Family history and genealogy
August 24, 2025
A newspaper article with South African origins circulated widely around the world in the early 1900s. The first one I found was in January 1911. It was a popular story because the subject was a much-married woman who was “mother Read more…
August 20, 2025
Levi David JONES was born in Eglwys Fair, Carmarthenshire, Wales, on December 16, 1884. His birth was registered in Merthyr Tydfil, Glamorgan, in the second quarter of 1886, according to civil registry volume 11a, page 555. He lived in Trecynon Read more…
August 6, 2025
The Johannesburg City Library celebrates its 90th anniversary today, 06 August 2025. The Italianate-style building with a colonnaded façade and marble staircase started off as a corrugated iron structure in 1893. The recent refurbishments have preserved its architectural beauty while Read more…
August 3, 2025
Mining magnate Barney BARNATO conceived plans for a Carlton Hotel in Johannesburg in 1895. Six stands between Eloff and Commissioner Streets were purchased for £40,000. Barney died on 14 June 1897, while on a ship to England. His nephew, Solomon Read more…
July 31, 2025
The biggest schoolboy rugby match in the world takes place on the first weekend of August in Paarl, when Paarl Gimnasium and Paarl Boys High face each other. During the week prior, there are functions, reunions, and more rugby. Paarl Read more…
July 10, 2025
Few people who use a coat-of-arms and/or so-called family crest today have any right to do so. Armorial bearings do not belong to all persons of a given surname but belong to and identify members of one particular family who Read more…
June 14, 2025
The first Woolworths store opened its doors to the public on 30 October 1931 in what was the dining room of the recently closed-down Royal Hotel in Plein Street, Cape Town. The store was co-founded by Max Sonnenberg and his Read more…
June 9, 2025
The Johannesburg City Parks and Zoo (JCPZ) is re-opening the previously dormant Hamberg Cemetery in Roodepoort on the 12th June 2025. At least 38 of the 42 cemeteries operated by the JCPZ in Gauteng are at full capacity.The 0.65ha cemetery, Read more…
June 5, 2025
I researched and wrote the original article in August 2012 and posted it on my old blog on 08 August 2012. It was the first such article on the history of snowfall in South Africa (1853-1990) and has been copied Read more…
June 4, 2025
The 98th Comrades Marathon in 2025 will be held on Sunday, June 8th. This will be the 49th Down Run, starting at the Pietermaritzburg City Hall and finishing at Durban’s People’s Park. The race distance is approximately 89km, and the Read more…