East Cape Branch

Meetings take place at Lolly Schtein Hall,  Laubscher Park,  West Villiers Road,  Walmer on the 3^rd Monday of each month, at 6.30pm

Researchers are more than welcome to pop around to do their research or if they are living out of town then they would be able to send an email to Ken or Eleanor at either This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Should you wish to personally call, then just telephone and make an appointment (this is to ensure that they are home). Their telephone number is 041 368-8615.
Some new additions to the library are available for the researchers:
*Cillier, Celliers, Cillie and Cilliers families in Suid-Afrika Part 1 and 2 by Dr Barend Cilliers and Mariana Olivier
*Ferreira Families by Janet Melville and Emmerentia S Ferreira.
*Die Joubert in Suid-Afrika 1688-2013 Volume 1 and 2 by P G Joubert.
*Pretorius oor drie eeue/through three centuries 1600-1900 by M E Pretorius was donated by Janet Melville
*Just ordinary people  The lives of some of the forgotten British Settlers of 1820, is a privately owned copy of Liz Eshmade's book.
In the August, 2016 issue of Chronicles we published a comprehensive list of books written on South African family surnames.
There is a National Product CD No.075 listing all stories that have been published about families in Familia since 1964. ISBN 978-0-9921833-9-4 records some 750 South African Families.
We also have an incomplete list of “Who is Researching Who”
An index of names mentioned in Chronicles from issue No.1 in 1987 is available.
Ken and Eleanor will gladly assist in referring to these lists for you as well as the info on the electronic database.

We had a really riveting talk by Cheryl Vermaak at our last meeting on her grandfather see below. This diary is in my opinion really valuable because it is well written and detailed on the trip to South Africa. She gave a very good power point presentation with it.
"My great grandfather on my mother's side of the family was Albert Charles Isaac Wheeler, born in Islington, London in 1849. He was the son of Charles and Mary Ann Wheeler who were born and grew up in Frome, Somersetshire. On moving to London, Charles worked as a piano maker, and his wife Mary Ann was a dress maker. They lived at 19 Ampton Street, near Grays Inn Road, London. (Near the British Museum and Charles Dickens Hou se Museum). Albert and his younger brother Frank were choir boys at St Judes Church in London. In January 1869, Charles and 20-year old Albert sailed to South Africa from London on the Umgeni, a wooden sailing ship (built 1864) which transported many immigrants to Natal. They arrived in Port Natal (Durban) three months later after a dangerously long voyage, beset by head winds and stormy seas. They were part of an immigration scheme, the Natal Colonisation Company, who provided them with land to farm in the Camperdown district, near Pietermaritzburg. Albert kept a journal during the voyage, recording his experiences each day, giving great insight into what immigrant passengers were exposed to the the Nineteenth Century.
In 1879, Albert married Betsy Wheeler whose parents, who were immigrants from Lincoln shire, England, farmed at Foxhill near Pietermaritzburg. Albert and Betsy eventually moved to Pietermaritzburg where he had a grocery shop, and in later years, a stationery shop. He was organist for many years at Victoria Road Wesleyan Church. Albert and Betsy had seven children of whom the fifth child was my grandmother, Emma Gertrude Wheeler, (1891-1967) who married Alfred Sydney Weekes from Torquay, Devon. Soon after celebrating their Golden Wedding Anniversary, Albert died, aged 80 in 1929. The newspaper obituary mentioned that he was one of the pioneers of Pietermaritzburg. He is buried in the Wesleyan section of the old Commercial Road Cemetery in Pietermaritzburg. Betsy died, aged 85 in 1943."

Janet Melville reports:
Our March monthly meeting was very well attended even members from Jeffreys Bay attended. The Theme was publishing your family tree. Pamphlets were handed out with the recommendations of several members of Buitenposten with their findings on the various programmes they use. I offered to help people to get their information collated and published in one form or another. I had several of my books that I had published to show members what you could do with a little bit of effort even if you photo stated your information. A lot of positive feedback was received and as I have the entire set of Blue Books for all the archives, Cape, OVS, Transvaal, Kimberley and Natal that people can look up death Notices and discovered several which they could not find on NAAIRS because of the spelling. I've had several members at my house to come and work they bring their laptops with, I show them family search.org as well as other websites, and as I have copies of several East Cape NG churches as well as a copy of the Paarl baptisms and one lady found out that one of her forefathers was actually a bastardin, she has had her DNA done at Wits which was interesting as the findings in the Paarl confirm some of the blood in her ancestors. I have also purchased a lot of the CD's that have become available so they can do their own research under guidance.
The Eastern Cape also purchased the CD's A – K which they can search. The graveyard CD will also be a welcome addition to the CD's available. It was felt that to just have a monthly meeting and the rest of the month you forget about the members till the next meeting was not good enough we should communicate with members during the month re new websites or other interesting information. We are trying to see if we can get more new members and keep the old members interested. The Committee has suggested that we hold an additional meeting on a Saturday morning for those that might not want to travel at night. In the meantime the local LDS has approached me and I am now helping their members on the first Wednesday of every month at the church to do their research on their family trees, very nice as you have internet on tap etc. The first meeting was packed out and we could barely cope. 
The new committee was elected and the following members received award for services rendered to the GSSA. Trudie Marais, Janet Melville, John Wilmot and Selwyn Bouwer.
So the East Cape branch is still keeping the Candle burning. Click on the image to enlarge
{module East Cape Awards}