RonWest on Family Tree Circles

For the last few weeks I have been tracing the possibility that a Nessbit family member married the Father of by Great Grandfarther, Thomas West because he named his son Thomas Nesbit West.

I presume this Nesbitt was an 1820 Settler to South Africa.

I have found Scores of Nesbitts and it is truly amazing how, through marriage and over two generations, a surname can become lost.

I have, once again, found no record of such a person and appeal to the Nebitt researchers to help me in this matter.

Having spent the last decade tracing my family it has come to light that my Grand Parents, Parents and myself - had spent a lot of time in the Bush and had also experienced Military Training in one or another aspect.

I have no doubt inherited my love for Hunting and Fishing, along with a keen sense of Bush Craft and a great appreciation for the outdoors. I can shoot extremely well and usually only carry one bullet because I do not take chances - an ability frowned on by 90 % of those that can sway power as being cruel to animals !

My delving into the past made a few things very clear, the early Settlers had a very hard time and many did not survive. Those that did survive made use of whatever came to hand and lived off the land for the best part of a 100 years before they managed to fully emerge from the bush.

My walk through the history of the 1820 Settlers to South Africa also opened a can of worms as far as old hatred was concerned. Whereas the Settlers disinherited the Locals of land that had been treated as Free Range, the Locals cared less about murdering women and children to revenge their loss.

I noted too that the Government of the Day considered Human Life to be very cheap when they dumped Wagon Loads of City Dwellers in the bush and expected them to farm the land and defend themselves with shovels and rakes, squashing attempts at improvment by outlawing trade with the Locals to raise Taxes.

Own-Rule was eventually introduced but by then the pickings were getting thin, leaving an economy where the Rich were Super Rich and the Poorest of the Poorest lived like animals - with a Middle Class that just managed to survive, lets leave the Politics there for now.

Many stories from the 1800's depicted hell-on-earth for those stuck in the bush, no infrastructure, no hospitals, no transportation - starving with no-way-out. Families moved on or just simply died-out due to the lack of security,food and healthcare. Many children were left to survive on their own because there was no support in place to care for poor or destitute people.

When the Locals took up arms against the Army, the isolated Farmers were wiped out or their belongings burnt to the ground, making it impossible for the Farmers to rebuild in an economy that offerd no support, noloans and no security.

Whereas many people died, those that managed to survive were indeed heroes in their own way because they had had the ability to turn disadvantages to their benefit. Surviving off the land and thriving in a rural setting where they could live on the smell of a second-hand oilrag !

Now these were the founders of our society who passed-on the survival knowledge to their sons. It has oft been said of me that I have Farming Blood because of my love for the old ways but, Animal Murderer or Butcher in some eyes,I am what I am which is truly proud of the sacrifices made by the Old People.

I grew up in Grahamstown in the Eastern Cape South Africa.My father,uncles and aunties were born there too but have moved on all over the world and many have since died.My Grandpa was born in Bathurst, about 40 km from Grahamstown, so was his wife, brothers and sisters.

We have a very large family and I know only about 6 of them whereas there should be about 300 or so living relatives - that is the extent to which the uncles and aunties split up !

I have been searching for details of my Great Grandpa for about 30 years, my elder sisters have been doing that for much longer. My late mom also did a lot of digging because such things interested her. In all you can say we have tried to establish Great Grandpa's details for about 50 years - without success.

I have done vast amounts of follow-ups but each West lead strays away from my Bathurst-born Grandpa. Manny have tried to help, this is how I traced a number of other family members but unfortunately nothing was revealed about my Great Grandpa Tom West. There are a lot of ideas - some say his name was hashed in order to protect the real father, others say he was slave-born, some think he abandoned the family after Grandma's death in 1917.

So far I managed to establish the following:

Great Grandpa Tom West - no records at all !
Great Grandma Catherine Maria Hayward who appears to have been married to John Wright (married 7/9/1885)
at that time. Catherine died in 1917 and John in 1916. there wer 4 children, eldest was
Joseph Midfor Wright, then Annie gertrude Ellen(West ?), Samuel Gordon (West ?)
and Thomas Nesbit (who took the surname West and went by the name Nesbitt)

Grandpa Thomas Nesbit West who married Lilian Bertha Watkins
Children Freda - moved to Britain, Dauphne - moved to Britain, Shiela - stayed in Grahamstown,
Patricia - address unknown, Yvonne - moved to Red House near Port Elizabeth, June - moved
to Johannesburg, Cynthia - Address unknown, Osswald - moved to Kingwilliamstown,Ronald -
stayed in Grahamstown, Colin - moved to Somerset West,Terrance - moved to East London
Emlin - stayed in Grahamstown and then in Port Elizabeth and Errol - moved to Port
Elizabeth.
Dad Ronald West of Grahamstown
Me Ronald West jnr recently of Kingwilliamstown
Sisters Lyne Henson of Grahamstown
Yvonne Palmer of Cedarville near Kokstad
Daphne Williams of Port Elizabeth
Nesta Redmond of Kingwilliamstown
Enigma Catherine appears to have still been married to John who was about 30 years older than her
at the time that the last three children were born. some records show them as Wright,
others show no father. The youngest child took the surname West and Tom West is indicated
as his step-father.

An enigma.

Tom West had three children from Catherine Wright of Bathurst, 1820 Settler in South Africa.
The surviving son was Thomas Nesbit West, born about 1901 - my Grandfather.
Catherine was a Hayward of British decent, probably 2nd generation South African and her family records are intact.

Thomas Nesbit West in turn had manny children and their details can also be accounted for.

However, no-one knows where Great Grandfather Tom West come from, what his full names are or where he was buried. It has been suggested that he was related to the Nesbett-West family hence naming his eldest son in that manner.
It is also not known if Tom West actually married Catherine Wright because Mr. Wright died in 1916 - 15 years after the birth of Thomas Nesbit West !

Research has proved futile - there are hundreds of Wests but no match for a Tom that married a Catherine.