The Isle of Wight calls.

Isle of Wight:  Registration Districts

This map shows the approximate areas of the first Registration Districts on the Island. In 1837 the Island was divided into 5 Registration Districts: Calbourne, Cowes, Godshill, Newport and Ryde.

Information from the Isle of Wight Family History Society:
Birth record for my Great-Grandfather William Argyle: 

• 1869  (19 August) ARGYLE  William, father John and  mother: Ann SIBBICK, District:  Godshill, Isle of Wight

Marriage record:

• 1897  ARGYLE  William  to GUSTER  Kathleen  at the Register Office, Newport, Isle of Wight

Birth record for my grandmother:

• 1899 (29 May)  ARGYLE  Nellie,  mother: Kathleen GUSTAR, District:  Calbourne, Isle of Wight.

William Argyle's book on the Isle of Wight (Bertie Cornel)

A studio photo that Doreen has of Nan taken on the Isle of Wight.

An afternoon tea with Bertie and Barbara led to the wonderful insight that my Grandmother, Nellie Winifred van der Veen, nee Argyle, was born on the Isle of Wight on the 29 May 1899.

Bertie has this precious travel book in his possession from William Argyle, Nan's father.

So I spent some time looking through the family records from the Isle of Wight Family History Society.

How wonderful to find the birth records for Nan and her father as well as his first marriage to Kathleen Gustar.

Doreen has some photos in her collection that were illuminating too, one was taken of Nan in Freshwater, a town in the Calbourne District on the Isle of Wight and this one taken by the photographer C. Hudson.

Information that Mom left us was that William's father John, was a gardener by profession on the Isle.

We are still not clear what transpired with Kathleen Gustar, Nan's mother and there is no death record for her on the website I was looking at.

William Argyle, centre, second row from the bottom.

Another wonderful old photo of Doreen's now has meaning too, its a work photo, likely the Railways in Pretoria of our Great-Grandfather, William Argyle.

Bertie identified him easily by his deep set eyes, large ears and a quite superb moustache.

I like his dapper hat too.

William died in Pretoria on the 10 March 1919, age 50, and Bertie has his grave as number 1760.

The Isle of Wight calls.

Willim Argyle, second row sitting third from the left.

A father's message for his daughters

It's a cool overcast morning, I am at the Loft and will be seeing Dad a little later.

A good time to open Dad's Croxley Notebook on the bookshelf.

He started to journal on the 30 August 2003 and wrote on the inside hardcover;
'I think I would put these pages to some use, by recording my thoughts'.

He means for the journal to be read, his first entry is a message to us all;
'I do love you all although not expressing it verbally! It's my upbringing - in my early years not much of that talk'.

We know that about Dad and respect that it is what it is.

He writes that he is busy, playing bridge, travelling, he has been to Australia, Johannesburg and Kloof, 'what a pleasure seeing you all from time to time'.

He then jots down some thoughts on each of us which I have posted here.

"All very talented and all make my life worth living and give me lots of pleasure."

Thank you Dad from Sharon, Inel and Doreen.

We love you too.

A little treasure from the Lady Warden dated Christmas 1888

I was visiting my sister Doreen in Hilton a few days ago and she showed me this little treasure.

It is a tiny black leather book called The Christian Year.

The inscription, in a florid handwriting, is to Daisie Moodie from the Lady Warden of St. Anne's College, Maritzburg.

And it is dated Christmas 1888, her message to Daisie is "Be ye followers of God, as dear children".

Such a beautiful inheritance.

Doreen also showed me the bookmark, a finely embroidered piece of silk, gently worn but still in a wonderful condition.

As she and I were walking in Hilton the following morning she took me past St. Anne's College.

She lives just around the corner from the school.

What an extraordinary moment, Doreen and I standing outside of the same gate that our Great-grandmother would have used to go to school.

Carolyn Emily Phillips (nee Moodie), nickname Daisie.

Our Nanny Ina's mother.

She was born on the 28th June 1870 and died aged 34 in Umtali (Mutare), Rhodesia (Zimbabwe).

Her parent were John Bell Moodie and Anne Emily Hallett. She had a brother called Harry.

She married Captain William Henry Boothby Phillips, at age 25, during a society wedding at the Holy Trinity Church in Kokstad.

They had two children, Charles Moodie Ralph Phillips (1896), Uncle Polo to my Dad, apparently because he was born during a polo match in Kokstad, and my grandmother Ina Moodie Phillips (22 June 1898).

Dad shares her birthdate: 22 June.

Doing what we do best - Sharon

Between mothering, running our home and my French lessons I stayed true to form.

I planned and I organised.

Taking in shows, going to museums, art exhibitions, seeing girlfriends, sitting in a cafe having coffee, hosting dinner parties and organising our weekends.

My letter mentions going to see Lionel Ritchie when he was in Paris and we loved his "Dancing on the Ceiling".


I describe a dinner party to Mom where I made French onion soup, stuffed veal and crepes. I think I should return to some of the wonderful French classics next time I entertain.

Map I drew Mom showing my planned holiday destinations for May
and June 1987.

Doing what I do best was planning our holidays around long-weekends.

Endlessly pouring over Michelin Guides, making bookings and just generally loving all the anticipation of the sightseeing.

I still travel twice, once when I plan and again when we are actually travelling.

I dropped Mom a letter, drew her this map showing where we were going during the early summer months of 1987 and reading the letter I can feel the joy in the planning.

I can imagine what a wonderful escape this was for me, sitting at the kitchen table writing my letters, away from the cold of Paris and a respite from nursing Shawni and Barry through all their ills that season.

Doing what we do best - Fred

Looking back on my letters to my mother from Paris during the winter of 1987, I see that Fred has always fixed cars and renovated our spaces.

Here he is doing what he does best, working on my car called "Spook" and in a letter written during the middle of March I mention the gazebo in the garden; 'work on the Summer House is progressing well'. 

We used the Summer House as a guest room. Our two single beds just fitted in along with a small side table with a lamp.

It was well appreciated and well used during our stay in Marly-le Roi.

Nagging Doreen

A constant theme in my letters to the family in Howick is nagging Doreen to write and to keep me up to date on all her comings and going.

I see from this postcard that she was in Standard 9 in 1987 and most probably so wrapped up with friends, swimming and studies that she was not available for long letters.

I have teased her about it, even sent some snippets of my letters via sms and she is suitably bemused by it all.

So Doreen, this is for you special sister.

Fred is muttering and homesick

My letters to Mom from Paris in 1987 share news of Shawni and Barry, our travels and sightseeing, my daily routines and the detail of living in France.

I notice my concern about Fred and that he has not settled easily into Telemecanique, neither at a culture level nor at a work level.

He was missing canoeing, my letter mentions that he was muttering about the good water levels on the Duzi Canoe Marathon.

Looking at this little photo of Fred that I have in my kitchen, I can see how thin and drawn he was, how he felt about himself at the office was already taking its toll.

His mentor had been artfully moved for political reasons, there were strong personalities involved and Fred has never wanted to navigate politics and could not be bothered to handle challenging egos with finesse.

So this was not an easy time for him, he did not adjust to working at TE and even though I assumed we would stay for a while, our sojourn in France would eventually be cut short.

I am chuckling at the two of us watching French TV for hours and not getting the plot or the detail of the movies.

But not before we explored!

Weekend family outings.

We did love the weekends, we travelled relentlessly, around France, into the UK, Holland and Germany and had many very social times with new and old friends.

We travelled through all weather conditions and having two small children did not hold us back.

Nanny Ina's antique doll

Nanny Ina's doll from the early 1900's.

Inel sent me these extracts from a letter that she has from Mom.

She writes to Inel about her new passion, doll making, 'This is something I have always wanted to do.'

She went to lessons with Rosemary down on the South Coast and even though she was already battling with her cancer and getting very frail, she made a doll for Shawni, Doreen, Inel and myself.

They are quite beautiful, hand painted and Mom made the clothes for the dolls too.

Her letter mentions that 'the baby is a soft one (stuffed)', that is the doll she was working on for Shawni.

I have the box in which Mom packed her antique doll she inherited from Nanny Ina and she mentions in the letter that she had wanted to restore it.

The box is under the stairs here at home, with the doll still wrapped as Mom left it.

I have it in safe keeping for whoever will have the interest to do the restoration. Doreen and Inel, maybe one of our girls will pick up the responsibility?

I took one look at all the fragile pieces, even the rather creepy eyes, the clothing fine and worn, took some photos and very quickly rewrapped it all and packed it away again.

Too intimidating, no wonder Mom was looking for a 'doll lady' to help with the restoration.

She mentions in the letter that the antique doll dates from the early 1900's and 25 years ago it was valued at R2500.00.

As much as this antique doll is a special inheritance for us girls; the dolls Mom made are even more so. I have photos from Shawni, Doreen and Inel of their dolls. Looking at the four dolls I am so mindful of her wonderful legacy, her creativity and drive to made beautiful things, which she did her throughout her life.

Just so precious.

A special inheritance from Mom, her hand made dolls, Doreen's doll on the left and Inel's on the right.

Shawni with her doll made by Mom and mine on the right.

Searching for the Argyle sisters.

I grew up knowing one of my Nan's half-sisters, Great-Aunt Edoo, Edith Argyle.

She lived down the way from my Grand-parents in Vanderbijlpark. She is mentioned regularly in Nan's letters,  I do not, however, have any recall of her talking about other sisters.

After Bertie, Mom's cousin, made contact with me I went looking among Nan's letters again for mention of her other half-sisters - Kathleen and Elsie.

There is a reference to John, Elsie's only son, in Nan's letter on the 21st January 1964. She writes and thanks Mom for a newspaper cutting. Seems to be about matric results.
'Elsie said she would watch the papers for me but so far had not seen anything. She is so anxious for John so I do hope he has got through for her sake.' 



Her set of letters from Messina during the May of 1968 mentions a Kath which I assume is Kathleen and in Nan's letter to Mom on the 1st December 1969, where she lists her last requests, she has Edith and Kathleen together and instructs Mom to give them 'some little token in my memory.'

There are a set of four handwritten letters from Nan to Mom between the 14 and 25 March 1966, penned from her rooms at the Bedford Inn in Port Shepstone, she and Pa moved from Room 22, to 6 and then 14 during this period.

These letters describe the death of her sister Elsie.

They are frank and share with Mom and the family, the details of how diabetes has ravaged Elsie's body, 'her face lined with pain', what the doctors and surgeons are trying the do.

And the smell of this hideous disease, 'Els is so conscious of the smell that she got Ernie to get some air wick to use in the ward.' 

Nan is shocked and saddened, they visit each afternoon and evening after dinner at the Inn, and help in anyway they can.

She also writes of Ernie, Elsie's husband, of helping him pack up their goods on their farm and writes that John was leaving for Tempe.

The farm was sold at this time and Nan says 'It is heart-breaking to go in and pack all her things, it seems to be so final.'

The final letter of 25th March, 'The funeral is this afternoon at Marburg at 3 o'clock.'

She writes of Ernie, selling all their possessions and there is one line I just love:
'Our Dad has been wonderful, as usual, Ern has just left everything to him.'  


These letters are tough to read, Nan with her younger half-sister, watching her suffering and her pain, being part of her last few weeks and I am moved.

The letters are a wonderful legacy of family, of family caring for one another and particularly of family showing up during such difficult and emotional times.

Nan even sends Mom one of Elsie's unfinished projects, a baby pram cover for her best friend's grandchild, 'to be finished if you do not mind, I believe it is a simple pattern and there is only a couple of rows to do and it has to be bound and threaded with ribbon.'
My sisters would do this for me too.

A pattern from Idee Fixe, Spring of 1987

Martie was in France for her annual skiing holiday in January and spent some time in Paris too.  She arrived back in Johannesburg armed with a box of sublime Laduree macaroons, foie gras and gorgeous bits of french fabric for our quilt group.

What a stylish way to start our 2015 quilting year.

That got me thinking of my years in France, shopping for fabric, sewing for myself and the littleys. One particular memory is captured in this letter to Mom on the 2nd February 1987. 

'I  found a delightful shop called Idee Fixe.'

Idee Fixe, Spring Catalogue from 1987

I recall how enchanted I was with the shop, the hand made patterns, the gorgeous children's seersucker, poplin and cotton fabrics. I had chosen the pretty pink and white candy-striped 'pique' for a pair of pants to make for Shawni and I see that I dropped a little swatch into the letter too.

The left-over fabric was slowly incorporated into quilt projects over the years.

How I loved this fabric.

What a delight to find the 1987 Spring Catalogue from Idee Fixe in a cupboard.

While in Barrydale before Xmas I saw some old sewing patterns that had been framed, so my plan is to get the catalogue book framed for my studio here at home.

I will keep the pattern to make some pants for another special little girl one day....