Talks
Unlimited Child Expedition to the South Pole: The Last Degree
Speaker: Peter Berning
This bit of trouble that I got into began at UCT (Smuts Hall, 1968). Iain Buchan and I were new men together and both products of the Transkei, where our parents ran medical practices in Lusikisiki and Cofimvaba respectively. We remained...
The Anglo-Zulu War of 1879
Speaker: Timothy Twidle
In the mists of time, Africa South of the Limpopo, was an endless land of scattered riches and infinite variety. The continental divide crowded the eastern coast, fencing off a well-watered belt that rounded the southern end of the divide and broadened out into...
30 years ago : Defining moments
Speaker: Peter Duminy
This Talk has been substantially motivated by recollections, especially remembrance of straws in the wind that preceded – and help to account for – the formation of our Society 30 years ago. I have called them ‘Defining Moments’.
Why? Because, the more one...
Who planted the beacon on Beacon Island?
Speaker: Andrew Duminy
The local legend: According to Pat Storrar, the beacon was erected on the Island in 1772 (the Van Plettenberg website says 1771), inscribed with the latitude and longitude of Plettenberg Bay. The caption on the photograph of the...
The English Settlers in the Crags until 1900
Speaker: Clive Noble
The Read Family
James Read came to South Africa in 1808.He was a shipwright. He lived and worked in Cape Town. He went to George in 1823 where he married Anna Terblanche. They had 3 children. The 2 sons, Ignatius and James, in 1862 bought the farm Matjesfontein on...
Cape Rebels 1899-1902
Speaker: Dr Taffy Shearing
Today I have been asked to talk about aspects of the South African War from the Cape Colony perspective. And I have decided to stick to 'Cape Rebels 1899-1902'; and to introduce you all to The Rebel Record, which David and I have just published in three...
New ideas about old caves
Speaker: Prof Judith Sealy
The many caves and open-air archaeological sites on the Robberg Peninsula have long been known to contain a wealth of archaeological material, some of it many hundreds of thousands of years old. Plett and surrounding areas were desirable places to live...
The history of Soetkraal and its people
Speaker: Edwin van Huyssteen
My grandfather and grandmother van Huyssteen had, with two ox-wagons, moved to Soetkraal in 1936 . They had come from Clarence – that was on the de Vlugt side.
They were in their early-fifties and had eight children. Joey, their eldest daughter, was...
Changing times at Matjes River rock shelter
Speaker: Dr Janette Deacon
Location and history
Matjes River Rock Shelter is on private property above the western bank of the mouth of the Matjes River, a small stream a few hundred metres east of the beach at Keurboomstrand. It was declared a national monument in 1960 because...
