CAPE TOWN FAMILY HISTORY SOCIETY

Newsletter of the Johannesburg
Branch of the Genealogical Society of
South Africa
October 2011


Next Meeting
Saturday, 15th October
Randjes Estate,
Randjeslaagte Road
(Opposite Balfour Park Shopping Centre)
2-30pm

Joan Augustyn will talk
on
Writing and Publishing a Family History

*****

Year Planner
19th November 2011 - Branch Xmas Party and Xmas Power Point Presentation

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If you cannot get rid of the family skeleton, you may as well make it dance.
George Bernard Shaw
Dear Members,
WONDERFUL NEWS just received to hand is that the Durban Branch of the GSSA has just completed transcribing some 114 000 records taken from the Register of the Stellawood Cemetery, the records have been compiled and collated in CD form. Better news is that the Durban branch has kindly donated a copy of the CD to each of our fellow Branches. As soon as the Johannesburg Branch receives its copy, you would be welcome to peruse the Register at one of our meetings.
I have often said that legends can and should where possible be explored and proved or disproved. Here is one of my own.
I was recently doing some research on Emily Ward, my father's maternal paternal grandmother. Emily married George Bentley of Helmsley, Yorkshire at Hull. Emma was a daughter of John Ward, "Marine Artist" of Hull.
I made enquiries at the Marine Museum at Kingston-Upon-Hull and about 3 weeks later I received a book about my John Ward, 1799-1849, a noted artist it would seem, whose known paintings number 163. Ward's father John was a mariner and owned 3 ships, one of which John Ward travelled on so that he could paint the "ice". After Emma's marriage to my father's great-grandfather George Bentley, they left Yorkshire as York settlers on board The Haidee. With them travelled Emma's sister, Sarah, who later became a Mrs Clark at Pietermaritzburg.
My Grandmother once mentioned that the whole family died at the same time. As I said earlier, every legend deserves exploration - I wondered how and why, the family name died out, were the two sisters the only survivors? Sure enough researching Death Registers for Hull I soon found a registration for the death of John Ward which included the reason for his demise Cholera; sadly a few entries beyond this I found that of his wife.
Yet further research yielded that on the 10th of August, 1849, a terrible form of Asiatic cholera made its appearance in Hull. The terrible scourge lasted three months, and carried off 1,860 persons, being at the rate of one in 43 of the population. In his "Recollections of Hull" the late Reverend James Sibree says the men employed in digging the graves had no respite, but pursued their doleful task both night and day. At first single graves were dug, for the reception of some eight or nine bodies, but the demand for room became so urgent, that double graves were constructed, in which the coffins were piled one upon another, without any earth between them.
Only two of these, however, were opened; the sight was so appalling that the men refused to dig any more. The cemetery hearse was in constant requisition to remove the stricken poor from all parts of the town. The cholera plot presented the appearance of a ploughed field, there being no time to make the graves neat. Mr. Sibree records the fact that on one "awful day", Sunday September 9th, he himself interred no less than 43 bodies of his fellow citizens. Alarm spread quickly among the surrounding towns and villages, so that the principal places of concourse, on market days, were entirely deserted. The railways brought but few passengers, and those whose business compelled them to come, feared greatly as they entered the woebegone town. A day of fasting was appointed, and special services were held in the churches.
Apparently Hull was not the only sea port to suffer this fate, for GOOGLE supplied great detail about the epidemic! At Hull, John Ward had only 3 daughters, so the family name has died out - just as Granny said. Of the branch which settled in York, Natal, Emily Ward and George Bentley named their first son John Ward Bentley. I have researched this side of my family with enthusiasm for my grandmother Ruby Marion Bentley is their daughter.
My conclusion is that in every legend there is an element of truth - find it if you can!
Look forward to seeing you at the next meeting where we discuss publishing Family Histories,
Natalie Da Silva
Chairman
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List of the Family History Centres of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in South Africa.
" Johannesburg Family History Centre, 5a Jubilee Road Parktown
" Durban Family History Centre, Berea, Musgrave Road, 4062
" Pretoria Family History Centre, 480 Leyds Street, Sunnyside
" Cape Town Family History Centre, 18 Kiaat Crescent, Loeventein
" East London Family History Centre, Belgravia Crescent, East London
" Port Elizabeth Family History Centre, 40 Prospect Road, Walmer, 6065
" Family History Centre, 194 Voortrekker Road, Bloemfontein 9301
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The Genealogical Society recently started a collection of Funeral Programs! Compilation of the list was started by Dennis Pretorius of SA Genealogy back in 2005 and is now a joint project of the GSSA. The list is indexed and arranged alphabetically, making it easier for the researcher to locate the data and they are fully searchable using the Search Engine. The list is made up of scanned images of Funeral programmes and the photographs are captioned with names and dates as they appear. They are packed with very useful genealogical information. Surnames such as de Beer, du Plesssis, van der Merwe, du Toit, le Roux, etc. are filed according to the main surname so if you are searching for du Plessis you would head straight to the P section and van de Merwe will be found under M. If you access eGGSA, click on the alphabet letter (icon) of the ABC-album in which you want to search. If you see a white background this indicates there is only one entry in the album whereas a blue background indicates more than one page. Simply click your cursor on an icon to open and view the photo. If any members have such programmes do please contact Natalie da Silva (address at end of letter) and she will arrange tocopy them and forward them.

eGGSA has the following active projects:
Family Bible Inscription project
Post Card Project
Births, marriages and deaths transcription project
Newspaper extracts
1820 Settler Correspondence Project
VOC Dutch East India Company accounts from ship's pay ledgers
Gravestone Project
Transcription of shipping lists (Immigration records)
The Cemetery Recording Project

Currently the driving force of eGSSA's cemetery recoding project is Richard Ball and Alta Griffiths.

The eGSSA was Martin's Zölner's brainchild since he was convinced that the GSSA should have a virtual branch to be of service to the many South Africans living abroad and also to utilise the IT communication developments that were available. He approached Colin Pretorius to establish the virtual branch in 2004 and supported him while the branch grew from strength to strength. After Martin resigned as GSSA president he stayed on as an eGSSA member. Martin not only steered the GSSA to new heights during his term as President but also fully supported the eGSSA in every way he could. The eGSSA is not an easy branch to manage as the members of the eGSSA Management Team (EMT) are spread across the globe and many of them do their eGSSA tasks on a shoe string "time available" budget. It is moreover difficult to keep abreast of genealogical developments in South Africa and to keep our eGSSA members informed of such.

The branch funding is mainly from the archives photographing project. They have members in all the main centres who will photograph documents in archives for a small fee. This is really a brilliant idea and helps genealogists worldwide to gain access to relevant documents. When I say a small fee it is indeed. If you are a GSSA member you can obtain a single document for a fee of R12.and R6 for each additional image. Non GSSA members will pay double and that is also a bargain. Go to their website for further details. www.egssa.org

If you become a member of eGSSA you also get their fabulous newsletter Genesis.

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Family Roots -. Make a genealogical date and remember to tune into Family Roots on Thursdays at 10.45am. Radio Today broadcasts on 1485 AM in Johannesburg, nationally on DStv Audio Channel 169 and streams on the world wide web via its website www.11485.org.za
To access the podcast- Go to Radio Today's website at www.1485.org.za
Enter the website
Select the Podcast button (Top Row -fourth from the left)
Scroll down (alphabetically) to required podcast.


1820 Settler Research at the CORY LIBRARY
Family files of mostly settler families, though other surnames are also included. (No Afrikaans names)
The Allen E Makin collection of Genealogical information. A private collector, Makin spent most of his life compiling information on mostly settler families. Index available.
The Dr C Skead collection of farm histories. (A large collection of information on mainly Albany, Alexandria and Bathurst farms.) Index available.
* Original copies of the Grahamstown Journal from 1845 to 1920. Public not allowed to view, but the Cory library, Rhodes University holds a complete set of the Graham's Town Journal from 1831 to 1920, all in hardcopy with the exception of 1853-1857 which is available on microfilm.
* After 1920 the Grahamstown Journal was incorporated in the variously titled Grocott's Penny/Daily Mail. The latter newspaper is still published in Grahamstown twice a week, Tuesdays and Fridays as Grocott's Mail. - The Cory Library also holds the archival hardcopy set of the Grocott's Mail from its inception in 1872 to date as well as sets of other Grahamstown and district newspapers.
* Other original document collections at the Museum include estate papers of some families, letters etc.
* Many original photographs, mainly of settler painted portraits and settler descendants. No photographing service, but local photographers can be contacted if prints are required.
* The Cory Library hold the archives (including church registers) of, inter alia, the Methodist Church of Southern Africa, the Diocese of Grahamstown (Church of the Province of Southern Africa) and the Eastern Cape Presbyteries of the Presbyterian Church of Southern Africa.
* The Cory Library also hold registers for some Congregational, Roman Catholic and Baptist Churches as well as marriage registers for the Grahamstown Hebrew Congregation.
* Small collection of cemeteries in the Eastern Cape.
* The Genealogist is available to carry out research for members of the public for a fee. The genealogist can also consult the registers and other documents in the Cory Library on behalf of the client.
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Nuwe Burger-familie Webblad : http://www.burgerfamilie.com

Berig ontvang van Sarel Burger: Die blad is nog onder konstruksie deur Juan Burger wat al die informasie van my BURGER register sal oplaai, asook fotos van argiefstukke wat ek versamel het. Lg. sluit in al die BURGER sterfkennisse van die KAB, asook meeste van dié in die VAB, TAB, NAB, en die Windhoek se Nasionale argiewe.

The present Duke of Edinburgh is well-connected!!
Here is the list of the Duke of Edinburgh's Great-great Grandparents:
Duke Wilhelm of Schleswig-Holstein, Landgravine Luise of Hesse-Cassel, Landgrave Wilhelm of Hesse-Cassel, Princess Charlotte of Denmark, Czar Nicholas I of all the Russias, Princess Charlotte of Prussia, Duke Joseph of Saxe-Altenburg, Duchess Amalie of Wurttemberg, Grand Duke Ludwig II of Hesse and by Rhine, Margravine Wilhelmine of Baden, Count Johann Moritz, Prince Karl of Hesse and by Rhine, Princess Elisabeth of Prussia, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Queen Victoria of the U.K. and Empress of India and Sophie Lafontaine,.
Among the 16 ancestors there is an emperor, an empress, nine other nobles ranked Duke or higher and four nobles with rank equivalent to Earl or Marquis. I don't know how Sophie snuck in, but her father probably had "blue blood" since he had a couple of middle names: Doctor Franz Anton Leopold Lafontaine.
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Three interesting snippets

1) Louis Napoleon purchases Meyrick Bennett's horse-

On the 28th February 1879 Louis Napoleon boarded the hired transport ship Danube at Southampton - he waved a fond farewell to his mother, the Empress, who collapsed as the ship left the harbour. Normally, any British ship bound for the Cape of Good Hope, would re-supply at Saint Helena, but the captain rather prudently excluded this port of call for his schedule, for fear of upsetting his Imperial passenger. The ship reached Cape Town on the twenty-sixth of March, and Louis paid his respects to Lady Frere at Government House. His voyage continued to D'Urban arriving on the evening of the thirty-first. Louis had by now donned the uniform of an officer in the Royal Artillery.
Whilst in the appropriately named Royal Hotel, D'Urban, he happened to look outside and see a civilian riding by on a magnificent grey horse. Louis immediately sent his long time valet, an ex-dragoon named Xavier Uhlmann, to purchase the steed. Louis needed a horse as one of his had died during disembarkation and his other was ill. Xavier Uhlmann went out to see if the rider Meyrick Bennett (1843-1930) would part with his mount. Initially he declined the offer. Uhlmann pressed the matter, and identified who the intended purchaser was, at which Bennett relented. The horse was called Percy and Bennett warned that it was apt to be skittish.

Meyrick Bennett had immigrated to this country and his granddaughter is Peggy Jacquet!!
Source: Rorkesdrift.com adapted by Nat da Silva


2) From: The Bowes, research by R.R. Langham- Carter, 1981

"Talbot Bowe had married Mary Ann
Mary Ann in Cape Town by June '72 (We presume Talbot has died) when signed death notice of Eliza Bowe (mother-in-law).
By '73 had school in odd looking cottage at Sea Point which people called Noah's Ark, where Oliver Road built later.
1874 rented Sea Point house and opened Sea Point House Seminary for boys and girls and took boarders. Miss Panting assistant teacher but MAB did most of teaching. R.B.F.Lowe taught drawing. George Pinker (priest in charge of St James' Church) taught oratory. Students included Henry (later Sir H) Juta, Helen Tart (Lady Juta), Dorothea Fairbridge, Andrew and John de Smidt."
Bowes are my family (M Gundry) and those 2 students (the Jutas) are I think Peggy's again!!
3) The Zaltbommel
sailed from Rotterdam under the command of Captain J C Juta on September 1st 1856, bound for Cape Town, arriving in Cape Town on November 16th, 77 days later. On the 3rd December while attempting to get underway (she was heading for Batavia) she was wrecked between the Chavonne Battery and Mouille Point. The cause of the stranding was accidental and no blame was attached to the Captain or the 22 officers and crew.
I have been led to believe that my (M Gundry again!) great great grandfather was on board the Zaltbommel and I know that Peggy's ancestor was Captain Juta, so once again my family crossed the path of Peggy's!!!

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Book Review by Natalie da Silva
I recently read Rob Milne's book Anecdotes of the Anglo-Boer War.
In a section titled Devotion, Rob writes:
"Every September, since 1901, a package arrived at the Post Office in Chrissiemeer (Lake Chrissie) in the Eastern Transvaal, addressed to "The Postmaster", with no accompanying note, or even return address. The package contains a sprig of heather: one year bound with a blue ribbon, the next with a pink ribbon. Instructions were passed from Postmaster to succeeding Postmaster that the heather was to be placed on the grave of Lieutenant Arthur William Swanston of the Inniskilling Dragoons who died in action near Lake Banagher on 18th October 1900, while trying to save the life of Private J. Garlick. My informant, Tannie Rensie Kruger, the Postmistress from 1947 to 1957, for ten years placed the sprig of heather on Arthur's grave. In 1957, just before she left Chrissiemeer, she received a note with the package, which she translated from English with much difficulty. The sender revealed that she had been Arthur's fiancee and that she never married, but was now very sick and thought that this would be the last time she would send heather for her beloved's grave. However the package continued to arrive for the next two years and Tannie Rensie's successor did her duty."
Rob Milne's book is published by Covos Day Books, ISBN 0-620-25439-4




GSSA Contacts, Joburg branch:
Natalie da Silva natalie@futurejhb.co.za
David Kinghorn dmkcc@iafrica.com
Frank Bullen fwbullen@cybersmart.co.za
Janice Allen janiceal@nedbank.co.za
June Botha juneb@telkomsa.net
Joan Augustyn aug@tiscali.co.za
Diane Brear dianebrear@yahoo.com
Margaret Gundry margaret@gundry.za.net

Contributions to newsletter will be gratefully received!

Or - should you wish to be removed from the mailing list…
Margaret Gundry margaret@gundry.za.net

Newsletter of the Johannesburg
Branch of the Genealogical Society of
South Africa
September 2011


Next Meeting
Saturday, 17th September
Randjes Estate,
Randjeslaagte Road
(Opposite Balfour Park Shopping Centre)
2-30pm


Natalie da Silva
will show a Power Point Presentation on
Preservation of documents at home.


Year Planner

15 October 2011 - Writing/Publishing your Family History
19th November 2011 - Branch Xmas Party and Xmas Power Point Presentation






Dear members,
National Executive - disappointing news recently received that our Current Chairman, Hendrik Louw, our National Secretary Leoni Barnard and the Treasurer Andre Heydenrych are not available for re-election for 2012. Our thanks to them for the effort they put in over the last few years and to Andre who has done a sterling job for the last 8 and ½ years - THAT must be a record. Wonder if he'll have time to do some Genealogy now!
Just a quick reminder that following on from Alan Jeffrey's talk on preservation - I thought I would re-do my presentation on preservation of documents in the home. You may recall that three months ago when we started this theme on Preservation at Home - I had a glitch and my Computer would not allow my presentation. All is well says my teenage son who is head of the IT department here at my home!
Final Call for photographs or recipes or what-have-you for our fun presentation on "Christmas Past" which we will show during our November Xmas meeting. To make this fun why not submit any Xmas memorabilia you have - a fun recipe, a photo of a handmade gift you got, an old Christmas card or tag… then when the slide comes up - you can share the story with us! Talking about Memorabilia - years ago we held a Show & Tell - our members were invited to bring along an item that belonged to Granny or Granddad and talk about it - we had a wonderful turnout with War Medals, Spoons, Dance Cards, even Number plates! I would really like to repeat this - early next year. Lots of time ahead to think about a particular item which has been passed down or perhaps has special meaning to you.
RIP OFF : You all know that I spend a great deal of time searching for details about my family in Zimbabwe (well Rhodesia as it was then). Wanting a Birth Certificate for a relative born in Fort Victoria in 1916, I approached Ian Johnstone, a researcher based in Harare, who told me that access to the Registrar of Births Marriages and Deaths is restricted. He kindly put me in touch with a gentleman who said he would be able to get me the Certificate I need and quoted me a shocking US$275.00. Since then I spent a week in Zimbabwe and found that if I applied in writing, the same certificate would cost me US$10 - guess which route I'm taking.
Finally, a few words to show my gratitude. Some months ago when we started presenting our Beginner's Course I made a plea on behalf of Dennis Pretorius who is busy transcribing and collating the information taken from the Voter's Roll. Two of our members John Gundry and Doreen Piner offered their services. In fact Doreen spoke to her cousin Jeanette Beauzec who lives in White River and got her involved too! Thanks Doreen, Jeanette and John - every little bit helps - the information from the Voter's Roll gives Name, Identification number, address and the date the individual last voted - helpful snippets of information for all genealogists indeed!
"Why waste your money looking up your family tree? Just go into politics and your opponents will do it for you." Mark Twain
Natalie Da Silva
Chairman



My own research
by MR. JOHN STEPHENS

1. The scope of my research:
The families I am researching are the following:
CAMPHER, STEPHENS, NELSON, VERMEULEN
2. The family I started with:
Because I am a Stephens I started researching the STEPHENS family. It was easy starting as I had attended the Beginners Course in Genealogy and knew that I should start with MYSELF. EASY, I thought. My father and mother I could add. Their fathers and mothers I could add. But there it came to a standstill. Who was my great grandfather on my father's side? I didn't have a clue! Nobody in the whole Stephens family could tell me what his name was or who my great grandmother was! Fair enough. This is a dead end. So, keep the Stephens forbears on ice and continue down the line. This was easier, so I got stuck in and worked on the downward line. Fine, but it also has its problems. Even my own sisters and my brother and their offspring did not co-operate. It's still a struggle to get all the data from them. Because I'm normally not very patient, I decided to give my mother's side of the family a go.
3. The CAMPHER family:
This went easier. I could add my mother's father and mother; my great grandfather and great grandmother. I could even add my mother's mother's father and mother, but not further than that. Fair enough, they were ROBERTS and can stand over in the meantime. But I was now stuck on the Campher great grandfather and -mother. Who were their parents and those before them?
Yes, there were the SAG books to assist me, but this also had its own problems. According to these SAG books the first Campher to come to South Africa, was Lourens CAMPHER. Aha! Got you! Let's follow this line from Lourens Campher. Fortunately he had only one son, Cornelis. But Cornelis had a number of children and I tried several possibilities. After much trial and error I found my way.
But I am still struggling.
4. Some problems I also encountered:
4.1 Who must you trust and believe?
Some say that Lourens Campher's wife was ANSELA van de Kaap, and that she was a free slave. The great historian, Theal, however, states in one of his works that farms were awarded to the first lot of settlers and that Lourens Campher was one of the first to be given a farm in 1690 in the Stellenbosch district. He then adds: "Al de vrouwen waren van Hollandse geboorte." This must surely include Ansela. How can she be a free slave and at the same time born Hollands? I tried Lucas's data and there it states that Ansela was born in 1665 in Nederland!
Now, who must I believe?
4.2 Can you rely on the data on tombstones?
4.2.1 My great grandfather Christoffel Johannes CAMPHER:
My wife and I visited the old family graveyard in Kommandodrift where both are buried. The inscription on his stone says that he was born 27 October 1830, where as SAG says he was baptised in Beaufort West on 26 December 1828. Which date is the correct date? And the spelling of his name on the tombstone is definitely incorrect. It is spelt: Chirstoffel Johnnes CAMPHER! This cannot be right!
And my great grandmother's name is spelt Eliza Betha Maria Gertruia Campher ( Born Joubert). This is surely also incorrect.
4.2.2 My Uncle's youngest daughter: Susara Jacoba CAMPHER:
She was born 26 May 1947 and died 26 March 1949 but her name on the tombstone is given as Sarha Campher. This spelling is clearly also incorrect.
4.2.3 The same spelling but a different spelling of the surname: Around the corner from our home we found this little cemetery where someone with exactly the same name as my great grandfather, Christoffel Johannes, is buried. But, the surname is spelt KAMFFER and not CAMPHER! Can this be coincidence, we wondered? Is there a connection between the two? Are we related? In the beginning of 2010 professor Louis KAMFER in Port Elizabeth, published a family history of the CAMPHER/KAMFER/KAMFFER-family. I bought his book and immediately all became clear to me. This man and my great grandfather
are both my relatives!
5. Conclusion:
These are only a very few of the things that I have experienced in trying to research some of my families.
I have not even mentioned the fact that I had to learn (and is still busy learning) how to operate and use the computer.

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An interesting e-mail - can anyone help?
From: mmphaahla@gmail.com

Dear Johann Janse van Rensburg,

Thank you for the prompt response. The sole purpose of registering an
account was to get information which will help locate my grandfather's
whereabouts - he was part of the South African troops killed during
World War II (1939-1945).

His name is Johannes Diphatje Phaahla - Code N4962864 (not with
certainty as his identification records have been mislaid), however he
was alongside Aaron Setlogane Mogodi (Phahlamohlaka) who survived and
received pensions for war veterans until he met his death.

My search for my role model grandfather is entirely about a family
history and to complete a chapter of his selfless contribution in the
history of the World War II and role in the rural revolts of
Sekhukhuneland. The South African History Online has added his name to
the Lives of Courage wish list of Biographies and willing to write his
biography for its Lives of Courage project.

As such, I am collating as much information as possible to rewrite
history, noting that soldiers died in the course of duty were not
buried in a common grave (bodies be disinterred and buried in separate
black and white graves). Thus, even in death, South Africans were
unequal. I trust you will be of assistance or point me in the right
direction.

I shall await your urgent response hereto.

Kind regards
Morgan Phaahla


Hi Morgan

What an inspiring undertaking. I have copied the contact persons of our Johannesburg/Western Gauteng/Electronic branches on this e-mail. I hope that they might be able to help to point you in the right direction.

Regards

Johann



"Attached is a newspaper article I thought you might like to publish in the next newsletter. It was published in the Benoni City Times in 1946 and my cousin happened to find a copy of it amongst her late grandmother's papers and kindly gave me a copy. Hope you are able to read it! It's of my great grandparents and it lists all their children and their involvement in the military."
Briony Holloway

Just the sort of "Find" a genealogist needs. Thanks for sending it in.


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The Importance of walking

Walking can add minutes to your life.
This enables you at 85 years old
To spend an additional 5 months in a nursing
Home at R10,000 per month.



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NEW NEW NEW!! From the LDS, the Death Notices taken from the Indexes in Zimbabwe have been uploaded on to the LDS Website. Here is the tutorial on searching for the Rhodesian Death Register references and then finding the actual document(s). Please note that what the website refers to as Death Registers are actually Death Notices, in most cases nearly identical to our South African DN's.
To illustrate we'll search for LLOYD references.

Step 1: Open the Family Search website https://www.familysearch.org/

Step 2: Ignore the Search function (these records are not indexed yet). Select "Africa"

Step 3: Select "Zimbabwe, Death Registers, 1890-1977; Index to Death Register 1892-1977"

Step 4: Select "Browse through 74,045 images"

Step 5: This next page contains all the Index books. Ignore "Death indexes Open Files" and "Death Indexes Surnames A-Z" for now. All the remaining indexes are logically set out in alphabetic order. In your case you want to search LLOYD, so select "Death indexes Surnames KE-L"

Step 6: Click on "1892-1976"

Step 7: You'll now see the cover of the index book. You can adjust the size and position of the image by using the controls in the bottom left corner. Either in the top left or right corner you will see a
line saying "Image 1 of 48", with the 1 being inside a small box. By changing this number you can select which page of the 48 to go to. You do not know which page LLOYD is on, so you have to estimate. You can go back and forth one page at a time by using the arrow controls in the top right-hand corner.

Step 8: By trial and error you have found that the LLOYD references are on pages 39 and 40. With pleasure you spot an entry for Clarence Arthur LLOYD. You know that he has a wife named Laura about whom you have scant details, so you are pleased to find an entry for Laura LLOYD, who may be his wife. You write down the references, which are 55/139and 69/131. You also jot down a reference to John Edward LLOYD, as he is also a possibility for your family tree (795/62).

Step 9: When you have all the references, click on "Zimbabwe, Death Registers, 1890-1977; Index to Death Register, 1892-1977" at the top of the page. This will take you back to the webpage containing all the Index books.

Step 10: SELECT the last entry of the second column, "Death registers".

Step 11: The index entry for Clarence Arthur LLOYD 55/139 will take you to Vol. 55. Click on Vol. 55.

Step 12: This webpage shows Image 1 of 283. Again, by trial and error you get to the correct DN No. 139. They are all labelled in the top right corner. In this case it is image 169. You can save this image to your hard drive.

Step 13: Similarly, you find the DN for Laura (69/131) by clicking on "Death registers" at the top of the page and browsing through Vol 69. You are thrilled to find a previously unknown child.

Step 14: To find the entry for John Edward LLOYD 795/62, you again click on 'Death registers' at the top of the page. From 1953 on, the registers are arranged by individual year.

Step 15: Click on " 1962, #551-1145".

Step 16: You find the DN as image 258 which unfortunately is not the correct John Edward LLOYD.

Step 17: Click on "Zimbabwe, Death Registers, 1890-1977; Index to Death Register, 1892-1977". This takes you back to all the indexes.

Step 18: Click on "Death Indexes Surnames A-Z" This folder contains a separate index of DN's all labelled with the prefix B. Any index reference number found here has to be browsed for in the relevant year's "B" section. These are to be found from 1959 onwards.

This website is a treasure trove to anyone doing South African research.
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A Memoir in Letters
of the Phelps and Crompton Families in the 19th and 20th Centuries
Selected, edited and introduced by Penelope Forrest (born Phelps)

Penelope Forrest inherited more than 200 old letters written to and by members of her family between 1834 and 1978. As she transcribed these she became intrigued by the stories which unfolded and further
research enabled her to create family trees showing how those mentioned in the letters were connected. Encouraged by the interest of friends and relatives to whom she mentioned her project, she has compiled a book including the letters with some interlinking commentary. There are numerous abbreviated family trees within the text and eight detailed ones printed on a separate larger page. Photographs of some of the letters and their writers are also included.

Chapter 1 includes, with permission, an extract in English translation, from the MA thesis of Cláudia Faria on the Phelps family's contribution to social and
economic development in Madeira, from the late 18th to the 19th centuries.
A MEMOIR IN LETTERS is conceived primarily for the interest of the present and future generations of the Phelps and Crompton families, though it also has general historical value.
You can order A Memoir in Letters as follows:
o Email or post your order to Penelope Forrest. Remember to include your postal address. Within South Africa the price including postage is R260. You may make your deposit directly into Nedbank cheque account number 1341 022862, in the name of P. A. Forrest, at Scottsville branch, code 134125. Please use your name as reference.

24 X 17 cm hardback, Pages: 248, ISBN: 978-0-620-49869-2
Privately published by P. A. Forrest
Email: paf@zarf.com

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GSSA Contacts, Joburg branch:
Natalie da Silva natalie@futurejhb.co.za
David Kinghorn dmkcc@iafrica.com
Frank Bullen fwbullen@cybersmart.co.za
Janice Allen janiceal@nedbank.co.za
June Botha juneb@telkomsa.net
Joan Augustyn aug@tiscali.co.za
Diane Brear dianebrear@yahoo.com
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