14/11/2025
‼️ENGLISH FOLLOWS AFRIKAANS‼️
Het jy al jou swart-en-wit foto fotoverhaal vir ons Venster op gister fotoverhaal kompetisie in geskryf? Moenie jou kans mis nie—stuur jou fotoverhaal in en laat die tydlose krag van swart en wit jou familie se stem laat voortleef. Inskrywings besonderhede is beskikbaar by die volgende skakel: https://forms.gle/XWAtW3cCnrrQcdUi7
Hier is 'n goeie voorbeeld van 'n fotoverhaal vanaf ons eerste inskrywing deur Elmarie Weyers as jy nog 'n idee kort.
Titel: As 'n foto net kon praat
Teen my gangmuur hang die enigste foto van my oupa aan moederskant, Hendrik Jacobus GRIESSEL. Bittermin is oor hom bekend en dit laat my met soveel onbeantwoorde vrae. As hierdie foto maar net kon praat!
Daar is twee redes waarom daar so min inligting oor hom bestaan. My ma, Hester Aletta SLABBER (néé GRIESSEL) (*Molteno 1931.02.05 +Potchefstroom 2023.09.24) was maar ses maande toe haar 38-jarige pa op 13 Augustus 1931 te Burgersdorp aan ʼn niersiekte oorlede is. My ouma, Elizabeth Margaretha GRIESSEL (néé) VAN HEERDEN (*Cradock? 1887.02.09 +Hartebeesfontein 1983.06.06) het ook nie graag oor haar verlede gepraat nie. Al wat sy aan my ma genoem het, was dat haar pa op 27 November 1891 gebore is, dat sy ouers vroeg oorlede is en dat hy by ʼn familielid grootgeword het.
Om ons Griessel-voorgeslagtelyn te bepaal, het ek na my oupa se doopinskrywing gaan soek. In die NGK Barrydale-doopregister, gedateer 1 Februarie 1892, ontdek ek die volgende inskrywing :
“Onecht Kind
Kind – Hendrik Jacobus Griessel geb. 27 Nov 1891
Moeder – Sara Susanna van Zijl”
Die woord “onecht” en die feit dat geen vader genoem word nie, het by my ʼn lig laat opgaan. Was die stigma wat in die 1800’s aan buite-egtelike kinders gekleef het moontlik die rede waarom my stigtelike ouma oor haar eggenoot se herkoms geswyg het? Die doopregister het my met bykomende vrae gelaat. Waarom doop die moeder haar kind GRIESSEL en gebruik sy nie haar VAN ZYL-nooiensvan as van nie? Ten spyte van ʼn deurtastende ondersoek, loop die spoor na my Griessel-voorgeslagte egter net daar dood.
My ouma se huweliksertifikaat gedateer 19 Junie 1929 in die NGK Molteno het tot verdere verwarring gelei. Sy trou op die ouderdom van 42-jaar vir die eerste keer. Op die huweliksertifikaat word haar ouderdom as 39 aangedui. Was die feit dat sy met ʼn heelwat jonger man getrou en sensitief oor haar ouderdom was, die rede vir die foutiewe inskrywing? Die ironie is dat dié verkeerde inligting daartoe gelei het dat verkeerde koppelinge op die familieboom op die webblad: https://familysearch.org gemaak is.
Nie eers Hendrik se sterfkennisgewing (gedateer 21 September 1931) wat deur my ouma onderteken is, het enige leidrade oor sy ouers gegee nie. Hulle word slegs as onbekend aangedui.
Intussen hang die foto steeds sonder antwoorde in my gang.
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Have you submitted your black-and-white photo story for our Window on Yesterday photo story competition yet? Don’t miss your chance — send in your photo story and let the timeless power of black and white help your family’s voice live on. Entry details are available at the following link: https://forms.gle/fVARHkKG5Ppma22q6
Here is a good example of a photo story from our first entry by Elmarie Weyers, if you still need some inspiration.
On my hallway wall hangs the only photo of my maternal grandfather, Hendrik Jacobus GRIESSEL. Very little is known about him, and it leaves me with so many unanswered questions. If only this photo could speak!
There are two reasons why so little information about him exists. My mother, Hester Aletta SLABBER (née GRIESSEL) (*born Molteno 1931.02.05, +Potchefstroom 2023.09.24) was only six months old when her 38-year-old father passed away from a kidney disease on 13 August 1931 in Burgersdorp. My grandmother, Elizabeth Margaretha GRIESSEL (née VAN HEERDEN) (*born Cradock? 1887.02.09, +Hartebeesfontein 1983.06.06) also did not like to speak about her past. All she ever told my mother was that her father was born on 27 November 1891, that his parents died young, and that he was raised by a relative.
To determine our Griessel ancestral line, I went searching for my grandfather’s baptism record. In the NGK Barrydale baptism register, dated 1 February 1892, I discovered the following entry:
“Onecht Kind
Kind – Hendrik Jacobus Griessel geb. 27 Nov 1891
Moeder – Sara Susanna van Zijl”
The word “onecht” and the fact that no father was named made something click for me. Could the stigma attached to children born out of wedlock in the 1800s have been the reason why my very proper grandmother kept silent about her husband’s origins? The baptism register left me with further questions. Why did the mother baptise her child as GRIESSEL, and not use her maiden name VAN ZIJL as his surname? Despite thorough research, the trail of my Griessel ancestors goes cold at this point.
My grandmother’s marriage certificate, dated 19 June 1929 in the NGK Molteno, added to the confusion. She married for the first time at the age of 42. Yet on the marriage certificate her age is recorded as 39. Was the incorrect entry perhaps because she married a significantly younger man and felt sensitive about her age? The irony is that this incorrect information resulted in wrong connections being made on the family tree on the website https://familysearch.org.
Not even Hendrik’s death notice (dated 21 September 1931), signed by my grandmother, provided any clues about his parents. They are simply listed as unknown.
Meanwhile, the photo still hangs in my hallway — without answers.
