THE FAMOUS RECIPE BOOK

1961 edition

The classic South African recipe book Kook en Geniet was first privately published in 1951 by S.J.A. (Ina) de Villiers, after commercial publishers weren't interested in the 700 recipes manuscript. The first English edition, Cook and Enjoy It was published in 1961, also privately published. In 1961, Kook en Geniet was published by Central News Agency (CNA), and from 1972 by Human & Rousseau.

In 1990 Human & Rousseau obtained the production and marketing rights of the Afrikaans edition. The 1992 edition was a revised edition with a new look and incorporated the use of modern kitchen appliances such as microwaves and food processors in many recipes. Some recipes were newly tested and rewritten in an easier-to-follow style. Although a few recipes were edited and replaced, it retained the essence of Ina de Villiers' classic.

In 2009 Human & Rousseau published an updated and revised edition. Eunice van der Berg, the author's daughter, was in charge of the process. This edition returned to a format more in line with the original edition, but also incorporated a modern approach and look. Amongst the changes was a truncated title for the English edition, Cook and Enjoy. By 2005, about 500,000 copies of Kook en Geniet had been sold. When Ina passed away on 20 September 2010, more than a million copies of her books had been sold, making it the most successful South African recipe book to date. The book has never been out of print.

A children’s edition was also published, and co-authored with Eunice. In 2017, the iconic recipe book got its cooking TV show, Kook en Geniet, where the presenter visited a variety of South Africans in their kitchens to find out how the book influenced their cooking.

The 1972 edition only had 4 colour photos, and the rest were black & white. The books' photos, through the years, tell a story of interior decor and style in the South African house. Thousands of South African women grew up learning cooking from her books - in the early years, no bride in an Afrikaans family was married without a gift of the book. 

SJA de Villiers

Stoffelina Johanna Adriana (Ina) de Villiers was born on 24 February 1919 in Boshof, the middle daughter of Johannes Zacharias (Jan) van Schalkwyk and Eunice (Ina) Mehetabeel Ferreira. She was named after her grandfather, Stoffel Johannes Adriaan. The family lived in Pastorie Street in Boshof, where Ina grew up with her sisters, Louisa Talia and Hester Eliza. Their father was a teacher and later a school inspector and their mother was a housewife involved in community groups. 

The girls matriculated from Rooidakskool (Boshof Gekombineerde Skool). Ina’s father wanted her to study medicine, but after a few weeks at the University of Pretoria in 1937, she decided to change course. She moved to the University of Stellenbosch to study Home Economics. After graduating, she taught at Oranje Meisieskool in Bloemfontein for a year, before taking a job with the Department of Agriculture in Pretoria. 

Ina met her husband, Jacob (Japie) Eliza de Villiers (1912-1990) at a tennis match in Pretoria. He was a geologist with the Geological Survey Office in Pretoria. The newlywed couple were featured on the front page of Die Volksblad in February 1945. Ina suffered a miscarriage late in her first pregnancy, and to help her recover, Japie encouraged her to write a book. At the time, Ina's job involved travel by train to rural communities where she gave Home Economics lessons but realised that cooking lessons were more needed, so she started writing a cooking and kitchen guide - from how to measure ingredients, oven's best use, preparing vegetables and meat, to how to freeze food. She spent a year writing and learnt to type. When commercial publishers weren't interested in the manuscript, Japie decided they would publish it themselves, with Prof. Mattie Jooste of Stellenbosch as an adviser. They found a printer, Kaap en Transvaal Printers, who let Ina go in every day to help with the typesetting. Japie sold his gold shares and used the money to publish the book in April 1951. Marketing was done by word of mouth and mailing letters to bookshops. The book was mostly sold via mail order from their home in Marais Street, Brooklyn, Pretoria, for 23 shillings.

SJA de Villiers

Four years later, Eunice was born, and Heleen two years later. Ina spent her days working on the book and sales. The family's meals were mostly cooked by a domestic helper. Ina retired from her publishing business in 1990. Japie had retired at 55 and loved travelling. He died on 27 September 1990 at age 78, three days before returning from his long-awaited trip to China. Ina moved to the Azalea Court Old Age Home in Stellenbosch and died at age 91 on 20 September 2010 after battling dementia. 

Eunice van der Berg followed in her mother’s footsteps, studying Home Economics. Her husband is an Economics Professor at the University of Stellenbosch. They have two sons, Willem and Servaas, who live in the USA. Their daughter, Ineke, lives in Stellenbosch. 

Japie's favourite pudding

This classic self-saucing citrus dessert is from the original edition - Japie se Gunsteling. He had to test Ina’s recipes, and declared this his favourite, earning the recipe’s title. 

2 eggs

250 ml sugar

62 ml flour

250 ml milk

187 ml orange juice

12,5 ml lemon juice

Zest of 1 lemon (finely grated)

25 ml melted butter

Beat the egg yolks well and fold in the sugar.

Add the flour and milk.

Add the juice, zest and melted butter and fold in the whisked egg white.

Pour the batter into a greased baking dish.

Place the baking dish in a large baking pan filled with about an inch of hot water.

Bake at 180ºC until golden or for about 45 minutes.

Serve with cream or ice cream.

JOHN RONALD REUEL TOLKIEN - BLOEMFONTEIN'S MOST FAMOUS BABY

John Ronald Reuel TOLKIEN was born in Bloemfontein on 03 January 1892, the son of Arthur Reuel TOLKIEN, an Englishman who had taken up a position with the Africa Bank Corporation, and his wife Mabel SUFFIELD (1870–1904). Arthur arrived in Cape Town in 1890, and in 1891 he was transferred to Bloemfontein. He sent for his fiancée, Mabel, and they were married on 16 April 1891 in the St. George's Anglican Cathedral in Cape Town. In 1895 when JRR was three years old, his mother took him and his brother, Hilary Arthur Reuel (born 17 February 1894) back to England. During their absence, Arthur fell ill with rheumatic fever and died of severe brain haemorrhage on 15 February 1896. Arthur's funeral service took place at the Anglican Church in Bloemfontein, and he was buried at the President Brand Cemetery on the corner of Church and Rhodes Avenue.

Handwritten Christmas card photo of the Tolkien family, sent by Mabel from Bloemfontein to her relatives in Birmingham, on 15 November 1892. Mabel is seated, the nanny is holding baby JRR then ten months old. The cook and a servant are also included. The original photo was sepia, Mabel had coloured in some sections and added the writing.

In 1992, Arthur's grave was located after a long search made difficult by the lack of a gravestone. Sarel THERON, who worked for the Department of Parks and Recreation in the Boemfontein Municipality, eventually found a burial register for the President Brand Cemetery. Together with Frans VAN DER WALT, who was responsible for the cemeteries, they located the grave using three registers that finally showed the grave was in Block D, Row 3, Grave number 20. A new tombstone was placed on the grave in 1994 by the Tolkien family and and the South African Tolkien Society.

Arthur Tolkien's grave in Bloemfontein

Arthur was born in Handsworth, Stafford, England, in 1857, the eldest child of John Benjamin TOLKIEN and Mary Jane STOWE (circa 1834, Birmingham; died 13 February 1915, Newcastle upon Tyne). His father had previously been married to Jane HOLMWOOD (circa 1806, Fareham, Hampshire; died 1854, Worcester) with whom he had four children:

1) Jane (born circa 1836, Marylebone, London)
2) Emily (born June 1838, Marylebone, London)
3) Louisa (born June 1840, Marylebone, London)
4) John Benjamin (born March 1845, Birmingham, Warwickshire; died 1883, London)

He married Mary on 16 February 1856 at All Saints Parish Church, Birmingham, Warwickshire. They had the following children:

1) Arthur Reuel (born 1857, Handsworth)
2) Mabel (born 1858, Handsworth; died 1937)
3) Grace Bindley (born 1861, Handsworth; died 1904, Kings Norton, Worcestershire)
4) Florence Mary (born 1863, Birmingham)
5) Frank Winslow (born 28 July 1864, Birmingham; died 24 April 1867, West Bromwich)
6) Howard Charles (born 27 December 1866, Birmingham; died 27 October 1867, West Bromwich)
7) Wilfrid Henry (born 1870, Handsworth; died 08 August 1938, Essex)
8) Laurence George H. (born 1873, Moseley, Worcestershire)

John Benjamin was born in 1807 in Middlesex, London. He died on 01 August 1896 in Kings Norton, Warwickshire, England. He was a piano maker, teacher, and tuner. Arthur did not follow in his father's footsteps into the family trade in pianos, instead he became a bank clerk.

The Africa Bank Corporation was a double-storey sandstone building on the corner of Maitland and West Burger Street. The family lived in the top floor. The building later became a Bradlows furniture store. The building was demolished in 1933 and replaced by an Art Deco building that is still there. A bronze plaque was placed on the building in 1984, but was stolen in 1997. Thanks to an alert policeman, it was recovered a few days later, and is now kept at the Hobbit Boutique Hotel in President Steyn Street.

After Arthur's death, Mabel had no income, so she moved back in with her parents in Kings Heath, Birmingham. In 1896, they moved to Sarehole, a Worcestershire village. Mabel taught her two children herself, teaching them art, calligraphy, maths, science, English literature, and reading Latin and French. JRR liked to draw landscapes and trees, but his favourite lessons were languages.

Mabel became a Catholic in 1900, despite her Baptist family's protests. This led to her family stopping financial assistance to her. In 1904, when JRR was 12, Mabel died of acute diabetes at Fern Cottage in Rednal. She was buried at St. Peter's Roman Catholic Church, Bromsgrove, Worcestershire. The young boys stayed with their aunt, Beatrice SUFFIELD, for a short while. Prior to her death, she assigned guardianship of her sons to her close friend, Fr. Francis Xavier MORGAN of the Birmingham Oratory. After her death, JRR grew up in the Edgbaston area of Birmingham and attended King Edward's School, Birmingham, and later St. Philip's School. In 1903, he won a Foundation Scholarship and returned to King Edward's where he was one of the cadets from the school's Officers Training Corps who lined the route for the 1910 Coronation Parade of King George V.

JRR was known as Ronald by his family, and had the nickname Tollers. While in his early teens, JRR's cousins, Mary and Majorie INCLEDON invented their own language called Animalic. Mary and others, including JRR, went on to invent a more complex language they called Nevbosh. His own first invented language was Naffarin.

The 1901 England Census shows JRR living in Kings Norton, Kings Heath, Worcestershire, with his mother and brother. The 1911 England Census shows him boarding at 4 Highfield Road, Edgbaston, with his brother Hilary (occupation: hardware merchant's clerk).

In 1911, JRR went on a summer holiday to Switzerland. In October 1911, he began studying at Exeter College, Oxford. He initially studied Classics but changed his course in 1913 to English Language and Literature, graduating in 1915 with first-class honours. At Oxford he was friends with Clive Staples LEWIS, who went on to write the Narnia Chronicles. Every Monday morning the two would meet to read each other's writings. They later formed a group of writers called The Inklings.

At the age of 16, JRR met Edith Mary BRATT, when he and his brother moved into the boarding house where she lived. She was also an orphan, and a Protestant, which did not please Fr. MORGAN who forbid JRR from having contact with her until he was 21. He obeyed this prohibition, with one early exception, over which Fr. MORGAN threatened to cut short his university career. The day he turned 21, JRR wrote to Edith, asking her to marry him. Edith replied that she had already agreed to marry another man, thinking he had forgotten her. They met up, after which Edith returned her engagement ring and accepted JRR's proposal. She reluctantly converted to Catholicism, after which her Protestant landlord evicted her. They couple were married at St. Mary Immaculate Roman Catholic Church, Warwick, on 22 March 1916. Mary was born on 21 January 1889 in Gloucester, Gloucestershire, and died on 29 November 1971 in Poole, Dorset. She served as the inspiration for his fictional character Lúthien Tinúviel, an Elven princess and the most beautiful of all the Children of Ilúvatar. The couple are buried side by side in Wolvercote Cemetery, Oxford; below the names on their grave are the names Beren and Lúthien: in Tolkien's legendarium, Lúthien and the Man Beren were lovers separated for a time by Lúthien's father King Thingol.

Edith and JRR

JRR and Edith had the following children:

1) John Francis Reuel (16 November 1917 - 22 January 2003). Became a Catholic priest in 1946.
2) Michael Hilary Reuel (22 October 1920 - 27 February 1984)
3) Christopher John Reuel (born 21 November 1924). He married Faith FAULCONBRIDGE in 1951. Their son Simon Mario Reuel was born in 1959. They separated in 1963 and divorced in 1967. He next married Baillie KLASS (born 1941, Winnipeg, Canada) in 1967. They have two children: Adam Reuel (born 1969) and Rachel Clare Reuel (born 1971)
4) Priscilla Mary Anne Reuel (born 18 June 1929)

JRR in World War I

When World War I broke out, JRR did not immediately volunteer for the British Army as he was completing his degree. He was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Lancashire Fusiliers in 1915, after graduation. After training as a Signals Officer, he was sent to the Somme. In between terms behind the lines at Bouzincourt, Tolkien participated in the assaults on the Schwaben Redoubt and the Leipzig Salient. JRR and Edith developed a secret code for his letters home so that Edith could track his whereabouts on a map of the Western Front. In October 1916, as his battalion attacked Regina Trench, JRR came down with trench fever and was invalided to England on in November. By 1918 all but one of his close friends were dead.

In 1921, while teaching at Leeds University, the University of Cape Town offered him a position. However, Edith was still recovering from the birth of their son Michael in 1920, and JRR turned the offer down. In 1922 he became a Professor of English at Oxford.  He became a Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College, Oxford, from 1925 to 1945, and then Professor of English Language and Literature at Merton College, Oxford from 1945 to 1959.

He started writing The Hobbit in the early 1930s. It was published on 21 September 1937. Shortly before the outbreak of World War II, he started writing The Lord of the Rings, taking 12 years to complete. It was published in three volumes over the course of a year from 29 July 1954 to 20 October 1955. The three volumes were titled The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King. Sir Stanley UNWIN, his publisher, said of The Lord of the Rings: ''a book for all times which we will be selling long after my departure from this world... a great work''. The Lord of the Rings was released as a film in 2000.  After he retired, JRR started work on completing The Silmarillion, which was inspired by his relationship with Edith. It was only completed after his death by his son, Christopher, and published in 1977. JRR died on 02 September 1973 at Bournmouth, England. He was buried at Wolvercote Cemetery, Oxford.

JRR at the Botanical Garden, Oxford. This is probably the last photograph of him, and was taken by his grandson Michael George in 1973.

In 2003, Bloemfontein launched a Tolkien Route. Sights on the tour included Arthur's grave, and the St. George' Anglican Cathedral where JRR was baptised on 31 January 1892, and a bronze plaque can be seen next to the baptismal font. This was followed by a visit to where the Africa Bank Corporation building stood. The tour ended at the Hobbitt Boutique Hotel in President Steyn Street, where each of its seven rooms is named after one of the hobbit characters in The Hobbit. The privately owned Hobbit house has hosted dignitaries, including the Duke of Kent, and JRR's daughter Priscilla. It is owned Jake UYS, who was chairman of the Haradrim Society, a Tolkien society for Afrikaans speakers in South Africa founded in 2000 and now defunct.

It is often claimed that the Amatola Mountains in Hogsback, Eastern Cape, served as inspiration for JRR's stories, and that his family visited the area when he was a baby. No factual evidence has been found for this claim. It is said that while serving in the Royal Air Force, JRR's son Christopher was stationed in nearby Queenstown and visited Hogsback several times. He sent his father sketches and descriptions of the mountains and forests, which might be the root of this claim. Christopher drew the original maps for his father's The Lord of the Rings, which he signed C.J.R.T.

I have not found reference to him being in Queenstown. Christopher enlisted in the Royal Air Force in late 1943 and was sent to South Africa for flight training at 7 Air School in Kroonstad, and 25 Air School in Standerton. He was commissioned into the general duties branch of the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve on 27 January 1945 as a pilot officer on probation. He transferred to the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve on 28 June 1945, and promoted to Flying Officer on 27 July 1945.

BUBBLES SCHROEDER - UNSOLVED MURDER MYSTERY

Bubbles Schroeder

Jacoba (Bubbles) SCHROEDER was 18 years old when she was found murdered on 12 August 1949 in Birdhaven, Johannesburg. Her killer or killers, have never been found. She is buried in grave number 519 at Benoni Cemetery.

She was born in Lichtenburg. Her maternal grandfather, Carl Friedrich Wilhelm HASELAU was born in Lower Saxony on 26 August 1851. He worked as a mercantile clerk in Brandenburg, when he decided to immigrate to the Cape. At the age of 27, Carl and his wife, Justina Sobina LANGE (21), left on 10 October 1877 aboard the Caroline Behn, from Hamburg to Cape Town. The ship’s passenger list shows Carl and Justina from Neu-Meichow (Brandenburg) and that Carl was an labourer (arbeiter). He worked for a Mr. CROSSMAN, who employed him to manage the farm Buck Kraal, near Peddie. Most of the couple's children were born there, and educated by Miss Pinkie HARTLEY. Carl bought some land at Mngquesha near the Pirie Forest in the King William's Town area, where he started a timber business and farmed. He built a school and re-built a church that had been destroyed during the 1876 Frontier War. A grandson, Otto HASELAU, later still lived at Mngqesha. Carl died on 29 December 1918 and Justina on 01 October 1928.

One of Carl's daughters, Louise Ella HASELAU, married Ernst SCHROEDER. They were the parents of Jacoba, who was born on 08 June 1931. When she was four years old, her mother had to go out to work, and she was cared for by a cousin in Vereeniging until she was 13. In early 1948, she worked for a coal company in Vereeniging but moved to Johannesburg two months later. She got her nickname from Philip STEIN, a 52 year old Jewish bookmaker, that she met at a dance in Orange Grove and then lived with him. He found her to be sweet, except when she was drunk. Early in June 1949, after coming home drunk, he asked her to move out. Shortly afterwards, she moved to Dorchester Mansions in Rissik Street, where she shared an apartment with a friend, Mrs. GRIFFIN, who was a hostess. Bubbles never had a regular job in all the time she lived in Johannesburg. It is believed she entertained men, probably as a dancer or hostess. According to Mrs. GRIFFIN, she spent her days at the beauty parlour and her nights at night clubs.

On Thursday 11 August 1949, Morris BILCHIK visited Bubbles' apartment and made a date with her for the following Saturday evening. After the date, they went back to his home and she spent the night there. The following Monday, Morris told his friend, David POLLIACK (21), about his date. The two visited Bubbles that afternoon, and they tried to arrange for one of Bubble's friends, Penny, to go out with them that night. Penny was nowhere to be found, so the three decided to go out later. After Morris and David left Bubbles, she went to visit Philip, where she spent the rest of the afternoon having a few glasses of brandy, before returning home at 6 p.m. Morris and David were already waiting for her. She changed into a green dress and refreshed her make-up. The three left at about 7.30 p.m. for David's house, Hlatikulu, in Illovo, as his mother was in Durban at the time. Bubbles went in David's car, while Morris took his own car. Upon reaching the house, David's cousin, Hyman Balfour LEIBMAN (20), was leaving for Houghton to pick up his date. David and Morris invited him to bring his date back to the house to join the party, but Hyman declined as he was taking her to the cinema.

David asked Irene MIYA, his family's cook, to prepare some food, and at about 9.30 p.m. they sat down to a meal of asparagus soup, chops with chips, and a dessert of tinned peaches. Bubbles also drank a few glasses of brandy and snacked on peanuts. At about 11.15 p.m. Morris left. Bubbles and David listened to records in his room. Not long after he had left, Morris phoned and spoke to Bubbles, and then David. At about midnight Hyman returned from his cinema date. Although he lived in Brits, he often stayed at Hlatikulu when Mrs POLLIACK was away. David told him Bubbles was drunk and he wanted to take her home. Hyman later said he went upstairs to the room and saw that she had been drinking, but was not drunk. She insisted on having another drink. He gave her a brandy. At about 12.30 a.m., Bubbles decided to go home. Her mother was staying with her, she said, and expected her back by 1.00 a.m. At about 1.30 a.m., the three of them walked out onto the driveway. David wanted to take her home, but she got into Hyman's car and wouldn't get out. Hyman drove her home, but before getting there, she wanted to drive. Hyman wouldn't let her, and about twenty minutes after leaving the house, he arrived back at the house alone. He told David she made him stop and let her out, when he refused to let her drive. David got in his car and went looking for her. About an hour later, he returned home, without having found her.

"Don’t be surprised if you read about my corpse in the morning papers" were the last words Bubbles apparently said to Hyman, as she got out of his car and began the long walk home from the corner of Oxford Road and Corlett Drive in Illovo, to Rissik Street in downtown Johannesburg.

The next day, Morris phoned David at work. Morris had gone to Dorchester Mansions to see Bubbles, but was told by her mother that she hadn't returned home from her night out. David went to see Mrs. SCHROEDER. Morris, David and Mrs. SCHROEDER drove to Rosebank Police Station to report that Bubbles was missing. Her body was discovered, 30 hours after her death, at Birdhaven by Samuel Ngibisa MOBELA. The plantation was less than a kilometre from the spot where Hyman claimed to have dropped her off. She was lying on her back among burnt-out grass about 30 metres from the road. There were some scratch marks and bruising on her neck. Her handbag, coat and shoes were missing. Dr. J. FRIEDMAN, the Johannesburg District Surgeon who arrived on the scene, noticed the position of the body - it appeared that she had been carefully placed on the ground, suggesting that she had been murdered nearby and then carried into the plantation. Although her shoes were missing, there was neither grass nor soil on the soles of her feet. The bodice of the green dress she wore was slightly ripped and one button was missing. The lower right leg of her stocking was snagged in a number of places. Her panties were torn on the right side, but her black petticoat and black bra were intact.

The post-mortem revealed that she had not been sexually assaulted, that she was a virgin. In her mouth were some pieces of a hard, clay-like material. Although some of the bits lay deep in her throat, there were no particles in her lungs. Dr. FRIEDMAN examined the contents of her stomach, and this agreed with David and Morris' subsequent account of events on the night of her death. The post-mortem revealed that she was suffering from a condition of the thymus gland which would have caused her to fall unconscious very quickly from slight pressure around the neck. The bruising on her neck indicated that she had been strangled from behind, probably by a scarf, and had scratched herself in an effort to tear it away. Dr. FRIEDMAN concluded that cause of death was asphyxia and inhibition due to the pressure on her throat and the impaction of a hard clay-like substance (similar to that in a heap of builder's lime a couple of metres away) in her hypopharynx. He estimated the time of death as around two o'clock on the morning of Tuesday, 16 August.

The police launched a large-scale search in the area around Birdhaven, but without success. On 13 October, Hyman and David were arrested in connection with the murder. They appeared in court the following day and were remanded in custody. They were later granted bail of £5 000 and £500 respectively. Their trial began a few days later at the Johannesburg Magistrate's Court. The evidence presented by the police was almost entirely circumstantial. The prosecution based its case upon the fact that the men had been with her late on the night of her death. There was no direct evidence to suggest that either of the two men were connected in any way to her murder. They were were acquitted. Their lawyer was Israel (Isie) Aaron MAISELS. He passed away in 1994. One of the police investigators was Colonel Ulf BOBERG.

The murder made newspaper headlines for more than a year. Benjamin BENNETT, a crime writer for The Argus at the time, suggested that Bubbles probably tried to hitch a lift home and was picked up by a passing motorist. It is still one of South Africa's unsolved murders. Bubbles' father was in Johannesburg after the murder, and in the 1950s the police contacted her mother. Nothing further is known about them since the murder.

In May 1961, Pierre BOTHA released the Afrikaans film, Die Bubbles Schroeder Storie. It had been turned down for public viewing in South Africa by the Censorship Board in 1960. In 1961 the Board allowed screening only to White audiences over the age of 18 years. By 19 June 1961, it was drawing full houses at all seven drive-in theatres on the Rand.

E. Bilchik and Co. was established in 1932 in Johannesburg by Efraim BILCHIK. He died in August 1985 and the company was run by his son Morris BILCHIK. In March 1999, Morris BILCHIK (69), owner of an interior decorating company, appeared in the Johannesburg Magistrate's Court. He was called to testify in the inquiry into the death of Lawrence Keith BENGIS (50) in May 1994. Lawrence worked for the company as an accountant. He was found with five gun shot wounds in his car near the Oriental Plaza Fordsburg, a few days after he had told his wife that he had discovered evidence of fraud at the company. He was rushed to the Garden City Clinic but later died. The investigation into his murder had been dormant, until Peter SOLLER, a Johannesburg lawyer, asked for an inquiry in December 1998.

In October 2002, David POLLIACK (74), a multi-millionaire, was in the High Court in Pretoria in connection with maintenance payments. He was ordered to pay R30 000 per month to Jenny POLLIACK (43). The couple were married in 1995 and had a son a year later. She was his third wife. David was then a director of at least 12 companies, including United City, POLLIACK Investments, Sandown Mews and Realco. David died in December 2006 in Johannesburg, and was buried at West Park Cemetery.

In 2012, Rahla XENOPOULOS wrote a fictional account - Bubbles tells the story of Bubbles' childhood in Lichtenburg and later life in Johannesburg. Born in the poorer part of Lichtenburg, Bubbles grows up with a bitter mother who takes in laundry to make ends meet and a dull-witted aunt. She has never known her father. Bubbles dreams of a better life for herself and at 16 she moves to Vereeniging to work in a coal agency and is befriended by the sophisticated Winifred Walker. Winnie teaches Bubbles some social graces. Bubbles soon moves to Johannesburg where she is taken under the wing of a middle-aged bookie, Barry. He introduces her to wealthy young men who find her captivating. She is convinced that the perfect beau is about to swoop in and take her away to a grand home and a life of fun and luxury. Bubbles finds that the world to which she aspires turns menacing and, ultimately, fatal. The film rights have been bought by Lisa Bryer, co-producer of The Last King of Scotland.

Kathryn SMITH is a forensic artist. Her latest exhibition, Incident Room, was recently on show at the AOP Art Gallery in Johannesburg. She used photos of the location where Bubbles was found, her grave, the suspects, the death certificate, letters, and newspaper reports. She first heard about Bubbles, when she read a book in high school.

Sources:
For Men Must Work, by E.L.G. Schnell, 1954
Deutsche Wanderung Nach Sudafrika in 19 Jahrhundent, by Werner Schmidt, Pretoria
The evil that men do, by Benjamin Bennett
Loon van die sonde, by Chris Vermaak, Pretoria, 1990
The Boberg Story, by Ulf Boberg
A life at law: the memoirs of I.A. Maisels, QC
Benjamin Bennett Collection 1904-1985, University of Cape Town
Beeld newspaper archives

COEDMORE CASTLE, THE STAINBANK FAMILY AND WAR EVACUEES

When you think of a castle, you probably think of England or Europe. South Africa has a few too, although not connected to Royalty. Coedmore Castle is today situated in the Stainbank Nature Reserve in Yellowwood Park. It was built in 1882 by Dering Lee Warner STAINBANK, who arrived in Durban from England on 24 July 1857 onboard The Lady of the Lake. The ship was owned by his father and grandfather, along with the Lady Franklin. His brother, Henry Ellerton STAINBANK, had gone to Natal in 1855. After scouting a site for a home, Dering chose a spot on the south bank of the Umhlatuzana River. He used two Scottish stone masons from Aberdeen to build the house, using stone quarried on-site. Three years later, the castle, with tower and battlements, was completed. The castle remains unchanged, except for the installation of electricity and running water. The rooms have steel-pressed ceilings and carved panelling. A circular iron staircase leads to the tower room above the battlements. The original furnishings and household contents are still used. Coedmore Castle has remained in the family for four generations.

Coedmore Castle

Dering was born on 03 March 1841 in Elm Grove, Peckham, Surrey. His parents were Richard Henry STAINBANK (born circa 1808 in Boston, Lincs; died 15 July 1882 in Brighton) and Mary ESSEX (born 01 November 1806 in Pancras, London; died March 1882 in Brighton). Dering died on 13 July 1907 at Coedmore. He married Ethel LYNE (born 1869/70 in Pietermaritzburg) on 08 October 1889 and the couple had seven children. The boys attended St David's School in Greytown and Michaelhouse. The girls went to St. Anne's Diocesan College in Hilton. The children were:

1) 2nd Lieutenant William Dering STAINBANK was born on 18 September 1891. He died on 08 April 1916 during service with the Royal Field Artillery. He was buried at St John the Baptist Churchyard, Broughton, Lancashire. William had also served in German South West Africa.

2) 2nd Lieutenant Arthur Reeve STAINBANK was born circa 1894. He died on 20 July 1917, age 23, during service with the Royal Field Artillery. He was buried at Ypres, Belgium. He served in the German South West Africa War, after which he went to England and was gazetted to the Royal Field Artillery.

3) Kenneth Lyne STAINBANK born circa 1895

4) Christopher STAINBANK was born on 03 April 1897. He died on 10 June 1938. On 29 November 1921, he married Kathleen Edith SPEIRS (born 09 June 1902, died 30 October 1980)

5) Mary Agnes STAINBACK was born in 1899, eldest daughter. She died in 1966.

6) Edith STAINBANK

7) Edward STAINBANK

Upon his mother's death in 1942, Kenneth Lyne, the third son, inherited the castle. His two elder brothers were killed in World War I. Kenneth's daughter, Elizabeth KEITH, lives at Coedmore.

Mary Agnes Stainbank

Many of the castle's rooms contain sculptures by Mary Agnes STAINBANK, Dering and Ethel's daughter born in 1899 at Coedmore. In 1922 she enrolled at the Royal College of Art in London, obtaining her diploma in 1925. She also attended a school of engineering in London to study bronze foundry work. Mary returned to Natal in 1926, and had a studio at Coedmore where, between 1926 and 1940, she produced many sculptures. During Word War II she worked in a military drawing office. After the War, she lectured at the Durban School of Art until she retired in 1957. She died in 1966 in Durban.

In the early 1940s Kenneth decided to establish a nature reserve for the people of Natal, and his offer of land was accepted by the Administrator of Natal in 1946. In 1949, during the African-Indian Riots in Durban, more than 2000 Indian men, women and children took refuge at Coedmore, before being put into refugee camps. Kenneth created the township of Yellowwood Park where the first houses were built in 1960. The adjoining 253ha was proclaimed the Stainbank Nature Reserve in 1963. Today it has 13km of walking trails, a 10km biking trail and a picnic site. Coedmore Castle is open to the public, and tours are conducted by appointment for groups of 10 or more, which include tea and scones in the Grand Dining Room. The grounds are often used for weddings and functions.

Henry Ellerton STAINBANK was born on 21 February 1836 in Peckham, Surrey. He died on 15 July 1915 in Pietermaritzburg. After his arrival in Natal in 1855, he spent a short time in business in Durban, before moving to Coedmore where he cultivated coffee. He did this for 13 years and was known as Natal's Coffee King. He was also manager of the Natal Coffee Works in the Umgeni Valley for 12 years. He retired in 1883, living in Durban. In 1886 he was elected to represent the Durban constituency in the Natal Legislative Council. In 1892 he was elected Speaker, serving until 1897. He married Eliza MUNRO in 1858 and they had four daughters and three sons. Henry is buried in the Anglican Section of Commercial Road Cemetery, Pietermaritzburg. Eliza died on 19 February 1912 and is also buried there.

Coedmore Dairy

In 1940 Roy UWINS (10) and his brother Gordon (12) were put on the Children's Overseas Reception Board by their parents. This Board was set up by the British government to evacuate children abroad during World War II. They said farewell to their parents and two siblings on 19 August 1940 at East Croydon railway station. The children were equipped with gas masks and name labels, and set off for Holt School in Liverpool, before boarding the Llanstephan Castle on 24 August 1940. The four week voyage saw the 308 children divided into groups, each with an escort. The two boys' escort was Vera CROCKER. They sailed in in a large convoy for four days. The ship stopped at Freetown to refuel, spending two days there. It docked in Cape Town on 20 September 1940, and the children were taken to the Governor-General's residence for a welcoming ceremony and photographs. Some of the children were placed with families in the Cape Town area. The two boys were part of a group taken to the Cape Jewish Orphanage until arrangements could be made for them to go to other families around South Africa. During their two week stay, the children were taken on trips to Hout Bay, Muizenberg and Paarl. They travelled by train to Johannesburg via Kimberley. Most of the group got off in Johannesburg, and about 20 continued on to Durban. The two boys were placed with Ethel STAINBANK at Coedmore, where they spent the next five years. At that time, the farm was run mainly as a dairy farm, with two STAINBANK sons and their families living on the farm with Ethel. After Ethel's death in 1942, the unmarried Edith STAINBANK became the two boys' surrogate mother. The family kept up with the war's progress by radio and newspapers, and were also involved in fundraising for the War Effort. The boys received letters from home, and were allowed three radio broadcasts to their family, as well as sending airgraphs (single sheet letters that were microfilmed and sent by air). When the war ended in 1945, the two boys left Coedmore in August 1945. They boarded the Mauretania in Durban, but the ship's doctor noticed Roy's health records mentioned an unknown tropical disease and he refused to let the boys sail. They were returned to Coedmore for another six months where Roy recovered fully, and in January 1946 they boarded the Caernavon Castle, arriving in Southampton. They took a train to Waterloo station where their parents met them. The Board, which began in May 1940, was cancelled after the City of Benares was torpedoed on 17 September 1940 with the loss of 71 child evacuees to Canada. The Children's Overseas Reception Board evacuated 2664 children, 1532 to Canada, 576 to Australia, 353 to South Africa and 203 to New Zealand. It was known as Operation Pied Piper. It is believed that another 15000 children went by private arrangement, over 6000 to Canada and the remainder to the United States. A history and detailed account of the Board is documented in the book, The Absurd and the Brave, by Michael Fethney.

If a child was evacuated via Operation Pied Piper, the billeting officer's register for their original home area would be at the County Record Office or public library. It lists the child's name, date of birth, home address, parents' names, foster parents' names and address as well as the date of departure. In 2009, a commemorative service was held at London's St Paul's Cathedral to mark the 70th anniversary of the evacuation. The Evacuees Reunion Association organised the event, which was attended by 2000 people. About 3.5m people, mainly children, were evacuated from 1939 to 1945. Of the 1.5m citizens evacuated as part of Operation Pied Piper, 750 000 were children on their own.

WITH THE POSTCART

The coastal plateau between the Indian Ocean and the Outeniqua Mountains in the Southern Cape was known as Houtteniqualandt or Outeniqualand.  Outeniqua is derived from the Khoi-Khoi word meaning "laden with honey" or "people carrying bags of honey". Kannaland (Little Karoo) is between the Outeniqua and the Swartberg Mountains. Kanna is also a Khoi-Khoi word for a plant commonly found in the Little Karoo and was chewed for pain relief. The Lange Kloof runs between the Kamanassie and the Kouga Mountains to the north and the Outeniqua Mountains to the south. Pauw STEYL has been a stamp collector since his primary school days in Tulbagh, with a break while in high school. In 1978 he became a clergyman in Sutherland and reignited his interest in stamp collecting. In April 1980 he moved to George and joined the George Philatelic Society. Here he started a collection, The history of National Stamp Exhibitions in South Africa 1913-1960. He entered this collection in the annual National Stamp Exhibition in Paarl in 1987, winning a bronze award. He was encouraged to compile a postal history collection of the original George District. In 1988 Pauw found his first postal item originating from the George Post Office. Today this collection starts circa 1777, when George was a woodcutters post, and ends in 1911, George’s centenary year.

The original George District covered approximately 16402 km². It later comprised the districts of Knysna, Mossel Bay, Oudtshoorn and Uniondale. As the districts of the Colony were too extensive, a new district with its own Drostdy, named George Town, was seceded from Swellendam on 23 April 1811 by Governor CALEDON. The first landdrost was Adrianus Gysbertus VAN KERVEL. Knysna, Mossel Bay and Oudtshoorn became independent districts in January 1858 and Uniondale in December 1879.

In 1992 Pauw visited the National Archives in Cape Town and found a treasure trove in the "General Post Office Document: GPO 1 - Incoming letters from Country Postmasters to the Postmaster General: 1814–1880", all of 166 volumes. This served as the start of writing a book about the postal history in the original George District. As he was still a Chaplain at the Department of Correctional Services, full-time research was not possible. Over time, every letter of importance from the collection was transcribed by hand into several A4 examination pads. The last page of volume 166 was transcribed on 28 February 2002. Next, Pauw had to teach himself how to use a computer, with help from willing neighbours. Seventeen years later, the A4 format 230 page book describes postmasters, postal agents, post-contractors and post-drivers, along with many humorous incidents, and lots of history. I was fascinated to discover some unknown LEHMKUHL family history in this book. With The Postcart is available from Pauw via http://www.postalhistory.co.za

SHIPWRECK BOOK

Golgotha van die Oseane – Skeepsrampe aan die Agulhas-kus, by Jeanette Grobbelaar, covers shipwrecks along the Southern Cape coast from Cape Point to Cape Infanta. The title comes from a discussion printed in the South African Commercial Advertiser of 18 July 1840 regarding a lighthouse requirement... "to put a period, if possible, to the many and melancholy losses at that Ocean Golgotha, Cape L’Agtilhas." Jeanette was the curator of the Shipwreck Museum in Bredasdorp. This softcover 132-page book covers 120 shipwrecks and includes phoos, sketches and a map. It can be ordered from Inset Uitgewers at Eversdal: Insetuitgewers@gmail.com

BOOK - SAARTJIE BAARTMAN

THE HOTTENTOT VENUS: THE LIFE AND DEATH OF SAARTJIE BAARTMAN

Author: Rachel Holmes

Publisher: Jonathan Ball, 2007

The return of Saartjie BAARTMAN’s remains from a Paris museum in 2002 put the spotlight on her again. She was born in the Gamtoos River area in 1789. Her mother died soon after birth. Her father, as well as her intended husband, were both killed during the skirmishes in the area. Saartjie went to stay with Pieter CESARS who took her to Cape Town where she became a house servant and nursemaid in his brother Hendrik’s home. Hendrik, a free black, was the manservant of Alexander DUNLOP, a British Army surgeon. When DUNLOP left the Cape, he and Hendrik decided to make their fortunes in London by exhibiting Saartjie.

She left for London in 1810, with Hendrik and DUNLOP. On the 24th September 1810 she appeared as the Hottentot Venus at 225 Piccadilly. She was dressed in a body stocking, beadwork, feathers and face-paint. She danced, sang and played African songs on a ramkietjie (small Khoi guitar). She featured in cartoons, satires, a deck of cards, and later, in Paris, an opera.

According to London Missionary Society baptism registers, she was baptised in 1811 in the Collegiate and Parish Church of Christ in Manchester, as Sarah Bartmann.

Her exhibition became controversial and drew the attention of Robert WEDDERBURN, a Jamaican who founded the African Association to campaign against racism in England. He petitioned the courts, asking them to put an end to the exhibitions, saying Saartjie was not a free participant. The court found that she had entered into a contract with DUNLOP. She was questioned by Dutch interpreters who said that she told them she was not under restraint and understood that she was going to receive half of the profits from exhibitions. This contradicted accounts by eyewitnesses.

DUNLOP died in 1812. In 1814 Hendrik and Saartjie moved to Paris where Saartjie was again put on show. Hendrik later sold her contract to a French animal trainer and left for the Cape. Saartjie died in Paris on the 29th December 1815. Georges CUVIER, Napoleon’s surgeon-general, made a plaster cast of her body, preserved her genitals in formaldehyde, and handed her remains to the Musée de l'Homme in Paris. They were displayed until 1974, when they were removed from public view. An autopsy was conducted and the findings published by French anatomist Henri Marie Ducrotay de Blainville in 1816. The call for her remains to be returned to South Africa started in the 1940s. In the 1980s, US biologist Stephen Jay GOULD wrote an article, The Hottentot Venus, which focused attention on her plight. In 1994 South Africa made a formal request to France for her return. This was finally achieved on the 6th March 2002 and she was buried on Women’s Day later that year. Her remains were buried on a hill overlooking the small town of Hankey.

Archives in South Africa, England and France were used. The author used sources such as the court papers which revealed that Saartjie was also sought after for her singing.

BOER BOY: MEMOIRS OF AN ANGLO-BOER WAR YOUTH

Boer Boy: Memoirs of an Anglo-Boer War Youth, by Chris Schoeman (Zebra Press, 2010). This is the true story of a ten-year-old boy's experiences during the Anglo-Boer War of 1899-1902. Charles DU PREEZ recounts his life on the family farm Wonderkop in the Eastern Free State, the destruction of the farm, the flight during Lord KITCHENER's scorched earth campaign, and the capture of his mother and siblings. He recalls hiding in the mountains with his father, their capture and voyage aboard the Aurania to India as prisoners-of-war, life in the POW camps of Ambala (north of Delhi) and Solon (at the foot of the Himalayas), where he was the youngest inmate, and their repatriation to South Africa and re-building their lives after the war.

After serving briefly on commando, Charles' father, Philip, took the Oath of Neutrality and returned to his farm. The British military undertook to protect surrendered burghers against the efforts of their compatriots to get them to return to their commandos. Unable to implement this policy effectively, the British started the scorched earth campaign - rounded up the men and sent them away as prisoners-of-war, and destroyed the farms. In September 1901 Philip and his family decided to flee. They joined another 30 or 40 families, trekking away from the British. The troops found their laager, and Philip and Charles hid in a cave. They were captured in January 1902 and transported in open coal trucks to Durban, from where they were shipped to India. Philip’s wife, Charlotte, along with the younger children, was captured and interned in the Winburg concentration camp.

The war's scorched earth campaign was the first in modern conflict in which civilians were deliberately targeted as a way of shutting down the support networks of a guerrilla army. By mid-1902, 200 000 whites and 100 000 blacks were homeless and destitute. Thirty thousand Boer captives were held in India, Ceylon, St Helena and Bermuda, while their wives and children were held in concentration camps across South Africa.

Shortly after the war ended, Charles and Charlotte recorded their experiences. Charles also made a tape-recorded interview in the 1960s. The Anglo-Boer War Museum in Bloemfontein has the letters that Philip and Charles wrote from Ceylon to their family. Charles died in 1970. This book draws on these sources and other contemporary documents to describe a family going through that war. It also includes some introductory genealogy, information about the Winburg district and the build-up to the war. The book is illustrated with photographs from private and museum collections. There is much information about not only the DU PREEZ family but also about the VON MALTITZ family (their neighbours) and the WESSELS family, as well as a number of sharecroppers or bywoners that lived on the farm and later acquired their own farms. Boer Boy is also available in Afrikaans, titled Boerseun.

Philip and Charles brought back a love of polo from their time in India. The DU PREEZ and VON MALTITZ families became well-known in South African polo circles. The Hammonia area, close to Ficksburg, became one of the polo playing areas. At one stage three of the four Springbok polo players came from Hammonia.

Chris SCHOEMAN was born in Somerset East and has master's degrees in history from the University of Port Elizabeth and Colorado State University. He has worked as a historian and journalist and has authored and co-authored several books.

The DU PREEZ family tree:

Phillipe DU PREEZ born circa 1681 in Courtrai; died 21 May 1721 in Tulbagh, South Africa.
Son of Hercule DU PREEZ (born 1645 in Flanders) and Cecile D'AHTIS (born 1650 in Courtrai)
Phillipe married Elizabeth PREVOST (born 31 Oct 1683 in Les Attiques) in 1698 in the Cape.
Their children included Jacobus DU PREEZ (baptised 27 Sept 1711; died 04 Feb 1747 in Tulbagh)

Jacobus married Maria Susanna THERON (died 15 Jan 1797) in Drakenstein on 28 May 1741.
Their children included Pieter DU PREEZ (born at Patriarg Farm, Zeekoegat, Riversdal, and baptised 29 Dec 1748)

Pieter married Johanna DE BRUYN (baptised 02 Sept 1753) on 21 Oct 1770. He died on 12 Dec 1829 at Zeekoegat, Swellendam.
Their children included Jacobus Lodewicus (baptised 01 Nov 1772)

Jacobus Lodewicus married Susanna Jacomina MULLER (born 1772) on 26 Mar 1797. He died on 06 Sep 1851 in Riversdal.
Their children included Philippus Anthonie (born 26 Dec 1814)

Philippus Anthonie married Salomina Magdalena Christoffelina MULLER on 03 Nov 1838 in Swellendam.
He died on 09 Mar 1900 at Wonderkop Farm, Senekal.
Their children included Philippus Anthonie (born 27 Oct 1844)

Philippus Anthonie married twice -  first to Elisabeth Susanna WESSELS and then to Charlotte Aletta Ann HOPKINS (born 07 Apr 1867).
Elisabeth died in 1888.
He married Charlotte on 16 Oct 1888.
Their children were:
1) Philip Charles born 04 Nov 1891; died 1970 (married Alida Roos VON MALTITZ on 01 Jun 1925)
2) Ruby Edna born 26 Sep 1894 (married Jan Abraham VAN DER MERWE in 1919)
3) Nellie born 25 Aug 1896 (married David BOTHA in 1924)
4) Jacobus Lodewicus (born 02 Feb 1899; died 1952; married Henrietta RADLEY)
5) Charlotte (born 18 Dec 1903, married Andries RADLEY in 1925)
6) Helgard Marthinus (born 09 Apr 1906; married Jeanette VAN DYK in 1933)

Philippus Anthonie died on 20 May 1918 at Wonderkop Farm, Senekal. Charlotte died on 17 Aug 1949.

Charlotte Aletta Ann HOPKINS was the daughter of Charles Kingsley HOPKINS (born 16 Mar 1823; died 05 Mar 1889) and Johanna Gertruida Margaretha BOSMAN (born 08 May 1829; died 26 Dec 1883 in Heidelberg).
Charles was the son of Henry HOPKINS and Maria Helen HIBBERT (baptised 05 Nov 1784) who married on 01 Dec 1812.
He was born in Dulwich, London, England.
Charles arrived at the Cape in 1840.
He first married Johanna Gertruida Margaretha Elizabeth BOSMAN on 26 Jan 1847.
He married Johanna Petronella SCHOLTZ ((born 29 Mar 1843 in Worcester; died 11 May 1920; buried at Old Cemetery, Knysna) on 12 Aug 1884. She was the widow of Johannes Urbanus HUMAN who died on 23 Apr 1878. After Charles' death, she married J.C. TRUTER in about 1900.

Charlotte was recorded as "fled when the British came" in the Winburg camp register on 17 September 1901. Her husband was recorded as " Philippus Antonie, aged 58, on farm". The children put into the camp with Charlotte were recorded as Ruby Edna (7 years old), Nelly (5 years old) and Jacobus Lodewicus (2 years old). Charlotte and the children left the camp on 13 December 1901 for their farm.

MURDER ON THE DURBAN CASTLE

The Finest Type of English Womanhood, by Rachel Heath, is set in the 1940s. In 1946 Laura Trelling (17) of Sussex, meets Paul Lovell and she sets off for South Africa. Here she meets Gay Gibson, whose heart is set on becoming a star. Gay hailed from Birkenhead, before also heading off to South Africa. The two young women meet up in Johannesburg, where Laura is exposed to Gay's wild life of parties. After Laura's marriage ends and Gay's scandalous behaviour becomes too much, they arrange to return to England. During the sea voyage Gay disappears. The novel is based on the real-life "porthole murder" trial of 1948. The real Gay was described in the court case as "one of the finest types of English womanhood, physically, mentally and morally".

Rachel Heath was born in Bristol in 1968. She studied Drama and English at Hull University, then worked in publishing in London. She lives in Bath with her husband, a screen-writer and their three children. This is her first novel. She lives with her husband, a screen writer, and their three children in Bath. This is her first novel. She knew the story of the Porthole Murder. Her grandparents and mother went to live in Johannesburg after World War II, where her grandfather worked for the SABC and knew the real Gay GIBSON.

James CAMB (31), aka Don Jimmy, was a First Class steward on-board the Union-Castle Line vessel "Durban Castle" which sailed between South Africa and England. He was born in Lancashire on 24 December 1916. His first job was in a shoe factory, like his father. When World War II broke out he joined the Merchant Navy. After the war he joined the Union-Castle Steamship Line as a galley boy. In May 1946 he made his first voyage on the "Durban Castle". He was married to Margaret and they had a daughter. The family lived in Clova Street, Thornliebank, Glasgow.

On 10 October 1947 the "Durban Castle" set to sail at 4 p.m. from Cape Town for the 14-day voyage to Southampton, with 1300 passengers of whom 57 were in First Class, including the auburn-haired actress Gay GIBSON (21). She was born as Eileen Isabella Ronnie GIBSON and had appeared in a number of plays as part of her duties with the Women's Auxiliary Territorial Service. Her last film role was as Lorna, a fight manager's girlfriend, in "Golden Boy", a South African production. Her biggest hit was in "The Man With a Load of Mischief" opposite former British boxing champion Eric BOON. Her ticket was allegedly paid for by Charles SCHWENTAFSKY, one of her many admirers. He was born in Austria and had arrived in South Africa via Kenya.

Gay was born in Jamalpur, India, in June 1926, where her father was working as a blacksmith for the East India Railway. In 1943 she joined a tap-dancing group, the Top Hats Gay Dancing Company, in England. She took name Gay as her stage name. After the war, she sailed on the "Carnavon Castle" for South Africa with her mother Ellen (aka Daisy) to join her father who was already living in Durban. After arriving in Durban, Gay joined a theatrical company there before moving to Johannesburg.

On 18 October, off the coast of west Africa, Gay was reported as missing. The ship's captain, Captain Arthur PATEY, ordered the ship to search the waters, believing that she'd fallen overboard. His investigation found that the night watchman had reported that the service bell of Gay's First Class cabin, number 126, had been pushed several times in the early hours of 18 October. He responded and when the door opened slightly, he saw James, who quickly closed the door and said everything was in order. James denied being in her cabin. He drew attention to himself when, for the rest of the voyage, he wore a long sleeve jacket when short sleeve uniforms were commonly worn. He claimed that the scratches on his arms were from a heat rash, after he was examined by the ship's physician, Dr. Anthony GRIFFITHS.

When the ship docked in Southampton, police officers went aboard. James was questioned by Detective Sergeant QUINLAN. He said that Gay had invited him to her cabin that night and he had brought her a drink. He claimed they had sex but that she suddenly stiffened, then went limp and he noticed she was foaming at the mouth. He tried first-aid, and this was when the night watchman knocked on the door. Afterwards, James pushed the body through the porthole. On 29 March 1948, James was tried for murder. People who'd known Gay in South Africa were at the trial. Mike ABEL, an actor who'd worked with her, testified she'd had fainting fits in his presence. Henry GILBERT, an actor-producer, and his wife Dr. Ina SCHOUB, testified that Gay suffered from asthma. James was found guilty of murdering Gay and sentenced to death. An appeal was filed and during that time, the House of Commons was debating capital punishment. It was decided to commute all capital sentences still pending to life terms. After his trial, several women came forward with stories of being attacked by James on previous voyages. Gay's body was never found. Doubts about James' guilt remain to this day.

James was paroled in September 1959 and released from Wakefield Prison. Prior to his release, he was a star prisoner, working as a garage storekeeper in Dewsbury and returning to prison each day. After his release, he changed his surname to CLARKE. He had divorced Margaret and took a job as a waiter in Radcliffe. Soon afterwards he married a barmaid who had a young daughter. In 1967 he was convicted of attacking a 13-year-old girl. He was placed on a two-year period of probation. He went to Scotland where he worked as a head waiter in a restaurant. Shortly afterwards he was charged with sexual misconduct with three school girls. His parole was revoked and in 1971 he returned to prison. He was released in 1978 and went to live in Leeds, taking a job as a waiter at a golf club. He died of a heart attack at the club's bar on 07 July 1979, always having denied murdering Gay.

BOOK TOWN

Darryl Earl DAVID is an Indian lecturer in Afrikaans at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. He comes from a long line of teachers - his paternal grandparents were teachers, his father was a teacher and most of his maternal uncles and aunts were teachers. His love of books led him to want to create a book town in South Africa - something like Hay-on-Wye in the UK. Now, after five years of planning, the dream has become reality and Richmond in the Karoo is on its way to become South Africa's very own book town. David is no stranger to perseverance - his wife was in his Matric class but it took three years before she agreed to a date. Richmond is on the N1, about 600 kilometres from Cape Town, and its old architecture is quite intact. The first Book Town celebration was held last year with the late Patrick MYNHARDT as guest speaker.

Three years ago, the building Huis van Licht en Schaduw housed a micro-lender and the local ANC office. At night, the verandah was was by prostitutes doing a roaring trade with the passing truck drivers. Now the once neglected old building in Loop Street houses masses of books. There are six bookshops in the building - Richmond Books & Prints, The Book Orphanage, BooKarooz, Diesel & Dust, and Springbok Huis, as well as a sport museum and publisher. Richmond now has an annual book festival - Boekbedonnerd. The next Boekbedonnerd Festival is planned for the last weekend in October 2009.

Richmond's new claim to fame involves three characters. Peter BAKER, a Canadian-born vet, spent less than R20 000 for a Karoo house that now houses the Supper Club, a restaurant and reading room full of Africana. Darryl completed a doctorate on international book towns (there are now 26 such towns world-wide). It was Richard BOOTH who came up with the idea for a book town in Hay-on-Wye in 1961, as a way to revive a small town with a failing economy. John DONALDSON, sports journolist and bookdealer, bought Huis van Licht en Schaduw when his garage in Northcliff, Johannesburg, was too full of books. Since then he has bought a couple more Karoo houses. John grew up in Jan Kempdorp.

ORAL HISTORY TEXTBOOK

A new book, Oral History in a Wounded Country, is now available and looks at the background, ethics, methods and use of oral history in South Africa. It is aimed at educators at school and university level, archivists and museum curators. Professor Philippe DENIS of the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) was a co-editor. He is the Head of Sinomlando, which is based at UKZN and is the leader in South African oral history. The book is published by the University of KwaZulu-Natal Press.

ALEXANDRA TOWNSHIP HISTORY

Two Wits University academics are writing a book on Alexandra township's history. The township has been in existence for 104 years. The land it was originally for a white residential suburb in 1904, and was proclaimed a native area in 1912. Black people were allowed to own land under freehold titles in urban areas. Doctor Noor NIEFTAGODIEN and Professor Phil BONNER are working on "Alexandra - A History"., which covers the last 90-odd years and also highlights the heritage sites in Alexandra. If you have any photos to share, contact Thabo MOPASI at 082 768 9130 or 073 903 8335.

AFRIKAANS BIBLE IS 75 YEARS OLD

The Afrikaans Bible is 75 years old this year. On 27 August 1933, more than 5000 people gathered in Market Hall in Bloemfontein for the first public unveiling of an Afrikaans Bible. The first 10 000 copies arrived in Cape Town from England on 29 May 1933, from the British and Foreign Bible Society. To date more than 10-million Afrikaans Bibles have been distributed.

The campaign for an Afrikaans Bible was started in 1872 when Arnoldus PANNEVIS wrote in "De Zuid-Afrikaan" of 07 Sept 1872 about translating the Dutch Bible into Afrikaans. On 14 August 1875, the "Genootskap van Regte Afrikaners" was founded in Paarl. In 1884 Rev. Stefanus Jacobus DU TOIT (1847-1911) started the translation work. In 1878 Casparus Petrus HOOGENHOUT (1843-1922) translated the book of Mark, which has never been published. From 1893 to 1903 te book of Genesis was translated by S.J. DU TOIT and his helpers. On 16 May 1916 the Free State Synod of the NG Kerk took the decision that the Bible was to be translated into Afrikaans. Soon afterwards, the other three Synods followed suit. By 1923 there was a group of translators working full-time under the leadership of Jacob Daniel (Totius) DU TOIT, Rev. John Daniel KESTELL (1854-1941), Rev. Hermanus Cornelis Martinus FOURIE (1882-1939), Esias Engelbertus VAN ROOYEN and Rev. Barend Bartholomeus KEET. Rev. Willem Johannes CONRADIE (1857-1925) was the author of first Afrikaans Bible for children.

R.I.P. ROBERT MCGREGOR

The founder and publisher of the economic publication "Who Owns Whom", Robin McGREGOR (79) was recently murdered in his Tulbagh home. His body was discovered after police on a routine patrol stopped a grey Mercedes Benz in Bellville South. The three occupants could not prove ownership and were taken to the local police station. The car was found to belong to McGregor. Two safes were also stolen from the house. He founded "Who Owns Whom" in 1979. It was a summary of the annual report of every company listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, as well as the stock exchanges of Harare, Windhoek and Gaborone. He was born in Durban on 02 Aug 1929. He had no formal business training. After matriculating at Marist Brothers College in Durban, he went to Natal University and Rhodes University but left before finishing his degree. He became managing director of a small Natal sugar company. His next job was in the chicken industry. Robin then became manager of an apple co-operative in Elgin. He got interested in finding who owned large companies and bought one share in every listed company (more than 500 at the time), so he could receive their annual reports. He recorded the information on cards and within a year he had 15 000 cards. In 1982, he and his wife, Anne, settled in McGregor. He became the mayor but later resigned. Seven years later, he moved to Johannesburg but didn't enjoy it and spent more time on his farm near Rustenburg. His wife had Alzheimer’s disease for five years. She died a year ago and he moved to Tulbagh. Robin is survived by five children.

Robin also published "Who Made South Africa" in 2000. It was the first book in a planned series of 25, focusing on the contributions of various nationalities to South Africa. Volume one dealt with the Jewish and German contributions. Well-known South African companies founded by Jewish people include De Beers, Tiger Oats, Liberty Life, Lubners, South African Breweries, Anglo American, JCI and Western Deep Levels. Early Jewish families such as the Solomons and the Mosenthals are discussed. Samuel MARKS, Alfred BEIT, Barney BARNATO, the OPPENHEIMERS, Nadine GORDIMER and Irma STERN are also discussed. Among the German subjects are Carl LICHTENSTEIN, Paulus LUCKHOFF, Hans MERENSKY, Julius JEPPE, Adolph GOERZ, Louis LEIPOLDT and Olive SCHEINER.

KOOS MALGAS

The Owl House and its art works is under scrutiny again, as a new book was launched. There has been controversy over who created the unique sculptures - the artist Helen MARTINS or her helper Koos MALGAS, both deceased. Koos' grand-daughter, Julia, and Jeni COUZYN, author and physiotherapist of Nieu-Bethesda, have worked on the book Koos Malgas, Sculptor of the Owl House. It contains photos of the works and Julia's memories of her famous grandfather. Jeni has written an introduction, which includes "Koos Malgas was an illiterate sheep-shearer, a binge drinker who, like the rest of his community, lived and died in poverty and obscurity. Yet, riding on his extraordinary talent, the remote village of Nieu Bethesda became internationally known as the home of a unique Outsider Artist - not Koos, but "Miss Helen", the eccentric recluse who employed him."

OWNING YOUR STORY

An ex-convict who became a motivational speaker plans to sue the Department of Education and publisher Maskew Miller Longman for breach of privacy after his life story was published in an Afrikaans school textbook without his consent. Jacob MAKGWABA found out about the textbook when a student at Suncrest High School near Vanderbijlpark said she recognised him from his photograph in the Sonder Grense textbook for Grade 12 students. The entry was from an interview he had done with the Sunday Times newspapers in 2005. He was released from in 2005 after serving a 10-year sentence for armed robbery, followed by an 18-month trial period for hijacking, in which the charges were later dropped. He is now an anti-crime motivational speaker and a member of the Evaton Community Policing Forum. The publisher said they obtained the rights to publish the interview from the Sunday Times.

SAVING PAPERS, BOOKS AND PHOTOS

With recent floods in KwaZulu-Natal, family treasures have been lost. Here's some advice on how to salvage documents and photographs. Rinse the items with clean water as soon as possible, to get rid of silt and mud. It is crucial to completely dry the items as quickly as possible. Photographs should be removed from frames. Books and papers can be dried where air is circulating. Place plain paper towels in-between the pages and change as they become saturated. To dry photographs that have been professionally developed, place wax paper in-between each photograph as they are drying, or lay the photographs out individually. Photographs may curl if dried in this manner, but can be flattened later. Small books can be stood on end on a flat surface with the pages fanned open to air dry. Books and magazines with glossy paper must be opened so that every page remains separated while drying. Continue to dry items at least 24 hours beyond the point at which they seem dry to touch.

When items cannot be dealt with immediately, wrap each book in plastic or stack papers no more than 3 cm high and freeze. Photographs should be isolated between layers of wax paper before freezing. Items can be thawed at your convenience until the pages or photographs can be separated without tearing and then dried in the above manner.

BOOK REVIEW

THE PIG AND WHISTLE: A HISTORY OF A SETTLER HOTEL IN WORDS AND PICTURES
Author: Marion G. Moore
This 56 page book traces the history of this historical hotel and its owners from its beginnings to the present day. The anecdotes and legends are illustrated with mostly black & white photos, maps and old documents. If you would like to buy a copy, contact Marion, giving your name and postal address. She will give you details regarding payment options: Marion G. Moore, E-mail: ian.marion@xsinet.co.za

BOOK REVIEW

AN HISTORICAL MEANDER THROUGH THE MIDLANDS OF KWA-ZULU NATAL
Authors: Bill Bizley and Pat McKenzie
Publisher: Midlands Meander Association, 2007
This book covers the history of the Midlands area from the Yorkshire Methodist settlers that arrived in 1864, the Zulu War and the Anglo-Boer War, to local families and places, and indentured Indian labour. A large amount of research was done in the Howick Museum, family papers and photographs. For more information contact the Meander office at info@midlandsmeander.co.za

BOOK REVIEW

CHILDREN OF THE MIST: THE LOST TRIBE OF SOUTH AFRICA
Author: Scott Balson
Publisher: Interactive Presentations Pty Ltd, 2007
Scott BALSON spent 30 years working on the history of the Griquas and this novel is the result. Set in 1930 in Matatiele, it tells the history of the Griquas from pre-1652 to the present day, through a grandmother talking to her grand-daughter. The Griquas were pastoralists of mixed descent and trekked into the interior where they founded the town of Kokstad. The author was born in Tanzania, went to school at Michaelhouse, and started his working life with Barclays Bank. He moved to Australia in 1986. It was while working at Barclays that he came across the Strachan & Co coins, which led to his interest in the Griquas.