My whole interest in Genealogy was sparked by seeing Deare Street in Port Elizabeth while on a business trip in the 70's. There was a whole family there and a Company called Deare & Deitz. However, my grandfather changed the spelling of his name when he was arrested as a vagrant after jumping ship in Cape Town at age 13. So our original surname spelling was Dear. There are other skeletons and skebengas to be found with a little digging. :) John -----Original Message----- From: south-africa-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:south-africa-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of Johan Dorey-Venter Sent: 12 December 2011 03:06 PM To: south-africa@rootsweb.com Subject: [SOUTH-AFRICA] the 'Bastard of Bethulie' ? Deare John, "His name? - Major Russell Deare......No relation." Maybe you have just not yet found the link? <very big tongue-in-cheek> Us genealogists all have a few missing links. And maybe, a few missing "varkies" too. I know I have. Johan. ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to SOUTH-AFRICA-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message ----- No virus found in this message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 2012.0.1873 / Virus Database: 2102/4675 - Release Date: 12/11/11

John, You're telling me! If I had to drag some of those "skeletons and skebengas" out of the closet my family will surely drag me in front of a firing squad. All part of what makes genealogy so interesting. Johan.

Janee, One part of my extended family has cut off all communication with me, cause I found out that their great garndfather married a coloured woman! Colin ----- Original Message ----- From: "Johan Dorey-Venter" <doreyventer@gmail.com> To: <south-africa@rootsweb.com> Sent: Monday, December 12, 2011 4:45 PM Subject: Re: [SOUTH-AFRICA] the 'Bastard of Bethulie' ? > John, > > You're telling me! If I had to drag some of those "skeletons and > skebengas" out of the closet my family will surely drag me in front of > a firing squad. > > All part of what makes genealogy so interesting. > > Johan. > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > SOUTH-AFRICA-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message

Hi Colin, It didn't happen in an extended part of my family, but in a fairly central part......! I won't mention surnames because there are others in the family who are not quite as comfortable with the situation as I am! One of my great great grandfather's nephews married a woman of colour and they had 10 children. One of their daughters died in Kliptown in the year I was born. I worked on the family tree with her granddaughter who was born in Kliptown, Transvaal two years before I was born is my 4th cousin, the same relationship I share with most of the cousins with whom I am busily working on a number of trees.. We must have lived fairly close to one another when I was in digs in the Hospital Hill area of Johannesburg while studying at Johannesburg Polytechnic. We didn't stay in touch; she seemed a little uncomfortable with me. Very sad that a matter of skin colour could make such a difference to a relationship.. Best wishes, Tombi Peck ----- Original Message ----- From: "Colin Möhr" <mohr@lantic.net> To: <south-africa@rootsweb.com> Sent: Monday, December 12, 2011 3:15 PM Subject: Re: [SOUTH-AFRICA] the 'Bastard of Bethulie' ? > Janee, > One part of my extended family has cut off all communication with me, > cause > I found out that their great garndfather married a coloured woman! > Colin > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Johan Dorey-Venter" <doreyventer@gmail.com> > To: <south-africa@rootsweb.com> > Sent: Monday, December 12, 2011 4:45 PM > Subject: Re: [SOUTH-AFRICA] the 'Bastard of Bethulie' ? > > >> John, >> >> You're telling me! If I had to drag some of those "skeletons and >> skebengas" out of the closet my family will surely drag me in front of >> a firing squad. >> >> All part of what makes genealogy so interesting. >> >> Johan. >> >> ------------------------------- >> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to >> SOUTH-AFRICA-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the >> quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > SOUTH-AFRICA-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > > ----- > No virus found in this message. > Checked by AVG - www.avg.com > Version: 2012.0.1873 / Virus Database: 2102/4675 - Release Date: 12/11/11 >

One would ask why - you cannot change history!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Lynette from OZ -------------------------------------------------- From: "Colin Möhr" <mohr@lantic.net> Sent: Tuesday, December 13, 2011 1:15 AM To: <south-africa@rootsweb.com> Subject: Re: [SOUTH-AFRICA] the 'Bastard of Bethulie' ? > Janee, > One part of my extended family has cut off all communication with me, > cause > I found out that their great garndfather married a coloured woman! > Colin > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Johan Dorey-Venter" <doreyventer@gmail.com> > To: <south-africa@rootsweb.com> > Sent: Monday, December 12, 2011 4:45 PM > Subject: Re: [SOUTH-AFRICA] the 'Bastard of Bethulie' ? > > >> John, >> >> You're telling me! If I had to drag some of those "skeletons and >> skebengas" out of the closet my family will surely drag me in front of >> a firing squad. >> >> All part of what makes genealogy so interesting. >> >> Johan. >> >> ------------------------------- >> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to >> SOUTH-AFRICA-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the >> quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > SOUTH-AFRICA-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message

On 13 Dec 2011, at 12:27 AM, John Deare wrote: > My whole interest in Genealogy was sparked by seeing Deare Street > in Port > Elizabeth while on a business trip in the 70's. There was a whole > family > there and a Company called Deare & Deitz. > However, my grandfather changed the spelling of his name when he was > arrested as a vagrant after jumping ship in Cape Town at age 13. So > our > original surname spelling was Dear. There are other skeletons and > skebengas > to be found with a little digging. :) This interested me because there is a Dear family in Melbourne -- no relation of mine, but I worked with one of them many years ago. But I have also learned over the years not to be too precious about spellings of names, because the further back you go the more variable they become. You only have to look at all the spellings of Shakespeare's name! people pretty well spelled as they spoke, or from a limited education, and without regard to the etymology of words. My own grandfather, who was rather ill-educated and like many such had strong opinions on things he knew little about; he came of a family called McMINN, but insisted on spelling his own name MacMINN, which then became my mother's maiden name, and in the fullness of time my own second name. But all my Scottish cousins on that side of the family spell it McMinn as before. So I don't exclude possible links to my own surname just because they omit the D or add an S or both -- such names could belong to the same family. There are about 30 Dears in the Private volume of the Melbourne Phone Book, and no Deares -- but who knows how they spelled their names in earlier generations? Andrew Rodger rodgera@audioio.com