Notes |
- See www.flemmerfamily.co.za where the history of the complete South African Flemmer family written by Steve Herbert is recorded.
An extract follows below.
Charlotte Marie Louise Flemmer was born on the 18th April 1844 in the small port of Korsør, Denmark, the fourth child and second daughter of Dr. Christian August Flemmer and Betty Abo. She was a healthy baby and as was the custom, baptism was delayed until the warmer months. She was baptized by her grandfather in the Lutheran Church on 11th July 1844.
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The only public mention I have found of the young Charlotte is in connection with the Total Abstainers Society. A newspaper article of 1863, when she was 19, mentions that ?vocal entertainment? was provided by Miss Flemmer. As we know, her father was a leading figure in the Teetotaler movement and it may have been through this that Charlotte met her future husband, Edward Stockenstrom Lodewicus Gilfillan, who was six years older than her. Certainly Edward had strong views on the curse of alcohol abuse as we see from an interview with Eliza Butler in her Reminiscences of Cradock:
Drink amongst the natives was a terrible curse, and when the women of the Bush or Hottentot tribes took to drink the races died out. Drink was freely given to the customers at the stores, besides what they bought for themselves. There were five canteens although the town was so small. The Rev. R. B. Taylor got them reduced to two. This good man spent his life here trying to convert the natives. He was an ardent teetotaler and through his efforts a canteen in High Street was closed. He was the pioneer in Cradock of teetotalism and devoted his life to this cause and for the good of the native community.
The couple married at St. Peter's on the 7th September 1864 and their wedding was reported in the Cradock and Tarkastad Register:
On Wednesday morning last the marriage of our esteemed townsman Edward Gilfillan Esquire to the only daughter of C.A.Flemmer Esquire M.D. also of this town was celebrated in St. Peter?s Church by the Rev. E.W.Barker. The sacred edifice had been beautifully decorated for the happy occasion and at the close of the ceremony an appropriate hymn was sung by the choir. After the wedding breakfast a large cavalcade of ladies and gentlemen on horseback accompanied the bridegroom and his fair bride for a short distance out of town on their wedding tour.
Of course Charlotte wasn't the "only daughter" as she had a sister Camilla * who was already married. Perhaps married daughters didn't count as daughters! It?s also interesting to see that Charlotte?s name isn't even mentioned.
As I have said I found nothing else about Charlotte herself in any records, but this was the usual situation at the time. Far more is known about her husband Edward. He was the son of the town magistrate and the family is well known from many records. There is a lot about them in the very good book The Story of One Branch of the Gilfillan Family in South Africa by Marjorie Gilfillan. Here we find some interesting information about Edward. He was one of twelve children and Miss Lucy Gray [A Victorian Lady at the Cape 1849 ? 1855] records that the Gilfillan children were a happy lot of youngsters.
She was a little shocked that "The younger boys even play with Hottentots in the streets and go where they will". While this is not something that people of Lucy Gray?s class would condone back in England, she also notes that she was struck by the boys' gentlemanly manners.
There are a couple of errors in the Gilfillan book. One is that Charlotte's father ? Dr. Christian August Flemmer ? had settled in East London on arrival from Denmark, but as we know the family had gone straight to Cradock. It also says that Edward and Charlotte had "four sons and one
daughter". As we will see a second daughter was born but died young, so they had six children in all.
Edward and Charlotte spent their lives in Cradock, where he devoted himself to his legal practice and to his home town. Sir John Kotze in his autobiography says "He was a sound lawyer in the enjoyment of an extensive practice, and was possessed of great influence in the district. He was much respected for his ability and character.?"
The six children all born in Cradock were:
Douglas Flemmer born 25th June 1865
Edward Thornhill born 25th March 1867
Charles Christian born 29th January 1869
Wilfred Naested born 10th January 1871
Anna Betty Camilla date of birth unknown
Maria Louise born 17th December 1877
It is interesting to see how the Danish family names 'Flemmer', 'Christian', 'Naested', 'Anna Betty Camilla' and 'Marie Louise' were handed down in this family.
From what I have read of him Edward was an upright, austere character and Marjorie Gillfillan quotes his son Douglas:
"The children never really got to know their father as he was so strict with them. When they came down to breakfast each morning, they lined up and said 'Good morning Sir' to him and then sat down to breakfast. They always addressed him as 'Sir'. Edward always had a plate of oatmeal porridge, and ate it in the Scots way, with salt on it, and with milk in a separate cup nearby. He would take a spoonful of porridge, dip it into the milk, and then eat it."
Apart from his legal practice he worked tirelessly for Cradock. He was a member of the Town Council for years and served a term as Mayor. His great contribution was in education, where he was largely instrumental in solving a long running problem with the founding of the Cradock Boys' High School. Edward was an avid gardener and his fruit trees and vines were renowned in the district.
He died at his home The Abbey in Bree Street Cradock on the 20th July 1908 at the age of 70 and is buried in the Municipal graveyard. Charlotte lived on for many years dying aged 90 on the 17th June 1934 at Wilsonia near East London. I think she may have been living at the home of her son Wilfred Naested Gilfillan at the time of her death. When she died she was the sole surviving 'Danish' Flemmer, all of her brothers and sisters having died by that time.
*(CAMILLA HENRIETTE FLEMMER 1840-1922 married to HANS MICHAEL NAESTED 1827-1907)
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