SUMMARISED TRANSLATION OF ARTICLES IN EDITION 114/MAY 2013 OF THE "ONS HAANTJIE" NEWSLETTER OF THE HENNING FAMILY LEAGUE

Die Plaas De Keur in die Brakrivier Wyk/The Farm De Keur in the Brak River Ward

Gert Frans Henning *April 1785 was the seventh child of the progenitor, Pieter Hendrik Henning. Gert and his youngest brother, Daniël Stephanus each farmed on a portion of the old family farm, Elandskraal in the Graaff-Reinet district until 1823, when their father died. As history taught us weather patterns in South Africa move in cycles with several dry years followed by a few wet years and all farmers are dependant on good rain years to survive. In 1821 a drought started in the Graaff-Reinet district. By 1824 Gert Frans could not survive any longer and decided to move. We trace his tracks again in the 1825 income tax returns of the Brak River Ward, where he owns and live on the farm De Keur. This farm can be found approximately 43 kilometres East-South-East of Middelburg. On the road between Middelburg and Steynsburg you turn to the righ at the Schoombee siding. One must remember that in those days this area was still outside the borders of the Cape of Good Hope Colony.

His wife died in 1827, with the birth of their fifth child, Gert Frans. As a man and farmer it must have been very difficult to cope with five children of whom the youngest was a baby so far away from civilization. On a neighbouring farm lived a Olivier family ..... and they had a fifteen years old daughter - Gerbreg Leviena, born 26-2-1812! In 1828 Gert Frans proposed to this girl - now 16 years old. She was younger than his oldest child, Pieter Hendrik who was born in 1811. At the end Gert Frans Henning and Gerbreg Leviena Olivier were married for longer than 45 years and they had 10 children.

In 1834 the next big drought started and lasted until 1838. By this time it was a real crisis to survive and the Henning family decided to move again. They tried to settle near Norvalspont, but it was unsuccesful. Thereafter they moved to the Kramberg mountains where they settled in 1841 on a farm Gert Frans named Damfontein. Gert Frans and his descendants lived here for more than 100 years.

But to return to the farm De Keur in the Middelburg district - one of our members, Piet (b7.c2.d3.e5.f2.g3. Pieter Emile) Henning decided during November 2012 to go on holiday and visit as many as possible of the old Henning farms in the North-Eastern Cape we could trace. He found the farm De Keur. The present owner is Fred and Rosemarie Jordaan. According to the title deed in possesion of mr Jordaan, Gert Frans just moved away in 1838, without selling it. This shows how desperate he must have been. It is ironic, because in 1839 good rains started falling again.

Henning Boer in Zimbabwe al sy grond kwyt/Henning Farmer in Zimbabwe robbed of all his farms

A few days before Christmas 2012 a South African farmer (b1.c6.d14.e2.f4. Pieter Bernhard Henning) who owned land since 1965 in Zimbabwe heard that he lost all his land in that country. A Zimbawean court found him guilty of occupying land belonging to the "State". This was in fact his own farm in the vicinity of Chiredzi. He was also fined $100 (American) - ± R850.00 which had to be paid before he could leave the court. He was also instructed to remove all his belongings from the farm as soon as possible.

His farming equipment was confiscated earlier. The biggest portion of this farm of 81 ha was confiscated in 2003. They even took the crop. Piet and his son Greig were progressive farmers for many years on three farms. One of these farms have already been destroyed in total.

Piet told the reporter of the newspaper Rapport that he now owns nothing anymore in Zimbabwe. You have to accept that white people may not own any property in Zimbabwe. To appeal is very costly, difficult and risky.

Kmdt L.A.F. Henning/Cmdt L.A.F. Henning

Since Olivier Henning started with his research on the Henning families of South Africa in 1980, he realised that he wanted to find out who was the Henning pilot who died in 1971, together with several other Air Force members, when three aircraft crashed into Table Mountain. Since then he found out that this was b1.c6.d12.e3.f2. Lourens Adriaan Francois Henning * 17-8-1930. He also obtained the names of the wife and children of Lourens, but all of them disappeared from the earth. No where could he get any address or telephone number of any of them.

Two years ago, during 2011, fourty years after the accident we enquired in Newsletter 105 of February 2011 if any of our members have any knowledge of this family. We wanted to recall this accident. We received no response, but towards the end of 2012 we received a E Mail from Martin Viljoen. His letter follows:

"I came across your website while I was searching the web for information on the family of the late Cmdt. L.A.F. Henning. Up until his tragic death, Cmdt. Henning and my father had been very close friends. My father, Brijan Alwyn Viljoen, is now 83 years old and living in Fish Hoek. They served together in the SAAF in Pretoria sometime between 1963 and 1968. I was very young at the time, but have very fond memories of the Henning family. I was also most privileged to have been taken up for a flight in the State President's Viscount, flown by Cmdt. Henning. I was sitting on my father's lap, who often jokes about me having fallen asleep shortly after we took off, and only woke up when the plane touched down again on the runway! I can remember the day of the tragedy clearly. We were living in Greytown, Natal, at the time. My father was devestated at receiving the news. I don't think he has ever quite come to terms with the tragic loss of his very dear friend. They say that time is a great healer, but I know that a part of my father died that fateful day.

Unfortunately my father lost complete contact with Rhona and the children over the years, and he too has often wondered whatever may have happened to the family. I read that you were also appealing for some information on the family (your newsletter no. 105/2011 refers.) Unfortunately I have no idea as to the current whereabouts of any of the family, and I too would greatly appreciate receiving any information that you may have received in response to your appeal. All I am able to offer you is a copy of a family photograph that I found amongst my father's personal treasures. Judging from the age of their youngest son, Jan Steyl, it would appear that the photograph must have been taken sometime either late 1969 or early in 1970. The only other small piece of information that I have managed to unearth is a reference to the South African Government Gazettes numbers 18937 dd 05 June 1998 and 19146 dd 21 August 1998 wherein they unfortunately make reference to the deceased estate of a Jan Steyl Henning. I have only come across this information very recently, and have been unable to obtain copies of the said Gazettes in order to confirm a date of birth in order to confirm whether or not the Jan Steyl is the one and the same person. This information could possibly provide some clues in the search for the remaining family members. I shall continue searching, and shall certainly let you know if I find any more useful information. Likewise, I would greatly appreciate receiving any further news that you may be able to unearth."

We are delighted with the photo and will follow up on the death of Jan Steyl Henning, but unfortunately the oldest son, Lourens is still missing. We accept that the three girls are married and today have other surnames.

Ons Eerste Argentynse Henning Lid/Our First Argentinian Henning member

We know that four Henning families emigrated to Argentina in 1905. In Argentina their numbers increased considerably, but by 1938 most of these Henning's returned to South Africa. We were aware of a few Henning families and individuals who stayed behind.

The father of Piet (P H) Henning of Strand, who serve on the management committee of the family league was b6.c1.d3.e5.f3.g4. Juan Enrique (Jan Hendrik) Henning *17-4-1917. He remained in Argentina in 1938 because he still had to do his National Service. He later returned, but his (first) wife and daughter Angela Elena (h1)(Lita) *12-8-1941 stayed in Argentina.

Piet decided that Lita's Afrikaans is still good enough to be enrolled as member of the family league. The letter in the Afrikaans newsletter is proof of this: For somebody who have never lived in South Africa or have officially studied anything in Afrikaans her use of the language is remarkeble.

Lita was born in Comodoro Rivadavia. In 1962 she married an Argentinian, Francesco Luzzi, but they got divorced in 1965. Since then she is single and lives in Cordoba. She worked the tourist industry. She has one son, who is a classical concert pianist in Brazil. We would like to welcome Lita as the first Argentinian member of the family league.

Henning Kasteel, Karnin, Duitsland/Henning Castle, Karnin, Germany

Since the last Henning family of Karnin, in Mecklenburg, Vorpommern, in Germany was driven away from their farm in 1945, the farm house (a huge castle) was used as a regional headquarters of the Russian occupying forces. In due course it became the regional offices of this region in Eastern Germany. With the unification of the two Germany's in the 1990's the building was evacuated and no longer maintained. It became very dilapidated, but was sold. Recently we received a letter from the present owner, a Mrs Regina Mayerhoffer:

We supplied the names of the rightful owners of the Karnin Estate to mrs Mayerhoffer. Herbert (80) and Margita (75) Henning of Munich, Germany are big friends of the family league. Recently they made another good donation to the family league.

2012 Matrieks/2012 Matrics

We reported in the previous newsletter that 2012 produced the smallest Henning matric class since the family league was established, with only 35 Henning's. 2010 produced the previous smallest class with 37 Henning's. In the mean time we learnt that three addistional Henning children passed matric in 2012 in Natal. Unfortunately the newspaper only give their initials and the name of their school, therefore we cannot identify these children. This means that the 2012 class was not the smallest - 2010 still keep this unfortunate record.

Lutherse Kerk, Ventersdorp/Lutheran Church, Ventersdorp

A report concerning the escheat of the Lutheran mission church near Ventersdorp appeared in the newspaper, Beeld on 3 February 2013. The church building and the vicarage is not used any more, but is still the property of the Lutheran church. The neighbouring farm owner and businessman, Ernst Henning told the reporter of the newspaper that this church was for many years a real sanctuary, but became so dilapidated that it is now a den for criminals. "They melt copper wire and slaughter stolen sheep here. The premise is used as a hide-out and cache for criminals". He is of the opinion that the only solution is to demolish all the buildings and sell the land. Henning has no connection with any of the old Henning clans in South Africa. He is the grandson of the first German missionary who came to South Africa in the 1920's, to work from this church in the old Western Transvaal. Ernst's father was buried from this church in the 1990's and he himself played here as a child. According to Henning the dilapidation began when the last misionary left in the middle 90's. For sentimental reasons he maintained the buildings out of own pocket. Some years ago he made an offer to the Lutheran church to buy the property, maintain it and make it free of charge available to the church. His offer was declined. The decision was that the property would be sold on an auction, but this never happened. According to Dr Wilhelm Weber, head of the Lutheran Church in South Africa the church management can not prescribe to regions and congregations. The congregation at Ventersdorp consist of black members and ownership of land is an emotional matter for them. Weber himself was in favour of Ernst Henning's proposal, but he can not take the decision. It wil take time to talk and convince those involved.

Soektog na 'n vreemde Henning/Search for an unknown Henning

Rosa Swanepoel is busy with research on the history of Pretoria. Every month she issue a newsletter with very interesting new information on the city. In her February and March 2013 newsletters she report on the businesses on the Northern side of Church Street between Queen Str and Van der Walt Str between 1880 and 1899. Her report is suplemented by several photographs from different times. Between approximately 1880 and 1890 one of these buildings belonged to a Wilhelm Henning. He was a "wine and spirit merchant" - therefore a liquer store. Rosa even supplied a list of happenings where this Henning was involved:

1880-12-30 In 1880 during the First Anglo Boer War he was a member of the Pretoria Rifle Volunteers. No 6 Company. 1881-10-19 Wilhelm Henning and F M Moore married on 12 Oct 1881
1881-06-11 W Henning sign an address to Pres Brand on his visit to Pretoria
1882-09-02 W Henning. A daughter was born on 29 August 1882
1883-05-05 He attended a political meeting of JC Preller
1883-12-14 W Henning make a donation to the Java disaster fund
1884-01-11 W Henning sign the nomination of H W Struben for the House of Assembly
1884-05-23 W Henning serve as member of the Jury in the Lohner theft case
1889-10-16 W Henning donate a prize for a competition of the "ZA Schiet-vereeniging" (target shooting)

We were interested where this Wilhelm Henning fitted into the Henning picture, but did not have him on record at all. We were also sure that his death was never recorded anywhere in South Africa. If you study his profile from the information available, it is clear that he does not fit in the South African Henning picture. During the 19th Century all Hennings were farmers, with only three exceptions who had other occupations. It was unheard off for a Henning to be associated with a liquerstore. This Henning joined the British forces during the First Anglo Boer War, while all South African Henning's living in the ZAR and Orange Free State Republic were loyal republicans.

We also investigated if he perhaps had any relationship with any of the unlinked Henning's we had on record. For a moment we thought that we had the link. We have the death register of Johan Wilhelm Henning *Oct 1839 and his wife Louisa Frederika Lang * 10 Jul 1843 who were both born in Germany. Johan died in January 1916 in Cape Town. He was the owner of a buthery. His wife Louisa died in 1919. They had six children - the first five were girls and the sixth a boy. Johan's death register gave his name as Wilhelm, while Louisa's register gave his name as Peter Wilhelm. We were convinced that the Wilhelm Henning who landed up in Pretoria could not have been the sixth child of Louisa Henning (born Lang). The age difference is too small.

We, therefore, suspected that Wilhelm Henning was one of the foreign adventurers who descended upon the ZAR after the discovery of gold. He and his wife and child must have fled before the second Anglo Boer War broke out.

Geldsake/Money Matters

As usual we mention with thanks the names of members who donated amounts of R300.00 or more over the past three months:

• P B (Pieter) Henning of Sinoville, Pretoria - R300.00
• J S M (Jan) Henning of Lyttelton Manor - R300.00
• J C (Jacobus) Henning of Noordstad, Bloemfontein - R300.00
• P H (Piet) Henning of Strand donated R600.00 on behalf of himself and his sister Lita, who lives in Argentina
• C B (Neels) Henning of Tampa, Florida, USA who is a lifelong member donated $100. When the transfer took place, the exchange rate was ± R8.80 = $1.00, therefore ± R880.00. However, after bank - and transfer charges were deducted an amount of R729.33 was deposited into our account
• R T (Runa) van Straaten (born Henning) of Doringkloof, Centurion - R400.00
• Herbert and Margita Henning of Munich, Germany - R500.00
• W (Wiena) Wilkinson of Paarl - R300.00
• L D (Leon) Henning of Drieriviere, Vereeniging - R300.00

Many thanks to our two members who keep on donating by means of a monthly debit order - Jan Andries Henning of Leraatsfontein and Jan Hendrik Henning of Glenstantia, Pretoria. We have also noticed that emeritus Past Antonie Henning of Rietfontein, Pretoria, who is an honorary member, also started donating by means of a monthly debit order. Thank you Antonie. Your gesture is greatly appreciated.

Tant Driekie Alberts/Aunt Driekie Alberts. b9.c1.d4.e6.f1.

Frederika Wilhelmina Alberts (gebore Henning) *30-6-1913 of aunt Driekie as she is known is at present the oldest Henning in South Africa. On 30 June she will be one hundred years old! She will only be the fourth Henning who have attained this milestone.

The first Henning who reached one hunderd years was b1.c6.d6.e1. Johannes Stephanus Henning (uncle Hansie) *3-2-1871 of Rouxville. He died nine months after his hunderdth birthday after he was strong and healthy his whole life long. He even made a strong speech at his birtday party.

b5.c4.d7.e1.f1. Gertruida Susanna Steenkamp (gebore Henning) *4-9-1906 of Benoni died one week after her 101th birthday. She was a well known opera singer.

Aunt Kleintjie Henning (Helene Maria, born Terblanche) was the second wife of b1.c3.d7.e9. Nicolaas Johannes Henning. She was born on 25 July 1896 and only died during November 1997 at Brakpan.

It is known that b1.c3.d10.e3. Jan Hendrik Henning born 12-3-1870 of the farm Klaarwater, in the district Rouxville (also known as Jan Klaarwater) died in the age of 99 years and one month.

It is well known that aunt Driekie Alberts is very proud of her ancestors. She always tried to attend all Henning gatherings we had in or near Pretoria. At present she lives in the Huis Agape old age home in Pretoria, where the staff under control of mrs Elize Lombard look well after her.. Her health is, under circumstances, quite good but her mind is from time to time in disorder and incoherent. However, when her sister Maria, or other family members, talk about earlier days, her mind becomes clear and she remember many things from the past.

The management committe of the family league would like to congratulate aunt Driekie with this exceptional milestone. She was definitely a role model and example for all of us.

Sterftes/Deaths

b5.c1.d3.e1.f7.g4. Hermanus Francois (Herman) Henning *30 December 1932 of Rietfontein, Pretoria was diagnosed early in December 2012 with colon cancer. He postponed the operation so that he could give his oldest daughter away on her marriage day on 30 December 2012 - which was also his 80th birthday. Although he was very weak, he succeeded in doing it.

He was operated on 23 January 2013, when they also diagnosed cancer of the liver. He was discharged from the Kloof Hospital on 31 January 2013 and his wife of the past 52 years looked after him at home until his death on 12 February 2013.

Herman was a pious and righteous person, a family man who lived for his family and set them always first. He had an exceptional knowledge of the Anglo Boer Wars and a huge passion for the Springboks and the Blue Bulls. He also had a high regard for the Henning Family League. His wife, three daughters, one grand child and one great grand child will always have fond memories of him.

Babas/Babies

It came to our attention that b1.c6.d3.e7.f8.g2.h4. Abraham Stephanus Henning *2-6-1982 and his wife, Marié of Doornpoort, Pretoria had a second baby. Lizey was born on 23 March 2012 in the Montana Hospital, Pretoria.

b7.c8.d8.e3.f5.g1. Stephanus Rudolf (Rudolf) Henning *17-9-1972 and his wife Eldene of Bellville had a second baby daughter - Nicolene - on 15 February 2013. Rudolf also has a daughter - René (11) - from his first marriage.