Our last few days in Pretoria seemed to fly by. We drove into the city on Saturday the long way round (the road names are very confusing what with the N4 and M4 taking us in opposite directions!) and when we eventually arrived in town, we got mixed up in rugby match traffic - nightmare! So, apart from lunch at a pancake restaurant (delicious, with interesting local fillings) and a visit to a very smart African curio shop, we didn’t see much!
On Sunday we drive out of town to Lesedi Cultural Village in the Cradle of Humankind
. Although listed as a World Heritage site, we didn’t know what to expect. For some ten minutes we wandered around a collection of African rondavels and admired stall after stall of African artefacts, until we were approached by an African warrior who asked us if we had bought our tickets yet? So back to the entrance where we were told the show started in five minutes. This turned out to be an excellent singing and dancing show, representing the stories and victories fought by five tribes: Zulu, Xhosa, Pedi, Basotho and Ndebele. We were then ushered into a superbly decorated restaurant which served traditional African dishes, including crocodile and ostrich - quite a feast!
On Tuesday, our last day at Elandsfontein Farm, we decided to have another go at finding those Hudson ancestors. On Monday, I had telephoned Elizabeth Hudson, a very old lady with a remarkable memory! She was the wife of Colin Hudson, the son of Collie, who was one of my grandfather Vernon’s brothers. She lives in Johannesburg and my cousin Carol had given me her number. I had not expected much but she was a fountain of information! It seems that Margaret Currin (the daughter of Valerie Hudson, who was the daughter of Neville, a brother of Vernon and Collie) is still alive and lives in Benoni. Her sister, Gladys, is still alive and lives in Hermanus. Collie’s son, Kenneth Hudson, had a daughter called Eve Pein who lives in England and another daughter by a second marriage called Sarah, who lives in Cape Town
. If you have managed to take all that in, then well done! So back to the hunt - we tracked down the Benoni graveyard which is enormous; acres and acres of tombstones of all denominations. There were records, but very neglected and haphazardly kept. So it was a foot-search; we started off in the ‘English’ section which was fruitless and then moved onto the Baptist section, again to no avail. We were on our way back to the car when we suddenly and miraculously stumbled across the grave of Neville’s wife, Nessie and then a little further on, the graves of Collie and his wife, Hester! Very pleasing. We could not find George Frederick and Lettie but it is probable that they were buried on the farm at Zesfontein, as was customary in those days.
By the time we got home, my computer was red-hot. (Skip this next paragraph if you are not family - I don’t want to bore you!) I had contacted the historical society in Port Elizabeth to tell them that we had been successful in finding Hougham Park and the graveyard there and the word had spread! I received an email from Dave Glenister, who is related to the Hudson family by marriage and who assured me that the graveyard is one of 14 little cemeteries on the Coega Estate and they are all being tended to by a team of people from the Coega Development Corporation
. This was followed by an email from Valdy Jensen who wrote: “My wife and her sister are the great granddaughters of Hougham Hudson of Hougham Park, and the daughters of Hougham Charles Hudson who was a doctor in Graaf Reinet, and we have a lot of papers and detail of the family. There is also a Hudson family book tracing all the descendants and giving a short story on each.” (I think he must have got his generations wrong - they must be the granddaughters of Hougham Charles, otherwise they would be extremely old!) Next came another email from Dave Hudson-Lamb who wrote: “My name is David Hudson-Lamb – I am a direct descendent of Hougham Hudson (1820 Settler) on his son, Thomas Andries Hudson’s side. The second part of my surname LAMB is of Scottish descent – James Lamb who arrived in SA in 1859. ALL my HUDSON-LAMB/LAMB/HUDSON ancestors are buried at Hougham Park. I have done quite a bit of research on my HUDSON ancestors in SA. I live at 45 Weavind avenue, Eldoraigne, Centurion (just south of Pretoria) since 1983, having been brought up on a farm in the same area as Hougham Park (Coega)” Bingo! A direct descendent of Thomas Andries - the same line as us! Irritatingly, he lives just a few miles from where we have been staying and now we are on the move again
. However, I am in touch and will perhaps see if we can meet up half way.
On the way back from Benoni we went for an evening drive in the Rietvlei Nature Reserve, which is just a few miles from the centre of Pretoria. It is a vast area, centred around a dammed lake and is teaming with all kinds of antelope, wildebeest, rhino, hippos and crocodile. We enjoyed a beautiful sunset, saw lots of impala, ostrich, wildebeest and exotic birds, but none of the other animals. I have to say, it was all bit ‘tame’ after Madikwe but extraordinary and wonderful that it should be where it is, so close to two major cities.
As you may know, there has been a major fire in Cape Town which has raged for days. My cousin Carol has been keeping us up to speed. This photograph looks as though the whole of Cape Town is on fire; we were staying very close to where it started in January
.
On Wednesday our exchangers from Parys (our new best-friends from Madikwe) drove all the way to Elandsfontein Farm to collect us! They are so kind and it was lovely to see them again. They took us into Johannesburg to visit the Nelson Mandela Square in Sandton, which is a newly developed and very lovely part of the city. Ananda insisted on photographing us with the enormous statue of SA’s most famous hero and we had a nice lunch in one of the cafés that surround the square.
Our new home is a dear little two-bedroom cottage on their estate, which is a couple of miles outside of Parys, in the Transvaal. Herman and Ananda work in the construction/building business but keep antelope on their farm here, mainly for pleasure. There are all sorts in the fields around us, including reindeer! They have given us a buggy to ride around in, which is fun. The property is bordered by the famous River Vaal, which is wide, shallow and rocky and we enjoyed watching the many species of water birds and wildlife on a buggy ride yesterday. Last night our hosts invited us to dinner and we sat outside after the meal by a roaring fire, the landscape lit by a full moon. It is very, very beautiful. Ananda has a mere cat as one of her many pets - it is absolutely adorable and loves to be petted and held. It sleeps with the cats and chases the Jack Russells!
Just eight days to go before this adventure must end -what a lekker place for a holiday!
The Great Trek to the Transvaal
Friday, March 06, 2015
Parys, Orange Free State, South Africa
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2025-02-12
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Jennifer P.
2015-03-06
Two things -I hang on your every word, it is all so facinating. 2nd. I want a Meercat!!
mvgarside
2015-03-06
Well done, indeed, Gillie. You're playing' a blinder!