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Genealogy enriches the life of MaHlogola (the Rainmaker)

VAN AARDT Die Reenmaker DML Foto 2021 03 01Pieter van Aardt, 1 March 2021
Pieter was born in 1935 in Chrissiesmeer.
Initially Pieter grew up on a farm but moved to Middelburg during the Second World War - his father joined – later the family moved to Pretoria. After he matriculated in Pretoria he had to find a job. He carved out a career at the Land Bank after successful studies at various institutions, like Unisa.
He was cutting and polishing semi-precious stones as a hobby before he “discovered” his interest in his family history. In 1976 he read the book Slagtersnek en sy mense by J A Heese and was surprised by the role of the Aardts at Slagtersnek and wanted to know more.
He pursued the new interest in his family history with zeal. He visited archives, even obtained information from Delft in the Netherlands and traced the family back to 1590.
He gives a lot of interesting information about Chrissiesmeer and Nu Scotland and the attempt to settle Scots there. It was not successful and many of the farms in the area still have Scottish names.
He published a booklet, Die Van Aardts van Chrissiesmeer, in 1985.