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Archiver > SOUTH-AFRICA > 2004-05 > 1084424555


From: Andrew Rodger <>
Subject: Re: [ZA] New Subscriber - BRINK; and SMITH
Date: Thu, 13 May 2004 15:03:09 +1000
In-Reply-To: <000401c43844$af8e32c0$775623c4@Nigel>


Two names interested me in this one: André Brink and George Smith.

There is of course a well-known author called André Brink, and I
wondered whether there was any connection.

The name George Smith seemed an odd one for a Boer War prisoner -- may
one assume that he was descended an earlier generation (maybe a Scottish
Minister) that had been fully assimilated into the Afrikaans
population? If so, his marriage to a coloured woman is remarkable,
although of course the population of St Helena was of 75% non-white
descent so maybe he had little choice. And of course Sha Redfern's
Beaufort West listings have shown that miscegenation 100 years ago was
not such a big deal as it became later on, though I would have thought
that it might have been a bigger deal in the old Republics.

This is the first SMITH I have encountered from St Helena (apart from a
one-time Governor of the island and a couple of families in an early
census who didn't seem to lead anywhere), despite its being such a
common English name and the population of St Helena having mostly
English names. I have been pursuing a SMITH for some time, trying to
find out how I can establish whether or not she was descended from a
"Saint" (i.e. one of the 3-4,000 people from St Helena that were
relocated from the island to the Cape in the mid-1840s). I have not
been able to find any trace of this movement of people beyond a
reference to it on this List some years ago, and both the island's
website and a ST-HELENA List I joined some time ago are silent on it.
Other associated names are ALLISON and MAGNUS.

Does anyone know where one can find official records of this migration,
ideally lists of the names of those transported?

Andrew in Melbourne.


On Wednesday, May 12, 2004, at 05:45 PM, McFerran Family wrote:

> Hi Derrick,
> I have a little book called "Expedition St Helena" Describing the
> Adventures of Four Anglers. by General Charles Brink and K.S.H.
> The story takes place in 1953, and there are photographs of Gen. Charles
> Brink, Albert van der Riet (with his beard), Dr. Andre Brink and Dr
> Carolus
> Brink.
> There are other photographs of these men, with their fish etc. in the
> book.
> A very interesting little book. There aren't many names mentioned but
> I did
> pick this up which may be of interest to other listers.
> "After dinner the Oubaas had an appointment to meet George SMITH, the
> ex-Boer War Prisoner, who had taken up residence at St. Helena after his
> release (1903) at the end of the war. He set up a bakery business,
> which
> prospered and he married a local coloured girl and settled down
> comfortably
> and happily. The Oubaas told George how nearly he himself had missed
> being
> trasported to St Helena when he had fallen into the hands of the
> British,
> but fortunately he had made his escape. Old George SMITH, now 75 years
> of
> age, is the last of the 6,000-odd Boer War Prisoners who were interned
> on
> the island."
>
> With Regards,
> Cynthia.
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: <>
> To: <>
> Sent: Tuesday, May 11, 2004 6:39 PM
> Subject: [ZA] New Subscriber
>
>
>> I am a new subscriber and am researching the following families:
>> Brink
>> Joyce
>> Luden
>> Townsend
>> I am also interested in finding information on the British German
>> Legion
> and
>> other sources for German immigrants in the 19th century.
>> Derrick Joyce
>>
>>
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