Report and Photographs by Penny Evans
(Click on any photograph to enlarge it.)
Thirty three members of the West Gauteng branch supported the “Bring and Brag” day on 16 October 2010. The hall was filled with cherished items of historical and genealogical interest.
Some fascinating stories were told about the brag items.
• Graham Southey brought trophies won by three generations of the Southey family at various agricultural shows. His great grandfather was the “merino king” for seventeen years. On the eighteenth year his middle son was the winner of the trophy. His father did not speak to him for three months!• Frans Viljoen’s old and valuable family Bible was on display.
• Neels Coertse brought a stone carving done by someone during the Anglo Boer War while in the Greenpoint Concentration Camp.
• Giel Nel brought a 1957 telephone directory which he had found useful for his family history research.• Robin Templeton had inherited a very old pictorial book of Johannesburg as well as a beautiful old silver shoe horn and button hook.
• Louise Dick had antique items of needlework including a crochet rug, patchwork cushion cover and a Voortrekker kappie which her grandmother had made for her own mother.
• Ds Hennie Le Roux also brought items of handwork done by his grandmother, mother and mother in law.• Kriek Fourie’s inheritance included jukskei clubs carved from the wood of the knobthorn tree, an antique cutlery set and a shotgun which had belonged to his grandfather.
• Bob Saunders brought a photo showing four generations of the Saunders family. He told the story of the Kruger quarterpound left to the family by his grandfather.
• John and Iris Stephens brought their granddaughter, Talita, who wore her great great grandmother’s wedding dress. In addition they had brought a child’s dress which was about 100 years old and was first worn by Iris Stephens’s mother. • Many other interesting items were on display. There were old coins including a 1879 threepenny piece, a fighting sword, a miniature set of the complete works of Shakespeare, an old diary with beautiful handwriting, old preserving jars, an antique peeler, medals won in various wars, old photos, locks of hair preserved in miniature containers and much more.
• Chairman Lucas Rinken brought the marbles his father had played with while in the Bethulie Concentration Camp and the fork which was all that remained after the family home was burnt down during the Anglo Boer War. In addition he brought many items of historical interest. The enthusiastic participation by the members made this day a great success.
