Elsje Catharina (Bland) Blake (1832 - 1879)

Born 6 Jul 1832 in Cape Colony

Ancestors

Wife of Albrecht Johannes Rens — married 27 Jul 1852 in Mossel Bay, Cape Colony

Wife of Matthew John Blake — married 30 Sep 1856 in Cape Town, Cape Colony

Died 29 Jan 1879 at age 46 in Tulbagh, Cape Colony

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Desmond William Kelly Lynch [send private message]

Biography

Elsje Catharina was born on 6 July 1832 in the Cape Colony; she was the daughter of John Benjamin Adam Bland and Cecilia Frederick (du Plessis) Bland. She was baptised in George on 18 November 1832.

She was 20 years old when she married 25-year-old Auctioneer and Special Agent Albrecht Johannes Rens in the home of JBB Bland in Aliwal, Mosselbay on 27 January 1852.^[1]

Marriage Albrecht Johannes Rens to Elsje Catharina Bland

A daughter was born of the marriage:

Alice Catherine Rens

Albrecht passed away in 1853; the 24-year-old widow then married 42-year-old Matthew John Blake. The South African Commercial Advertiser carried the story in its Thursday, 2 October 1856 edition:^[2][3]

MARRIAGE

(By Special Licence)

In St.George’s Cathedral in this City on Tuesday the 30th Sept by the Very Rev H.A. Douglas MA, Dean of Cape Town:

Matthew John BLAKE Esquire to Mrs. the widow Elsie Catharina RENS.

Marriage Matthew John Blake to Elsje Catharina (Bland) Rens

A daughter was born of this marriage:

Cecilia Maria Helena (Blake) Stewart

Elsje 'Elsie' was 46 years old when she passed away at the farm 'Knowley' near Tulbagh on 29 January 1879.^[4][5]

Death Notice of Elsje 'Elsie' Catharina (Bland) Blakes, formerly Rens

Sources

1. ↑ South Africa, Civil Marriage Records, 1840-1973", database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6ZHB-QQLF : 18 March 2022), Elsje Catharina Bland in entry for Albrecht Johannes Rens, 1852
2. ↑ South African Commercial Advertiser 1856 - 4 - October to December, Thursday 2 October 1856, Written by Sue Mackay. Posted in The South African Commercial Advertiser 1824-1856
3. ↑ South Africa, Church of the Province of South Africa, Parish Registers, 1801-2004", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:DC2D-QC3Z : 13 December 2020), Matthew John Blake, 1856
4. ↑ South Africa, Cape Province, Probate Records of the Master of the High Court, 1834-1989", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QGK1-L2M8 : 4 November 2019), Elsie Catharina Bland Blake, 1879
5. ↑ Added by Des Lynch on 27 April 2022

• SAG

"South Africa, Cape Province, Probate Records of the Master of the High Court, 1834-1989", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QGK1-L2M8 : 14 March 2019), Elsie Catharina Bland Blake, 1879. Researched and attached 4 Aug 2019 by Drika (Aucamp) Brown (death notice)