Hi Lionel
I’ve just received a letter from my aunt Nellie (my dad’s sister). She solved the mystery about why your grandmother Mavis had lived with her grandparents on Tamboekiesfontein ……. I attached the relevant part of my aunt Nellie’s letter (dated 8-1-2011) to this e-mail. Hope it helps.
Best regards.
Johan (Gouws)
“Wat Mavis betref kan ek nog die volgende onthou nl. dat toe sy nog klein was, sy en haar ouers iewers in die bosveld gewoon het en dat sy daar Malaria gekry het, daarom het sy toe by Oupa and Ouma Maree gaan bly sodat sy nie aan verdere Malaria infeksie blootgestel was nie.Ek en Mavis was ewe oud en later was ons saam op Tamboekiesfontein in die skool. Twee jaar later was ek egter Heidelberg toe gestuur om daar skool te gaan.Daarna het ek haar maar min gesien en veral toe sy ‘n paar jaar later weer by haar ouers gaan bly het wat intussen na Germiston verhuis het nadat haar pa daar werk aanvaar het. Haar pa is egter kort daarna oorlede nadat hy sonsteek opgedoen het. Tannie Joey en die kinders het toe ‘n baie moeilike tyd beleef. Mavis en later haar susters het vroeg doe skool verlaat om te gaan werk.Die laaste keer dat ek Mavis gesien het, het sy by ‘n fotograaf in sy ateljee gewerk waar sy die “kunstenaar” was. Destyds was alle fotos nog swart en wit, maar fotos wat in die ateljee geneem is, was met die hand ingekleur en dit was Mavis se werk.Die fotos wat ek gesien het nadat sy dit ingekleur het, was besonder mooi en ek dink sy het ‘n talent daarvoor gehad en veral ook omdat haar pa glo mooi kon teken, in ons hius was daar ‘n skets wat hy gemaak het.later het ek gehoor dat mavis getroud is, en nog later het sy en haar man en ‘n baba ‘n rukkie by my ouers op Blesboklaagte gekuier.Daarna het ek nooit weer iets van Mavis gehoor nie tot nou dat ‘n kleinseun van haar (Lionel du Plessis) glo navraag omtrent haar doen. Ek hoop die inligting wat ek kon gee beteken vir hom iets.
Baie groete,tannie Nellie”
TRANSLATION:
“Regarding Mavis, I can remember that when she was still small, she and her parents lived in the bushveld somewhere and that she contracted Malaria, which is why she came to live with with Oupa and Ouma Maree, so that she would not have any further exposure to Malaria.Mavis and I were of the same age and later we went to school together at Tamboekiesfontein. Two years later however, I was sent to school in Heidelberg. I didn’t see much of Mavis after that, and even less so after she moved back to live with her parents a few years later, who had since then relocated to Germiston because her father had taken a job there. Her father died shortly after that - after he got sunstroke. Aunty Joey and the children led a very difficult life as a result. Mavis, and then her sisters had to leave school prematurely to find work. The last time I saw Mavis, she was working at a photographic studio as an “artist”. At that time photographs were all in black and white, but the photos taken at the studio were hand coloured, and that was Mavis’s job.The photos that I saw after she coloured them were particularly beautiful, and I think she had a talent for it especially since her father could apparently draw so beautifully - there was a sketch of his in our house.Eventually, I heard Mavis had married and then she and her husband together with a baby had gone to visit my parents at Blesboklaagte. After that I never heard a word about Mavis until now that her grandson I believe is making enquiries about her. I hope this information is of value to him.
Many greetings
Aunty Nellie”
