View entry
Name:
General Information:
Willie Joubert Willem Hendrik married Grandma Alida Elizabeth Johanna Joubert. They settled in Bethal on a farm and began to rebuild after the war. On Oct. 5, 1905, their first child was born. It was a boy and he was named as the custom was after his paternal grandfather, Hendrik Nicolaas Janse van Rensburg. He later married Babie van der Merwe and farmed in Kenya on the white highlands. The oldest sister, named after her maternal grandmother, Anna Elizabeth Johanna Janse van Rensburg, followed him on June 4, 1907. Aunt Anna married Piet Prinsloo in Kenya and years later was the matron at the boarding school in Kenya where brother Johan and I went in 1958. The third child was a son born Oct. 17, 1908. Gideon Janse van Rensburg was named after his maternal grandfather, Gideon Joubert. He married Susanna (Sannie) Enslin in Kenya. The family continued to grow as Ouma van Rensburg gave birth to Elsie Magdalena (Ella) on Aug. 27, 1910. True to tradition she was named after her paternal grandmother (Elsie) Elsje Magdalena (Barnard) and she later married Gerrit Roets in Kenya. The fifth child was a boy and therefore named after his father, Willem Hendrik Janse van Rensburg. Uncle Willie was born on July 4, 1912. He married Anna Steenkamp in Kenya. A fourth boy followed when Christiaan Gerhardus was born on March 17, 1914. Tradition would have been to name him after his paternal great-grandfather, but the name was already taken by uncle Hendrik, because the Janse van Rensburg grandpa and great-grandpa shared the same name. Therefore, he was named after his maternal great-grandfather, Christiaan Gerhardus Joubert. He was bachelor for most of his life and later married a widow, Hannie, in South Africa. After him Lucas Willem (named after his great-great-grandfather) was born on March 15, 1916. Uncle Lukas never married. The string of boys was broken when the third girl arrived. Again, true to tradition she was named after her mother, Alida Elizabeth Johanna Janse van Rensburg. Mom was born in Bethal on January 29, 1919 and married Dad in Nairobi on November 27, 1942. In 1924 when Mom was about 6, the family followed other family and friends who had moved to Kenya and we will follow that part of the story later. However, we must note that after Mom, Grandma gave birth once more when Stephanus Johannes was born May 2, 1925 in Kenya. Interesting, grandma was just shy of her 47th birthday when she gave birth to him! He married Emily van der Westhuizen in East Africa.