Sarah Allum - Capetown

[louisem]

I have found an old family bible with the name Sarah Allum, Observatory, Cape Town, dated Aug 1921.

Inside the bible is a list of what I suppose to be siblings born between 1869 and 1883. These siblings are surnamed Thomas, one of my family names and Sarah, who I assume became Sarah Allum was born on Aug 8th 1883. There are also dates of death for 2 of her siblings in 1914 and 1917.
I'm not sure how this family is linked to mine. My Thomas ancestors lived in Cardiff, Wales so I'm supposing someone emigrated in the 1860s or 1870s.
Iwould be really greatful for any information on how to start my research on this family. Are there places I can search on the net? I'm based in London, these are the first overseas ancestors I've found so I'm excited but don't know where to start.
Thanks very much for any advice anyone can give me.
Louise


L

[Carmela]

Hi Louise,
Some time ago, I was thinking of trying to trace a branch of my mother's family in South Africa. I found the following site:  FamilyTree.co.za   It looked like it might be very useful, but I have not explored it. I became involved in other research and have put the Africa project on the back-burner for now. You must register, but it is free.
 
Cheers,
Carmela

[Hackstaple]

This may set you on your way
http://hometown.aol.co.uk/allumj/myhomepage/family.html

[louisem]

Thank you both very much for those links, I'm off to explore them now 

Louise

[rutti tutti]

Hi Louise - give me a couple of days and let me see what I can find - i have just returned from our summer holiday so will settle down to family history next week.
You could in the meantime look at the rootsweb mailing list archives and search these for the names allum and thomas and see what you come up with - otherwise put your query onto the rootsweb mailing list south africa british immigrants - the folk are extremely helpful.
Here is the link for the archives:
http://listsearches.rootsweb.com/?list=SOUTH-AFRICA-IMMIGRANTS-BRITISH
Ruth

[louisem]

Thanks for that. I've started searching on the Rootsweb boards, there are a lot of Thomas references to get through, and even though I haven't found anything specific yet it's giving me some fascinating background info. I have birth dates for all the Thomas siblings listed in the Bible and I can't find any British records for any of them so I'm assuming they were all born overseas, presumably in South Africa. 2 of my GG Grandmothers brothers dissapear around 1869-80 so I'm imagining one of them may have settled in South Africa and was the father of Sarah and siblings. Anyway thanks for your suggestions and any more pointers would be greatly appreciated.

Louise

[rutti tutti]

Hi Louise,
i also had a look at the mailing list archives but I think you should perhaps join the mailing list for a short while listing all the info you have about the brothers - do you know their names and birth years etc. If we can match these names up we could also do a search on the national archive site - this gives references to death dates, children etc. The siblings that died while possibly be a good place to start Actually give me everything you do know from the bible and missing siblings etc and let me dig a bit for you so I can then point you in the right direction! For useful sites see my posting on rearching in south africa - the archive website page is there but it is a bit confusing. It is also just a reference system so would need to apply for documents. There is a death notice for a Sarah Ann Allum in 1963.
I still think the best route is to join the mailing list as well as one of the members has transcibed many birth records around that time but still give me all the info - you can send it by private message if you prefer.
Ruth

[louisem]

Thank you for all the advice. I'm finding this new family fascinating as the Bible came from the house where I grew up but i have never heard of any South African relatives so would now love to find out more.
The relatives who disappear from British census records are William Thomas born 1849 and James Thomas born 1851. William born in Bideford Devon and James born in Cardiff Glamorgan. Their father was a shipbuilder at Cardiff Docks.
The info in the Bible is
Sarah Ann Allum  21 Lytton (?) Street, Observatory Cape Town
Mary Anne Thomas 26th May 1869
Daniel Thomas July 9th 1870 died April 2nd 1917
Hannah Thomas February 9th 1874
Elizabeth Thomas March 25th 1875
Leah Thomas November 6th 1876 died June 25th 1914
John Thomas November 24th 1878
Hannah (?) Thomas June 25th 1881
Sarah A Thomas August 8th 1883
Tom Thomas May 29th 1872

I should add that it's a Welsh Bible
I've had a look at the Archives site and will explore further and post on the Rootsweb  board. Thanks very much for your help.
Louise 

[Mary Eatwell]

hello, my name is mary eatwell. my experience with dealing with research in South Africa has been just as difficulu. My grandfather Theodore H Eatwell came to the Pacific Northwest in 1909. He died when my father was 17 years old. As my grandfather was a quiet restrained Englishman he did not share much about his SA family. Therefor finding family down there is a problem. The only good thing is my last name. My grandfather was from a large family of 8 children, so I'm pretty sure any and maybe all are Eatwell cousins. I did find that to aquire records, I wil have to hire a professional genealogist and the rate of $20 an hour American currency. So good luck, if you find another way to do this let me know please.