FROM THE CHAIRMAN

Dear members,

Time flies and we seem to be rushing toward “the end of the year” already!  Please make a note of the next few meetings the Committee has planned so you don't miss out.

Our Christmas function in November promises to be great fun, so make a point to diarise the date. I have been working on a Power Point presentation themed ‘Christmas' and  have had great fun going through old family photo albums looking for all those taken at Christmas. The exercise took longer than planned, as I found photographs which I just had to show and discuss with my parents. As you can imagine, we ended up thoroughly enjoying this impromptu trip down memory lane!   I have scanned photographs of some of my family's rather fun Christmas scenes as far back as 1910. To add to this please send in any you may have - which you would like included. Perhaps you celebrated Christmas oversees one year or maybe you have a picture of a Christmas cake you baked and iced… why not scout through your albums for photographs you would like included. For our Randjes residents who do not have a scanner perhaps get in touch with Joan Augustyn who has kindly offered her services. The ‘Christmas Past' Power Point Display will be presented at our Xmas function and when your photographs come up, you can talk about them.

The new website for the GSSA is being worked on as we speak.  Each Branch has a section which shows a diary of events, current projects, achievements, details of the Committee and a brief history. Once up and running it really is going to be a fantastic representation of the Society and will further encourage genealogical research in South Africa. The section for our branch page is under way - I am working on the history of the branch and will be including photographs of specific meetings we've held and of our members at various times over the last two years.  I see from the Newsletters from our fellow branches, that new members write a short profile on themselves, how they got interested in Genealogy and what surnames they are researching. Also included are short descriptions of their recent genealogical achievements and I would like our members to do the same. When we first started our meetings at Randjes, Margaret asked members for their ‘profiles' and I remember we had a super response from Joan Augustyn, Barbara Durlacher and Iain Crickmore-Thompson, now it's up to the rest of you!  Remember our Newsletter is shared with fellow branches, and by including your details you may just make contact with someone who is also researching your line! So PLEASE send your ‘profile' – to our Editor, Margaret Gundry whose details appear elsewhere in this Newsletter.   If you do not have a Computer don't let that stop you, write it by hand and give it to me or Margaret at the next meeting!

Sincerely,
Natalie da Silva

PLANNING AHEAD !!
MAY 2011 – Help us celebrate Mother's Day in May in a DIFFERENT way by sharing with us how far back you have managed to trace your female line in your family tree.   After attending a talk presented by the N.Tvl Branch in Pretoria, Margaret and I decided it would be a great idea to challenge our members to see how far they can do the same. Start off with yourself, then your mother, her mother and see how far you can get! Margaret got off to a fine start and is working on her 7th generation- I'm stuck on the 4th !! 

RESEARCHING THE MATRIARCHAL LINE:

On Saturday last week, Margaret and I went through to Pretoria for the day, to attend a symposium presented by the Northern Transvaal Branch. The Symposium coincided cleverly with Women's Month and several excellent speakers presented their aspect of researching the female line. Gerrit Muller the Chairman of the branch and his able team provided us with a welcome cup of coffee as we arrived and refreshments during the day. Among others, Professor Landman spoke on specific women whose names appear in the Bible, Dr Helmuth Hitzeroth presented a fascinating talk on mitochondrial DNA, aimed at the layman. Isabel Groesbeek had researched the use of a particular first name throughout her family lineage and Dr R Slabbert spoke about the importance for children of knowing their roots. All in all, we gleaned many interesting facts which we will pass on in the forthcoming Newsletters.

NAMING CUSTOMS
Fortunately for genealogists, our ancestors were fairly consistent in the naming of their children. The following pattern was regarded as an almost inviolable rule by the Afrikaners as well as by the Scots. It was often adhered to by the English as well, but they never regarded it as a hard and fast rule.
Naming Pattern:
Eldest son named after paternal grandfather
Second son named after maternal grandfather
Third son named after father
Fourth son named after father's oldest brother
Fifth son named after mother's oldest brother
Eldest daughter named after maternal grandmother
Second daughter named after paternal grandmother
Third daughter named after mother
Fourth daughter named after mother's oldest sister
Fifth daughter named after named after father's oldest sister

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Madelein_Lepato





Last month 93 year old Madeleine Lapato gave us a fascinating talk on her experiences in Belgium at the hands of the Nazis during World War 2









SALT LAKE TEMPLE HISTORY
                                     (From Diane Brear)
by Marion D. Hanks
The Salt Lake Temple is an impressive structure standing on the ten-acre Temple Square in the heart of Salt Lake City. For many years after its construction, the temple physically dominated the Salt Lake Valley. While other buildings now tower over it, the gray granite structure is still recognized as the religious symbol of The Church of Jesus Tempel_1Christ of Latter-day Saints worldwide. Millions of visitors annually have seen the building. Photographs of the temple have gone to scores of countries where people who have never personally seen the structure identify its striking presence with the Church and the city.

Site Selection. Several days after the LDS pioneers entered the Salt Lake Valley in July 1847, Brigham Young planted his walking stick at a certain point while traversing the ground with some associates and exclaimed, "Here we will build the temple of our God" (Gates, p. 104).

Construction. Construction on the temple began on February 14, 1853, with Brigham Young turning the first shovelful of dirt in ground-breaking ceremonies. That April 6, the cornerstones were laid, following the pattern established for temples by Joseph Smith (cf. TPJS, p. 183). By this date, Truman O. Angell and William Ward, architect and assistant, had completed plans for the foundation and part of the basement, and Brigham Young had approved them. Sandstone from nearby Red Butte Canyon provided the basic material for the foundation and footings. The great walls of the building were to be granite from a vast mountain deposit in Little Cottonwood canyon about twenty miles away

Tempel_2Workers cut slabs of granite in Little Cottonwood Canyon (c. 1872), about twenty miles southeast of Salt Lake City, for use in building the Salt Lake Temple. In the early years, the granite was moved to the temple site by ox team, a four-day journey, and after twenty years, by railroad. Stereoscopic image. Photographer: C.W. Carter.

The foundation was completed in 1855, and some granite blocks were assembled on the site. Then, in 1858, under threat of an approaching U.S. army unit (see Utah Expedition), the Saints evacuated Salt Lake City and temporarily moved southward. They buried the foundation of the temple, leaving the appearance of a plowed field.
Work on the temple was not resumed for several years. Some deterioration of the foundation was discovered when it was reexcavated, and replacements were made with stone of the best quality. The exterior walls from the ground up, eight feet thick at ground level and six feet thick at the top, were painstakingly prepared and fitted from solid granite.
Transporting the granite from the mountain quarry proved to be a severe challenge. The builders tried using a wooden railroad spur, a canal, special roads, and even a uniquely constructed wagon. Although it was less than forty miles, a round trip required four days. The arrival of the transcontinental railroad in 1869 and the later laying of a spur into the canyon for mining purposes resolved the transportation problem.
As many as 150 men worked on the temple at any given time. During the forty years from the beginning to the end of the project, they also completed the construction of the great domed Tabernacle, the Assembly Hall, the Temple Annex, and a 15-foot-high wall that, a century and a half later, still sequesters Temple Square from the city that surrounds it.

Completion and Dedication.The Tempel_3capstone was laid April 6, 1892, one year before the dedication, amidst a tremendous spiritual outpouring of appreciation and anticipation. After the large spherical capstone was put in place, the people unanimously adopted a resolution to complete and dedicate the building one year from that date. That afternoon, the 12-foot-high gold-leafed copper statue representing the angel Moroni was placed on the central eastern spire, anchored through the capstone with huge weights suspended into the tower below.
The temple was completed within the year, and the dedication was held on the appointed date—April 6, 1893—forty years after Brigham Young laid the cornerstone. More than 2,250 people crowded the large Assembly Room on the fourth floor of the temple for the first of twenty-three dedicatory sessions that continued over almost three weeks. Many reported having spiritual experiences at the dedications. President Wilford Woodruff offered the dedicatory prayer, and the hosanna shout and original inspirational music were rendered (see Dedications). The sacred celebration was concluded with the singing of a special hymn saluting the sentiments of the people: the Hosanna Anthem.


Interior Design. Entrance to the temple for patrons is through an annex outside the main building. For the instructions and ordinances within, a processional plan is followed through several rooms, each signifying a stage in man's path of eternal progression. Each room is decorated with murals depicting that stage of the journey.
The building also includes in the lower area a baptistry, and on other levels, a large assembly room, rooms where the leaders of the Church meet, lecture rooms, administrative offices, and dressing rooms.

The Salt Lake Temple, begun in 1853 and dedicated in 1893. The granite structure, topped by a gilded copper statue of the angel Moroni on the east-central spire, in the heart of Temple Square. In the foreground is the Seagull Monument. Courtesy Utah State Historical Society.

Symbolism. Notable among all LDS temples, the Salt Lake Temple includes significant symbolism in its architecture. The six major towers and finial spires signify the restoration of priesthood authority. Earth stones, sun stones, moon stones, star stones, cloud stones penetrated with rays of light, the all-seeing eye, the clasped hands, Ursa Major pointing to the North Star, and the inscriptions "The House of the Lord" and "I Am Alpha and Omega" all appear on its exterior.

Unique Fuctions. Notwithstanding the increasing availability of temples nearer to them offering the same religious experience, many members of the Church still travel long distances to receive their individual Endowment in the Salt Lake Temple or to be married or sealed as families in the same building in which parents or perhaps grandparents or other family members were married long ago.
This temple is also unique among LDS temples in that the highest quorums of the priesthood meet there. The First Presidency, the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and the Presidents of the Seventy gather separately as quorums weekly, and the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve also meet conjointly. All General Authorities meet there monthly.
It is also, as already noted, architecturally and artistically unique and is the most widely known and recognized building in the Church.

Bibliography
Anderson, James H. "The Salt Lake Temple." Contributor 14 (Apr. 1893):243-303.
Gates, Susa Young. The Life Story of Brigham Young. New York, 1931.
McAllister, D. M. The Great Temple (pamphlet). Salt Lake City, 1935.

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SOUTH AFRICAN HERITAGE RELIC EVALUATIN

*After receiving many more replies than we anticipated, we've had to change this event*

Email us a photo of your South African battle relics to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with your contact details, and whether or not you'd like to take part in a TV show looking at South Africa's battle history.
*MORE*
On the Sunday of Heritage Day weekend we'll be having a special broadcast to commemorate South Africa's place in history.  We're going to do this by looking at wars that have shaped our society, our place in the world, and changed our thinking about ourselves and those with whom we interact.

We're asking our viewers to contribute by sharing with us battlefield artefacts – be it from the South Africam War, the Liberation struggle, the World Wars or any other South African conflict from which you may have memorabilia, objects from history that will help us reflect on our past in order to celebrate the present.

So whether they are from pre-colonial days or post, we're interested in items that may be of historical significance.

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