Rosalie Wyndham married to Trevor Martin Wood from Bergville
Rosalie was born in (old) Greys Hospital in PMB
She went to GHS in PMB and boarded with Uncle Guy and Aunt Renette before boarding at school
Had four children Kerry Wyndham married to David Pool from Pietermaritzburg then Chad Cook
Hayley Louise (1972) married to Greg Muirhead from Mooi River
Kids: Rogan Brian (2000),
Connor Hamilton (2002) and
Michell Gregory (2009)
Kemsley Brian married to Megan Summerfiel from Howick
Kids: Wade (2000)
Brioney
Rebecca
Jeremy Martin married Lizelle from Bergville
Kids: Sienna
Michele
Jemma
Lisa McIlroy (born to Rosalie Wyndham) married Aaron MacIlroy from Durban
Kids: Kaylee
Declan
Grace
My Mom – Rosalie Wyndham Wood – by Hayley Louise Muirhead
Rosalie was born on 18/09/1946 in Greys Provincial Hospital in Pietermaritburg. She spent the first 15 years of her life living a very happy childhood on their farm Beeverstowe in the Underberg area. She was a real farm girl – mucking in and not letting minor things upset her day. Their farm was named after their old family estate at Equeefa near Umzinto on the Natal South Coast. The beauty of their farm is highlighted in the fact that it hosted the SA Scout jamboree in 1948. The farms beauty captured the imagination of the organisers and 800 scouts with their masters were housed in tents along the river. It had tree-lined paddocks and five miles of river frontage on the Polela River which was popular for trout fishing and of course the three dams which John and his family would spend hours on a boat he built called “C U catch-a-lot”. She remembers John losing his pipe when the fishing line hooked it out of his mouth. The house on the farm was unique made with yellowwood that had been sawn in the Umkomaas Valley. Rosalie’s memories are mostly of the garden and lawn that her mother loved. Molly was not a dedicated chef or baker for her family, except for her legendary gingerbread, but she loved her garden, music and the growing and arranging of flowers. This was all highlighted when she played the organ at the local Church for any occasions that were held there. She could be found pumping away at the bellows, operating the volume with her knees and all this done while singing and with a hat on her head. The family also hosted various music evenings outside in the garden. When neighbours and friends came around these also included dart games with the dart board suspended on an old Cyprus tree in the garden. Music evenings when Uncle William and Aunt Joan Findlayson came to stay were a family occasion as Uncle Will played the violin, their son played the tea-box (double base) and Molly played the piano while the family sang. The garden also included a croquet lawn and a tennequoit lawn and a gigantic tree stump on which John had put a table top. On the edge of the garden and through an old hedge, was the very productive orchard which would supply an abundance of fruit including apples, plums and peaches these would be sold during the summer. The takings, as well as the “”fruit float’’ was always hidden in her fathers tabacco pouch which was recycled after his pipe tabacco was finished. The fruit would be sent to town by the scotch cart which also took the milk to the “”Twin Streams Cheese Factory””, rain or shine it would be picked up from the holt that was on the farm. John Meredith was a very industrious and inventive farmer who referred to himself as a fisherman first and a farmer second. His love for the outdoors and nature together with his ”get on with it” and “make a plan” attitude to life definitely rubbed off on Rosalie. She has very fond memories of her father on the old vaal jaaptjie massey ferguson tractor with the girls driving through the pastures when the Polela river has flooded its banks and the furrow he built to help Molly water her precious garden, this was an endless source of entertainment for her. Rosalie loved being at home alone while her sisters had gone to boarding school. Her bicycle was very precious to her and she would entertain herself for hours by playing tennis on the garage wall. The streams around the house served as a bathroom with hysterics all round when the soap slipped out of their hands and into the water. The clothes used to be washed in the streams which were full of watercress. Going out to so your ablutions was a bit of an expedition before the flush toilets and indoor plumbing was installed. The two long drops in the yard were placed next to some prickly pear bushes and trying to avoid these while looking out for snakes all the while made the process quite a trip. The vaal jaaptjie is also the tractor my father did all his socializing on, with a case of Lion Ale on the top of the trailor. The roads would be impassable in the rain with the water running off Hlangoma casing streams what would hold up any traffic while they subsided causing a very muddy and slippery district road. All the farmers used chains on their tyres and these were quite an ordeal to fit. While the fisherman/farmer was doing his socialising Molly was also a very active cog in the wheel of the village. Molly and John enjoyed their sport in Himeville, John with his cricket and bowls and Molly with tennis and bowls. Molly taught in various capacities at the Underberg Primary School braving all weather in the family vehicle. Her passion for teaching all who came her way was highlighted in the memories that Mom has of her mom picking up all the roads department children from their camp on the road side and lifting them to school. This used to make mom very embarrassed pilling out at school with a whole bunch of kids. Along with all these activities in the village Molly was also a very active participant of the “Drakensberg Player” an ammature dramatic group who would put on a pantomime yearly under the direction of Kit Roberts. Trains played a very important part in Rosalie life. They would take a train to PMB, starting off with a long wait at the Donnybrook Station for the signals to change. In PMB they would be met by Uncle Guy (Molly’s brother) and between pilling into his little black car and the rickshaw pullers they would get to their granny’s house at 324 Bulwer Street. PMB was a maze of lane and 324 Bulwer Street was also near the cemetery. Mom would walk through these on her way into town. When mom stayed in Bulwer Street for her first year at high school she would have to navigate these lanes on her bicycle or on foot to and from school. A trip to PMB was a lengthy affair and would last the minimum of two days and only on very special occasions would the farm truck be used for the journey. The train also took and brought post out to the family post bag at Donnybrook in a leather pouch which was padlocked shut. This was taken and fetched from Woodford Holt which bordered on the farm twice daily. Ifafa Beach played a big role in Moms childhood, it was described by John Meredith Kirkman (her father) in his memoirs as “the most scenic beach resort and picturesque lagoon on the South Coast”. Granny and Grandpa Kirkman lived at the beach and for the month of July every year they would make a family expedition down to the coast. July was a popular month for the coast as it was a slightly cooler month and polio . which was a real threat, was more virulent in the heat. In the summer holidays Granny and Grandpa K would make a return holiday up to Beeverstowe for 2 or 3 months to escape the summer heat of the coast. The trips to get all the family and baggage down to Ifafa were always a logistical nightmare and not to be taken lightly. Grandpa K would meet then half way and load everyone up in his old Vangaurd NX 49 and John would have to go back to Beeverstowe for another load. There were 3 girls, 2 maids, crates of chickens and all the provisions from the farm to last the family for the whole month. The roads were all dirt and very windy with the canvas canopy on the back being a real dust trap and causing at least one bout of car sickness on the journey. When they got near to the house in Ifafa they would start hooting to let all know that they had arrived. Mom remembers all the servants running to get ready to help unload and such excitement filled the air. Their holidays in Ifafa lave such fond memories. Granny K ran her house like clockwork this inspite the fact that she did not drive and had to rely on ours. All the Indian fruit sellers were called “Mary and Sam” and they came every morning hopping along the railway line with their fresh produce in baskets hanging over their shoulders. The family ordered their meat from Umzinto and that came on the train all wrapped in wax wrap and brown paper and tied together with string. The train was also used for family outings to friends who lived up and down the cost and as far as Durban. Catching the train was a reliable and safe way to get around up and down the coast. At the end of these lovely long family holidays there were always buckets of tears shed by the children.
For high school Mom was sent off to GHS in PMB. For the first year he bordered with her family in Burger street as the BE was full but from then she was a full time border at GHS in PMB. It was during these years that electricity came to the farm – around 1957 ?). It was also during her high school years that her father sold the farm and retired to Ifafa Beach. But when boredom set in he followed his passion and joined the Natal Parks Board. Here he worked in nature and did a lot of his favourite past time – fishing. It as also paying better than farming ever did. He was instrumental in the the running of the trout hatchery in RNNP and implementing a more “”visitor friendly”” atmosphere with tours and lectures which catered to many celebrities of the time. He describes their days at RNNP as idyllic with travels around the country with the girls when they could join them. After these perfect days they retired down to Scottburgh on the south coast and then up to Howick in the midlands and finally back to scorttburgh. After reading Grandpas memoirs “Take it or lezve it” I see where the love for Natal and for being a real natal girls comes from, this goies for my Mom and I.
After her schooling Mom went to work for the bank and was sent to their branch in Bergville after her training in PMB. She lived in town in various boarding houses and went back to visit her parents whenever she could. It was here that she met Dad, they fell in love and had a couple of kids. And they started giving us a childhood that only has the best memories.
My Father – Trevor Martin Wood -By Hayley Louise Muirhead
Trevor Martin Wood was born in Harrismith. Son of Daphne and Brian Desmond Wood. He had two sisters Glenda and Barbara Joan.
He lived on the farm Tugela which was repatriated by the government of the day when the dam Woodstock was built in the Bergville area. With this they moved onto the farm Zuurlager at the age of 2 years old. Zuurlager was the neighboring farm of Kia Ora which was bought by the Wood family from the Asmall famiy (Indian Traders in Bergville after they claimed it from the family Healm for a debt owing to them in the shop in town – the Healm’s lived in the mud house which is situated in the gum trees at the sheds. It was known as the “good shed”) .
Trevor and his two sisters – Barbara and Glenda, lived at the “Old Homestead” on Zuurlager with Brian and Daphne (his parents) and Jeremiah and Harriett (Trevor’s Grandad and Grandmother). He has very fond memories of this time which include jumping into the stream at the bottom of the garden and catching the frogs (plattannas). A very vivid memory of this time was the daily trekking of the fresh farm milk to the train stop at the Zuurlager siding on a horse cart, a daily adventure. While they lived on Zuurlager, Uncle Stan and Aunty Eddie lived at Woodlands and Uncle Gerald and Aunty Dot lived in autumn leaves cottage. During this time they built the present current red brick main house on Kia Ora. Once this was complete Jeremiah showed the true Wood stubbornness and refused to relocate from Zuurlager. Eventually enough was enough and Jeremiah and Harriet ware “forcible” removed by their children to the new homestead on Kia Ora. Upon the passing of Harriett, a helper was brought in to help care for Jeremiah but this proved to unsatisfactory for the “stubborn old man”. At around this stage Gerald had taken his own life and Dot had then moved with her two boys down to the Durban area. So with the cottage free Brian and Daphne and the tree kids moved over to Kia Ora to help take care of the old man. Trevor was about 11 years old at this time. On the passing of Jeremiah the family moved into the main house
When Trevor married Roz Kirkman they lived in the cottage and had their three eldest children there, until 1976 when they “swop” homes with Brian and Daphne and moved into the “main house”. Jeremy was born in Ladysmith while they were living in the main house.
After much needed renovation to autumn leaves cottage Trev and Roz moved back into the cottage in 2014 and Jeremy and Lizelle with their three girls (Sienna, Michelle and Gemma) moved into the main house.
Pink Farm Chick 