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- Newspaper cuttings from the Eastern Cape.
Herald, 28 June 1974
Mr. Keith DUCAT of Johannesburg was wondering (in a letter to the Editor last week) whether his 79-year-old aunt could claim to be the youngest surviving grandchild of an 1820 Settler. The answer, I can tell him now, is no - not by a long shot. Here in Port Elizabeth we have a settler grandchild of the tender age of 56 - and not even he is prepared to claim to be the youngest surviving grandchild.
A TODDLER
He is Mr. Peter HOLMES of Bluewater Bay, former Eastern Province cricketer, son of Thomas "Tup" HOLMES, the son of Thomas HOLMES, who was born in England in 1817 and arrived in Algoa Bay as a toddler member of the Sephton party aboard the good ship Aurora. "My grandfather," says Peter HOLMES, "had 19 children of whom my father "Tup" HOLMES was the youngest. He was born in 1883 when his father was 66."
Born in 1917 - nine days short of 100 years after his grandfather - Mr. HOLMES was quick to say, "I do not claim to be the youngest grandchild because I believe my cousin Vivian HOLMES is younger than I am. Last heard of, he was farming in the Vryburg area. Anyway I am sure that there must be others who are as young as or even younger than our family," he added. "It may be of interest to know that my uncle Basil HOLMES, last surviving son of Thomas HOLMES, died only two years ago at the age of 98. He is survived by four children all under the age of 70."
FORMIDABLE
Most interesting indeed and it seems now that Mr. DUCAT, who is a great-great grandchild of 1820 Settler James SMITH of Essex, will have a greater job on his hands than he thought when he suggested that a sort of inventory be made of surviving settler grandchildren. It appears, just from a study of the family register of Thomas HOLMES, that there could be quite a large number of third generation descendants still around. As Mr. Peter HOLMES mentioned, his father was one of 19 children - which suggests that he must surely have had a formidable number of cousins. The toddler who started it all died in 1894 at the age of 77. The first of his 19 children, Charles Henry was born in 1838 when Thomas was a mere 21 years old - and children followed at two year intervals thereafter.
NINE IN 18
The family records show that Charles Henry HOLMES was born in Grahamstown. Then in 1840 came Margaret Louisa born in Cradock, then Adelaide Susanna, 1842, Thomas William, 1844, and Sarah Ann, 1846, all in Colesberg. The next three children were also born in Colesberg, but their dates are missing. However, it would appear that Walter George, Harriet and Theodore must also have come along at two-year intervals because the next entry in the register is William Edward, who was born in 1855. Nine children in less than 18 years.
SHORT BREAK
There is a break after that which is explained by the next entry in the register, "Thomas HOLMES married Margaret Thompson TENNANT on March 5, 1862. Then we have Margaret Thompson HOLMES born December 1863 in Bloemfontein, Tomina Eleanor, February, 1866 in Reddersburg, Mary Tennant, 1868 in Bloemfontein, Jessie Scott, 1870, Nooitgedacht, Edith Grace, 1872, Nooitgedacht, Basil John, 1874, Paradise, Reginald Ligertwood, 1877, Nooitgedacht, Thomas, 1879, Nooitgedacht - died two months later. Gilbert Thomas, 1881, Nooitgedacht and finally Thomas, Nooitgedacht, 1883.
A MEETING
Not bad is it? Nineteen children over a period of 45 years. Mr. Peter HOLMES relates a family anecdote which says that when his father, Thomas HOLMES, was playing in a cricket match at Kroonstad as a young man he was accosted on the field by a white-haired old man who inquired of him, "Are you Thomas HOLMES?" Thomas HOLMES replied that he was indeed Thomas HOLMES. Whereupon the old man extended his hand, "How do you do," he said, "I am your elder brother." He was, in fact, a half brother - Thomas William HOLMES, born 1844 and thus 39 years older than his baby brother.
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