In 1910 he moved to Johannesburg where he got a job on the Simmer and Jack mine near Germiston. About 1912, by which time his two older sisters were married and his parents had parted, his mother and the younger children joined him and they lived at 216, St. Frusquin Street, Malvern (which is still standing). Harry was also working on the mine in order to help support their mother, four sisters and young brother Stanley, who was retarded."
When war broke out in 1914, Jack and Harry both enlisted in the South African Scottish Regiment and both fought in France. Jack was wounded at the battle of Arras (thus missing the decimating battle of Delville Wood). After recovering from his wound and recuperating at St. Thomas' Hospital in London, Jack was posted to Aldershot where he became an instructor in P.T. and bayonet fighting.
'He always remained a very agile man and almost to the end of his life was very proud of the fact that he could put his hands flat on the floor without bending his knees!'
He was eventually posted back to South Africa at the end of his service. There he returned to his job on the Simmer & Jack mine where he was working under a manager by the name of William Henley Stout and there he met his future wife. However, prospects were not very bright for returned soldiers and Jack decided to move up to Southern Rhodesia where his sister, Winifred, now married, was living. For the first year or two he worked on a farm and a mine in the Shamva district and during six months there he suffered fourteen recurring attacks of malaria. He then moved to Sinoia and started farming with his brother-in-law, Ronald Marillier.
John Cecil Howard (Jack) and Lucy Ethel Esther Stout (Essie) became engaged in 1921 and were married on 23rd. October, 1822 in the Anglican Cathedral in Salisbury.
[There is some confusion over these dates as when I wrote to Uncle Jack he said he was married in 1921, but Jennifer and Almaz wrote 1922, the latter is probably correct as they mention that the engagement was in 1921. Jennifer adds: "It must have been shortly after my parent's marriage that most of the rest of the family moved up to Rhodesia and Jack started farming in Concession. My grandmother was there with him and some of his sisters at some time, but it is hard to be sure when they joined him."]
'It was a very small wedding with Jack's sister Flossie as bridesmaid and Ronald Marillier giving the bride away. His sister reminded the groom that it was customary for the bride to carry flowers and he bought a bunch of pink carnations from the Cecil Square flower sellers!
Lucy Ethel Esther Howard nee Stout was born on 21st.September, 1897 in Johannesburg and was the daughter of William Stout and Lucy Franklin Stout nee Higgs of Gloucester, U.K. Her father was the Battery Manager on the Simmer & Jack mine at the time of their marriage.
'William Henley Stout was an Englishman of the Victorian school who believed that children should be seen and not heard and not seen often, and that young ladies should be educated by governesses and then remain at home until they acquired husbands who would keep them in the manner to which they were accustomed. He was a good sportsman and excelled at swimming. His father had been the world's sculling champion, winning everything it was possible to win, including the Diamond Sculls, and who had called each of his children after a boatrace! His wife, Lucy Franklin Higgs, came from an aristocratic English family, which could trace its descent back to Edward III. She [Lucy] was an extremely talented singer and trained at the Royal College of Music. She was becoming quite famous when she gave it all up to marry and move to South Africa.
Their daughter, Lucy Ethel Esther Stout ... was the eldest of three girls and she inherited her mother's enormous musical talent. Jack always maintained that she was capable of becoming world famous and even in later life when she had not practised for many years, she was still able to give some idea of the magnificent voice she had when she was younger.
She was seventeen when her father brought home a young man who worked on the cyanide works at the mine. She and her sister, Peggy, who was fourteen months younger, were not impressed when they heard about the visitor as they had not found their father's taste in young men to be very exciting in the past but this one was different, he was tall and very good looking for one thing!
He was later to claim that although he had not fallen in love with her at first sight, he could have married her any time. However, she had another admirer to whom she became privately engaged before he left to join the army, but he was killed in the First World War.
[Life on the farm] ' must have required an enormous amount of adjustment for "Essie", who was used to the hectic life of Johannesburg, especially as they had no transport and had to walk wherever they went. The one saving grace was that Winifred and Ronald lived on the same farm so she was not completely without company. Financially they were very poor and literally lived on what Jack could shoot and grow. For the rest of their lives, neither was fond of pumpkin or venison. They moved two or three times during the course of the next ten years or so until Jack was able to buy his own farm, Sheepridge, which he farmed until 1947.
Jack and his family moved to Salisbury in 1947 when Jennifer started school and the farm was sold the following year. Jack was employed by the Farmers' Cooperative, where he remained until his retirement at age 77. Esther's health deteriorated as she suffered from high blood pressure and in 1960 she fell and broke her hip. She remained an invalid for the next nine years and died at the age of 72 on 13th.December, 1969 following a stroke, in the hospital of the Borradaile Trust Retirement Village, Marandellas, where she had been for the previous eight years.
On his retirement, Jack moved to a bedsitter at the Borradaile Trust, where he was able to be near his wife. After her death he remained active, travelling to Durban several times to visit Almaz and her family who moved there in 1967. He overcame cancer at the age of 80 and although his health generally was very good, his eyes gave him considerably trouble. He had lost the sight in the left eye as a result of a thrombosis of the retina in about 1953 and cataracts began to impede the sight of the other eye. However he continued to be mentally alert although he became increasingly unsteady on his feet during the last six months of his life and was moved into the hospital section. He died peacefully on 20th June, 1982 in his 92nd year.
Jennifer also wrote: "Yes, Jack was a very senior Freemason, in fact, at one stage, the highest ranking in the Scottish Constitution in Rhodesia. However, shortly before he died and he also accepted the Lord a few days before his death, hence no mention was made of this before. [i.e. in the write-up of his life by his daughters, Almaz and Jennifer.]
"Jack died peacefully on 20th. June, 1982 in his 92 year... However, shortly before his death he had telephoned me to say that he no longer wanted to have a Masonic funeral service when he died."
John Cecil Guy Howard and Lucy Ethel Ester Howard nee Stout had three children:
H2/6.[4]A Nigel Franklin Howard, who was born on 8.3. 1924 in Sinoia, Rhodesia and he lived on his parents' farm outside Sinoia until his death there on 11.4.1934.
'Nigel, a very bright, happy child, died of peritonitis shortly after his tenth birthday, on 11th.April, 1934. Of course this was a terrible blow to both his parents, but Jack took it particularly hard. Although a very strong-minded man who didn't suffer fools gladly, he adored his children almost to the point of idolatory.'
My mother told me that Nigel was a very observant boy and he could always tell who had been to visit his parents on the farm by the tyre marks left on the sandy drive by the vehicles they drove.
H2/6.[4]B Almaz Henley Howard, was born on 14.9.1926, in Sinoia and died 25.4.2010 in Perth W.A. She married Kenneth John Strobel on 21.4.1950 in Salisbury, Rhodesia. He was born on 18.6.1926 in Salisbury, Rhodesia and he became an Electrical Engineer and they had only one child:
c.1. Janene Almaz Strobel, who was born on 18.11.1953 in Salisbury, Rhodesia and she was married to Paul Frederick Henry Menck on 1.9.1973 in Durban. He was born on 24.2.1949 in Durban and he became a Civil Engineer. They had twin sons and a daughter.
c.1 Tyson John Menke b. 1.6.1976 and
c.2 Gordon Paul Menke b. 1.6.1976 both in Durban, Natal.
Jennifer wrote: 'Almaz was a quiet, studious child who achieved much at school and grew up to be the kind of person people flock to with their troubles - loved by everyone.
Because of Ken's job Almaz and Ken moved many times during their married life, spending time in various parts of South Africa, mainly in Durban and Pietermaritzburg, in Swaziland and so on, but after their daughter emigrated with her husband and family during the 1980's and Ken was due to retire, they visited Perth, Australia and decided that they would prefer to be close to their family, so they too left South Africa for Western Australia. After living for some time in rented accommodation they moved into a retirement complex called 'Swan Cottages' in one of the southern suburbs of Perth.
H2/6.[4]C Jennifer Lucy Howard, was born on 12th. April, 1941 at Sinoia, Rhodesia and she married Ben Jonson on 21.9.1963 in Salisbury, Rhodesia. He was born on 18.10.1939 in Grahamstown and he became a Company Secretary. Jennifer, like her sister Almaz, worked once their children were no longer infants and Jennifer progressed well, becoming the personal secretary to one of the managers at Reckitt & Colman (Pty) Ltd in Johannesburg. She and Ben were divorced and after that, somewhere towards the end of the century, and she moved down to Cape Town, with her daughter where she obtained a position with a well-known firm of attorneys and they bought a small duplex in Pinelands while her son, Graham, remained resident in Johannesburg, teaching at a school in Greenside. Jennifer died very young, just after her 60th birthday, on 30th.April, 2001 of cancer of the liver. Both her children were with her at the end.
And Jennifer added about herself: [She had] a strong personality, [and as she was] inclined to be spoilt by her father, this child proved to be an exhausting addition to the family. However, she mellowed with time and showed signs of having inherited her mother's singing talent.'
Jennifer and Hilary visited Almaz and family in Perth in about 1998 and again in 2000 and on both occasions came to see us in Mount Pleasant. Hilary was a very quiet and rather diffident young lady but Jennifer was full of life and was most entertaining company. She took a keen interest in all the family and was able to give me a great deal of information about different relatives, which I much appreciated. It was a great shock to all of us here in Australia when we heard that she was extremely ill and, so shortly afterwards, had died. She did not have an easy life and neither did her children because Ben also was an alcoholic. She tried for many years to cope with all the many problems this brought about, helping and supporting Ben as well as anyone could have done and then had so little time in which to rebuild her life after the divorce and move to Cape Town
Jennifer Lucy Howard and Ben Jonson's children were:
7.(Ca) Hilary Jonson, born 18.9.1966 in Salisbury and
7.(Ca) Graham Jonson, born 19.11.1971, in Salisbury.
[At my request Almaz wrote out the following tales of Jack's childhood]
Snippets from the Childhood of Jack Howard
Jack entertained his three children and then his grandchildren with his stories, and now his great-grandchildren have kept asking: Please tell us again about 'Poppa' when he was a naughty little boy.
- Jack had two older sisters, Gladys and Winifred, who were very well behaved girls; one could almost have called them 'prim' young ladies. Jack took great delight in making them feel embarrassed and he always managed to persuade his younger brother to help him, although Harry would rather have kept out of trouble. Jack and Harry, from lots of practice, became experts at throwing acorns at any particular 'target'. Whenever their sisters had friends to play, the two boys would hide behind a wall or a bush and pelt the ankles of the girls, using the hard acorns for ammunition. The girls would jump and skip and scream as the acorns stung their ankles, but nobody could ever catch the laughing Jack and Harry because they could run faster than anybody else.
- On Jack's third birthday he was promised a party. His Aunt made a lovely birthday cake for him and took a lot of trouble to decorate it beautifully. Whilst they waited for the children to arrive, Jack was told to stand and keep guard over his cake, to make sure that the pet animals did not get to it and, more importantly, he was to keep the flies away by waving his arm over the cake. Well, it wasn't long before his one arm got very tired, and then the other arm got very tired, so little Jack climbed up on to the table and sat crouched over the cake to protect it. Then his little legs began to ache and he came down lower and lower over the cake until in the end he sat right on the cake and there was a very squashed birthday cake. His Mother and sisters were very upset with him but somehow his Aunt managed to push the cake together again and Jack was sure it tasted just as nice because the children ate it all up.
- Young Jack lived with his family in a house on the outskirts of the village. Sometimes there would be a concert or a party in the village hall and the children would walk there together, to enjoy the fun. One Saturday evening Jack and the other children were on their way to the hall, with the two older sisters, Gladys and Winifred, in charge. Jack had been told to wear his brand new suit; it was like a sailor's suit, with navy blue shorts and a white top with a big, square collar, trimmed with braid. He was warned not to get his new clothes dirty and that he was to walk quietly with the other children. The sun had just gone down, it was dusk and the light was fading. In front of him Jack saw a whitish patch in the road, which looked very inviting and he just could not resist running right into it. Slip! Slide! And there was Jack flat on his back in the mud and water. Gladys was very cross with Jack as he had to go back home and change his clothes. She was quite sure he had done it on purpose to dirty his new clothes, but Jack insisted that he really thought the whitish patch in the road was some nice clean sand!
- Sometimes the children would be asked to take part in the concerts which were put on in the local hall of the village where young Jack lived with his family. There was one occasion when Jack was told he was to be on the stage to recite a poem. He was only a small boy and his sisters had made sure that he knew his words well, but the person arranging the concert made a mistake of putting Jack's name half-way through the programme, instead of at the beginning. When it was Jack's turn to go onto the stage to say his short poem, nobody could find the little boy. They called and called his name, and searched everywhere for him. Eventually someone found Jack sitting against the back wall of the stage, hidden behind the folds of the curtains. His chin was on his chest and he was sound asleep. They tried to waken him, but his head just fell on his chest and he dosed off to sleep again - so little Jack never did get to say his poem.
- One day Jack's Mother had some ladies to tea and the children were told to be on their best behaviour in front of the visitors. Unfortunately Jack said or did something to disgrace himself and his Mother sent him off to stand in the corner in her bedroom. He was ordered to stay there until he was told he could come out again, but somehow everyone forgot about the child and he remained there for several hours. Of course Jack got very bored in the corner and he started looking around the room for something to do, when his eyes alighted on a small pair of nail scissors on his Mother's dressing table. The temptation was too great for young Jack; he picked up the scissors and glanced down at his best blue serge shorts, which he was wearing in honour of the visitors. Using the scissors, he carefully cut a tiny piece out of the trousers. It felt so good - he just didn't want to stop, and 'snip, snip, snip' - and 'snip, snip, snip' - before long there were holes all over his shorts. Of course, when Jack's Mother eventually went to the bedroom to call him, he was in really big trouble and must have been punished again very severely, but Jack didn't remember much about that part - he only remembered how he was very, very bored being left so long in the corner, and that's how he got into mischief!
H2/5.[3]d HARRY Benjamin HOWARD
Harry Benjamin Howard, was the fourth child and second son of H.B.M.Howard and Emmeline May Howard nee Warner and he was born on 24.11.1893 in Cala, Transkei. As he died young not a lot is known about his life but he and Jack were very close as children and young men and their lives must have followed much the same progress throughout their childhood. He, like Jack, joined up soon after war was declared and also went with the South African Scottish Regiment to fight in France. Harry was killed on 6th.January, 1918 at Arras where Jack was wounded. A stray shell fell on the communications trench in which he was walking. He was an Army Sergeant and was unmarried.
This correspondence from Glyn Marillier 31 March 2006:
I've been chasing up general historical material on the Jocks. Here's a link that helps: http://www.jocks.co.za/
What's a bit confusing is that the Ypres Salient was famous as the first occasion of the use of gas warfare - 22nd April, 1915 (Second Battle of Ypres) The SA Scottish Regiment's first major disastrous engagement was at Delville Wood in 1916. They were also at the Third Battle of Ypres in July1917 and following, including Passchendaele in October-Nov 1917 where mustard gas was used. This at least brings us closer to Harry's death in January 1918. Could he have been evacuated to Arras after being gassed at Passchendaele? The First Battle of Arras had occurred in October 1914 and Arras was held by French troops against the Germans, so it may have become a pull-back point for wounded by 1918. Do you remember whether his mother received any notification giving other details? I'm just wondering where the reference to Arras originated. My information on WW1 battle dates comes from http://www.firstworldwar.com/battles/ where you can look up the chronology plus some details on the battles themselves.
What's a bit confusing is that the Ypres Salient was famous as the first occasion of the use of gas warfare - 22nd April, 1915 (Second Battle of Ypres) The SA Scottish Regiment's first major disastrous engagement was at Delville Wood in 1916. They were also at the Third Battle of Ypres in July1917 and following, including Passchendaele in October-Nov 1917 where mustard gas was used. This at least brings us closer to Harry's death in January 1918. Could he have been evacuated to Arras after being gassed at Passchendaele? The First Battle of Arras had occurred in October 1914 and Arras was held by French troops against the Germans, so it may have become a pull-back point for wounded by 1918. Do you remember whether his mother received any notification giving other details? I'm just wondering where the reference to Arras originated. My information on WW1 battle dates comes from http://www.firstworldwar.com/battles/ where you can look up the chronology plus some details on the battles themselves.
Jennifer Jonson wrote: "Concerning the whereabouts of Granny at the time of Harry's death, [in 1927 or 8?] I have never heard that she was at Concession, but as this was the official address given and as so many people seem to remember it, I am probably in error.
However, my father, Jack Howard, told me that he had planted a grapevine at the Malvern house just prior to his joining the army. While he was away, Granny had it pruned by an expert but it never bore fruit and when he returned he pruned it himself. When he was first in Rhodesia she sent him up a large box of grapes from the vine. This would suggest that she was in the Malvern house until the early 20's.
I was also under the impression that it was at this time that Granny and the younger sisters became Anglicans when the Anglican Minister was very good to them at the time of Harry's death."
A story has come down through the family concerning Harry's death, which is as follows:
My mother had a distant Warner cousin called Irene Elizabeth Toye Warner, who was born on 2nd. August, 1882 in Bristol, England. She was rather an excentric character and a great believer in Spiritualism. Shortly after Harry's death, but before the official notice was received, a letter arrived for my Grandmother in which Irene wrote, "Last night Harry passed over", followed by her condolences. Naturally, I never saw the letter but the family all seemed to be aware of this incident and recounted it as if it were authentic. My Mother had many other stories about Irene, too, and she was the person who was responsible for bringing both the earliest Warner family tree and a number of their possessions from Bristol and, eventually, lodging them at the Albany museum, including the original painting of Hester Warner nee Toye, the daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth Toye, sister of William Toye, who was a British judge at Gibraltar.
Hester was the first wife of Henry Warner, also of Bristol, whom she married on 7th.January, 1781. They were the parents of the 1820 Settler, from whom we are descended. The original painting still hangs in the Albany museum, Grahamstown and it was Helen Rose Relly nee Stanford [also a descendent] who commissioned an artist to paint in oils a copy of it. I saw this copy in their home near Somerset West, she kindly allowed me to borrow it so that we could obtain a photograph of it and this was printed onto canvas to make the portrait that hangs on the wall in our lounge. I sent small photographs of it to all the immediate family hoping it would be of interest to them, too.
Irene came out to South Africa to visit her many relatives who were living there and during her travels met and married, in 1920, one of her cousins, Albert Warner Staples, the son of William Staples and Margaret Eliza Staples nee Osmond.
Although I do not remember meeting Irene, I will always be grateful to her for all the help I got from the original Warner tree she prepared and for being able to view the Warner 'treasures' she donated to the museum.
H2/5.[3]e Flossie Ruth Howard, was the fifth child and third daughter and she was born on 6.3.1895 in Cala, Transkei. (She never liked her name 'Flossie' and would have preferred, at least, the full name of "Florence", or better still just "Ruth" which she did like. The family usually called her "Floss" instead). She was married on 21.4.1921 in Salisbury, Rhodesia to George James Arthur Cleverly. He was born on 14.7.1893 at Walvis Bay, South West Africa where his father John Cleverly was a magistrate. George was educated at Dale College in King William's Town and he became a farmer, owning a farm near Lion's Head, Sinoia, Rhodesia, called 'Temperley'. He died while still residing there, on 27th.September, 1959. Floss remained on the farm for some time after that, running a trading store they had erected on the property and near to the road. When this became too difficult she moved into Salisbury to be close to her daughter, Helen and died there on 8.3.1981.
They had only one child:
6.ea Helen May Cleverly, born 11th October 1924 in Johannesburg and died 21st September 2011. She married Stanley Denis O'Donnell on 5th March, 1949 in Salisbury. He was born on 10.6.1913 in New South Wales, Australia and died 24th April, 1981 in Harare. They had three children all born in Southern Rhodesia.
Stanley worked in the Social Welfare Department and, later, became Secretary of Foreign Affairs under the Smith Government after Rhodesia declared its independence from Britain. Unfortunately, during the war that followed their son, Dennis, was badly wounded when a grenade burst close to his head and he was paralysed down one side for quite a while before regaining the use of his limbs. His father was especially distressed when visiting Dennis in hospital and observing the other damaged patients there. Eventually, after a stroke, Stanley committed suicide in 1981 while Helen remained living in their house in Salisbury (afterwards Harare) before moving to a retirement complex at Chisipite, called 'Blue Kerry'
Floss was great friends with her sister, Phyllis, who was the sixth child born in the family and they remained close all their lives, corresponding regularly with each other, as most of the Howard family did through those years when they were separated by considerable distances.
I remember one holiday when my Mother and I visited Aunt Floss and Uncle George in their charming thatched home. I was very nervous because I imagined that there were snakes hidden in the thatching which were certain to fall on me when I was asleep. It was my first encounter of sleeping under mosquito netting and found it very claustrophobic and stuffy. Aunt Floss was especially fond of white cats and there were a large number of them about the place. They looked really beautiful against the green lawns in the garden.
For some unexplained reason the farm was in a position that constantly seemed to miss out on the rains and, consequently, George had great difficulty in making a success of his farming.
Floss seemed to be strangely fated over accidents concerning fire. As a child she was badly burnt, especially on one arm and this was bandaged in a bent position for so long that eventually she was unable to straighten out that arm. My Gran insisted that she exercise it, which was very painful and they even bought exercising springs which had to be used daily. This was a miserable chore but, in the end, proved to have been worthwhile as the arm grew back to its natural position, but she carried the scars for the rest of her life. There were also other incidents that occurred relating to fire and I remember her telling us of how their house burnt down on one occasion and nearly did so on another. The second accident was when someone left a cigarette burning and an armchair caught alight. It smouldered all night and in the morning they found only a heap of ashes. As the chair was very close to the curtains it was providential that they did not catch alight, too, leading to the thatch and the house going up in smoke again.
Aunt Floss had eyes like no others I have seen, as they were very blue, but also rather pale as if the colour was diluted with milk. I was very fond of her and knew her better than my mother's other sisters, except for Gladys, whom I only got to know when she was elderly and living in Cape Town with Keith.
I remember one Christmas in particular when Aunt Floss visited 'Graystones' before the war. As was the custom, my mother had asked a large crowd (about 36in all, I think), to join us for the celebratory dinner and we had set out two large tables in the dining room to cater for this. After the meal most of the adults retired for a nap, while the rest decided to play 'parlour games' and it was suggested we should all dress up to represent the title of some film, book or so on. Aunt Floss and Aunt Iris were game enough to join in and they wrapped up in sheets, etc. and came as 'The Heavenly Twins', but the most amusing incident was when three of the young men dressed up in Mable's clothing [she was the twin's nanny/nurse] and as they were tripping up the drive in high heeled shoes, a car arrived carrying Jannie Hofmeyr (the Foreign Minister) and his very dour, though no doubt kind hearted, mother, just in time to see one of these 'ladies' pick up 'her' skirt in order to extract a handkerchief from the pocket of his khaki trousers.
In 1975 Aunt Floss came down to visit us at Gordons Bay and it was while she was with us that we went into Cape Town and bought the Datsun car on auction [we had this car for nearly eleven years, until we left on a round-the world trip in 1985/6]. One evening we asked our friend Syd Rushworth to join us for dinner and I made a French lamb stew, which went down well and they both complimented me because it was so tasty. The conversation continued on the subject of food, with both of them agreeing that they did not like garlic at all, but one look at my face gave away the fact that the stew was absolutely full of garlic, to their utter confusion. It was during this visit that Aunt Floss suggested I ask Aunt Winifred to complete the crochet cloth my Mother had started so many years before.
From a letter written on 18.10.2002 by Helen O'Donnell about her mother:
'you asked me for little anecdotes or personal news about my Mum ... though I'm not sure quite what it is you want, decided to do my best to give a small 'portrait'. There's always a lot one can say of any loved one, so it's hard to know what to highlight and what would be irrelevant to others. I think it is true that she was the most loved of all the younger family members - they all seemed to turn to her with their problems and she kept up a regular correspondence with each. As a child she was very close to Harry, so much so in fact, that he refused to go to school without her, so the Nuns allowed her to attend as well and just participate in what she could. It was a very close bond though and his death in the war was a hard blow - but Jack became a very good 'big brother', and they grew to depend on each other a lot in their later years, especially when she was in town and he at Marendallas, both alone. He quite often came up to spend the day with her in her little flat.
Mum had a great gift of hospitality and would always make all ages feel welcome and at home. Her tennis parties were renowned in Concession. She was a very steady old fashioned player - served underhand and all her drives were underhand too, - would make today's coaches shudder - but they were hard and just skimmed the net. She was also very accurate in her placing, due largely to my father's encouragement - He would place a half-crown piece at odd points on the court and see how often she could hit it in 6 balls!! She took part in all the inter-district matches and generally participated in the highlight of the year - the Mazoe Valley championships held over the 4-day Rhodes & Founders holiday weekend in July at the Citrus Estate Courts - a great social as well as tennis event! - The other 'thing' for which she was noted was her pastry - and I've never met her equal yet! It was hard work though, especially in the early days before we had a fridge and she would get up at 4 in the morning to make it while the weather was still cool, and she'd work by hurricane lamplight. Her poor faithful cook would have to get up early on those days too to have the Dover stove HOT! Later, she'd still get up early and empty all the ice-trays, covering the cubes with thick brown paper on which the pastry would be laid to keep as cold as possible between the stages of rolling and folding. This she did at least 3 if not 4 times, dabbing small pats of butter on the rolled out dough, then folding meticulously over and over again, repeating the process with each 'lot', 3 or 4 times as mentioned. Finally, it could be rolled out again, cut and made into tarts, which then did rise to great heights - one could easily count the layers, the 'thousand leaves' in the French terminology. It was quite delicious, but watching her put me off pastry-making for ever!'
Helen and Stanley O'Donnell had three children:
7.aa Richard Cleverly O'Donnell, born 19.7.1950 in Gwelo, Rhodesia.
7.ab Denis John O'Donnell, born 28.1.1953 in Gwelo, Rhodesia.
7 ac Ruth Lynne O'Donnell, born 19.4.1955, Bulawayo, Rhodesia.
H3/5[3][5]Phyllis Howard = Eric Freemantle
(1897 - 1953) (1896 - 1972)
(See under separate section called HF3 Phyllis Freemantle nee Howard)
H2/5[3]g Doris Ethel Howard = Hilton Bekker
(1899 - 1948) ( ? - ? )
Doris Ethel Howard was born on 3rd. January, 1899 while the family were still living in Cala and although she married a man called Hilton Bekker in 1928 and they went to live in South West Africa, she was divorced from him early on and very little is known about their marriage. She had no children.
In fact, although I knew Aunt Doris somewhat better than many of my aunts and uncles because, not only was she one of my godmothers, but because she lived in Johannesburg and worked for my father in the accounting department of Max Pollak & Freemantle, I never felt that I knew her really well. In fact, as she had reverted to her maiden name, I was always under the impression that she was the only one of her generation who had not married and it came as somewhat of a surprise when tracing the tree to learn of her early marriage.
For many years Doris worked for Max Pollak and Freemantle, starting as a clerk and moving to the Accounts Department. Working with her was a very good friend, Mrs Thatcher, who was also a close friend to her sister, Phyllis and the three of them always enjoyed each others' company.
It was Mrs Thatcher, sometimes accompanied by Aunt Doris, who would shop around looking for special gifts for my Father to give to my Mother, as they knew her taste so well. He was always grateful for all their service to the firm and for this personal help as well.
She lived in an apartment in Bree Street, in the city and her Mother, who as they grew older travelled to visit her other daughters less, lived with her for longer and longer periods. They often visited 'Graystones' together but, after Doris became ill, she was moved there permanently and remained at the house until she died in 1948 and her Mother went back to Rhodesia to stay with her other daughters or son.
Aunt Doris was a rather reserved adult as far as I observed, but she was very kind to me and I recall that one year she asked me what I would like for my birthday. It was soon after I had 'purchased' the pink Dresden lady (first espied in a shop by Mrs. Thatcher and really purchased by my Father) as a gift for my mother and, although I needed persuading to speak of my wish, eventually I told her I would like a china figurine. She gave me a very pretty Dalton child, dressed in green, called "Little Bridesmaid" which I have treasured it ever since.
When my Aunt Doris was ill and in fact dying of cancer, slowly fading over two years, she spent most of her waking hours in the breakfast room at 'Graystones' on the couch, but after she died my father insisted that all the furniture should be replaced and the old things disposed of as best they may. He did not want them remaining in the house, whether to assist my mother in putting behind her the sadness of the time Doris spent with them or whether it was a reaction to his intense antipathy to the cancer itself, I was never quite sure but probably something of both. One of the stories retold of this period concerned a house servant we had called, Elliot, who was very concerned over my aunt and he and another African would place her on a chair to carry her up to her bedroom towards evening and bring her down in the morning again. One day she said to him, "Elliot please make sure you do not drop me." And he replied, "No Ma'am, I would never drop you, but Phineas [the other African helper] will!" Rather small comfort for a nervous patient.
Before she became ill Doris, with a group of ladies, formed 'The Sunshine Club', the purpose of which was to encourage and cheer those who were incapacitated or ill by taking them for a drive around the suburban gardens or into the countryside, giving them some cheerful company and a change of scenery. [I think it was] during her illness that she read a book by Murrough Nesbitt called 'The Road to Avalon', which was his autobiography and told of how he overcame the many problems caused by the fact that as a child he lost his legs above the knees, after fallen from the top of a train so that the wheels ran over both legs and of his dream to build a place of rehabilitation, high in the mountains, for similar amputees.
As a family, but in particular my father and Doris, tried to assist him in making this dream a reality. He was an exceptional man, to be admired for all he accomplished in spite of his disability and he firmly believed that he could persuade others to make the most of their lives because he did. For instance, he claimed that they would not be able to say they could not do certain things, such as bath themselves, without a limb when he managed to do these tasks without both legs. Unfortunately, although he was never lacking in spirit or determination, he was not proficient when it came to the management of money or the accounting required over funds collected on his behalf. However, he did pursue his dream successfully, building a settlement in the mountains not far from Ceres and when we visited the place we found him sitting high on top of one of the houses, all by himself, putting the roof in place! Aunt Doris was inspired by him and decided that she would like to be buried at 'Avalon', so that is where her ashes lie, next to a large rock marked with a plaque and small verse that I suggested. On the surrounding mountains grew many buchu bushes, the leaves of which when brewed, produce a medicinal 'tea' which is very good for 'cleaning the kidneys' and bags of this herbal tea were sold from 'Avalon' among other money-making enterprises but, unfortunately the sponsors of this charity were unable to keep it going and clashed with Nesbitt over money matters, so that in the end, sadly, all his and their efforts came to naught. I often think of that lonely grave lying high in the beautiful Cape mountains where such a promising undertaking was lost for lack of more understanding over the capabilities of a remarkably able man versus the constraints of money which he did not understand.
H2/5.[3]h Muriel Alys Howard = Lennox Marillier
(1901-1954) (1905 - 1983 )
Muriel Alys Howard was the eighth child and sixth daughter of H.B.M. Howard and Emmeline May Howard nee Warner and she was born on 14.3.1901 in Cala, Transkei like all the younger children of Harry and May. Her early history would probably have followed much the same path as her older sister, Doris. However, Muriel was never very strong and, unfortunately, she suffered from asthma during most of her life. She was married on 2.11.1927 to Lennox Aylward Marillier (this was probably in Salisbury as all the family other than Gladys and Phyllis had moved north to Rhodesia by then and it is believed that she would have met him in Rhodesia, where most of the family were than living). Lennox Marillier was born on 31st. October, 1905 at 'Izeki' King William's Town and he became a farmer, starting with Ronald Marillier at 'Montrose' and eventually owning a farm not far from Sinoia called 'Kenilworth'. He seemed to have been more successful in his farming enterprises than other members of the family. After Muriel's death, he married on 14.11.1959 (2nd) Dorothy Lillian Gould nee Dalton in Gwelo.
Lennox and Muriel had two sons:
H2/6(ha) Michael Aylward Marillier, the eldest was born 25th.September, 1929, who married Beryl Birch on 9th.August, 1952, in Salisbury She was born on 15th. July, 1931 in Liverpool, U.K. and they had three daughters and a son:
7.(aa) Cheryl Ann Marillier, born 26.8.1953 in Sinoia
7.(ab) Beverley Lyn Marillier, born 22.5.1955 in Sinoia
7.(ac) Pamela Alys Marillier, born 19.9.1957 in Sinoia
7.(ad) Norman Aylward Marillier, born 1.6.1960 in Sinoia.
H2/6(hb)Lennox John Dallas Marillier who was born on 15th. March, 1932 in Sinoia and he married Shenagh Maucauly Whitelaw on 29th.September, 1960 in Salisbury. She was born 10th.November, 1933 in Bedford, U.K. and they had two daughters. Lex took over the farm on his father's death on 9.8.1983 and Michael and family joined him, the latter attending to the machinery, while Lex ran the farming side of the enterprise. He possibly married (2nd) Maureen Cable ??? In 1999 Lex was brutally murdered by his past employees from the Marillier Estates. His third wife, Mvorna, was also attacked in their bedroom on the farm and hospitalised, but she survived this terrible trauma. There were two daughters of the first marriage:
7.(ba) Diana Jean Marillier, born 2.5.1963 in Sinoia
7. (bb) Sara Scott Marillier, born 21.11.1964 in Sinoia.
Muriel was never very strong and the asthma she suffered from all her life eventually affected her heart and these two health problems were the cause of her early death on 6th. June, 1954, aged 53.
Some four years later, Lennox was remarried on 14th.November, 1959 to Dorothy Gould, nee Dalton in Gwelo, Southern Rhodesia and he died on 9/8/1983
In 1936 when Michael was due to go to school, his parents did not want to send him to boarding school as he was a rather quiet, shy and nervous child. So, they sent him to live with my parents for a year. He was almost exactly a year younger than I was as we were both born in September. While I attended the girl's school, Kingsmead, he went as a day scholar to the boys Junior school, Pridwin, which was just up the road from us, two blocks away. He was never very happy as he missed his home and parents greatly, so they returned him to Rhodesia at the end of the year and made some other arrangements for his schooling.
Message from Adrienne Rudland on 17th.August, 2001:
"Lex's wife Mvorna or Voo as we call her took [the murder] very badly and needed counselling in London. With the help of adjustment by her parents who reside in Zim for 6 months and England for 6 months, Voo now works hard to keep the transport company viable and running successfully. They have avoided these latest troubles as the property lies on the western area of Chinhoyi. Renata [Dolly Rudland's granddaughter] flies to Italy tomorrow, to join the other members of the family for their holiday. Half of Jen's [Dolly's daughter] farm was burnt yesterday by the squatters. Nice thing to return to!"
Extract from an e-mail letter from Adrienne Rudland , 23rd.October, 2001.
"I printed out your letter and gave it to Sheryl, who is Mike and Beryl's daughter... I hope that the Marillier family and Voo might contact you as well. I might add that Voo has done so well, standing on her own feet and running the transport business to be highly successful, considering what traumas she endured with the brutal death of Lex."
THE MARILLIER FAMILY CONNECTION
The children of Jean Frederic Marillier who married Sarah, the daughter of Thomas Rosamund were: Frederic Jean Marillier = Elizabeth King; (2) Louisa Henrietta Marillier; (3) Philip Richard Marillier = Frances Ford (4)Jacques Gillaume Marillier; and (5) Jacob Francis Marillier
[Details will be found in HF2 HOWARD FAMILY (part one) under the section concerning Winifred May Howard.H2/5[3]b]
