Family history and genealogy
November 15, 2025
The Sizwe Tropical Disease Hospital is located between Club Street, the N3 highway and Modderfontein Road in Johannesburg. The hospital was built in 1895 and was initially known as the Rietfontein Lazaretto. It treated patients suffering from tuberculosis, leprosy and Read more…
November 13, 2025
The Two Minutes of Silence on 11 November at the 11th hour was the idea of Sir James Percy FITZPATRICK. He was born in King William’s Town in 1862 and died in Uitenhage in 1931, the eldest son of James Read more…
November 8, 2025
Gladys Agnes JOUBERT celebrated her 100th birthday on 23 October 2024 in Carletonville. She was born on 23 October 1924 in Johannesburg to Charles Henry ALLEN and Georgina Emily SCRIVENS. Her father was a mine detective, and the family lived Read more…
November 7, 2025
Sarah COPELOWITZ celebrated her 101st birthday on 29 March 2016. She was born on 29 March 1915 in West Street, Johannesburg, one of eight children born to Isaac KATZ and Leah Blumah FRIDMAN. Her father was a Torah scholar and Read more…
November 2, 2025
Georgina Mary HARWOOD celebrated her 100th birthday on 10 March 2015 by tandem skydiving to raise R30 000 for life-jackets for National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI). She did her first jump at the age of 92, making this her third. Read more…
October 26, 2025
I originally researched this article in 2012 and published it online on 13 April 2012. Since then I have added more details. “They are trying to make Johannesburg respectable. They are trying to make snobs out of us, making us Read more…
October 13, 2025
The present-day Hermanus area was originally a summer grazing area for livestock in the early 19th century. It was frequented by shepherds, who could live off the fish caught at Walker Bay. By mid-century, a small fishing village named Hermanuspietersfontein Read more…
October 7, 2025
08 October 1902 – Captain John MARRIOTT, D.S.O., of the 2nd Norfolk Regiment, and Cordelia Caroline NEVERS were married at St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Pretoria. At the time, John was stationed in Potchefstroom, and Cordelia was living in Pretoria. Read more…
September 26, 2025
Visitors to South Africa are usually shocked to find monkey gland steak or sauce on some menus. Fortunately, it doesn’t contain any parts of a monkey. It is a mixture of chutney, tomato sauce, sugar, garlic, and spices, and it Read more…
September 24, 2025
The Johannesburg Holocaust and Genocide Centre (JHGC) has an odd item on display: Adolf Hitler’s typewriter, which he had before becoming chancellor of Germany in 1933. In the early 1930s, he used it for personal correspondence while living in Braunau, Read more…