Family history and genealogy
May 8, 2026
Family stories sometimes distort pieces of information over time. This story is one such example. Elizabeth Johanna DU TOIT was born on 30 January 1833 in Colesberg, the daughter of Johannes (Jan) Hermanus DU TOIT (1807-1836) and Anna Maria LIEBENBERG Read more…
April 18, 2026
Severe earth tremors on the island of Tristan da Cunha in early October 1961 led to the evacuation of the island’s 269 residents to Cape Town. The island’s volcano, Queen Mary’s Peak, had been restless since 06 August 1961, with Read more…
April 3, 2026
In the late 1800s, Charles and Tilly TANNENBAUM settled in Roodepoort. They had seven children and ran a general store, Tannenbaum Bros., selling sweets and furniture. The family lived in the house at the back of the shop. They bought Read more…
February 18, 2026
You may have researched your ancestors for centuries, but do you have a plan for all that work after you leave? Who will look after all your work, and where will it be kept? You have a last will, hopefully, Read more…
February 9, 2026
The history of population regulation in South Africa evolved from colonial labour controls into the highly centralised bureaucracy of the apartheid era (1948-1994). This transition was marked by the passage of the Population Registration Act of 1950, which created the Read more…
January 9, 2026
South Africa’s first television broadcast was on 05 January 1976 at 18:00, with five hours of broadcasting. In her apartment in Yeoville, Johannesburg, Mrs Margaret BAIRD was trying to watch – more than 60 years after her husband invented television. Read more…
December 23, 2025
“Sarie Marais” is a traditional South African folk song, created during the Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902). In 1901 or 1902, in a farmhouse near Vryheid or Utrecht, soldiers of General Louis BOTHA’s commando gathered around a piano. The piano player was Read more…
December 8, 2025
Vic’s Viking Garage In 1957, Trek Airways introduced Skymaster aircraft, and three of its Viking aircraft became redundant: ZS-DKH (c/n 121), ZS-DKI (c/n 124), named Louis Trichardt, and ZS-DNU (c/n 118), named Piet Retief. A subsidiary company, registered as Protea Read more…
December 5, 2025
FIRE AT WAYLANDS FARM A wildfire destroyed a treasure trove of historical assets and documents belonging to the DUCKITT family of Waylands farm in the Darling district on Monday, 01 December 2025. A veld fire set fire to the thatched Read more…
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…