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- Douglas Flemmer Gilfillan, the eldest son, b. 1865, qualified as an attorney in Cape Town, practised in Cradock and then migrated to Barberton when gold was discovered there. He married Sophia de Jongh who travelled to Pretoria from Cape Town for the wedding. After practising in Barberton for three years, they moved to the Rand in 1893. He was on the Reform Committee which organised the Jameson Raid. They were thrown into prison and condemned to death: later this sentence was changed to a fine of £2,000 each. Knowing that war was inevitable, Douglas sent his wife and family to the Cape Colony while he served as an officer with the Imperial Light Horse and led his troop to the relief of Ladysmith. After the war he returned to his legal practice in Johannesburg. He was one of the founders of the Wild Life Protection Society and also a foundation member of the 1820 Memorial Settlers' Association.
from 'The Story of the SA Flemmer's' by Steve Herbert (see www.flemmerfamily.co.za for all the related familis.)
Douglas Flemmer Gilfillan 1865 – 1948 married Sophia Magadalena DE JONGH 1865 – 1935 He was born in Cradock on the 26th June 1865, the first child of Edward and Charlotte and was baptized at St. Peter’s. I quote:
He went to the Cradock Boys’ High School were he proved to be exceptionally bright, matriculating at the age of 15. It had been decided that he would follow his father into law. No university degree was required for admission as an attorney, but lengthy articles were served and exams written. Douglas was sent off to Cape Town to the legal firm of Reid and Nephew where he successfully completed his articles. He could not be admitted as an attorney until he turned 21 in 1886.
While in Cape Town he played rugby for the Villager first team and lived at a boarding house at Moullie Point run by the widow of Lourens de Jongh. Mrs. de Jongh had two daughters and it was not long before Douglas had fallen in love with the younger one, Sophia (Sophy). There was no question in those days of them marrying then. Douglas was far too young, and had no means of supporting her. It must have been very difficult for this young couple when he went back to his father’s practice in Cradock in 1886. They kept up a lengthy correspondence over the years and married four years later in Pretoria.
The Transvaal was booming and encouraged by Sophy’s brother Jim, Douglas left Cradock in 1888 for Pretoria where Jim had a legal practice. It seems hard to believe now but Barberton in the Lowveld was then the biggest Transvaal town following the gold rush there of 1883.
He was a very good correspondent, keeping in touch with his mother and father in Cradock, and with Sophy and his brothers and business associates. The Gilfillan family is very fortunate to have a collection of letters Douglas wrote while he was in Barberton. They give a vivid picture of his thriving practice and the losses he made through an ill judged speculation. There are hunting trips and visits to the Swazi King on behalf of a client. Of course he missed Sophy, as is evident from these letters. The couple had not seen each other for eighteen long months when they were married in Pretoria on 10th April 1890.
He had bought Sophy a piano as a wedding present – something of a rarity in that rough and ready part of the world. She played at concerts and there were games of tennis and frequent picnic parties. Although Douglas was a magnificent shot he only hunted for the pot. It was during his time in Barberton that he realized that if the wildlife wasn’t protected it would be wiped out. He was a founder of the Transvaal Protection Society and was involved with its successor the Wildlife Protection Society most of his life.
In 1892 he and Sophy moved to Johannesburg. He established himself as a leading lawyer and was very much part of the thriving business and social scene of the new boom town.
The Gilfillans were prospering in this period and in 1898, persuaded by Julius Jeppe they moved to what was to become the suburb for the rich and famous – Belgravia. Douglas and Sophy had their magnificent home ‘Elgin’ built at a cost of £8 000, a staggering amount for the time. The same year he formed a law partnership with Richard Baumann (later Bowman) and this partnership has really stood the test of time – as Bowman Gilfillan it is still one of South Africa’s leading legal practices.
1899 was of course a turning point for the whole country. War broke out in October 1899, and Douglas left immediately for Pietermaritzburg where he played a prominent part, with 10 other Reform Committee members, in the formation of the Imperial Light Horse.
As a lieutenant with the ILH he is quoted in several books on the Boer War and the regiment – he certainly saw a lot of action. I quote from the book Colonial Officers in the Boer War –
Gilfillan, D F. South African War 1899-1900. Relief of Ladysmith, including action at Colenso, operations of 17-24 Jan 00, and action at Spion Kop, operations of 5-7 Feb 00 and action at Vaal Krantz, operations on the Tugela Heights (14-27 Feb 00) and action at Pieter’s Hill. Relief of Mafeking. Served with the Imp Lt Horse. Queen’s Medal with 4 clasps.
As a matter of interest I was sent this information by Chris Biggins a medal collector who has Douglas’ Queen’s Medal in his collection. Chris also sent me extracts from G.F. Gibson’s history of the ILH:
‘The test for riding was rigorous enough to gladden the heart and satisfy the requirements of the most exacting Regular Cavalry Riding Master. This responsible task was undertaken by Lt Douglas Gilfillan.’(a picture of this medal can be seen on the Flemmer website).
There is another reference to Douglas –
During the Relief of Mafeking, ‘F’ Squadron was commanded by Capt D. Gilfillan with Lieuts P. Greathead and J.D. Barry. Total all ranks ILH in the relief column 450. 6 Queen’s medal
>From a letter the family has from the author of this book, Gibson, it seems that the history of the ILH may never have been published if it were not for Douglas’ intervention
I firmly believe that our book will be successful. If so, it will be a triumph for you, more so than anyone else. You have borne the heat and burden of the day. Some of those associated with us have been a trial, cursed with filleted vertebras, but it was ever thus. They succeeded in delaying printing for nearly a year. That their timidity has been finally overcome is due entirely to you. Finally your agreeing to advance the £50, towards the printing delivered the coup de grace to their opposition. Just ten thousand thanks and my gratitude and that of all Comrades.
Douglas had a life long love of the veld and the wide open spaces. He was also a very competent botanist. The South African Botanical Annals show a number of plants to his credit and record that he identified a number of species on a farm in the Karroo – this was probably his brother Ted’s farm Conway near Middelburg.
There had been regular trips to his cousin Willie Gilfillan’s farm in the Waterberg and in 1911 Douglas bought the next door farm Ongegundand and built a holiday home there. Later he bought a neighbouring farm and after the First World War the three farms were managed by his son-in-law Ewald Scholtz.
Like his father before him, Douglas had a great interest in education, and for forty years was on the governing board of Jeppe Boys’ High School – Jeppe Park was renamed Gilfillan Park in recognition of his services. With the children grown up Elgin was sold and Douglas and Sophy moved to Parktown before settling in Linden, where they created a beautiful garden complete with a small golf course.
Sophy died on the 8th January 1939, and Douglas went to live with his son Noel, who had by then followed his father into the legal practice. When war broke out Noel immediately joined up and Douglas with Richard Bowman, by then old men had to shoulder the responsibility of managing the practice.
Douglas died on the 5th of September 1948 at the home of his son Angus, and I’m sure his end was as he would have wished it.
He was a born story-teller and people of every generation enjoyed listening to his stories. As a matter of fact, on the day he died, he had been having Sunday lunch with his son Angus, and had just told a most amusing story, when he sat back, put his hands together, and died so quietly few realised his spirit had gone.
In these few pages I have tried to sum up what was a most remarkable life, marked by adventure, great business achievement and a giving of time and help to the community he lived in.
On his death, a fellow solicitor, Walter Webber wrote a fitting epitaph:
I have known Douglas Gilfillan as an articled clerk, on the sports field and as a colleague in the legal profession, where we have often been on different sides of disputes, but I have never known him to do anything except play cricket.
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