The Story of the South African Flemmers - Hans Christian Flemmer

Aletta Alida Hopley     Hans Christian Flemmer                                       HANS CHRISTIAN FLEMMER 1848 –1896 ALETTA ALIDA HOPLEY 1856 – 1934     I have a special interest in Hans Christian, as he is my own great grandfather and the stamvader of all of the many ‘East London’ Flemmers, the Herberts, Lancasters, Richards, Vermaaks and by now many other families.   He was born in Korsør, Denmark on the 20th February 1848, the sixth child and third son of Christian August Flemmer and his wife Betty. As was the custom with healthy babies he was baptised at Korsør during the summer on the 25th July 1848, He was named after his grandfather, the venerable vicar of nearby Stillinge who had died the previous November.   Hans’ arrival in the family, and that of his brother Andreas Salvator two years later added to the financial pressure being felt by the good doctor and his wife. The allowance that the family had been getting from the doctor’s father stopped with his death the previous year. Continuing economic problems in Denmark and a growing family were big factors in the decision to move to the developing Cape Colony.   So it was in 1852 that Hans as a boy of four, found himself caught up in the whirl of packing, apprehension and sad farewells as the family made arrangements for the long trip to the Cape. His mother was very preoccupied, but he had plenty of company in his brothers and sisters Christian Ludvig 12, Camilla Henriette 11, Töger Abo August 10, Charlotte Marie Louise 7 and Kirstine Cathinca 6 and Andreas Salvator 2.   The group sailed from Copenhagen to London where they had rooms near the London docks and set sail for the Cape on the high tide of the 22nd November 1852. The three-month trip was long and trying for the whole family but particularly so for an active 4-year-old boy. What excitement on the 1st    of February the next year, to see the coast and Algoa Bay finally coming into view. Then the short ride through the surf before being plucked from the boat by a hoard of yelling, gesticulating black men, the likes of whom you had never seen in your young life! But at last on shaky legs on terra firma.   There was adventure after adventure from now on. The family camped in tents near the beach. Hans met his grandfather, Christian Johannes von Abo for the first time and then the trek through strange and wild country up to Cradock. Old notes say that the family left for Cradock three weeks after arriving on the beach which would be almost exactly this young boy’s birthday on 20th February – a birthday never to be forgotten!   Little is known about Hans’ early life in Cradock. We know that there was a small Danish community there. Uncle Töger von Abo with his wife and cousin Hans Michael Naested had travelled out with them on the ship. Another Danish family the Källunds, also lived in Cradock.  For the upper classes of Cradock life was quite formal, especially for the girls, and there was a very strong English influence. Schooling was quite rudimentary, there was a government school that took all comers and there were small private schools that opened from time to time.   Hans survived his school years well, and proved to be well educated in later life when he held various legal positions in Steynsburg. The young boys of Cradock were all said to be wonderful swimmers, spending much of their free time in the summer months in the Fish River that passes through Cradock. Cricket had come to the Colony with the British and matches were played in Cradock as early as 1850. One of the first mentions I found of Hans was in 1863 aged 15, when the Cradock News reported that he had been out for a duck in both innings! It seems the sporting prowess that was evident later in parts of this branch of the Flemmer family had not yet appeared.   In 1870 his father died quite suddenly at the age of only 57. Hans was 22 by then and was earning a living, so was able to contribute to his mother’s living costs and those of his younger brothers Marius and Andreas Salvator. My own grandfather’s notes say that he fought in the Border wars, the Basuto war and in other skirmishes with local tribes. Following one of these, he and his older brother Ludvig were granted land near the mouth of the Gonubie River near East London. Their farming venture did not last long as their farm was attacked and burned by local tribesmen.   By the early 1870’s Hans had moved to the emerging settlement of Steynsburg, about 100kms from Cradock on the road to the Orange Free State. He had probably moved from Cradock because it was already oversupplied with shops and traders. Steynsburg offered more opportunities as a developing community on the road to the Free State diamond fields.   It was at this time that he met his future wife, the young and striking looking Aletta ‘Lettie’ Alida Hopley. She was the daughter of Frederick Hurlingh Hopley and Wilhelmina Johanna von Abo, a half sister of Hans’ mother. Frederick Hopley was a prominent member of the community. A land surveyor from Swellendam, he had settled near Burghersdorp and was MP for the area for many years.    Lettie Hopley in all her finery     The Impey family were the Hopley’s neighbours, farming Biesjesfontein on the main road between Burgersdorp and Bethulie. There was some competition for the hand of young Lettie as described by Robert Hart Impey in his History of the Harts and Impeys-   We spent a very happy time at Newport. The Hopley family were the closest neighbours and we became very friendly. My brother Dick got very friendly with Lettie Hopley, and I believe got secretly engaged, the nearest form of a ring he could get was a D of a saddle knocked round. About his time a Mr. Hans Flemmer of Steynsburg, kept paying visits to the Hopleys, and to Dick’s dismay it was announced that he and Lettie were engaged. Shortly after this Dick left for the Transvaal and Lettie Hopley married Hans Flemmer.   Snatched from under his nose! Frederick Hopley and his wife must have decided that Hans had better prospects or perhaps they decided to keep it in the family. On 1st June 1873 Hans and Lettie were married at St. Peter’s Anglican Church in Cradock, he a young man of 25, she a girl of only 16. He carried his young bride off to Steynsburg where he lived most of the rest of his life.   I have a record of 10 children being born of the marriage of whom 6 survived to adulthood although I was told that Lettie had 13 children in all. The couple’s first child, Wilhelmina Augusta, was born on the 2nd March 1874, and was baptised at the Dutch Reformed Church in Burghersdorp two months later, on the 5th May. It turned out to be a year of celebration. Han’s brother Ludvig’s wife gave birth to Anna Louise in January and another brother, Töger’s wife gave birth to Frederick Stephen Philps Flemmer in December.   1874 was a busy year for the village of Steynsburg too. The local Dutch Reformed Church had agreed to sell off 300 erven that would become the basis of the new town. One of the conditions of the sale was that every owner of an erf on which a house stood had the right to graze 12 oxen, 2 cows, 3 horses or mules and 10 sheep or goats on the commonage.    I think that well-established surveyors Hopley & von Abo surveyed the layout of the town as there were streets with these names on the original town plan. In March Hans attended the first meeting of ‘Resident Householders’ who petitioned for the formation of a Municipality:  “We most respectfully solicit the favour of your convenience to summon a Public Meeting for such purpose at your earliest convenience”. The letter was addressed to ‘Toan Abo Esquire, JP’  for the Division of Cradock. It seems a little strange that they got this name wrong – it was of course Töger von Abo, Hans’ uncle. It was a fact that one couldn’t move very far in the towns of Cradock, Middelburg, Steynsburg and Burgersdorp without coming across a relative of the Flemmers at this time.   Petition for the formation of Steynsburg. Hans Flemmer's signature is bottom left   Several Public Meetings were held, chaired by Töger von Abo and in April with 14 votes, Hans was elected to a Committee formed to draw up the Municipal Rules and Regulations. He may well have had some legal training and may have had his studies cut short by his father’s death in 1870. The detailed set of Regulations was drafted by hand, covering every conceivable thing, from water rights, to the butchering of animals, to the imposition and control of dog taxes.   Also in 1874 Hans wrote to the Governor, the Hon. J.C. Molteno requesting a licence for a gunpowder magazine for the village 'strongly built of stone, door 3 inch deal, double locks 660yds from nearest erf.’ C.H. Evans was to be the magazine keeper and on the recommendation of the local JP (Töger von Abo) this was approved. This gunpowder magazine, now with a steel door can still be seen at the upper end of town near the golf course. The original gunpowder store built by Hans   By 1875 a Town Board had been elected and set to work with gusto, the first priority being to raise income through rates and taxes as quickly as possible. Tenders were called for for the basics: scales, a market table and notice board, picks, shovels and wheelbarrows much of which was supplied by Hans from his trading store. On 2nd September he and Lettie had their second child, Christian Frederick Hopley Flemmer who was baptised on 14th October at the DRC in Burgersdorp.   The first Municipal Valuation was completed in 1875 and a roll published for comment. Needless to say the objections flooded in. It is possible to see from the values of neighbouring properties that Hans’ property was valued at £600-£700, a considerable amount at that time. This same year his brother Marius, 22, who had qualified as an attorney and notary arrived and set up a practice in the town. I don’t intend to go into the day-to-day affairs of the town and it’s Board, but there are some interesting asides in the Municipal Minutes.   Recurring problems over the years centred on the appointment and duties [and failure to perform them] of the streetkeeper.  Among other things, he kept law and order in the absence at that time of a police force. The street keeper was continually hauled over the coals for dereliction of duty – at a salary of £6 per month the job would not attract many people! Another ongoing problem was the management and use of the water furrows. In the days before piped water this was the only means of getting water to individual households. There were continual problems with the maintenance of furrows and with people abusing the system. Then there was the dog problem. At regular intervals over the years money would be allocated to buy cartridges and to pay someone to shoot all unlicensed dogs. There is an early complaint from a farmer downriver who had found ‘numerous’ dog carcasses washed up on his land after being thrown in the river by the streetkeeper, who had organised the latest cull! Although as I have mentioned, dog tax was a source of revenue, it was dangerous to both farm stock and the human population to have packs of semi-wild, possibly rabid, dogs roaming the streets.   In November 1876 Hans was asked to attend a meeting of the Commissioners and was duly elected to the Town Board under the Chairmanship of J. Callahan, who was to be involved for many years to come. In March of the following year the tri-annual election of the Town Board took place and Hans was elected Chairman for a three-year term. For the time, and in a town of this size, this was a position of some prestige and honour and certainly would be good for his trading business.   On 3rd of June 1877, my grandfather, Marius Toger Flemmer was born at Middelburg, probably on Hans’ farm ‘Leeufontein’. In 2004 I went to look for the place my grandfather was born and I quote from the notes I made:  Rosmead I went to look at the farm Leeufontein where HCF farmed in the 1870’s and where Marius Toger Flemmer was born. I met Hannes Louw at the Rosmead Butchery which he and his brother own. He couldn’t have been nicer or more helpful. The original Leeufontein was 35 000 hectares a very big farm but was eventually subdivided into 12 farms, several called Leeufontein. Hannes’ has the oldest buildings and he took me there. He occupies a beautiful house built in a German SWA style in 1903 by von Bulow. It had gas lights a major innovation and they are still there with lovely shades all on electric now.  At the back is the original Flemmer house, now extended to form a warehouse cum tractor shed. You can see the original house within the existing structure. It was a typical oblong of mud brick with pitched tin roof. Four square interleading rooms, reed ceilings, only four windows and one door. It felt strange to be standing in the rooms where they had lived all those years ago.   The same year the 9th Frontier War (Gaikca Galecka War) broke out and many local men joined up for the campaign.  As we will see Hans was in Steynsburg during most of the war, so it is unlikely that he was involved in the fighting.   For the remainder of 1877 and in to 1878 there followed a series of spats between Hans and other members of the Board –typical storm-in-a-teacup small town affairs. It started in May 1877 when Hans, as Chairman, told the Board that he had ordered 220 trees for the town at a cost of 55/- per hundred (£6 1s 0d worth).  Not very significant perhaps except that the Board’s bank balance was13/7d and there was an overdraft of £3  6s 1d with the Oriental Bank! At a meeting in August we find the following in the minutes –   23 August Mr Flemmer (Chairman) ‘states that he has made a furrow and dug holes in the streets by his garden for the purpose of planting trees and requested the board to approve of what he had done’ Approval given   Proposed by HCF seconded by J Michel ‘That a commission consisting of the proposer and seconder be appointed to distribute the trees to the inhabitants immediately on arrival’ Carried   Although ‘carried’ this clause was subsequently withdrawn. Hans never attended another meeting, and he resigned from the Board in September having missed three meetings. Does this and what follows tell us anything about the character and personality of Hans? We have no contemporary accounts, no detailed obituary, to give us any hint of what he was like as a person, but in this and subsequent exchanges he comes across as stubborn at the very least!   Perhaps he had upset some members of the Board by ordering the trees without prior approval – reading between the lines he seems to have clashed with Callahan who was to be chairman for the next 30 years. From a meeting in October –   25 Oct 1877 Commissioners Callahan and Collins reported that in accordance with the resolution of the last meeting they had this day called on Mr Flemmer to obtain the necessary information respecting the trees which the municipality had been called upon to pay for but Mr Flemmer refused to see Mr Callahan and would only consent to see Mr Collins Proposed ‘ that the Town Clerk be specially instructed to hand to Messrs. Flemmer and Michel a copy of the above report and request them to furnish a statement before the next meeting showing the number of trees issued and to whom and the number on hand’ Carried Proposed ‘That no payment be made for the trees until Messrs Flemmer and Michel furnished their report ‘   This must have been the talk of the town, the ex-Chairman actually refusing to see Mr. Callahan. Given common courtesies of the time this would be unheard of. In any event a report on the trees was furnished by Flemmer and Michel and seems to have been accepted in the end, the Commissioners taking over the distribution of the trees themselves.   Hans then infuriated the Board by sending summonses via his attorney brother Marius, the Board’s own debt collector, for the payment of various accounts for rental and for the trees which he had supplied! Talk about rubbing salt in the wound. Knowing very well the parlous financial state of the Board he capped that by demanding payment of a £25 promissory note that he had signed when the Board was short of funds. Part of a minute of this time has been deliberately censored so must have been sensitive. In the end the Board had no option but to admit their liability for the amounts involved, resolving to pay ‘when funds became available from the rates’.   Then followed some tit-for-tat –   Hans bid £3 for a pump on a municipal auction but this was rejected at a Committee meeting when Callahan bought it for £7 although he wasn’t at the auction   Following a complaint from Hans that his ‘boy’ has been chastised by the streetkeeper for taking water from the furrow on Sunday, the Board wrote to him suggesting he read the Regulations on the notice board   The streetkeeper reported that Mr. H. Flemmer’s scale is too far from the wall of his shop and he was warned to move it. Other notes from the minutes show other transgressions:   The Chairman reported that he did not proceed with the action against Mr Hans Flemmer for causing the tree in front of Mr Walker’s dwelling house to be damaged but would recommend the Board give Mr Flemmer notice to cease interfering with municipal trees. In future any complaints he may have to send direct to the Board otherwise the Board will have to take legal action against him   H Flemmer writes to complain of numerous dead dogs and cats near his house which was ‘becoming a nuisance’ Streetkeeper ordered to deal with this urgently.   Report from streetkeeper that Mr H Flemmer has ‘deposited stable litter on the erf belonging to Rev Coetzee’ He will be requested to remove it and refrain from this practice   Letter from Mr H. C. Flemmer requesting furrow made past Mr. Van der Merwe’s house to lead water into his garden – plan enclosed – considered and rejected   Comm. van der Merwe reports that furrow down von Abo St completed, that furrow behind old gaol across von Abo St filled in. Mr. H Flemmer had without permission opened the cross furrow again. Resolved to have it filled in and Mr. Flemmer will be warned he will be prosecuted next time – in future he must only get his water from furrow provided by Commission   Mr Flemmer has thrown a quantity of garden rubbish into the street. Streetkeeper to see about it.   We are too far away now to know what was behind all of this, let’s call it a clash of wills – we will never know. Through all of this bickering brother Marius kept his position as collector of debts, outstanding rates and taxes and as legal adviser to the Board. It was a small town and despite the arguments the Flemmer business prospered. In fact it was about this time that Hans was made a Justice of the Peace for Steynsburg. More than that, in the absence of any policing or legal structure in the town he was an ex-officio magistrate at the Periodical Court with authority to issues fines up to £10.   In 1879 the family was still living on the farm Leeufontein near Rosmead when another son, William Flemmer was born on 22nd September. I haven’t found any other information about him and believe that he died as a baby. Farming was a difficult business, frequent droughts and locust swarms being only two problems to contend with. This was why the family seems to have kept its business and property interests in Steynsburg during this time. In 1882 Hans’ wife Lettie bought another property when she obtained a £300 mortgage to buy land and buildings at lots 134/135 Steynsburg (present erven 537/542).     The Flemmer home at the corner of present  Coetzee & President's Streets. Now occupied  by a church group       Another boy, Wilfred, was born on 28th July 1883. Again I have no information about this child, either as to where he was born or how long he lived.   The family was back in Steynsburg by 1886 when Waldemar Kjeldberg Flemmer was born on 29th March. Hans seemed to have given up farming altogether, staying in the town from then on. The dorp was slowly developing but already the attention had switched to the diamond fields and shortly after to the great gold reefs of the Witwatersrand. There was still no policeman in Steynsburg and Hans was ‘issuer of summonses’ for the Periodical Court. A typical case he would have dealt with was when the Town Board passed an ordinance forbidding people ‘discharging guns in the town’ – this order was no sooner in place when the local doctor was fined 2/6d, although the record remains silent on what exactly the doctor was doing ‘firing his gun down the street’!   During the seven years between 1888 and 1895 Hans and Lettie had at least four more children, all born in Steynsburg:   Constance Eloise                9th  March 1888 Harold Theodore                  29th  May 1891 Wilfred Hopley                      30th  April 1892        and Oswald Christian                 23rd  March 1895   Hans only lived for about 18 months after the birth of Oswald and died of bladder cancer on 8th September 1896 at his home in Steynsburg. His death is noted in an obituary in the Cradock News:   The obituary that appeared in the Cradock News   And so the life that had begun 48 years before in the bitter cold of a Danish winter ended 10 000 kilometres away in a hot and dusty Karoo town. When in Steynsburg I searched in vain for a gravestone – it seems that a nearby river had flooded the small cemetery and many gravestones were lost over the years - a pity.    The family had known he was critically ill for months and they would all have been prepared for the end, difficult though this must have been.  Lettie now found herself at the age of 40 with seven children, the oldest 22 but being a girl (Wilhelmina) a non-contributor to the family’s income.   The estate papers show that the couple had signed an ante nuptial contract at the time of their marriage. Being well aware that he was dying Hans had also had time to put his affairs in order. In November the year before his death a codicil to his will had bequeathed a £500 life policy to Lettie that would at least give the family ready money until the estate could be finalised. Hans had had a business described as a ‘Commercial Agency’ for many years and it had by all accounts been reasonably successful. A second codicil noted that estate proceeds could be used to continue the agency should Lettie so choose. From his Liquidation and Distribution Account it is clear that the business had been transferred to his wife’s name by the time of his death.   The major account for payment was that of Dr. Herman Vermaak for £96 14s 0d, a considerable amount and indicative of how long Hans had been under treatment. The nett value of the estate was £2 493 9s 6d of which £475 0s 0d consisted of properties in Steynsburg. These are described as:   Immovable property erf 29 (present erf 350 cnr. Eendrag and Vorster west side) £125 0s 0d a small dwelling house Immovable property erven 22 & 13 (present erven 372-374 cnr. President and Vorster west side) £100 kraal and outhouses Immovable property erven 136 & 143 (present erven 531-536 President St. between Coetzee and Kerk north side) £250 house and outhouses.   There was also Household furniture valued at £15 0s 0d and 3 horses, a cow and calf worth £40 among other assets.   Each child inherited £80 18s 2d and as most were minors a Deed of Kinderbewijs protected their interests with Lettie sole beneficiary of the balance. She signed the L&D accounts in October 1897 in East London where she had gone to recover her health and strength after a very difficult period in her life.   Other papers in the file show that by December of the year after Hans died Lettie was making arrangements  to marry her late husband’s brother Marius, the marriage taking place in 1899. It may seem strange that there was effectively no mourning period, but I think that the marriage may well have been agreed to even before Hans died. Marius who was 43 by then had been in Steynsburg for more than 20 years.  Who better to marry Lettie and provide her and her young family with some sort of security? Other members of the family may have been disapproving. Marius’ brother Töger who had been appointed trustee to the estate wrote to the Master’s office saying ‘I decline to continue to act’ and requesting that his brother Marius be appointed trustee. I find it strange that this marriage is not mentioned at all by my grandfather in his brief notes on the family.   The period 1896/1897 was one of great difficulty and turmoil in the Cape Colony. Events were unfolding which would have a dramatic effect on the fortunes of the family and of course on all the people of South Africa. 1896 saw the disastrous Jameson Raid - forerunner of the Anglo - Boer War and Rhodes was forced to resign as Prime Minister of the Cape. In the farming communities like Steynsburg there was severe drought and worse still, the rinderpest had started to decimate cattle herds. Desperately hard times lay ahead and we will see how the family fared in the section covering the life of Marius and Lettie.   The children of Hans Christian Flemmer and Lettie Hopley were:   1                      Wilhelmina ‘Minnie’ Augusta Flemmer 1874 – 1968 (1) Herman Vermaak 1864 – 1918     (2) Charles Brightson Caley          Wilhelmina ‘Minnie’ Augusta Flemmer Herman Vermaak     Wilhelmina ‘Minnie’ Augusta Flemmer, Hans and Lettie’s first child was born at Steynsburg on 2nd of March 1874. Lettie was only 17 years old at the time and newly arrived in the town. I am told that Minnie was the first white baby born in the newly established Steynsburg. The Hopley family was prominent in Burgersdorp and it was there that the infant was taken for christening. It was a trip of about 60 kilometres and despite being a main road to the Orange Free State, it was in reality a very rough and ready ox wagon track.   Wilhelmina was baptised in the Dutch Reformed Church on 5th May 1874. Although the Flemmers were Anglican the nearest Anglican church was in Cradock, besides which there were grandparents and aunts and uncles at Burgersdorp. We have a copy of the baptismal record:   Wilhelmina Augusta Flemmer Born               2.3.1874 Baptised        5.5.1874 Burgersdorp   Father              Hans Christian Flemmer Mother            Aletta Alida Hopley Witnesses     Salvator Andries Flemmer                         Bettie Cornelia Augusta van Abo                         Wilhelmina Impey                         Wilhelmina Johanna von Abo   This is what makes these records interesting:   ‘Salvator Andries’ Flemmer is the brother of Hans Christian. Baptised Andreas Salvator he was aged 25 and was a veld koronet and Justice of the Peace in Middelburg at this time.   ‘Bettie Cornelia Augusta van Abo’ is the child’s grandmother Betty Camilla Augusta Flemmer (Abo) widow of Dr. Flemmer and living in Cradock   Wilhelmina Impey was a childhood friend of Lettie’s as we have seen. Aged 16 at this time, six years later she married John Nolan Neylan. One of their daughters, Kathleen, married my grandfather Marius Toger Flemmer, Minnie’s younger brother.   Wilhelmina Johanna von Abo was Betty’s half sister, the wife of Frederick Hurlingh Hopley and the child’s other grandmother.   A good example of the long and complex family ties between these families.   As with most girls and women of this period, little is known about Minnie’s childhood. When she was a little over a year old a brother, Christian Frederick Hopley Flemmer was born although he did not live long. As a two year old she moved to the farm Leeufontein where her brothers Marius Toger and William were born. Back in town as a five year old she first went to the local school and was a constant help to her mother and the ever-increasing family. As a young girl she was sent to Diocesan Girls School in Grahamstown where she matriculated and took a teaching diploma. Minnie, like many in the family was very athletic and an outstanding tennis player.   In 1890 aged 16 she was confirmed at the Holy Cross Anglican Church in Steynsburg. The Flemmers were quite well-to-do by now, with a big house in the town and three horses in a large garden.   In 1896 all of this changed with the death of her father. She was 23 and a striking looking young woman.  The family were going through a difficult period with her mother having to provide for 6 other children and it was about his time that Herman Vermaak entered Minnie’s life.   Dr. Herman Vermaak had been the District Surgeon in Steynsburg since at least 1892 and was the Flemmer family’s doctor. He had attended Minnie’s father during the months before he died of cancer. He even played in the same cricket team as her uncle Marius, in one game at least, with about as much success - 1st innings 4, 2nd a duck!    Herman was ten years older than Minnie and had been born at Alexandria in the Eastern Cap, the son of a wealthy farming and trading family. His father had died before Herman was a year old and he was raised by his uncle Thomas Anthony Muller Vermaak, who adopted him.  As a young man he had gone to St. Andrew’s at Grahamstown where he matriculated in 1883. He had a distinguished school career winning first team colours for rugby and cricket and winning the mile race in 1882. He was also a prefect, head choir boy and a sergeant-major in the Cadet Corps.   Herman went to medical school at Edinburgh University, and probably completed his degree at Guy’s Hospital in London. I am told that he wrote and passed the exams to be elected a Member of the Royal College of Surgeons in 1888. He was 24 then and this would be a remarkable achievement.    We are told that he married Helen Williams in London in 1898, but subsequent events make me think that this date is wrong and that he had married earlier. Apparently on arrival Helen hated everything about the Colony and Steynsburg, and in the end there was no choice but for her to go back to England. Back in Steynsburg Herman and Minnie fell in love but there was of course no question of a divorce. There have been whispers of some sort of scandal which I believe can be completely discounted. The rumours were fuelled by the news that Helen had died a frightful death in a fire at her home started by her red-hot curling tongs in November 1898.   Now a free man, Herman proposed to Minnie and they were married in Steynsburg on the 13th November 1899, a month after the outbreak of the Anglo-Boer War. There is a report in the Midland News the next day:   Dr Vermaak has married Miss Flemmer. Oldest daughter of the late Hans Christian Flemmer. Dr Boschoff tied the knot at the Dutch Reformed Church. She came in on the arm of her stepfather Morris (Marius) Flemmer while Mr M (MT) Flemmer jnr was bestman. Miss Conni Flemmer was flowergirl. The bride was tastefully dressed in cream silk with hat and veil to match. A brass band played outside.   A little over a month after this announcement the Midland News published one of its brief reports from the war front:   28th December 1899 Dr Vermaak has returned   Behind this terse statement lay something of a drama which bears repeating here. Nearby Stormberg Junction was held by 800 Boers and a large British force of 2 600 men attempted to recapture it early in December. The British were led by General Gatacre and far more competent historians than I have covered the disaster that followed. Through a combination of over confidence and sheer incompetence the British had 634 men captured, 28 killed and 10 officers and 51 men wounded. On the Boer side losses were put at 6 killed and 27 wounded.   By chance when visiting Burgersdorp in 2004 I came across a manuscript titled Under Two Flags, written by Francis Ruysch Tennant, surveyor, J.P. and prominent citizen of Burgersdorp. As it happens he was related to the Flemmer family, having married Henrietta Oostwaldina von Abo in 1858. He has the following to relate:   14th December ‘Yesterday Dr. Vermaak went from Steynsburg to the Boer Camp at the battlefield out of curiosity. As he did not have any surgical instruments with him to indicate that he came for professional purposes, and as his services were not required he was arrested as a spy and was sent to Burghersdorp goal to be forwarded to Bloemfontein. He was just married one month yesterday and now in a prison cell.’   We can imagine Minnie’s fear and anxiety when the news reached her. Family legend has it that she rode a tandem bicycle to the camp of Boer Commander Grobler ‘who gallantly yielded to her entreaties and explanations and allowed her to take her husband home on the cycle.’   This may be true but Tennant records:   19th December ‘Dr. Vermaak was released after five days and nights confinement in a felon’s cell. He dined with us today and declares that should there be another battle and the Boers wire to him for assistance he will tell them to go to the Hot Place. He lost 10 pounds during his imprisonment.’   Safely back in the bosom of his family he concentrated on his medical practice – he was by all accounts a very good doctor, although prone to give his services free, to the financial detriment of his growing family.    I have a record of 4 children born of the marriage:   Marius Salvator Vermaak born in Steynsburg 26th October 1900   Herman Nourse Vermaak born in Odendaalsrus 19 November 1902   Wilhelmina Vermaak who I believe died at birth.   Catherine Alieda ‘Joy’ Vermaak born in Odendaalsrus 25 April 1915   For some reason after leaving Steynsburg the family moved around a lot, living in Odendaalsrus, Warrenton, Willowmore, Hoopstad, Pietermaritzburg, Herschel and Dewetsdorp. Herman saw service in the South African Medical Corps in the 1914/18 war, serving in East Africa.   Weakened by the malaria that invalided him out of the army he died aged 54, on 18 October 1918 in the Central Hotel Dewetsdorp, a victim of the flu epidemic that killed millions worldwide. His wife was then aged 44 and the children 18, 16 and 3 and there was virtually no money left in the estate.   Minnie got a job as Supervison Mistress at Eunice High in Bloemfontein and then as a matron at Grey College. In about 1924 she married Charles Brightson (or Bridson) Caley, of whom I know nothing at all. By family accounts the marriage lasted six years and was a disaster.    Minnie was a great sportswoman and a life long tennis player. She won dozens of medals over the years, including the Griqualand West Championship in 1908. She won the Krugersdorp District Singles Championship when she was 60, and played tennis until the age of 76. She lived with her daughter and son-in-lw Joy and Lanky Lancaster from the early 1950's. They lived in Plumstead, Cape Town and she stayed with them for the remainder of her life. Her granddaughter Lesley Rose(Lancaster) remembers her very well.   Minnie Caley was average height and slimly built.   She helped Mom with us children and although she was always ready to smile - she had quite a temper.     Her grandson Roy Hopley Vermaak confirmed that she was a ‘good’ granny although she packed a powerful right hook, usually into the shoulder muscle! Minnie died at Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town on 23 September 1968 at the age of 94 Minnie and Herman had four children:   1.1 Marius Salvator Vermaak 1900 – married (1) Hortense Annabelle Wellman. He married (2) Norah Lyle       Marius Salvator Vermaak   Marius was born in Steynsburg during the Anglo Boer War and was named after his Flemmer uncles, Marius and Andreas Salvator. As we have seen the family moved around when he was young. Marius matriculated at Potchefstroom Boys High where he was a prefect. Like his mother he was a good sportsman excelling at rugby and going on to play scrum half for both Orange Free State and Natal. I am told he had a Springbok trial.   He worked for the Department of Justice all his life, becoming a magistrate and being posted to at least 11 different towns all over South Africa. He was an excellent shot and loved hunting and fishing. During World War II, on the basis of his shooting skills he applied to join an anti-aircraft regiment, but was turned down as his service as a magistrate was considered essential. He holidayed at Haga Haga where he was often joined by his Uncle Marius – my grandfather MT Flemmer.   He retired in Johannesburg. His second wife Norah, finding him bored with being a pensioner persuaded the Minister of Justice to find him something to do. He continued to deal with and sign Justice Department documents until he died in his 70’s.   Marius and his first wife Hortense Annabelle Wellman had two children:   1.1.1 Clive Herman Vermaak 1926 – c 1985 married (1) Helena Susannah van Rensburg 1928 – 1982  He married (2) Maria Susanna Delport   Because his father moved so often Clive went to many different schools, completing his matric at Robertson High School. He was a brilliant student according to his brother Roy. He joined the Department of Justice in Upington, but resigned to join the Army at the outbreak of WWII. Posted North he saw service in North Africa and Italy. Like so many young men who went through this conflict he was, according to his brother, never the same again.   He rejoined the Department of Justice and moved around South Africa in various postings. He passed his law degree privately, practicing as an advocate in Johannesburg.   Clive and Helena had six children:   1.1.1.1 Waldemar Vermaak 1954 – married Cornelia Truter – one child 1.1.1.2 Sonja Vermaak 1957 – married Johan Roets 1.1.1.3 Roy Herman Vermaak 1958 – 1.1.1.4 Justin Vermaak 1962 – 1.1.1.5 Vivienne Susan Vermaak 1966 – 1.1.1.6 Marcia Vermaak 1969 –   1.1.2 Roy Hopley Vermaak 1931 – married Hilda Burger 1938 – 2005   Like his brother, Roy went to many different schools as the family moved around South Africa, and matriculated at Barkly West. I had the pleasure of meeting him at his home in Belville in 2005 and he has been the source of much of the information we have on this branch of the family.   He joined the Magistrate’s Office in Port Elizabeth before joining Barclays Bank DCO in Graaff Reinet. He was with them his whole working life at various towns in South Africa and Namibia. He became Accountant in Charge and was eventually made an Internal Auditor in Windhoek. He retired from the bank in Belville.   Although he said he wasn’t a brilliant sportsman he played rugby, cricket, tennis, golf, snooker and darts. He also loved to hunt and fish and has a keen interest in racing pigeons.   Roy and Hilda had two children:   1.1.2.1 Marius Vermaak 1957 – 1.1.2.2 Clive Vermaak 1960 –   Marius Salvator and his second wife Norah had four children:   1.1.3 Rosemarie Vermaak married John Smit – they had four children: 1.1.3.1 Annetta Smit – one child 1.1.3.2 Chinnery Smit 1.1.3.3 Doreen Smit married Steve Noll – three children 1.1.3 4 Kathleen Smit married Bernard Andersen – two children   1.1.4 Annemarie Vermaak married Michael Pugin – they had three children: 1.1.4.1 Michelle Pugin married Kleingeld – one child 1.1.4.2 Billy Pugin 1.1.4.3 Angela Pugin   1.1.5 Marius Vermaak 1947 – married (1) unknown spouse. He married (2) Alida Odendaal 1963 –   I met Marius in Johannesburg where he was a diamond dealer. I am told that he never had any interest in school and that when he wrote matric he handed in the question paper and took his answers home! Needless to say he failed.   His mother knew a Belgian diamond polisher who lived near the family and persuaded him to take Marius under his wing. He thrived, completed his apprenticeship and eventually started his own successful diamond business in Johannesburg.   Marius and his first wife had one child:   1.1.5.1 Gary Vermaak –   Marius and his second wife Alida had one child, who was named after a famous diamond:   1.1.5.2 Sancy Vermaak 1993 –   1.1.6 Jeanne Marie Vermaak married Max Rautenbach – they had one child 1.1.6.1 Georgia Rautenbach   1.2 Herman Nourse Vermaak 1902 – married Magdalena van der Merwe 1903 –   Herman Nourse Vermaak Herman’s second name was that of his godfather, a hunting friend of his father’s. He matriculated at Potchefstroom Boys High where he was a prefect. I know little about him, except that he worked for Barclays Bank his whole life ending his career as an accountant. He died at Frankfort.   Herman and Magdalena had two children:   1.2.1 Linda Isobel Vermaak 1936 – married Derick Schaffner   1.2.2 Herman David Vermaak 1939 – married Margaretha Isabella Claasen 1941 – they had three children:   1.2.2.1 Mignon Vermaak 1966 – 1.2.2.2 Renee Vermaak 1969 – 1.2.2.3 Tanya Vermaak 1973 –   1.3 Catherine Alieda ‘Joy’ Vermaak 1915 – 2002 married Arthur Compton ‘Lanky’ Lancaster 1909 – 1987.               Catherine Alieda ‘Joy’ Vermaak  Arthur Compton ‘Lanky’ Lancaster Joy went to Eunice High in Bloemfontein where her mother was working as a Supervison Mistress. She met Lanky in Kroonstad – he was baptised at Winburg and was probably born there. The couple spent the first few years of their married life in Kroonstad where their first two children, John and Mark were born. Lanky was employed in the staff department of Standard Bank. In 1943 he was transferred to Cape Town where their other two children, Terry and Lesley were born.   The family moved to Plumstead where they bought their first house in 1952. Lanky was promoted to Accountant and then Manager in the Bank and moved around the various branches in the Cape Peninsula such as Muizenberg, Plumstead, Mowbray, Parow, Strand Street and many others. He was very happy in his career but took early retirement due to ill health.   During his time with the bank and right through his retirement, Lanky spent most evenings and weekends in his workshop at home where he did carpentry. He made items of furniture for the family home and toys such as dolls houses, petrol stations, penguins and many more which Joy then painted. These were sold to provide additional income for the family.    Joy and Lanky stayed in their house in Melville Road Plumstead until he died in 1987. Joy moved to the Fairmead Home in Rondebosch where she lived happily for the rest of her days.    I first remember meeting the Lancaster family in the 1960’s when we lived in Fish Hoek near Cape Town, and our two families used to get together. Although I have moved around a lot since then, I am glad to say that 40 or so years later, we are still in contact and I was so pleased to meet Auntie Joy Lancaster again then aged 85, at the first Flemmer Family Reunion in Kalk Bay, Cape Town in 2001. She died the following year in Cape Town.   Joy and Lanky had four children:   1.3.1 John Edward Compton Lancaster 1939-1986 married Johanna Cornelia Henrietta van den Brand 1939 –   Born in Kroonstad, Orange Free State, John was educated at Rondebosch Boys Junior and Senior School. He attained his B. Comm. CA (SA) and went into private practice in 1972.  He ran his own company until his early, tragic death in America at the age of 47. John and Jo had four children:   1.3.1.1 Peter John Compton Lancaster 1964 – 1.3.1.2 Robert Andrew Compton Lancaster 1966 – married Belinda Keiser 1971 –   one child 1.3.1.3 Lianne Compton Lancaster – 1968 – married Desmond Shane Booth 1966 – two children 1.3.1.4 Michael Alan Compton Lancaster – 1970 -   1.3.2 Mark Compton Lancaster. 1942 – married Anne Daphne Gold 1943 –  Born in Kroonstad, Mark went to Rondebosch Boys' Prep and High and matriculated in 1960. He completed a B. Comm. CA (SA) degree at the University of Cape Town. He is a Chartered Accountant with Deloitte & Touche and has lived mostly in Cape Town. His interests are Tennis, Swimming, Rotary, Photography and watching sport. He has been awarded two Paul Harris Rotary awards. Mark married Anne Daphne Gold at All Saints Church, Plumstead. She had gone to Rustenburg Girls Prep and High and matriculated in 1960.  She was a secretary and typist and mother of the children. Her interests are Swimming, Decoupage, other handcrafts and Innerwheel activities.   Mark and Anne had three children:   1.3.2.1 Bridget ‘Bridge’ Anne Compton Lancaster 1971 – 1.3.2.2 Nicolette ‘Nicky’ Compton Lancaster 1972 -  1.3.2.3 Laetitia ‘Tish’ Compton Lancaster 1975 -   1.3.3 Terence ‘Terry’ Compton Lancaster 1944 – married Jennifer Margaret Homewood 1947 –     Terry was born in Rondebosch and went to Rondebosch Boys from Sub A to Matric. He is a Chartered Accountant CA (SA) and partner in BDO Spencer Steward Cape Town. His sports interests are Rugby, Swimming, Lifesaving, Cricket and Water polo. He won his WP Colours in Biathlon & Lifesaving (Surf). He also won the World President’s Award for services to lifesaving. He is currently road running, including the Two Oceans half marathon and is a WP Masters Swimmer. His wife Jenny went to Star of the Sea and Springfield Convents. Widowed in 1971 she had two sons: Robert Christian Tiedt 1971 – and Trevor Anthony Tiedt 1972 – married Megan Proctor 1977 –   Terry and Jenny had one son:   1.3.3.1            Colin Compton Lancaster 1977 –     1.3. 4 Lesley Jean Compton Lancaster 1947 – married Cecil Alfred Rose 1946 –      Lesley attended Wynberg Girls High School until the end of Standard 8 and finished her studies at the Cape Commercial High School in 1963. She worked for the Cape Town City Council. She was Secretary for the Western Province Women's Squash Association and of the SA Road Federation for eight years. Her husband Cecil was born in Cape Town and matriculated at St George's Grammer School in Cape Town in 1962. He studied civil engineering and graduated from the University of Cape Town with a B.Sc (Eng.) at the end of 1967. He studied at the University of California, Berkeley graduating with an MSc in Transportation Engineering in June 1983. In 1988 he joined Kantey & Templer, a firm of Consulting Engineers becoming a partner/director. He took over as Managing Director in March 2001.   Cecil’s Citizen Force training was in the Navy and he continued voluntary service at SAS Unitie Naval Base in Cape Town harbour. He was Officer Commanding of the SAS Unitie in 1987 –1991 and transferred to the Active Reserve in 1997 with the rank of Captain.   Lesley and Cecil had two children:   1.3 4.1 Gail Elizabeth Rose – 1972 – married Mohammed Shakeel Khan 1.3 4.2 Alison Margaret Rose 1975 – married Gareth Neil Leybourne – one child     1.4 Wilhelmina Vermaak   We don’t know when this child was born, she may in fact have been Minnie and Herman’s third child. We are told that despite Herman having a received a medal for midwifery, the baby proved to be too big for normal delivery and was stillborn.   2                 Christian Frederick Hopley Flemmer 1875   Christian was the first boy born to Hans and Lettie Flemmer, and he arrived only 18 months after his sister Wilhelmina. His mother at 19 was only a girl herself.  There was great joy in the household in Steynsburg at this new arrival. Like his sister, the baby was taken the 65kms over the rough and bumpy road to Burgersdorp for christening. We find his baptismal record in the Dutch Reformed Church there:   Christian Frederick Hopley Flemmer   Born               2.8.1875 Baptised        14.10.1875 Burgersdorp   Father                        Hans Christian Flemmer Mother            Aletta Alida Hopley Witnesses     Frederick Hurlingh Hopley                         Wilhelmina Johanna Hopley   The witnesses were his proud grandparents. I don’t know how long this boy lived but can only think that he died young as there is no further reference to him in the records.   3                 Marius Toger Flemmer 1877 - 1965                   Kathleen Nolan Neylan 1884 - 1948                Marius Toger Flemmer Kathleen Nolan Neylan   Marius Toger Flemmer, or ‘MT’ as he was known throughout his adult life, was my grandfather, so I must declare my special interest – this is a tribute to a wonderful man. He was the only child of Hans Christian Flemmer and his wife Lettie that I ever met and all I can say is that if their other children were like MT, I’m sorry I never met them all. Before delving into his history I quote from a letter I received about him which sums up MT the person I knew very well as a boy:   ‘Your grandfather, who was my Uncle Marius, was without exception the kindest, most genial and humorous man – he must also be amongst the angels. I remember to this day his Hans Andersen stories. We, my brother and I, would appropriate him and insist on stories. Apparently years before, when he came courting your grandmother her two younger sisters did the same thing, much to Kathy’s annoyance! So he was born to be loved and was good natured even as a young man.’   He was born on the 3rd of June 1877 at Middelburg, probably on the farm Leeufontein where his father had ventured into farming for a few years. His mother Lettie was 21 and he was the third child in the family and the first boy born that lived to adulthood. I have not found his baptismal record, but he was probably baptised in the Anglican Church and he was named after his uncles, Marius Flemmer and Toger von Abo.  The family moved back to Steynsburg this same year.   I know very little about his early life. South Africa was going through a period of great turmoil – the diamond rush had started and the 9th Frontier War (Gaicka Galecka war 1877-78) broke out. In 1879 the battles of Isandlwhana and Ulundi took place in Zululand. In 1880 the first Anglo – Boer War started as did the Basuto War in 1880 and the gold rush to the reef began in 1886. In Steynsburg all was peaceful – to quote from notes he wrote in 1957 when he was 79 -   After the Basuto War of 1880, my father gave up farming and was appointed to the office of Special Justice of the Peace in Steynsburg. He had jurisdiction to try cases involving fines up to £10. Later when a regular magistrate was appointed to that office in Steynsburg, my father became a law agent and was joined by his brother Marius Flemmer, who was a fully qualified attorney. The practice was a good one and we had a comfortable home with a large garden and we always had the use of four or five horses and kept cows, goats and many pets. Life in this little village was easy and pleasant.   MT had a phenomenal memory; it was probably after the war of 1880 when three years old, that he saw the men coming back, their faces blackened from firing their guns. He remembered this incident the rest of his life and could even whistle the tune the men were singing as they came into town. As a very young boy he was introduced to Cecil John Rhodes, and quite unimpressed, shook hands saying “How do you do Rhodes?”  His parents were shocked by this show of familiarity, but the great man reassured them saying, “Please don’t bother – I prefer always to be called Rhodes”!   His early education was at a private school in Steynsburg. In 1890, aged 12 he was confirmed at the Holy Cross Anglican Church and at 15  he went off as a boarder to St. Andrew’s College in Grahamstown, the first of many Flemmers to be educated at this great school. His school record shows that he matriculated in 1895 and during his three years was a Corporal in the Cadet Corps, played 3rd XI cricket and won his colours for rugby.   Having matriculated in December 1895 when he was 18 he went back to see his family in Steynsburg before going to Cape Town. He had decided on a legal career but the early death of his father of cancer the next year caused the whole family difficulty. As he says:   My dear father died when I was only 18 years of age, and from then on the family had to live frugally, for although my eldest sister Min was then married, I had to study for my law examinations for a further period of three years and Uncle Marius had to carry on the business alone. I struggled along in Cape Town as an articled clerk for two years on £100 a year, out of which I had to pay for my board and lodging, clothing and college fees. In my third year as an articled clerk, I was fortunate enough to be appointed Registrar to Judge Hopley, to whom I am eternally grateful, and thus was able to pay my way and pass the necessary examinations in order to qualify as an attorney and notary.   Even by the standard of the times £100 a year was very little to live on – contemporary salaries show that a junior clerk earned about £145 a year. MT inherited £80 from his father’s estate and the rest was provided by his mother and Uncle Marius from their limited means. This must have been a considerable sacrifice given that there were five children aged between ten and one still at home. Judge William Musgrove Hopley (born Cradock 1853) was another uncle, being the older brother of MT’s mother Lettie, a man famous in legal circles both in South Africa and Rhodesia.   And so it was that MT passed the Law Certificate examination and was admitted in 1898 at the age of 21. After a short visit to his family in Steynsburg he went to East London, then a busy port. It had grown economically and in stature, with improvements to the breakwater and especially with the arrival of the dredger Lucy in 1886. Certainly by the time MT arrived it had improved a lot from the description given by the novelist Anthony Trollope twenty years before:   At present East London is not a nice place. It is without a pavement, almost without a street; dotted about over the right river bank here and there are houses dirty to look at and dishevelled….. opposite to the town, on the left bank of the Buffalo River, and connected to it by ferries, is the township of Panmure. At Panmure there has gathered itself together an unpromising assembly of stores and houses.   In 1898 MT met Henry George Drake J.P. a solicitor, notary and conveyancer who had come to East London in 1890. This was to lead to the formation of the firm of attorneys that still bears their names today. But the war clouds were gathering over the Boer Republics and on the 11th October 1899 war was declared. Flemmer and Drake joined Brabant’s Horse and the Kaffrarian Rifles respectively. The conflict, confidently predicted to be over by Christmas dragged on for three long and terrible years at untold cost in lives both white and black.   MT saw service in the Border area and in the Free State with Brabant. Later he joined Gorringe’s Flying Column where he was commissioned as a lieutenant. It was while with Gorringe’s Column that he met and served under Major (later Colonel) John Nolan Neylan, second in command to Gorringe. Major Nolan Neylan was a highly decorated professional soldier who had arrived at East London from Ireland in 1877. He had married Maria ‘Mim’ Impey, a childhood friend of MT’s mother Lettie.   After being badly wounded in the neck and refusing to take medical leave Major Nolan Neylan was ordered home to East London to recover by his superiors. While he was recuperating, MT called on him and thus began another important chapter in MT’s life:   I went to visit him in East London and had the good fortune and pleasure of meeting his daughter, Kathleen. She was a girl of 18. We became engaged and were married a year later at the Church of the Immaculate Conception before a large congregation which included the Mayor of East London, Mr. Richard Walker and Kathleen’s grandparents, Richard Pullman Impey and his wife Hannah Tamplin Hart. In the words of the fairy story “we lived happy ever after”   The wedding was on 22nd December 1902 when MT was 26 and Kathleen 19. I am sure it was an affair to remember. The father of the bride, John Nolan Neylan was a decorated war hero having won the DSO in an action at Bethulie Bridge. He and his by then 10 children were well known in East London, besides which he was by every account a real Irish ‘character’. From a note by his grandson George Orsmond:   He was a great character and was immensely popular with his men and brother officers. He was generous to the extreme. Tales are told about how this wonderful and stately gentleman was able to consume a bottle of Scotch whisky at a sitting without turning a hair. How, as a good Catholic, he would attend Midnight Mass and then go to sleep in the confessional; and how he and a friend took tickets in the Calcutta Sweep for years and years. And how at one point the friend was broke and unable to take tickets – Micky (a nickname) Neylan won a prize with his ticket and gave half the prize money to his less fortunate friend. And how the Colonel once gave MT a boat for the Nahoon River and how MT received an account from the boat builder for it!   Marius Toger Flemmer and his wife Kathleen had six children, all born in East London:   Nolan Christian Flemmer born 2 August 1905   Oswald Nolan Flemmer born 7 January 1907   Owen John Flemmer born 25 November 1910    Kathleen Norah Flemmer born 12 August 1913 [my mother]   Patricia Flemmer born 30 September 1917 and her twin   Wilfred Anthony 'Boy' Flemmer born 30 September 1917   I consider myself very lucky to have known four of these children when I was growing up. There was always a wonderful feeling of family, but best of all was the fun and laughter that attended any family gathering – they all seem to have been born with a twinkle in their eye! Pre 1935 photographs show huge happy gatherings of the Nolan Neylans, Flemmers and MT’s growing brood and so it went from generation to generation, so that in my parent’s time we had our own ‘gatherings of the clans’ – and very fortunate we were.   But I am jumping ahead of the story here. In 1905 Edward George Orsmond [EGO as he was known in East London] had joined MT and Henry George Drake to form the legal firm Drake Flemmer and Orsmond. I was told that EGO, recently qualified had more or less walked in off the street and that he was initially hired on the basis of his excellent handwriting! Drake returned to England where he died in 1910. Wanting to retain the name of Drake in the fledgling practice, MT and EGO entered into an agreement with Drake’s widow, paying her an allowance of £10 per month for the continued use of his name. After Drake died, his widow, Kate returned to East London. As George Randell in his book Gentlemen of the Law of the Eastern Cape dryly continues:   Liability for payment of the allowance ceased on 21st July 1913 when Orsmond took Kate Drake as his wife; an interesting example of the extinction of a legal obligation by “merger”   Kate Drake died in 1920 and in 1923 EGO married Clare Nolan Neylan, MT’s sister in law, thus keeping the firm ‘in the family’.   The stories of the partnership of MT Flemmer and EGO are legion but are best summed up in Gentlemen of the Law:   The Flemmer and Orsmond partnership, never the subject of a written agreement so it has been said, lasted for fifty years, and the men, so very different in character, worked together in complete harmony. Marius Flemmer was the cheerful optimist, always seeing the bright side of things and had a jaunty air about him, great man for a party or a quick spot at the Railway Bar, conveniently situated just across the road from the Magistrate’s Court. His partner E.G. on the other hand, was a confirmed pessimist. If the weather was fine it could easily blow up dirty without warning. If the times were economically good, one should hear of a likely recession in the near future. If all was going along as happy as a marriage bell, some calamity would be lurking round the corner. M.T. Flemmer had an easy style in Court in the way he handled the witnesses. He adopted an almost confidential manner with them. He did not have a strong voice and a listener might almost have thought that M.T. was having a friendly conversation with the man in the box. For him to cross-examine did not mean to examine crossly. He made it all seem so friendly, and casual, but all the time the facts and admissions that Flemmer wanted were being extracted for the record.   In 1908 Marius and Kathleen and their first two children were living in St. Andrew’s Road. Ii was at about this time that formalities were started by the Danish Government for his appointment as Danish Vice-Consul at East London. It required the Danish Government to request the South African Prime Minister’s office to ask Downing Street to seek the Monarch’s formal approval! Needless to say London would want a ‘character reference’ and this was delayed when it was reported ‘we have caused confidential enquiries to be made regarding Mr. W.P. Flemmer, and are informed that no one of that name is known in East London’. Not surprising as there was no one of that name! The error was sorted out, MT passed muster and was appointed Danish Vice Consul in December 1911 a position he resigned in 1915.   Soon after this two tragedies struck the family. MT’s youngest brother Wilfred Hopley Flemmer had joined up with the 2nd Battalion, South African Infantry at the outbreak of the First World War. While serving as a 2nd Lieutenant he was killed along with so many thousands of other young men at the Somme on 18th July 1916 aged only 24. Less than two years later on 16th May 1918, MT and Kathleen’s oldest son, Nolan Christian died aged 13 at the Frere Hospital in East London.   Probably taken just before the war broke out in 1914, this picture shows the brothers Harold, Wilfred and Marius Flemmer       Perhaps it was the sadness arising from these two deaths that led MT into a period of positive changes in his life. The family moved to St. Peter’s Road in 1920; shortly after, in the early 1920’s he built the first family holiday home at Quinera River Mouth (later Bonza Bay) and in 1924 he bought a large plot on the banks of the Nahoon River. He also became involved in civic affairs serving as  a city councillor for nine years and as Deputy Mayor twice. This was in addition to his many other interests and commitments of which more anon. But his lifetime interest until the day he died was fishing, and it was this more than anything that made the Quinera house and ‘St Anthony’ built on his plot on the Nahoon, so perfect.   As Bonza Bay and St. Anthony played such a big part in the lives of the family for generations I will deal with them both in some detail. At the Quinera, MT built what was described as a ‘neat lapped timber-sided house’ just behind old family friends, the Rose-Inneses. This house was called ‘Stella Maris’ and was purpose built for holidays and weekends.  Stella Maris MT’s original holiday  home – Bonza Bay   From Brian Watson’s article on the early days:   When he bought the plot in the Nahoon Valley in 1924, he may have been financially stretched because he sold ‘Stella Maris’ to the Bostock family. But the pull of the Quinera proved too strong, and a few years after selling he found another holiday property. This was a large rondavel with kitchen and verandah owned by the Misses McKay, three Scottish spinsters. MT bought the rondavel for £50 and then added wood and iron buildings around it to accommodate large parties of family and friends. This was as I largely remember it when we had family holidays there in the 1950’s.   Simply put it was a magic place for the family and we had many happy days there as youngsters. There was no electricity, so hurricane and Tilley lamps; no running water, so we relied on the rainwater tanks – and who cared if they sometimes had mosquito larvae wriggling in them! There was a drop toilet which was an adventure all of its own. It was some way away from the main buildings, down a steep slope in the dark, thick coastal Eastern Cape bush. There were monkeys about sometimes and having braved this gauntlet the door was opened into a dark small room, not smelling of roses of course! When seated there was a strong chance of flies or the occasional resident bees objecting and trying to fly up between your legs to the light. And all of this beside any older cousins who may be lurking about ready to waylay and terrorise the youngsters. A trip to the toilet at night was out of the question unless accompanied by an adult with lamp.   But the toilet was a minor feature in what was a pretty perfect world. There were always brothers, sisters, cousins, aunts and uncles around. During the day it seemed to me we more or less ran wild. There was the river, teeming with fish and crabs for the catching, the beach for hours of swimming, the sand dunes for exploring and tobogganing, and at low tide the endless fascinating rock pools. We almost had the run of the place except at weekends when families would come out from East London – it really was a paradise. Looking at old photos from the 1920’s and 30’s I can see that we were simply repeating what had gone before – large happy family groups labelled simply ‘Family group at Quinera’ tell their own story. And always the photos of my grandfather and his group with fishing rods in hand.   My Mom told me that when she was young her mother and the kids would go out for the December holidays, loading an ox wagon with up to two months supplies for a trip that took a full day from the Nahoon Valley via the Abbotsford Bridge. At other times MT would load up whoever he could for the drive out in his car.                                                        The happy days at Bonza Bay for the Flemmers and the other families they had known for years came to an end when the land was sold in the 1950’s as part of a major township development. Although the site of ‘our’ cottage has never been built on, the rest of the area is unrecognisable as part of the East London suburb of Beacon Bay.  All aboard for the Quinera!! As I mentioned MT bought a large plot in the Nahoon Valley in 1924, and a portion of this land remains in the ownership of his grandson Nolan to this day. The property was owned by Johannes Grapentin and lay between the Transkei Road and the Nahoon River. It measured 172 square roods 100 square feet in area, and the purchase price was £220 – a considerable sum for a piece of land on the far outskirts of East London. It was a magnificent site for a house, with a large river frontage just below the Abbotsford Causeway and on it MT built St Anthony. This house became the central point for gatherings of the growing East London Flemmer family. There are many photos from the 30’s and later of wedding receptions, parties and assorted gatherings of the clans. There was good fishing in the river (an all important feature for MT), a ready supply of bait, a tennis court and boats and fishing tackle aplenty.     The newly completed St. Anthony - Nahoon River   Waldemar Flemmer told me that he and his sister Yula had happy holidays with their cousins at St Anthony before the War. At that time MT was not a Catholic, describing himself as a ‘bush Baptist’! Never one to miss a fishing opportunity, on Sundays MT would take his wife and children to Mass and then after dropping Yula at the Anglican church and with Waldemar in tow would drive down to the Nahoon mouth for a quick gooi until Mass was over.   With the outbreak of the Second World War, all of the younger Flemmer men along with my father, joined the army and were posted off to the Western Desert campaign. It was a time of great turmoil and anxiety with news infrequent and sometimes garbled. The wives lived at St. Anthony with their young children during this dreadful time – always anxiously waiting for news and the occasional home leave. It was here that the terrible news arrived that the youngest in the family, the twin Wilfred Anthony ‘Boy’ Flemmer had died of his wounds on the 27th March 1941 following an action at the Adele Pass in present day Ethiopia. He was months short of his 24th birthday, by an eerie coincidence the age at which his uncle Wilfred had died in the First World War. By every account Boy was a wonderful, happy, kindly person, much loved by all who knew him, and this news must have come like a thunderbolt. Hard as it was for his parents the news must have been almost too much to bear for his twin sister, my aunt Patsy Flemmer. Looking for answers and solace in this terrible loss it was at this time that MT converted to Catholicism, remaining a staunch member of the Church for the rest of his life.   Shortly after the War ended it was decided to sell St. Anthony. This was a major decision, but by then MT’s children were all married apart from Patsy and had started their own families. In February 1946, 21 years to the month after he bought the Nahoon plot, the property was sold to John Bain for £4750. MT moved with his wife and Patsy to 20 Botha Road where he lived for the rest of his life.    The call of the Nahoon and of St. Anthony was to prove too strong because in April 1952 MT’s son Ossie, bought the property back for £6500 and it was to remain in the family for the next 50 years. In 2003, MT’s grandson Nolan decided to subdivide the land selling a major portion of it together with the house. He kept a portion of the land and he and his wife Jennie built a house with river frontage, thus keeping the Flemmer’s 80 year long link to the river. Although St Anthony is much altered today, the original structure remains at 205 Main Transkei Road.   Not long after the move to Botha Road, MT’s wife Kathleen died in 1948 at the age of 64. He was 71 by then and this must have been a sad loss. I don’t remember my grandmother but am told that she was a large, warm granny to all of the many grandchildren by then flourishing in East London.   I can clearly remember the Botha Road house. It was long and rambling, a magic place for a young boy with such a wonderful grandfather. There was a long verandah and a stand of massive hydrangeas. These he would feed with a regular scraping of burnt toast, assuring me solemnly that they thrived on it!  There were big family gatherings when he would gather all the grandchildren around and keep them spellbound with his wonderful stories. He told them in an inimitable style – droll and tongue in cheek and with a wonderful command of English – he was a storyteller par excellence.    He threw spare change into his bedside drawer and would invite us to take some of the huge coppers used in South Africa at the time. Not only did I get some pocket money but also a chance to examine the massive Boer War issue revolver that he kept there. Fishing was one of his main loves and over the years many of us spent happy hours on the Nahoon with Grampa, learning the art of fishing from a master.   Marius Toger “MT” Flemmer died aged 87 on the 7th April 1965. Hundreds of people attended the Requiem Mass, memorial service and funeral. Perhaps we can best see the person he was from some of the newspaper reports of the time. From the  Southern Cross:   Prominent in many spheres, it was probably as a devout Catholic and public spirited citizen that “MT” made his greatest contribution in East London and Border affairs. He was the oldest practising attorney in the Cape Province; served the City twice as Deputy Mayor; was a keen sportsman and angler; an honorary life member of the Buffalo Rugby Club and a member of the Leander Rowing Club; a member of the East London Golf Club and played bowls for Buffaloes and the East London Bowling Club; a former President of the East London Club and at the time of his death the club’s only honorary life president. Mr Flemmer was also chairman of the East London Boy Scouts Movement for 12 years, chairman of the East London branch of the United Party for six years and served on the East London School Board for 12 years.   And from the Daily Despatch, quoting Mr. A. McLellan President of the East London Side Bar Association:   The achievements of the late Mr. M.T. Flemmer, by any standards, earned him a place among the greatest citizens of East London. The legal profession was overcome by a sense of great loss and sadness. He was a man of outstanding personality, ability and absolute integrity. We will always remember the strength of character and indomitable spirit of this grand old gentleman whose passing we now mourn.  The article that appeared in the Daily Dispatch A wonderful man and one of whom stories and anecdotes are legion. A street in Cambridge, East London was named in his honour.   Marius Toger Flemmer and Kathleen had six children:  3. 1 Nolan Christian Flemmer 1905 –1918   Nolan Christian Flemmer   Nolan was the first born and sadly died at 13 of appendicitis, something that was treatable at the time. It was often diagnosed late, resulting in rupture, gangrene and death. I can remember my Mom telling me she was about 6 at the time, and Nolan had been lying around complaining of feeling sick and having a stomach ache. He had been given the standard treatment, a dose of castor oil, and the youngsters had thrown themselves on him, ready for the usual bout of wrestling and tickling. He fended them off, groaning and in pain and shortly after had been taken to the Frere Hospital. No one had realised how seriously ill he was. The following obituary appeared in the Selborne College Magazine:    The obituary that appeared in the Old Selbornian    3.2 Oswald ‘Ossie’ Nolan Flemmer 1907 – 1962 married Dorothy ‘Dot’ Winifred Dalby 1908 – 2000.     Oswald ‘Ossie’ Nolan Flemmer  Dorothy ‘Dot’ Winifred Dalby     I remember my Uncle Ossie F well from the family gatherings we had at St. Anthony where he presided over many Sunday teas with his wonderful sense of humour amid great bursts of laughter. I think he is well summed up in Gentlemen of the Law:   Ossie was “Hail fellow; well met”: a man’s man with an engaging manner. He could say the most outrageous and risqué things in an elegant and polite sitting room, provoking only mirth and merriment and no offence whatever. Butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth. He had a breezy manner and a delightful sense of the ridiculous. He was a joy to watch at cricket as a merry wicketkeeper. He would have the bails off in a flash but did not appeal if he thought the batsman was in his crease. Instead he would give a great throaty chuckle, loud enough to bring the umpire to the verge of giving the batsman out.   In 1935 he married Dot Dalby, judging by her photos one of the belles of East London. She was the daughter of Frederick Dalby born in Yorkshire, who had come to South Africa as a young man. He had married in East London and moved to Umtata where he opened Effie Dalby’s Haberdashers. The family moved to East London where he bought Fletchers. Dot was an accomplished actress in her day and I have a newspaper review of ‘The Quaker Girl’:   One of the best character studies is undoubtedly that of Diane (the Parisian actress) and Miss Dalby plays the part like a real little Parisienne.   I was interested to see in a newspaper report on the wedding, that the first afternoon of his honeymoon:   … was spent at King William’s Town watching the Border - Eastern Province Rugby match, where Mr. And Mrs. Ossie Flemmer were the recipients of numerous congratulations and best wishes.   Clearly a sportsman through and through!   In fact as with several other Flemmers in this branch of the family Ossie was an outstanding sportsman. He was educated at Selborne College and at St. Aidan’s College in Grahamstown, before going to Rhodes University. While at school he made the school’s highest individual cricket score: 246 not out; he played cricket in the Border team and captained the Eastern Province soccer side. After school he was a regular in the Border rugby team and captained the cricket side for a number of years. In 1931 he played a Springbok trial for the Rest of South Africa cricket team. Many contemporaries considered him unlucky not to have been selected.   His war record was also significant. He had joined the Kaffrarian Rifles in 1926 and during World War II was Brigade Major of the 2nd Infantry Brigade. He was seconded to the British Army as Allied and Dominion Training Officer in charge of 1 250 000 men. It was during this time that he was partly responsible for the development of the flail tank – designed to clear a path through minefields. He then served as Brigade Major to General Dan Pienaar, commander of South African forces. Ossie was wounded at El Alamein, and because of this was not on the flight back to the Union in 1942 when General Pienaar and his entire staff were killed when the plane crashed – a very lucky escape.   Ossie was the first appointment as Officer Commanding and ‘married’ the First City/Cape Town Highlanders into one unit. He was posted to Italy where he was mentioned in despatches twice. Being the person he was he also ‘gatecrashed’ the Pope’s apartment in Rome, and talked his way into a private audience with the Pontiff, an honour few Catholics achieve. He was invalided back to South Africa from Italy, spending the remainder of the war at Pretoria HQ. When South Africa became a Republic in 1961, the Queen appointed Ossie Honorary Colonel of the Kaffrarian Rifles.   Sadly he died of a stroke the next year, a few days after his 55th birthday. The news was a terrible shock. We had just passed East London en route from Rhodesia to live in England and had of course had some wonderful times with the family. Our ship had just left Cape Town when the telegram arrived – my Mom was grief stricken, doubly so I think at having left her home in Rhodesia and her family in East London.   Newspaper reports of Ossie's funeral say it was one of the biggest East London had ever seen. Hundreds turned out for the service at the Church of the Immaculate Conception and for the funeral procession, with the coffin being taken on a gun carriage to the cemetery.   Mr. G.M. St. L. Daines Chief Magistrate said:   “ These courts, this city and indeed this country will sorely miss this man. In the two callings in which man’s character is revealed – the calling of arms and the law – he revealed himself without flaw.”     A great and good life cut short. His widow, my Aunt Dot Flemmer (Dalby) lived out her life for the next 38 years in East London surrounded by her children and a growing band of grandchildren. I was fortunate to see Aunt Dot before she died in 2000. Although by then in her 80’s and very frail she was so pleased to see me – and the twinkle was still in her eye.     Obituary from Southern Cross       Ossie and Dot had five children all born in East London:   3.2.1 Nolan George Flemmer 1938 – married Jennifer Mollie Barber 1942 – Like his father Nolan was a first class sportsman and this was evident from an early age. Having started school at De La Salle, he went on to St. Aidan’s Grahamstown where he captained the 1st Cricket XI and played first team rugby and hockey. He played Nuffield cricket, won the Diving Shield and was a Prefect and House Captain. Completing his education at Rhodes, he represented the university at these sports as well as representing EP at rugby and hockey and playing for Central Universities against the 1960 All Blacks.   Having received a Diploma in Law from Rhodes, Nolan qualified as an attorney and conveyancer, joining the family firm Drake Flemmer and Orsmond in 1961. Nolan’s record of service to schools, NGOs and service organizations like Rotary is outstanding and so lengthy that it can’t be repeated here.   Continuing his amazing sporting career, in 1961 Nolan captained the Border rugby side and played Border hockey and cricket, as well as attending the Springbok hockey trials. Later in life he took up road running, competing in marathons and ultra-marathons. He is a keen fisherman and plays golf.    For my part, as a boy novice fisherman I have fond memories of Nolan’s patience in helping us youngsters bait up our rods, and of going out with him to dig prawns out of the mud flats at low tide. He and his wife Jenny have a lovely home overlooking the Nahoon River.    Nolan and Jennie had four children:   3.2.1.1. Shirley Athalie Flemmer 1965 – married Hercules Johannes van den Berg 1966 – two children 3.2.1.2. Colleen Mary Flemmer 1967 – engaged to David John Stretch 1962 –one child 3.2.1.3. Helen Claire Flemmer 1969 – married Stuart Richard Shelver 1969 –two children 3.2.1.4. David Nolan Flemmer 1974 – married Catherine Cosser 1976 –   3.2.2 Athalie Claire Flemmer 1940 – 1964   Athalie was only 23 when she died of injuries following a car accident at Humansdorp. This was a tragic loss for all of us as she was such a lovely, talented person. I remember Athalie well, a big laughing girl who was kindness itself to all who knew her. During her schooling at the Sacred Heart Convent she had been head girl and had chosen a career in nursing. She went to Rhodes University for a year before starting training at East London’s Frere Hospital. She won several prizes for nursing and was on her way to Cape Town to take up midwifery when the accident happened. Hundreds of people - family, friends and nursing colleagues attended her funeral.   3.2.3 Rosalie ‘Sally’ Dorothy Flemmer 1941 – married Michael Leo de Villiers 1940 –   Sally completed a B.A. degree at Rhodes and shortly after married Mike de Villiers. They moved to Canada in 1967, but came back to South Africa. Mike is a C.A., prominent in the liquidation field. After living in Johannesburg, they returned to East London where they live on the Nahoon River. Sally and Mike had three children:   3.2.3.1. Daniel Michael de Villiers 1965 – married Allison Wiener – three children 3.2.3.2 Robert Peter de Villiers 1968 – married Lynette Hulley –two children 3.2.3.3 Jaqueline de Villiers 1970 – married Craig Bakker   3.2.4 Daniel Wilfred Graham Flemmer 1943 – married Patricia Mary Anderson 1945 –   Dan was named after General Dan Pienaar with whom his father Ossie had served in North Africa.  He completed his schooling at St. Aidan’s in Grahamstown before doing a BComm at Rhodes. A Dip.Law followed at UCT before completing his articles at Findlay & Tait in Cape Town. He joined the family law firm Drake Flemmer & Orsmond. Dan and Pat had three children:   3.2.4.1.Justin Michael Oswald Flemmer 1971 – 3.2.4.2. Keith Daniel Anthony Flemmer 1974 – 3.2.4.3. Peter James Flemmer 1978 –   3.2.5 Kathleen Mary Flemmer 1948 – 1948   Kathleen was a ‘blue’ baby who died a few days after she was born to the great sorrow of her family. The condition is caused by a problem between the parent’s blood groups and is commonly found in the second child.   3.3 Owen John Flemmer 1910 – 1993 married Heyla Ethel Mitchell 1914 – 1992  Owen John Flemmer      Heyla Ethel Mitchell           Owen grew up in East London and probably went to Selborne College before going to St. Aidan’s in Grahamstown. I know little about his early life but it would I’m sure have revolved around big family gatherings at St. Anthony and at the Quinera, with lots of fishing and sport.    Like many young men of his generation, duty called with the outbreak of World War II and he enlisted in August 1940, a year after marrying. His twin daughter and son were barely 3 months old when he signed up with the Umvoti Mounted Rifles in Pietermaritzburg. His wife Heyla moved in to St. Anthony with the other ‘war wives’ in the family for the long wait for the men to come home. And a long wait it was. Owen was posted as missing in August 1942 and two anxious months went by before there was confirmation that he was at least alive although a prisoner of war in Italy. He escaped briefly, was recaptured and spent the rest of the war at Stalag 4B in Germany. Four years after enlisting he finally got back to East London in 1945.   I remember my Uncle “O” as he was known and Aunt Heyla very well. When we lived in Rhodesia they were also living there and the two families spent most weekends together. We grew up with our cousins and some years both families would head for East London and Bonza Bay for the Christmas holidays – happy days they were. My Uncle Owen was a lovely, easygoing man, not averse to a small brandy and water from time to time! Like so many Flemmers he always had a dry or witty comment to make, always with a perfectly straight face and a twinkle in his eye. I last saw him when he was in his eighties and he solemnly told me that he had been sitting on the verandah watching the gardener hard at work that very hot day. “And you know my boy” he said “it made me break out in a sweat just watching him; I had to go and lie down until I got my breath back”!    He worked for Cooper and Nephew as a salesman most of his life and used to take my cousin Johnny and I with him to agricultural shows around the farming towns of Rhodesia. These were always wonderful trips for us youngsters. We would set off in his big Chevrolet for some tiny town like Bindura, and while he entertained farmers over a few brandies at the Coopers stand we would have the run of the place. The centre of our attention was always the spray race. I suppose this was a new fangled way of dipping cattle and we would watch for hours as the same cattle were prodded through the spray over and over again. I don’t know how many systems were sold but they were certainly the cleanest cattle for miles around!   Owen and Heyla were a devoted couple throughout their lives. They were living with their daughter Kath near Port Elizabeth when Heyla died in December 1992. It was less then a year later that Owen died in August 1993.   Owen and Heyla had four children, the first two being twins:     3.3.1 Margaret Ann Flemmer 1940 – married Duncan Mathie McBean 1934 –    Margie was one of the second sets of twins born into this branch of the family. Her first years were spent at St. Anthony with her Dad away at war. There were many happy days spent playing in the Nahoon and at Bonza Bay. While working as a typist at Shell in Salisbury she met her future husband Duncan McBean, who at the time was an accountant with Shell. They spent their early married life in Malawi before settling in Harare. They had two children:   3.3.1.1 Nola Eileen McBean 1967 – married Dean Albert Herrmann 1963 – two children 3.3.1.2 Carol Ann McBean 1969 – married William ‘Billy’ Teeton 1967 – two children   3.3.2 Brian Anthony Flemmer 1940 – married Angela Catherine Newman 1944 –   Brian, one of the many Flemmer twins told me something I hadn’t heard before. He and his sister Margie were born prematurely and apparently there was little hope of them surviving. I’m glad to say that they both made it!   The twins’ Dad was doing service up North when they were young, and was captured at Tobruk. As a five year old Brian can clearly remember the memorable day his Dad finally came back to East London. The family lived in an ex-serviceman’s house at Baysville moving to Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) in 1950.   They lived in Orange Grove Drive, a home I remember very well as our families saw a lot of each other over the years. Brian went to Highlands School and then to St. George’s College where he finished school.   Moving to Cape Town he joined Barclays Bank DCO and shared accommodation in Observatory with his cousin Dan Flemmer. It was during this time that he met Angela Newman, from the well known East London family and a neighbour of the Flemmers for many years. Ang was a high school teacher and after the couple married they went to London, travelling extensively around Europe.   Returning to East London, Brian joined the Newman family firm which he bought in 1972. Having closed the business in 2000 the couple enjoy skiing in Europe, scuba diving and tennis. Brian is also a regular golfer.   Brian and Ang had two children:   3.3.2.1 Anthony Nevill Flemmer 1969 – married Jane Gilson 1968 – two children 3.3.2.2 Ian John Flemmer 1971 – married Joanne Mitchell 1971 – two children     3.3.3 John ‘Johnny’ Marius Flemmer 1947 – married (1) Marijke Keeming   He married (2) Petra Lourens 1957 –   Johnny and I are almost the same age, and some of my earliest memories are of us as kids in Rhodesia. Our parents were transferred to Salisbury at almost the same time and it seems that we were either at our house or theirs in most of our spare time. Johnny has always been a great lover of animals and over the years had a menagerie including rats, mice, hamsters, pigeons, bantams a goat and a monkey aside from the usual dogs and cats. We unfortunately lost contact when we went to England and he to Bulawayo when we were about 15. It has been wonderful to catch up with him again after 45 years.   He took up squash and road running and lives in the East London area where he works for Da Gama Textiles. Johnny and Marikje  had one child:   3.3.3.1 Ashleigh Luigina Flemmer 1975 –   Johnny and Petra had one child:   3.3.3.2 Marius Owen Flemmer 1987 –   3.3.4 Kathleen Heyla Flemmer 1953 – married Louis Emile Mauvis 1952 –   Kath and Emile had three children:   3.3.4.1 Marcelle Heyla Mauvis 1977 – 3.3.4.2 Lindsay Louise Mauvis 1979 – 3.3.4.3 Louis Emile Mauvis 1989 –   3.4 Kathleen Norah Flemmer 1913 – 1972 married Ronald Harold Herbert 1912 – 1988       Kathleen Norah Flemmer Ronald Harold Herbert   Kathleen ‘Kay’ Norah Flemmer was my mother. She was the first girl born into a family of three boys. She was a warm hearted and loving person, a mother that anyone would be proud and happy to have. There was the common thread of the East London Flemmers I am glad to say – a sense of fun and a keen sense of humour. She was also very curious about the world around her, whether it be nature, history or politics. She went to school at the convent in East London and early pictures show a bare foot girl in simple dress, a bit of a tomboy perhaps, but not surprising with all those brothers around.   It is hard to imagine one’s mother as a young girl – after all your only memory is of her as an adult, a source of comfort and guidance, not as a young carefree person. This makes it hard for me to visualise a story I was told by her sister Patsy. ‘Little Kath’ as she was known was a pretty feisty girl apparently. When the family were out at the Quinera she took on a tall and skinny boy from her school in a fight – a real fight apparently in which she was victorious. At the end, as she dusted herself off one of the other kids, Reg Rose-Innes said sarcastically “Yes, Little Kath, now you think you are the Queen of the Quinera”!   She was a good sportswoman, playing hockey for her club and tennis through much of her adult life. One of the adventures of her life was to go to Kenya and later to work on the Kenya Stand at the Empire Exhibition in Johannesburg. Her trip to East Africa was an opportunity to catch up with the many Nolan Neylans who had by then settled in Kenya.   Returning to East London she worked for her father’s legal firm, enjoying the hectic social life of pre War South Africa, and here fate intervened. Drake Flemmer and Orsmond had been agents for the Royal Insurance Company, for many years. My father, Ronald ‘Ronnie’ Harold Herbert was transferred from Liverpool to East London with the Royal, and it was here that he met Kath and swept her off her feet! My Dad was an accomplished oarsman, having rowed at Henley and won many major trophies as part of a strong ‘four’ from the Royal Victoria Rowing Club in Liverpool. He was a welcome addition to the Buffalo Rowing Club, and rowed for the first time with them in 1939. This article appeared in the Daily Despatch       Despite this sporting record he must have had unusual confidence and courage to enter the lions den at St. Anthony when courting Kath. Anyone who was going to be close to or part of the family would have had to endure a baptism of fire of teasing, chaffing and other tests of their resolve – it certainly wasn’t for the faint hearted!  He was after all a ‘rooinek’ and a non-Catholic; and although he could row, he couldn’t fish and his swimming skills were suspect. While body surfing at Clifton Beach he had unwisely caught a dumper and cracked a vertebra – very lucky to escape serious injury. But Dad was made of stern stuff, and was a real character in his own right. He stuck to his task and won the heart of the fair maiden – and indeed of the Flemmer family, who adopted him as one of their own.   He had signed up with the Kaffrarian Rifles ten days after getting married and after training at Robert’s Heights (Voortrekker Hoogte) he was promoted to Lieutenant. As with other men in the family, in 1941 he left his wife who was expecting and living at St. Anthony and went north with the South African forces. He was captured at the fall of Tobruk along with thousands of other South Africans. When my brother Terry was born in February 1942, all my mother knew was that her husband was a prisoner of war, probably in Italy. He came back to East London in 1945 and met his son for the first time. He had spent much of this period as an escaped prisoner or trying to tunnel out and Mom said that when she went to meet the train she didn’t recognise him at first. He had lost about 40lbs. (18kgs) in weight during his captivity.   It must have been so difficult to settle down again, the world could never be the same again. With tens of thousands of couples in the same boat, there was no point in complaining – life went on. My Mom was an East Londoner born and bred, with a great love of the sea and of her family. It must have been so tough on her when Dad was transferred and they moved first to Cape Town and then to Rhodesia in 1951. She was lucky to have her brother Owen nearby in Salisbury, and there were the bi-annual trips to East London, but it couldn’t have been easy, and yet I can never remember her complaining about her lot in life. After 10 years in Salisbury Dad was transferred back to Liverpool, and I can imagine her sinking heart when she heard the news. The whole family, by now four children (even the dog), was uprooted and we sailed off to England. A stranger in a freezing cold country, without the servants she had been used to all her life, this must have been a very difficult period in her life. She was absolutely miserable in England, the winter was the coldest for many years and she felt isolated and so missed her beloved Africa.  She was a person of real courage and to me at least, she tried to remain positive throughout this trying time. To make things more difficult Dad had a breakdown of some sort – what I am certain today would be called Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome, brought on by his war experiences. A very difficult time indeed.   Further moves followed shortly - a move back to Cape Town and then to Lusaka. They moved back to Cape Town in 1971 where she died of cancer aged 59, a great loss to all who knew and loved her. Some years after her death my Dad was fortunate to meet Lucy Wilmot, a widow, who he married. Having gone full circle he died in East London in 1988 after a short illness.   Kath and Ron Herbert had five children:   3.4.1 Timothy Herbert 1941 died as an infant   3.4.2 Terence Ronald Herbert 1942 – married Anthea Ruth Woolridge 1939 –   Terry is my big brother and I am lucky that we have had a good relationship throughout our lives, although separated by thousands of kilometres for much of it. We both went to St. George’s College in Salisbury where Terry excelled at sport, as a rugby player, swimmer and as an athlete. His speciality was shot putt and as a 16 year old he held the Rhodesian senior record. He left school at 16 and as there was no money available for university, joined the Magistrates Court. When we went to Liverpool he entered the world of insurance, working first for a company and later in South Africa as a broker. He married Anthea in Durban, moved to Cape Town, then Zimbabwe and subsequently to Melbourne, where he was CEO of the Guardian Royal Exchange Group. In 1996 he and Anthea moved back to South Africa, where they bought a house at Kalk Bay, where our younger brother Paddy lives. As fate would have it, we moved here the next year and all I can say is that I was so pleased to be living in the same place as my big brother after 35 years of being apart.   In 2005 Terry and Anthea made the decision to move back to Melbourne, much to my regret. Terry and Anthea had one child:   3.4.2.1 Matthew Christopher Ronald Herbert 1971 – married Danielle Rose Marianna Claire Rostan 1973 –  one child   3.4.3 Stephen Wilfred Herbert 1946 – married Judith Ann Delbridge 1948 – One of my first memories is of a huge fish on Fish Hoek beach where we lived when I was about three – I’ve been interested in them and the sea ever since! My schooling was in Rhodesia which up until the age of 15 was the only place I knew, apart from those wonderful trips to East London. We went to England when I was 15 where I adapted to a different curriculum and regime at the Marist College I attended in Birkenhead. I was never that good at sport at school, although it wasn’t a matter of choice whether you played or not – you just did it! It was only much later that I found ‘my’ sport. It was underwater hockey at which as a water lover I excelled, representing 3 provinces and being chosen as Springbok captain.    I left school at 17 and also went into insurance, joining Protea Assurance in Cape Town in 1964. I stayed with this company or its parent the British Sun Alliance Group all my working life. Insurance was great industry during this period and I had an interesting life as I moved around South Africa, Zambia, Malawi, Canada and finally to Holland. I ended up as the CEO of the Group’s Benelux company, managing both Holland and Belgium. In 1973 I married Judy in Cape Town and we have moved all over the place. I retired early and we settled in Kalk Bay where Judy was born and where my brothers Terry and Paddy were living. We had two children:   3.4.3.1 Katherine Ann Herbert 1978 – 3.4.3.2 Nicholas Stephen Herbert 1982 –   4.4.4 Angela Patricia Herbert 1950 – married Robert James Stransham Ford 1949 –   My sister Angela was born just before we moved to Cape Town and started her schooling at the Dominican Convent in Salisbury. After we returned from England she went to Star of the Sea Convent at St. James. She is very artistic and gained a first class Diploma in fashion from the Natal Technical College. She worked for Puma Sportswear in England before returning to Harare. She married Robin Ford who she subsequently divorced and changed her name to Taylor. She now lives in Fish Hoek. Angela and Robin had three children:   4.4.4.1 Julian Ainslie Ford 1976 – 4.4.4.2 Felicity Lorna Grace Ford 1985 – 4.4.4.3 Robert Berkeley Ford 1991 –   4.4.5 Patrick ‘Paddy’ Austin Herbert 1953 – married Petronel ‘Ronel’ Richter 1964 –   Although there is a gap of seven years in our ages Paddy and I have always been close, playing together for hours as kids in Rhodesia. He started school when we went to live in England and ended up at St. Joseph’s in Rondebosch when the family came back to Cape Town. After starting work in Cape Town he moved to England as he was fundamentally opposed to the apartheid system. He came back to Cape Town where he has been ever since. Also in insurance, he bought his own broking company. He also started a guest farm in the remote Cederburg Mountains which he runs as a partnership. He married Ronel in 1995 and the three of us have enjoyed watching many rugby matches at Newlands and on TV. Pad is a bon vivant who enjoys and cooks good food, and is a great host. We were separated for many years and by many kilometres, and it is wonderful to live so close to Pad and Ronel. Ronel is a successful book editor with Zebra Press   3. 5 Wilfred Anthony 'Boy' Flemmer 1917 – 1941    Wilfred Anthony 'Boy' Flemmer   He and his twin sister Patricia (Patsy) were the youngest of MT and Kathleen Flemmers children. There are more pictures of ‘the twins’ than all of the other children put together, which shows me how special they both were to the family. They are nearly always pictured together, Boy with his straight blonde hair and Patsy with her dark curly mop.  The Flemmer twins Like his brothers before him he went to Selborne College and then to St. Aidan’s in Grahamstown. He excelled at sport as a young man, playing at forward for Buffalo Rugby Club, and playing hockey for his province. He was also a good tennis player and footballer. His obituary describes him being of ‘happy disposition’ and well liked by his wide circle of friends – in other words typical of the other members of this family. Pictures of him as a young adult show a muscular smiling young man. His cousin Waldemar told me that he credited Boy with teaching him to swim. Boy was eight years older than Wal and his absolute hero. Wal was on holiday at St. Anthony and being unable to swim, hung on to Boy’s neck while he swam over to the island for a bit of mud sliding. When it was time to go back Boy picked him up and put Wal on an electric ray that was lying in the shallows. Wal swore he got such a fright that he swam all the way across the river by himself!   Boy worked for his sister-in-law Dot’s father, F.E. Dalby after leaving school before heading for the gold mines of the Transvaal. He rode up all the way over bad roads on his motorbike – they had no shock absorbers in those days. He lived at a mine hostel at the Sub Nigel Mess, Donnottar, but stayed with his uncle, Waldemar Kjeldberg Flemmer in Yeoville over weekends.   He signed up with the Transvaal Scottish at the outbreak of World War II, fighting with them from El Wak in Abyssinia (Ethiopia) onwards. He died of his wounds following an action at the Adele Pass near Harar aged 23. The news must have come as a bombshell to the family waiting anxiously for news back in East London, and especially for his twin sister Patsy to whom he was so close.   Boy’s name is engraved on the East London Cenotaph for fallen sons of East London. If ever you are in Edinburgh you will find his name listed in the Chapel of Remembrance at Edinburgh Castle with the members of the Scottish regiments who gave their lives in the War. It is very moving to see the Flemmer name here, so far from home – like so many he made the ultimate sacrifice. He lies buried in the Addis Ababa War Cemetery Grave 4 A 2   3.6 Patricia Flemmer 1917 – 1996     Patricia Flemmer       My aunt Pats Flemmer was one of the kindest, nicest people one could ever meet. She is the first ‘owner’ of the by now famous East London Flemmer hair, as clearly shown in this photo of her as a young girl    Pats in her school uniform and wild hair!       I think this gene came from Pats’ grandmother Lettie. It is difficult to be certain as most photos of women were taken at a time when hair was firmly under the control of clips, bands and hats. It is certainly a common and distinctive badge of ‘Flemmerhood’ in the family of Nolan and Jenny Flemmer. Their girls and some of the grandchildren have this distinctive feature.   Patsy would have gone to the convent in East London. As a young girl she contracted polio which left her with a slight limp. She was quite a shy person and was always very self-conscious about her leg, although in reality most people hardly noticed. After leaving school she worked at the Post Office and during the war years, helped to run the Royal Insurance Agency at her father’s law offices. Later in life she worked for Johnson and Johnson for many years. Although we heard stories of an unrequited wartime love, she never married, living with her father MT until he died in 1965.   Aunt Pats as we knew her, loved the family and all of her many nieces and nephews. A birthday never went by without a card and small gift arriving, even when she was obviously quite hard up in later life. When we came to East London as kids she would pack as many of us as she could into her tiny Fiat 500 and take us off to the Beehive for milkshakes. She was kindly and slightly scatterbrained, always smiling and taking the teasing of us all in good part.   She died at a residential complex where she had spent the last few years of her life. The end was quiet; she died peacefully in her sleep aged 79. She was a devout Catholic all her life and Nolan told me that when the priest was called to minister the last rites she had already died. He told Nolan that in his view Pats was “already with the angels” by the time he got there.   4                                    William Flemmer 1879 -   Very little is known about William Flemmer. He was born on the farm Leeufontein near Rosmead on the 22nd September 1879, the fourth child of Hans Christian and Lettie Flemmer. His mother was 23 at the time and Hans had left Steynsburg to go into farming. William was baptised on the farm on 6th January 1880, and there is no more information about him. I believe he died young and may well be buried on the farm although I couldn’t find his gravestone.   Coincidentally Hans’ brother Ludvig and his wife Anna (Distin) had a son whom they called William born in Cradock at nearly the same time – 6th September 1879. Like his cousin, he did not live long either dying on 19th June 1880 at Cradock.   5                                    Wilfred Flemmer 1883   This is the fifth child of Hans and Lettie Flemmer that I was able to find a record for. It is quite possible that other children had been born and subsequently died given the gap of three years between the dates of birth of Wilfred and his brother William.   He was the first Wilfred I have found – it was a popular name at the time, but I don’t know it’s connection to the family – it has certainly been passed down through the generations, and we find several boys with this name in this branch of the family – including me!   I found Wilfred’s baptismal record at the Burgersdorp Dutch Reformed Church:   Wilfred Flemmer Born               28.7.1883 Steynsburg Baptised        5.8.1883   Burgersdorp   Father                        Hans Christian Flemmer Mother            Aletta Alida Hopley Witnesses     Wilhelmina Johanna Hopley                         Agnes Elizabeth?   The witness Wilhelmina Johanna Hopley (von Abo) was the child’s grandmother. You will notice that he was only about eight days old when he was baptised. This was unusual, especially as the trip over to Burgersdorp was at least 65kms in a very bumpy cart or ox wagon, and it can be bitterly cold in the Karoo in August. I can only assume that the baby was sickly and the family decided to have him baptised as soon as possible. He must have died young as I have no further information on him. It was a fact of life at this time; Lettie had had at least two sons in the space of four years and both had died as infants. Looking back, we would tend to say ‘Well that’s how it was then’ but it must have been a very sad time for the family. 6              Waldemar Kjelberg Flemmer 1886 - 1953                  Doris Yula Constance Werdmuller Von Elgg 1893 – 1947     Waldemar Kjeldberg Flemmer    Doris Yula Constance Werdmuller Von Elgg           Waldemar Kjeldberg Flemmer was born in Steynsburg on the 20th February 1886, the second son surviving to adulthood of Hans and his wife Lettie. Both his names are Danish and the second is the surname of the Lutheran Minister who was foster father to Waldemar’s grandmother, Betty.   He was born at a time of great turmoil in the Cape Colony. The Reef gold rush started the year he was born, and it was not many years after that the war clouds gathered over the Transvaal. Waldemar’s youth was spent in Steynsburg where he went to junior school. In early photos we see a slightly built, serious looking young boy but one who was possibly to be the most talented academically of his generation – certainly an unusual product of the little dorp of Steynsburg.     Waldemar as a young boy of about 10   I was told by his daughter Yula that as was common, Waldemar had a black manservant who grew up with him and who called himself Tom Flemmer. During the Boer War Waldemar (about 13) and Tom had to deliver some extra blankets to brother Marius Toger (MT) who was camped with his unit nearby. MT had told him to give their names to the sentry who would let them pass. Out on the pitch-black veld he was so nervous that when challenged he shouted “Blankets!” instead, and was teased by MT about it for years afterwards.   His father Hans, who had been suffering with terminal cancer for some time died in 1896 when Waldemar was 10. This must have been a harsh blow for so young a boy, more so as his mother Lettie was distracted with the loss of her husband, the financial problems that arose and with looking after his four younger brothers and sisters. He was obviously academically gifted, and the money was found so that he could follow his older brother MT to St. Andrews in Grahamstown.   Here he excelled, both as scholar and sportsman. He won his colours for both cricket and rugby, was a College prefect and a sergeant major in the Cadet Corp. He matriculated in 1904 aged 18, winning a Rhodes Scholarship to Trinity College, Oxford. This is a remarkable honour, not achieved by any member of the Flemmer family before or since as far as I know. He was also a talented musician with a wonderful singing voice, in later life joining the Gilbert and Sullivan Society in Johannesburg and taking part in operettas.    Although the Rhodes Scholarship was very valuable in monetary terms it must have still been difficult for the family to find the funds to pay the costs of the passage and of living expenses in England. But the money was found and, trunks packed this young man still only 19, got on to a steamer at Port Elizabeth and set off for England. It is hard to picture a bigger difference than dusty little Steynsburg and the cold and damp of Oxford.    In 1899, Waldemar’s mother Lettie had married his uncle Marius and they had continued to run the trading business in Steynsburg between them. Times were tough after the Anglo Boer War, and in 1907 the family business went into liquidation. This same year Waldemar turned 21 and in terms of his father’s will, inherited his portion of the estate - £80 18s 2d, which was paid to him at Oxford -  no doubt very welcome given his straitened financial circumstances.   We have no word of how this young Colonial boy settled into his new environment, but it couldn’t have been easy for him, bearing in mind the snobbishness of the major English universities of the time. He wanted to become a doctor like his grandfather and read physiology, but it was on the sports field that he made his mark. Communication with home would have been slow and infrequent. His family in Steynsburg must have been delighted to see in the Midland News on the 7th December 1906 that he had been picked to play rugby for Oxford in the upcoming game against Cambridge. Two days later the paper reported that Oxford had won 12-8 and that the South African half backs Flemmer and Williamson had ‘done splendidly’. Not only was Waldemar an Oxford rugby blue, he also played for the Blackheath RFC and I am told that he had a trial for England.   The collapse of the family business back in Steynsburg frustrated his desire to enter medicine and he left Oxford in 1908 without completing his degree. He returned to Johannesburg where he studied for a law degree, and was admitted as an attorney and conveyancer at the Johannesburg Supreme Court the same year.   With the outbreak of the First World War he joined the 1st Mounted Brigade (Pietersburg Commando) of the 4th South African Horse and in 1916 left for the campaign in what was then German East Africa. He had been playing rugby for Pirates and had the nickname “Monkey” Flemmer, whether for his build and agility on the field or because of his nature is not clear! He was short but certainly well built as his military record shows: 5ft. 7ins (1.70m) tall, with a 37ins (94cm) chest and weighing 154lbs (70kgs). He was associated with Pirates RFC for many years both as a player and coach, and I was told that he had a rugby trial for South Africa. In later life he wrote a rugby column for the Outspan and his son Waldemar (Wal) told me that they went to many games at Ellis Park together. Wal’s main role was to remember the players’ names as his father had a poor memory for such details!   In 1920 aged 34 he married the splendidly named Doris Yula Constance Werdmuller Von Elgg who was 27 at the time. The Werdmuller von Elgg family is of Swiss origin and in South African records the name is more commonly shown as Werdmuller. There were Werdmullers in Steynsburg in the 1890’s and it possible that the families had stayed in contact. Part of the honeymoon was spent in East London and I have pictures of the honeymoon couple with masses of Flemmers and Nolan Neylans.   Waldemar had a legal practice in Johannesburg for many years. His son told me that his Dad was a very kind hearted, almost gullible man who was always a soft touch for people who wanted to borrow money, which was often not repaid. Wally can remember semi-precious stones and mining samples all around his Dad’s office in Johannesburg from various mining prospects that promised wealth that did not materialise.   His wife Doris was in poor health for some years and in 1947 she died in Barberton aged 54. Waldemar died six years later in Johannesburg aged 67. The couple had two children:   6.1 Yula Flemmer 1921 - married Tom Ashton Routledge 1917-1980   I had the pleasure of meeting Yula when she lived with her son Tony in Johannesburg. Her husband Tom had an interesting sporting heritage. His father, also Tom Routledge was one of the first South African cricket internationals.  He was first selected to play W.W. Read’s team that toured in 1891 -1892. In 1894 he toured England where he scored 152 against a team in Plymouth, and in 1895-6 he represented South Africa in the first of three official Test matches against Lord Hawke’s team. He married into a well-known East London family, his wife being Ellen Sara Chubb.   Yula’s husband Tom was a manager with Barclay’s Bank and they lived at various places in the Lowveld, where Tom represented the district as a wicketkeeper/batsman. They eventually moved to Durban where Tom died in 1980.   Yula and Tom had three children:   6.1.1 Penelope Ann Routledge 1946 – married Robert Haswell – they had six children:   6.1.1.1 Robert ‘Bobby’ Haswell 1969 – married Sally – one child 6.1.1.2 Benjamin Haswell 1971 – married Shawn Johnson 6.1.1.3 Daniel Haswell 1976 – 6.1.1.4 Nicholas Haswell 1979 – 6.1.1.5 Sarah Haswell 1983 – 6.1.1.6 Ningi Haswell 1989 –   6.1.2 Anthony Adrian Routledge 1947 – married Leslie Mason   Tony is a senior manager with the Nedcor banking group and they live in Bryanston Johannesburg. He and Leslie had two children:    6.1.2.1 Candice Routledge 1978 – 6.1.2.2 Leigh-Ann Routledge 1979 –   6.1.3 Prudence Yula Routledge 1956 – married Kevin Gilbert 1953 – they had two children:   6.1.3.1 Patrick Brian Gilbert 1976 – 6.1.3.2 Timothy Tom Gilbert 1979 –  6.2 Waldemar ‘Wal’ Flemmer 1925 – married Williamina ‘Nina’ Given Thom 1923 –      Waldemar ‘Wal’ ‘Flemmer       Williamina ‘Nina’ Given Thom         I first tracked Wal and Nina down to Cathcart where they had lived for some time, and had the pleasure of visiting them there a couple of times. They are a charming couple and like many Flemmers I have met, Wal has a great sense of humour and a twinkle in his eye. He grew up in Johannesburg, attending Parkview Primary and Parktown Boys High. He can remember visiting my great grandmother, Lettie Flemmer. She was a large woman, always dressed in black and was a very good musician. Wal and Yula would be brought in to see their grandmother and had to do their recitation, a somewhat intimidating experience I gather!   His parents used to take Wal and Yula to East London on holiday. As he and Yula got older they travelled to East London by themselves and they have many happy memories of days at St. Anthony and the Quinera.   On leaving school Wal studied accountancy for a year and then joined G.K.Tucker and Wilson as an articled clerk. He joined the Transvaal Scottish Regiment in 1944. Although he was graded as B1 (unfit) because of poor eyesight, he managed to pass an interview with the recruiting Colonel – as he put it he ‘never denied I had poor eyesight, but I didn’t admit it either’. In fact after his interview and with his glasses off, he saluted, right-turned and marched straight into a tent pole! Despite this he was flown to Cairo as a Wireless Operator in Pretoria Regiment – a tank regiment that saw action in Italy. Outside Bologna the Driver, Co-Driver and Gunner were all wounded and Wal and the Crew Commander managed to limp back to base.   Although he did not qualify as an accountant he worked in the accounting/bookkeeping field all his life. In 1953 he married Williamina ‘Nina’ Given Thom who had been born in Edinburgh. Nina told me that she came from a strict and sheltered background – whisky was strictly for medicinal purposes! During the War she had joined the WRNS and eventually been posted to Port Said – quite a change for a young Scottish lass. She met and married her first husband there, Major Wilfred Howard Brownie of the Transvaal Horse artillery. The marriage was later dissolved when they returned to Johannesburg.   Wal always had a great interest in horses and it was through horses that he met Nina. He was a more than competent horseman – show jumping at the Rand Easter Show, hunting with the East Rand Hunt Club, and riding in the first steeplechase authorised by the Jockey Club. Later he was a show jumping judge for many years.   Wal and Nina had three children:   6.2.1 Guy Owen Flemmer 1955 – married Teresa Laws.    Like his father and brothers, Guy was a very good horseman, specialising in show jumping, cross country and steeplechase. He was unlucky to break his back in a car accident when he was 18, which left him paralysed from the waist down. He then trained as a diamond cutter and tried various other ventures. I met him at the bar and tattoo parlour he ran with his brother in Observatory, Cape Town. Despite his disability he rode with the Hell’s Angels on a modified motorbike and had a wide circle of friends   6.2.2 Mark Cameron Flemmer 1956 – married Debra Estment –    Mark was a director of a security company in Johannesburg before moving to Cape Town to work as a partner in Guy’s tattoo parlour and bar. Mark’s inherited horse specialities are jumping, instructing and racehorse training.  He and Debra had a son:   6.2.2.1 Nicholas Jordan Flemmer 1994 –   He had a daughter with his partner Kathy:   6.2.2.2 Mickayle Flemmer      6.2.3 Kevin Waldemar Flemmer 1958 –   Kevin lived at Plettenberg Bay where he was also involved in the horse world – through endurance riding, stable management and farriering. He is currently managing a stable of horses at Paarl. 7              Constance Eloise Flemmer 1888 - 1939                  Charles Joseph Douglas Brothers 1880 – 1913                 Thomas Ackroyd Hodgson c 1889 – 1965       Constance Eloise Flemmer Charles Joseph Douglas Brothers Thomas Ackroyd Hodgson   Constance Eloise Flemmer was born on the 9th of March 1888 in Steynsburg the second daughter of Hans and his wife Lettie. I have not been able to find her baptismal record but she was probably baptised at the Holy Cross Anglican Church in Steynsburg. She was named after Constance and Eloise Hopley, her mother’s younger sisters.   Her mother Lettie was 31 and had already had at least six children by this time although only three had survived. The arrival of another girl into the family must have been a cause for great joy. Her sister Wilhelmina was 13 then and would have been especially pleased to have a baby sister in the house. The other Flemmer children in the home at this time were Waldemar Kjeldberg (2) and Marius Toger (10). The family was well established in Steynsburg her father Hans a commercial agent and Justice of the Peace.   As with the other girl children, I know nothing of the early years of her life. Steynsburg had developed over the years; there were government and private schools, two hotels and even a resident photographer!  It was a simple, open life, centred on the large Flemmer family in the district and on the church. Connie had her big sister to help care for her, and this must have been a great comfort with the arrival of three more brothers before she was seven: Harold Theodore (1891), Wilfred Hopley (1892) and Oswald Christian (1895).   Tragedy struck the family in 1896, when Connie’s father Hans died of cancer at the age of 48 when she was 8 years old. Her mother owned several properties in the town as well as the business – a general dealers shop and auctioneers. At that time a woman alone with a young family would have found life extremely difficult. It was a black period for the family. Her grandmother Betty Flemmer died two weeks after her father did. Further sadness followed when her youngest brother, Oswald Christian died of croup at the age of 2, six months after his father.     Connie’s uncle Marius Flemmer was an attorney who had practiced in Steynsburg for years and in 1899 Connie’s mother Lettie married Marius. I have a family photograph taken in about 1896, when Connie was about 8 – she is a pretty blonde girl, a slight smile on her face and her arm across her Uncle Marius’ shoulder.       Connie, aged about 8 with Uncle Marius, her stepfather     In November 1899 her beloved older sister, ‘Minnie’ (Wilhelmina) married the local doctor, Herman Vermaak and moved from the family home. Connie, 11 was the flower girl at the wedding.   The Anglo Boer War broke out in 1899 and it was a time of great turmoil across the country. Connie’s older brother, MT, only recently returned to Steynsburg as a qualified attorney, went off to fight with Brabant’s Horse in the Orange Free State. Many businesses in the Colony made a lot of money selling supplies to the British Army, but it seems the Flemmers’ business was not one of them, the family having to ‘live frugally’ as my grandfather put it.   The conflict over at last, life slowly began to return to normal. On the 4th of June 1907, aged 19, Connie was confirmed at the Holy Trinity Church, Steynsburg with her younger brother Harold Theodore, then 16. It was at about this time that she married Charles Joseph Douglas Brothers, a dental surgeon 8 years her senior. I know little about him except that he was a man of means and the marriage must have been a weight off her mother’s mind. With the financial pressure the family was under we cannot underestimate the importance of marrying ones daughters ‘well’ at this time. There were very few places in the life of the time for single women with limited means. It was considered to be every mother’s duty to see her daughters married.   Connie’s mother Lettie would surely have had a lot on her mind. Late the previous year (1906) insolvency proceedings had been brought against Lettie by her major creditors who were owed £6523, an enormous sum for the time. From reading the papers, it seems that Marius Flemmer was managing the business and that it had run into difficulties. During 1907 several meetings with the creditors and liquidator took place and the end result was that Lettie Flemmer lost all of her property, including virtually the entire contents of her home. A difficult and embarrassing period for the whole family and no doubt the talk of the closely-knit small town.   Connie’s husband, Charles Joseph Douglas Brothers was born in London in 1880 and was the son of Charles Matthew Brothers who was also a dental surgeon with a practice at Ebden Street in Queenstown. In 1899 the father was advertising in the local papers that he would ‘personally visit the undermentioned towns - Cathcart, Molteno, Steynsburg, Burghersdorp and Umtata’ over a two-week period. So a travelling practice and a very necessary one for the small dorps of the hinterland. If you had toothache you pulled the tooth out yourself or waited for the six-monthly visit of the travelling dentist! I am pretty certain that Connie met her husband when Charles was ‘on circuit’ to Steynsburg. I have no record of the marriage so do not know where it took place, but it was probably in Queenstown. The bride must have made a picture, a pretty young, petite woman; she was only 5ft 3ins (1.6m) tall and took a size 2½ shoe.   There were two children born of the marriage:    Alice Constance Brothers born 22nd November 1908 Queenstown    Gill Brothers born 29th October 1911 Johannesburg     I was told that the young girls were teased endlessly within the family during the 1920’s – the cry would go up from their cousins ‘Here come the Brothers!’  and I can hear the stamp of a small foot and the note of complaint:  ‘We’re not brothers, we’re sisters!’   In September 1913 tragedy struck this young family. Charles Brothers got soaking wet playing tennis and went down with pneumonia. At the time this was a very serious situation as there were no drugs to combat the infection. On 14th September 1913 he died aged only 33 at their house, 32 St. George’s Street in Yeoville, Johannesburg. Connie, 24 years old, was left with the children aged only four and 18 months old. Charles had drawn up a will in September1908 when his address was shown as Ebden St. Queenstown. This provided for all of his assets to be invested in a trust which would make annual payments to his wife. The executor of the estate was his father and it was valued at £3780 12s 9d, the dental practice having been sold for £3600.   The young widow, living alone in Johannesburg, decided to go up to Kenya as her mother and stepfather Marius had moved there. Also farming at Nakuru was her younger brother, Harold. Constance had quite an adventure getting to Kenya, in view of the hostilities with Germany and had to carry a pistol hidden in her skirt, and be on the lookout for German spies!   She came back to Johannesburg in about 1915 and on 16th September 1916, aged 27, married Thomas Ackroyd Hodgson at St. Mary’s in Johannesburg. There is an amusing aside mentioned in the archive papers about this marriage. The newly weds had to make special application to change the marriage date shown in their antenuptial contract. They had applied to a magistrate for a special licence three days before their wedding and without them realising it, he had ‘married’ them, issuing a licence showing the date of marriage as 13th September!   Thomas Ackroyd Hodgson was born in about 1889 in Newcastle, Natal and had joined Standard Bank as a messenger when he was 13, from where he rose to a senior position in the bank. He may well have met Connie when the Bank became executor of the trust set up in her first husband’s will. There were 2 children born of this marriage:   John Wilfred Hodgson born 21st August 1918 in Pretoria   Ann Marie Hodgson born 15th April 1925 in East London Like many bank managers the family was moved quite often, living in Pretoria, East London, and Durban and finally back in Johannesburg. Despite her diminutive size, Connie like many in this branch of the family was an accomplished sportswoman and a formidable tennis player. Playing mainly in women’s and mixed doubles she was Eastern Province Champion and won many tournaments in East London and Durban.  1923 article from the Daily Dispatch, East London   Constance Eloise died at Yeoville, Johannesburg on the 29th August 1939 aged 51. In 1918 she had contracted ‘Black Fever’ in the flu epidemic which killed her father. As a result she had suffered very badly from asthma most of her life. This had put a huge strain on her heart, leading to the heart attack which ended her life. It is pitiful to see pictures of her shortly before she died, which show how she was wasting away.   Her younger children, John and Ann were then 20 and 13 respectively. Connie’s estate was valued at £2022 1s 8d, the major portion being stands 1144 and 1145 Yeoville valued at £1750. It was noted that the estate was owed £115 by her brother Waldemar Kjeldberg Flemmer, an attorney in Johannesburg – an amount that took the threat of legal action to recover.    Thomas Ackroyd Hodgson died in 1965. He had remarried – Enid Laura Hodgson (born Paynter). They had an adopted son called Paul.   Connie and her first husband Charles had two children:   7.1 Alice Constance Brothers 1908 – 1997 married Thomas Lambert –    Alice Constance Brothers     Thomas Lambert     Alice was only four when her father died and shortly after, she went with her mother to live in Kenya. After her mother remarried she grew up in Johannesburg going to St Mary’s in Belgravia. As an adult she worked for Unit Securities where she met her husband Tommy Lambert. She was good at sport and was a keen golfer with a 9 handicap. She died in Johannesburg in 1997   7.2 Gill Brothers 1911 – 1978 married Claude Richard Beresford –   Gill Brothers     Claude Richard Beresford       Gill Brothers was an infant when her father died and only four when her mother Connie married Thomas Ackroyd Hodgson. He used to tease her, calling her ‘gill’ (as in fish) and when she was old enough she paid 7/6d to have her name changed to Jill! As a young girl she had lived in East London when her stepfather was transferred there. She formed a lifelong friendship with her cousin, my mother Kath Flemmer who was a similar age. Growing up in Johannesburg she, like her sister went to St Mary’s in Belgravia.   Gill was petite like her mother, about 5ft 3ins (1.60m) tall, with china blue eyes and fair hair. I am told that she was a lovely, warm person – photographs show someone with a real twinkle in their eye. Also like her mother she suffered badly with asthma and she developed severe arthritis later in life.   She met her husband Claude Richard Beresford through a mutual friend and they married and lived in Johannesburg. Claude was working for a wholesale woollen merchant called Pickles in Johannesburg at the time and later opened his own business. Gill was a very good tennis player, playing on the centre court at Ellis Park and was also in the Wanderer’s ‘A’ golf team. She died in Johannesburg on the 7th June 1978 aged 67.   Gill and Claude had three children:   7.2.1 Charles Ackroyd Beresford 1940 – married (1) Elaine Singleton – He married (2) Myra Morriera 1944 –   Charles went to King Edward School in Johannesburg. He had been captain of the junior school cricket team but his father forbade sport at senior school as it interfered with his studies. Charles worked in his father’s wholesale woollen business for 17 years before branching out on his own. He set up a company making foam rubber products in Johannesburg which he eventually sold. He has his own business in Cape Town – Clairemed - that specialises in making medical products.   Charles and Elaine had two children:   7.2.1.1 Christopher Beresford 1965 – married Jackie de la Fontaine – two children 7.2.1.2. Janine Beresford 1967 – married Logan de Connick – two children   Charles and Myra had one child:   7.2.1.3 Claire Beresford 1974 – married Andrew Lane 1972 –   7.2.2 Eloise Beresford 1942 – 1945   Eloise died of polio in one of the epidemics that used to affect mainly young children at that time.   7.2.3 Robert Ainsworth Beresford 1946 – married Cheryl Rutter    Rob, like his older brother, went to KES and was then sent as a boarder to St. Andrews in Bloemfontein, where he played Nuffield cricket for the Orange Free State. After divorcing Cheryl he had a child with Elsie Anne McInnes –   7.2.3.1 Lauren McInnes 1982 –   Connie and her second husband Thomas Hodgson had two children: 7.3 John Wilfred Hodgson 1918 – 1996 married Patricia Therese Curnow     John Wilfred Hodgson   Patricia Therese Curnow    John grew up in Johannesburg and was educated as a junior at King Edward School. As a senior he was at Michaelhouse, where he was a prefect and played Nuffield cricket. Before WWII he worked for a shipping company.  He and his brother-in-law Paul ‘Bill’ Richards joined up with the Transvaal Scottish at the outbreak of the war. They saw service in North Africa before being drafted into the Prince Alfred Guard, a tank regiment. During his service in Italy John had a very lucky escape. The tank crew were taking a break and four of them were outside the tank while John wrote a letter inside. A German patrol tried to capture the four crew outside, at the same time dropping a grenade into the tank. John escaped with split seconds to spare, and was wounded around the head and neck with a shower of shrapnel. Apparently fragments of shrapnel came out through his skin for years afterwards. After the war he married Pat Curnow and worked as a textile agent and in furniture. He died in Johannesburg in 1996.   John and Pat had three children:   7.3.1 Michael John Hodgson 1948 – married (1) Jill Jackson – they had two children: 7.3.1.1. Tammy Ann Hodgson 1972 – 7.3.1.2. Andrew John Hodgson 1973 –   He married (2) Susan Kohler –   they had one child:   7.3.1.3 James Michael Hodgson 1983 –   7.3.2 Timothy Andrew Hodgson 1951 – married (1) Annameitjie van der Werke – they had one child:   7.3.2.1 Darren Jay Hodgson 1980 –    He married (2) Therese Lambert – they had one child:   7.3.2.2 Craig Matthew Hodgson 1994 –   7.3.3 Anthony Peter Hodgson 1950 – unmarried     7.4 Ann Marie Hodgson 1925 – married Paul ‘Bill’ Edward Richards 1918 –1997   Ann Marie Hodgson   Paul ‘Bill’ Edward Richards         I have had the great pleasure of meeting Ann and some of her family at her home in Melrose, Johannesburg. Like so many of the Flemmer descendants she has always made me welcome, as though we have known each other for years.   Ann was born in East London after her father was transferred there with Standard Bank. Her primary school was Yeoville Convent in Johannesburg and then she went to St Mary’s. After leaving school she worked for the Canadian Government.    She married Paul Edward ‘Bill’ Richards in 1945 after he had come back from the war. He was a Richards of well-known furniture chain Geen & Richards. When Bill sold his shares in the company he opened Paul Richards & Sons, a company specialising in luxury furnishings and Ann did a lot of interior decorating. When Paul Richards & Sons closed she worked for Rivonia Estates and then 5th Avenue Properties. Bill died in 1997 and Ann went to live with her daughter Maree. Ann has been of invaluable help with this history, having a keen sense of family, wonderful hospitality and a huge collection of old photos! I was glad to meet her three children:   7.4.1 Maree Richards 1946 – married Reginald George John Lascaris 1947 –    Maree, who bears an uncanny resemblance to my late aunt Patsy Flemmer, went to school at Kingsmead in Johannesburg. She did one year of a BA degree at Wits before joining the family business Paul Richards & Sons. She married Reg Lascaris of the well-known advertising company and with four children became a full time mother.   Reg and Maree had four children:   7.4.1.1. Billy George John Lascaris 1972 – married Luanne Linnow 7.4.1.2. Richard Aristo Lascaris 1974 – married Louisa Nancy Pickard – two children 7.4.1.3 Lisa Moira Lascaris 1978 – married Steven Leach – two children 7.4.1.4. Nicola Ann Lascaris 1980 –   7.4.2 Edward ‘Ted’ Dick Richards 1948 – married Margaret Mary Price   Ted was at Pridwyn Primary School in Johannesburg and then went to Michaelhouse. He joined his father’s firm Paul Richards & Sons and then went to Liberty Life. He is now a life assurance broker.   Ted and Margaret had three children:   7.4.2.1 Leighann Mary Richards 1974 – 7.4.2 2. Kim Alexander Richards 1978 – 7.4.2.3. Diana Margaret Richards 1982 –   7.4.3 Jonathan James Richards 1951 – married Merran Hoffe   Like his older brother, John went to Pridwyn and then Michaelhouse. He joined the family business Paul Richards & Sons and is now a property developer in Johannesburg. The couple had two children:   7.4.3.1 Sue Maree Richards 1974 – married Terence Heimer 7.4.3.2 Lindy Mary Richards 1976 –       8                     Harold Theodore Flemmer 1891 – 1926                                          Maurine ‘Pinky’ Martin   Harold Theodore Flemmer         Maurine ‘Pinky’ Martin     Harold, the eighth child recorded, was born in Steynsburg on the 21st May 1891. He was the first of the Flemmers to be baptised at the new Anglican Holy Cross Church in Steynsburg. The ceremony took place on the 5th July 1891 and the witnesses were his father and his uncle Marius Flemmer.   I know nothing of his early life, except that it couldn’t have been particularly easy. The Colony’s economy was in dire straits, and trouble was brewing in the Transvaal Republic. Far from the new arrival having his mother Lettie’s attention, she was distracted by the birth of another child less than a year after Harold’s birth. By then she was also very worried about her husband Hans who was obviously ailing.   In 1896 when he was five his father died of cancer and the same year his grandmother Betty Flemmer also died.  Worse followed; the following year his baby brother Oswald was taken off by the croup at age 2.  The year after, Harold himself went down with typhoid in an outbreak caused by the town’s water supply becoming polluted. All in all a very difficult few years for him and of course his mother Lettie.   In 1899 she married Harold’s Uncle Marius, her brother-in-law, and things settled down for a few years. He was eight at the time and like all the young boys was caught up in the excitement of the Boer War. The town was abuzz with rumours of Boer commando activity in the area and part of Steynsburg had been commandeered as a base for British troops.   He went to the local school before following his older brothers to St Andrew’s in Grahamstown. His oldest brother MT, 14 years older than Harold, had long since left the school, but Waldemar, exceptional athlete and future Rhodes Scholar helped his little brother along.   Alas, it was not to last. At the end of 1906 the family business in Steynsburg was insolvent and the boys were withdrawn from school at the end of that year as the fees were unpaid. Harold’s school fees for the term boarding were £26 10 0d and for tuition £8  8  0d. There were extra charges for music lessons (piano) and for taking extra science lessons. There was a charge for playing football and cricket and the shoemakers bill was £2  6  3d!   He was only fifteen at the time, so returned to Steynsburg to a difficult situation – the family were stony broke and had lost their house and most of their possessions. He probably finished his schooling at the local government school. He was confirmed at the Holy Cross on 4th June 1907, with his 19 year-old sister, Constance Eloise.   As mentioned elsewhere the Flemmers had a family retainer, Tom Ngxkuma who called himself Tom Flemmer. He had seen the Flemmer boys grow up and at times was deputised to punish them with a dose of cod liver oil – something they would unsuccessfully try to avoid with an offer of a tickey (3d) as a bribe! During WWI Tom enlisted as a stretcher bearer and saw service with Harold’s brother, Wilfred Hopley Flemmer in France. After Wilfred’s death at Delville Wood Tom arrived back in South Africa. He was met at Steynsburg station by members of his tribe celebrating the safe return of the Chief’s son. Harold also went to meet him and was greeted with “Master Harold – Parlez vous Francais?”!   Harold was working on the Heathcote farm Steenbokvlakte near Cradock and is recorded as the next of kin on his cousin Victor Flemmer’s military file. There is no record of Harold being in military service in the South African Forces of WWI.  In 1920 he is recorded as living near Nakuru, Kenya where he was farming with his stepfather Marius and Uncle Salvator. His brother MT had married into the large Nolan Neylan family and some of them were also in the area. There were also assorted Flemmer cousins and one of his Naested cousins, so he certainly was in good company.   In 1923 he married Maurine ‘Pinky’ Martin in Sterkstroom, her hometown. I have no details of her. Harold had entered into an antenuptial contract at the time of his marriage which shows he was living at 'The Huts' District Nakuru, Kenya Colony and that Maurine Martin was ‘a spinster of full age residing at Sterkstroom'. In the contract he pledges a life policy of £1000, furniture and utensils, plus £500 to buy further furniture as necessary – a fairly substantial financial commitment for the time. They were only married for three years when he died intestate in the Nakuru Hospital aged 34 on the 23rd March 1926.   Maurine decided to go back to Sterkstroom with their child:   8.1 Wilfred Marius Flemmer 1924 – 1972 married Doreen Josephine Perkins 1924 –   Wilfred seems to have been completely unknown to the rest of the Flemmer family. His mother Pinky must have remarried as her name is shown as Maurine Peters on Harold’s Death Notice. The only record I have of Wilfred is that he married a divorcee, Doreen Josephine Hill, born Perkins at the Methodist Central Hall, Johannesburg in 1957 when he was 34 and his wife 23. Wilfred and his wife divorced 15 years later in November 1972. She remarried shortly afterwards, as her name changed to Botha. A month after the divorce, on Christmas Eve, he was found dead aged 48 in Joubert Park Johannesburg. The cause of death was being investigated but there is no information on record. He had worked as an insurance broker for Stewart Wrightson up to the time of his death. His effects were worth R65 and his estate R1160. I haven’t found out anything about Wilfred’s two children:   8.1.1 Heather Charmaine Flemmer 1958 – 8.1.2 Christopher Theodore Flemmer 1971 –     9                           Wilfred Hopley Flemmer 1892 – 1916        Wilfred Hopley Flemmer   He was the ninth (and second last) child of Hans and Lettie Flemmer. Born in Steynsburg on the 30th April 1892 he was baptised nearly a year later at Holy Cross, on 28th March 1893. The witness in this case was his Uncle William Musgrove Hopley, his mother’s brother and a future High Court Judge.   Wilfred was born into a troubled time as we have seen when looking at his brother Harold’s story. He was only four when his father Hans died and seven when his mother married his Uncle Marius. Another brother, Oswald, was born three years after Wilfred but did not survive long, leaving Wilfred the baby of the family. There was an 18-year gap in age between him and his oldest sister Wilhelmina and she played a big role in his early years.   Schooled at first in Steynsburg, he too went off to St. Andrew’s in Grahamstown with his older brother Harold at a young age. The financial problem in the family business which have already been described, led to him leaving St. Andrews at the end of 1906 when he was 14. I suppose he then went to the government school in Steynsburg. By the time the First World War broke out he was with Standard Bank in East London, where of course his oldest brother MT had had a legal practice for some time.   Wilfred joined the Kaffrarian Rifles as a private aged 22. He was promoted to Sergeant and was serving as a 2nd Lieutenant with the 2nd Battalion, South African Infantry when they arrived in France in April 1916. For two months they trained in trench warfare before moving to the Somme in June. On the 5th July the battalion was moved into position and held steady under a constant barrage of heavy shelling. Despite sustaining losses the South Africans were ordered to clear the streets of the village of Longueval. This complete, they attacked and entrenched themselves on the outer edge of Delville Wood at 0500 on the 15th of July. The horror of what followed has gone down in the annals of warfare. All reports acknowledged the fighting prowess and bravery of the South Africans as they were shelled and fought hand to hand for six long days and nights. No writer can adequately describe what happened but from the book South African Despatches edited by Jennifer Crews-Williams I quote the following:   At midnight on 14th July 1916, when (C.O.) Lukin received his orders, the Brigade stood at 121 officers and 3 032 men. When the first remnants emerged from the wood on 20th July, the Brigade stood at 143 – three officers (two of whom were wounded) and 140 other ranks. When everyone was finally assembled, the total number of men was no more than 750. Brigadier-General Lukin, who had been slightly gassed, stood bareheaded, with tears running down his cheeks, as the remnants of his brigade paraded past.  Wilfred Hopley Flemmer was not among the survivors, having died, aged 24 on the second day of the battle.  I am sorry I never met Wilfred. He was a good-looking young man and from his army records we can get a good idea of what he looked like. He was quite short by modern standards at 5ft 5¾ins (1.67m) his chest was 33½ins (85cms) and he weighed 144lbs. (65kgs) - he was fair-haired with green eyes. Dead at 24 he lies buried in the Corbie Cemetery near Amiens in France [grave reference Plot 1 Row E Grave 50] His death is also recorded at the Cenotaph at East London and at the entrance to the Standard Bank, Adderley Street, Cape Town. In due course the family received a letter confirming his death and eventually a bronze plaque and commemorative scroll arrived at the family home. The commemoration of a life given for freedom   His brother Marius wound up his estate. He left the entire amount of £606 15s to his mother, who also received a payment of £130 from Army Funds. It was found that Wilfred had cattle worth £55 in Kenya and these were disposed of to family and the funds deposited in the estate.   10               Oswald Christian Flemmer 1895 – 1897   The 10th and last recorded child of Hans and Lettie was born in Steynsburg on 21st March 1895 and baptised at the Anglican Holy Cross Church on 21st April the same year. The witness in this case was Philip van der Byl, probably from the same family that married into the Hopley family   Oswald was little over a year old when his father Hans died and sadly the lad did not live much longer himself. Dr. Hermann Vermaak who had attended the child’s father so diligently in his illness could not save Oswald. After five days of medical care he succumbed to croup eight days after his second birthday   BACK TO TABLE OF CONTENTS   CLICK HERE FOR AN EASY PRINT PDF VERSION OF THIS PAGE

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