They had traveled from the Cape and now were living in Durban. We know they settled there for a while as his brother James, our ancestor, is also registered in Durban in June 1848.
The next bit of information found is that his mother is the first white women in Umzinto and has her photo taken. She now has her daughter by James and names her Mary. This is where his father dies in 1857. He is now 11 years old and has two younger siblings.
From his mothers' wedding certificate to Donald Joyner, it is shown that she becomes a store keeper in Umtwalume. Five years later she marries Donald Joyner on the 1st of January 1862. He too is a store keeper amd lives in Ifafa. This is about 8 km away from where the family lives.
Henry is now 16 and is now part of a newly merged family. Donald has a two children by his first wife. Donald first wife was Jessie Joyner, she died some time after October 1856 as this is when she had her youngest. She is only 31 years old.
It is interesting that my grandmothers' name is Jessie. Donald was obviously a good enough stepdad that his step children honored his previous wife.
Henry is now a stepson, he has a brother that is 2 years younger than him so would be 14 and a sister that could not be more than 7 years old. He suddenly has two Scottish step brothers and these children are only 6 and 8 and have not had a mother for a while.
We lose the story of Henry until he is 34 years old and marries Elizabeth Spilsbury. He marries well.
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| Birth record 7th June 1846 |
Elizabeth is born 1854 to a couple who had landed in Natal four years earlier. Her father was a wagon maker and worked for many years in Durban.
IN 1863, the family is now in Harrismith. Elizabeth is now 9 years old. Her siblings has some education when they were in Durban. Not much is said about her.
Henry arrives in Harrismith in 1863.
Her sister Ellen gets married to in 1864, she was born in 1848, aged 16. She produced 4 children in a rapid fashion and then at the age of 24 she dies. Her no good husband, Theophilus Irons, abandons the children.
Elizabeth father is on the Harrismith town council, paid half the money needed to build the church, and was generally a man about town.
Elizabeth marries Henry in 1880.
It seems that Henry ran a successful milling business. When he got older he bought a farm, engaged in farming. They have two boys and I think a girl. I have this assumption as I have a photo that has the legend Elizabeth and Dora Welch written on it.
Henry's son do well in this world. Harold Welch who was Resident Magistrate at Frankfurt. His son Arthur Welch managed his farm.
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| Baptism |
Henry dies in 1911 on the 5th of June. He reached 65 years of age. He died of cancer.
His brother and sister-in-law are still around.
His wife lives for another 28 years and dies on the 31st of May 1939 aged 84.
He really did have a funny life. Born in the Cape , moving to Durban. Living in the wildest areas in Natal and eventually settling in Harrismith. I am sure that he and his family went on holidays to see Emma whilst she was alive.
I am sure that our ancestor moved to Harrismith to be near his brother.
I am happy that he lived a good life.
Helped the most
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I have just received Elizabeth's Death Noctice. She lived her last years on the farm Spoorweg Farm, P.O. Afrikaskop, district Harrismith. Her son Aurthur was close to her at the end annd that is nice.
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