Although not a direct ancestor of mine, david is proving to be a difficult "loose end" on an almost complete family chart. According to his more direct family, he "cleared off to the Boer war" leaving his little children who had recently lost their mother, and apparently never returned to Australia. He lived in northern new south wales Australia before leaving for the War, but I cannot find him on any nominal roll here. The more immediate family have not been able to help me. On one of their marriage certicates (1912) it says "father, reputedly deceased". I don't think he died during the war, but it is possible he remained in South Africa. Any suggestions would be welcome. robyn hilan, Ballina NSW

Robyn, On the South African Archives is the following record which might be him in spite of the incorrect spelling of the surname: ----- Start ----- DEPOT TAB SOURCE MHG TYPE LEER VOLUME_NO 0 SYSTEM 01 REFERENCE 23996 PART 1 DESCRIPTION BRENDER, DAVID LUDWIG. STARTING 19140000 ENDING 19140000 ----- End ----- I would suggest that you write to the Archives in Pretoria and ask for a lookup. Source "MHG" indicates that the document originates from the "Master of the Supreme Court, Pretoria. Estates". The document (a file) is dated 1914. You can contact the Pretoria Archives at the address below. National Archives Repository The Head Postal address: Private Bag X236, PRETORIA 0001 Street address: 24 Hamilton Street, Arcadia, PRETORIA Tel: (012) 323 5300. Fax: (012) 323 5287 E-mail: enquiries@dac.gov.za If they will not do the lookup, I could recommend a researcher. Regards, Gerold Whittaker, South Africa. -----Original Message----- From: Robyn Hilan [mailto:rhilan@nnsw.quik.com.au] Sent: 13 April 2005 07:03 AM To: BOER-WAR-L@rootsweb.com Subject: [BOER-WAR] david ludwig bender Although not a direct ancestor of mine, david is proving to be a difficult "loose end" on an almost complete family chart. According to his more direct family, he "cleared off to the Boer war" leaving his little children who had recently lost their mother, and apparently never returned to Australia. He lived in northern new south wales Australia before leaving for the War, but I cannot find him on any nominal roll here. The more immediate family have not been able to help me. On one of their marriage certicates (1912) it says "father, reputedly deceased". I don't think he died during the war, but it is possible he remained in South Africa. Any suggestions would be welcome. robyn hilan, Ballina NSW