Gallery Samples Stories of our Ancestors | Page 35

PART 4: THE ANDERSONS IN PIETERMARITZBURG
(1915 TO 1945)

I

CHAPTER 1: THE ANDERSONS ON THE MOVE
t was 1915. The Great War was raging. There were now four children to cope with, no
building work, a crumbling house and tenants on the farm who could no longer pay their
rent. As a result Jack lost the farm which Ida had worked so hard to establish. It is unclear
at this point just when Jack and his brothers were called to ‘join up’.

While people were struggling to survive in Grahamstown, news came of an offer being made in
Pietermaritzburg, Natal. In order to encourage settlers to this town, promises were made of
wonderful farming land being given to newcomers.
On the strength of these promises some of Jack’s family, including Carl Gustav and Catherine,
moved to Pietermaritzburg. Ida and her entourage followed soon after. I wonder just how they
made that journey; by train perhaps? Jack and Ida bought a house for the family before he went
off to War and Ida and the other new settlers awaited the delivery of the Promised Farm Land.
It never arrived.
Ruby at an advanced age, takes up a story of Christmas 1916 when she was 8, Gordon 5 and
Tilly 3 years old.
She calls it ‘CHRISTMAS IN PIETERMARITZBURG, 1916’
‘Even after all these years, the Christmas of 1916 is firmly etched on my brain. The Great
War was raging and our Father had ‘gone to be a soldier’ and to all of us being without our
Dad at Christmas was a tragedy.
‘Because of so many children being in the same position, the warm-hearted people of
Maritzburg enlisted the aid of willing shopkeepers to give the children a special ‘Christmas
Treat’. Names were obtained from the recruiting office, mothers were visited, and we were
invited to assemble at the Town Hall, at two o’clock on the afternoon of Christmas Eve.
‘Children of today would never understand the depth and intensity of our excitement: we
had so little and treats of any kind were so rare that the prospect of a Great Surprise was
almost too exciting to bear!
‘We dressed in our ‘Sunday Best’; girls in their starched petticoats and white dresses,
complete with pink or blue sashes, and boys with shiny, polished shoes, pulled-up socks,
hair neatly brushed.
‘The Hall had been turned into Wonderland! Gaily coloured streamers crossed the massive
roof, garlands flowered along the walls, twinkling lights shone around us and up near the
stage the biggest Ch &?7F?2G&VRF?B6?V?BWfW"&R?BF?V??D??2??fV?F??2F?VB??F??F?RF??6V??FV?G&VR?B??F?R???rF&?W2??V6?6?FR?F?RWGFW"????bf?'???@?6?&?7F?2?( ?vRvW&RF??BF?6?B????&FW&?f6???????F?Rf???"??F?R6V?FW"?bF?R????B?F?W2???&VWF?gV?6??F?W2???FVB?WB6?WG2?b?6VBf?'?6?W22vV??27&????RW"&6?WG2?`?7vVWG2?B?&vR?Vw2?bFV?6??W2?6?????V???FRF?V?F?Rw&VFW7B???V?B?b??( 2F?P?'&?f??bfF?W"6?&?7F?2???6V?b???R6?R?7F????r( ?6??~( ??fb??2&??G2?6?vR??Wp?3P???