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From: keith meintjes <>
Subject: Re: [PRINGLE: a warning about research]
Date: 28 Oct 00 00:46:34 MDT


Thomas Pringle's wife, Margaret, is listed in Nash on pages 29 and 108.

Hockly ("The story of the British settlers of 1820 in South Africa") has more:
John, Thomas and William (arr. 1822) were the sons of Robert Pringle by his
first wife.

Both Hockly and Nash say that Janet Brown was Thomas' sister-in-law. (Janet
is not listed as married - the implication is that Margaret's maiden name is
Brown.)

Hockly refers to "Pringles of the Valleys" (1957) by Eric and Mark and John
Pringle, for the history of the Pringle family.

Best wishes
Keith

==================
"JCCI\\MAUREEN BRADY" <> wrote:
Hi Listers

A very interesting twist to the PRINGLE tale came to light when I was
researching Colleen's enquiry (see my separate mail re PRINGLE & COCK).
Thomas PRINGLE being the famous figure he is in our history, I think this is
worth sharing with the whole List, & perhaps it may provide new clues for
any Listers who may be perplexed about their research into this family.

MD Nash lists three PRINGLEs: Robert (65), Thomas (31) & John (28), who all
came out in the party led by Thomas, best remembered for his role in
establishing the rudiments of a free press in this country. Nash says Robert
arrived with his wife Beatrice (49) & three children: William Dods (11),
Catherine Heatlie (9) & Beatrice Scott (3).

In "Mankazana. Secret Loves", the author Eric PRINGLE (great-great-grandson
of Robert, who grew up on the ancestral lands here in SA) does not record
the existence of this Beatrice or her children at all. The info he gives is
that Robert PRINGLE (I753-1838) married Catherine HAITLIE [note different
spelling] in 1785, & was buried in Linton Churchyard, Scotland -- in his
reminiscences, the author has a section devoted to visiting the ancestral
home in Scotland in 1969. There are seven children listed for this marriage,
the last's birthyear coinciding with her mother's death in 1795 -- seven
children in 10 years! She obviously died of exhaustion.

John PRINGLE (1791-1864) apparently married Susan STRETCH (1796-1879) in
1822 & had six children, according to the book's author. There's no STRETCH
mentioned in Nash -- does anyone have a clue where this name may have sprung
from so soon after the arrival of the Settlers?

The rest of the book is devoted to the offspring of their fifth child &
first son, Robert Pears PRINGLE. There was another son, James Lennox
Stretch, but there is no reference to any offspring.

The "Dictionary of South African Biography", Vol 1, pp 656-658, confirms
that Thomas PRINGLE was the third son of Robert & his wife Catherine
HAITLIE. It also says Thomas sailed for SA with his wife Margaret BROWN,
whom he married in 1817 -- this wife is not listed in MD Nash.

The lessons to be drawn from this rather lengthy contribution are: NEVER
trust only one source of information, constantly check & double-check your
data, & be prepared to have your most fondly held views overturned by
unexpected new data. I've recently had that experience with my James LONG,
but that's another story...

Hope this enlightens someone.

Kind regards
Maureen Brady
Johannesburg


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