Growdon graves in Durban

My grandfather William George Growdon died 60 years ago, and today we visited his grave in Stellawood Cemetery, Durban for the first time in more than 30 years. My grandmother, Janet McCartney Growdon, born Hannan, had died two years earlier, and they were buried in the same grave as my Uncle Willie, whom I never [...]

In Durban – visiting relatives and research in archives

We arrived in Durban last Thursday, and spent yesterday morning in the archives seeing what we can find. We managed to find something about the Bataille family (related on the Hickman/Beningfield side through the Wilson-Yelverton family). Also found some references to Edwin Terrance Cathcart Cunnison and John Anderson Cathcart Cunnison. Val’s great-aunt Lil Decker married [...]

On holiday in Margate

On Friday 22 August we left the very comfortable Alberfeldy B&B in Pietermaritzburg and drove down to Margate via Richmond, Ixopo and Harding — all of which are now bypassed by the main road. It was a rather dull day, smoky rather than overcast, and visibility was poor. The only town we passed through was [...]

More research in Pietermaritzburg

On Wednesday evening we went to see the play Cabaret at the Hexagon theatre at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (see review in previous entry). It was very good, set in the declining years of the Weimar Republic in Germany, when the Nazis were growing stronger, and the atmosphere of menace was conveyed very well, as [...]

Cabaret in Pietermaritzburg

clipped from www.witness.co.za

Cabaret was immortalised in 1972 by the film version directed by Bob Fosse. It won eight Oscars that year, two of which went to Liza Minnelli and Joel Grey for their portrayals of Sally Bowles and the Emcee, respectively. Inevitably, any subsequent production is compared to the film, as the roles of the [...]

In Pietermaritzburg

On Saturday 16th August Val and I drove down to Pietermaritzburg, through Delmas, Standerton, Volksrust and Ladysmith (thus, among other things, avoiding the toll roads). We had breakfast in Delmas and lunch in Ladysmith. The road from Delmas to Leandra (which I still think of as Leslie) has recently been resurfaced, and the road [...]

Going on holiday

Tomorrow Val and I will leave for a holiday in KwaZulu-Natal. We hope to spend a week in Pietermaritzburg, where we will visit friends and family, and hope to do some family history research in the archives. After that we hope to spend a week down the South Coast, and depending on how much money [...]

Online DNA tests are a waste of money

Some people have responded to advertisements for services that offer to do DNA tests as an aid to finding one’s ancestors, but a recent test has showed that they are a waste of money, and won’t unlock your family history.
Which? reports:
Expensive online DNA testing services are a waste of money that won’t unlock the secrets [...]

Looking for William Growden, born c1764

Today I went to the LDS family history library in Johannesburg, and looked at the microfilmed parish register of St Neot, Cornwall. I was looking for my ggg grandfather, William Growden, who was born about 1764, and married Elizabeth Sandercock (or Saundercock) at Cardinham, Cornwall, in 1792.
I didn’t find him. There were some Growdens there [...]