11) Some More Family
When we got back to Salisbury we drove down to Pretoria to visit Jonny’s brother Don, his wife Vicky and their three children, Raymond, Donny and Natalie. I had never met them before as they had left Northern Rhodesia before I had arrived from the U.K. The boys were both at school and Natalie was due to start the following year. Raymond was a very serious little boy, blond and very good looking and about 8 years old. Donny was the chatterbox of the family; he was about 6 years old with red hair and freckles. He just never stopped talking. Natalie was the baby; she was about 4 or 5 I think, not at school yet and the apple of her parent’s eye. She was very pretty and had her parents and her brothers wound round her little finger. The family had three dogs, two bulldogs, that belonged to Don and a poodle called Dinky, who was suppose to belong to Vicky. Don was very scornful of it saying that it was not a ‘real’ dog but only a ‘toy’ but when he got home and found Dinky locked out with his ‘real’ bulldogs he always felt sorry for him and brought him in and so it ended up in bed with one or other of the family. Dinky chewed one of Jonathan slippers and left teeth marks in it. Jonathan used to say, “Dinky Loo ate my shoe”. Don and Vicky lived in Monument Park fairly near the military airport and one evening we were all outside when an aeroplane flew over. Vicky who had Jonathan in her arms at the moment tried to show him the lights of the plane. She said, “Look at the birdie” but Jonathan said, “That’s not a birdie it’s an aeroplane” She was tickled at that and told everyone how he had put her in her place.
On that trip to South Africa Don took us all to meet his and Jonny’s father. Jonny had not seen his Dad since the divorce when he was about six years old. It must have been pretty hard for him. My father-in-law had remarried a really lovely lady called Dalene and they had a son who was just a little older than Raymond. His name was Devilliers and he used to infuriate both Raymond and Donny by trying to make them call him Uncle Devilliers. They lived in a gold mining town called Blyvooruitsig where Jonathan Snr. was the manager of a general store and Dalene was a nurse at the local hospital. Their mother tongue was Afrikaans although they both spoke good English. Dad’s grandfather (also a Jonathan) had come from Britain, either northern England or Scotland it is not clear which but he married an Afrikaans lady and when the Bore War broke out he and his six sons fought against the British, so although the English name remained the family was completely Afrikaans. South Africa was a bilingual country and most people there talk both languages.
Jonathan Snr. was very pleased that we had continued the tradition of calling our first son Jonathan. Jonathan (my husband) had not in fact been the first son but the third. His parents’ first child was also called Jonathan but he had tragically died of black water fever, which is a complication of malaria. He died after Donald was born and so the family name was carried on with Jonny when he was born later on.
Jonny’s Dad was born in Ladybrand in the Orange Free State in October 1908 and his mother was born in Bethlehem in the Orange Free State in April 1907. The old man was very interested in the history of his family and was compiling a family tree. As I have said previously his father had been a contractor in Northern Rhodesia in the very beginning of the development there. He had built housing for the black workers on the mine. We are not sure exactly when Jonny’s Dad first went north but I do remember him telling me how the first time he arrived in Ndola it was raining and he had gone into a shop on the railway station to find out how he could get to the Copperbelt. The shopkeeper seeing that he did not have a raincoat with him gave him one that had been left behind quite a while before. As he was about to leave the shop the shopkeeper asked his name, he told him Jonathan Crowther and the shop keeper said “That’s odd, that raincoat you have on now was left here by a fellow called Jonathan Crowther” It turned out that his father had left it there when he had passed through on his way to the Copperbelt. Jonathan Crowther married Susarah Schutte (Jonny’s Mom) in Northern Rhodesia but we don’t know much about their early life. It must have been quite a good life but it did have its disadvantages. There were still many wild animals about and knowledge of tropical diseases was still pretty sketchy. I am sure that they all knew each other and that they were a close-knit community who helped each other out as much as possible. But it was a rather wild community a bit on the lines of the Wild West in America but not quite so bad. Once my father-in-law and a friend were going through to the next town for a party, the men were in the front seats of the car and their wives were together in the “dickie” seat at the back, open to the elements. They turned a corner and the headlights caught a magnificent leopard on the top of a large anthill. The men were entranced by it and stopped the car to watch for a while, completely forgetting that the women were in the back of the car and had no protection against the animal if it should choose to leap at them.
We stayed with Jonny’s family for about two weeks and then drove the long journey back to Chingola. It was about the middle of May by now and our second child was due about July 11th so I was heavily pregnant and ready to go home.
When we got home we drove into the driveway and Moses came to open the gate for us. He knew not to do this before we went away as our dog Saint did not like anyone except myself or Jonny to open the gates but Moses had been looking after Saint and Mitzie all the time we were away. He had fed them taken them for walks and they were on jolly good terms. Saint of course was so excited to see us that he forgot all that Moses had done for him and tried to bight him. Fortunately he did not manage to hurt Moses physically but he certainly hurt Moses’ feelings. He just could not understand that the dog he had looked after so well for a month should turn on him.
On that trip to South Africa Don took us all to meet his and Jonny’s father. Jonny had not seen his Dad since the divorce when he was about six years old. It must have been pretty hard for him. My father-in-law had remarried a really lovely lady called Dalene and they had a son who was just a little older than Raymond. His name was Devilliers and he used to infuriate both Raymond and Donny by trying to make them call him Uncle Devilliers. They lived in a gold mining town called Blyvooruitsig where Jonathan Snr. was the manager of a general store and Dalene was a nurse at the local hospital. Their mother tongue was Afrikaans although they both spoke good English. Dad’s grandfather (also a Jonathan) had come from Britain, either northern England or Scotland it is not clear which but he married an Afrikaans lady and when the Bore War broke out he and his six sons fought against the British, so although the English name remained the family was completely Afrikaans. South Africa was a bilingual country and most people there talk both languages.
Jonathan Snr. was very pleased that we had continued the tradition of calling our first son Jonathan. Jonathan (my husband) had not in fact been the first son but the third. His parents’ first child was also called Jonathan but he had tragically died of black water fever, which is a complication of malaria. He died after Donald was born and so the family name was carried on with Jonny when he was born later on.
Jonny’s Dad was born in Ladybrand in the Orange Free State in October 1908 and his mother was born in Bethlehem in the Orange Free State in April 1907. The old man was very interested in the history of his family and was compiling a family tree. As I have said previously his father had been a contractor in Northern Rhodesia in the very beginning of the development there. He had built housing for the black workers on the mine. We are not sure exactly when Jonny’s Dad first went north but I do remember him telling me how the first time he arrived in Ndola it was raining and he had gone into a shop on the railway station to find out how he could get to the Copperbelt. The shopkeeper seeing that he did not have a raincoat with him gave him one that had been left behind quite a while before. As he was about to leave the shop the shopkeeper asked his name, he told him Jonathan Crowther and the shop keeper said “That’s odd, that raincoat you have on now was left here by a fellow called Jonathan Crowther” It turned out that his father had left it there when he had passed through on his way to the Copperbelt. Jonathan Crowther married Susarah Schutte (Jonny’s Mom) in Northern Rhodesia but we don’t know much about their early life. It must have been quite a good life but it did have its disadvantages. There were still many wild animals about and knowledge of tropical diseases was still pretty sketchy. I am sure that they all knew each other and that they were a close-knit community who helped each other out as much as possible. But it was a rather wild community a bit on the lines of the Wild West in America but not quite so bad. Once my father-in-law and a friend were going through to the next town for a party, the men were in the front seats of the car and their wives were together in the “dickie” seat at the back, open to the elements. They turned a corner and the headlights caught a magnificent leopard on the top of a large anthill. The men were entranced by it and stopped the car to watch for a while, completely forgetting that the women were in the back of the car and had no protection against the animal if it should choose to leap at them.
We stayed with Jonny’s family for about two weeks and then drove the long journey back to Chingola. It was about the middle of May by now and our second child was due about July 11th so I was heavily pregnant and ready to go home.
When we got home we drove into the driveway and Moses came to open the gate for us. He knew not to do this before we went away as our dog Saint did not like anyone except myself or Jonny to open the gates but Moses had been looking after Saint and Mitzie all the time we were away. He had fed them taken them for walks and they were on jolly good terms. Saint of course was so excited to see us that he forgot all that Moses had done for him and tried to bight him. Fortunately he did not manage to hurt Moses physically but he certainly hurt Moses’ feelings. He just could not understand that the dog he had looked after so well for a month should turn on him.
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