On Saturday I was drinking coffee with an aunt. She asked an interesting question – Do you know what happened to your gran’s mom?
I can remember that my grandmother use to tell me that she had a stepmother – but never mentioned anything about her own mother.
This caught my attention and with my inquisitive nature, I started a search to see what I could find out.
Armed with some new facts, I started my search on FamilySearch.org
What I know:
- My grandmother’s maiden name was Van Appel. She had an older sister and two brothers.
- The family came from Aberdeen, South Africa.
- My grandmother (Wiena van Appel) had a stepmother.
- At some stage the family migrated to Port Elizabeth and later to Benoni.
Start of the Search:
My search started with any Van Appel who was born in Aberdeen. I could easily find information on Maria Elizabeth van Appel (my grandmother’s older sister) who was born in 1898. She married Frans Dooge (from Swellendam) in 1920.
I continued my search in the hope to find out who the parents of Elizabeth was. At the time of writing no information could be found. I have contacted the NG Kerk in Aberdeen in the hope that they can review the birth register from 1898.
More about the Aberdeen Church history: https://af.wikipedia.org/wiki/NG_gemeente_Aberdeen
Frans Dooge, according to online records was a teacher from Swellendam. He wrote a book on Handwriting which was published. He died at the age of 72.
Wiena van Appel (My Grandmother) and Grandfather got married on 9 November 1940.
I recently noticed that this page was getting a lot of attention – so if there is any additional information that you can add to this story, please comment below
