John “Jack” Wood Braithwaite

Posted on July 10, 2012 by JamieBee

just before bed Oupa was reminiscing about visiting his Grandparents twice a year in South Africa. Then we started talking Family History.

I asked David if he knew why his Grandpa went to South Africa? He said he was young and wanted adventure in a new country. I let him know that I have been researching his line and that John “Jack” Wood Braithwaite came to South Africa with his brother and sister (who eventually went back to England). I showed him the family tree. He had no idea there were siblings and was pretty excited to learn.

We also talked about Hartley. The name comes from John “Jack” ‘s brother. So Hartley (08.08.08) was named after his Uncle. David would like to find Hartley Braithwaite’s first wife and daughter. David remembers Learning that Hartley was married for less than a year when he was 19 years old and they had a baby girl. The first wife’s sister’s name he believes is Blanch(e) Boom from Pretoria, Transvaal, South Africa. The daughter would have been born around 1928ish. David said that Annie Braithwaite’s mom Margaret Braithwaite was very close to the family and she knew more details – he wishes he had asked before she died.

David said his Father Hartley got back into the Army in his 30s. He probably had to lie about his age (because he was too old) but he wanted to fight in the war.

David said his mother did not speak Afrikaans well and his father made fun of her for it. She would use strange words making fun of the language.