Archaeologist Jessica Radcliffe arrives in Cape Town for holiday and, almost immediately she is caught in a web of intrigue and misdirection, as she struggles to escape the unknown enemies who threaten her.
This is the beginning of a dangerous journey which will transport her back to the baffling past events of South Africa. What are the secrets of the wealthy and powerful Van Steen family and are they linked to the Kruger Millions?
Does the answer lie at Trovato House where her sister and family live or must she journey further afield? Can she trust the attractive Johnny Van Steen who appears so willing to help her?
They begin a roller coaster ride to untangle – at whatever cost – the mysterious elements of the puzzle which confronts them.
Written by Helen Robinson and published by Houghton House November 2012
More information to follow.
Search the 1823 Census of the Slave Lodge in Cape Town. The lodge was situated at the top of Adderley Street almost at the entrance to the Company Gardens and opposite the hospital. Although the slaves were sometimes better educated than local populous their daily chores were not attractive. Whilst the men were made to carry buckets of human excrement down to the beach, the lodge was turned into a whorehouse where the local men could have their way with the women. There were almost equal slave men to woman and sometimes couples in the lodge were given permission to get married. Browse the record here.
Many of the slaves qualified as skilled artisans whilst working for their owners. Masons, blacksmiths and carpenters were just some of the trades. Many slaves whilst being sent to work on farms that were well cultivated with wheat and vineyards. Slaves owned by the colonists were not permitted to marry until 1823.
Jeppe High School for Boys is the oldest known school in Johannesburg. The school was founded originally as Saint Michael’s School in 1890 in Johannesburg, four years after the gold rush that founded that city. Start searching now for your Jeppe Old Boy ancestors or family members.
In 1896 it was bought by the Witwatersrand Council for Education, which was concerned with the education of English speakers in the Dutch-speaking South African Republic. In 1897 the school was renamed Jeppestown Grammar School after the German-born philanthropist Sir Julius Jeppe. The school was closed during the Second Boer War but was reopened soon after by the educationist Alfred Milner, 1st Viscount Milner, and renamed Jeppe High School for Boys and Girls. In 1911 the school moved to its present site in the suburb of Kensington. In 1919 a separate girls’ school, Jeppe High School for Girls was formed. Originally playing soccer, it switched to rugby union in the 1930s, and has since produced four Springbok internationals and one international coach. It also has a preparatory school.
Coming soon – Admission registers. Would you like to help volunteer to capture these records? Please contact us.
The magnificent stone buildings were built in 1909 on land donated by Sir Julius Jeppe. They were designed by Ralston, a student of Sir Herbert Baker. The Prep School, also initially a private school, occupied the buildings in Troyeville that the High School vacated when it moved to new premises. Building of the new Prep School commenced in 1916 on land also donated by the Jeppe family. In 1919, after the First World War, the Girls’ School was established in their new buildings further down Roberts Avenue and the Boys’ School became Jeppe High School for Boys.
Author Willem Steenkamp with be giving an interesting talk at the Cape Town Family History Society’s last meeting of the year on his new book called Assegais, Drums and Dragoons.
When: 17 November 2012
Where: St. John’s Anglican Church Hall, Wynberg
Time: 2:15 for 2:30
For more information contact David Slingsby on 021-7155104 or Ann Smythe 021-7946225
‘This book is about the genesis of the South African foot soldier of today – that small, usually dirty, frequently over-tired and often hungry figure – without whom an army cannot ring the gong of victory. He did not spring up full-grown out of the ground. He grew to what he is today through an evolutionary process that took several centuries.’
– Major-General Jack Turner & Brigadier-General John Lizamore
What motivated a small multiracial force of Cape-born soldiers – whites, coloureds and Malays – to put up such stiff resistance at the Battle of Blaauwberg in 1806, in spite of odds so overwhelming that even some long-serving professional soldiers broke rank and ran? This was the intriguing question that launched author Willem Steenkamp’s research. It was an investigation which eventually took him back to 150 years before Jan van Riebeeck landed at the Cape in 1652, and involved examining the social as well as the military history of the Cape.
What Steenkamp discovered differs from what most South Africans think about that period, and he corrects a number of serious misconceptions not only about the soldiers of 1510-1806 but about the social and political development of the Cape. For students of the Napoleonic Wars, the book provides new information about a forgotten aspect of that conflict; for the ordinary reader here is a story no-one has ever told before in its entirety.
Assegais, Drums and Dragoons: A Military and Social History of the Cape is a well-researched and fascinating account that now illuminates a previously lightless corner of South African military history.
Maritzburg College celebrates their 150th Anniversary in 2013 and we are helping them by transcribing the entire school admission registers. The school was founded in 1863 and is the oldest boys high school in Kwazulu Natal. In these registers you will find out when they were born, parent’s names, when they entered the school and when they left.
But also you will find out what their fellow teachers thought of them and see what characteristics and traits they had. We found poor Tracey Robinson was listed as being “Idle, rude and backward”, Alan Moodie born 1871 was given a character as “imbecile”, James Welch Meldrum born 29 June 1873 was noted as being “sombre and dull” but Paul Bernard Stratham was noted as “a genius and amiable but irregular”.
Start searching now through the first 20 years or browse to find out what your ancestors “character” at school was.
Can you help volunteer to transcribe these records? please contact us now
Maritzburg College was founded as the Pietermaritzburg High School in 1863 to accommodate the influx of children arriving at the new city of Pietermaritzburg and its surrounding farmlands within the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands. As the school swelled, “the best-trained [architect] in the Colony”, PM Dudgeon, was commissioned to design – on the then outskirts of the city – a larger classroom and boarding block, which was completed in 1888 and later became known as ‘Clark House’, honouring the school’s third headmaster, Mr RD Clark (MA (Oxon)), who is often referred to as ‘the Father of College’. Clark House is a Pietermaritzburg landmark and carries South Africa’s heritage seal, certifying it as a national monument. A similar honour was bestowed on the school’s Victoria Hall, the building of which commenced in 1897 (Queen Victoria’s diamond jubilee year) and which served as a British Army hospital from November 1899 until July 1900 during the Second Boer War.[8]
List of notable Old Collegians (selected) (by year of matriculation)
Source Wikipedia
Did you know that you can send other “Tree Owners” message on Ancestry24? You can contact them and ask for either information on their tree or might even find out that they are your long lost relative? This fantastic tool is available to paid members to send but unpaid members can only receive. Find out how it works.
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and voila – happy messaging. If you just want to see all the messages you can click on https://ancestry24.co.za/private-messages/
If you are a paid member you can send messages but anyone can recieve.
In 1833 a Barolong tribe settled near the mountain of Thaba Nchu and in 1836 their chief, Moroka, assisted the Voortrekkers when their cattle were driven off by the Matabele, after the Battle of Vechtkop. After Moroka’s death his successors quarreled and in 1884 the district of Moroka, as it was then called, was annexed. to the Orange Free State. In 1893 a town was established.
Search now through these 250 plus records of the Thaba Nch Wesleyan Baptisms or browse through them here.
Originally the district of Moroka, it was de-proclaimed in 1895, when it became a ward of the Bloemfontein district. Later reinstated as the district of Thaba Nchu, it bordered on the districts of Bloemfontein in the west, Brandfort and Winburg in the north, Winburg and Ladybrand in the east, Wepener and Dewetsdorp in the south. In the west and south the border was formed by the Modder River and in the south-east by the Leeu River.
In 1972 parts of the original Thaba Nchu district were incorporated in the adjoining districts of Bloemfontein, Dewetsdorp, Ladybrand and Brandfort. The Excelsior area of the Winburg district was combined with the eastern part of the former Thaba Nchu district to form the Excelsior district. These changes were brought about by the establishment of a homeland for the South Sotho people. The Bantu area was proclaimed a district with the name of Thaba Nchu. and Selosheshe as its principal town. In September 1973 the Moroka Hospital with 336 beds was opened.
Old Voortrekker routes and the grave of Moroka have been marked with bronze plaques by the Historical Monuments Commission. Besides Thaba Nchu.
Ancestry24 has had the privilege of digitising the St. Andrew Bloemfontein School Magazines from 1906 until 2008.
These year books provide wonderful insight to where you ancestors were educated, what sports they participated in and if they excelled at anything.Even more interesting is that we found Brett Kebble and the infamous Glenn Agliotti who both matriculated the same year in 1974 at St. Andrews. Did any of your family members attend St. Andrews in Bloemfontein? If so we would love to hear from you.
St. Andrew’s was founded on 16 November 1863 by Bishop Edward Twells as the Diocesan Grammar School, and was located in a building now known as the Old Raadsaal in St George’s Street, Bloemfontein. The first headmaster was George Clegg.
In 1874 the school was renamed St. Andrew’s School when it moved to new buildings on the corner of St George’s Street and Church Street. The headmaster at this time was Reverend Douglas McKenzie. The foundation stone of the first St Andrew’s is preserved alongside the current chapel.
In March 1899 new buildings were built for the school; these were however only occupied for a few months before being requisitioned by the British Army during the South African War and the school closed.
At the conclusion of hostilities in 1902, the facilities were appropriated for use by the new Oranje Meisiesskool, which still occupies the premises.
Bishop Arthur Chandler worked for a number of years to reinstate the school, and the school reopened in January 1916 on its present site on General Dan Pienaar Drive. Canon E. Ford served as headmaster until the end of 1916.
Volunteers – we are looking for volunteers to help transcribe the admissiom registers – really fascinating stuff!!!! email us here if you can help please.
Source Wikipedia
If you tell us about any other notable persons who atteneded this school, we would be delighted to hear from you.