CHAPTER SEVEN

GEORGE QUESTED'S CHILDREN

EMMA CAROLINE

 
Emma Caroline (255), the eldest child of George and Phebe Quested, was born on 26th January 1857, probably at Congella, before the family moved down the coast to the Isipingo district.  She was baptised at the church of St James, Isipingo, at the same time as her sister Eleanor, on 3rd October 1858.

Her home was at Stoney Hill farm some miles inland from Isipingo.  No information is available as to where she went to school but it is possible that she went to Durban, perhaps staying with her grandmother, the Widow Quested, or her aunt Harriet Whittaker, during term time.

It is assumed that when her father died in 1875 she went with the younger children to live with her uncle William at Forest Hill, Isipingo, and it is likely that she stayed on which him as housekeeper for a number of years up to the time in about 1896 when William sold his property to Edmund Pugh.

Emma married a man named George Duncan Browne (256) who was born in Scotland in March 1860.  Her was therefore about three years younger than she.  The date and place of the wedding has not been traced but the fact that when her aunt Harriet Whittaker drew up her will dated 24th March 1896, leaving Emma Caroline Quested £300 in Durban Corporation Debentures, suggests that Emma had not married by that time.

What is known about George and Emma Browne is that they went to live at Beaufort West in the Karoo area  of the Cape Colony.  George Browne suffered from chest trouble and that is almost certainly the reason why they went to live in the dry climate of the Karoo.

The Brownes ran a general store and café situated on the corner of Bird and Plantation streets in the town of Beaufort West.  An elderly lady of 75 years, Mrs Bothma, said in September 1973, that she remembered from her early days buying sweets at the shop from Mrs Browne.  Another elderly resident of the town stated she remembered the shop which was commonly known as Browne's Café.  A Mr G.H. Vivier said that he also knew Mrs Browne in her later years.

George and Emma were stated to have made many great friends amongst the Dutch inhabitants of the town, some of whom were customers at their store, and during the Anglo-Boer war the British authorities did not trust George because of this, so must so in fact, that he was eventually locked up in the local jail with some of his friends for the duration of the war.

It was recorded by an American journalist at the time that there was a danger of the Cape Dutch rising against the British in 1900 and the authorities at Beaufort West tried to raise a town guard of 200 men to quell any threatened disturbances, but this effort failed because they were unable to raise even a dozen men on whom they could safely rely as being entirely loyal to the Queen.

George's incarceration had a drastic effect on his health, as he was already a suffered from tuberculosis, and from this he never fully recovered.

A photograph of the Brownes has survived the years.  It was taken by a professional photographer, Henry Finch of Beaufort West, and it seems likely that it was taken at some time after the Anglo-Boer war.  Emma is shown to be fairly plump, with fairish hair, while George is shown to be a good-looking man with greying, receding hair, brushed straight back from the forehead, a moustache and a grey beard well trimmed.  The picture indicates that John was an invalid.  He died on 31st May 1904 at the age of 44 years and two months and was buried in the cemetery of the Dutch Reformed Church in Beaufort West.

There were no children from this marriage.

Emma continued to run the store and café for some years after George's death.  A Miss Isabella Fraser from Nairn, Scotland, lived with her and did the housekeeping.  Miss Fraser died in 1913.

Emma had some Jewish friends who lived close to the café and one of the sons, Jacob Dubowitz, starting farming on two farms west of the town.  These were Putfontein and Kroonplass.  After giving up the store and café when Miss Fraser died, Emma became housekeeper to Jacob Dubowitz for several years before he married.

She eventually moved back again into town and had her own small house where she was looked after by a Mr and Mrs Swanapoel.  Emma died in hospital in Beaufort West on 15th June 1937 and she left her house to the Swanapoels.

It is likely that she was buried in the same plot as her husband but unfortunately, some of the burial records have been lost and her death was not inscribed on George's tombstone.  She was in her 81st year when she died.

Near the Browne's home when George was still alive, lived a family named Vivier.  They were great friends and just after George's death Mrs Vivier had a baby daughter of whom Emma became very fond,  The child was to be named Beryl but at Emma's request she was christened Beryl Duncan Vivier in remembrance of George Duncan Browne.

Beryl was still living in Beaufort West in 1975 and much of the information concerning the Brownes was provided by Mr W.G.H. Vivier who is something of a local historian

 
GEORGE QUESTED'S CHILDREN

ELEANOR ELIZABETH AND THE PUGH FAMILY

 
Helena Hester Elizabeth (257), generally known as Eleanor, was the second daughter of George and Phebe Quested.  She was born on 23rd July 1858 and baptised at St James church, Isipingo, on 3rd October of that same year.

No information has come to light as to where she went to school.  It may be that she attended the church school at Isipingo but this is doubtful because it is difficult to visualise how she could have got from her home at Stoney Hill farm to school and back every day, a distance of some miles.  It is more likely that she went to school in Durban and stayed with her grandmother or her aunt Harriet during term time.

Eleanor's mother died in 1867, and in 1875, when she was about 17 years old, her father died also.  With her sisters and brother, she then went to live with her uncle William at Forest Hill, Isipingo.

At the age of 23, she married Edmund Glanville Pugh (258), who was then about 25.  Edmund was the son of Mr E.J. Pugh, who for many years had been schoolmaster of the church school at Isipingo.  Edmund was born in 1856 and it can be assumed that he attended his father's school.  On finishing school he was apprenticed to a bricklayer in Durban, where he remained to work at his trade for some years.

When Edmund's father retired from teaching, the family moved to Durban to run a boarding house in Smith Street, where they remained until Mr Pugh died in 1887.  Edmund apparently lived there with them until his marriage.

The wedding, which took place on 25th October 1881, was at Eleanor's home, Forest Hill, and one of the witnesses was Gertrude Matilda, sister of Edmund, who in 1874, had married Eleanor's cousin, William Richard Quested.  Thus, there was a double link between the Pugh and Quested families.

At the time of his marriage, Edmund had a piece of cane land at Isipingo and on the marriage certificate, he described himself as a sugar planter but it is evident that his real business was still that of a bricklayer because he continued in this trade for many years.  He is believed to have worked on a number of the larger buildings put up in Durban in those times.  It would appear, however, that he spent some period in 1886/1887 with his brother-in-law, William Quested, on the gold fields in the Transvaal.

Until about 1889, Eleanor and Edmund owned a house in St George's Street, Durban (sub A of 17 Block W).  They moved back to Isipingo about that time where Edmund continued working as a builder, except for a period about 1910, when for some time he became a compound manager at the Kynoch Explosives Factory at Umbogintwini.  By 1912 however he was back in the building trade and he worked on the construction of the Karridene Hotel.

It appears that Edmund had been renting a property at Isipingo until about 1892 or 1893 but then he bought Lot B of sub-division N of Isipingo Farm.  Could this have been part of the Quested Estate?  Also,  somewhere about 1895 or 1896 he bought from William Quested the Forest Hill house with about 13 acres of land surrounding it.  An agreement was made that William should continue to live there with Edmund and Eleanor for as long as he wished.  This he did, and he lived there until he died in 1913.

Eleanor had three children:

Ethel Matilda  (259)              Born on 4th October 1882.

Mildred Louisa (261)            Born on 14th September 1885.

Elaine Jessie (268)                Born in 1890.

In 1915 the Pugh's left Isipingo after having sold the Forest Hill property to Mr Baron Beaumont and they then lived at Umbogintwini.  Here, Edmund carried on with his building activities until about 1919 when he retired.  The family continued living there until 1938 when Edmund died at the age of 82 after having been admitted to St Mary's Hospital at Marianhill.  He was buried at Isipingo.

After Edmund's death, Eleanor went to live with her daughter Ethel Hesom in the Dundee district.  She died there at the age of 85 on 3rd January 1944 but was buried next to her husband in the cemetery at Isipingo.

Ethel Matilda Pugh had married Owen Hesom, third son of Robert and Mary Ann Hesom, who was born on 30th September 1878.  They lived at Whinstone farm in the Dundee area.  Ethel had five children.

Mildred Louisa Pugh married Alick George Airth Argo, aged 26, son of Charles Argo of Durban, at St James church, Isipingo, on 23rd October 1907.  Mildred had two children, Glen and Joy.

Elaine Jessie Pugh married Richard Fernside Bangay who father, Thomas Richard Bangay was at one time railway station master at Clairmont.  It is on record that T.R. Bangay sailed up to Sordwana Bay in the cutter Nellie from Durban in February 1889 to help to establish a harbour at that spot.  Unsuccessful, he and his African assistants returned to Durban after suffering many hardships and the death of his companion Mr Boast from fever.

Elaine had three children, Ray, Ruth and Coral.

Elaine died at the age of 94 and her funeral was on 15th June 1983.

 

GEORGE QUESTED'S CHILDREN

FANNY COULTER AND THE SHAW AND WOOD FAMILIES

 
Fanny Coulter (273) was the third daughter of George and Phebe Quested.  She was born on 19th September 1860 and was baptised at St James church, Isipingo, on 29th January 1865.

Her mother died in 1868 when she was still a child and after her father's death in 1875 when she was about 15 years old, she went with her brother and sisters to live with her uncle William at Forest Hill, Isipingo.

When she was 17 years old she had a child, a daughter, who was born on 3rd August 1877 and named Nellie Coulter.  The place of birth was given as Umgeni, Durban.  The particulars on the birth certificate are somewhat misleading because it states that Fanny's (married) name was Fanny Coulter and her maiden name was Fanny Taylor.  The father of the child is shown as James Coulter.  However, it is known that Fanny was not married at that time and the particulars are therefore fictitious.  Fanny's second Christian name was Coulter and the phoney name of Coulter appears to have been derived from that.

It seems evident there was a deliberate attempt at a cover-up by the informant, Fanny's uncle William, concerning the birth of the child, in order to disguise the fact that it was illegitimate and to hide the name of the natural father.  Who the father really was is not known although it has been rumoured that it was William himself but there is no proof of this and it is clear that the true facts will never now be known.

About a year after the birth of her baby, with the consent of her guardian, uncle William, Fanny married Joseph Shaw (274), who was then about 34 years old.  The marriage was by special licence and took place at her home, Forest Hill.  The ceremony was performed by the Durban Resident Magistrate, on 28th August 1878.

Joseph Shaw had come from Lancashire and was a butcher by trade.  He and Fanny went to live at Verulam where Joseph ran a butchery until about 1884 but he evidently gave up that business and the family moved to Durban where they ran a boarding house.  Joseph later returned to his former trade and from 1886 to 1900 had a butchery business at a shop in Berea Road.

Fanny and Joseph had two sons, George and Charlie Shaw.

In 1891 the family was living at 94 Palmer Road, Durban, and about this time Joseph died but from what cause is not known.

In the following year, on 15th December 1892, Fanny married again, this time at St Paul's church, Durban, her new husband being Joseph Henry Greenfield Wood (278),  who was described as a hotel keeper.  Witnesses at the wedding were Fanny's brother-in-law, Edmund Glanville Pugh and his father, the old retired schoolmaster from Isipingo.

Joseph Wood was born at Tongaat in 1868, the son of John and Elizabeth Wood, but nothing is known of his early years or the period up to his marriage.

He owned a number of properties in Durban and Pinetown, one of the latter being a portion of the old farm named Richmond at Fields Hill.

Fanny and Joseph lived at Kranskloof, the area now known as Kloof.  They had one son, Alfred, and three daughters, Minnie Elaine, Mabel and Eva Phoebe.

Joseph died at his residence at the comparatively young age of 42 years on 22nd September 1910, leaving all his worldly goods to his dear wife Fanny.  His estate realised the sum of £2,688.

Fanny then went to live at a property she owned in Bulwer Road, Durban, and so far as is known remained there until she died.

 

 

GEORGE QUESTED'S CHILDREN

LOUISA SUSAN AND THE GURNEY FAMILY

Louisa Susan, (287) born on 26th August 1862, the fourth and youngest daughter of George and Phebe Quested, was baptised at St  James church, Isipingo, on 29th January 1865 on the same occasion as her sister Fanny.

Louisa's mother died in 1868 when Louisa was about six years old and her father died in 1875 when she was about 13.  With her sisters and brother, she then went to live with her uncle William.  Forest Hill, Isipingo, then became her home until she grew up and married.

It is not known where she went to school but part of her education may have been obtained at the church school at Isipingo.

On 8th February 1881, at the age of 18, Louisa married Frederick William Gurney (288).  The wedding was at Forest Hill.  Witnesses to the signing of the register were her sister Eleanor and her cousin Harriet.

Frederick William Gurney, a son of Frederick and Frances Sarah Gurney, was born in Guernsey, in the Channel Islands, in 1851 but lived in England after he was about three years old.   He went to sea as a young man and eventually became third mate on the Queen of the Colonies, an old clipper ship of the Black Ball Line, running between London and Australia.

Becoming tired of the sea, Frederick joined the Cape Telegraph Service and after some time was transferred to Natal.  He was posted to Verulam as telegraph clerk on 24th February 1879.  During the Zulu war he had the task of keeping open the telegraphic communications while the fighting was going on in Zululand.  He was kept busy repairing the lines, which were often broken and which formed the only link for quick communication between the fighting forces in the field and the authorities in Durban and Pietermaritzburg.

Frederick (288) formed a liking for Verulam and on 11th July 1881, a few months after his marriage to Louisa, he was appointed permanent postmaster and telegraph clerk in that town with a salary of £150 per annum.  In 1891 he was appointed as clerk, special class, in the telegraph department with an increase in salary.  He refused all suggestions of transfer and remained for the rest of his career in the post office at Verulam until his retirement on pension in 1909, having served there for some 30 years.

After his retirement, he and Louisa continued to live at Verulam.  Frederick became a member of the Town Board and the Local Licensing Board, serving on these bodies until about 1914.

Louisa also took an interest in local affairs, particularly in social welfare, and was secretary of the Verulam Benevolent Society for some years up to about 1916.

Louisa had three children, all sons:

Eric Stillard (289) Born October 1889.

Oswald Roy (310) Born 1892.

Francis Quested (314) (known as Frank)

About 1913/1914, Frederick bought the farm Roseleigh at Beaumont from Andrew and Harriet White (172/3).  The latter was Louisa's cousin and had been a witness at Louisa's wedding over 30 years earlier. The farm was run for Frederick by Eric (289), the only son interested in farming.

Having left Verulam at last, Eric's parents joined him at the farm in 1916 and they then lived at Roseleigh for the rest of their days.

Frederick died on 29th January 1941 aged 90 and was buried at Stellawood cemetery, Durban.  Louisa died in 1951 in her 90th year.

When Eric was small he attended the local Government school in Verulam but then went on as a boarder to Maritzburg College.  Afterwards, he did a course at the Cedara Agricultural College before taking over the management of the farm his father had bought.  While Eric's parents were alive they lived in the original house at Roseleigh where Andrew and Harriet White had lived and Eric lived in the cottage known as Highcot, a couple of hundred yards away.  A number of years later Eric pulled down the old house because of it's dilapidated condition and then built his own thatched residence in a more modern style.

After his death in 1941, Frederick had left the property to his three sons but because the other two were not interested in farming Eric obtained a loan from the Land Bank and bought out his two brothers, thus becoming the sole owner of the farm.  A lot of development has taken place since then and for a good many years about 750 of it's 1,000 acres has been under sugar cane which does very well in that neighbourhood.

Eric married a Cape Town girl, Freda Hobbs, and she had four children:

Peter (291) Married Mary Davis.  They had two sons, Robert and James and a daughter, Susan.

Richard (301)    Married Mrs Wendy Hoffman, and had two children

David (296) Married Joyce Wright.  They had three children, a son Gregory (298), and two daughters Sandra Joy (299) and Patricia Jane (300).

Gillian (309) Married Derek Nicholson.

Eric's wife, Freda, died of lung cancer and some time after, because he needed someone to look after his children, he married again but the second marriage did not work out well and his second wife left to go off to England.

Eric died on 14th February 1980 in his 91st year and was cremated at Mountain Rise cemetery four days later.

Oswald, the second son of Frederick and Louisa, grew up in Verulam, going first to the local school before proceeding to Maritzburg College as a boarder.  On leaving school he joined the Natal Bank in Durban but when the first world war broke out in 1914 he handed in his resignation and joined the army, serving in the South African forces in both South West Africa and in the East Africa campaign against the Germans.  On returning to Natal after the war, Oswald joined the United Tobacco Company and remained with them until he retired on pension.  In 1922 he married Ellen Kyle who had been previously married and who had two daughters.  Oswald and Ellen had two sons, Alan and Desmond.  Alan lived in Bulawayo, Rhodesia, and Desmond in Durban.

Frank Gurney lived in what was Rhodesia and died there.

 

GEORGE QUESTED'S CHILDREN

THOMAS WILLIAM QUESTED

Thomas William, (319) the second son and youngest child of George and Phebe Quested, was born on 4th February 1866 and was baptised at St James church, Isipingo, on 11th March of that year.

His mother died when he was only a year old and his father died when Thomas was nine.  Thereafter, he and his sisters  having been adopted by his uncle William, went to live  at Forest Hill, Isipingo.

Thomas attended the church school in the village where his schoolmaster was Mr Pugh.  It is believed he left school at about the age of 12 after having had a violent quarrel with his teacher.  Family rumour says he struck Mr Pugh and it seems to have been mutually agreed that he had better not attend school any longer.  In this respect he appears to have been of much the same temperament as his older cousin, Frederick.

He then worked for some time with his uncle William on the sugar estate before obtaining a job in Durban. Later, he went to Johannesburg and got a job there but it is not known just what he did.  In the year 1890, however, when he was about 24, Thomas left South Africa for good when he became a member of the B.S.A. Police escort which was recruited to accompany the Pioneer Column on the famous trek to Mashonaland which resulted in the founding of the state that became known as Rhodesia.

Thomas Quested was a trooper in the 'C' Troop under Captain Roach, and their job on the trek was to escort and guard the pioneers while the latter were clearing trees and rocks to make a track for the wagons of the column, and to build and man the forts, such as Fort Victoria, which were to established at different points along the route.  Because Thomas was a good African linguist he also acted as an interpreter when the occasion required it.

The pioneers for Mashonaland were recruited from all parts of South Africa and some came from overseas.  They were offered high rates of pay for those times, 7/d a day and all clothing, food and equipment for the period of the trek, together with a promise of a 1,500 morgen farm for a nominal sum of £1 a year quit rent and the right to peg 15 mining claims on establishing themselves in the country.

The Pioneer Column was to be disbanded on reaching its destination which was Mount Hampden in Mashonaland.  Applications to join the pioneers were so numerous that the British South Africa Company could afford to be selective and the large number of would-be trekkers was whittled down to a total of about 190 men.  Because the pioneers were to be the future citizens of the country they included in their ranks men from all walks of life such as farmers, miners, builders, tailors, farriers, doctors, clergymen, lawyers, storekeepers and others.

The pioneers were mounted on horses and each man was issued with a rifle, pistol and axe.  At the same time some 500 men were recruited into the B.S.A. Police to accompany the column and thereafter to police the country when it was settled.  Many of those who were not selected as pioneers joined the police.

The pioneers commenced their training at Mafeking and at Kimberley before going on to Camp Cecil, north west of the Limpopo river, where they stayed for about two months to get accustomed to bush conditions.

The trek started from Bechuanaland on 20th June 1890 with Major Johnson in charge of the pioneers and Colonel Pennefather in  overall command of the whole force.  The well known hunter, Frederick Courtney Selous, went along as chief guide to the column because he knew the country, having made a number of previous expeditions to Mashonaland for hunting purposes.  

There were 117 ox-wagons and 2,000 oxen together with 200 African wagon drivers in the party.  For sustenance en route some 250 bullocks and 300 sheep were driven on the hoof.  Obviously the column did not expect to advance too rapidly.

The two-mile long column crossed the Ndebele frontier at Macloustie river and 20 miles further on had their first sight of Matabele warriors at Shashi river. The warriors watched the column closely but did not attempt to interfere or molest the pioneers in any way.

Proceeding north-eastwards and skirting Lobengula's territory, the column passed through the area which is now known as Fort Victoria, onwards to the fabled country of Monopotama where age-old rumour had it that gold in plenty was just waiting to be exploited.

After 10 weeks en route, on 12th September 1890, the column, with the exception of 'C' Troop of the police, which had been left behind to build Fort Victoria, encamped on a plain 10 miles south of Mount Hampden, near the Makabusi river, and it was decided that this spot would be more suitable than Mount Hampden itself for a permanent base.  The ox-wagons were laagered on the site where today stands Harare (Salisbury) cathedral.

On the following day, the 13th September 1890, there was a full dress parade of pioneers and police.  The Union Jack was hoisted and a salute of 21 guns was fired to celebrate the successful conclusion of the trek and the formal taking over possession of the country.

The building of Fort Salisbury was commenced immediately and after it's completion on 30th September, the Pioneer Column was disbanded, whereupon the pioneers scattered over the country in many directions as fancy took them, to search for gold or to stake out farms.  It was soon realised that food and medicines were in short supply it was some time before adequate replenishments could be made.  As a result of this many of the newcomers died from poor feeding and from fever and dysentery within the next year or so.

Thomas Quested left the police and became a transport rider, working for Messrs Johnson, Heany and Borrow, which firm had been the transport contractors for the pioneer trek into Mashonaland and which had big interests later on in mining and general development in the country.  Some time later Thomas became a trader in his own right in the Gutu-Chilimanzi area north of Fort Victoria.

In the war against the Matabele in 1893, which resulted in the downfall of Lobengula's kingdom, Thomas was a trooper in the Victoria Column under Major Alan Wilson.  By this time he had gained a good knowledge of the Mashona people and their language and Thomas "was an obvious man to lead a contingent of Mashona Friendlies in the Matabele war".  In fact, his men bore the brunt of the first attack by the Matabele at the battle of Shangani.  Thomas's men made a stand against the enemy which gave time for others to prepare for the fight.

"The respite that this first engagement gave to the other forces of the Victoria Column was considered valuable".  This was stated in the description of "The Downfall of Lobengula", by W.A. Willis and L.T. Collonridge, in the African Review, London, in 1894.  Another report stated that trooper Quested had a force of 250 native levies encamped near a captured cattle kraal.  They were attacked in darkness at 3.50 am, by a band of Matabele armed with rifles and assegais, who took the sleeping men by  surprise.  Quickly rallying his men, Trooper Quested and his levies broke the force of the attack on the Victoria laager and thus helped to save the situation.

Between 40 and 50 of his men were killed and Thomas was wounded in the left side, arm and thumb.  He was wearing a bandolier which was filled with bullets, and the enemy shot which hit him actually touched off one of his own bullets in the bandolier.  This bullet took off the top of his thumb.

Thomas's wounds were attended to by Dr Jameson, the administrator of the country, who happened to be near the spot at the time.  The doctor did a neat job of surgery but for the rest of his life Thomas had a shortened left thumb, with only a thin strip of nail, but the thumb was always very strong.

The bandolier that Thomas wore in the battle was still in the possession of his widow in 1973 and was seen by the writer.

In his book entitled "With Wilson in Matabeleland" Captain C.H.W. Donovan (1894) wrote that "Mr Quested had collected 200 native allies at Shakas Kraal not far from Shashi River on October 13th.  The Mashona contingents never showed up at any of the fights except those commanded by Messrs Quested, Brabant and Carruthers, but did valuable service in bringing up supplies of mealies and Mabela for the horses."

"All men in the Victoria Column were volunteers and received no pay after crossing the Shashi River but were allowed to claim a 3,000 morgen (6,000 acres) farm and the right to peg out 20 gold claims in the newly conquered Matabeleland and a share of half the loot captured from the Matabele."  Thomas later saw action with the Salisbury Column under Major Forbes.

It is on record that in 1895 Thomas registered 10 mining claims on the Monday Reef in the Bulawayo district but that he sold them within a few days.  It is surmised that he was more interested in farming than in gold mining and that he sold his claims to make some money.  

The farm which was eventually granted to him for his services during the Matabele war was the farm now known as Holmwood where his widow was still living in 1973, about five miles from the Plumtree post office, some 60 miles south of Bulawayo and close to the Botswana border.  For this farm Thomas had to pay a quit rent of £1 a year.  Records show that before this time he had farmed near Makalaka Kop where Fort Gibbs was built during the Mashona rebellion of 1896.  In the action Thomas served as a trooper in the Gwelo Burghers.

On 18th May 1907, when he was 41 years old, Thomas married Johanna Katherina Greeff (320), who was born in Matabeleland on 21st April 1886.  She was generally known as Katherine.  Her father was a contemporary of Frederick Selous, the hunter, who knew Frederick (Frikkie) Greeff in the early days of European penetration into Matabeleland when all hunters and traders had to obtain permission to enter the country direct from the Matabele King, Mzilikazi and later from his son Lobengula.

Frikkie Greeff was of Huguenot descent and was born circa 1849.  He became a trader, hunter and farmer.  He and his family were at Makwa on the Salt Pan road in 1877.  He and his family were at Makwa on the Salt Pan Road in 1877, and during the period 1884 to 1889 lived on John Lee's farm at Mangwe river.  This was where Katherine was born.  John Lee's farm was near the entrance to the Mangwe Pass, on the old road from Bechuanaland to Bulawayo, not far from where the township of Plumtree is today.  John Lee, a Dutchman in spite of his English sounding name, had been granted permission to farm at Mangwe river in the early days by Mzilikazi and was the first non-missionary white settler in the country.

At Mangwe, Frikkie Greeff bred donkeys in large numbers for supply to hunters and traders as pack animals, it being found that these animals stood up to sickness better than horses or oxen although they were still vulnerable to disease transmitted by the tsetse fly.

Frikkie Greeff was on friendly terms with Lobengula and visited the Matabele king from time to time seeking authority to hunt or trade throughout the country.  It was well known that President Kruger and the Transvaal Boers had tried to persuade Lobengula to resist the trek of the Pioneer Column to Mashonaland, and had offered assistance to such resistance.  In a publication written about those days it was stated that a man named Greeff claimed he had a paper from Lobengula asking for assistance from the Boers to stop the advance of the British forces but it would seem that nothing was ever done about it.  It would be interesting to know whether Frikkie Greeff was the man referred to and what became of this paper.  ("Origins of Rhodesia" by Stanlake Samkange.)  Katherine's mother was from a well known Jewish family named Marks, established in South Africa in the early days of the 19th century.

Thomas had a remarkable family likeness to his cousin Frederick Quested of Natal.  Photographs show him wearing the same type of goatee beard and although he was somewhat plumper in the face and general build the features and hair were very much alike.  In temperament also Thomas was much like his cousin.  He was said to have treated his African employees firmly but fairly and used to give them a beating when he thought they deserved it, but he held their respect.  There were still two old African retainers on the farm near Plumtree in 1973 who had worked there since they were very small boys.  These two old men spoke with feeling of the times when Thomas used to beat them but they stated he had been a good baas.

It is a family legend that as a boy, Thomas dreamed he would one day go to Matabeleland, marry a girl there and become a farmer.  He did indeed do all of these things.

In the course of time Thomas acquired other farms in the Bulalima - Mangwe area, not far from Plumtree.  The home farm was named Holmwood and the others were known as Jim and Highfield.

Cecil Rhodes knew the Questeds and in the house at Holmwood there was an old table at which he had sat when he was a guest at the Quested homestead.

Thomas Quested (319) was one of 23 persons who were made Freemen of the City of Salisbury in 1935.  This honour was conferred on people who had given exceptional service to their country in one way or another.  Thomas was also honoured by having a road named after him in the Southwold suburb of Bulawayo.

Thomas died after suffering from heart trouble at Holmwood on 25th February 1940, at the age of 74 leaving Katherine to continue running the farms.  When visited in 1973, Katherine described how she had shot a leopard which had killed about 16 of her young cattle.  She was then in her 1970's.   When being driven home one evening in the dark the truck lights reflected the eyes of an animal close by the roadside and Katherine, sensing this was the leopard, and having her shotgun ready for such an encounter, let fly and made a clean kill with one shot.  She kept the skull of the leopard but sold the skin for £30.

Katherine died on 8th August 1980 aged 94 years.

Katherine had seven children:

Eric (321)  Died in infancy aged eight months.

Louisa Gladys (322) Born 1909, died 31st May 1938.  She had been a shop assistant and lived at 57 Wilson Street,

   Bulawayo.

Gwennie (323)   Married Smith, by whom she had one son, Aubrey.  When Smith died she married Mullen and bore him three children, Andrew, Dawn and Bernadette.

Hilda Hazel (330) Married Thomas Goodwin and had three children, Vera, Ivan and another.  Hilda died in  1972.

William Everard (335)

Queenie (341)  Born on 7th October 1919.  Married Hay and  had a daughter, Felicity.

Lloyd George (344) Born on 27th January 1922.  Died 1968.  Married and had a daughter, Margaret and a son, Ian.  Served with the Southern Rhodesia  Armoured Car Regiment during the 1939-1945 war and fought in North Africa and Italy.  After the war he worked as a train conductor on the

   Rhodesian Railways.  Ian worked as a ladies hairdresser in Fort Victoria and Bulawayo.  He was married by divorced in 1979/1980.

Some of the Quested descendants left Rhodesia to live in South Africa and contact with them has been lost.

William Everard (335), generally known as Everett, was apprenticed as a motor mechanic after leaving school.  During the war years, 1939 to 1945 he was not allowed to join the armed forces and go overseas but was directed by the manpower authorities to continue as a mechanical fitter, first on the copper mines at Mufulira and then at  Broken Hill Mine in what was then Northern Rhodesia.

On 1st November 1941 Everett married Doris Rigg (336) at Bulawayo.  They lived at Broken Hill but in 1944 left there to live at Plumtree, and there they have lived ever since.  For many years Everett ran his own garage business in Plumtree.  This was known as Quested's Garage but it was sold in the early 191970's and Everett then confined himself to farming matters.

Later, because of the continuing terrorist activities in the area they left the farm and rented a house in Plumtree township.  The outlying farm had been ravaged by terrorists and much damage was done including the theft of about nine miles of wire fencing.  Fortunately, the cattle had been rounded up and sold some time earlier.  The home farm was security fenced and the two houses on it were used  by the security forces.

Everett and Doris have one son, David Everard (337), born on 16th April 1943.  After completing his schooling at Plumtree and in Salisbury, David followed in his father's footsteps and trained as a motor mechanic.  He worked in Bulawayo and lived at No. 9 Therresa Sly Avenue.  He married a nursing sister, Cheriel Stewart (338), on 8th November 1969 and they have two daughters, Jeanette, born on 14th May 1973, and Fiona, 19 November 1974.  This family now live in South Africa.