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Appointed Member - GSSA National Webmaster - Germaine Smith 2022

Germaine Lisel Rosslyn Smith was born in what is known as the City of Roses on a beautiful Saturday winter afternoon during a very important rugby match - of all things! My parents are Arthur Leslie Rosslyn Smith and Carol Evelyn van den Berg.

I lived in Bloem and was a pupil of one of the best girls' schools, namely Eunice Primary. Later we moved to Three Rivers in Vereeniging where I completed my primary school years at Milton Primary and then matriculated at Riverside High.

My love of art saw me studying fine arts at the Vanderbijlpark Technikon, but today I draw more on my computer than on canvas.

I started researching my British paternal heritage (Smith and Farmiloe). They were of British descent and two trips to the UK led me to finding my grandfather's family and get many of the documents I was looking for at the time.

My maternal line takes me as far back as the Voortrekkers and the British Settlers. It's going to be exciting to research as it would cover my grandparents. The surnames of Holder, Dicks, Thompson, Durand and De Bruin were my grandmother's legacy. They all come from the Dordrecht and Maclear regions in the Eastern Cape. I still have to receive the proof photo that my great-aunt was born on an ox-wagon during the extremely difficult trek to Natal.

I am the chairman of the Vaal Triangle GSSA branch and find it accords with my disposition to encourage our members and help them find their family members that some have been looking for for decades.