FAMILY HOMES of ancestors and relatives
This section covers homes, houses, farms etc other than where I personally lived. There are three in particular that are relevant here. One is that on the Woodlands Farm at Arnoldton outside East London and another is the house in St Peter's Road in Southernwood, East London. The third is on Seaview Terrace overlooking the sea with good views of the comings and goings of shipping to and from the harbour.
You can find more on my own homes under HOME ENVIRONMENT BEACON BAY and HOME IN BEACON BAY
My father designed a house in Stirling for Graham and Elise (before they moved to Durban, then Westville and eventually Rondebosch). He proudly showed me that he had been innovative by setting the house at an angle on the site, so creating more interesting garden spaces. All the others in the street were boringly square on square sites.
Woodlands, Arnoldton
You will see it mentioned under MILLER JOSEPH
When apartheid became to gather momentum, the "homelands" were steered towards independence and here that meant the Republic of Ciskei. A large buffer zone was created west of the main road from East London to Kingwilliam's Town and Bisho. The Bridledrift Dam was also being built. This in turn resulted in farms being bought out and the buildings demolished.
Norma van As notes that “In 1879 Joseph moved from the King Williams Town district to the farm Woodlands, near Arnoldton, in the East London district”. Joseph Miller is our direct ancestor. It was no longer occupied when this all happened and the premises were already becoming derelict when I found it while researching nearby German Settler buildings.... Ida Emily Miller married Angus William Newman on Woodlands in 1882.
This old photo is simply labelled "Arnoldton". This looks a comfortable and neat cottage. Great horsedrawn transport.
There was a rumour that when the family bought a new cutlery set, they buried the old one in the garden. I wonder if it is still out there somewhere.
St Peter's Road, Southernwood, East London
Granny Maud Watson was widowed early leaving her to raise her 4 strapping sons alone.
I was told stories of them living in a corrugated iron house, quite common at the time, but their was much in need of repairs. The boys would creep outside through a hole in the wall.
This led them to move to a house in St Peter's Road, Southernwood, which I think was owned by their relatives, the Newmans. That has since been demolished to make way for new development, but my father managed to get hold of some of the wooden ballusters. I used them as the railing to the upper level in our new house in the 1980s overlooking the Quinera River in Beacon Bay. (I also managed to get some of the ballusters from Malcomess House nearby when that was demolished and used them as legs for a table I made for the children).
4 Seaview Terrace, East London
I do not know who actually owned this house, but many of the photos of the family are of here. It had dramatic views over the sea and was a good place to spot the comings and goings of ship to and from the harbour. Perhaps it was just a great place for them all to meet up.
This photo is labelled " 4 Seaview Terrace 1945. Mother, Uncle George Brian & CE 4130 (Hillman Minx 1936 model).
This is a view from the house out to see. The terrace was a really excellent place to view all sorts of things and in this case it is an air display. You can see a military plane passing over the sea well below the house. lots of cars have parked facing outwards to enjoy the spectacle. I saw some air and fireworks displays as a child from roughly the same spot, although by that time the house was no longer in the family. The label notes " Bombing display over sea. Poor show. 2/43. Note ?? ?? & little Austin".
