Colourful South African ancestry, the search continues

So my paternal ancestors arrived in South Africa on a ship aged 19 and 20 years of age. Yes they were colonisers and I apologise for that, but hell I do exist and it is interesting to know where I come from.

Great, great, great, great, great, great grandfather Stephen (19 years of age at the time) was a labourer and great granny (x8) Mary was 20 years old and according to the ship's list she is not given a profession, she is simply "the spouse" ... go figure?

They had no children. Thank goodness, because babies and young children often died during the 3-month voyage from England to South Africa. The Trollips travelled from Wiltshire to Portsmouth harbour on the coast of England from where they sailed on a ship called The Weymouth to Algoa Bay in the Eastern Cape.

My ancestors were part of the Hyman party. I have come across the group's motivation for why they should be picked to go to South Africa. (Times were tough in England where unemployment had hit an all-time high. There were 90 000 applicants and only 4 000 were accepted, so it's interesting to try and figure why my ancestors' application was accepted.)

Here is the Hyman party's motivation:

THE SETTLER PARTIES
HYMAN'S PARTY
 
No. 30 on the Colonial Department list, led by Charles Hyman, a labourer of Short Street, Westbury, Wiltshire. This was a joint-stock party made up of labouring men and their families from an area that was hard hit by unemployment and excited by the prospects of emigration. Hyman described to the Colonial Department the basis on which his party was formed: 'The eleven men are persons of an irreproachable character, each having some small property and being unwilling to be in actual servitude have unanimously chosen me their Representative - if we are allowed to proceed to the Cape tho', I will not boast of any superior Degree of Wisdom to some of the others (who are my Elders) yet going in this Brotherly way I make no doubt by our joint exertions we shall be able to surmount those difficulties which will naturally be in the way'.

Hyman assured the authorities that he had no selfish motive in assuming the direction of the party, other than 'to become settled on a piece of land I can call my own and Every Person going under my direction will enjoy everything equal with myself.' The parish authorities vouched for his good character, but there is no evidence that they contributed directly to his party's expenses.

Deposits were paid for 11 men who sailed from Portsmouth in HM Store Ship Weymouth on 7 January 1820, arriving in Table Bay on 26 April. Benjamin Trollip obtained employment in Cape Town, where he remained. A son of Daniel Farley was born and died at sea. The Weymouth reached Algoa Bay on 15 May, and the party was located on the right bank of the Lynedoch River, naming its location Standerwick. The three Wiltshire joint-stock parties under Hyman, Ford and James were exceptional among the settlers in remaining virtually intact under their original leaders for the first three years of the settlement; Hyman ascribed this to their 'having encouraged and cultivated a spirit of unamity (sic) amongst each other'.

LIST OF HYMAN'S PARTY
ADAMS, Edward 21. Mason.
DEBNAM, Isaac 38. Weaver. w Mary 39. c Eliza 17, John 16, Ann 13, Isaac 11.
FARLEY, Daniel 28. Labourer and naval pensioner. w Elizabeth 29. c William 5, Sarah 3, Joseph 2,
James (born and died at sea).
HYMAN, Charles 21. Labourer. w Elizabeth 26.
HYMAN, John William 16 (brother of Charles Hyman).
KING, John 23. Labourer and naval pensioner. w Eleanor 24. c John 2, Sarah 1.
NEAT, William 22. Labourer. w Susan 23. c Jane.
TROLLIP, Hester 18 (daughter of Joseph Trollip).
TROLLIP, John 22. Labourer. w Elizabeth 20.
TROLLIP, Joseph 38. Labourer. w Susan 39. c Benjamin 16, Rhoda 13, Jacob 11, Joseph 9, Mary Ann 7.
TROLLIP, Stephen 19. Labourer. w Mary 20.
TROLLIP, William 24. Labourer. w Patience 22. c Alfred 1.
WEAKLY, Joseph 27. Gardener. w Emma 26. c Mary 5, Joseph 3, John 1.

THE SETTLER HANDBOOK by MD Nash
http://www.genealogyworld.net/nash/hyman.html

I'm interested to know my extended ancestry including the De Wet side (my paternal grandmother) and the Venter side (my maternal grandfather) as well as the German settlers in my maternal ancestry (my maternal grandmother) the Kriedemanns came to South Africa in the 19th century from Wollin in East Pomerania in what was then part of Poland, settling along the Eastern border of the Kei River.

German settlements abounded encompassing in addition the current towns of Stutterheim, Cathcart, Berlin, Hamburg, Macleantown and many other smaller settlements that were swallowed up with the establishment of the "Homeland" of Ciskei by the apartheid South African Government which prompted the eviction of the ancestors of the Kaffrarian German Settlers from their historical farms in these districts.

http://www.safrika.org/kaffraria_en.html#BGL

We sure do live in an interesting country!

Water activists are always persecuted

This is Chinese environmental activist Wu Lihong sentenced to prison by a local court in retribution for a 10 year crusade against pollution in Lake Tai. Ironically, the lake has been suffering from a "pond scum" outbreak since May, verifying Wu's claims that the government and big business were polluting and endangering the ecology of a water system that provides water for over 2 million people.

What astounds me is the colour and content of the water in this image. If that isn't enough to put one off development then I don't know what is? Read more...

I came across Wu's information via Dr Bill Harding of DH Environmental Consulting who is doing wonderful work in South Africa, highlighting the state of our waterways. His blog is at: http://blog.dhec.co.za/

How to Avoid the Census

I received the following information on how to avoid the census. I'm not promoting this, I am just asking the question: Should one avoid the census?

What would be the reasons for wanting to avoid the census?

I know for a fact that governments are able to increase their loans from organisations like the World Bank, based on increased population stats. This allows us as a country to get deeper and deeper into debt. Should we do this? I don't like the idea of South Africa owing organisations like the World Bank billions of Rands.

Just a question!

Source: http://www.thinkfreesa.com/faq.php

How to Avoid the Census

1. Complete, print and sign this letter.
2. Give it to the Census worker when they arrive. Always be polite. They will probably threaten you if you don't comply.
3. This approach is called "conditional acceptance." You are agreeing in principle to do what you are told, but first you have a couple of questions that need to be answered. Of course they cannot answer these questions because to do so would be to reveal a betrayal of human rights.
4. If you wish, send this through to the Census authority first. Give them 7 days to reply and amend this letter accordingly depending on their response.

Dear Census Official, 
My name is [first name in lowercase, eg. John] of the family [surname in lowercase, eg. Smith]. I am a living, breathing sentient human being.
My research has led me to conclude that when my birth was registered, a corporate entity was created. This corporate entity is referred to as [write your title and whole name in all uppercase, eg. MR JOHN RONAN SMITH] with account number [insert your ID number] and is distinct from me, the flesh and blood human being. 
It is my understanding that my title, full name and ID Number represent a juristic person / corporation, and the record of this account is held at the South African Reserve bank using a master / slave computer software system. 
I have also discovered that my birth certificate is evidence of a financial instrument with a very real commercial value. This commercial value predicted by the amount of money I would earn as I grew up. Thus, it provides collateral for the South African government to float loans at interest without my knowledge or direct consent. 
If this holds true, then it stands to reason that a primary role of this Census is to re-evaluate my status as chattel property so that the South African Government can literally “sell” me and my fellow citizens to foreign bankers, as the governments of Iceland, Greece, Spain, Portugal, Ireland and others did to their own people.
My research indicates that the purpose of the first census in 1904 was to give names to indigenous people so that they could be granted rights by the existing government. However, in order to be granted rights, it makes logical sense that one would first have to be stripped of the natural rights that he or she was born with. After all, you cannot grant rights to someone who already has them by the mere fact that they are alive.
As I believe in full disclosure, I will therefore only take part in the Census if the following questions have been satisfactorily answered. 

1. Do I have a juristic person?
2. Is there an account in my name linked to my ID number held at the Reserve Bank, or any other government department?
3. Is there a bond or security registered in my name with a corresponding CUSIP number?
4. Does the South African government receive loans based the ability of its people (ie. me) to pay it back?
5. If yes, then:
1. How does the government calculate the value of its people?
2. How does the government connect me to the money that they have borrowed on my behalf?
3. Does this loan include interest? If it does, then where is the interest supposed to come from in order to pay back these loans?
4. Are any of the loans granted to the South African government created “out of thin air” using a book-keeping entry, or are 100% of all loans made using real, lawful money?
6. Is the data collected from the Census linked in any way to the granting of loans made by our government?
7. Is the census a form of contract? If so, please provide me with the terms and conditions of this contract.
8. Am I a flesh and blood human being born with natural human rights, or am I a slave with no rights whatsoever, except for those which are granted to me by the South African Government?

Please note that I am intelligent enough to know when my questions are being avoided. I will only accept real, valid and direct answers to my questions above.
Once I have received a suitable response, I will happily take part in your Census. 
Yours Faithfully,
[first name in lowercase, eg. John] of the family [surname in lowercase, eg. Smith]

In vitro to in vivo

In the office, an isolated biological element in glass
An experiment gone wrong
Creating something chimeric
Release the isolated genes
At dawn.

When we look again
They are sprouting everywhere
Wild and free
Walking through the open doors of our cages
At dusk.

Moving from in vitro to in vivo
Deliberate steps towards freedom
What would the non-human animals do?
I must follow
And trust.

Ex vivo and my heart
Separated from my body
Is the object of their gaze
Now lies bleeding on the hospital floor
At death.

Exploring the wonderful poetry of Mary Oliver

Meanwhile the wild geese, high in
the clean blue air,

are heading home again.

Whoever you are, no matter
how lonely,

the world offers itself
to your imagination,

calls to you like the wild geese,
harsh and exciting--

over and over announcing
your place

in the family of things.

-Mary Oliver

http://www.animas.org/whatIsSoulcraft.htm