Hi Greg
We can indeed talk. I hope you can fill in some gaps. My great grandfather JOhn William Povall was born in Durban in 1858. His parents were John Povall of Liverpool and Marion Mann of Kent. JOhn first married Alice Sinclair and when their son was still young, JOhn left them and travelled to Port Said and eventually ended up in Cardiff. (He could have worked on a ship and that is why he called himself a sailor on their marriage certificate).He met Rosina Williams in Cardiff, filed for divorce from Alice and married Rosina on 6 April 1885 (I have a copy of their marriage certificate). It gets a bit sketchy from then on ... Rosina and 4 children sailed to SA in 1893 (no sign of JOhn) but I then have a John sailing to SA in 1903. Problem is they had children during these 10 years.
My grandmother was Marion Rose Povall born in Poole in 1890. At some stage John and his son Albert moved to the Copper Belt and i understand they died there. Rosina died in 1939 and is buried in Durban. Did they get divorced?? I know Marion travelled to Zambia to visit family (presumably her father John) but died shortly after returning home to Cape Town in 1927 of Black Water Fever (I understand this is caused by malaria obviously while in Zambia). Marion was survived by her husband Herbert Stannard and 5 daughters, one of which was my mom. Your turn now!
Regards Marilyn