Hi everyone!
It's time to get to know another one of our wonderful WikiTreers. This week's member is Ian McArthur.
Ian became a Wiki Genealogist in February 2015. He contributes to our Dutch Cape Colony and South Africa projects.
When and how did you get interested in family history?
In the early 1980s my cousin David Jones and I were sitting in his kitchen in Cape Town and talking about our mutual grandfather, James Frederick McArthur, who had died in 1964. We realized that there were considerable gaps in our knowledge of his life history, and we set about compiling what we did know. We then sent this on to our sisters, each of whom replied that she had stayed up late into the night adding to the outline which we had sent. I then combined all their contributions into a brief history of his life. So the matter rested for about fifteen years.
What are some of your interests outside of genealogy?
In my earlier days I studied the Philosophy of Science, and I have continued with an interest in philosophy in general. I have an extensive stamp collection, which has lain unattended for some years now.
While my wife Sallie (b. Scott) and I were living in France from 2008 to 2020 I was improving the sketchy knowledge of French which I had acquired at University as an incidental extra while studying Physics. Also, we renovated an old cottage which we rented out as holiday accommodation.
What is your genealogical research focus?
My initial interest in genealogy was to extend our knowledge of my and Sallie’s family connections. After that I became interested in the Kruger family in South Africa, one of whom had married a relative of mine.
Presently I am busy with several other projects:
(1) Putting onto WikiTree all the people of Dutch and French descent who were born at the Cape of Good Hope from 1640 to 1806. As there were about 17,000 of them alive in 1806 this will be a labour, although, of course, very many already are on the system. In this project I have been greatly helped by the unexpected gift of a copy of the major reference work on South African genealogy by Heese and Lombard.
(2) Putting onto the system all the York Settlers who travelled from Yorkshire to Natal on board the Haidee in 1850, and at least the first subsequent generation. My great-grandfather was the youngest – he was born on board before the voyage started. As part of this enterprise I have been working through the early birth, marriage and death records in Natal.
(3) Ditto for the Bergtheil Settlers from Germany to Natal (1848-9).
Do you have a favorite ancestor?
A favourite ancestor would be my grandfather James McArthur’s uncle Sandy. At one stage he was employed by a famous big-game hunter named Roualleyn Cumming. My grandfather said that Uncle Sandy and a Scottish nobleman went to Kenya on a hunting trip, but never returned. It is not known what became of them.
One of the many interesting stories which have come to light while I have been working on WikiTree is that of Gobo Fango Talbot. He was found wandering in the veld in South Africa in the 1850s and was taken in by the family of Henry Talbot. After meeting some missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints who had visited South Africa in 1856, Talbot and Eli Wiggill became converts, and decided that it was their duty to join the Church’s new centre at New Zion in Utah. They had intended to leave Gobo behind, but he stowed away on the ship, and so was taken with the party to Utah. There he became a shepherd, and eventually a farmer on his own property. He was killed in a dispute with a neighbour about grazing rights.
What is your toughest brick wall currently?
At the moment I am working on the family connections of a neighbour, one of whom was William Joseph Beedle, born c. 1859, place of birth unknown. It is presumed that he died in Hertfordshire in England after 1927. I have found several references to him using the excellent site http://www.trove.nla.gov.au, which gives one access to most newspaper and other records in Australia, and is searchable for individual pieces of text such as surnames. He had several children, and at one time he went by the surname of Newman. He was married twice in South Africa.
(interview continues in comments)
