STRUCK BY DISASTER – PLEASE HELP IF YOU CAN

A bolt of lightning struck my computer and wiped out a great deal of information. Among this was the Round-up mailing list. This is a total disaster. I feel as if both hands have been cut off as I now have no computer, no e.mail addresses and no mailing list. I have borrowed a PC and am working from an old back-up list and I am appealing to all readers who get this issue to help if they can. If you know of anyone who should have received a copy of Rose’s Round-up and did not get one, please ask them to e.mail or telephone (082-926-0474) me so that I can re-build the list. Thank you Rose

LOOKING BACK AT OLD WILLOWMORE

After quite some delving into dusty files Tony Westby-Nunn and Wendy van Schalkwyk have done it again. They have produced another invaluable guide to a small Karoo town – this time, Willowmore. The well-illustrated, soft-bound, 128-page book contains stories on the development of the town and district, original farms, buildings and trading activities. It also covers happenings in the area during the Anglo-Boer War, information on the establishment of churches, schools, farming and sports. The history of hunting is covered, as well as the little-known story of the Midland Railway, first proposed in 1854 to carry wool to the coast. The locals deemed such a link essential as roads were inferior and dangerous. Wagoneers experienced extreme difficulties, finding water and grazing. Yet, ten years later, there was still no rail and 9000 men were still slaving away on 2 500 wagons using over 40 000 oxen to drag millions of kilograms of wool to Port Elizabeth. By September 1875, over 21 years after those first discussions were held, the Uitenhage Port Elizabeth Railway line was opened, yet the rail only reached Willowmore 27 years later in 1902. Before that the nearest station was at Klipplaat. This interesting guide has a section on nearby Baviaanskloof and the Grootrivierberge. There is also a section on the founding families as well as on where to stay and what to do when in this area. The guide, entitled The Cape Journal Willowmore, costs R175

IF BOOK ARE YOUR THING, THEN RICHMOND’S YOUR PLACE

Richmonders, now in the throes of preparing for the Booktown Festival, are adopting the M-Net slogan and proudly boasting: “if there’s magic out there we’ll find it.” An impressive line up of speakers has already agreed to take part in this year’s event. One of the keynote speakers, health permitting, will be struggle icon, Ahmed Kathrada. “We chose him because he is quite the wordsmith,” says Darryl Earl David. “His memoir A Simple Freedom co-authored by respected academic/writer Tim Couzens, and published last year, made an immense impact. It was shortlisted for The Sunday Times Alan Paton Literary Award. The book comes with a DVD directed by Anant Singh. Also on the speaker’s list are acclaimed photographers Pat and Roger de la Harpe, who will discuss their acclaimed book In Search of the African Wild Dog. Their other books – Tuli-Land of Giants, Scenic Southern Africa, and Big Cats of Mala Mala – have made huge impacts on the markets. Another big name among the speakers is one of South Africa’s greatest photographers, Gerald Hoberman, who will be discussing his latest book Lighthouses of Southern Africa. Rosemary Rudd will discuss her beautiful book Wooden Houses of South Africa. and Angela Read Lloyd will talk on her book The Artist in the Garden – -the Quest for Moses Tladi. This talented artist once worked as a gardener for her grandfather. Sabata-mpho Mokae, a journalist, working for the Independent Newspaper Group in Kimberley, will present information on his soon-to-be released biography The Story of Sol Plaatje. Darryl is keen to know if any Indians settled in the early Karoo. “I have not heard of any settling in the early small towns but would love to hear from any one who can help provide the answer to this question,” he says.

BACK TO THE BEGINNING

Permanent fountains known as “The Pools of Beervlei” or simply the Beerenvleij, attracted the first farmers to the Willowmore district in the early 1800s. Early travelers knew these fountains as a reliable water source. In 1858 a town was proclaimed and named Willow-Moore “Some say it took its name from the farm Willow, on which it was established, and its owner William Joseph Moore. However, others believe it was named for his widow Petronella Catharina Moore, who married a man called Lehmkuhl after William died in 1883. They say her name was coupled to a huge willow near the homestead,” say Wendy van Schalkwyk and Tony Westby Nunn in their book The Cape Journal Willowmore. One of the earliest businesses, Faehse and Fittig, was started five years after the founding of the town by Robert Faehse, a young man from Augsburg in West Germany. Initially he settled at Waterford, a hamlet near Willowmore, but moved to the new town and started a general dealer’s store with A Fittig, a local landowner. The store was taken over by R J Dobson in 1873. As the area prospered another German, Karl Herbst, and local resident, Fred Watts, started Watts, Herbst and Company in 1893. Later more shops were opened by F W Baker, C J Pitout, W J H Codner, J T Swanepoel and J W Shand. A weekly newspaper, The Willowmore Advertiser, was established to serve the local community and bring them news from near and far. In 1883 its name changed to The Chronicle and Willowmore Boerevriend. This newspaper was published until 1889. Then came the bilingual Het Karroo Nieuws, later known as Die Karoonuus. It served the people of Willowmore from October 1904, to April, 1919.

THE ROAD TO HISTORY HAS STRANGE TWISTS AND TURNS

An old building, a collapsed ceiling and a young singer practicing for a concert led to the rediscovery of Willowmore’s history and its donation to the Cape Archives. It all began in August 1984, when an old building in Knysna Street was being renovated to make room for Willowmore Bottle Store and a new Pep branch. Soon after work began a ceiling collapsed dumping a huge heap of dusty documents onto the ground. A few fluttered out into the street and were picked up by Pep Stores manager, P G Louw. One, a letter dated 1908, was an order for water piping from J J Loock of Vleitjies farm. A few days later Louw’s ten-year old daughter, Verushka, and a few friends went to practice some songs for a school concert at the flat of their teacher, Mrs Susie Pitout. There Verushka saw an old photograph of Vleitjies farm hanging on the wall. She told told Mrs Pitout of her father’s find and Mrs Pitout explained she had been married to Hendrik Stephanus (James) Loock and had lived on Vleitjies for many years. When Verushka’s father heard this, he gave the old letter to Mrs Pitout, a great aunt and historic researcher, Johan Loock. When next he came to town on a field trip, she told him of the historic find. She said that Ludwig Joubert, manager of Willowmore Bottle Store, had realized the value of the documents and moved them to a safer place. Johan was so excited by the find that he persuaded historian Andre Bezuidenhout, an expert on postal history to help him sort through this 227 kg of historic information covering 50 years of Willowmore’s history. “It was an immensely exciting discovery,” says Johan, “seldom are such items found. There was a great deal of general information not usually found among research material. Local shopkeeper Karl Herbst started storing the information in 1863. Sadly, on his way home from a celebration in Steytlerville on January 3, 1909, he charged his cart and horses into a swollen river and was drowned. After that no more documents were collected.”

DOCUMENTS COVERED ‘BUSINESS’ AT EVERY LEVEL

The Willowmore Collection contained valuable comments on business, the economy and sometimes the personal lives of local residents. According to Johan it also provided an invaluable study into the emerging Afrikaans language. “Over 10 000 ‘outgoing’ business letters in about 19 ‘letter books’ from 1863 to 1907, show how a new language was emerging and replacing the High Dutch traditionally used in formal correspondence,” said Johan. “The collection also contained interesting information on trade, market prices, droughts, purchases for ‘nagmal’ (communion) as well as snippets on happenings in town and interesting bits of gossip. “Among these were documents which broadly discussed the indiscrete romantic alliance of Rev Adriaan Jacobus Louw Hofmeyr and its repercussions in 1884,” wrote Johan in an article for Contree in 1987. Johan divided the documents he discovered into two general sections. Andre Bezuidenhout took all items pertaining to the postal and rail history to sort and catalogue, while Johan packed the rest into 18 boxes and railed them to Bloemfontein where he had more time to study and classify them. Once this was completed, they were donated to the Cape Archives. “The collection is valuable when studied against the general history of the area,” said Johan. ‘It adds colour and contains interesting information particularly for genealogical researchers of such family names as Craill, Diederichs, Dorfling, Hayward, Hitge, Laas, Marincowitz, Moore, Puth, Schutte and Seteman. To gain a complete picture, however, other sources will also have to be consulted.”

LETTERS FROM A PARSONAGE

Rev Adriaan Jacobus Louw Hofmeyr, known to his friends as Attie, was a handsome young man. A distinctive little “cowslick” curled above his right eye gave him a dashing look. Perhaps that’s what led him into trouble. Born in Calvinia on April 13, 1854, he was sent to school in Stellenbosch and later attended the Seminary there. After being ordained he went to Willowmore, where he did a great deal of good work, particularly among children. He loved children, but sadly he and his wife Maria Magdalaena (Louw) did not have any, so when Rev Richard v R Barry died, they adopted his son and brought him up as their own. (Barry’s wife had died shortly after the boy was born.) Hofmeyr dearly loved this boy and often took him along when he was doing his rounds. He also passed on his love for horses to the boy. Hofmeyr was a gifted preacher and popular among his congregations. He served Prince Albert from December 15, 1883 till he left for Wynberg in 1895. “But, sadly, it was in this lovely little village at the foot of the Swartberg that he blotted his copy book”, said John Loock. “While living in the parsonage with his wife and young son, he carried on a clandestine correspondence with Miss Jemina Orr in Willowmore. The bomb burst when members of the Willowmore community found this out and reported him to the Presbytery at George.” According to Presbytery documents complaints were laid against him and two “unprincipled” young Willowmore ladies, states the Prince Albert DRC commemorative booklet Gemeente Onder Die Swartberg. The incident caused a furore in church circles and it was reported in the Press. It was thoroughly investigated and eventually the Presbytery issued a proclamation in July 1884, stating that Rev. Hofmeyr’s moral character was pure and above reproach, but that his words and deeds had given rise to rumours that were damaging both to his character and his work for the Lord. He was chastised and suitably punished. The Presbytery report of 1884 carried an apology from him. He said the past six months had been a time of love and sorrow, light and darkness, peace and storm. He added the matter had brought him, his congregation and church council closer together.

‘WALKING OFF’ THE LAND

The earliest farmers occupied “Loan Places.” “These were granted when individuals petitioned the Government for the right to occupy land, around some special spot, spring or fountain and that explains why so many farm names end in ‘fontein’”, writes Graham Botha in Cape Law, Medicine and Place Names. . “The petition was referred to the magistrate. He in turn instructed the field cornet to go to the selected spot and walk for half an hour in every direction to mark out the boundary points provided that they did not encroach on any land already occupied or reserved by the Government. These farms are referred to as ‘ordonnantie plase’ in historic documents because a central spot called the ‘ordonnantie’ was chosen and from here the half hour’s walk on every side began. Later ‘walking off’ the distance was deemed uncertain, it was decided that 750 roods were equal to half an hour’s walk. This gave an area of 3 000 morgen to each applicant and a permit to occupy the land on loan was registered at the office of the Secretary to the Council of Policy. (later the Revenue office) Loan farms were normally granted for one year at a time and “quitrent farms” for 15. Initially no payment was required, but later, as the population grew and demand for land increased; ‘recognitie’ or a payment of about 6 riksdollars or an agreed reciprocal was required. The Government reserved the right to take the land back after the loan period, but this was seldom done, particularly in isolated areas. After August 6, 1813, permanent quitrent was introduced. The holder of perpetual quitrent had to pay an annual rent based on the situation, fertility and other aspects of the land.”

MORE THAN MOONSHINE AND MAGIC

Water divining is taken seriously in the Great Karoo. Those blessed with this gift do not ramble aimlessly across the veld chanting incantations until the twig in they carry lurches downwards. Heather Dugmore discovered this when she took a serious look at dowsers (water diviners) in the Sunday Times Lifestyle Magazine of January 11, 2009. “Most are totally unmoved by skeptics and those who claim that ideomotor action, caused by their uncomfortable grip on the twig causes involuntary movement in minor muscles and results in the stick lurching downwards,” she writes. She then met up with George Moore, a wellknown diviner in the Middelburg area. He first found he had the gift when he was 30 years old and spent half a century helping farmers find water. When Heather met him, he was 80. “I think I’ve just got more electricity in my body than most,” said. Still, keen to demonstrate the magic, he threw some Y-shaped quince twigs onto the back of his bakkie and set off out into the veld. “Looking for drinking water is one thing, finding deep underground stores of water to irrigate fields and fill dams is quite another. You also need to know a bit about geology. If you don’t, you’ll be wandering all over.” He stood for a moment, focused, and set off. Within short the twig twisted downwards. “Hold my hand and give it a try” he encouraged. She did and it happened again. “Pure magic!” said Heather.

AN ANGEL OF MERCY ONCE LIVED IN BRITSTOWN

Anne Dorothea Andrews’s comforted many a soldier injured near Britstown during the Anglo Boer War. The wife of the town’s chief constable Gordon Murray Andrews, she worked tirelessly nursing and comforting those wounded in this area of the Karoo and taken to the local Military Hospital for treatment. She also attended to the graves of those who died of wounds or disease or who were killed in action. A report in the Black and White Budget of January 19, 1901, states that even though Anne and Gordon personally lived in somewhat humble circumstances, she was always ready to extend kindness and hospitality to all soldiers passing through Britstown without preference for rank. She regularly every morning brought coffee and sometimes cake or some other food that the patients could eat, to the hospital to cheer up the sick and wounded. She helped feed those who could not eat alone, and many people later wrote to say how much they had looked out for her smiling face coming up the road each day. Anne also collected waste paper throughout the town, cut it into tiny pieces and made dozens of much-needed pillows which afforded great comfort of the wounded men. These pillows were so treasured that one soldier, Private L Taylor returned two that had inadvertently been taken. Her daily visits were appreciated, and she received many letters of thanks from wives, mothers and other relatives during and after the war. Some of the soldiers also stayed in touch with her, even writing from the battlefields. Saying how they missed her smile. After the war several regiments sent gifts in appreciation of her kindness. Among them was a silver tea set from the A and G Companies of the City Imperial Volunteers. Years later Anne’s daughter, Mrs E Haslam, donated it to the Africana Museum.

IN SEARCH OF HER GRANDMOTHER’S DEAREST LOVE

A search for her roots led Bronwyn Marx to discovering a long-forgotten love story and uniting two 80-year-old sisters who’d never before even heard of each other. Bronwyn had always known that her mother had been adopted as a new born baby in 1925. She’d told Bronwyn that her parents had been kind and loving, but the question always lingered – why? She had no idea who her parents were, nor why she had been given up for adoption. Recently while researching the family history Bronwyn decided to see if she could find out more. This project led her to the Karoo and by a stroke of luck she found her biological grandmother. She was Dorothy Ethel Stark, a teacher at Beaufort West Girls School from 1923 to 1924. Dorothy came from Aliwal North, where she was born on July 3, 1896. After qualifying and teaching at a farm school for a short time she moved to take up a post at Beaufort West. There she met a farmer’s son and the two fell deeply in love. They wanted to marry, but Dorothy’s father, Herman Frederick Start, would not hear of it. He ordered his daughter to come home as he had arranged for her to marry the local pharmacist. Dorothy and her beau, however, found they could not end the relationship. They were just too much in love, so in about August 1924, they eloped. Sadly en-route to Durban, where they hoped to marry, the love of Dorothy’s life was killed in a road or rail accident. She was devastated. She was also pregnant. Her father was not pleased, but in order to preserve her good name he let her stay in Durban to await the birth of her child. The baby arrived prematurely at the Berea Nursing Home on the 13 February 1925 and, despite the fact that Dorothy knew she had to give her up for adoption, she named the child Peggy Hope Stark. The little girl’s adoptive parents, who loved her greatly, changed her name to Shelagh Dorothy Peggy. They wanted her to have Dorothy in her name to preserve a link with her biological mother.

A NEW LIFE, A NEW LOVE

After the birth of her child Dorothy Ethel went back to Aliwal North and married the man of her father had chosen. He was James Colman Glendinning, the manager of Lennon’s Pharmacy. In time couple, had two children, and moved to Ladysmith. A bit of deeper digging revealed that their daughter, Betty, 83, was still alive. Bonwyn decided to contact her. Betty was quite amazed to learn she had an 85-year-old sister. A telephone introduction was not enough. They wanted to meet and as Shelagh, who lives in Cape Town, was too frail to travel, Betty, flew to Cape Town. There these women, who were born in the 1920’s first saw each other for the first time in April 2010. Both were overwhelmed with emotion. “It was an unbelievably wonderful occasion. It meant so much to both of them,” says Bronwyn who is now trying to find out more about her biological grandfather. She is appealing to all residents of old Beaufort Wester for help. “Does anyone know of a farmer’s son who was killed in a road or rail accident towards the end of 1924 while running away with the girl of his dreams? I realize this is a long shot. I have no clue what his name might have been, but I am hoping against hope that someone may remember Dorothy Ethel Stark and recall the man she loved. They must have had friends in town. I am holding thumbs that someone will reply.”

It is as healthy to enjoy sentiment as it is to enjoy jam – G K Chesterton