Looking back

Spent a few hours this afternoon at the Van Breda family plot in Woltemade Cemetery. Didn’t know it existed, or that everyone was buried there, such is the reticence of the family.  Ma’s ashes, together with a few keepsakes, were interred with those of her parents on either side, in the grave of her grandfather. The immediate family attended and the youngest son, a pastor, gave a talk in accordance with her wishes, which were that no funeral was to be held, and that her last wish was that her family would spend more time together. This is because we all meet up only at weddings and funerals, it seems. I think she would have been happy with this gathering as she hated to be the centre of attention and preferred to mingle in the background - I'm sure she was there.

I read the headstone from 1919, and was interested to see that he was Philip Servaas van Breda, son of Alexander Jacobus van Breda of Boshof, Newlands. It turns out that Philip was the last van Breda to be born on the estate before it was sold and one can only speculate what the circumstances were that caused the family homestead and farm to be sold as there seems to be little knowledge in the family. Ma’s father was the son of Philip, and he passed on in the 1970s having long outlived his parent. It is now a guest house, retaining much of the original charm of the Cape Dutch style and the white pillars of the gates which everyone passes on the way to Cape Town are a national monument and regarded as the finest remaining example. Fancy not knowing that it formed part of our family history!

Another fascinating piece of information I gleaned from an aunt is that the maternal great-grandmother was a De Wet of the Koopmans-De Wet family whose house in Strand Street is also a national monument. Part of the reason why the family tree has not been passed down to the children, grandchildren and cousins is because a De Wet burned the records in a fit of rage when someone married an Englishman!

We are all meeting up again on Saturday, and you can be sure I will be there with notebook in hand and pencil sharpened to gather as much information as possible. After all, we wouldn’t want cousins to meet and marry in ignorance of their ancestry!

So there you have it. Descended from what appears to be good stock, houses are national monuments, and the biggest worry is how to identify exactly who all the relatives are.