John Thomas Gordon, 1867-1930 Ancestor search

[Kloumann]

I have been trying to find the ancestors of John Thomas Gordon & his wife Sophia Harriet Peters, circa 1878-1969.  His race was listed as European on his death cert 1930. Some of his descendents thought he was a Scot but cannot find him in any UK records. Sophia was thought to be Germanic but again cannot trace her roots.   They are buried in Maitland Cemetery, Capetown.

I hope someone out there can help with the last mystery of my partner's family tree.

[CaroleW]

www.freebmd.org.uk has 1 birth for that name in Lancashire - Blackburn in 1868.  Also a Sophia Peters in 1879 Maidstone

www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk has one for a Thomas John Gordon in 1865

When did he arrive in SA and where from

When and where was their first child born?

You would need more info about him to determine his parentage. 

[Kloumann]

Not sure when the 1st child was born but daughter, Kathleen Margaret,1907-1980.

[CaroleW]

Have you looked in SA for a marriage?

[Kloumann]

Yes. But no luck. There is not many online records for South Africa. We are almost sure they did marry in S.A. but no proof of that. Emigrants travelling from Germany tended to travel to SA via the UK. They could have met there. He also may have been born in SA .

[CaroleW]

Forget the Sophia Peters b Maidstone.  She never married and died 1977 Maidstone

[Gillian Mauchan]

There are plenty of SA records on-line at familysearch.org - a fraction are indexed but if you look through the catalog there is a goldmine of records to find. That being said - I can see an indexed DN for John but looking in the NAAIRS indexes it appears he did not leave an estate and neither did his wife. You could start looking for a marriage record 9 months prior to the birth of the eldest child - if you look in the catalog you will find films with indexes for marriages and also the marriage records. If you know what church they were members of you could look for baptisms etc. The Anglican Church records are largely indexed for baptisms only - but it is worth looking at the films as some have not been indexed. There are some Methodist church records but the bulk of those are not imaged and are held at the Cory Library in Grahamstown.
To look for shipping lists to SA you need to use Ancestry or findmypast

[TreeSpirit]

His race was listed as European on his death cert 1930. Some of his descendents thought he was a Scot but cannot find him in any UK records.

Is there a reason that you cannot accept that John Thomas Gordon was born in Cape Province as per his (indexed) death notice?
see: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-95F4-6XT?i=1970&cc=1779109

[TreeSpirit]

Not sure when the 1st child was born but daughter, Kathleen Margaret,1907-1980.

Can you confirm that the following is a different person?
Kathleen Margaret Johanna Gordon b 16 Nov 1904 SA
married 11 May 1924 Saint Luke, Hope, Salt River (Soutrivier), CP
to Johannes Jacobus Marais b abt 1902 SA