery covering 100 hectares.

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.

Maitland Cemetery Project

If you are interested in help Ancestry24 photograph every grave  or you want to find out more about the project please contact us. 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 our gallery.

Laughing at Kurt’s Family. In June 2009 we joined Kurt Schoonraad on a journey into his past on  SABC 2. This extraordinary passage with Kurt will revealed some amazing stories in the comedian’s life that might or might not have be a laughing matter…   We found out what military background his  ancestors had and questioned “Did the family really come from the Island of St. Helena?”  And what part of his family is of German descent?

During an interview with Kurt he said: “it’s like the Cape Flats on some other part of the planet, apparently the whole culture mix happened there already”; On whether he is really African or not, Kurt says “I think it’s a question that’s becoming obsolete at the moment” adding “I’d like to believe I’m a citizen of the world”.

Kurt was born in District Six, Cape Town and moved to Mitchell’s Plain when South Africa’s apartheid government forcibly removed families from the District Six area. Kurt started school at Zonnebloem Primary in District Six, transferred to Duneside Primary in Mitchell’s Plain and fell in love with the stage at age 10 when he joined the Creative School of Speech And Drama. His love of acting and entertaining continued in High School where he was inspired by his teacher Mr. Keston at Rockland’s Senior Secondary. In 1999 one of his friends suggested he try out for the Smirnoff Comedy Festival’s New Faces search, he took their advice and was accepted to perform as part of the festival’s stand-up comedy line-up. Without any regrets Kurt is today one of South Africa’s most successful stand-up comedians.

John Rowland Trott

Lately every time he is seen playing cricket on the television the Trott telephone in Fish Hoek will ring and someone will ask if Jonathan Trott is our grandson.  He isn’t, but we are, of course, proud to have him around.

Search our records for all TROTTS

Jonathan – or Ian Jonathan Leonard Trott to give him his full name – is of British origins and returned to England via a couple of generations in Australia and South Africa.

The name TROTT is thought to derive from the medieval period when the Lord of the Manor would grant land and accommodation to a serf in return for his services as a messenger.   These messengers came to be called Trott and so the name came down as a family surname.

The men would all have been of a healthy disposition and fast movers, and perhaps this inbuilt quality has come down to some modern-day Trott people.  If you do quite a quick search among sports write-ups you will find mention of an Emma, Harry, Robin, Nick, Kerrod and a chap who plays soccer for the Bush Bucks…  and, we are proud to say, our own granddaughter, Wendy Trott, who is a Springbok swimmer and has represented South Africa in the Olympics.

Wendy is not the only athlete in the family. Her brother Andrew rows for Harvard, her cousins Brandon and Justin are long-distance runners, even her youngest cousin Caitlin, who is nine, plays football!  Our son, John, represented Western Province at athletics some years ago.  Our children nearly all did the Big Walk, several did the Two Oceans.  All our grandchildren are sports enthusiasts.

The South African Trotts descend from a long line of farmers and tailors in Devon, England.  On Christmas Day 1899 my husband’s father, John Rowland Trott, who was a Bombadier in the Royal Artillery, sailed for Cape Town from Gibralter to take part in the Boer War.  During a leave in Cape Town he and his great friend Melville Priday met two sisters, courted and married them and settled here – hence the establishment of a Trott line in South Africa. Trott Family Tree

The Cricketing bunch

Ian Jonathan Leonard Trott (born 22 April 1981 in Cape Town) is a South African-born English cricketer who has played domestic cricket in South Africa, England and New Zealand. A right-handed middle-order batsman and occasional medium-pace bowler, he played two Twenty20 Internationals for England in 2007. Good performances for his county in 2008 and 2009, as well as a productive tour in 2008–09 with the England Lions, led to a call-up to the senior England Test squad in August 2009 for the fifth Ashes Test. He scored a century in that Test on 22 August 2009, becoming the 18th England player to do so on his Test debut.

The Trott family asserts that former Test players Albert Trott and Harry Trott are included in their ancestry. His half-brother, Kenny Jackson, represented the Netherlands and Western Province.^[2] Trott was born in Cape Town to a South African family of British descent. Educated at Rondebosch Boys’ High School and Stellenbosch University, he played for South Africa at both under-15 and under-19 level.^{[2] Image right: Albert Trott}

Albert Edwin Trott (born 6 February 1873 in Abbotsford, Melbourne, died 30 July 1914 in Willesden Green, Middlesex) was a Test cricketer for both Australia and England. He was named as one of Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1899.

George Henry Stevens “Harry” Trott (5 August 1866 – 10 November 1917) was an Australian Test cricketer who played 24 Test matches as an all-rounder between 1888 and 1898. Although Trott was a versatile batsman, spin bowler and outstanding fielder, “… it is as a captain that he is best remembered, an understanding judge of human nature”.^[1] After a period of some instability and ill discipline in Australian cricket, he was the first in a succession of assertive Australian captains that included Joe Darling, Monty Noble and Clem Hill, who restored the prestige of the Test team. Respected by teammates and opponents alike for his cricketing judgement, he was quick to pick up a weakness in opponents. A right-hand batsman, Trott was known for his sound defence and vigorous hitting. His slow leg spin bowling was often able to deceive batsmen through subtle variations of pace and flight, but allowed opposition batsmen to score quickly. Source Wikipedia

A Genetic Journey Through The History Of Human Origins, Diversity And Disease

Co-ordinated by Professor Raj Ramesar, Division of Human Genetics, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town

The great discoveries and adventures that have been linked to Africa have not given sufficient emphasis to the continent as the place of human origins. Africa’s remarkable diversity and natural resources have in the past been exploited largely to the benefit of historical colonisers, yet the vast amount of research that has been done on its indigenous populations merits significant attention.

This course, given by faculty from various disciplines at the Universities of Cape Town and the Witwatersrand, will outline state of the art genetic research being done in our environment, revealing the history and place of our indigenous populations relative to one another. Genetic information will be combined with research from other disciplines such as linguistics and anthropology in order to provide a cohesive picture of human history and diversity on our continent, and the spread of our species across the planet. Disease predisposition, treatment appropriateness and prospects for the future will also be discussed.

Lecture Titles

1. The story of human origins and diversity in Africa. Prof Himla Soodyall, National Health Laboratory Services and Wits University

2. Genetics in the media: ancestry testing, the myth and the reality. Prof Wilmot James, Africa Genome Education Institute

3. Human history: linguistic perspective and its relation to genetic history. Prof Rajend Mesthrie

4. Human health and genetics. Dr Mike Urban

5. Prospects for the future: controversies and ethics. Prof Raj Ramesar

Recommended reading

V Cavalli-Sforza, L.L. & Sforza,  F. The Great Human Diasporas: History of Diversity and Evolution. Reading, Mass. Addison-Wesley, 1996.

18–22 January

11.15 am

COURSE FEES

Full: R288,00

Staff: R144,00

Reduced: R72,00

Contact Prof Wilmot James here for further details

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.

VENABLE, Henry Isaac. American missionary born in Shelby county (Kentucky) on 20th  June 1811 and died in Paris (Illinois) on 22nd May 1878. With his wife, Martha, he was among the first group of six couples sent by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions to South Africa in 1834, sailing from Boston on the brig Burlington on 3rd December and arriving at the Cape on 6th February. 1835. With Daniel Lindley and Alexander Wilson and their wives, the Venables first established a station in Mzilikazi’s territory at Mosega, near modern Zeerust. They were there for only a few months before virtually all of them became seriously ill and Wilson’s wife died. When the Voortrekkers broke Mzilikazi’s power at Mosega, the missionaries returned with the Boer commando and eventually rejoined the other missionaries near Durban. In Sept. 1837 Venable and George Champion established a second station at Dingaan’s military kraal Hlangezwe. Here they worked for only five months before the murder of Piet Retief and his men drove them away. They were forced to leave Natal with the other missionaries and wait in Cape Town for the end of hostilities. In Jan. 1839 the Venables returned to America. Venable is remembered chiefly because, with the Owen family, he was one of the few people to view the scene of the massacre, only a day after it had occurred. He and Champion gave vivid descriptions of what they had witnessed. Written by R. W. SALES . Acknowledgement: Standard Encyclopedia of South Africa. Nasou Via Afrika

Master Builder of Cape Town

William J. Morris was born on the 11th February 1826 in Oxon, England, and was employed by the Duke of Marlborough as a game keeper when he developed pulmonary tuberculosis during the severe winter of 1856. His doctor recommended that he move to a sunnier climate.

Not long after this William was accepted, together with his wife and three children, for the Sir George Grey Immigration Scheme. In screening the prospective applicants, there were some basic requirements: good health, sober habits, industrious, good moral character, and in the habit of working for wages (as promulgated by Act No. 8 of 1857). From these regulations it would seem that a person with T.B. would certainly not have been accepted, and as the gentleman in question lived to the grand age of 90, and certainly worked industriously on arrival in the Cape (not conducive to a sickly person) the circumstances appear to dispel such a legend.

Standard Bank, Adderley Street

The journey to the Cape was aboard the vessel named “Edward Oliver” under the command of Master J. Baker. The ship departed from Birkenhead on 10th July 1858, and after 57 days at sea arrived in Table Bay on 5th September 1858. Little is known about the voyage excepting 14 deaths were recorded and seven births took place on board. Listed as the ships surgeon was Dr. Fred Johnson as well as trained teacher Mr. Tom Gibbs who were to care for the passenger’s health and education. It is possible that it was not a pleasant journey for the Morris family remembering that the three children Richard, Kate and William were still young and the latter being under twelve months of age.

The majority of the artisans and tradesmen had been fixed up with immediate employment, as there was a great demand for skilled and semi-skilled men for the new railway track being constructed from Cape Town to Wellington, as well as the harbour construction project in Table Bay.

Not long after Williams arrival he leased some land at the top end of Duke Road in Rondebosch, then a distant suburb of Cape Town, and very reminiscent of Wychwood Forest and his native Oxfordshire. This piece of land was developed into a market garden and the family lived in a nearby cottage.

It was whilst William J. Morris and family were living in Rondebosch that on 29 April 1862 their youngest son Benjamin Charles Morris was born and baptized in St. Paul’s Anglican Church in Rondebosch, whereby his father (William) declared his occupation as a “gardener” and place of residence as “Rouwkoop Road”, Rondebosch. Click here to search these church records.

Benjamin Charles Morris's Baptism Record

Richard H. Morris was still a growing boy of just 8 years old. By the age of 14 years and still living in Rondebosch, he was indentured to Alexander Bain, a shipbuilder/shipwright of 17 Chiappini Street, Cape Town as an apprentice carpenter/shipwright.

Although the new suburban railway from Cape Town to Wynberg had been opened to the public in 1865, Richard was obliged to walk from Rondebosch to the North Wharf in Dock Road, Cape Town as transport was too expensive for his meager earnings. However, he was soon organized in getting a “lift” from the coachman he befriended who worked for the governor of Rustenburg House. Richard secured his free lift on the footman’s place at the rear of the coach, where he would sit in reasonable comfort for the journey which took him to the Castle. Unfortunately this mode of travel did not operate for the return journey home, nor did it operate during the winter months, so Richard just had to “jog”.

It would appear that the last train from Cape Town to Wynberg in the afternoons was scheduled for departure from the city at 5pm, but needless to say as an apprentice, Richard was still working at the shipyard. Despite the arduous circumstances of his youth, the enforced exercise proved most beneficial a few years later when he entered into competitive sport i.e. race rowing, especially as Richard was just over 5ft. tall and weighed less than 60 kilos.

During 1870, the Bain’s Shipyard was taken over by Mr. Christopher Robertson, as specialist in sailing ships and wooden masts, and as Richard was learning his trade with three other young apprentices, he was taught the art of shaping a sailing vessel’s mast with the hand spokeshave. The firm from then on was known as “Robertson & Bain” which continued operating in Dock Road, Cape Town for several decades, specializing in the supply of wooden masts for sea-going sailing ships.

Before carrying on with the life story of Richard H. Morris it is important to mention that the Anglican Church of St. Johns on the corner of Long and Waterkant Street had been built in 1856. It was at this church that during the 1860′s Richard became a choir boy and in 1872 a Sunday School Teacher.

In 1876 the Templar rowing club started in Cape Town where Richard and his brother were both members and enthusiastic oarsmen.

The christening of the personally constructed fast rowing boat by Richard came as no surprise by the owners of Robertson and Bain. The name of the boat was called the “Alpha”.

In 1882 the construction of a row of cottages built by Wm. J. Morris and his brother Richard (father & son) was started in Upper Church and Longmarket Streets and were to be called “Lorne Cottages” in honour of the Lorne Rowing Club which was started in Cape Town in 1875 and named after the Scottish Firth near Island of Mull of Kintyre.
On Saturday 6th June 1885 Richard married Helen Ann Lyell in St. John’s church. The newly married couple went that day to “Lorne Cottages” to make their permanent home and raise a family.

Richard and Helen Ann Lyell's Marriage Certificate

Helen was in fact a little girl of ten years old when she first encountered Richard. That was when he was in his twenties and he was late for work and was running along the road when he accidentally knocked over a little girl. He tried to console her, and from this time onwards a very special friendship developed.

It was in the same church that Richard’s younger brother William John married Matilda Jane Altree on 25th August 1886 and a younger brother married in St. Paul’s in Rondebosch on 14th September 1887. It is interesting to note that St. John’s Church was deconsecrated after the last evening service in June 1970 as the ground and building was sold, after much pressure from business interests, for an astronomical amount, and the church was completely demolished to make way for the present modern commercial complex known as “St. Johns Place”. Click here to search these church records.

In 1884 Richard Morris as cox and his brother of the “Templar Club” had their first win as champions winning both “Maiden Oarsmen” and “Championship of Table Bay” events.

In June 1878 Richard H. Morris went into partnership with friend & neighbour Chas. Algar from Rondebosch, who had known the Morris family for quite some time. Little known to Chas was that Richard was to be the future brother-in-law to his sister Bertha Algar.

The first workshops of Algar and Morris were at 39 Shortmarket Street, Cape Town. (between Long and Loop Street ). But misfortune was the cause of the break-up of the working partnerships as the 30-year-old Chas Algar died suddenly on 4th October 1883.

Banking institutions were now playing a major role in the economy of the country and in 1883 Richard Morris landed the contract to build the Standard Bank in Adderley Street for the amount of £32,000 – the two storied building was designed in neo-classical style by Charles Freeman. Two additional floors were added on by Morris in 1921.

Richard made a repeat performance in May 1885 wining the 2 mile race in 15 minutes and 55 seconds.

March 1886 saw the arrival of Richard and his wife Helen’s daughter Kate as well as Richard wining the “Champion of Table Bay” for the third consecutive year.

Eleven years after the death of Chas Algar, Richard Morris secured the construction contract for the new City Club in Queen Victoria Street for a sum of £22,000.

Between the years of 1888 and 1895 Helen Morris gave birth to Edith, Bertha and William Henry Morris, the only son to Richard.

By 1896 Richard H. Morris had become known as a builder of distinguished quality and workmanship and the fame of R.H. Morris had spread. Herbert Baker had met Richard on several occasions and took immediately to this man who built with such fine quality and precision. It was then that R.H. Morris secured the prestige contract for the restoration of “Groote Schuur”, after the building had been extensively destroyed by fire.

Richard H. Morris by 1899 had workshops in both 52 Rose Street and 173 Longmarket Street. In 1902 Frank Lardner joined the staff of R.H. Morris and in 1911 he became the manager.

Father, William James Morris, died at the old age of ninety years on 22 March 1915. In 1919 the company of R. H. Morris (Pty) Ltd was officially formed to cope with the new lumber contract in Knysna. It was from this time onwards that R.H. Morris was renowned throughout Southern Africa for the excellent workmanship and quality in carpentry all starting from old Mr. Morris himself. School desks, church pews and altars were manufactured in their joinery shop for years to come. The items were delivered as far away as Botswana, Rhodesia, Zambia and Mozambique. Along with the desk and school equipment Morris ink wells and stands were also produced.

The Morris workshop also manufactured one of the very few original gramophones that were ever produced in South Africa and which was called a “melophone”. Many of these items can be seen on display in the Educational Museum in Aliwal Road, Wynberg today.

Sadness unfortunately halted joy when Richard and Helen Morris celebrated their Golden Wedding Anniversary on 6th June 1935 and then on 24 July Helen tragically passed away at home as well as Bertha, wife of Benjamin Morris, on the 6th December.

Richard at the age of 83 years old in 1936 retired from the construction industry and handed the reigns over to Frank Lardner. Frank ran the company until 1942 when he passed away. The business was then handed over to a young civil engineer, Clifford Harris. The existing premises of Rose and Longmarket Street were finally vacated when the furniture workshops and Building /Civil Engineering were consolidated and new premises built in Ndabeni.

In April 1949 Richard Henry Morris succumbed to natural causes and passed away at the age of 95 years and 5 months.

This was certainly not the end of an era for R.H. Morris Pty Ltd – as in 1952 the company was given financial backing for the New Municipal Market at Epping in Cape Town by the British Engineering giant Humphreys. The firm is no longer associated with the family. Later the company was taken over by the Fowler Group and is now in the hands of Group Five Construction who have retained the image of the name in perpetuating the fine record of the founder Richard Henry Morris.

Many of the other buildings in Cape Town which were either completed by or alterations were performed on, include the University of Cape Town, Diocesan College in Rondebosch, Music School at U.C.T. as well as many Sir Herbert Baker buildings.

In 1995 when much of this research was done I managed to find a second “melophone” and an original “Morris” desk for sale which ex-Managing Director Frank Wright was extremely grateful for me finding these wonderful company artifacts. Shortly before the final documents were found I also located the grand nephew of R.H. Morris who very kindly gave me the medal won by Richard in the “Championship of Table Bay”. This is now on display in the boardroom of Group Five Construction in Plum Park, Plumstead in the Cape.

Authors: Heather MacAlister and H.W Haddon

Alexander, Morris – born 4th December 1877 in Czinn, East Prussia, Germany and died in Cape Town on 24th January 1946, lawyer and parliamentarian, was the eldest son of Abraham Alexander and his wife, Flora Lewin; he had four brothers and two sisters. In 1881 the family settled in South Africa. Alexander’s education at private schools in Cape Town was interrupted in 1891, when he joined his parents in Johannesburg. Owing to his parents’ straitened circumstances, he was compelled to work, first as a clerk at the National bank and later as an employee of the Cape government railways.He succeeded in saving a little money, which enabled him to resume his schooling. In 1893 he enrolled at the South African college, Cape Town, where he won the gold medal for arts in 1896. He graduated at the University of the Cape of Good Hope in 1897, gaining a Porter scholarship; read law at St John’s College, Cambridge; and joined the Inner Temple, London. He obtained first-class honours in 1899 in the first part of the law tripos, and was awarded a Foundation scholarship. On 15 th November 900 he was called to the bar in Cape Town and rapidly established himself as a leading criminal lawyer, taking silk in 1919.

From his early youth Alexander showed a keen interest in public affairs. He served on the Cape Town city council (1905-43) and, except for the years 1929 to 1931, he was a member of the Cape and the Union parliaments from 1908 to 1946.

Throughout his life he remained true to his liberal creed of ‘equal rights for all civilized men, whatever their race, colour or creed’, and his sympathies were ever with the underprivileged. Elected to the Cape legislative assembly as a Progressive (later Unionist), he resigned from the party on account of ideological differences on 27th November 1920, and in 1921 he founded the Constitutional Democrat Party, of which he was the leader and sole parliamentary representative in the Union house of assembly for the following ten years. In 1931 he joined the South African party, remaining a follower of Gen. J.C. Smuts to the end.

He served the Jewish community for over forty years. He founded the Jewish Board of Deputies for the Cape Colony (4th September 1904) and was a leader of the South African Jewish Board of Deputies, of which it formed part after 1912. He was primarily responsible for the recognition of Yiddish as a European language in terms of the Immigration act of 1906. He had been a vigorous supporter of the Zionist movement ever since 1904, and throughout his life he continued to resist attempts such as the Immigration Restriction act and the Immigration Quota act of 1930 – to discriminate against Jewish immigration.

For forty years he was president of the New Hebrew congregation, Cape Town, and often preached there. Alexander befriended all sections of the population. In parliament he was the recognized spokesman of the Public Service association and of the postal and telegraph employees. Opposed to the colour-bar, he attacked every measure designed to restrict non-European rights. He was a friend of M.K. Gandhi and invariably championed the cause of the Indians. He was also a staunch supporter of the franchise for women.

He was active in many welfare organizations; humble people with wrongs to be righted continually sought his assistance. He was an inveterate letter-writer, fifty letters a day being his minimum quota; the number sometimes swelled to one hundred letters, all written by hand.

In June 1907 Alexander married Ruth Schechter, the daughter of Solomon Schechter, the Hebraist; they had three children, a son and two daughters. After a divorce in 1935, Alexander’s second marriage (15.8.1935) was to Enid Asenath Baumberg, of Sydney, who subsequently wrote his biography.

His portrait by J.H. Amshewitz is in the National art gallery, Cape Town. In 1963 his voluminous papers, some 14,000 items in all, including material on Judaism in South Africa, and the Coloured and other minority groups (1905-45), were presented by his widow to the Jagger library, University of Cape Town.

Source: Standard Encyclopaedia of South Africa – copyright Media24 Digital

Image: National Archives

Morris Alexander

Benjamin Osler also known as Bennie born in Aliwal North on 23rd November 1901 and died in Cape Town on 23rd April 1962, Springbok rugby player, was the son of Benjamin and Isobel Osler. Bennie’s ancestors have been traced back to Edward Osler, a prominent merchant and ship-owner, with a hint of piracy involvement.Bennie went to various schools, including the Western Province Preparatory School, Rondebosch Boys’ High School, and Kingswood College, Grahamstown. From 1921 he read law at the University of Cape Town, qualifying in 1925. During this period he represented the University on the rugby field, but from 1926 to 1930 played for Hamiltons and from 1931 to 1933 for Villagers. He acted as captain of all three clubs and on various occasions captained Western Province, which he represented from 1922 to 1933.

He gained his Springbok colours in 1924, when he played against Ronald Cove-Smith’s British team in all four test matches. Four years later (1928) he also played in all four tests against Maurice Brownlee’s New Zealand touring side, and in 1931-32 captained the Springbok team (which went to the British Isles) in all the tests of that series. He rounded off his rugby career in 1933 by playing in all five tests against the visiting Australians, acting as captain in the second test. He had scored forty-six points in the seventeen consecutive tests in which he played Osler is generally regarded as the best fly-half South Africa has produced so far (1979), a man who could dictate play. The decade during which he was a Springbok is even called the ‘Osler Era’ by sports writers, owing to his influence on the game. While he played for South Africa the country won all the test series, his province carried off the Currie Cup throughout, and each club for which he played won the Grand Challenge Cup. He had no equal as a tactical kicker and it was in particular his almost perfectly-placed corner kicks to wings which gained many tries for the Springboks. He could launch long outside kicks from any corner and as a drop-kicker he often clinched matches. Nobody was more feared by opponents than Osler.

He was also an attacking fly-half who could send his full-backs off with incredible speed when circumstances permitted or, if not, could himself shoot through an opening like lightning. Autocratic on the field, he would tolerate no passes from scrumhalfs that were above waist height; if the centres next to him blundered even once, he usually mistrusted them afterwards and would rather kick the ball – a course of action which can be regarded as one of his few weaknesses. As a captain he attached great value to tactical planning before a match, and he believed in strict team discipline.

During the Second World War (1939-45) Bennie went with the South African forces to East Africa where he contracted both malaria and amoebic dysentery which probably contributed to his relatively early death.

Unlike other great players Osler had little interest in coaching or the administration of the sport when he retired. After working as a salesman for a long time, he eventually went farming on a small scale, at first near East London and later near Bellville.

The brothers Bennie and Stanley Osler

He married Gladys Hobson and had two children. Photographs of him appear inter alia in The Bennie Osler story and Springbok saga (both infra).

Osler’s Cornish Connections

Benjamin. Falmouth born circa 1776 son of Edward and Mary (Paddy) Osler of Falmouth and husband of Jane (Sawle) Osler born 1775. father of Susannah, Stephen Sawle, Mary Anne, Amelia, Elizabeth, Sarah, Joseph, Jane, Benjamin, Phillippa and Julia. Leader of W.J. Cornish 1820 Settlers. Returned to Cornwall with wife and some members of his family 4.1822.

Stephen Sawle born in Falmouth 27th September 1804, died 21st October 1867 in Simonstown. Son of Benjamin and Jane (Sawle) Osler and husband of Catherine Osler (born Dakins, formerly Wright) of Llaway Glen, Montgomeryshire, Wales. 1802-1881. father to Benjamin, James Goodriche, Catherine and Jane; and also Christina, dtr of Orange Kleyne (Klein). Founder of the Osler family in SA.

Susannah Osler born in Falmouth circa 1800. daughter of Benjamin and Jane (Sawle) Osler married 1st John Coleman (1792-1829) of Cock’s party at Reedfountain, Eastern Cape on 17th June 1820, 2nd time to Mr Fineran from Quebec.

The small Cornish party, under the leadership of Benjamin Osler of Falmouth, Cornwall, sailed in the ‘Weymouth’, which left Portsmouth in January 1820. Having arrived in Albany so that he might supervise the first arrivals, Sir Rufane Donkin considered that a more central and accessible site should be chosen for the administration of the settlement. Ignoring the fact of Graham’s Town’s better defensible position and that it was already established as a military base, the site he chose on 9 May 1820, was just west of Thorn Ridge. This was to be the centre of the civilian administration and also the seat of magistracy. Sir Rufane declared it was to supercede Graham’s Town as the capital town of Albany, and it was to be named Bathurst in honour of Earl Bathurst, Secretary for the Colonies. In his enthusiasm Donkin allotted plots to the Earl and also his own sons and nephews, while 500 acres of Glebe were allotted for a clergyman and chaplain of the Church of England, the vacant post to be filled in due course by a suitable man. The post of administrator, however, was filled by the transfer to Albany from the Western Cape of Capt Charles Trappes.

By 9 June the Cornish party of Benjamin Osler was enroute to their location from Algoa Bay. Osler’s party, it had been decided, was to be located some 12 miles southwest of the new town of Bathurst, and halfway to the Kowie River mouth. This was in the curve of the Mansfield River, a left bank tributary to Kowie River, today known as Grove Hill. Osler named the location Pendennis in memory of the similarity the area bore to his Cornish hometown of Falmouth and its Pendennis Castle.

Pitching their tents for protection from the cold winter nights and the intermittent drizzle, the party immediately set to clearing the land so that ploughing and sowing of their first crop could be done. Soon after arrival, they were to be joined by a young man, John Coleman, 28 years of age and a gardener from Cock’s party who had sailed with them in the Weymouth. Coleman was not altogether an unexpected arrival, for he had made his intentions clear earlier and on the 17 June, he was married by the Rev William Shaw to Benjamin Osler’s eldest daughter, Susannah. Theirs were the first marriage in the whole settlement.

The proximity to Bathurst of Osler’s location at Pendennis meant that these settlers were closely concerned with the early development of that town. Lots were already being offered for sale and the Colonial Secretary had ordered erection of a prison. The building of the Bathurst Residency got under way by October. All this activity afforded employment to bricklayers, carpenters, slaters, sawyers and stone-masons, who were able to direct their energies into a rewarding field while they waited patiently for the crops to ripen. Hopes for the future were bright, but by the end of November it became apparent that ‘rust’ had affected practically all the wheat sown since their arrival and the crops were useless. With little resources to withstand such a disaster, the administration decided that the issue of rations was therefore to be continued, but they became an additional charge against the deposit money. When that had been exhausted, it was a liability for future repayment. By Christmas Day that year, the circumstances of many were desperate and prospects for the future grim.

Undaunted by these hardships and their considerably reduced circumstances, the settlers sought what work they could find. The Bathurst Residency, long delayed in its completion by the number of unfortunate disputes that had arisen, was still an avenue for employment. William Mallett, a mason with Osler’s party joined with Thomas Marham of Bethany, James’ party’s location, and together they contracted on 5 November 1821, for slating and plastering work on the Residency to the value of £16. 10. 0d.

Lots had continued to be sold at Bathurst and houses built on them, but again, as a year earlier, ‘rust’ began to appear in the wheat and by the end of the year it was apparent to all that the wheat crop had once again failed. This was now a major calamity. Though rations were continued, they were reduced to half portions. Despite what the settlers had previously received, and even for those in dire need who had no money or hope of ever redeeming what they already owed, a parsiminous administration ruled they were only to get half a pound of rice per adult per week. Meagre indeed, but to ameliorate their difficulties, the stringent pass laws restricting settlers to their locations were relaxed and many now went in search of work, not only in Albany, but further afield if they could afford to get themselves there.

Lord Charles Somerset had by now returned to the Cape from his bride hunting furlough in England, and once again took up the reins of office as Governor.

He was furious to find the number of rather illogical decisions taken by Sir Rufane were actually detrimental to the scheme as he had originally envisaged it. He thus immediately set about reversing them. Bathurst was demoted from its pre-eminent position, which consequently caused another sharp depression when the Magistracy was summarily removed to Graham’s Town and the many settlers who had invested their small capital in establishing business premises in order that they might better serve the community, now faced ruin and impoverishment as it was quite evident the town of Bathurst would stagnate. It did and many then returned their attention to trading. Fairs were permitted at Fort Willshire and to these came the native tribesmen from beyond the Colony’s borders. James Weeks was one of the Cornish settlers who took to offering the more conventional manufactures. He and others traded tobacco and cloth in exchange for hides and skins, ivory, cut wood and simple items of use that could either be sold again in Graham’s Town or taken down to Algoa Bay and bartered there for the farming implements in such short supply. But the air of depression continued, it was no good having the basis for an exchange of goods if the majority the inhabitants, both settler and tribesmen, were so impoverished that goods and hard cash were virtually an unknown commodity amongst them. Osler left his location in April 1822 to return with his wife and five younger children to Cornwall. What remained of Osler’s party slowly broke up. Headed by John Dale, it began to disintegrate further. Osler’s daughter, Susannah and her husband decided to make their home at Simonstown where they were to be joined by her brother, Stephen Sawle Osler, who had elected not to return to Cornwall. By the beginning of 1824 William Mallett had moved away to Uitenhage and matrimony was to call Joseph Richards to a date in Graham’s Town where on 23 September that year, he was married to Sarah Attwell, the seventeen year old daughter of Richard Attwell of Crause’s party. Grace Weeks had died and the end of the year saw Charles Pearse returning to England to rejoin his wife with and family who had been unable to embark with him.

The small party of Cornish settlers, comprising only eleven men and their families at the outset, was already diminished in number by nearly half, and the few that did remain on Pendennis were to become so insignificant numerically that from then on their story melds with that of the settlement itself, conversely reflecting their great adaptability and absorption into the new country.

Source:
Dictionary of South Africa Biography Vol 5.
Cornish Immigrants to South Africa by Graham Dickason.
History of South African Rugby Football (1875 – 1932) by Ivor Difford

Further reading and resources:

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~bathonia/OslerBathFrancisConnections.htm

Osler Library – http://www.mcgill.ca/osler-library/

Acknowledgements: Michael Bath

(nee Mabel Lewin, official change of name 3 April 1936)Born on the 11th July 1910 in Oudtshoorn; Contralto and teacher of singing.

Mabella Ott-Penetto went to school at Oudtshoorn, after which she studied under Eveline Fincken at the College of Music in Cape Town (1929 – 32) and obtained a licentiate and several awards. Towards the end of 1932 she studied in Berlin and in 1933 her training was continued in Vienna where she made her debut in 1934 as a Lieder singer. During the same year she also celebrated her theatre debut in Zurich when she interpreted Czipra in Der Zigeunerbaron. She subsequently (1937) made Zurich her home when she married Louis Ott. Highlights of her career were in 1941 and 1954 when she interpreted works composed and directed by the composers Felix Weingartner and Aaron Copland and again in 1963 when she sang the five Wesendonck Liedere at the Villa Wesendonck during the Zurich celebrations commemorating the birth of Richard Wagner. Other important occasions were her participation at the Music Festivals held in Gstaad (1944) and Prades (1958), and her interpretations in performances of Sorotschinsky fair (Moussorgsky) in 1947 and of Orfeo (1955) and II ritorno d’Ulisse (1960), both by Monteverdi. During the years in Switzerland she visited South Africa to undertake, in all, six concert tours and to act as a soloist in symphonic programmes. In 1947 she sang Amneris in Aida and Delila in Samson and Delila (Saint-Saens) during John Connell’s opera season in Johannesburg.

Source: Ott-Penetto in Goudstad. Die Vaderland, 6 Sept. 1957