Alfred George Cumming

Other Events and Attributes:

• 1820 Lineage: Yes

Alfred married Bliss Edith Cumming on 7 Jan 1909 in Kimberley, Northern Cape, South Africa. Bliss (daughter of James Cumming and Harriet Porter Hoole Dick) was born on 17 May 1881; died on 9 Sep 1964 in Bulawayo, Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe). [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Frances Daphne Scott Cumming was born on 12 Jan 1910; died on 15 May 1986 in Bulawayo, Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe).
2. Nancy Bliss Scott Cumming was born on 7 Jul 1911; died on 8 Nov 1990 in Kimberley, Northern Cape, South Africa.
3. Archer Scott Cumming was born on 12 Apr 1913; was christened on 4 May 1913 in St John the Devine, Belgravia, Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa; died on 23 Oct 1998.
4. Dennis Scott Cumming was born on 8 May 1914 in East London, Eastern Cape, South Africa; died on 22 Jul 1991 in Grahamstown, Eastern Cape, South Africa.

Other Events and Attributes:

• 1820 Lineage: Yes
• Baptism: 12 Dec 1835, St George's Cathedral, Grahamstown, Eastern Cape, South Africa

Alexander married Ann Scott Pringle on 20 Aug 1879. Ann (daughter of Robert Henry Pringle and Isabella Pringle) was born on 1 Jul 1854 in Easterstead, Queenstown district, Eastern Cape, South Africa; died on 10 May 1936 in King William's Town, Eastern Cape, South Africa. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• 1820 Lineage: Yes

Notes:

A snippet from: Major T.C. WHITE & his descendants, by F.C.D. WHITE:

George CUMMING came to the Cape in about 1827. He was born in Goa in 1812 and his mother, a Spanish lady, died in childbirth and he was brought up by his two aunts in London. He was only 15 years old when he arrived at the Cape and seven years later he purchased Roode Draay, now known as Hilton, so he must have been a young man of considerable means. He married Catherine ATHERSTONE, daughter of Dr John ATHERSTONE and Elizabeth DAMANT, the same year (1834) and they lived in an old stone building, now the stables, while his magnificent new Georgian house was being built. Richard GUSH of Salem contracted to build the house and went bankrupt fulfilling his obligations, but later paid George back all that he owed, ?2000.

The CUMMING hospitality was famous in the district and dance parties were regularly held in their impressive home, with the red coats of the military much in evidence. It is thought that much of his fortune was squandered in this way. In 1874 George donated one morgen of ground, near his homestead, to the Diocese of Grahamstown on which to build the little St. Peters Church and he was regularly voted as Sidesman, while his son, also Alexander George, was with equal regularity elected Church Warden.

The CUMMINGs farmed Hilton until 1922 when it was sold to Monty HILTON-BARBER. George's youngest son, Henry Gordon, married his cousin, Bliss Annie WHITE of Brakkloof in 1885, and they lived at Willowfountain. When the two WHITE brothers, Tom and George broke up their partnership, Gordon and Annie moved to Thornkloof, adjoining Hilton. Gordon died there of pneumonia and Annie continued to run the farm with the help of her two spinster sisters, Jessie and Ethel WHITE. After her death, Jess and Ethel cared for her son Douglas and managed the farm during his minority and later when he was away serving in the forces during the Great War of 1914-1919. On his return from England, Donald sold Thornkloof but returned after the Second World War to the neighbouring farm, Broadfields. He and Phyllis lived there until 1960 when they retired to Port Alfred. They both died there in 1975 and are buried in the family cemetery at Hilton.

Name: George Cumming
Gender: Male
Birth Date: 12 Oct 1811
Baptism Date: 2 Mar 1813
Baptism Age: 1
Baptism Place: Secundrabad, Madras, India
Father: Alexander Cumming
FHL Film Number: 506956

George married Catherine Damant Atherstone, 1820 Settler on 12 Jun 1834. Catherine (daughter of John Atherstone, 1820 Settler and Elizabeth Damant, 1820 Settler) was born on 10 Oct 1815 in Castle Donington, Leicestershire, England; died on 7 Sep 1890 in Beaconsfield farm, Grahamstown district, Eastern Cape, South Africa; was buried in Hilton farm, Grahamstown, Eastern Cape, South Africa. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• 1820 Lineage: Yes
• Settler ID: 64
• Settler: 13 Dec 1819, Gravesend, Kent, England

Notes:

Settler:
Damant's party on the Ocean

Other Events and Attributes:

• 1820 Lineage: Yes

Robert married Isabella Pringle on 13 Apr 1848 in Glen Thorn farm, Mancazana Valley, Eastern Cape, South Africa. Isabella (daughter of John Pringle, 1820 Settler and Susan Stretch) was born in 1825; died on 5 Aug 1914. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• 1820 Lineage: Yes

Alexander + - wife of Alexander Cumming. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

She died in childbirth, and was reported to have been a Spanish lady.

Other Events and Attributes:

• 1820 Lineage: Yes
• Settler ID: 67
• Name: John (Dr) Atherstone 1820
• Occupation: a Surgeon
• Settler: 13 Dec 1819, Gravesend, Kent, England
• Occupation: Between 1839 and 1848, Grahamstown, Eastern Cape, South Africa; a Surgeon

Notes:

1820 Settler: Ship Ocean; party Damant's . When Piet Reteif was planning to join the other Voortrekkers in 1838, Dr John and his son WG, rode together, presumably from their farm 'Iron Pot', later called 'Atherstone', near Highlands to Riebeck East in the hope that they could disuade them from leaving. They were unsuccessful, and Retief and his party were subsequently murdered by Dingaan.

Was widowed and married his wife's niece

ATHERSTONE, Dr. John, District Surgeon of Uitenhage and Cape Town and his son William Guybon aged five on arrival who studied medicine. William Guybon was a surgeon, geologist, botanist, artist and musician. He was the first doctor in South Africa to use an anaesthetic in 1847. It was he who identified a stone sent to him as a diamond, which established the value of the find - now Kimberley Diamond Mines - in 1878, and altered the history of this country. He founded the Scientific and Literary Society which developed into the Albany Museum, and started the Botanical Gardens in Grahamstown. He was a representative of the Legislative Council and House of Assembly.
SOURCE: The Settler named Jeremiah Goldswain by Pauline GOLDSWAIN

Settler:
Damant's party on the Ocean

John married Elizabeth Damant, 1820 Settler on 13 Dec 1811 in St James, Westminster, London, England. Elizabeth (daughter of William Sancroft Damant and Elizabeth Castell) was born on 26 Dec 1781; was christened on 30 Dec 1781 in Lammas with Little Hautbois, Norfolk, England; died on 17 Nov 1838 in Table farm, Grahamstown, Eastern Cape, South Africa; was buried in Table farm, Grahamstown, Eastern Cape, South Africa. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• 1820 Lineage: Yes
• Settler ID: 177
• Name: Elizabeth Damant 1820
• Settler: 13 Dec 1819, Gravesend, Kent, England

Notes:

Settler:
Damant's party on the Ocean

Other Events and Attributes:

• 1820 Lineage: Yes

Notes:

Arrived in SA in 1822.

William + Ann Scott. Ann was born in 1801; died on 7 Aug 1889 in Glen Thorn farm, Mancazana Valley, Eastern Cape, South Africa. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• 1820 Lineage: Yes
• Settler ID: 651
• Name: John Pringle 1820
• Occupation: an Agriculturist
• Residence: Glen Thorn farm, Mancazana Valley, Eastern Cape, South Africa
• Settler: 15 Feb 1820, Gravesend, Kent, England

Notes:

His tombstone indicates his birth as being 21 April 1791 (Tessa King and Cemetery Recording CD from the GSSA ) - Pringles of the Valleys has his dob as 21 April 1787.

John and his brother Thomas started their farm in Eildon which they were allocated as part of the 1820 Settlers scheme. As Grant's party from Scotland decided to go to America rather than South Africa, and the sinking of the Aboena due to fire with loss of almost all the emigrant settler passengers, a lot of the surrounding farm land was not taken up by those potential settlers. The Pringles therefore had the opportunity to acquire more land to expand their farming enterprises. John did not get on with his younger brother, and went to assist Robert Hart in running the Somerset Government farm, and to learn the 'tricks' of farming in South Africa from Robert Hart. It was while he was there, that he met Susan Parr nee Stretch, a recent widow, and sister of Charles Lennox Stretch who had married Robert Hart's eldest daughter, Anna.


Herald, date unknown.
Settler family angry as home consigned rubble history
by Andrew Unsworth

Glenthorn, an 1820 Settler farmhouse in the Eastern Cape which belonged to the PRINGLE family for more than 150 years, is destined for demolition.

The loss of the home seven years ago upset surviving members of the prominent family, but it could disappear forever as the new owner cannot afford to keep it standing.

The National Monuments Council regards the house as historic but can do little to save it as it was never declared a national monument - a step that can be taken only with the owner's consent.

The farm was established north of Adelaide, Eastern Cape in 1824 by John PRINGLE, one of four brothers who led the 1820 British settlers, on land granted to him by Lord Charles SOMERSET. His brother, Thomas, went on to tackle the colonial authorities over the settlers' plight by founding a newspaper in Cape Town. His name is still linked to the freedom of the press in South Africa.

Built in 1841, the house was burnt to the ground and rebuilt three times in the frontier wars between the settlers and Xhosas. It was spared only after two women related to a chief were allowed to settle on the farm. Although it was altered and extended over the years, it remained in the PRINGLE family until it was sold by Errol PRINGLE seven years ago to settle debts.

The controversial sale left bitter divisions. One of Errol's brothers, Crighton PRINGLE of Bedford, said talk of the home in which he grew up opened old wounds and he was not prepared to discuss it. Another brother, Denzil PRINGLE of Grahamstown, was resigned to the house's fate. "One has to forget the past, but I would love to see it kept as a national monument."

The present owner, Louw DE BEER, lives on an adjoining farm, 'Marshall Vale', also once owned by a branch of the PRINGLE family. He has spent thousands on restoring the turn-of-the-century farm house, but the older homestead on Glenthorn has stood abandoned. "It's been vandalised and would cost too much to restore," he said. "I use and maintain the outbuildings, but the house has no economic use in a remote area like this. "One is sad to do it but there is really no choice."

The farm is in the heart of "settler country", nestling in a valley of the Winterberg mountains. Today, the house stands in what was once a magnificent garden. Its large rooms are long empty, save for stray sheep droppings, and the billiards room is marked only by a rectangle cut in the floor for the table. Pages of the family history, 'The Pringles of the Valley', lie scattered in what was once the study of Eric PRINGLE, its author and the father of the last owner.

The outbuildings served as a fort in the Frontier Wars and the window openings are angled to facilitate defensive gunfire. Nearby is a chapel built in 1840 by John PRINGLE and surrounded by the graves of generations of PRINGLEs. It's a national monument.

The demise of an old farmhouse is nothing new on the platteland. Ironically, the relics of pre-colonial human settlements have been protected by law since 1911, but buildings put up since 1652 were not, unless they were declared monuments. A relatively unknown clause of the National Monuments Act has, since 1986, extended some protection to any building more than 50 years old. But the National Monuments Council says the law is so wide that it is dependent on local authorities to refer sensitive cases to it. Many do, but the "50-year clause" has never really been applied and many suburban renovators are breaking the law.

Brian JACKSON, Eastern Cape head of the National Monuments Council, was horrified to hear of Glenthorn's planned demolition, but was not prepared to comment until he had seen the house. His intervention is all that stands between Glenthorn and the demolisher's hammer.



Settler:
Pringle's party on the Brilliant

John married Susan Stretch on 26 Mar 1822 in Grahamstown, Eastern Cape, South Africa. Susan (daughter of James St. Leger Stretch and Catherine Devenish) was born in 1791 in Ireland; died on 11 Jan 1879 in Adelaide, Eastern Cape, South Africa; was buried in Glen Thorn Cemetery (Presbyterian) on Glen Thorn farm, Mancazana Valley, Eastern Cape, South Africa. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Name: Susan or Susanna Stretch

Notes:

Conflicting dates: Ivan Mitford-Barberton in Some Frontier Families, under Stretch has Susan's years as 1798 - 1879 yet,under Hart, has her mother Anna's birth year as 1805.

DEATH NOTICE
Filed 17 March 1879 6/9/376 6523
Name of Deceased: Susan STRETCH
PRINGLE
Place of Birth: Ireland
Names of Parents: STRETCH
Age of Deceased:
Widow of the late John PRINGLE
Date of Death: 11 January 1879
Place of Death: 'Mill Bank',
Fort Beaufort
Names of Children and whether Major or Minor:
Robert Pears PRINGLE
James Stretch PRINGLE
Catherine PRINGLE
Isabella PRINGLE
Mary Anne PRINGLE
Ellen Stretch PRINGLE
Whether the deceased left any property movable or immovable? Wearing apparell and a few presents in Cash.
Signed by William Ainslie, Snr.

Susan Parr b. bet 1813-1816 London; d.9 Jul 1882 Battlesden Farm, Alice District. Married James Attwell on 27 Mar 1832.
She was d.o. Edward Parr [b. bet 1792-1795 England; d. abt 1818 England] and Susan Stretch [b.1796 Ireland; d. 11 Jan 1879 Adelaide, Cape, age 88].
Buried in Glenthorn Prebyterian Cem. Mancazana.
Susan was d.o.James St Ledger Stretch [b.1769 Knock Duff, County Cork, Ireland; d.23 Apr 1821 South Arica; buried Millbank, near Fort Beufort] and Catherine Devenish [b. 7 Aug 1767 Knock Duff, County Cork; d.31 May 1845 Adelaide, Cape aged 79] Buried Millbank, near Fort Beaufort.
Susan Stretch married a second time on 26 Mar 1822, after the death of Edward Parr, to John Pringle [b.31 Apr 1787; d.7 Apr 1864.

Notes:

Microfilm #1886513
Matrimonial Court Minutes and Special Marriage Licenses: 1821 - 1884
Albany/Grahamstown, Cape, South Africa
Item 7
Entry #11
Husband: John PRINGLE, 33, England
Wife: Susanna STRETCH, 30, Widow of the late Edward Parr,
1 child - left in England with her Mother
Date: 3/26/1822