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1928 Krugersdorp Voters List
December 9, 2010Search the over 500 male adults listed in the 1928 Krugersdorp Voters List. We found blacksmiths, bus drivers, butchers, carpenters, civil servants, clerks, constables, dental mechanics, fitters, masons, miners, policemen, warders and trolley drivers.
Search our records now. We have given you surnames, first names, addresses as well as occupations to help you find your ancestors. Below is a list of the surnames that can be found in this database.
Ackerman, Adams , Ainsworth, Allsopp, Anderson, Archbold, Arenson, Aronovitz, Aryes,
Ashworth, Assor, Axelson, Badenhorst, Baker, Barendse, Barnard, Bassch, Bateman, Bedford,
Beneke, Bessinger, Bester, Beukes, Bezuidenhout, Black, Blignaut, Bond, Boruchman,
Boshoff, Botes, Botha, Bouwer, Breed, Breytenbach, Brink, Brits, Britz, Broadhurst,
Brockelbank, Brooderyk, Brown, Bruwer, Bullard, Burrell, Busch, Bush, Byleveldt, Callow,
Campher, Campher , Celliers, Centnerowitz, Chambers, Clark, Classens, Coetzee, Coetzee ,
Coetzer, Cohnheim, Collins, Colyn, Combrink, Connock, Cooper, Cowley, Cowling, Coxon,
Craighead, Croft, Cronie, Crowe, Davidson, Davies, De Bruyn, De Klerk, De Lange, De
Villiers, Denysschen, Dodds, Donaldson, Douglas, Du Plessis, Du Plooy, Du Toit, Duggan,
Duminy, Duvenhage, Eddy, Edwards, Edworthy, Els, Emett, Engela, Engelbercht, Erasmus ,
Ernst, Esterhuyzen, Falconer, Farish, Feitelberg, Fenn, Fenton, Ferreira , Fletcher,
Foord, Forster, Fouche, Fourie, Fowler, Francis, Friedman, Furstenburg, Gallichan, Gangel,
Gedye, Gerber, Gerret, Gibson, Goodman, Gouws, Gregor, Greyling, Griffith, Grobler,
Hadden, Hailey, Hale, Halgryn, Hamilton, Harber, Harmse, Harrison, Heard, Hechter, Heelis,
Henderson, Hendrikz, Henning, Herholdt, Heyneke, Hickey, Hinks, Hodgson, Hoffman, Holmes,
Holton, Horrell, Hosking, Hudson, Hulbert, Human, Humphrey, Hunter, Jackson, Jacobs,
James, Janse Van Rensburg, Johnson, Jones, Jonker, Jordaan, Jose, Joubert, Just, Keevy,
Kempen, Kiersch, Killick, Kleynhans, Klopper, Kloppers, Kortsen, Kotler, Kotze, Krawitz,
Kriek, Kruger, La Marque, Labuschagne, Laight, Le Roux, Lessing, Lewis, Lindhout ,
Linford, Lombard, Long, Lotter, Lotz, Loubser, Loudow, Lourens, Ludick, Lundie, Lurie,
Macintyre, Macrae, Main, Maling, Maltz, Manthey, Marais, Marais , Mardon, Maree, Maritz,
Marlowe, Marsberg, Martin, Materface, Mathews, May, Mcalpine, Mcculloch, Mcdonald,
Mcfarlane, Mcguire, Mclean, Mcleay, Melchbeker, Merkel, Mew, Michalow, Millar, Milton,
Milward, Minnaar, Mitchell, Mortimer, Morton, Muburgh, Muhlenbeck, Muir, Muntingh, Murray,
Myburg, Naude, Neill, Nel, Nienaber, Nole, Nosica, Oberholzer, Oelofse, Ogilvie, Olivier,
Oosthuizen, Opperman, Osborn, Otto, Page, Parkes, Peach, Penn, Phillips, Phillipson,
Pitts, Player, Ponton, Potgieter, Pretorius, Price, Prinsloo, Quick, Raftopulos,
Redelinghuys, Reed, Reid, Reinecke, Resnick, Rheeders, Ridley, Robb, Robertson, Robinson,
Robson, Rohland, Roos, Ross, Rousseau, Roux, Rudolph, Sablick, Sans, Schilbach, Schmidt,
Schoeman, Schutte, Scott, Serel, Sewitz, Shackelton, Shenker, Short, Skinner, Smith,
Smuts, Spence, Spilsbury, Stappard, Steel, Steffens, Stephen, Stewart, Steyn, Stone,
Strydom, Strydon, Sullivan, Swanepoel, Swart, Tait, Taljaard, Taylor, Teasdale,
Theunissen, Theys, Thomas, Thompson, Thrope, Todd, Treisman, Trimble, Van Blerk, Van
Bosch, Van Bouillon, Van Coppenhagen, Van Den Berg, Van Den Heever, Van Der Berg, Van Der
Hoff, Van Der Hoven, Van Der Linde, Van Der Merwe, Van Der Walt, Van Dyk, Van Goeverden,
Van Greunen, Van Heerden, Van Niekerk, Van Rhyn, Van Rooyen, Van Ryneveld, Van Wyk, Van
Wyngaarden, Vavasour, Venter, Verster, Viljoen, Visser, Viviers, Vorster, Vos, Waite,
Walden, Wallace, Wallach, Walls, Webb, Weeks, Welsh, Wessels, Whear, Wheeler, Whitesides,
Wienand, Willcox, Willemse, Williams, Williamson, Wills, Wimbles, Winder, Wright, Yates,
Zentkowsky.
St. Saviours Claremont Burials
December 9, 2010Over 200 individuals can be searched for in the St. Saviours Claremont Burials. Details provided are: surname, first names, maiden name, title, gender, date of birth, place of birth, date of death, place of death and notes.
We found the following surnames in this cemetery:
Amcoats, Anderson, Andrews, Anxe, Arnold, Atkins, Bain, Bedggood, Bell, Biesman-Simons, Birt, Bisset, Blake, Bluett, Bourne, Brice, Bridges, Briel, Brown, Budge, Burnell, Carey, Carson, Cass, Castley, Catonby, Cooke, Cornhill, Cowling, Crosse-Jones, Daniell, Davis, Dawson, De Klerk, de Villiers, Den, Evans, Evens, Falkiner, Falkiner-Falkiner, Fawcett, Finch, Fox, Frylinck, Galbraith, Goulding, Gow, Hamer, Hill, Hilliard, Hodgkiss, Hopkins, Hudson, Impey, Inglesby, Jacobs, Jeffcoat, Johnson, Jones, Laatz, Lakey, Lamb, Lavis, Le Mesurier, Lewis, Longmore, Maas, Manson, Marchbank, Mc Kerron, Mc Kinley, McFarlane, McLachlan, Millar, Montague, Morel, Murray, Musgrave, Nash, Neville, Nolan, Ovenstone, Pettitt, Philip, Puddicombe, Raven, Reid, Richter, Rickman, Robb, Robottom, Rogers, Rous, Selkirk, Sheard, Simpkin, Simpson, Sitters, Sloane, Snell, Stanley, Stevenson, Stuart-William, Surname, Swales, Swartz, Tayler, Taylor, Van Der Byl, Walker, Wallace, Wallis, Warren, Webster, White, Whiteing, Williams, Willis, Wilson, Wobbe, Wright, Zeeman,
1927 Willowmore Voters List
December 9, 2010Search this unusual 1927 Willowmore Voters List. Over 3000 individuals listed in this farming community. Details provided are: surname, first names, title, residence, occupation, qualification to vote, employment status, employer details, race destinction, polling district and division.
The town was established in 1862. According to some, it was named after William Moore, who occupied the farm The Willows on which the town was laid out. Another source states that it was established and named by a farmer, Lehmkuhl, who combined his wife’s maiden name, Petronella Catharina Moore, with a large willow tree that stood near his house.
Below is a list of surnames to be found in this voters list.
Abrahams, Ackerman, Ackermann, Adams, Africa, Ahrens, Albert, Albrish, Allers, Altenstead, Anthony, Ash, Aspeling, Assia, Avontuur, Badenhorst, Baldie, Barkhuizen, Barkhuysen, Barnard, Barnardt, Barnett, Barry, Bashford, Basson, Beaton, Becker, Beer, Bekker, Beling, Bellardie, Bellingham, Benecke, Beneke, Bergh, Berman, Bernhardt, Berrington, Bester, Bezuidenhout, Blake, Blignaut, Bosch, Boshoff, Bosman, Botes, Botha, Bothma, Bouwer, Bowers, Brauns, Brewis, Breytenbach, Brits, Britz, Brooker, Bruce, Bruinette, Brunette, Brunsdon, Bruwer, Buckley, Burchell, Burger, Burgher, Burton, Buys, Büchner, Cairncross, Caithness, Campbell, Campher, Carelse, Catton, Cawood, Cecil, Cellarius, Chambers, Chatwind, Cilliers, Claasen, Claassen, Clarke, Classen, Coblentz, Codner, Coen, Coertze, Coetzee, Coetzer, Cohen, Colborne, Coleman, Coleske, Combrinck, Cooper, Cormack, Cornelius, Cowley, Cronin, Crouse, Crumpton, Dall, Danhauser, Davel, De Beer, De Bruin, De Goede, de Jager, De Klerk, De la Harpe, De Lange, De Leeuw, De Swardt, De Villiers, De Vos, de Vries, De Waal, De Wet, Delport, Devine, Deyce, Deysel, Deyzel, Dickson, Didericks, Didloff, Diedericks, Dill, Dithmers-Hughes, Dixon, Dorfling, Doubell, Douglas, Draai, du Pisani, Du Pisanie, Du Plessis, Du Plooy, Du Preez, Du Toit, Dumon, Dumons, Dumont, Eales, Eathoo, Eaton, Ecker, Ellis, Els, Engelbrecht, Ensor, Erasmus, Esterhuizen, Eyre, Ezekowitz, Featherstone, Ferendal, Ferreira, Finn, Fisher, Fitch, Fivaz, Fortuin, Fouche, Fourie, Frank, Fraser, Freedman, Friend, Friends, Gavin, Geard, Geldenhuis, Geldenhuys, Gellman, George, Gerber, Gerdener, Gericke, Gibbs, Gillespie, Glago, Goedhals, Golden, Goldman, Goss, Gough, Gous, Gouws, Greef, Greeff, Green, Greenwood, Groenewald, Grootboom, Grundlingh, Haarhoff, Haggard, Hall, Hanekom, Hartman, Hashe, Havenga, Hayes, Hayward, Heese, Helm, Hemens, Hendriks, Henshilwood, Henstock, Herbel, Herbst, Herselman, Heunis, Heyns, Hicken, Hinds, Hitge, Hobson, Honey, Honiball, Hooper, Horn, Horowitz, Horscroft, Horwitz, Hough, Human, Jacobs, Jamneck, Janse Van Rensburg, Jansen, Jansen Van Rensburg, Jens, Johnston, Jonck, Jonker, Jordan, Joseph, Joubert, Judelman, Kamfer, Kaplan, Karelse, Keller, Kemp, Kempen, Kerspey, Keulder, Keyser, Keyter, Kilian, Killian, King, Kirchner, Kirkman, Kirsten, Kiviet, Kleinhans, Kleu, Klewansky, Kleyn, Klopper, Klue, Kluyt, Kluyts, Knight, Knoesan, Knoesen, Koch, Koekemoer, Koen, Koertze, Komo, Komoetie, Korkee, Korkie, Korsten, Krause, Krige, Kritzinger, Krugel, Kruger, Kuhn, Kunneke, Laas, Lamb, Lamini, Lamprecht, Landman, Lane, Lategan, Lazarowitz, Le Grange, Le Roux, Lee, Leiserowitz, Lemmer, Lendoor, Lewis, Lewis-Haslemere, Linde, Lloyd, Loggenberg, Lombard, Loock, Lotter, Lourens, Louw, Lovegrove, Lowensohn, Loynes, Lucas, Ludik, Luiters, Lyons, Maart, Macdonald, Maclachlan, Maclean, Madlakana, Magawn, Magerman, Malherbe, Marais, Marcowitz, Maree, Marincowitz, Markotter, Marthinsen, Marx, Masiza, Massyn, McClune, McKay, McLeod, Mcloughlin, Meintjies, Meyer, Middleton, Miller, Mills, Minnie, Minty, Moggee, Monk, Moorcroft, Moore, Morgan, Morris, Mostert, Muller, Munro, Murray, Musikanth, Myburgh, Myles, Mynhardt, Naude, Nel, Nicol, Nkomo, Nobatana, Noeka, Noll, Nomdo, Nortier, Nortje, Nortjie, O’Donoghue, Oelofsen, Olckers, Olivier, Olls, Oosthuizen, Oosthuysen, Orton, Otto, Palmer, Park, Patel, Pedro, Perry, Petersen, Pettit, Pfister, Pickard, Piek, Pienaar, Pietersen, Pitout, Plaatjes, Potgieter, Pottas, Pretorius, Prins, Prinsloo, Proskewitz, Rabie, Rademeyer, Randell, Rankie, Rathbone, Raubenheimer, Rautenbach, Redelinghuis, Reitmuller, Renison, Rensburg, Reynecke, Reynolds, Rheeder, Rich, Richardson, Ring, Roberts, Roelofse, Roll, Rollison, Roman, Roscoe, Rossouw, Rothner, Roux, Rubidge, Rudman, Runeveld, Ryan, Saaiman, Samworth, Sayewitz, Schaap, Scheepers, Scheltema, Schiltz, Schoeman, Scholtz, Schonees, Schonken, Schoonees, Schoonraad, Schoultz, Schreiber, Schreuder, Schuin, Schutte, Scott, Senekal, September, Serfontein, Shand, Shapiro, Sharp, Shear, Sieff, Siew, Silver, Skorbinski, Slabbert, Slater, Slier, Smith, Smuts, Snyman, Socishe, Solomon, Speelman, Spies, Stander, Steffens, Stegmann, Stenhouse, Stevens, Stewart, Steyl, Steyn, Steynberg, Stidolph, Stokes, Stols, Stoltz, Stone, Strimling, Stroebel, Strumpher, Strydom, Studer, Stuurman, Swanepoel, Swart, Swarts, Swemmer, Tait, Targowsky, Taute, Taylder, Terblanche, Terblans, Theophilus, Theron, Thom, Thompson, Thomson, Thurtell, Thyse, Thysse, Tintinger, Tipper, Tiran, Topic, Toua, Trytsman, Tuck, Turck, Turner, Twaku, Valtijn, Van Aarde, Van Alphen, Van Blerk, Van Breda, Van Deempter, Van Deemter, Van der Berg, Van der Bijl, Van der Byl, Van der Hoven, van der Merwe, van der Mescht, Van der Ryst, Van der Spuy, Van der Walt, Van der Watt, van der Westhiusen, van der Westhuisen, Van der Westhuizen, Van Dyk, van Eck, Van Eyssen, Van Graan, Van Heerden, Van Huyssteen, van Jaarsveld, van Jaarsveldt, Van Loggerenberg, Van Molendorf, van Niekerk, van Rensburg, Van Rhyn, van Rooyen, Van Schalkwyk, Van Soelen, van Staden, Van Tonder, van Vuuren, Van Wijk, Van Wyk, van Zyl, Veldtman, Venter, Verasammy, Vermaak, Verwey, Viljoe, Viljoen, Visser, Vister, Vlok, Vogel, Volschenk, Vos, Vosloo, Vrey, Wabana, Wagenaar, Wagener, Wagner, Walsh, Walton, Wamsteker, Wannenberg, Ward, Warraker, Wasserman, Webster, Wehmeyer, Weinstein, Welch, Welgemoed, Welman, West, Wevers, Weyers, White, Wickham, Wiggett, Wildeman, Wilken, Willemse, Williams, Wilmot, Wilson, Windvogel, Witbooi, Woudberg, Wright, Yake, Young, Zaaiman, Zaayman, Zondag, Zondagh,
1833 Cape Almanac
March 18, 2010
We have added 2,624 new names from the 1833 Cape Almanac to our database. Find out who was a wigmaker, a mangler, a wagon hirer or even a pickler! A list of principal inhabitants of Cape Town. This database includes: Title, Surname, First Names or Initials, occupation and address.
Is your surname listed in this over 1400 variety of names?
Afrikaners in Argentina
July 21, 2009About 200 Afrikaners, the descendants of immigrants who, at the beginning of the 20th century, emigrated to the Argentine from the Northern Cape, are today still resident in the province of Chubut, about 1,000 m. south of Buenos Aires. Almost all of them are engaged in sheep-farming on the Pampas to the northwest of the port of Comodoro Rivadavia. The causes of their emigration were of an economic nature. Most of them had very little capital, but they did have a thorough knowledge of sheep and wool. At the start every settler was given 625 hectares of land free by the Argentine government and was required to purchase a further 1,875 hectares of government land at a purchase price of one peso per hectare. This gave him an economic holding of nearly 3,000 morgen. The purchase price was spread over a term of 5 years, and the purchaser was required to give proof of occupation by erecting at least one room, planting 200 trees and bringing 10 hectares under cultivation; he had to be in possession of 400 sheep or goats or 80 head of cattle; and he had to take an oath of allegiance to the Argentine government. Few of these settlers acquired full ownership on the conditions imposed, because not long after the arrival of the first immigrants the free grants of land were discontinued and the purchase price was later raised to 4 pesos a hectare. Eventually government land could only be leased. This led to dissatisfaction among many of them, since they were unable to obtain title-deeds; but in practice it made no difference to their right of occupation.
It was a bleak, uninhabited region of sparse grazing, severe winters and fierce blizzards. Roads and bridges did not exist. Nor were there harbour facilities at Comodoro Rivadavia. The settlers were therefore virtually isolated from the outside world. The only communication with Buenos Aires and the settled North was by ship. At the start they had to do without a church, and there was no school. A few non-white servants had accompanied their masters to the foreign land, but the farmers themselves had to perform almost all the labour. Although the settlers in general failed to reach a high level of material prosperity, they nevertheless managed to make a fair living. Their heaviest setback came in 1925 when an exceptionally heavy snowfall resulted in great loss of sheep, obliging many of the settlers to make a fresh start. Gradually they tamed this inhospitable region. Better dwellings were put up, more land was brought under cultivation, and one farm after another was fenced. The expense of all this, the collection by the Government of long-overdue rents and the low wool prices of 1926 and 1927 brought many of them to the verge of ruin and gave strong impulse to a repatriation movement. In 1934 there were still 900 Afrikaners in the Argentine, 80% of them in the Chubut region.
A unique problem which confronted them was the maintenance of church connections and juvenile education. They had hoped to preserve intact their national identity, their language and their religion amidst a foreign race and a foreign faith, and they were loath to assimilate with the Argentinians. At first the parents assumed the task of educating their own children as far as they could. In 1907 the Government instituted a school on the farm of C. J. N. Visser, with a unilingual Spanish-speaking teacher in charge. This school was later closed down when numbers of the farmers trekked into the interior. Some of the children were sent to the Government school at Comodoro Rivadavia, where hostel facilities were available; but no instruction was to be had in Afrikaans, nor was religious instruction given in the Government schools. Parents who lived close to the private English school conducted by Miss Cave sometimes sent their children there. A few attended Roman Catholic schools, and parents who could afford it sent their children to Buenos Aires for further instruction. Private schools were maintained at the cost of great personal sacrifice. In 1934 more than 500 children were living with their parents, and their prospects were poor. Unless they received an education they were condemned to a menial existence as herdsmen, shearers or servants. Almost 200 of them were of school-going age. Some few attended Government or Roman Catholic schools; the rest were taught the rudiments at home, sufficient to be able to read the Bible and to learn the catechism. An attempt in 1934 to persuade the Government to set up a Spanish school and a hostel with a Protestant housemaster and matron met with no success. An appeal directed to the South African government the same year also failed.
With great difficulty and at considerable expense a few private schools were maintained on a few farms. The teachers were C. Verwey, T. van der Walt and one Melville, who gave private tuition and thereby managed to maintain primary education until 1925. From 1928 to 1930 the wife of the Rev. J. J. Wasserfall conducted a preparatory school at Comodoro with Afrikaans as the medium of instruction. The management of this school was taken over by Miss Johanna Visser from Oct. 1929 until May 1933. The Poor Relief Commission of the Cape N.G. Kerk played an important part in supporting Christian National Education among its adherents in the Argentine. The Rev. A. D. Luckhoff; delegated by the Cape N.G. Kerk in 1925 to visit the Argentine, concerned himself in particular with the educational aspect. Upon his return to South Africa the Poor Relief Commission sent out Nico Loubser and T. C. de Villiers of the Paarl Training College, but their attempt at founding schools failed through lack of support. The Rev. D. P. van Huyssteen of the Cape N.G. Kerk observed a great measure of illiteracy among the younger generation and felt the adoption of Spanish culture to be inevitable.
In church matters likewise great difficulty was experienced. The Rev. L. P. Vorster was deputed by the Gereformeerde Kerk of the Cape to accompany the second trek to South America – that of C. J. N. Visser of Maclear, C.P. – after a small trek under Lewis Baumann of Bloemfontein had preceded it in 1902. The Visser trek consisted of 102 persons who, on 13 Sept. 1903, met as a congregation under the Rev. Mr. Vorster on board the ship in which they left for South America, and elected their elders and deacons. Most of them were members of the N.G. Kerk, the rest belonged to the Geref. Kerk. When Vorster returned to South Africa, these people were without a spiritual leader. The third trek, which left in 1905 under M. M. Venter, a former member of the Cape Legislative Assembly, upset the ratio between the members of these two churches to quite a considerable degree, since most of the new arrivals were of the Gereformeerde persuasion, and their church was unable to afford its members in South America financial support.
In 1906 the Commission for Indigent Congregations of the N.G. Kerk in the Cape sent the Rev. A. J. Jacobs to the Argentine to make a fresh start at organising the church there. He inaugurated the ‘Gemeente Colonia Boera’ in Chubut, which members of both churches joined, although it was really a congregation of the Cape N.G. Kerk. Jacobs met with many disappointments. He returned to South Africa in 1911, and the Gereformeerde section thereupon tried to maintain their own church. Both these groups kept their church activities alive through office-bearers of their respective churches in spite of having no parson.
The emigrants also directed an appeal to the Netherlands Gereformeerde Kerk in Buenos Aires. The clergyman of the small congregation there was the Rev. A. C. Sonneveldt who, at the instance of the two Afrikaans congregations, also visited the Afrikaners and attended to their separate needs. He visited them for the first time in 1913, and the following year received a pastoral call from the church councils of both congregations. Thereafter he performed this function with great devotion twice a year from Buenos Aires. The close co-operation between these two congregations continued until 1925, when the N.G. Kerk members directed a call to the Cape Church for further ministration. This resulted in a visit by the Rev. A. D. Luckhoff in the same year. In 1927 the Rev. J. A. Hurter went there, and from 1928 until 1931 the Rev. J. J. Wasserfall served the congregation. He was in turn followed by the Rev. H. J. Pick and the Rev. J. S. Klopper. During all these years the Gereformeerde congregation was still constantly being ministered to by the Rev. Sonneveldt. In 1936 the Geref. Kerk of the Cape Province sent the Rev. D. Postma to the Argentine and he remained there until early in 1937.
Even before then there had been serious talk of repatriation among the emigrants. In 1929, having heard of the successful repatriation of Afrikaners from Angola with Government aid, they made representations to the Union government to extend its aid to them. Most of them could still make a reasonable living, but they were in general not disposed to assimilate with the indigenous population, which was mainly Latin and which, in the vicinity of Comodoro where oil had been struck, was decidedly cosmopolitan. The Afrikaners were indisputably citizens of the Argentine, but they were intent on maintaining their language and religion. The Cape N.G. Kerk came out strongly for repatriation, and in 193 8 the Union government extended a helping hand. South African citizenship was restored to repatriates and both the State and the Church co-operated in meeting the travelling expenses and in providing work. In the course of 1938 two-thirds of them arrived back in South Africa. Some of them were taken up by relatives and most of the others were placed in employment. Only a few individuals had sufficient capital to venture independent farming afresh. The entire repatriation scheme was carried through with the co-operation of the Argentine government. Those who declined the offer to return, rather fewer than 200, were mainly younger people who had already adopted the country as their own. Their spiritual needs were looked after by the Rev. Sonneveldt. One further effort was made by the Geref. Kerk of South Africa after the Second World War to keep these people within the fold of the church. In 1951 the Rev. J. M. Opperman accepted a call from the Gereformeerde congregation at Chubut, and he remained there until 1953. Thereafter this congregation allied itself with other Gereformeerde elements in South America and chose one of its own young men to be trained for the ministry.
BIBL.: Domine (Rev. A. J. Jacobs): Reisavonture op land en see (1920); Rev. D. P. van Huyssteen: ‘n Besoek aan die Boere in Argentinie (1932); P. H. Henning: ‘n Boer in Argentinie Source + Permission: Nasou Via Afrika / Naspers
The Year was 1882
June 12, 2009
Cetshwayo, son of Mpande - Source: Cape Archives, E3248
What were our ancestors doing in 1882?
Who was making the headlines and What did they talk about around the supper table?
Here is a look at some of the people, places and events that made the news in 1882.
Huguenot Memorial School
The Huguenot Memorial School (Gedenkschool der Hugenoten) was opened on the 1st February 1882 on the farm Kleinbosch in Daljosafat, near Paarl. It was a private Christian school and the first school with Afrikaans as teaching medium.
The school was under the auspices of the Genootskap van Regte Afrikaners. Past pupils included the writers Andries Gerhardus VISSER, Daniël François MALHERBE and Jakob Daniël DU TOIT (Totius). The first classes were given in a small room but soon an old wine cellar was converted into a two-storey building which housed two classrooms downstairs and the boarding school upstairs. The first Afrikaans newspaper, Die Patriot, as well as the first Afrikaans magazine, Ons Klyntji, came from this school.
The Coat of Arms of "Die Genootskap van Regte Afrikaners"
The school was closed down in 1910 as by then Afrikaans was taught in government schools. In 2001 renovation work was started after a fundraising campaign brought in more than R1-million. Most of the money came from readers of the Afrikaans newspapers, Die Burger and the Volksblad. Naspers, the Stigting vir Afrikaans and KWV also made important contributions. The renovated building was opened in March 2002. It has an Afrikaans training centre upstairs and guest rooms downstairs.
The main people behind the renovation project were writer Dr. Willem Abraham DE KLERK (1917 – 1996) and Fanie THERON (chairman of the Simon van der Stel Foundation and the Huguenot Society, deceased 1989). Others who were also very involved included Sr. C.F. ALBERTYN (Naspers director), Van der Spuy UYS and Dr. Eduard BEUKKMAN. In 1985 they launched the Hugenote Gedenkskool Board of Trustees and with a R10 000 donation from the Helpmekaarfonds, a servitude on the building and land was bought. De Klerk’s wife, Finnie, and Theron’s wife, Anna, were at the official opening as their husbands did not live to see their dream come to fruition.
Dutch as official language
After the second British occupation of the Cape in 1806, English became the only official language. In 1856 J.A. KRUGER, the M.L.A. for Albert, asked for permission to address Parliament in Dutch. His requested was denied, and this started a campaign to get Dutch recognised as an official language in Parliament. On the 30th March 1882, Jan Hendrik HOFMEYR (1845 – 1909), also known as Onze Jan, appealed for the use of Dutch as an official language in Parliament alongside English. He was supported by Saul SOLOMON, a Jewish newspaper publisher and printer in Cape Town. On the 9th June the campaign finally got a positive result when an amendement was made to the Constitution allowing the use of Dutch in Parliament.
Official status was granted on the 1st May and the Act was later passed. On the 13th June, Jan Roeland Georg LUTTIG, the Beaufort-West M.L.A., was the first to officially deliver a speech in Dutch. There is no official record of the speech in Dutch, but the English version was published in the 14th June 1882 Cape Argus newspaper. The other version is in the Cape Parliament Hansard.
It was a short speech – “Meneer die Speaker, ons is baie dankbaar dat die opsionele gebruik van die Hollandse taal in albei huise van die parlement toegelaat is. Wanneer ek sê dankbaar, dink ek praat ek namens diegene wat die twee huise met hul petisies vir dié doel genader het. Ek put vreugde daaruit dat my Engelssprekende vriende die voorstel nie teengestaan het nie, my komplimente gaan aan hulle.
Ek hoop om die raad in die toekoms ook in Engels, in my ou Boere styl, toe te spreek. Sodoende kan dié Engelse vriende wat nie Hollands verstaan nie, die geleentheid hê om te verstaan wat ek probeer oordra. Ek vertrou ook dat alle nasionale verskille in die toekoms sal verdwyn en dat mense van alle nasionaliteite en standpunte hand aan hand sal beweeg om die welvaart en vooruitgang van die kolonie te bevorder”. According to the Hansard, the Speaker pointed out that the Act had not yet been proclaimed, so members could not yet make speeches in Dutch, but that the House would accommodate him this time.
On the 15th June, Cape school regulations were amended to allow the use of Dutch alongside English.
On the 26th and 27th June, the town of Burgersdorp celebrated the use of Dutch. The celebrations were organised by Jotham JOUBERT (M.L.A. and later a Cape Rebel ) who also proposed a monument to mark the occassion. A country-wide fundraising campaign was launched. The monument was built by S.R. OGDEN of Aliwal-North for £430. It consisted of a sandstone pedestal on which stood a life-size marble statue of a woman. She points her finger at a tablet held in her other hand on which the main inscription reads “De Overwinning de Hollandsche Taal “. The monument was unveiled on the 18th January 1893 by D.P. VAN DEN HEEVER, with Stephanus Jacobus DU TOIT (1847 – 1911) delivering the main speech.
During the Anglo-Boer war, the monument was vandalised by British soldiers who took parts of it to King William’s Town where they buried it. After the war, Lord Alfred MILNER had the rest of the statue removed from Burgersdorp. After much protesting, the British eventually provided Burgersdorp with a replica in 1907. This one was unveiled at ceremonies on the 24th and 25th May 1907 when former President M.T. STYEN and the author D.F. MALHERBE addressed the crowd. The original monument was found in 1939 and returned to Burgersdorp. In 1957 the damaged original monument was placed next to the replica.
In 1883 knowledge of Dutch was compulsory for some government positions. In 1884, it was permitted in the High Courts and in 1887 it became a compulsory subject for civil service candidates. Afrikaans only gained equal status with Dutch and English as an official language in South Africa via Act 8 of 1925. Dutch remained an official language until the 1961 Constitution stipulated the two official languages in South Africa to be Afrikaans and English.
Goosen and Stellaland republics
In 1882 a group of Boers established the short-lived republics of Stellaland and Het Land Goosen (aka Goshen ) to the north of Griqualand West, in contravention of the Pretoria and London conventions by which the Zuid Afrikaansche Republiek had regained its independence.
On the 1st April the republic of Het Land Goosen was declared. The terms of the Pretoria Convention of August 1881 had cut away part of the Transvaal. This led to problems as local Chiefs disputed the boundaries. Britain did not help matters by acknowledging Mankoroane as Chief of the Batlapin and Montsioa as Chief of the Barolong, both beyond their traditional territories. Supporters of Moshete, under the leadership of Nicolaas Claudius GEY VAN PITTIUS (1837 – 1893), established Het Land Goosen. One of the co-founders was Hermanus Richard (Manie) LEMMER, who later became a General in the Anglo-Boer War. Het Land Goosen later merged with the Stellaland republic to form the United States of Stellaland.
Stellaland was also a short-lived republic established in 1882 by David MASSOUW and about 400 followers, who invaded a Bechuana area west of the Transvaal. They founded the town of Vryburg, making it their capital. The republic was formally created on the 26th July 1882, under the leadership of Gerrit Jacobus VAN NIEKERK (1849 – 1896). In 1885 the British sent in troops under Sir Charles WARREN, abolished the republic, and incorporated it in British Bechuanaland.
Shipping accidents
Shipping accidents (wrecks, groundings, etc…) were common along the South African coast. In 1882 there were quite a few:
January – James Gaddarn, a barque, off Durban
February – Johanna, a barque, off East London
March – Poonah, off Blaauwberg
March – Queen of Ceylon, a barque, off Durban
April – Gleam, a barque, off Port Nolloth
April – Roxburg, off East London
April – Seafield, a barque, off East London
May – Francesca, a barque, off East London
May – Louisa Dorothea, a schooner, ran aground at Mossel Bay
May – Clansman, a schooner, off East London
May 28 – two ships, the Agnes (Capt. NEEDHAM) and the Christin a (Capt. G. LOVE), run ashore at Plettenberg Bay
June – Bridgetown, a barque, off Durban
June – Louisa Schiller, a barque, off Cape Hangklip
June – Ludwig, a schooner, off Algoa Bay
June – Gloria Deo, a barque, off Quoin Point
July – Elvira, a barque, off Durban
July – Erwood, off Durban
December – Adonis, a steamer, off Portst Johns
December – Zambezi, a schooner, off Durban
Smallpox
A smallpox epidemic broke out in District Six in 1882. This led to the closure of inner city cemeteries, and the construction of drains and wash-houses in the city. These improvements didn’t go as planned. The cemetery closures led to riots in 1886. The cemeteries along Somerset Road were not in a good condition, so Maitland cemetery was built. As the Muslim community carried their dead for burial, Maitland was too far for them, and along with the Dutch, they protested against Maitland for two years. Once the inner city cemeteries closed, the Dutch compromised but the Muslim community did not. They buried a child in the Tanu Baru (first Muslim cemetery) in protest. About 3 000 Muslims followed the funeral procession, as police watched. After someone threw stones at the police, a riot started and volunteer regiments were called out. One of the Muslim leaders, Abdol BURNS, a cab driver, was arrested. In the end, neither the Dutch nor the Muslims used Maitland. They found a piece of ground next tost Peter’s cemetery in Mowbray and used it as their cemetery.
The smallpox threat was felt further afield. It was believed that smallpox could be beaten by whitewashing the walls of homes, and for this reason lime and carbolic acid was distributed free to residents in Beaufort West. At Modder River, about 35 km from Kimberley, the settlement was used as a quarantine station to keep smallpox away from Kimberley. Travellers enroute to Kimberley had to produce a valid vaccination certificate or be vaccinated at the station.
Zulu King in London
Cetshwayo reigned as King of the Zulus from 1873 to 1884. He made an alliance with the British in order to keep his long standing enemies, the Boers, away. The alliance collapsed when the British annexed the Transvaal and supported Boer land claims in the border dispute with Zululand. This led to the 1879 Anglo-Zulu War where the British suffered defeat at the Battle of Isandlwana and Zulus at the Battle of Ulundi. Cetshwayo was captured and taken to the Cape. In 1882 he travelled to London where he met Queen Victoria on the 14th August. On his return he was reinstated as King in a much reduced territory and with less autonomy. He died on the 8th February 1884.
Sporting moments
Ottomans Cricket Club was founded in the Bo-Kaap in 1882. The Rovers Rugby Club was founded in Cradock on the 6th September 1882. The first rugby match in Mossel Bay was played on Saturday, 2nd September 1882. Mossel Bay Athletic Club played against George Athletic Club. The first bowling green was laid out in 1882 when a club was established atst George’s Park in Port Elizabeth. In 1882 the Jockey Club was founded by 10 horse-racing members at a meeting held in the Phoenix Hotel in Port Elizabeth. The first South African soccer club was Pietermaritzburg County. On the 17th June 1882, its delegates met at the London Restaurant in Durban ‘s West Street and the Natal Football Association was founded.
Transit of Venus
The transit of Venus was observed from stations in Durban, Touws River, Wellington, Aberdeen Road (a railway stop) and at Cape Town ‘s Royal Observatory.
Banking
District Bank was established in Stellenbosch in 1882. It paid between 5 to 6% on fixed deposits and 2% on current accounts, compared to the Standard Bank which paid an average of 3.5% on fixed deposits and no interest on current accounts. The District Bank did not charge cheque fees or ledger fees. It was later taken over by Boland Bank. The Natal Building Society (NBS) was also established in 1882, in Durban.
New brewery
The Old Cannon Brewery in Newlands was established in 1852. In 1882 it merged with Ohlsson’s Cape Breweries.
Steel industry
South Africa ‘s industrial development has heavy roots in its mining industry. With virtually no steel industry of its own, the country relied on imported steel. The first efforts to introduce steel production dates back to the creation of the South African Coal and Iron Company in 1882. The first successful production of pig iron occurred only in 1901, in Pietermaritzburg.
Mariannhill Monastery
The monastery near Pinetown was founded as a Trappist monastery by Father Francis PFANNER in 1882. It became a renowned missionary institute with schools, a hospital, an art centre and a retreat.
Boswell’s Circus
The BOSWELL family has been involved in the circus business since the 1800s in England. James BOSWELL was born in 1826 and went on to perform in various English circuses as a clown, horseman and equilibrist. He died in the circus ring of Cirque Napoleon in Paris in 1859 while performing a balancing ladder act. He had three 3 children, all of whom performed in circuses. His eldest son, James Clements, opened his own circus, Boswell’s Circus, in 1882 in Yorkshire.
Boswell’s Circus toured England and was very popular until it closed in 1898. James Clements and his five sons – Jim, Alfred, Walter, Sydney and Claude – continued performing in theatres and music halls, and eventually put their own show together called Boswell’s Stage Circus. Madame FILLIS, who owned Fillis’ Circus in South Africa, saw one of their performances and signed them up for a six-month contract. In 1911 James Clements, his sons, Walter and Jim’s wives, six ponies, a donkey and some dogs set sail for South Africa. The family and their animals were stranded when Fillis’ Circus closed down some months later. Fortunately for generations of South African children, this did not stop them and they went on to build a successful business that is still in existence.
Pretoria
A public sale on Church Square, Pretoria, in the 1890's
Church Square was created in 1855, on the orders of M.W. PRETORIUS. The DEVEREAUX brothers, town planners, designed a square for market and church purposes. Pretoria expanded around Church Square. During its early days the square was also used as a sports field and in 1883 the long-jumper Izak PRINSLOO set the first world record by a South African. The first church on the square was completed in 1857, but burnt down in 1882. Burgers Park was established as Pretoria ‘s first park in 1882. On the 14th June 1882, the Transvaalsche Artillerie Corps was formed under the command of Cmdt. H.J.P. PRETORIUS.
Stephanus Johannes Paulus KRUGER, later President of the Zuid-Afrikaanse Republiek, was born on the 10th October 1825. He was so respected by his people that the first Kruger Day was celebrated on the 10th October 1882. The following year it was declared a public holiday. After the Anglo-Boer war it lost official status, until it was again declared a public holiday in 1952. In 1994 the day again lost its official status.
Kimberley
On the 2nd September Kimberley became the first town in the southern hemisphere to install electric street lighting. It was an initiative of the Cape Electric Light Company. Electric lighting was also installed in Parliament in 1882, and an arc-lighting installation was commissioned in the harbour. Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, Christmas 1882 saw the world’s first electrically-lit Christmas tree installed in the New York house of Thomas EDISON’s associate Edward H. JOHNSON.
The Kimberley Club was founded in August 1881 and opened its doors on the 14th August 1882. Cecil John RHODES was one of the men behind the club’s establishment. Amongst the first members were Charles D. RUDD, Dr. Leander Starr JAMESON, Lionel PHILLIPS and J.B. ROBINSON.
Knysna
The farm Melkhoutkraal was laid out in 1770. In 1808 George REX, who arrived at the Cape in 1797, bought the farm. In 1825 Lord Charles SOMERSET decided to establish a town on the lagoon, to make use of the surrounding forests for ship building. George REX donated 16 ha of land for the new village, named Melville for Viscount MELVILLE, First Sea Lord from 1812 – 1827. Knysna was formally founded in 1882 when the two villages, Melville and Newhaven (founded in 1846) amalgamated.
Muizenberg
In 1882 the railway line reached Muizenberg. The area was originally a cattle outpost for the VOC before it became a military post in 1743. It was named Muijs se Berg after the commander Sergeant Willem MUIJS. Muizenberg was a staging post between Cape Town and Simon’s Town. After the railway line was extended, the area developed fast and became a popular holiday destination.
One of Muizenberg’s prominent residents was Professor James GILL. He was born in Cornwall in 1831 and came to the Cape in 1860, where he took the post of professor of Classics at Graaff-Reinet College. In 1871 he moved to Cape Town as Classics professor at the Diocesan College. He was an opininated man who did good things throughout his career but was also involved in many controversies. He was dismissed from the College in 1882. He opened a private school in Muizenberg and became the editor of the Cape Illustrated Magazine. He died in Muizenberg on the 1st February 1904.
Villiers
The town of Villiers, on the Vaal River, was established in 1882 on the farms Pearson Valley and Grootdraai. It was named after the owner, L.B. DE VILLIERS. In 1882 the Volksraad was requested to open a post office there, and this led to Villiers being proclaimed in 1891. In 1917 it acquired municipal status.
Newcastle
The first government school in Newcastle was established in 1882 as a junior primary school with 47 boys and 30 girls.
Okiep
The Cornish Pump House was built in 1882. It was used to pump water from the mine and this pump house is the only remaining one of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere.
East London
A view of East London in the 1880's
The prison in Lock Street was built in 1880, replacing the old one on the West Bank. It was built by James TYRRELL and comprised an officers’ quarters, administration block, hospital, kitchen and two single-storey cell blocks to hold 100 prisoners. The first execution happened in 1882, for which a drop gallows was placed in the hospital yard. St.Andrew’s Lutheran Church was established by German settlers in 1872. It is the second oldest church in East London and was dedicated on the 30th November 1882.
Grahamstown
City Hall was officially opened on the 24th May 1882 by the acting Mayor Samuel CAWOOD. The foundation stone was laid on the 28th August 1877 by Sir Henry Bartle FRERE, Governor of the Cape.
Durban
Durban Girls’ High School was established in 1882. The old theatre Royale was built in 1882 and had seating for 1 000. It was closed in 1937. The Natal Herbarium was started in 1882 by John Medley WOOD, then Curator of the Durban Botanical Gardens. It was initially known as the Colonial Herbarium but changed its name in 1910 when it was donated by the Durban Botanical Society to the Union of South Africa.
Port Elizabeth
South End Cemetery in Port Elizabeth was started. The country’s oldest art school, Port Elizabeth Art School, was founded in 1882. It later became the College for Advanced Technical Education, originally situated in Russell Road, Central. In 1974 it moved to Summerstrand and became the PE Technikon in 1979.
Kaapsehoop
In 1882 gold was discovered in the Kaapsehoop valley. When a larger deposit of gold was found near the present day Barberton, most of the prospectors moved there. The first payable gold was mined at Pioneer Reef by Auguste ROBERTE (aka French Bob) in June 1883. Barber’s Reef was the next big find in 1884. Sheba ‘s Reef, the richest of all, was discovered by Edwin BRAY in May 1885.
Port Shepstone
Port Shepstone came into being when marble was discovered near the Umzimkulu River mouth in 1867. It flourished from 1879 when William BAZLEY, one of the world’s first underwater demolition experts, blasted away rock at the mouth to form the Umzimkulu breakwater. The town was named after a Mr SHEPSTONE, one of the area’s prominent residents. Before 1901 the area depended solely on a port that was developed inside the river’s mouth. Boats were often wrecked and blocked the harbour entrance, but it provided a vital transport link for the tea, coffee and sugar cane grown by farmers along the river’s banks.
Supplies were brought in on the return voyages from Durban. With the arrval in 1882 of 246 Norwegian, 175 Briton and 112 German settlers, this shipping service became more important. The Norwegians arrived on the 29th August aboard the CHMS Lapland. The new settlers were offered 100 acre lots around the town at 7 shillings and 6 pence an acre. Port Shepstone was declared a full fiscal port in 1893 and, after Durban, became the region’s second harbour. Eventually, with the ongoing ship wreckages and the arrival of the railway, the harbour was closed down.
Harding
In 1882 the first hotel was opened in Harding. The village then consisted of three trading stores and four private homes.
Dundee
Dundee was established on the farm Fort Jones belonging to Peter SMITH, who had bought it from a Voortrekker settler, Mr DEKKER. He named the town Dundee, in memory of his original home in Scotland. By 1879, as a result of the Anglo-Zulu War, a tent town had sprung up on a portion of the farm. British soldiers attracted traders, missionaries, craftsmen and hunters but after their departure the tent town ceased to exist. With his son, William Craighead; son-in-law Dugald MACPHAIL; and Charles WILSON, Peter proclaimed the town in 1882.
Dewetsdorp
The Anglican Church was inaugurated on the 17th December 1882 by the Anglican Bishop of Bloemfontein. It was named St. Bartholomew’s. Before this, Anglicans held services in the town hall. The church’s foundation stone was laid on the 18th August. It cost £395 to build and seated 60. Rev. L.A. KIRBY was the first minister. The first baptism was on the 7th January 1883, that of Arthur SKEA. The church was declared a national monument in 1996.
Fort Hare
Fort Hare was built in 1847. It was named after Lt.-Col. John HARE and remained a military post until 1882, when part was given to Lovedale and part to the town of Alice.
Kuruman
The London Missionary Society (LMS) established the Moffat Institute in Kuruman in 1882, as a memorial to Robert and Mary MOFFATT and in the hope that it would revive the mission station.
Upington
Upington’s history starts with Klaas Lukas., a Koranna chief, who asked for missionaries to teach his people to read and write. In 1871 Rev. Christiaan SCHRODER left Namaqualand for Olyvenhoudtsdrift as the Upington area was then known. He built the first church, which today houses the Kalahari-Oranje Museum. In 1879 Sir Thomas UPINGTON visited the area to establish a police post, which was later named after him.
In 1881 SCHRODER, Abraham SEPTEMBER and Japie LUTZ helped build an irrigation canal. Abraham (Holbors) SEPTEMBER, said to be a Baster and the son of a slave from West Africa, was farming in the area in 1860. He was married to Elizabeth GOOIMAN. He devised a way to draw water from the river for irrigation purposes. In 1882 he was granted land facing the river. In 1896 Abraham and Elizabeth drew up a will, bequeathing the land to the survivor and thereafter to their three sons. Abraham died in 1898. In 1909 Elizabeth appeared before the Court in Upington on a charge that squatters where living on the land. It was here that she heard that Willem DORINGS, a smous, was claiming the land as his. This claim was to have repercussions, even in 2000 when the great-great-grandchildren of Abraham were still fighting for the land in the Land Claims Court.
Elizabeth and her sons owed Willem £326, but Willem produced documents that they sold him the land for that sum. The family were under the impression that they had a debt agreement with Willem. They refused to leave the farm and Elizabeth died there in 1918. In 1920 the family were removed from the farm by the new owners who had bought it from Willem. According to Henk WILLEMSE, Abraham’s great-great-grandson, the family started action in 1921 to get their land back. He has documents dating back all these years, which also show that Willem DORINGS was William THORN. Part of their land claim was for the land on which the Prisons Department building stands in Upington’s main road. This belonged to Abraham’s eldest daughter, Elizabeth, who lost it when service fees were not paid. In 1997 Nelson MANDELA unveiled a memorial plaque to Abraham.
The Waterfront
A view of East London in the 1880's
The Victorian Gothic-style Clock Tower, situated near the site of the original Bertie’s Landing restaurant in Cape Town, has always been a feature of the old harbour. It was the original Port Captain’s office and was completed in 1882. On the second floor is a decorative mirror room, which enabled the Port Captain to have a view of all activities in the harbour. On the ground floor is a tide-gauge mechanism used to check the level of the tide. Restoration of the Clock Tower was completed in 1997. The Robinson Graving Dock was also constructed in 1882, as was the Pump House. The Breakwater Convict Station was declared a military prison in 1882. This allowed military offenders from ships and shore stations to be committed for hard labour.
Sources:
Drakenstein Heemkring
Afrikanerbakens; Federasie van Afrikaanse Kultuurvereniginge publication
Burgersdorp: http://www.burgersdorp.za.net/burgersdorp_photos.html
Maritime Casualties: http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Ridge/2216/text/MARITIME.TXT
The Will of Abraham and Elizabeth September: The Struggle for Land in Gordonia, 1898-1995; by Martin Legassick; Journal of African History, Vol. 37, No. 3 (1996)
Land Claim Case: http://www.law.wits.ac.za/lcc/wp-content/uploads/jacobs2/jacobs2.pdf
Rapport newspaper, 23 Jan 2000
Boswell’s Circus: http://www.boswell.co.za/
Article researched and written by Anne Lehmkuhl, June 2007
Mayors of Johannesburg
June 10, 20091897 – 1900 Johan Zulch de Villiers (clerk, farmer, soldier, lawyer)
1901 – 02 Chairman of council W A J O’Meara (storekeeper)
1902 – 03 Chairman of council William St John Carr (director of companies)
1903 – 04 William St John Carr (director of companies)
1904 – 05 G H Goch (mine owner)
1905 – 06 J W Quinn (baker)
1906 – 07 W K Tucker (land surveyor)
1907 – 08 J Thompson (builder)
1908 – 09 C Chudleigh (draper)
1909 – 10 H Graumann (financier)
1910 – 11 H J Hofmeyr (solicitor)
1911 – 12 J D Ellis (engineer)
1912 – 13 W R Boustred (merchant)
1913 – 15 N Anstey (draper)
1915 – 17 J W O’Hara (merchant)
1917 – 19 T F Allen (estate agent)
1919 – 20 G B Steer (fitter)
1920 – 21 J Christie (retail chemist)
1921 – 22 S Hancock (baker)
1922 – 23 L Forsyth Allan (barrister)
1923 – 24 M J Harris (architect)
1924 – 25 C Walters (brickmaker)
1925 – 26 E O Leake (building contractor)
1926 – 27 Alfred Law Palmer (stationer and printer)
1927 – 28 W H Port (wholesale merchant)
1928 – 29 W Fernhead (solicitor)
1929 – 30 D Anderson (builder)
1930 – 31 Geo W Nelson (oculist)
1931 – 32 D F Corlett (building contractor, master builder)
1932 – 33 B C Vickers (chartered accountant)
1933 – 34 D Penry Roberts (draper)
1934 – 35 Maurice Freeman (leather merchant)
1935 – 36 Maldwyn Edmund (chartered accountant)
1936 – 37 Donald W Mackay (music retailer)
1937 – 38 J S Fotheringham (director of companies, baker)
1938 – 39 J J Page (estate agent)
1939 – 40 T A M Huddle (director of companies)
1940 – 41 T P Gray (grocer)
1941 – 42 A R Thorburn (buyer for Anglo-Transvaal Consolidated Investment Co)
1942 – 43 L Leveson (solicitor)
1943 – 44 A S Holland (teacher, lecturer at Normal College)
1944 – 45 A Immink (accountant)
1945 – 46 Jessie McPherson (housewife)
1946 – 47 Jas Gray (analytical chemist)
1947 – 48 G B Gordon (director of companies)
1948 – 49 S P Lee (industrialist)
1949 – 50 J Mincer (director of companies)
1950 – 51 C F Beckett (builder and contractor)
1951 – 52 I E B Attwell (director of companies)
1952 – 53 H Miller (attorney)
1953 – 54 C J H Patmore (chartered accountant, director of companies)
1954 – 55 G J Beckett (builder)
1955 – 56 Leslie Hurd (estate agent and sworn appraiser)
1956 – 57 Max Goodman
1957 – 58 T Glyn Morris
1958 – 59 I Maltz
1959 – 60 Alec Gorshel
1960 – 62 D J Marais
1962 – 63 Keith J Fleming
1963 – 64 J F Oberholzer
1964 – 65 P M Roos
1965 – 66 Aleck Joffe
1966 – 67 B D Eagar
1967 – 68 C J Ross-Spencer
1968 – 69 I Schlapobersky
1969 – 70 P R B Lewis
1970 – 71 S Moss
1971 – 72 A Widman
1972 – 73 J C Lemmer
1973 – 74 A D Bensusan
1974 – 75 Harold Frank Dennis
1975 – 76 Max Neppe
1976 – 77 Monty Sklaar
1977 – 78 Martin Powell
1978 – 79 J S Otto
1979 – 80 J D R Opperman
1980 – 81 Carel Venter
1981 – 82 Cecil Long
1982 – 83 Danie van Zyl
1983 – 84 Alan Gadd
1984 – 85 Eddy Magid
1985 – 86 Ernie Fabel
1986 – 87 Harold Rudolph
1987 – 88 O H Fenn
1988 (March-Oct) J H van Blerk
1988 – 89 D J Neppe
1989 – 90 Koos Roets
1990 – 91 W G Janse van Rensburg
1991 – 92 E Kretmer
1992 – 93 J S Burger
1993 – 94 S Dishy
1994 (March – Nov) Dan Pretorius
1995 – 00 Isaac Mogase
2000 – Amos Masondo
Bibliography – A History of Johannesburg (Nasionale Boekhandhandel, 1964)
De Villiers, Johan Hendrik
June 8, 2009
John Henry, Lord de Villiers
John Henry, Lord de Villiers, first Baron de Villiers of Wynberg born in Paarl on 15 June 1842, died in Pretoria, 2 September 1914, judge and Cape politician, was the second son and fourth child of the nine children of Carel Christiaan de Villiers (1811-1854), a government land surveyor, and his wife, Dorothea Elisabeth Retief (died 1857).
De Villiers belonged to the fifth generation descended from Pierre de Villiers, one of the three Huguenot brothers who, coming to the Cape in 1689, established the South African branch of the De Villiers family. Born at Rosenfontein, his father’s house and small estate in Paarl, De Villiers was, in his own words, ‘in race French and not Dutch’. He was, in fact, of predominantly Huguenot descent, but there was a strong stream of Dutch blood, while a dash of German blood was added by his paternal grandmother, Susanna Maria Bernhardi.
Sons of Carl Christiaan de Villiers and Dorothea Elizabeth Retief: Left John Henry, Melius, Carel Christiaan and Jacob Nicolaas Pieter.
The four De Villiers sons all chose the legal profession: the eldest was Jacob Nicolaas Pieter de Villiers (1837-1922), a magistrate at Victoria West and afterwards M.L.C. for the North-Western Province in the Cape parliament (1903-1910); the third brother was Charles Christiaan (Charlie ‘Avignon’; 1847-1937) an attorney at Cape Town, and M.L.A. for Malmesbury in 1888; while the youngest was the Orange Free State chief justice and professor of law, Melius de Villiers.
De Villiers proved able at school (from the start he was taught in the English medium) and in 1853 he went on a scholarship to the South African college, then ascending from its nadir. Thence, in 1861, he went on a scholarship to the University of Utrecht to study for the ministry, in accordance with the last wishes of his father. But, despite a strict religious upbringing, staunch membership of the N.G. Kerk and success at his examinations, he found after eighteen months that he had no true call. Proceeding to the University of Berlin, he matriculated in the faculty of law; but, six months later, he decided to continue his legal studies in Britain. It was then too late for him to enter one of the ancient universities, a deprivation he was always to regret. To qualify as quickly as possible, he read law and ate his dinners at the Inner Temple, being called to the English bar (17 November 1865) and then to the Cape bar (18 January 1866), becoming the fifth advocate practising there.
Johannes Hendrik (John Henry) de Villiers
His academic legal training was meagre, but he had travelled and read widely. He mastered Dutch and German; Latin he read with ease; and he knew French and Greek. The Cape, then, was promising for anyone with his background, connections and abilities. The peerless William Porter, the attorney-general, became his mentor at the bar; and on his twenty-fifth birthday a political career opened up with his election to the legislative assembly as one of the members for Worcester.
In parliament De Villiers supported J. C. Molteno’s movement for responsible government; with Porter he drafted the bill that, as the Constitution Ordinance Amendment act, 1872, was to secure it. Then fortune smiled on him. On Porter’s refusal he assumed, at the age of thirty, the high office of attorney-general in Molteno’s cabinet. It was no sinecure. With only two clerks on his staff, he personally conducted all supreme court prosecutions, prepared the indictments for the western circuit, acted as government legal adviser, and as parliamentary draftsman framed the bills, several of which he piloted through parliament: this apart from a private practice (then permitted) of large size. His health, never robust, was beginning to suffer under the strain, when suddenly the chief justice, Sir Sidney Bell, resigned to go on pension.
To Molteno no incumbent of the bench appeared suitable as his successor. He approached De Villiers, who urged him to make the offer to Porter. But for various reasons, ill-health and others, Porter declined, whereupon Molteno, promising a salary of £2,000 instead of the established £1,500, insisted that De Villiers should take office.
Aletta Maria Jordaan (Lady De Villiers)
De Villiers was fortified by Simeon Jacobs, then attorney-general in the eastern districts, who stated in a letter that he should exercise what, rightly or wrongly, was then regarded as the Cape attorney-general’s right of reversion to the chief justiceship. Regretful at quitting political life, but proud at gaining at the age of thirty-one the most glittering prize open to an advocate, De Villiers agreed, and became, on 9 December 1873, the first colonial-born holder of the highest judicial office since the charter of justice of 1827.
Public reaction was a mixture of approval and criticism based on his youth, alleged jobbery and alleged early milking by responsible government of its political talent. The aggrieved senior puisne judge, P. J. Denyssen (1811-1883), the story goes, refused to administer the oath of office to De Villiers, who, inwardly shaking but outwardly calm, swore himself in.
Forty years of distinguished judicial service were to follow, yet the taste of political life had been and was to remain sweet. In his twelve months’ tenure of office as attorney-general De Villiers had shown administrative talent, financial caution, and a progressive spirit in political, social and legal matters. The ‘seven circles’ reform in the method of election of the legislative council in 1874 was largely his work. These admirable qualities, however, could not make up for his lack of sparkle as a parliamentarian. Dearly though he would have loved it, prolonged political success would probably have been denied this reserved and sensitive man, with his lack of outward charm.
De Villiers was in full agreement with the abortive recommendation of the judicial commission (1874-1875), over which he presided, that the chief justice should cease to be president of the legislative council as provided for by the constitution: a judge should not participate in political argument or the legislative process. Nevertheless, and despite, at times, the trying duty of saving cabinets he did not care for, by using his vote, De Villiers enjoyed his role, which he played well.
The private life of De Villiers was tranquil. In 1871 he married a woman of beauty, ability and great character, Aletta Johanna Jordaan (died 1922), a daughter of Johannes Petrus Jordaan, a wine farmer of Worcester. She, both their sons and one of their two daughters survived him. His elder son, Charles Percy de Villiers (1871-1934), succeeded him as the second baron; and a grand-son, Arthur Percy de Villiers born 17th December 1911, who left South Africa to live in New Zealand, succeeded to the title as the third baron.
De Villiers’ intellectual interests ranged widely, as, he thought, befitted a lawyer: from history to politics, to natural history, to travel. Though not of a strong constitution, he liked the open air and physical exercise. Farming was always an interest, and, with it, the purchase of land. At his death his main holdings, in the Paarl district, amounted to 35,000 acres. From 1875 he lived in Wynberg, first in a large house, Oude Wynberg, and from 1882 in Wynberg House.
A knighthood conferred on him in 1877 was followed by the K.C.M.G. in 1882 for his work on the Transvaal royal commission. His appointment as a P.C. came in 1897 and, on his appointment as chief justice of South Africa in 1910, the first and only peerage in the country, with the title of Baron de Villiers of Wynberg. On two occasions (July to November 1912 and July to September 1914) he acted as governor-general of the Union of South Africa. The University of the Cape of Good Hope conferred on him its degree of LL.D. honoris causa in 1902. He was a member of the council of the South African college (1874-1878 and 1885-1901), resigning because of ill-health. An enthusiastic Freemason from 1866, he attained the highest dignity in the craft.
De Villiers after contracting pneumonia, died in Pretoria while acting as governor-general of the Union. His body lay in state for two days in Parliament house, Cape Town, and he was buried in the Maitland cemetery, Woltemade, on 7 September after a service in the Groote Kerk and a state funeral.
Source: An extract from the Dictionary of South African Biography (click here to view)
Images (from top to bottom):
Johan Hendrik de Villiers (taken from “Men of our Times”)
Sons of Carl Christiaan de Villiers and Dorothea Elizabeth Retief: Left John Henry, Melius, Carel Christiaan and Jacob Nicolaas Pieter. (de Villiers Family – Volume I – Malherbe/Malan)
Johannes Hendrik (John Henry) de Villiers – First Baron de Villiers of Wynberg (de Villiers Family – Volume I – Malherbe/Malan)
Aletta Maria Jordaan (Lady De Villiers) born 14/09/1849, wife of John Henry De Villiers (de Villiers Family – Volume I – Malherbe/Malan)
The De Villiers Coat of Arms (De Villiers Family Book Vol 1 + 2)
The de Villiers family coat of arms dates from the Middle Ages, possibly from the late 12th century. It is believed that a knight of the de Villiers family was awarded a coat of arms for exceptional services rendered to the French royal family during the Crusades, which took place between the 11th century and late 13th century.
The nobility of Europe emblazoned their shields with their own colourful identification marks as early as the 9th century. These marks, which varied according to the customs of the different regions, were initially confined to shields, but later it was common to decorate also the helmets with coloured identification crests of feathers, especially for jousting tournaments. (insert image)
De Villiers Coat of Arms
The De Villiers Coat of Arms
It would seem that by the middle of the 12th century it had become customary to combine the emblazoned shields and the feathered crests, resulting in coats of arms as we know them to-day. The use of coats of arms was no longer limited to the nobility, but gradually spread to the knights and the emerging middle classes in the flourishing cities of Western Europe. A number of countries, including France, began keeping heraldic records during the second half of the 12th century. Up to that time, it had been acceptable for a family to alter the design of its coat of arms from time to time, according to changed circumstances. When record-keeping was introduced, details of coats of arms remained unaltered unless there were compelling reasons for change.
The complete coat of arms is called an Achievement. The Achievement consists of five parts. The first is the crest on top of the helmet, which consisted of items that characterised a particular family, in this case a short sword (seax), held in a mailed fist.
The second is the coronet or wreath which holds the crest and helmet together. The third is the mantling, representing the folds of the cloak of a knight. In the de Villiers family coat of arms the fourth part, the helmet, is an “esquire helmet”, indicating knighthood. The helmet is silver in colour and closed.
The charges of the fifth part, the shield, are: (i) A red band on a silver background (upper part) and (ii) Agnus Dei or Lamb of God, sometimes referred to as the Paschal lamb, on a blue background (lower part). The lamb bears a standard. In France the shape of the heraldic shield was, from the 12th century onwards, always as depicted here.
De Villiers – Indiepte benadering
June 8, 2009Betekenis: ‘n Villaris of villare was in die Middeleeue ‘n gehug en hieruit het in Noord-Frankryk die woord villiers ontstaan. Die van beteken dus letterlik “van die dorp”.Stamvaders:
Drie broers het op 6.5.1689 uit Frankryk hier aangekom: (1) Pierre de Villiers, geb. 1657 op La Rochelle (Frankryk), oorl. 22.1.1720 op “Picardie-La Brie”, Paarl. Boer op “La Rochelle” in die Paarlse distrik (gemeenskaplik met sy broers), “Bourgogne” en “Picardie-La Brie”. Trou 1694 met Maria Elisabeth Taillefer(t), geb. 1674 op “Picardie-La Brie”, oorl. 1735 (7 kinders). (2) Abraham de Villiers, geb. 1659 op La Rochelle, oorl. 31.3.1720 op “Lekkerwyn”. Boer op “La Rochelle” (met sy broers), “Champagne” (verkoop aan A. Nortier), “Bosch-en-Dal” (1717 verkoop aan sy broer Jacques) en “Meerrust”, naby “Lekkerwyn”. Trou op 5.10.1689 met Susanna Gardiol (7 kinders).
(3) Jacques (Jacob) de Villiers, geb. 1661 op La Rochelle, oorl. 17.5.1735 op “Bosch-en- Dal”. Boer op “La Rochelle” (met sy broers); koop 1717 “Bosch-en-Dal” van sy broer Abraham en 1730 “Lekkerwyn”; ook eienaar van “La Brie”, Franschhoek. Trou ca. 1691 met Marguerite Gardiol (suster van Susanna Gardiol), geb. 1668, oorl. 1749 op die plaas “Bakoven” (11 kinders).
Wapen: Deurgesny:
A in silwer ‘n rooi skuinsbalk; B in blou ‘n silwer Godslam. Helmteken: ‘n gebuigde geharnaste silwer arm wat ‘n skuinsregs geplaaste kromswaard in die hand hou. Dekklede: silwer en blou. Dié wapen is in die Bell-Krynauw-versameling (afb. 243). Uit ‘n studie wat D.F. Bosman van Krynauw se aantekeninge gemaak het, blyk dat Krynauw in die argief van die Hooggeregshof ‘n lakafdruk gevind het met dié wapen: Bo ‘n skuinsbalk en onder ‘n Godslam met die voorletters C.H. ‘n Ander bron vir dié wapen was ‘n afbeelding in die familiedokumente van die familie Faure. Daar bestaan ook variante van hierdie wapen. Heeltemal afsonderlik staan natuurlik die wapen van die baronne De Villiers, hoewel hulle wel tot dieselfde familie behoort. Op 21.9.1910 is sir John Henry de Villiers tot eerste Baron van Wynberg verhef. Hy en sy nakomelinge voer die volgende wapen: In blou ‘n verhoogde silwer skuinsbalk en op ‘n grond in die skildvoet ‘n Godslam van natuurlike kleur. Helm met helmkroon wat versier is met nege pêrels. Helmteken: ‘n gebuigde geharnaste regterarm wat in die hand ‘n kromswaard hou. Skildhouers: twee springbokke van natuurlike kleur, elk om die nek ‘n kroon met nege pêrels.
Wapenspreuk: La main à l’oeuvre.
Source: Groot Afrikaanse Familie Naamboek (C.A Pama)
Huguenot Cemeteries
May 31, 2009Graveyards at Franschoek, Paarl and Wellington, popularly referred to as ‘Huguenot cemeteries’ merely because French refugees and their descendants were predominant in the particular localities. There are, however, no exclusive Huguenot graveyards in existence in South Africa. `Apartheid’ between French and Dutch colonists, so eagerly desired by the former to preserve their identity, was effectively countered by Governor Simon van der Stel. Besides, it is impossible today to identify the grave of any of the original French settlers. One can safely say that François du Toit and most of his successors lie buried at Kleinbosch, Dal Josafat, and that Pierre de Villiers and his wife Marie E. Taillefer were buried in the churchyard of the old N.G. church (Strooidakkerk) in Paarl, but the graves cannot be identified.
In French Hoek’s historic cemetery near the Huguenot Monument one looks in vain for the grave of a Huguenot immigrant or a first-generation descendant. The `Huguenot cemetery’ at near-by La Motte was laid out in 1760, almost a century after the landing of the Huguenots and the question arises as to the extent to which the people buried there were genealogically still French. The Standard Encyclopaedia of Southern Africa has made its own investigation, based on 300 marriages in the male line, spread over 13 Huguenot families and contracted between 1688 and 1788. This sample revealed that 5-7 per cent of the brides bore French names while 43 per cent were of Dutch, German and Scandinavian extraction. It would therefore appear that the term ‘Huguenot cemetery’ is not entirely a misnomer and that – seen in its true perspective – it is historically justified and culturally desirable to preserve these few graveyards as Huguenot cemeteries.
The National Monuments Council has already erected bronze plaques at La Motte and at Kleinbosch, which provide some protection even though the sites remain unproclaimed. The Kleinbosch cemetery was laid out in about 1692 by the ancestor of the Du Toit family, but the known graves there date from the close of the 19th century. Important Huguenot members of the Genootskap van Regte Afrikaners (1875) lie buried there, as well as a sister of Piet Retief, the famous Voortrekker (see Kleinbosch). At La Motte gravestones were placed for Huguenot descendants known to be buried there but whose graves could not be identified with any degree of certainty. One other graveyard, popularly known as a Huguenot cemetery, is at Wehevreden, Wellington. Here, also, it is impossible to identify the graves of any particular Huguenots of the early years but numbers of Huguenot descendants were buried there.