Joseph Norman Gush^{[1, 2]}

1903 - 1961  (58 years)

• Name	Joseph Norman Gush  [3]
  Birth	7 Mar 1903	Grahamstown, Eastern Cape, South Africa   [4]
  Baptism	17 Mar 1903	Salem, Eastern Cape, South Africa   [4]
  Gender	Male
  1820 Lineage	Yes
  Residence	Detsiping, Vryburg, North West, South Africa   [1]
  Death	7 Dec 1961	Vryburg, North West, South Africa   [2]
  Person ID	I40187	master
  Last Modified	25 Jul 2021

  
  

  Father	Joseph Malcolm Gush,   b. 1 Jul 1871, Sidbury, Eastern Cape, South Africa d. 6 May 1941, Vryburg, North West, South Africa (Age 69 years)
  Mother	Ivy Mary Jakins,   b. 29 May 1879, Grahamstown, Eastern Cape, South Africa d. 22 Apr 1979, Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu Natal, South Africa (Age 99 years)
  Family ID	F13813	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Hazel Magdalene Van Duyker,   b. 5 Nov 1912, Somerset East, Eastern Cape, South Africa d. 17 Oct 1977, Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape, South Africa (Age 64 years)
  Marriage	1928	Somerset East, Eastern Cape, South Africa   [2]
  Children	+ 1. Maureen Norma Gush + 2. William Malcolm Gush,   b. 29 Jan 1937, Vryburg, North West, South Africa d. 17 Oct 1973, Tsumeb, Namibia (South West Africa) (Age 36 years) + 3. Marilyn Desiree Gush
  Family ID	F14006	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	6 Oct 2008

  
  

• Event Map

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  Birth - 7 Mar 1903 - Grahamstown, Eastern Cape, South Africa Baptism - 17 Mar 1903 - Salem, Eastern Cape, South Africa Residence - - Detsiping, Vryburg, North West, South Africa Marriage - 1928 - Somerset East, Eastern Cape, South Africa Death - 7 Dec 1961 - Vryburg, North West, South Africa  = Link to Google Earth

  
  

• Notes

  Contributed by his daughter Maureen Joseph Norman, called Norman by most, took his 16 year old bride, Hazel to Vryburg, in the Northern Cape. After working for a while as a window-dresser at Brown Rayners in Vryburg, his pioneering spirit took them to dry, barren, semi-desert country at Detsiping in the Mashowing. This was a native reserve and the nearest whites were miles and miles away at Glen Red where Father Peasley worked for the London Missionary Society. Norman started bartering with the locals, buying their animal skins and mealies in exchange for tea, coffee, sugar and Lennons medicines. In no time at all, he increased his stocks and attracted more locals from further afield who paid cash for their goods. When Hazel had dried her tears and recovered from the shock of leaving behind her, the luxurious, prominent home in Somerset East in exchange for a one-room dwelling made of dung and mud, she joined in befriending the locals and helping in the trading store. She became nurse, midwife, dressmaker to the women and Norman's store flourished. They won the hearts of the locals who enjoyed being treated once a year to a feast. Animals were slaughtered and celebration began as hundreds of blacks camped around the trading station, making huge fires and cooking the food supplied by Norman in huge 3-legged cast-iron pots. The hum of voices could be heard for miles. Stocks were replenished by driving the long distance to Vryburg and even the loss of replacements when his bakkie overturned and caught fire on his way home from a buying trip, was not a permanent setback and about 15 years later he left Detsiping and bought 3 butchery shops in Vryburg. Norman was a gentle, caring, kind man. No one ever heard him speak a harsh word and he was regarded as a "peace-maker". He reared his family and instilled a love of nature and a love for their Maker.

  
  

• Sources

  [S386] Death Notice, MOOC 6/9/4765 ref 50246, (filed 23/1/1942), TAB MHG 0 393/42. recorded by Hugo Slater [S389] Gush, Ralph & Jessie + Fiona Sephton, GUSH Family Tree. [S3527] 1820 Settler's Centenary Genealogical records, (https://familysearch.org/search/catalog/305287), https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSVZ-59BM-Q?i=1136&cat=305287 (Reliability: 3). [S369] Salem / Albany Parish Records, Baptisms 24/8/1820 - 20/2/1859 Salem / Albany Parish Records, (MS 15 869).