Helen
Elizabeth MARTINS was born on the 23rd December 1897 to Petrus Jacobus MARTINS
and Hester Catherine Caroline VAN DER MERWE, in Nieu-Bethesda. She was the
youngest of 10 children, of which only six survived infancy. Helen was named
after a sister who had died earlier. Of the three remaining daughters, Helen
was the youngest. Alida and Annie being the other daughters. Soon after Helen’s
birth, her mother developed heart problems and spent six months in hospital in
Johannesburg. Helen stayed with an aunt during this time. Her father had a
smallholding in Nieu-Bethesda and supplied the village with milk. The family
lived in the house that later became the Owl House.
In
November 1914 Helen passed Standard 8, and from 1915 to 1918 she attended
Graaff-Reinet Teachers' Training College, where she graduated 12th out of 76
students. After graduating, she worked as a school teacher in Wakkerstroom. On
the 7th January 1920 she married Willem Johannes PIENAAR in Nieu-Bethesda.
Willem, known as Johannes, grew up in Nieu-Bethesda and was a teacher in
Volksrust. The couple set up home on her brother Peter's farm at Wakkerstroom.
From 1922 to 1925 the couple took part in theatrical productions. The marriage did not last and on the 25th May
1926, they were divorced.
After
the divorce, he left South Africa for England with a Miss WIMBLE, also a school
teacher. She returned to South Africa shortly after their arrival. It is said
he attended Oxford, earned a doctorate, and changed his surname to PINARD. His
parents were Willem Johannes PIENAAR and Hester Catharina VAN ASWEGAN. His
brother Jan Gerhardus was born in 1894. He had two sisters, Jacomina Susanna
(Minnie) born in 1886 and Hester Catharina born in 1901.
After
the divorce Helen left Volksrust and taught in the Transvaal. She also worked
in a bookshop for a while. She moved to Muizenberg where she is said to have
worked in chemist and as a waitress. A letter dated March 1927, from Alida’s
husband, shows their concern for her at this time. In her 30s Helen returned to
Nieu-Bethesda to take care of her ailing parents. Her mother passed away from
cancer on the 10th January 1941 and her father, Piet, on the 1st February 1945.
After
her father’s death, the family saw to it that Helen could stay in the house.
She taught at a local Coloured school. On the 4th July 1952, Helen married
Jacobus Johannes Machiel NIEMAND, a pensioner and furniture restorer, but this
was a very short-lived marriage.
It was probably after the end of her second marriage that Helen started decorating the house with coloured glass and bright paint. She hired workmen to help her, first Jonas ADAMS and then Piet VAN DER MERWE. They made structural modifications to the interior of the house and replaced the original windows with panes of multi-coloured glass. Helen next turned her attention to the outside of the house and with Piet’s help, she created sculptures from cement and decorated with coloured glass. One of Piet’s early cement owls is still seen in the Camel Yard today. Helen did not do the physical work, she came up with the ideas and her helpers created them, although she used crush the glass. In about 1964 she employed Koos MALGAS, a sheepshearer and builder. He was soon her main helper, bringing her ideas to life. The locals were not receptive and soon, Miss Helen as she became known, became reclusive. Although she avoided the public in general, each Christmas she opened up the house and invited the locals to visit. By the time of her death, the house’s yard, known as Camel Yard, had more than 300 statues.
On
the night of the 4th August 1976, the frail and depressed Helen committed
suicide by drinking caustic soda. Arthritis and failing eyesight had plagued
her last years. She had spoken to Koos about ending her life. He went to the
police and told them, but by the time he got back, Mrs. HARTZENBERG, a
neighbour, was outside. Helen had collapsed outside the house and was found by
Piet, who called the neighbour. They helped her inside and called the district
nurse, sister Alice. Helen was taken to the Graaff-Reinet hospital where she
died on the 8th August.
A
few months before her death, she had drafted her last will with the help of her
close friend, Jill WENMAN, a teacher who lived in Cape Town. She stated she
wanted to be cremated and her ashes mixed with the crushed red glass she kept
in a bottle in her pantry, and then glued to Oswald, her favourite owl that
stood outside the kitchen door. As the will was not witnessed by two people as
required by law, her wishes were not honoured. After she was cremated, her
sister, Annie LE ROUX placed the urn with her ashes on a shelf in the sitting
room. Prior to the 25th anniversary of her death, the urn was locked in a safe
in the municipal office. At this time, a memorial gravestone in the form of a
cement owl was dedicated to Helen in the local cemetery.
It
is often thought that Helen was reclusive, but she did have friends that she
saw. Amongst these was Miss Frances who lived further down the same street as
Helen and was also a school teacher. Another local friend was Sister Alice
MEYER. Peggy DELPORT and her husband Sean ARCHER were also friends. Peggy was
an artist too. Francie LUND was another visitor. Piet VAN DER MERWE stayed in
almost daily contact with Helen, stopping by most days. In the 1950s-60s, Helen
also corresponded with Estelle VAN SCHALKWYK, wife of a Graaff-Reinet doctor.
Suzette PIENAAR was a nursing sister and often visited Helen at home. Suzette’s
husband, Stirling, was related to Helen through the marriage to Johannes. Helen
was also good friends with Lettie KRITZINGER, a school teacher Stirling’s aunt.
Stirling was born on the farm De Toring, and knew Helen well. Suzette
accompanied Helen in the ambulance to Graaff-Reinet hospital. She was cremated
and her ashes scattered in the Camel Yard by Stirling.
Helen
has been the subject of scholarly articles and was also the inspiration for
Atholl Fugard's play The Road to Mecca (and the later film starring Kathy Bates
as Helen). Three weeks before Susan Imrie ROSS died in 1996 from cancer, she
received her doctorate from Rhodes University for her Fine Art thesis that
dealt with the Owl House. She also signed a contract with Oxford Books to
publish a book about the life and work of Helen. A year after Susan’s death,
This is My World, was published.
The
Owl House was bought by the Nieu-Bethesda municipality from Helen’s nephew,
Herman E. MARTINS. In November 1989 it was
declared a national monument. It had been Helen’s wish that the Owl House and
Camel Yard be preserved as a museum. In January 1991 the Friends of the Owl
House, a charitable fund-raising group, brought Koos in to assist in the
restoration of the Owl House. He remained until his retirement in 1996. To
generate income, the charity published Helen’s hand-written recipe book, which
was discovered in a drawer. It contained household tips as well as recipes with
interesting names — blush pudding, maanligtert (moonlight tart), sago snow and
fairy pudding. It was written in English, Afrikaans and Dutch.
After
Helen’s death, Koos remained at the Owl House for two years, before relocating
to Worcester. He was 63 when he died from a stroke on the 20th November 2000 in
Graaff-Reinet. He was survived by his wife Johanna (60) and three daughters,
Magdalena (42), Johanna (39) and Sophie (34). According to Koos, Helen gave him
a piece of land which had belonged to her father, where he grew vegetables and
kept his horse there while she was alive. The land was claimed by the town
council after she died, as was the Owl House. There had been no official
paperwork for the land she gave Koos. He was the main breadwinner of a large
family and taught his son Johannes the technique he used. They made copies of
owls and some of the other figures to sell to tourists. In 1993, artist Beezy
BAILEY gave Koos some drawings he had done and asked him to make them into
sculptures. They were exhibited in Cape Town as a collaboration but none were
sold. A few years later Beezy asked Koos to take on a commission to decorate
the exterior of a building he had bought in Bloem Street, Cape Town. Koos
decorated the building with rooftop sculptures and wall pieces. He used the
money to buy a small car. He overcame alcoholism but battled with his health,
the fine dust from mixing cement and grinding glass had damaged his lungs.
In
March 2004, Justin MALGAS, a grandson of Koos, was sentenced in the
Graaff-Reinet magistrate’s court for breaking into the Owl House on the 7th
July 2003 and damaging eight sculptures. His accomplice was Johannes PIETERSE,
whose common-law wife was Koos’ daughter, Magdalena. Justin claimed that Helen
had left a will leaving the house to Koos. According to Julia MALGAS, Koos’
grand-daughter, her grandfather told them that he had found Helen after she
drank caustic soda. She told him to get a pen and paper, and she wrote on it
and gave it to him. Koos gave the letter to Pieter MEYER, a school teacher and
he gave it to the dominee. Julia stated that Koos could not read but that Helen
had promised him he would inherit the house and sculptures. Koos’ wife Johanna
knew about the letter but never questioned her husband about it, saying he
never revealed the contents. Mark WILBY, a former curator of the Owl House,
stated that Helen had left the house to a nephew, who in turn gave it to the
Nieu-Bethesda town council.
Ouma
Gongo OLIPHANT worked as a cleaner for Helen. She was in her 90s and living in
Pienaarsig in 1997.
Helen’s
nephew, Herman Engelbertus MARTINS, wrote his memories of her in a letter to
Egbert GERRYTS in August 1995. Herman was born on the 13th March 1915 in the
Volkrust district. He studied agriculture and became a farmer. He was also
involved in politics — National Party MPC Wakkerstroom (1949-1952), MP
Wakkerstroom (1952-1972), Deputy Minister Agriculture Technical Services
(1964-1966), Water Affairs (1964-1966), Agricultural Economics and Marketing
(1964-1966), Lands (1964-1966), Agricultural Credit and Land Tenure (1966),
Agriculture and Water Affairs (1966-1968), Agriculture (1968), Transport
(1968-1972). He served as South African consul in New Orleans. His daughter was
L. FAURE.
Petrus Jacobus MARTINS
born 1856, Nieu-Bethesda
died 01 Feb 1945, Nieu-Bethesda at age
89
married on 30 Jul 1881 in Graaff-Reinet
to
Hester Catherine
Cornelia VAN DER MERWE
born 21 Nov 1862, Graaff-Reinet
died 10 Jan 1941, Nieu-Bethesda at age
78
born 1882, died in 1970 at age 88
lived at Malelane Estates, eastern
Transvaal, in 1945
born 28 May 1884, died in 1939 in the
Transvaal at age 55
married Hendrina Susanna Johanna DU
PREEZ. Hendrina died in 1973
born 02 Jun 1888
born 28 Sep 1893
known as Annie
married Jacobus Petrus LE ROUX. He died
in 1949 in the Transvaal
born 08 Mar 1895, died in 1969 in Natal
at age 74
married Willoughby SEYMOUR. He died in
1961 in Natal
they had a daughter, Betty, who married
CROUS and they had a daughter, Nikki, who married COLLINS
died before 1897
born 23 Dec 1897 in Nieu-Bethesda, died
08 Aug 1976 in Graaff-Reinet at age 78
 |
| Helen Elizabeth MARTINS |
Sources:
Divorce
record: Willem Johannes Pienaar versus Helen Elizabeth Pienaar (maiden name
Martins). File reference: TPD Vol. No. 5/240 Ref. 85/1926, National Archives of
South Africa
Estate
papers: Petrus Jacobus Martins. File reference: MOOC Vol. No. 6/9/11650, Ref.
97968, National Archives of South Africa
A
Journey Through The Owl House, by Anne L. Emslie, Penguin Books, 1997
Obituary:
Graaff-Reinet Advertiser, 9 & 12 Aug 1976
New
Dictionary of South African Biography
This
is my World: The Life of Helen Martins, Creator of the Owl House; by Susan
Imrie Ross, Oxford University Press
Van
Der Merwe book, Janet Melville
The
Owl House: http://www.owlhouse.co.za/