The First Fifty Years Project

Welcome!  Please read this page to its conclusion before proceeding to browse or search this project.

FFY is therefore delighted to bring you Remarkable Writing - a section devoted to articles of high merit, whether about individuals, families, records, language, or practices of the time.

Please use the links at the end of each page to spread the word about this site through social networking sites. Thank you.

The update page lists change made since 1 March 2012.

There are some examples of how the journals and letters (despatched in this case) will be added to the data, and individual entries from these records linked to the appropriate people. To see this in practice please visit the page for William Adriaan van der Stel. 

I hope you enjoy your visit(s) to the First Fifty Years project and find it useful.

Methodology:

In general I am not working on individuals, nor even families. Rather I am adding entire record sets, so that the data for individuals and families will be included layer by layer.

I am now up to 1717 in adding transcripts and images to the Stellenbosch baptisms.

Names:

1) In many cases I have added and associated the name in the record to the event. However, I have realised this has caused confusion for some, and so I have decided that over time, as the project is updated and improved, I will no longer associate the name in the same way as before. So in future, names as they appear in the record will be added and so identified, but one primary name will be used in the text for each individual. The purpose is to be true to the record and to show how names can be changed by individuals themselves or by the scribes in the record. In addition, and most importantly, adding all the names as they are written in the records offers an additional way for users to find individuals in the project, if they have just one name in their own data.

2) PN and NN: When these letters appear in a name together as pairs without periods, it is an indication that a name part is unknown. Literally PN = prenom nescio, i.e. first/given name unknown; and NN = nomen nescio, i.e. last name unknown.

Dates: When I don't have a record, and therefore no date for an event, I use "before" dates, "circa" dates, and "after" dates; this is for several reasons, not least because they serve as a starting point or guide to future research and because they assist in data analysis.

1) "Before" dates: This is how I enter dates for events I know preceded a second event. For example, if there is a record of a baptism on 22 June 1668, I will enter the date of birth as: before 22 June 1668. Or if one partner in a marriage was remarried as a widow(er) on 22 June 1668, I will enter the date of death of the other partner as: before 22 June 1668.

2) "After" dates: These are used in similar circumstances to "before" dates, excepting that the determining event will have preceded the "after" date.

3) "Circa" dates: I use these dates both when I have information that offers a guide to the date and when it is merely an estimate.

a) In the first instance, for example, when a slave's age specified in a transaction record in 1686 is 21, I enter the birth date as "circa 1665". The guiding information will appear in the footnote.

b) In the second instance, the dates are simply estimates without any evidentiary weight and should never be read as anything else, except perhaps to consider when furthering your research. The footnote will read, "date estimated by compiler, Delia Robertson."

Relationships: If there is no certainty about a relationship, either parent-child or marriage, I enter it as a candidate relationship (mother-candidate, father-candidate, son-candidate, daughter-candidate, wife-candidate or husband-candidate), hoping that as more records are entered, the relationship will be either proved or disproved. If the relationship is proved through further evidence, it will be changed to reflect that. If it is disproved, I will not remove it, but change it to a "disproved" relationship status so that researchers can see that it has been considered, but disproved, and why.

Events: In similar situations I enter events as "candidate". For example, if I believe, but am not certain a baptism record is that of a particular individual, I will enter it as baptism-candidate, until further evidence either proves or disproves it.

Duplicates: In cases where I believe two individuals may actually be the same person, I link them with a "Duplicate?" tag, hoping that you, dear visitor, will be able to shed further light on the question; or that as records are added this question will be cleared up.

Maps: I use Google maps for the live mapping feature, but unfortunately Google sometimes gets the location wrong. I am able to correct that by adding coordinates, and am in the process of doing that, but it will take a while.

Background and goal of this project:

This project began as a private endeavour to figure out some of the questions I had about my early Cape ancestry, to ensure the foundations of my research into the genealogies of those ancestors was sound.

However, in time, I realized my efforts might also benefit other researchers and help them from making the same errors I did when I first discovered this ancestry.

Consequently, the first goal of the project is to enter data from all records that are available for the first fifty years or so of the VOC settlement at the Cape which commenced in 1652. "Fifty years or so" because there is in some cases a natural progression that results from available research material.

But more than adding the data, the goal is to add full transcriptions and as far as is possible, an image of that record as an exhibit.

I have made a start with those records that have already been made easily available through the generous and wonderful work of people like Ockert Malan and Lorna Newcomb in their compilation of Palmkronieke I; (data, full transcripts and images to follow) the members of the Drakenstein Heemkring in their compilation of Drakenstein I (data and transcripts, images to follow); and, Richard Ball who made available on the eGSSA website, the transcriptions of the baptisms and marriages of the NGK baptisms and marriages, 1665-1695 (data and transcripts, images to follow).

Where appropriate, it will also include groundbreaking published articles in the Acrobat format and linked to the relevant individuals.

But more than the records, this project includes a timeline (more to come); maps both static and live (more to come), a range of indexes, including a place index, an index of exhibits and a gallery of exhibits.

The second, and very important goal, is to generate discussion around the available data, to correct errors, and hopefully to shine more light on some enduring mysteries. In this regard, please write to me to correct errors (motivate and document if possible), or offer suggestions, opinions, and so on.

I have launched a rootsweb list for discussion of this project, and hope you will join. Please visit the list page for subscription information, at:

http://lists.rootsweb.ancestry.com/index/intl/ZAF/CAPE-OF-GOOD-HOPE.html

If you do not wish to join the list, please write to: Delia Robertson

Acknowledgements: Years ago Mansell Upham, the most knowledgeable person I know on the early Cape settlement and its people, first sparked my interest in this period and has helped me keep it alive ever since. He has generously shared copies and transcripts of records related to my ancestors and others, has corrected my mistakes, pointed me to new information, rapped me over the knuckles for sloppy work, and continuously taken an interest and encouraged me. Simply put, this project would not have happened without him.

Hans Heese, author of Groep Sonder Grense, die rol en status van die gemengde bevolking aan die Kaap, 1652-1795 most kindly allowed me to translate this seminal work into English as Cape Melting Pot, the role and status of the mixed population at the Cape, 1652-1795 (sold as a PDF file). It was this project that helped me begin to solidify my knowledge of the period, and taught me discipline in research.

Many others have helped and guided me over the years, but I would like particularly to mention Gerda Pieterse and Daniel Jacobs. Gerda has allowed me to bounce ideas off her, and has helped with lookups and translations. Daniel has shared his knowledge and advice, and also been generous in sharing information and records.

Without the software programs I use, this project would never have seen light of day.

Bob Velke's The Master Genealogist (TMG) enables the compiler to dynamically link individuals to common events or documents, such as baptisms and marriages - but even beyond that to things like Van Riebeeck's Journal (still to come) , the opgaaf (still to come) and even ship's voyages - check out Borssenburg under the last name, VOC SHIP, in the master index. The possibilities are limited only by the user's imagination.

John Cardinal's Second Site. Second Site is powerful website building software exclusively for TMG and uses the raw data in the user's TMG project to build the sites. Both programs are infinitely user-customisable and Bob Velke and John Cardinal offer extraordinary support to users.

Please do send me your feedback. Use this email address: Delia Robertson