Hello Jan Can you tell me what your husbands grandfathers name was ? Also found this information on the Orphan Chamber for you. The Masters’ Division is a creature rich in history not surpassed by any public institution in this country. The creation of the MASTERS’ BUSINESS UNIT is a further chapter of this history. Although the predecessors of the Masters’ Division can be found in the annals of some European countries long before 1652 the real history of the Masters’ Division in South Africa started in 1674 when the “Weeskamer” (Orphan Camber) was created. While the Master is presently a creature of statute the functions of the Orphan Chamber were up to 1714 not prescribed by statute but were founded on its compeers in Holland. In that year the Orphan Chamber prepared some regulations that were approved of by the authorities. These regulations were in force till 1793 where after a thorough investigation was launched into the activities of the Orphan Chamber and new regulations enacted. In 1828 in a preamble the importance of the Orphan Chamber was described as follows: “ Whereas the establishment of the Orphan Chamber in this Colony has become an Institution of great public interest and utility and should therefore placed under permanent and more determinate regulations...”. In 1834 the Master became a creature of statute. The staffing of the Masters’ Division also went through many changes. The Orphan Chamber for instance staffed by a chairperson appointed by the Governor in Council, two officials of the then authorities and two freemen. Only the secretary was paid for his/ her work. One of the officials and one of the freemen had to retire from the Orphan Chamber annually and their successors elected by the Political Council from a list drawn up by the Orphan Chamber itself. The Orphan Chamber was restructured by ordinance in 1828 and then staffed by a chairperson and four Masters appointed by the Governor. Two of the latter had to be civil servants. This ordinance sounded the death bell of the Orphan Chamber, died in 1834 and superseded by the Master of the Supreme Court. The functions of the Masters’ Division underwent many changes through the centuries. Initially the word “Orphan Chamber” was in deed a good description for the activities of the Orphan Chamber since its activities were more focused on minors and widows. Although many regulations pertaining to the functions of the Orphan Chamber were changed through the years major changes took place in the year 1793. With the creation of the office of the Master in 1834 the Master’s functions and duties became prescribed by statute. Initially the Orphan Chamber had, inter alia, a very personal interest in those put under its jurisdiction. The Orphan Chamber for instance put minors under foster care and had to ascertain that those minors were brought up under strict Christian principles and received a proper education and trained in a trade. As is the case today funds of the minors could be used for those purposes. Corporal punishment by officials of the Orphan Chamber was allowed and the undisciplined had to appear before the Orphan Chamber. Their authorities over the persons of the minors were nearly unrestricted - two orphans who time again ran away from their foster parents were enrolled in the army and sent to Batavia. Following numerous enquiries about persons who died and in view of the fact that there was no office of a registrar of deaths at that time persons who died could not be buried before the Orphan Chamber was notified of their deaths! The Guardians’ Fund was an integral part of the system since 1686. All monies belonging to orphans and absent / unknown heirs were deposited in this fund and administration fees (as well as salaries of officials till 1808) were paid from the profits made by the fund. Monies were invested on mortgage bonds and loans against securities at an interest higher than the 6% paid to account holders. Since the Orphan Chamber considered itself a philanthropic institution donations were also made to orphanages and poor churches. It was also recorded that the then Governor, Lord Charles Somerset, even instructed the fund to donate an amount of 51 000 guild to a congregation to build a new parsonage - apparently Mrs Reverend did not like the old parsonage! Only 15 000 guild was forthcoming. Due to the fact that this fund became very ‘affluent’ the ordinary person on the street (dust track?) became mistrustful towards the fund because they apparently believed that the fund could not become so strong in an honourable way. When the then secretary of the Orphan Chamber died in 1737 a shortfall of more than 50 000 guild was discovered in the fund. The authorities decided that the Masters of that time should be held responsible for the shortfall. Understandably they fought this decision and after a period of 15 years a truce was reached between the Masters the authorities whereby the interest earned on the funds of absent heirs used to cover the shortfall. Unfounded stories about enrichment by officials of the Orphan Chamber became the order of the day. During the period 1788 to 1791 the execution of functions by the Orphan Chamber fell in chaos. A commission of enquiry was instituted, the then secretary dismissed and the shortfall of more than 167 000 rix-dollars recovered from his estate. In view of the fact that banking institutions were foreign at that time, the monies of the fund not invested were kept in an iron trunk with three sets of locks. Three different officials kept the keys. However, this arrangement did not prevent the authorities of that time to raid the trunk on two occasions to cover the shortfall on the government’s budget! The control over the liquidation of sequestrated estates befell the Master also in 1828. Before that time such matters were under the control of the courts (till 1803), the “Desolate Kamer” (1803 to 1819) and “sequestrator” (1819 to 1828.) The assessment of succession duty became the duty of the Master in 1864. It is common knowledge that the Voortrekkers of that time were not fond of the then authorities and as they trekked from under the auspices of the British authorities they founded their own Orphan Chambers even while on trek The office of “Weesheer” was a well sought after position and many well known personalities of those times acted as “Weeshere.” At the establishment of the Union of South Africa in 1910 four different sets of control over the administration of estates existed. A so called unified act was enacted in 1913 which act was in operation till 1967 when the current act came into effect. Even today no unified act exists - the next chapter to be written in the long history of the Masters’ Division. by J H Jordaan - Master’s Office Pretoria This information will be placed on the Family Tree Web site with more to come under the Learning Centre Visit South Africa's premier Genealogy + Family History Web sites : www.familytree.co.za <http://www.familytree.co.za> + www.ancestry.mweb.co.za <http://www.ancestry.mweb.co.za> -----Original Message----- From: Jan Hill [mailto:jandb600@ntlworld.com] Sent: 21 August 2005 05:12 PM To: SOUTH-AFRICA-CAPE-TOWN-L@rootsweb.com Subject: [South-Africa-Cape-Town] COLONIAL ORPHAN CHAMBERS Cape Town 1905 I am hoping someone on the list can explain to me what the Colonial Orphan Chambers were. In 1905 my husband's grandfather was before the magistrates in Cape Town for unpaid rent to this organisation. He was a clergyman so maybe worked/lived at the Chambers. Would be grateful for any assistance with this or any information about the names (below) which I'm researching. If any listers are researching these families, I'll be more than willing to share information with them. Thanks, Jan Hill Researching in S Africa: Rev Frederick WINGATE (various postings 1890-1910). He married Dorothy Maxwell. THOMPSON family (descendents of Francis THOMPSON b. 1829 Yorkshire ENGLAND, died in native raid on his son's farm, Cornforth Hill near Kimberley in 1878. MAXWELL family (John MAXWELL married Penelope THOMPSON (b 1851, daughter of Francis Thompson and sister to Francis "Matabele" Thompson, a colleague of Rhodes) ==== SOUTH-AFRICA-CAPE-TOWN Mailing List ==== South African Passenger Lists, Genealogy links, CDs and books www.sagenealogy.co.za ============================== Search Family and Local Histories for stories about your family and the areas they lived. 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