CAPE TOWN FAMILY HISTORY SOCIETY

Delights of Detours in Research.
By Lucille Le Roux

During my research into the life of my mother’s maternal grandparents Elizabeth Cooper & Thomas Charles Clay Roberts, I was told that my great grandfather Thomas had been a coachman for a Mr Fred Gibson.
He drove the coaches to Cape Town via Kimberley.
He made up the wages for Mr Gibson's employees at times and counted cash forcompany.

Elizabeth (Lizzie) born 1871 came from England to South Africa in 1883 (about 12 years of age) to care for the Gibson children. Their were 3 children of Fred Gibson at that time - eldest born 1880 & youngest 1883.

I then read in a blog on Ancestry24 of Red Star Farm Stall where a wall has documents & photos of the Gibson Brothers & coaches.
I contacted the email address given & was invited to visit & take photos of this wall.
The idea was to see if there were photos of the Gibsons which we could compare with nameless photos in an old album owned by a relative.

Saturday 8 November 2008 my husband & I took a drive from Kommetjie to Wellington arriving there 11.30am. We could not have been blessed with a more perfect day. Warm sunshine, not a cloud in the sky and no wind. We were welcomed by the friendly assistant who was expecting us.
As the owner, Dr Johan van der Merwe was out on a call I took the opportunity to take photos of the items on the wall.
Johan van der Merwe arrived just as our breakfast was served. He came to greet us & then left us to enjoy our delicious breakfast before once again joining us for a long interesting chat.

This is his story:

Johan told us of feeling rather negative about South Africa & chose to go to England seeking greener pastures.
However not running his own business here in South Africa proved to be an unwise decision & he returned poste haste to rescue it.
With determination & realising the need for a positive attitude he returned.
Johan joined a group of people who wanted to establish a museum in Paarl that would demonstrate the first big industry in South Africa. This was the coach and wagon making industry. The vehicles were all for animal traction: horses, mules and oxen. He also discovered relics of vehicles in sheds on farms which were manufactured in Paarl, 1892 Gabriel Domingo and Retief deVille & Co.
In his research he stumbled over the information on the coach service in South Africa. Towards the end of the 1800's there were 16 major companies operating passenger coaches from the port cities and later towards the interior as the rail line was completed to Kimberley in 1885. The Gibson Brothers operated from Wellington to Kimberley starting their business in 1873. To get their passengers to Kimberley in seven and a half days they had to have 2000 mules and horses at different stages and manned by 500 people to operated the system. Passes and a pont at Hopetown were built to achieve their goal. The route they followed was on the original spoor to the interior over Ceres and Sutherland, heading to Klaarwater (Griquastad). This route after 1885 became the Forgotten Highway

Johan and his wife Julie bought an existing farmstall in the Windmeul area, Paarl during 2007 and decided to call the venue Redstar Farmstall after the coach service of the Gibson Brothers.
He has held talks on the skills of coachmen who were highly respected.
He has intentions of having a tourist attraction at the Farm stall of coach rides.

We may in the not too distant future be able to visit there for tea & a coach ride !

This proved to be a most interesting detour in my research.