UNCLE WILLIE AND AUNT AUDREY DE BEER

My father Barend De Beer's younger brother, Willem Petrus De Beer, on his wedding day in the 1950's. Uncle Willie was a professional coach builder at the former South African Railways and other private companies. In those days the SA Railways had some real state of the art passenger coaches in the world. Especially the Orange Express and the Blue Train. This is no exaggeration. SA Railways was one of the tourist destinations for visitors who sailed from abroad and boarded the comfortable trains from Cape Town and Durban to the Victoria Falls or Lorenzo Marques in Mozambique (read Maputo). In the beginning, passenger coaches were mainly constructed with wood but later on with aluminium and steel. Al the same they were finished off like shopfitters will finish of passenger aeroplanes and passenger boats. It was their pride to brag about the coaches that have been ordered by the former Rhodesias (read Zimbabwe and Zambia).

When we were little kids we liked uncle Willie because he was a devoted angler and an outdoor kind of guy. He could also play an electric guitar like Elvis Presley! On his little Second World War stock, an inflatable dingy for Royal Air force pilots when ditched into the drink, he would row us into a little dam, Bay's water (Bloemfontein), to shoot dug with our catapults.

He was the only Willem Petrus in the de Beer-family by birth, because their father, Karel Johannes's brother, Willem P., had no children of his own. He and his wife, Aunt Trien (nèè Frazer), adopted a son and named him Willem Petrus. This WP de Beer became a lecturer in English at the former Bloemfontein Teacher's Training College as well as the deputy principal. His children carried forth the WP de Beer name.

E-MAIL FROM FRIENDLY DE BEER

Dankie

My skoon pa sal die “de Beer” stamboom om http://www.geni.com/ doen. Ons sal jou uitnooi om to kom loer as ons meer inligting het.

Groetnis

Pierre

From: Kallie De Beer [mailto:kbeer@cut.ac.za] Sent: 09 March 2009 03:14 PMTo: Viljoen, Pierre PSubject: STAMBOOM

Beste Pierre

Nee, ongelukkig nog nie genoeg tyd daaraan bestee nie, maar daar is familielede wat daarmee besig is.

Groete aan jou pa.

Karel J.


From: Viljoen, Pierre P [mailto:Pierre.Viljoen@standardbank.co.za] Sent: 09 March 2009 02:52 PMTo: De Beer KallieCc: fritz.debeer@bcx.co.zaSubject: FW: De Beer familie informasie

Hi Karel

Baie dankie. Ek sal hulle kontak, miskien moet ons die informasie op die internet sit. Mense wat dan die info soek kan dit dan aftrek.

Het jy jou stamboom op die internet gebou ? Ek dink aan internet “tools” soos

http://www.geni.com/
http://www.myheritage.com/
etc.

Ek sal noal graag na jou boom wil kyk. My skoonpa, Frederick Coenraad David De Beer(cc in die email), is besig om sy boom te bou (my Viljoen boom was makliker gewees want daar is meet inligting oor hulle).

Groetnis

Pierre

From: Kallie De Beer [mailto:kbeer@cut.ac.za] Sent: 09 March 2009 02:42 PMTo: Viljoen, Pierre PSubject: RE: De Beer familie informasie

Beste Pierre

By die Fransie Pienaar museum in Prins Albert is ‘n volledige boek oor dioe De Beers en ‘n inligtingstuk. Ek stel voor jy skakel sommer telefonies en praat met die kurators daar op Prins Albert. Hy kan die inligting aan jou faks want dit is nie elektronies beskikbaar nie. Die De Beers het ‘n familiefees daar gehou (sowat 7 jaar terug) want Prins Albert was eers Kweekvallei. Dit het aan die De Beers behoort voordat daardie vertakking via Graaf Reinette en Colesberg onderskeidelik na Kimberley en Fauresmith getrek het. Ek is van die Fauresminth afstammelinge.

Mooi dag.

Karel J.
http://kareldebeer.blogspot.com/ (Scroll down to beginning of the online diary)



From: Viljoen, Pierre P [mailto:Pierre.Viljoen@standardbank.co.za] Sent: 09 March 2009 02:21 PMTo: De Beer KallieSubject: De Beer familie informasie

Hi Karel

Hoop dit gaan goed met jou. Ek het jou raak gegoogle toe ek informasie oor die De Beers in Suid Afrika gesoek het. Ek sien op you blog site se jy dat daar informasie is oor die de beers’ in ‘n boek “ Die geskiedenis van ene de Beer voor en nasate” (Ek kan nie mooi onthou nie. – verskoon maar)

Waar kan ek ‘n kopie van hierdie informasie kry ?

Groentis

Pierre Viljoen
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Standard Bank email Disclaimer and confidentiality note


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DE BEERS ARE PART OF SOUTH AFRICA'S CRIME STATISTICS

It is with a heavy heart that i relay another horrifiying attack.
On the 20 February 2009 Hester Antoinnette Kirsten (nee de Beer) was brutally murdered in her home in King William's Town, at the age of 89, she was born in 1920. A dear great aunt of mine. I who follow the family geneology (tree) quite diligently am saddened by the information I need to fill in. She lived alone in her house where she has been staying for the last 60years. She had no children and her husband had died 46 years ago. Her whole life revolved around the NG Kerk in King William's Town and helping the community. Every one knew her as Tanie Ousie in KWT.
She loved gardening and her cats. Her gardener who had been working for her for 20+ years had taken it upon himself to end her life, steal her belongings break what he could and leave her home in such a mess. He had forced her into the kitchen, beat her on her head with a blunt object several times, crushing her skull and left her to bleed to death while he went on with his merry ransacking of her home. This gardener has been caught without remorse he openly admitted what he has done. He had no particular reason to kill her. Where is the JUSTICE? Is it possible to just wake up one morning and decide to prey on an innocent person and kill for the fun of it?
It was a large funeral with many de Beers i had never met before. Many old aunties and uncles there was a Sarrie, a Marie a Kleina who were nee de Beers that i had met. They are from Swellendam, Cradock, Somerset East etc. From my line of deBeers there were so many, now only handfulls.
I end by saying keep on sending your blogs and mail, thouroughly enjoying them
Fennela (de Beer)