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| Potchefstroom in the Park, a postcard showing treelined streets in Potchefstroom. Souce: eGGSA website |
Moving along to Potchefstroom, where the groom Hugh Owens had been residing prior to his marriage, I examined the Baptisms recorded on the The Genealogical Society of South Africa eGSSA branch website.
This turned up a transcription from the St Mary Anglican Church, Potchefstroom, for the baptism of a child:
Baptised: 24 Apr 1904
Born: 19 Mar 1904
Parents: Hugh & Emily OWENS
Occupation: Carpenter
Residence: Potchefstroom
Witnesses: J. CLARKE - C.H. LINDSAY - C. BLAY
Baptised by: A. ROBERTS
Source: Potchefstroom - St Mary (Anglican), Potchefstroom, North West Province. Baptisms register, 1891-1910, entry number 188. Repository: Wits University, William Cullen Library. Transcribed by Gary Cannon, independently
The first thing that struck me about this record was that a witness was C Blay. I presume this to be Emily's married sister, Charlotte Blay, nee Griffith. Charlotte had married in Fitzroy, a suburb of Melbourne in 1886 to Douglas James Blay, a printer. Charlotte had no children of her own, but adopted a child some years after Emily's children were born. Having both leisure and money evidently enabled Charlotte to travel to support her sister for this first birth.
Unfortunately the baby died aged only six weeks. Again, the eGGSA website provided a transcript:
OWENS Alfred George Henry
Residence: Potchefstroom
Age at death: 6 weeks
Buried: 28 Apr 1904 by A. ROBERTS
Source: Potchefstroom - St Mary (Anglican), Potchefstroom, North West Province. burial register, 1891-1921. Repository: Wits University, William Cullen Library. Transcribed by Gary Cannon, independently
