Gold diggers revealed a century later!

Wednesday, March 16, 2016
Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa
We have been staying for the last five days at a nice guest lodge in a leafy suburb of Pretoria: a pretty, two-bedroom cottage with a veranda, braai and a lovely view of the hills beyond. The weather has been very mixed with more heavy rain and cooler days and after heat of the interior, we have quite enjoyed this pleasant temperature.


Last weekend was rather governed by the rugby which, thankfully, was pleasing . England beat Wales, thus putting us in good stead for winning the Six Nations. So I have a happy man. Whether we will see the final match from a horse farm way up on the foothills of Lake Kenya is doubtful however.


We did find time on Sunday to visit Benoni again, in search of more Hudson ancestors. We went back to the cemetery where we had found family members last year because we had discovered George Frederick’s (my great-grandfather) and Vernon’s (my grandfather) graves on the internet but after a long, fruitless search, we could not find them. indeed, it took us a while to find the Hudson graves we located last year, such is the enormity of this graveyard. However, we discovered from his marriage certificate that Vernon was a 'Cyanider' - we don't think he was a mass murderer; it seems that this was a process of extracting gold from gold waste!   From the christening certificates of my mother, her brother, George and their sister, Gwen (we are talking one hundred years ago) we knew where they had lived at that time .   We also knew the church in which they had been christened was St Dunstans. So firstly, we visited St Dunstans (now a cathedral) and found the original little church which is now a part of the cathedral and used as a pretty little chapel. We also found a photograph of the Rev G F Paget who christened all three of them.
Secondly, we found the house where Vernon, Anna, Gwen and George had lived (112 Howard Avenue). Not surprisingly, it was just round the corner. Looking rather tatty these days, It is now owned by an Indian lady who runs a hairdressing salon from one half of the house and lets the other half to ‘blacks’. She came out to talk to us and told us that they were dreadful tenants. “They still think they live in shanties and don’t look after the house. They leave rubbish everywhere” she said. “I am going to sell this big house and retire when I am 50,”  At the moment she has her daughter, a 17 year old grandson and 4 year old granddaughter living with her. “I am sick of baby-sitting and I am getting old . I can’t wait to go to the old people’s home when I am 50 in five years time.”  Goodness, what a lesson this is - life must be tough to feel old at 45!!


Monday was my birthday and although I am now 69, I still don’t have plans to move into an old folk’s home. Instead, we went into Pretoria to get our Kenyan visas. Joss’s iPhone got us there and after we had filled in several forms, been body-searched, and all phones removed from our possession, we were allowed through a gate to go to a hole in the wall of the embassy. There, we handed in our application forms, photographs, passports and a great deal of money. We were told our visas and passports would be ready on Wednesday. No receipts were offered and it was slightly disconcerting to walk away with no evidence of having parted with them!


We went on to visit the centre of Pretoria which we had not done on our last visit. It is a vast city with lots of green spaces and pretty suburbs but the centre is a nightmare. Parking is impossible with touts offering spaces for about a fiver which were quite obviously not legal. Instead we found a space in a horrible underground parking lot and ventured into the city. Church Square is dominated by a huge statue of the Boer leader, Paul Kruger. Understandably, he is not particularly popular with the local people and so the monument is heavily fenced so that it can’t be defaced . The city centre is tatty, dirty and unpleasant. We didn’t feel threatened by the total black presence but simply out of place. How different from Europe cities where the centres are beautiful and the outskirts tatty!


After a delicious lunch at Crawdaddies, a very popular and exceptionally good restaurant just outside of town, where I was thoroughly spoilt, we went to Union Buildings which were built by the Brits after the conclusion of the second Anglo-Boer War. It is very impressive and beautifully maintained; the gardens are gorgeous. Recently they have built a massive statue of Nelson Mandela in the gardens below the buildings - I guess the message is now One Big African Union?


On Tuesday, we went back to Benoni because we now knew that the Hudson family had moved from Howard Avenue after George was christened and probably before my mother was born to 134 Market Avenue . We had drawn a blank on this address last time in Benoni because Market Avenue didn’t seem to exist. However, Google research told us that Market Avenue had been renamed Princes Avenue. Again, with the help of Joss’s phone, we found Princes Avenue, only to find that 134 was now a hospital. We found the old colonial-style houses (132 and 136) either side but the Hudson house has been demolished. We talked to a very old black guy, a guard at the hospital, and he told us that 134 was ‘under the hospital’. 


We drove around and found all the places shown on the marriage certificates where my mum’s aunts and uncles had lived in the early 1900’s: Kleinfontein, Petit Putsfontein and Van Ryan. They were all goldmines, so the family were clearly prospecting (and probably living in tents!) as well as farming at the time. To be honest, it is a bottomless pit this family history thing and I wonder if we will ever get to the truth about my amazing, brave family? One thing I do know is that it was a hard life in those early days in this country .


This morning we left our little cottage early enough to be at the Kenyan Embassy by 9am. To my vast relief the passports, complete with visas, were waiting for us and we drove from there to the Aviator Hotel at the airport where we are staying overnight. We had arranged to meet our friends from Parys here for lunch. We did a house exchange with Ananda and Herman last year and they also invited us to go on safari with them. They came to stay at our place last September and we have become good friends. Herman had a very serious motorbike accident at the end of last year and very nearly died, so we were delighted to find him looking well and in good heart.


So it’s goodbye again to South Africa tomorrow morning. We fly to Kenya at noon. We are totally in love with this country and don’t want to leave! However, I know we will be back. We always look forward to your comments - you can click on the button at the end of the blog and leave a message or click on any one of the pictures and make a comment there. Look forward to hearing from you!
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Comments

Denise
2016-03-16

We remember the interesting lunch we had together with the music with your SA friends last year when they visited you. How fortunate you are to have so many experiences! Looking forward to seeing you soon. Xx

Madeline
2016-03-17

Agree re South Africa - wonderful country! Mx

peter & wendy
2016-03-17

A belated Happy Birthday !!

2025-02-14

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