Sheila Family History – The de la Rey Connection

Me to Sheila: (2012)

Subject: de Wet

Sheila, tell me again where Generaal de Wet fits in to Ouma’s family.
Apparently he won a battle in the Freestate where the Hysterical Tour is headed right now, so I need to brag about my connections.

When the Brits win the battle Ken Gillings is brainwashing us about, I tell them about Annie and her love of Mrs Queen, but this battle I’m gonna need my Boer connections.

Who else can I claim? 

~~oo0oo~~

Sheila: Not de Wet, but de la Rey and Botha

Not de Wet – but de la Rey. Ouma’s ouma (her mother’s mother) was Boer Generaal Koos de la Rey’s sister – she married a Bezuidenhout and produced a daughter who married a Bodenstein and they produced Ouma. So we are directly descended from de la Rey’s father, not Gen Koos de la Rey himself.

Boer Generaal Louis Botha was married to John Bland’s first cousin, Annie Bland Emmett. John FA Bland II was Granny Bland’s husband. He was a lawyer in Harrismith – his own wife called him Mr Bland!

Mr John Bland and Annie Bland Emmett were both grandchildren of  Josiah Benjamin Adam Bland – the first Bland who came to SA in 1829. He became mayor of Mossel Bay – the main street is named after him.  I have the letter of introduction he had for the Cape and the ship captain’s receipt for his passage on the Nautilus; Hugh Bland has the ring he was wearing.  He married a du Plessis and had lots of kids.

There is something about the English Blands from Harrismith going to Ceylon as POWs during the Boer War, but I’m not exactly sure who they were – must have been two of our Granddad Frank’s brothers?

~~oo0oo~~

Me:

Aha! So: General Koos de la Rey had a sister who had a great great great great (4 greats) grandson: Me, Koos.

Anyone who fought for the Brits?

~~oo0oo~~

Sheila:

No, not four greats – just two.

Sister of de la Rey married a Bezuidenhout. Her Daughter married a Bodenstein. Then her Granddaughter (our Ouma) married a Swanepoel. Ouma and Oupa Swanepoel in Maritzburg.

So her Granddaughter was Ouma. Her Great Grandson was our Dad. And her Great Great Grandson was YOU!

I don’t know of any Pom soldiers.

And that’s it, I’m afraid.

~~oo0oo~~

So I’m two greats down from the sister of ‘The Lion of The West,’ and have zero bragging rights in any Freestate battles, zero connection to Die Dapper Generaal De Wet! *sigh* Gonna have to keep my mouth shut on this Hysterical Tour outing.