Ancestry24

The Chinese in South Africa are caught up between two worlds -the civilised Western world which has adopted this community unofficially and (although tardily) even socially, and the world of its Asiatic origin, which has led to the Chinese being officially classified non-white and subject to certain restrictive legislative measures. Chinese are admitted to White theatres, restaurants and residential sections, and the attitude of most White South Africans toward them is one of sympathetic aloofness. Little contact is made with the Chinese; points of contact are mostly the little corner shop, the laundry or a Chinese restaurant for diversion.

The present Chinese community in South Africa did not originate in the labour force which was recruited in North China in 1904 for the Witwatersrand gold-mines. All those labourers were repatriated four years later by the Transvaal government. The present community has developed from sporadic immigration, which began in 1891 with the arrival from Madagascar and Mauritius of Chinese traders who had originally come from Canton. According to the 1965 returns they number about 7,200 and are distributed as follows: Johannesburg 3,000; the perimeter of the Witwatersrand 450; Pretoria 650; Port Elizabeth 1,800; East London 350; Cape Town 325; Kimberley 275; Durban 175; other centres in South Africa 250. In 1950 a total prohibition was imposed on the immigration of Chinese to South Africa.

The Chinese are mainly traders, and in both wholesale and retail trade they have built up a reputation for honesty and reliability. Bankruptcy seldom occurs. A few practise as doctors, attorneys, architects, engineers or accountants; many are employed in offices of Whites as clerks, typists, computer operators, dispatch clerks or travellers. They mainly belong to the middle income group and their standard of living is far above that prevailing in their country of origin. Very few South African Chinese are in needy circumstances, and one-third may be reckoned among the group of affluent businessmen. Both culturally and socially they are much nearer to the Whites than to the non-Whites, and very few of these Chinese have any connection with other non-White groups with whom they are legally classified. The South African Chinese have even lost contact with Buddhism and have in many cases adopted the Christian faith. In politics they are strongly anti-Communist, and 99 % of them support the Nationalist China of Chiang Kai-shek. Taiwan (Formosa) has full diplomatic representation in South Africa.

The legislation which affects and inconveniences them most is the Group Areas Act. Whenever an area is proclaimed as belonging to some particular racial group, whenever slums are cleared and the residents are required to move, the Chinese fall between two stools. They are neither White nor Indian, nor do they belong among the black or Coloured to whose way of life the area is to be adapted. Although they are mainly a race of traders, their community is too small to support trade among themselves, and they are now seeking an outlet in a greater diversity of occupations. Uncertainty is their greatest problem, but fear of discrimination or humiliation has not been experienced to any appreciable extent.

Smallpox

The first recorded epidemic of smallpox in the Cape was in 1713 and later 1735 and 1767. However many people seem to forget the outbreak in 1755 which hit the small settlement very hard – a quarter of the White inhabitants died in the first epidemic, and nearly half the slaves. Further smallpox epidemics occurred at the Cape in 1767, 1807, 1812, 1839, 1858 and 1881. That of 1881 was the most virulent.

Typhus

In 1867 a Typhus epidemic broke out. Typhoid is a disease of unsanitation, spread by contaminated human excrement. During this time it was not unusual for people to throw sanitary waste into the streets as well as carcass remains and other unsavory remnants of human and animal waste. The only serious epidemic of this disease occurred in South Africa at the beginning of the century as a result of the disorganisation brought about by the Second Anglo-Boer War. The mortality among civilians and military personnel was severe. Fairly high incidence continues in primitive, unsanitated communities.

A Cholera epidemic broke out in 1869 not long after the Typhus one a few years prior. These epidemics still occur in Southern Africa every few years.

Poliomyeltis epidemics occur periodically in South Africa. The public tends to be gravely frightened of this disease because of the pitiful crippling of children that so often results. The total number of cases occurring has, however, been relatively small compared with the other diseases that occur in epidemic form. There were epidemics in 1918, 1948 and (the worst one) the summer of 1956-57. `Epidemics’ of some hundreds of cases occurred in 1960 and 1966. In epidemic years vast numbers of children became infected without showing any sign of the disease. Such children are naturally immunised, but this is a very risky method of acquiring immunity, as the paralytic form may so easily be triggered off; e.g. by violent exercise or trauma of any kind. Subsequent crops of babies will not acquire such immunity and will provide material for the next epidemic unless submitted to vaccination.

Influenza

Some of the entries for one day (15 Oct. 1918) at the Maitland Cemetery, Cape Town, when the influenza epidemic was at its peak.

Epidemics of influenza or grippe occur at intervals. In South Africa extensive pandemics were experienced in 1918 and in 1957, which swept through the country within two months. The 1918 epidemic caused nearly 140 000 deaths in the Union of South Africa, mostly among the Bantu and Coloured sections of the population, although the death-rate among Europeans was also unusually high. The 1957 pandemic was not nearly so severe: most patients had a relatively minor illness and there were very few deaths. Epidemic outbreaks occur frequently in Southern Africa, but do not present unusual features as compared with epidemics elsewhere, although the illness tends to be more severe in the Bantu than in persons of European descent, and complications involving the lungs tend to be more frequent.

South Africa experienced outbreaks of influenza in not only in 1918 but also 1836, 1854, 1862, 1871, 1890 and 1895. The 1918 epidemic first manifested itself in Europe, where so many German and Austrian soldiers fell ill that a German offensive was delayed until March. It spread to Spain, where 8m people were affected. The death-roll in Europe was comparatively light however, and in Spain only 700 people died. The disease was spread by carriers, and it was soon contracted by British, French and American troops in France. Outbreaks were reported as far afield as Norway, Switzerland, Hawaii, China and Sierra Leone. There is little doubt that ships brought the epidemic to South Africa. At first it affected the ports and principal towns. It was reported in Durban on 14 Sept., in Kimberley on the 23rd, and in Cape Town and Johannesburg on the 25th.

Like the earlier epidemics, the 1918 `flu’ attacked men rather than women, and all races alike. There the similarity ended, for whereas previously the very young and the old were more prone to contract influenza, now adolescence and old age seemed immune, and the special incidence fell on the group between 25 and 45 years of age. The epidemic spread rapidly, following the lines of communication: the railways and roads. Hundreds of thousands of people fell ill, and the economy of the country, including the mines, was nearly brought to a standstill. Coal was no longer being produced, and factories closed their doors. Commerce almost ceased, only food-shops remained open, and transport was more precious than gold. The railways operated a skeleton service, trams ran spasmodically, and motor-cars were short of petrol. In the towns essential foodstuffs were scarce – no bread, since the bakers were ill; no milk, since the farmers were unable to bring it to town. The greatest shortage, however, was of people – hands to nurse the sick, feet to bring essentials of life when whole families lay ill.

At first the death-rate was low – then suddenly it began to rise. Doctors, many of them ill themselves, could not cope with the flood of patients, emergency hospitals overflowed, the supply of coffins gave out, and people were sometimes buried in mass graves. Nor was there safety in the country, for refugees spread the epidemic far and wide. The Transkei, with practically no medical assistance available, was particularly hard hit. The authorities did their best to cope with the situation, but thousands died without ever seeing a doctor. Then, as suddenly as it had begun, the epidemic ceased.

Mr. WILLIAM KUTU, of Beaconsfield, Kimberley, was born in the Cape Province. He went to Kimberley with his parents where they have lived ever since. He is an influential man in Beaconsfield and takes a prominent part in public and political affairs of that town. Is a transport contractor. Is vice-president of the African National Congress in the Griqualand West and Bechuanaland Province. Mr. Kutu is a sportsman and a fine cricketer. Has been elected delegate to various conferences on several occasions.

After World War I, many female pilots flew the Europe to Cape air route. This led to increasing numbers of South African women joining flying clubs, even though the government’s pupil pilot scheme was reserved for men.World War II saw the SAAF grow from 10 officers, 35 officer cadets, 1,600 men of other ranks and 100 aircraft in 1939 to a force of 31,204 servicemen, including nearly 1,000 pilots and at least 1,700 aircraft, in 1941. In 1944 the South African Women’s Auxiliary Air Force (SAWAAF) consisted of 6,500 members. By 1945, the SAAF had more than 45,000 personnel. More than 10,000 women served in the SAWAAF during the war.

Jackie Sorour

During World War II, Jackie Sorour ferried surplus RAF aircraft to countries in the Middle and Far East. She was a member of the Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) and flew 63 aircraft types, delivering 1,500 aircraft.

Jackie was born Dolores Teresa Sorour in South Africa on 1st March 1922, where she was flying solo by the age of 16. It took some time for her to overcome her fear of the air sufficiently to pilot an aircraft without assistance. After five hours of solo flying she obtained her A licence. In a further effort to conquer her fear, she undertook a parachute jump in Pretoria on 30th January 1938, breaking her ankle during landing.

In 1939 she went to England to obtain her B licence. At her first attempt to join the newly formed ATA, she was turned down. Jackie was a radar operator during the Battle of Britain. Eventually the ban on women as pilots was relaxed and she was able to transfer to the ATA.

In 1945 she married Lieut. Colonel Reginald Moggridge. In the 1950s she joined the Women’s Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve to convert to Meteor and Vampire jets. In 1957 she joined Channel Airways as an airline pilot. Jackie left the airline after the birth of her second daughter in 1961. She died in January 2004 at her home in Somerset, England.

Diana Barnato Walker

Another woman who made her mark in aviation and has ties to South Africa was Diana Barnato Walker. She is 88 and was one of Britain’s top female pilots. The grand-daughter of Barney Barnet (Barnet Isaacs) and his South African wife Fanny lives in Surrey, England, on a sheep farm. Her grandfather was from east London and made his fortune on the South African mines. He died in 1897 when he fell off the SS Christiana en route back to England. Diana also had a wealthy American grandmother on her mother’s side. Her father, Woolf, was into motor racing.

She was born in January 1918, the younger of two girls and lived with her parents in Hampstead, North London. When she was four years old her parents split up. Her mother later married the war-time pilot Richard Butler Wainwright, who had won the Distinguished Flying Cross. Diana was a debutante in 1936.

She learnt to fly in a Tiger Moth in 1937 at Brooklands racing track when an hour’s lesson used to cost £3. After six hours flying, she flew solo for the first time. Barney Barnato’s nephew Jack flew at Gallipoli for the Royal Naval Air Service. She spent World War II as a member of the ATA ferrying planes across England, having joined them with only 10 hours flying experience. She married Derek Walker in May 1944.

At the beginning of the war women were not officially allowed to ferry outside the UK. In late September 1944 Diana flew a Spitfire to Brussels, following her husband Derek, a Wing Commander in the RAF, in another Spitfire. She was on short leave from the ATA. Shortly after her flight, ATA women pilots were officially cleared to fly to Europe. In the final days of the war some made it to Berlin. Also during this time a few women were given the opportunity to ferry Meteor jets.

Diana lost a fiancé during the war and her fighter-pilot husband in another accident in November 1945. After his death, she earned her B licence. She has flown more than 120 aircraft types. In 1963 she became the first British woman to break the sound barrier in a Lightning jet.

Marjorie Egerton-Bird

Marjorie Egerton-Bird

Marjorie Helen Egerton-Bird was born in Weymouth, Dorsetshire. She came out to South Africa with her parents and brother George in 1902. Marjorie was two years old. James Sydney Egerton-Bird arrived in the Transvaal to build a prison in Pretoria. He had been a governor of the Portland Prison near Wentworth in England. The family lived in Johannesburg for five years until they moved to Pretoria for 15 years. Her father was governor of Central Prison from 1907-1917.
Marjorie attended the Diocesan School for Girls in Pretoria until her father’s death in 1917 at the age of 48. Marjorie and her mother returned to England, settling in Dover. George was already there attending Naval college. After Marjorie’s mother died in 1926, she returned to South Africa and started working at the South African Reserve Bank in Johannesburg.

In 1936 one of Marjorie’s friends took her to Rand Airfield for a flight. The young pilot showed off by looping the loop. Upon landing, Marjorie declared that she never wanted to fly again. The chief instructor had seen this and half an hour later, he took her up and gave her a smoother flight. Soon afterwards, Marjorie received a small inheritance from an aunt and she used it to take flying lessons which cost £3 per hour through Rand Flying Club. In March 1937, three hours after her first solo flight, she obtained her A licence and an hour later, was competing with 22 men in the Aero Club Round the Reef Flying Race, in which she finished in fourth place. Her licence was endorsed for several different types of aircraft on which she was trained by Doreen Hooper. She could also carry passengers. In 1937 Marjorie was one of the 10 women in South Africa to possess an A licence.

Soon after obtaining her licence, she set about trying to make flying more available to women. Together with Joan Blake, she set up a petition to the government. The petition was signed by 150 women interested in flying but Oswald Pirow, then Minister of Defence, replied, “perhaps after the first thousand men pupil pilots were trained then something might be done for women.” This would take about two years. Marjorie approached Doreen Hooper, who promised to help. Six women met with Doreen at her flat – Joan, Elaine Percival-Hart, Sylvia Starfield, Toy Celliers and Marjorie. They approached Mrs Deneys Reitz, who was the Member of Parliament for Parktown, to chair a meeting at the Wanderers’ Club. An advert was put in the newspaper and on the evening of 5th December 1939, 110 women attended. They called themselves the South African Women’s Aviation Association (SAWAA). Later on they were referred to as the Women’s Civil Air Guard.

Mr. Haswell, secretary of the Rand Flying Club, offered to train eight women every weekend at the Rand Flying Club. Soon other clubs followed suit, and within six months, the 110 members were working during weekends learning all about flying. A year after its formation, the SAWAA had branches throughout South Africa, and numbered between 3 000 and 4 000 members. In December 1938, the SAWAA had eight branches, 67 pilots of which 18 had A licences and two were instructors. In February 1939, the East Rand branch had 100 women joining up – all from Benoni. Each branch collected money to give bursaries to members who showed an aptitude for flying. By 1939, 300 women had joined the SAWAA. In 1939, there were only 600 licensed civilian pilots in South Africa. After raising its own funds, the SAWAA purchased a Taylorcraft 65 De Luxe monoplane for £650. They were not able to use it much as all civilian flying ceased in 1940 and all private aircraft were taken over by the government and distributed to air schools.

In February 1940, six SAWAA members flew over Johannesburg in formation flight. Marjorie was one of the pilots, and this was the first time that women pilots had flown in formation flight in the world.

By the late 1930s, South African women had started asking about joining the Defence Force. In May 1939, the Director-General of the Reserve Force, Brigadier J.J. Collyer, met with Lieutenant-Colonel H.C. Daniel (Director of Technical Services) to investigate the utilisation of women. Lt.-Col. Daniel was not keen but Col. J. Holthouse (Director of Air Services) proposed that women be used as typists, clerks, store assistants, canteen and mess personnel, telecommunication operators, drivers, ground personnel and instructors.

As war loomed, SAWAA members started receiving instruction in first aid, fire-fighting, alarms, clerical and administrative work. Military drill was also taught. When war broke out on 3rd September 1939, the SAWAA sent General Smuts a telegram offering their services. On 10th June 1940, a notice appeared in the Government Gazette establishing a Women’s Auxiliary Air Force which would be associated with and act in co-operation with the South African Air Force.

On 1st June 1940, Doreen Hooper was the first woman in South Africa to be called upon to volunteer for full-time war service. She was 22 years old and was given the rank of Major, in command of the SAWAAF. Marjorie was the second woman to be called up 10 days later, and then Elaine Percival-Hart, both with the rank of Captain. Marjorie was second-in-command of the SAWAAF. On 28 June 1940, the first group of 120 women were taken into full-time service. Five months later there were 800 SAWAAFs proudly wearing the orange flash, signifying they had volunteered for overseas service.

All SAWAAFs did a three week basic training course at Valhalla under the command of the SAWAAF Sergeant Major (Mrs) Edwards. The SAWAAF technical personnel did their advanced training of a year at the Pretoria Technical College, while other training was done at 73 Air School at Wonderboom. The first female Physical Training Instructors graduated from the Military College in August 1941. Women who were appointed as non-commissioned officers (NCOs) did their NCO course at 100 Air School in Voortrekkerhoogte. By June 1942 there were 34 SAWAAF camps in South Africa. SAWAAF pilots flew communication and ferry flights and served as duty pilots and second pilots in the SAAF shuttle service. Special legislation enabled SAWAAFs to be employed on combatant duty, serving at ack-ack sites on instruments to direct the guns and as searchlight operators.

The SAWAAFs came from all walks of life. Helen Beatrice May Fennell was born in Sussex, England, in 1905. She graduated from King’s College, University of London, in 1927, and taught for three years in India. She came to South Africa in 1931, where she met and married Billie Joseph. During World War II, Helen was an information and welfare officer in the SAWAAF. Helen became a social worker after the war and was well-known for her role in the anti-apartheid movement. She passed away in 1992.

In December 1940 the first detachment of SAWAAFs were sent up North with Muriel Horrell in charge. They went to Mombassa in a troopship and from there by train to Nairobi, where a camp was established in a grey stone building. Soon this became too small and they moved to another camp of wooden huts. In September 1940 the SAWAAFs were sent to the Middle East, where their housed in a hotel in Cairo.

During the war, the women performed in some 75 different types of work. These included metal workers, welders, wood workers, fitters and turners, inspectors, armament instructors, stores, clerical, cooks, despatch riders, signals, Link Trainer instructors, lorry drivers, meteorological assistants and observers, developing and printing photos, parachute packers, P.T. instructors, shorthand typists, and wireless operators. By 1941, there were 36 A licence pilots in the SAWAAF.

In 1942 a major re-organization occurred within the SAWAAF. Their administrative functions were amalgamated with those of the SAAF. The SAWAAF directorate remained, but with only a few senior officers serving, their function being to direct the policy of the SAWAAF and to maintain the general welfare and well-being of all the SAWAAFs on full-time service.

After the war, Maj. Egerton-Bird was placed in charge of the Women’s Dispersal Section of the Directorate of Demobilization. By the end of December 1945 1, 955 women had been demobilized. In January 1946 alone, 626 women had been through the dispersal camps. The last SAWAAF camp closed on 1st April 1947.

Assistance was provided to enable women to cope with the transition from war to peace. This consisted of grants for educational and vocational training, vocational guidance officers assisting women to choose training suitable to their capabilities, the provision of courses both full-time and part-time (two of the most popular were shorthand-typing and nursing), and assistance for those who wished to establish businesses. All the discharge benefits available to men were also provided for those women with equivalent service. Women who had been artisans during the war found it difficult as there weren’t sufficient factories in the country to absorb them.

While the majority of women returned to civilian life, a number of the women went into the Women’s Auxiliary Defence Corps and were used in the SAAF. An amendment to the Defence Act was made in 1947, allowing women to serve in the military on a voluntary basis, but only in non-combatant roles, with effect from 3rd June 1947. The Women’s Defence Corps (WDC) was then established on 28th November 1947.

In 1948, with a new government in power, the Minister of Defence, F.C. Erasmus, asked for a report on women serving in the Permanent Force. According to the statistics provided in the report, the SAAF had four officers and 30 other ranks in the WDC. In April 1949, women were no longer able to drive military vehicles. The following month, the Minister decided that recruiting women for the WDC Permanent Force was to cease. Only female military nursing personnel and medical officers were retained.

Women were kept out of the Forces until October 1972 when the Minister of Defence granted permission for the appointment of women in the Permanent Force again. The first three women to join the SAAF in 1974 as Permanent Force members were trained at the Civil Defence College in George. On 19th January 1974, 33 women began their basic training at the Air Defence School in Waterkloof. On 21st February 1995, an all-women’s parade was held at the SAAF Gymnasium in Valhalla to celebrate 21 years of women’s service in the Permanent Force.

In 1996, the SAAF recruited the first six women for pilot training. By October 2004, 15 women had received their wings and 13 were still pilots in the SAAF.

Marjorie Egerton-Bird, who did so much to lay the foundation for women in the Air Force, passed away on 4th January 1982, aged 82 years.

Phyllis Doreen Dunning

Phyllis Doreen HOOPER was born in Johannesburg and attended Boksburg Convent School before completing her education under private tuition. She became interested in flying when, aged nine years old, her parents took her to see a “flying machine” in Barberton owned by Alan Cobham. People could write their names on the plane’s fabric, and Doreen wrote hers.

On the 3rd July 1935, soon after her 18th birthday, she started flying lessons with the Johannesburg Light Plane Club, in Baragwanath. She learnt to fly in a Gipsy Moth (ZS-ADW) and her instructor was Captain Stan Halse who was a RFC pilot in WWI. After two weeks and 9 hours of flying, she earned her A licence and decided to make aviation her career.

In 1936 she took second place in the Vereeniging-Durban-Vereeniging air race, flying a Gipsy II Moth. On the 30th October 1936 she obtained her B licence, becoming the first female commercial pilot in South Africa. This was followed by employment with African Flying Services at Rand Airport. In February 1937 she went to England from where she took part in the Oases Race in Egypt. She flew with Captain V. Budge in a miles Hawk and finished 23rd in a field of 40.

In 1938, with Mr. Calderbank as co-pilot, and flying a Leopard Moth, she placed 8th in the Governor-General’s air race. The same year, she placed 2nd in the Round the Reef air race, again in a Gipsy II Moth.

By July 1937 she was studying for her Instructor’s rating and working for the Johannesburg Light Plane Club. She obtained her Instructor’s rating on 20th January 1938, becoming the first female instructor in South Africa. A few months later she re-joined African Flying Services, now based at Grand Central. Her wire-haired terrier, Starkey, was a common sight at Grand Central and had about 70 flying hours to his credit!

At the outbreak of WWII, she had more than 2 000 flying hours. At the age of 24 she was the youngest officer in the British Commonwealth to attain the rank she held. In October 1943 Lt.-Col. Doreen Dunning resigned on a point of principle affecting her work. Maj. Muriel Horrell took over her duties. After Lt.-Col. Dunning had telegraphed news of her resignation to Maj. Egerton-Bird, then stationed in Port Elizabeth, the Major flew to Pretoria to speak to Gen. Smuts. A short while later, Gen. Smuts made a public apology to Lt.-Col. Dunning in the Press.

She was chairwoman of the SAWAAA. She married Edwin Keith Dunning, who was born in Nigel. He died in Natal in 1968. Doreen lives in Howick, KwaZulu-Natal.

Elaine Percival Hart

Elaine Percival Hart was born in Newport, Monmouthshire. She was educated in England and graduated from Bedford Physical Training College. Elaine came to South Africa in January 1914 and joined the staff of Diocesan School for girls in Grahamstown. In 1917 she joined the Military Nursing Service of South Africa, as a masseuse. Elaine was involved in women’s hockey from 1923 to 1937, managing Springbok tours to the UK, Ireland and the USA.

She took her first flying lessons in 1928 from Dick BENTLEY who flew out from England in a Moth. Elaine obtained her A licence in 1936. She had a passenger endorsement with Doreen Hooper as instructor. During WWII she was Assistant Deputy Director of the SAWAAF and a unit commander. Elaine was a member of the Rand Flying Club and the Grand Central Flying Club. She was an executive member of the SAWAA and chairwoman of the Northern Transvaal WAA. In 1934 she was granted an inventor’s British patent for an “Improved Wind Indicator” for night flying and another one in 1939 for a “Wind Speed Indicator”. Elaine died in the Transvaal in 1955, unmarried.

Muriel Horrell

Muriel Horrell was born in Pretoria in 1910 and educated at Pretoria High School. She graduated with a B.Sc. from Wits University. She earned her A licence at Grand Central where she was a pupil of Doreen Hooper. Muriel was a senior member of the SAWAAF.

Sybil Starfield

Sybil Florence Starfield was one of the founder members of the SAWAAF. She was a qualified pilot and was a leading figure in women’s aviation. Sybil played an important role in SAWAAF recruiting campaigns, travelling all over South Africa. In September 1944, Captain Starfield was missing at sea presumed drowned, as a result of a torpedo action against her ship whilst she was en route to England. She had sailed from South Africa in June 1944, having been seconded to the ATA.

Rhenia Slabbert

Frances Rhenia Slabbert was born in Kroonstad and finished her schooling at Girls’ High School in Johannesburg. She was the daughter of J.H. Slabbert, director of Slabbert, Verster and Malherbe, of Johannesburg. Her interest in flying started in childhood and during a visit in Europe, she flew from London to Paris as a passenger. Back in South Africa, she joined the Rand Flying Club and took flying lessons from Captain Gray. She earned her A licence in February 1937, in Durban, becoming the first woman to obtain her pilot’s licence in that city. She often acted as piloted for her father on business trips. During WWII she was attached to the Communication Squadron of the SAWAAF.

Rosamund King Everard-Steenkamp

Rosamund King Everard was born near Carolina, South Africa in 1907 to British parents, Charles Joseph Everard (a trader and farmer) and Amy Bertha King (an artist). The women in her family became well-known artists, known as the Women of Bonnefoi or the Everard Group.

Rosamund was not only an accomplished artist, but also one of South Africa’s female aviation pioneers. Her career was cut short by her death in a Spitfire demonstration accident in England. She was the first woman to pilot a Spitfire. In August 1945 she became the first woman in the world to pilot a jet aircraft in Britain’s Air Transport Auxiliary Service (whilst still holding the rank of Captain in the SAWAAF). She flew a Meteor III jet.

Rosamund attended Eunice School in Bloemfontein. She started painting in the mid-1920s when she was a music student in London and Paris. Rosamund returned to the family farms in the eastern Transvaal in 1926, where she became a successful farmer. She became the first woman to qualify as a cattle judge in South Africa. Rosamund spoke French and isiSwazi.
In 1935 she started flying, earning her A licence (no. 453) on 23rd January 1936. Together with her brother, Sebastian King Everard, also a pilot, she operated a Moth (ZS-AFF). She undertook her first flight across Africa to Britain in 1937. Rosamund went to England and earned her B licence (no. 14171) on 16th March 1938. She earned a 2nd Class navigator’s licence (no. 729) on 28th September 1938 and the Guild of Air Pilots & Navigators Instructors Endorsement on the 29th October 1938. After her B licence she took part in the Empire Air Display at Hendon, London. While in England she also flew in Europe and Scotland. Rosamund won the race for the Wright Trophy at the Njoro Air Rally and Derby in Kenya.

Rosamund returned to South Africa and on 21st April 1939, she earned her South African B licence and Instructor’s Endorsement. She then joined the staff of the Witwatersrand Technical College as a flying instructor stationed in Ermelo and Carolina. She trained many pupil pilots who later distinguished themselves in the SAAF.

When WWII broke out, she was commissioned with the rank of Captain and posted to 61 Squadron where she gave instruction and did flying duties. By 1942 she and Rhenia Slabbert were flying Lodestars between South Africa and Cairo. In 1944 she joined the Air Transport Auxiliary, ferrying many types of aircraft to the operational bases. By then she had more than 3 500 flying hours on active service.

She was killed in a flying accident at Littlewick Green, 5 km west of Maidenhead, in Berkshire, England. There was low cloud at the time, and the Spitfire that she was piloting crashed into a hill. She had over 4 000 flying hours. During the war she was attached to the Communications Squadron of the SAWAAF, which ferried important officials to various military centres. Membership of this unit was one of the most envied and coveted jobs in the SAWAAF.

She was a member of the Johannesburg Light Plane Club, the Royal Aero Club in London, the London Aeroplane Club, the Guild of Air Pilots and Navigators of Great Britain, an honourable member of the Leicester Aero Club and an associate of the Royal Aeronautical Society in London.

She met and married Hermanus Nicolaas Fourie Steenkamp in 1940, whom she had taught to fly. He was a Lieutenant in the SAAF when he died on 01 December 1942. He was buried on the family farm Welgelegen, in Ermelo.

Amongst Rosamund’s other interests were shooting, swimming, tennis, squash, music, dancing and painting. In November 2000, her painting The Blue Furrow was sold for R55 000 at an auction by Stephan Welz (Sotheby’s).

Enid Marjorie Russell

Enid Marjorie Russell was born in Perth, Australia, and educated at the Perth Modern School. She obtained a law degree in Australia before moving to South Africa. Enid was secretary of the Aero Club of South Africa which was founded in Kimberley. This work involved the running of the Governor-General’s Cup air race. She was also the organiser of the South African Model Aeroplane Championship in 1938-9. Enid was a member of the Rand Flying Club.

Ursula Smith

Ursula “Duffy” Smith was born in Port Elizabeth in 1921 and educated at Holy Rosary Convent. She first flew in the 1920s when Allister Miller took her on a flight. She took up gliding at the age of 14 and obtained a gliding licence. In 1938 she took up powered flight and had to wait until August 1938, on her 17th birthday to go solo, becoming one of the youngest qualified pilots in the British Empire and Commonwealth. Ursula was in university when WWII broke out, so she joined the SAWAAF and trained pilots in a Link simulator. She was also a navigation instructor. She was a member of the Port Elizabeth Aero Club.

Mollie Noreen Goldsmith

Mollie Noreen Goldsmith was born in Benoni and educated at St Andrew’s School in Johannesburg and UCT. She became a member of the Rand Flying Club and took flying lessons from Captain Gray. After almost 12 hours of dual instruction, she went solo, the first woman to do so at Benoni Aerodrome. She was strong apposed to the discriminatory policies that prevented more women from flying.

Muriel Shires

Muriel Shires was born in Johannesburg in 1922 and educated at Kingsmead College. In 1941 she was a pupil pilot at Grand Central where she trained to ultimately become an instructor. Muriel was a member of the SAWAA.

Claire Elizabeth Seawright

Claire Elizabeth Seawright was born in Johannesburg. She was a pupil pilot at the Johannesburg Light Plane Club, where she earned her A licence. In 1935 she won the Star Aviation Competition. Claire graduated with a B.Comm. from Wits University.

Susanne du Plessis

Susanne du Plessis was born in Philipstown, Cape, in January 1890. She was educated at Middelburg and Rondebosch. In June 1937 she earned her A licence at Air Taxi Company in Cape Town. This was renewed in 1938 and 1939 at Pretoria Flying School and rand Central respectively. Susanne was a member of the Transvaal Women’s Civil Aviation Association.

Ethel Louisa Phillips

Ethel Louisa Phillips was born in Sussex, England, in October 1893. In November 1938 she imported a Miles Monarch from England and used it to compete in the Governor-General’s air race from Durban. Ethel was Adjutant of the SAWAAF in Cape Town and presented a bursary for the best all-round cadet. She was a founding member of the Cape Peninsula Flying Club and a member of the Port Elizabeth Aero Club. Ethel was killed when her aircraft went into a spin and crashed at Brooklyn Aerodrome in Cape Town on 19th February 1940. Her A licence had lapsed on the 5th February and had not been renewed at the date of the accident. It was reported that age was understated by at least 12 years on her licence.

Edith D. Watson

Edith D. Watson (maiden name Nicol) was a member of the SAWAAF and an aircraft fitter at AFB Ysterplaat during WWII. She often made her own tools when supplies were short. The tools are on display at the Air Force Museum at Ysterplaat.

Marjorie Juta

Constance Marjorie Juta was born in Cape Town in 1901. Amongst her many accomplishments – horse riding, golfing, big game shooting, author, playwright – she was also a pilot. In 1928 she was riding a horse towards Youngsfield when she saw an aeroplane being unpacked. It belonged to Colonel Henderson, who was starting a flying school. Amongst the people watching this were Sir John and Lady Heath. Marjorie asked him how much it would cost to learn to fly and he replied, “About £60″. A few days later, he agreed to teach Marjorie for the price of the fuel. She spent 10 days with him, often being air sick. After weeks of gales, she finally made her first solo flight in an Avro-Renault. She went on to earn her A licence. At the same time as Marjorie was learning to fly, so were two of her school friends, unbeknown to her,

Marjorie Douglas and Dulcie Evans.

Marjorie, along with Lt. Miss Penny E. Otto, was awarded the Croix de Guerre (avec palmes) for courage as ambulance drivers when they were members of the Mechanized Transport Corps serving in the Battle of France in May 1940. The presentation was done in 1941 in Mombassa, Kenya. When South African women marched to the Union Buildings in 1954, Marjorie was responsible for organising them into ranks of six abreast.

Marjorie Douglas

Marjorie Douglas was one of the first two women to qualify for an A licence in South Africa. She was born in Sea Point, Cape Town, the daughter of Thomas Douglas and Catherina Eleanor Cousins (daughter of Rev. George Cousins). Her brother, Rod, was managing director of De Havilland Aircraft Company in South Africa. She attended St Andrew’s School in Johannesburg and trained as a physiotherapist. Marjorie was a member of the Johannesburg Light Plane Club.

Dulcie Evans

Dulcie Evans was one of the first two women to obtain an A licence in South Africa. Both were trained by Graham Bellin at the Johannesburg Light Plane Club at Baragwanath in 1928. By 1931 the club had nine female pilots besides Marjorie and Dulcie. The nine included Mrs. Haggie and her daughter Diana, Nancy Ferguson, and Mrs. Humble.

Helen Marcelle Harrison

Helen Marcelle Harrison was born in Vancouver, Canada in 1909. Whilst still a child she was sent to St Mary’s School in Calne, Wiltshire, England. During her residence in Eastbourne, she went on her first flight and decided to become a pilot. She secretly took flying lessons until she received her A licence in 1935. While visiting Singapore, she qualified for her seaplane rating. She obtained her B licence at the London Aeroplane Club in April 1936 and in October qualified for her instructor’s rating. Soon afterwards, she moved to South Africa and settled in Somerset West.
In February 1937, Helen was employed by the Air Taxi Company at Wingfield, Cape Town. She became the first female instructor in South Africa and was the first female pilot to instruct pupil pilots under the government’s training scheme. She left Wingfield in May 1937 and joined the staff of the Pretoria Flying School. Helen attended an Instructor’s refresher course at Roberts Heights, becoming the first female pilot to fly military aircraft in South Africa. She was also employed by African Flying Services and worked from Grand Central Aerodrome. Her next employer was Haller Aviation Company in Grahamstown.

Towards the end of the war Helen flew with the Air Transport Auxiliary in Britain. After logging 500 hours she was discharged with the rank of First Officer (class V). Helen returned to Canada after the war, having acquired commercial instructor’s, multi-engine and instrument licences from four countries. Despite her qualifications, she found it very difficult to find a job in aviation. At one point she drove a taxi at Dorval Airport in Montreal. From 1961 until her retirement in 1969, she taught floatplane flying on the Canadian west coast. When she passed away in April 1995, she had logged over 15,000 flying hours.

Helen had a number of surnames. According to her divorce record in South Africa, her maiden name was Testemale. This was a divorce from Louis Botha de Waal in 1939. Various sources give her maiden name as Harrison. In April 1935, according to a legal notice published in The Times, London, she was living at 33 Heathurst Road, Sanderstead, Surrey, when she renounced the surname Barnes and stated that she was to be known as Helen Marcelle Harrison. Canada’s Aviation Hall of Fame lists her as Helen Marcelle Harrison Bristol

Winifred Beatrice Beardmore

Winifred Beatrice Beardmore was born in Cape Town in 1914. She attended Wynberg Girls’ High. Winifred started flying in 1938 and obtained her A licence. She was a secretary at Cape Town Airport for a number of years. She served as the secretary of the Cape Peninsula Flying Club, of which she was a founding member. She was also treasurer of the Women’s Aviation Association. Winifred worked for Air Taxi Company when she joined the SAWAAF where she held the rank of Major.

She married Ritchie Tennant, son of Sidney and Daisy. He was a Major with 24 Squadron, SAAF, and died in March 1942.

Betty Rowell Beatty

Betty Rowell grew up in Southern Rhodesia. She was educated in Gwelo and Weybridge, Surrey. In 1938 she settled in South Africa. During WWII Betty joined the SAWAAF in South Africa where she was a Flight Sergeant. She worked in the meteorological office at Youngsfield, as an observer taking weather observations from a psychrometer strapped to the wing struts of a Wapiti biplane and later a Harvard. During one of these flights, Betty noticed a cloud effect downwind of Table Mountain. This cloud creates a specific effect for gliders and became known as Betty’s Wave.
In June 1946 Betty flew solo at Youngsfield after 2 hours 15 minutes dual instruction from Captain P. de Wet, a former SAAF pilot. She broke the record of Joy Cairns of Port Elizabeth, who had gone solo after 3 hours 25 minutes instruction.

After the war, Betty worked for the civil Met office. In November 1954, with 94 flying hours to her credit, Betty bought a new Auster Aiglet and flew it to Ndola, together with a newly qualified private pilot, Dorothy Alton, who was a missionary. Betty sold the aircraft in Ndola and took the train to her parents who lived in Hermanus. She married Pat Beatty who designed and built gliders. Their daughter is Sue Beatty, the helicopter pilot.
Just for the Love of Flying was written by Betty and is the story of her 1954 flight from England to Ndola and other aviation experiences.

Una Eileen Betts

Una Eileen Ross was born in Natal. She was a private pilot and became honorary secretary of the Port Elizabeth Aero Club in 1936. In 1939 she was secretary to the Port Elizabeth Air Rally. The Port Elizabeth branch of SAWAA was founded in May 1939, with Una as a founding member. She married Captain G.C. Betts who served in the RAF during WWI. Una had two brothers in the RAF, one of whom was awarded the Croix de Guerre posthumously.

Maxie Kroeze

Maxie Kroeze was Sun Air’s first female pilot, having joined in 1995. A qualified chartered accountant, she learnt to fly in Tzaneen when she was the 24-year-old financial manager at Dorbyl. Maxie earned her private pilot’s licence in three weeks and passed her commercial pilot’s exam in her first attempt.

Margaret Parr Thornton-Smith

Margaret Parr Thornton-Smith is a captain with British Airways Comair. Her father’s career was in the aviation field and he flew privately. After school, Margaret went to university to do a B.A. but later left to go to secretarial college. She started working for National Airways Corporation in Lanseria and when they were taken over by Imperial, she started flying lessons. Nine months later she earned her private pilot’s licence – flying lessons cost R100 per hour back them.

To earn her commercial pilot’s licence, she took six months unpaid leave and after 220 flying hours she did it. She joined National Airlines, flying to Upington, Springbok and other Northern Cape areas. In 1996 she joined British Airways Comair. She is married to Steve Thornton-Smith, also a pilot.

Aloma Stevens

SA Express pilots Aloma Stevens and Karen Crowcamp (maiden name Smith) were the first female pilots to fly both turbo-prop and jet passenger aircraft with an all-female crew. In June 1995, they flew from Johannesburg to Kimberley for SA Express. On 10th June 1998, they flew from Walvis Bay to Johannesburg with Anelize van Jaarsveld and Tumi Mocume as cabin attendants. Aloma has over 10,000 flying hours and began her flying career as a cabin attendant. She then did bush flying in Botswana, followed by flying for a mining company before joining SA Express.

Mr. JOHN KOSANI is one of the oldest residents of Kimberley. He is a prominent member of the Kimberley community. Is one of the first local preachers of the Wesleyan Methodist Church in Kimberley. Has been a church steward for many years. Is the father of Mrs. H. Mtoba, Miss E. Kosani, who is teaching at Beaufort West, and Messrs. M. and T. Kosani. The former son is an, assistant to a commercial traveller in Capetown, while the latter is a teacher in the district of Kimberley.

Born on the 22nd August 1874 in a London suburb; died 5 February 1951 in Johannesburg. Conductor, composer.The son of German emigrants to England, Theo Wendt’s father was not completely happy about British education and sent his son to one of the Moravian Church Schools (probably Klein Welka) in Germany. There the discipline was strict, the academic standards high, and the boy could indulge his musical inclinations by beating the drum in the cadet band and by having pianoforte lessons. By the time he had turned fourteen he was determined on a career as a musician and after he had been tested by Carl Reinecke, the Director of the Leipzig Conservatoire, he returned to England for piano lessons under Robert Ernst, before entering the Conservatoire in Cologne in 1891. During his two student years in Germany he became saturated with the late German romanticism of Wagner, and returned to England for further study at the RAM. There the Academy Orchestra offered the possibility of nurturing his rapidly growing love of orchestral direction. He played the viola, at times also the timpani and other percussion instruments, and had sufficient opportunity for exercising his conducting talent. Exempted from examination, he was elected an Associate in the year in which he left England (1896).

He came to South Africa, provisionally to teach pianoforte and harmony at the Diocesan School for Girls in Grahamstown. He taught for 29 hours a week, but he also had a select private practice and was appointed to the management of a new branch of the music dealers, Jackson Bros. In time he also took up the teaching of pianoforte at St Andrew’s College. He became prominent at concerts at which he featured in the company of Percy Ould, a violinist whom he assisted in organizing music for the Grahamstown Exhibition of Arts and Crafts (end of 1898 – beginning of 1899). Wendt composed an Ode for chorus and orchestra to mark the beginning of the Exhibition and also spent some time playing on the pianos exhibited by Jackson’s. Shortly after his arrival, and towards the end of 1899, he presented pianoforte recitals at which a few of his own compositions featured on the programmes. But the opportunities for a first-rate musician were too limited and in 1901 he left the town to take up for a short while the management of a new musical branch of Darter’s in East London and then to visit Durban for a year.

Wendt embarked on a tour of South Africa in July/August 1914 (despite war clouds) and gave over 50 successful concerts at Kimberley, Klerksdorp, Potchefstroom, Johannesburg, Pretoria, Durban (when the War broke out), Grahamstown (to revive old memories?) and Port Elizabeth. They returned to Cape Town by sea. The tours were resumed after the War and became an annual event, inspiring Durban and eventually Johannesburg to emulate them.

Amid the rather dreary round of recreational and social concerts, the Thursday evening concerts devoted to the symphonic repertoire formed an almost charmed circle and extreme measures had to be adopted after the War when they were endangered by financial considerations. A voluntary Thursday Evening Subscriber’s Society saved the situation by guaranteeing a few thousand pounds each year for their continuation. Without these concerts Wendt would have had no cause to stay on in Cape Town. In 1921 the reluctance of the Council to concede his artistic aims led him to the brink of resignation. He was approached by the Vice-chancellor of the University of the Witwatersrand to consider an appointment to the chair of Music in their projected Music Department. When Cape Town required to know the conditions under which he would continue as conductor, he demanded that the Council be relieved of the responsibility of the orchestra; this meant that an outside body would have to accept its management. The Cape Peninsula Publicity Association took up the burden and a new arrangement was reached which relieved the conductor of perennial financial worries. But after three happy years with the orchestra, there was trouble over the reinstatement of a previous reduction of 5% to the players, and when Wendt indignantly took up the cudgels, he was threatened with a reduction of R600 in his salary to meet the additional costs. In April 1924, on the eve of the orchestra’s sixth tour of the Union of South Africa, Wendt fesigned and became Musical Director and Studio Manager of South Africa’s first broadcasting station in Johannesburg. His first association with radio lasted two-and-a-half years and was ended when the broadcasting licence was awarded to Mr Schlesinger, a step which led to the creation of an African Broadcasting Company and the reconsideration of all aspects of broadcasting.

Wendt was responsible for supplying seven hours of listening entertainment each day. This included talks for women and children, operatic excerpts, plays, orchestral and chamber music concerts, as well as light music.

At the end of 1926 he departed from South Africa to establish himself in the United States of America. The American part of his career can be summarized. During the first six years of his stay he was mainly a lecturer in harmony and counterpoint at a college of music, but soon he had a variety of other occupations. He had some standing with Metro Goldwyn Mayer, for whom he composed original music and orchestrated existing music; on Sundays he travelled to Boston to conduct the Boston People’s Symphony Orchestra of 90 players; during the difficult times of the Great Depression he organized and conducted 90 orchestral players at Carnegie Hall and as a result was engaged by the National Broadcasting Corporation to conduct a series of symphony concerts. By 1933 he was established in American music circles and achieved an appointment as permanent conductor of the Buffalo Symphony Orchestra in Western New York State. Three years later he left America to visit Germany with his third wife, a Wagnerian soprano, presumably for the furtherance of their respective careers. While in Germany he had the opportunity of conducting the Berlin Radio Orchestra and was invited to London by the BBC to conduct his Six South African songs for a radio broadcast.

Barely a year after his arrival in Germany he was contacted in Munich by Rene Caprara, the first Director General of the SABC, to join Jeremy Schulman and Arnold Fulton in conducting the new SABC Orchestra. He accepted this proposition and landed in South Africa for the third time in February 1938, this time to conduct a body of players which, in combination with the semi-professional City Orchestra of John Connell, had at times a complement of 80. This arrangement lasted until 1944 when the SABC appointed him their official orchestrator and arranger. During these years he also returned to Cape Town as a guest conductor of the Symphony Orchestra he had established. The University of Cape Town awarded him an honorary Doctorate in Music on 10 December 1948.

Source: South African Music Encyclopaedia and Cape Times.

Dr. Daniel William Alexander, Doctor of Divinity, Archbishop and Primate of the Province of South Africa and East Africa, in the African Orthodox Church-an independant Episcopal Church with apostolic succession through the Original Patriarchal See of St. Peter at Antioch.

Born 25th December, 1880, at Port Elizabeth, Cape Province. Second eldest child of Henry and Elizabeth Alexander (father a native of the French West Indies, Martinique). Educated at St. Peter’s Primary and Secondary Schools and the Sisters of Mercy (Catholic). Married Elizabeth Koster 28th August, 1901, at Pretoria. Boatbuilder by trade. Joined the British in the Anglo-Boer War, was captured at Colenso and sent to Pretoria.

After the capture of Pretoria joined the Anglican Church and was appointed chaplain at the Old Prison, eventually studying for the ministry under the Fathers Bennet and Fuller of the Community of the Resurrection, and Canons Farmer and Rev. H. Mtobi. Elected secretary of the A.P.O., Pretoria Branch, and the secretary of the committee for the purchasing of the Lady Selborne Township, Pretoria.

Resigned the Anglican Church and went to Johannesburg and joined the African Life Assurance Society as agent on their starting the Industrial Branch, and opened the Pretoria office after two and a half years. Resigned and was elected Grand True Secretary of the I.O.T.T., Northern Grand Lodge, before the separation. Re-elected 1920-21. Refused nomination 1922.
In 1924 organised the African Branch of the African Orthodox Church and was appointed Vicar-Apostolic by Bishop George A. McGuire, M.D., D.D., D.C., and in the following year was elected Bishop for the Province of South Africa. On arrival in New York was given Catholic Orders by Bishop W. E. Robertson and Archbishop McGuire respectively to the Priesthood, and on the 11th September, 1927, was consecrated Archbishop and Primate of the Province of South and East Africa, in the Church of St. Michael and All Angels, Boston, U.S. America. The Degree of Doctor of Divinity was conferred by the Faculty (Honorary)) on the Archbishop.

Editor of the African Orthodox Churchman, a monthly magazine of the Province, and author of An Orthodox Catechism. Dean of the Seminary of St. Augustine for the ministerial students for the Church. Address: 3, Brimton Street, Beaconsfield, Kimberley, South Africa.

PRINCE GWAYI TYAMZASHE was ! born at Blinkwater in the district of Fort Beaufort on the 22nd of January, 1844. He was the eldest son of Tyam. zashe; Tyamzashe, the son of Mejana, son of Oya, of the Rudulu clan, cornmonly known as the Mangwevu. Gwayi as a boy saw all the horrors of the early Kaffir Wars, and was with his mother, Nontsi, during the terrible Nongqause cattle-killing episode, while his father Tyamzashe was a head councillor at the King’s Court. At that time Sandile was the Paramount Chief of the Xosa Tribe.

After the great armed protest of the Xosas, under Sandile and his brother Anta, Gwayi and his parents became detached from the main fighting body and eventually fell into the hands of the missionaries at Dr. Love’s mission station-now known as Lovedale. The late Mr. Goven was then in charge of the mission and he soon induced the raw native fugitives to be converted. Govan actually went so far as to pay those natives who attended infant classes. Gwayi Tyamzashe liked these classes. He was followed by many other natives. The signs of progress moved quickly. Messrs. Smith and James Stewart came to Lovedale, and Gwayi and his friends soon found themselves on the highway to civilisation and education. At all times Lovedale was open to all classes of pupils, and Gwayi found himself rubbing shoulders with European pupils, amongst whom were William Henry Solomon (late Chief Justice of the Union of South Africa), his brother, Richard Solomon, Schreiner, Grimmer and others.

Soon Gwayi qualified as a teacher and taught for some years at Gqumahashe, a village just across the Tyumie River. Just at that time Tiyo Soga was reading for theology in Scotland. This caused Gwayi to leave teaching and return to Lovedale for theology. Before doing so, however, he went in for a University examination in which Latin, Greek and Hebrew were essential subjects. This examination was above the ordinary matriculation. It was a red-letter day at Lovedale when Gwayi Tyamzashe passed this examination; flags were hoisted and the day was proclaimed a exam holiday.

Gwayi completed his Theological Course in 1874 and was immediately called to the Diamond Fields. In 1884 Gwayi and his family, consisting of his wife and three children, James, Henry and Catherine, left Kimberley for the wild north-Zoutpansberg. His journey to that part of the country was a heart-breaking one; the story of which would fill a volume. Leaving Kimberley with two ox-wagons, several milch cows and a pair of horses, he slowly made his way north. There were no roads to speak of; the country was unexploed as yet; the drifts across the rivers were mere sluits and no bridges existed anywhere; the country was still wild, and, worst of all, the Dutchmen, who occupied the Transvaal, were hostile towards the black races. When Gwayi and his caravan arrived on the Witwatersrand-as Johannesburg was then called-he was arrested for having no ” pass.” He was handcuffed behind his back and hurried off to Pretoria in front of four fiery horses of the “Zarps” (Zuid Afrikaanse Republiek Poliese). His wife, however, hurried over to Pretoria and personally interviewed Oom Paul (President Paul Kruger) whereupon Gwayi was not only released, but also given a free pass to his destination.

At Zoutpansberg Gwayi Tyamzashe opened a number of mission stations which exist to this day. He lived at Zoutpansberg for six years, and on being called back to Kimberley, he returned to the Diamond Fields. It was, however, a different Gwayi that arrived at Kimberley. He was physically a mere shadow of the former Gwayi, owing to a relentless attack of asthma which he contracted in the damp and marshy country of the Zoutpansberg. He lingered for six years in Kimberley and died on the 25th October, 1896. Prior to his death he had a serious case against the European Church Union which culminated in victory for him in the Supreme Court at Capetown.

Mr. JAMES W. A. TYAMZASHE, elder son of Rev. Gwayi Tyamzashe, was born at Kimberley, 11th March, 1879. Attended the Dutch Reformed and Perseverance Schools at Kimberley and finally went to Lovedale in 1896 where he passed his Third Year Teacher’s and School Higher Examinations of the Cape of Good Hope University. He also read for the Matriculation Examination. Passed the Second Year Teachers’ Examination with honours in 1898. Taught at Lovedale, Mnggesha, Mafeking, Tigerkloof, Uitenhage and finally at the Pirie Mission Station, where, owing to failing health, he was granted a Government pension. Mr. Tyamzashe was an exceptionally good pianist and organist. Composed several songs and his notes on Tonic Solfa and Staff Notation were published in the Education Gazette, and were very highly commented upon by the then Superintendent-General of Education for the Cape. One of the Inspectors of Schools considered him the best of native teachers in school method and music. Prior to his death, which took place at the early age of 52, he was appointed messenger of the court for the district of Kingwilliamstown. By his death an accomplished scholar and musician was lost to the African nation. He married Mina Elizabeth, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Xholla, of Grahamstown, who survives him with eight children.