Alan Fitzhenry has written to the Blog from South Africa. He is currently residing in Cape Town but his family are originally from Indwe in the Eastern Cape. He would be interested in corresponding with any other Fitzhenrys, and his email address is:
alan@cpt-natela.co.za
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Showing posts with label South Africa. Show all posts
Showing posts with label South Africa. Show all posts
Sunday, 15 March 2009
Tuesday, 6 January 2009
More about the South African Fitzhenrys of the East Cape
Following on from the piece about Daisy Aletta Fitzhenry, the nurse who served in WW1, here's what I've managed to piece together about her Fitzhenry line. Once again, my grateful thanks to the sterling transcribing efforts of Ellen Stanton and Nolene Lossau who put together the Methodist birth and marriage lists from the East Cape area.
Our known starting point is a Henry Fitzhenry. I don't know when or where he was born, but on 31st December 1856 he married Frances Levett Gardiner in the Somerset East Methodist church. They both came from Zwaart Ruggens (now spelt Zwarte Ruggens)
They had a large family over some 23 years. Here are the children that I've found in the christening records.
John Arthur b. 3 Dec 1857
Henry Levett b. 23 May 1859
Francis Ann b. 12 May 1862
Andrew Parsons b. 18 Dec 1853
Alice b. 8 July 1865
Nathaniel Walter b. 14 June 1867
The twins Emma Faulkner and Ann Parsons b. 25 Feb 1870
Edward Noel b. 1 Dec 1871
Louisa Elizabeth b. 6 April 1874
Laura Jane b. 26 April 1876
Mary Jemima b. 23 Jan 1878
Edgar Ebenezer b. 31 July 1880
Daisy's father was John Arthur Fitzhenry who married first Kate Cawood somewhen around 1886 (I haven't seen the record for this one), and after Kate's death in 1893, Hester Sargeant Patrick on 24 April 1896. His brother Edward (here transcribed as "Edward Neil") was one of the witnesses to this second marriage and John Arthur was described as a farmer from Vanplaats Jansenville.
Details of the children from both these marriages can be found in my previous post.
The information I have after this generation comes from several sources on the internet and has not been verified.
John and Kate's daughter Florence Ann married Cecil Rhodes Dobrowsky in 1922.
Jansenville Cricket club had a number of Fitzhenrys playing for them during and after WW2 - the names of Sid, Will, Brian, Howard and Raymond Fitzhenry are all mentioned . It makes me wonder whether Russel Fitzhenry (featured both on the cricinfo website and in previous posts on this blog) is a member of this family as he was born in Graaff Reinet and his cricket was played for the Eastern Provinces. The Cawood surname is also prominent in the history of the club.
There is a beautiful memorial window in the Kingswood College chapelin memory of Brian Raymond Fitzhenry, farmer and conservationist in the Steytlerville district. A picture of the window and a description of its unveiling can be found here.
Apologies to any of our South African readers who may have spotted some elementary mistakes in my geography. Does anyone out there link into this family? Send us an email!
Why not subscribe to this blog and get the updates sent to your inbox? Or send us an email about your Fitz(-)henry family links.
Our known starting point is a Henry Fitzhenry. I don't know when or where he was born, but on 31st December 1856 he married Frances Levett Gardiner in the Somerset East Methodist church. They both came from Zwaart Ruggens (now spelt Zwarte Ruggens)
They had a large family over some 23 years. Here are the children that I've found in the christening records.
John Arthur b. 3 Dec 1857
Henry Levett b. 23 May 1859
Francis Ann b. 12 May 1862
Andrew Parsons b. 18 Dec 1853
Alice b. 8 July 1865
Nathaniel Walter b. 14 June 1867
The twins Emma Faulkner and Ann Parsons b. 25 Feb 1870
Edward Noel b. 1 Dec 1871
Louisa Elizabeth b. 6 April 1874
Laura Jane b. 26 April 1876
Mary Jemima b. 23 Jan 1878
Edgar Ebenezer b. 31 July 1880
Daisy's father was John Arthur Fitzhenry who married first Kate Cawood somewhen around 1886 (I haven't seen the record for this one), and after Kate's death in 1893, Hester Sargeant Patrick on 24 April 1896. His brother Edward (here transcribed as "Edward Neil") was one of the witnesses to this second marriage and John Arthur was described as a farmer from Vanplaats Jansenville.
Details of the children from both these marriages can be found in my previous post.
The information I have after this generation comes from several sources on the internet and has not been verified.
John and Kate's daughter Florence Ann married Cecil Rhodes Dobrowsky in 1922.
Jansenville Cricket club had a number of Fitzhenrys playing for them during and after WW2 - the names of Sid, Will, Brian, Howard and Raymond Fitzhenry are all mentioned . It makes me wonder whether Russel Fitzhenry (featured both on the cricinfo website and in previous posts on this blog) is a member of this family as he was born in Graaff Reinet and his cricket was played for the Eastern Provinces. The Cawood surname is also prominent in the history of the club.
There is a beautiful memorial window in the Kingswood College chapelin memory of Brian Raymond Fitzhenry, farmer and conservationist in the Steytlerville district. A picture of the window and a description of its unveiling can be found here.
Apologies to any of our South African readers who may have spotted some elementary mistakes in my geography. Does anyone out there link into this family? Send us an email!
Why not subscribe to this blog and get the updates sent to your inbox? Or send us an email about your Fitz(-)henry family links.
Saturday, 3 January 2009
Lest we forget: Daisy Aletta Fitzhenry, South African nurse,1888-1918
In the post for the fallen combatants of the Great War, one name stood out because not only was she the only woman on the list, but she was a nurse rather than a soldier.
Here's a bit more about Daisy and the South African Fitzhenry connection.This has been mainly pieced together from painstaking transcriptions of the Uitenhage and Graaff Reinet Methodist Records by Ellen Stanton and Nolene Lossau. These records are spread across multiple postings on the Rootsweb South Africa British Immigrants messageboard.
Daisy Aletta Fitzhenry was born in South Africa on 30 July 1888 to John Arthur and Kate Fitzhenry (nee Cawood). She was baptised on 16 November 1888 at the Uitenhage Methodist Church and her baptism is number 221 in the register. Uitenhage is is the Eastern Cape Province, inland from Port Elizabeth.
She had at least 4 siblings:
William Henry (b. 15 December 1886)
Sidney Cawood (b. 22 October 1890)
Florence Ann (b. 13 April 1892, married Cecil Rhodes Dobrowsky in 1922)
Kate (b. 23 June 1893)
Her mother Kate died on the same date as her sister Kate's birth, presumably in childbirth.
John Arthur married again to Hester Sargeant Patrick in April 1895, and they had at least one son
Arthur Raymond (b. 6 December 1896).
Daisy joined the South African Military Nursing Service and served with the combined Allied troops in Southern Africa. Politically, the South Africans and British combining military forces was a significant occasion after the bitter battles of the Boer war less than 20 years before when the concentration camps had claimed the lives of many South Africans. She served in the military hospital at Dodoma in Tanzania. Dodoma was occupied by the South African troops in 1916 and the military hospital was used as a casualty clearing station.
Daisy was mentioned in dispatches in the London Gazette (6th August 1918 page 9228, although in the Gazette search engine the published date is 2nd August) with numerous other soldiers and Allied support personnel. She is listed as a nursing Sister rather then having a military title. Here's the whole list and it's amazing how many soldiers from throughout the old British Empire were here fighting in Africa. Someone would be "mentioned in dispatches" for a brave or noteworthy action in the field on battle, and received a certificate and a silver oak leaf to wear on their dress uniform.
Although the war in Europe finished on 11th November 1918, the war in East Africa continued until the German surrender on 23 November 1918 (the date the news of the German surrender in Europe was received by the German commander in Africa). By this time, an influenza epidemic was sweeping this part of the continent through a population weakened by years of famine. Between 50-80,000 people died (Here's more about the famine). Daisy died on 1 December 1918 (cause of death not known to me) and is buried in Dodoma cemetery.
In 1925 the Journal of the Royal College of Nursing (England) published an article listing those nurses from the Overseas Nursing Services who had died as a result of the combat and requesting donations for a memorial to be placed in the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Women's Hospital in London. This article is reproduced here. Daisy's name is amongst those listed.
If anyone out there has any more information about Daisy Aletta Fitzhenry, please write into the blog and let us know more about her. In the next post, more about Daisy's family tree.
Why not subscribe to this blog and get the updates sent to your inbox? Or send us an email about your Fitz(-)henry family links.
Here's a bit more about Daisy and the South African Fitzhenry connection.This has been mainly pieced together from painstaking transcriptions of the Uitenhage and Graaff Reinet Methodist Records by Ellen Stanton and Nolene Lossau. These records are spread across multiple postings on the Rootsweb South Africa British Immigrants messageboard.
Daisy Aletta Fitzhenry was born in South Africa on 30 July 1888 to John Arthur and Kate Fitzhenry (nee Cawood). She was baptised on 16 November 1888 at the Uitenhage Methodist Church and her baptism is number 221 in the register. Uitenhage is is the Eastern Cape Province, inland from Port Elizabeth.
She had at least 4 siblings:
William Henry (b. 15 December 1886)
Sidney Cawood (b. 22 October 1890)
Florence Ann (b. 13 April 1892, married Cecil Rhodes Dobrowsky in 1922)
Kate (b. 23 June 1893)
Her mother Kate died on the same date as her sister Kate's birth, presumably in childbirth.
John Arthur married again to Hester Sargeant Patrick in April 1895, and they had at least one son
Arthur Raymond (b. 6 December 1896).
Daisy joined the South African Military Nursing Service and served with the combined Allied troops in Southern Africa. Politically, the South Africans and British combining military forces was a significant occasion after the bitter battles of the Boer war less than 20 years before when the concentration camps had claimed the lives of many South Africans. She served in the military hospital at Dodoma in Tanzania. Dodoma was occupied by the South African troops in 1916 and the military hospital was used as a casualty clearing station.
Daisy was mentioned in dispatches in the London Gazette (6th August 1918 page 9228, although in the Gazette search engine the published date is 2nd August) with numerous other soldiers and Allied support personnel. She is listed as a nursing Sister rather then having a military title. Here's the whole list and it's amazing how many soldiers from throughout the old British Empire were here fighting in Africa. Someone would be "mentioned in dispatches" for a brave or noteworthy action in the field on battle, and received a certificate and a silver oak leaf to wear on their dress uniform.
Although the war in Europe finished on 11th November 1918, the war in East Africa continued until the German surrender on 23 November 1918 (the date the news of the German surrender in Europe was received by the German commander in Africa). By this time, an influenza epidemic was sweeping this part of the continent through a population weakened by years of famine. Between 50-80,000 people died (Here's more about the famine). Daisy died on 1 December 1918 (cause of death not known to me) and is buried in Dodoma cemetery.
In 1925 the Journal of the Royal College of Nursing (England) published an article listing those nurses from the Overseas Nursing Services who had died as a result of the combat and requesting donations for a memorial to be placed in the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Women's Hospital in London. This article is reproduced here. Daisy's name is amongst those listed.
If anyone out there has any more information about Daisy Aletta Fitzhenry, please write into the blog and let us know more about her. In the next post, more about Daisy's family tree.
Why not subscribe to this blog and get the updates sent to your inbox? Or send us an email about your Fitz(-)henry family links.
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