Pretoria, 1 Febr. 1954 to My Children and Grandchildren. 1 Now That
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Pretoria, 1 Febr. 1954 To my children and grandchildren. 1 Now that Oupa de Veer is 80 years old I wish to tell you about my youth and subsequent life. My father, who was born in Alkmaar in Holland in 1827, was one of a family of 14 children, of whom only one died young. His name was Jacob, or as I often heard him referred to as Oom Jaques (Sjaak). The only one of my of my grandparents that I knew was Grootma de Veer, a dignified old lady of over the 80 years, who wore a black lace bonnet and always sat knitting in a large high-backed armchair. She was very fond of us and lived with her two daughters, one of whom was a widow, called tante Trui = Gertruida, who was a cheerful and jolly old woman. Father was Captain of the Christina Maria, a three-masted sailing ship that sailed as a freighter from Holland to Netherlands India, China and Japan. He was married and his first wife, who sailed with him, died during the journey from China to Holland at the Cape of Good Hope, but she was buried in Alkmaar. There were no children from this marriage. My Mother’s name was Johanna Christina Maria Catherina Aveling and was born on 10 October 1840 in Rotterdam. In 1848, when she was 8 years old the whole Aveling family left for Java and lived in Soeroebaya. At 19 years of age she was married there to Mr. Feltkamp. Out of this marriage a daughter, Dora and a son, Johan, were born. Shortly after the birth of her son her husband died from cholera and my mother and her two children returned to her parent’s home in Soerabaya. Her father was harbourmaster there and when my father’s ship lay in the harbour he often visited the old Mr Aveling and thus met the young widow Feltkamp, whom he later married. In that time the captain’s wives were always allowed to accompany them on the voyage. After having sailed for about 30 years father decided to bid the sea farewell and return to Holland. On the return journey, whilst the ship lay in the harbour of Amoy (China), my eldest sister was born. She was registered in Batavia and was named after the ship “Christina Maria”. She was christened in Alkmaar (Holland). The two Feltkamp children naturally accompanied them as well as the youngest brother of my mother, Willem Aveling who was then about 15 years old. He was due to complete his high school studies in Alkmaar to complete his final exams (matric). I know his name was Willem because mother told me that he made a kite for little Johan Feltkamp and they flew it from the ship. The line broke and little Johan cried out “there it goes Wimpie, there it goes”. After his matric Willem went back to his parents in Soerabaya and my mother heard very little from him. Many years later she wrote to her brother Chris, what then, had become of Willem? And the answer came “With Willem all is well, he has a good job. He is married and already has eight children. Mother always remained in correspondence with the family in Java, but she (herself) never went back. 1 This manuscript has been translated from the original handwritten Dutch documents; every attempt has been made to retain the original writing style and grammar. On the return journey to Holland a stop was made at Cape Town and mother asked how long it would still take to reach Texel, an island at the northern point of Holland. Father’s answer was “If the wind is favourable, within 60 days. But the wind was unfavourable and the journey via Brazil took 120 days. Father settled in Alkmaar and later got the post of harbour master. On 4th January 1873 a second daughter was born who was named after father’s three sisters, namely Judith, Gertruida, Johanna. On 1 February of the following year (1 Feb 1874) I was born and was named after Grandfather de Veer, namely Johannes. Two and a half years later on 18 July 1877 another son was born, who was given the name Jacob, after his father. Two years later, on Ascension Day, 30 May, 1879 another daughter was born, who was named Elizabeth, I think after my grandmother on mother’s side. In those days we resided in a fine house on the Old Canal in Alkmaar and behind it was a large garden with fruit trees. One of these was a mulberry, with branches not far from the ground and in which my brother and I often climbed and out of which Jacob once fell. Each of the children had their own garden in which they were allowed to plant and sow. I was well into my third year when I was taken by (hand of) the nurse-maid to the kindergarten. I was apparently a really active child. The school started at 9 am to 12 noon, and in the afternoon from 2 to 4 o’clock. Some children remained there from 12 to 2 and were given a tuck box with bread and a small bottle of milk and I was also one of those who stayed over. At four o’clock the nursemaid came to fetch me again. At six years I went to the “big” School where I stayed till standard six. In class 4 we started with French lessons. I was about 7 years old when I was playing outside and saw that, in the canal in front of the door, not far from the side, rafts made from round beams were moored. It was cold and I was wearing a winter coat. I sprang onto the raft and luckily grabbed the mooring rope. My feet slipped out off the round slippery beams and I ended up in the water. There was nobody in the neighbourhood who saw me. I tried all I could to get my feet on the slippery beams, which I eventually managed with great difficulty as the winter coat was heavy with water and with a lot of struggling I reached the top of the canal wall and the house where I rang the bell to be let in. The servant girl opened the door and there I stood dripping and shivering on the marble floor of the passage. My mother got a big fright. The servant girl undressed me there and mother brought dry clothes. The vapour (steam) billowed from my body. I was (completely) washed and put to bed for the rest of the day. I was often allowed to go walking with my sister Dora and her friend, our cousin Katrien, who lived next door to us. We went outside the city to family who stayed on a farm. To get there we had to cross the Northern Holland canal and over a floating bridge called the “vlotbrug” and past a corn mill2. Not far from the mill lay a large pile of mud that had been dredged from the canal. The heap was about 10 feet high and the outer crust had dried out a bit. On top of the heap lay something shiny and I walked to the top to fetch it. Suddenly I sank through the thin dry crust and only my head stuck out. That day I had put on a new suit and would have been 6 years. When my sister looked back Jantje had suddenly disappeared and when I shouted they saw my head sticking out of the mud-mountain. With difficulty my sister and my cousin pulled me out of the slimy mass. We finally reached the farm where I 2 Comment in margin not legible due to the binding. was undressed and washed and given a suit of clothes from one of the children to wear. I do not remember if I was given punishment. My stepsister Dora later studied to become a teacher and eventually left for Java as governess with a family. A few years later she was married to Mr Louis Waller-Diemont, the owner of a sugar factory in Pakis Palti in Japara. I wrote to her once in a while. As far as I know they had four children amongst whom also a Dora. We never saw her again. She often sent us boxes of delicacies such as jam and bottled (preserved) fruit and requirements for “rijst tafel”. Her mother in law, who came to visit them, got cholera and Dora looked after her until she was fully recovered. Then Dora got cholera from which she died a few days later. Regarding her brother, Johan, he wished to become an officer in the army. After he completed his service and was discharged he was appointed as an official and telegraphist at the Netherlands Railway in Haarlem. In 1890 he applied for a job at the Netherlands South African Railway Company (N.Z.A.S.M.) and was placed at Elandsfontein, now Germiston. In 1892 he was appointed as Traffic and Trade Manager where he served until 1901 when the British Military took over the railway and he was sent back to Holland where he died in 1912. Now I go back to 1880 when we had to move to a much smaller house. I did not know the reason for this because I was only 7 years old. Later, when we were older mother told us that father had lost all his money by being too trusting and we had also lost mother’s inheritance.