Antonie du Toit's Family History

Welcome to my family history site

My parents are Jan Hendrik DU TOIT and Emmarentia PAULSEN. I am an admitted and practising advocate in South Africa and I also hold a New Zealand practising certificate as a conveyancer. I lived and worked in New Zealand for nearly ten years. About 5 years ago I decided to do my Du Toit family tree. Once I completed my line to Pierre du Toit the bug really bit me and I started work on my complete South African tree. I am doing it in phases. The first phase is nearing completion and that is all my ancestors in South Africa from the date they arrived in South Africa. The second phase will be a retirement project in which I hope to travel to Europe and research the European ancestry.

Family reseach is time consuming and hitting brick walls all the time. If you fill a gap in your tree, two more gaps appear. You discover things that makes you proud to be a descendant of a person and stuff that makes you not so proud.

You find skeletons that some family wanted to remain buried, but ultimately it has to be uncovered to get the picture of who you are, where you are from and where you fit into the big picture.

I have spent numerous hours in research and as stated before it is a never ending process and as addictive as any drug out there. I am now helping a number of friends with their trees. I have spent hours on the net, in libraries, in archives and at the LDS Family History Centre at Parktown.

I have received help from a large number of people like Alet Swanepoel (in Canada), Dr Marthinus Jordaan (in Bloemfontein), members of GSSA and the Family History Center of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Parktown.

My maternal great grandmother was Emmarentia Cornelia McCRATE. As I could find only little information of the McCrate family in South Africa, I decided to compile a family register (including female descendants) of all John McCRATE's descendants. I have now completed the first 2 generations and am nearly finished with the 3rd generation. I wish to thank Michelle McCrate, her father Robbie and my grandmother's niece, auntie Emmie Goosen (born McCrate) for their inputs and help.

If any of the information is incorrect and/or if you have any further information please do not hesitate to contact me, to add and/or rectify it.

I hope you enjoy this site and that it is helpful in your own research.

GLOSSARY OF GENEALOGY MAILING LIST TERMS

BMD - The abbreviated term for Births, Marriages and Deaths can either refer to classifieds sections in newspapers or official notices at the archives.

Death notice - Usually refers to the official document required to be filed after a relative (or, in the absence of one, the person present at death) dies, but can refer to newspaper notices.

EGGSA - The online version of the Genealogical Society of South Africa, from which back copies of Familia can be purchased on CD. Also called "Genealogy without Frontiers".

GISA - Genealogical Institute of South Africa, an ongoing study of SA families which relies heavily on researcher contributions. They have 17 volumes and are up to Volume "Z".

Familia - The quarterly journal of the GSSA, which has been covering articles like genetic disorders, cemetery riots and missing links since 1964.

Genealogy widow/widower - The other half of a married pair who spends his/her life wishing the research half would come to bed instead of making out with the PC. Equivalent to the spouse of a armchair sportsman or heroin addict.

LDS – Abbreviation for the Church of Latter-Day Saints, the Mormon church which has transformed millions of couch potatoes worldwide into BMD transcribers.

NAAIRS – Officially stands for National Automated Archival Information Retrieval System, which searches the National Archives of South Africa.

Progenitor - Broadly the English translation of stamouer, but can incorporate as few as three generations of a family, depending on when the first member of the family was born in SA.

SAG - South African Genealogies: an unrepresentative, but comprehensive, genealogy bible of colonial ancestors post-1652.

Stamouers – Those who have the sometimes dubious distinction of being responsible for the procreation up to 13 generations of South Africans; usually used for Dutch, German or French ancestors, but doesn't exclude slaves or other nationalities. Broadly the Afrikaans translation of "progenitor".