Name Hester Christina Nel
Birth Date 1 Sep 1879
Parent Name Margaretha Helena Wiese
Second Parent's Name Elias Albertus Nel
Event Type Baptism
Event Date 8 Feb 1880
Event Place Calvinia, Cape Province, South Africa
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6N4R-PQK7?lang=en
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6NHK-99BV?lang=en
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6FZN-P713?lang=en
In 1895 a nineteen year old German immigrant from Hamburg, Hermann Henry Buhr, arrived at the Cape. He was from an eminent family; his father was a bank manager and a senator in the Hamburg Parliament. Hermann read an advertisement in the Cape Argus for a book-keeper required for a trading store at Grasberg and travelled by train to Tulbagh Road and then by wagon via Ceres and Calvinia to Grasberg. (https://www.vassa.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/VASSA-Report-Amschwand-Avontuur-Grasberg-2013.pdf)
Sex Male
Age 23
Birth Year (Estimated) 1876
Event Type Marriage
Event Date 12 Sep 1899
Event Place Western Cape, South Africa
Event Place (Original) Willemsrivier, Niewoudtville, Calvinia
Name Hester Christina Nel
Age 20
Sex F
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6ZHB-PQFQ?lang=en
Herman Heinrich Buhr, geboorte
Hester Christina and her sister Maria Elizabeth were the only children of Elias Albertus Nel. In 1910 Hermann took ownership of Jan Harmse Nel’s ¼ share of the ‘Remainder’. His youngest son, Elias Albert Buhr, later inherited this and also took ownership of Elias Albertus Nel’s ¼ of the ‘Remainder’. In 1909 Hermann became a British subject and was described as being a shopkeeper at Grasberg. This was to stand him in good stead. (https://www.vassa.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/VASSA-Report-Amschwand-Avontuur-Grasberg-2013.pdf)
Hermann’s brother, Heinrich Otto, arrived to join him in 1903 and in 1908 married Elizabeth Francina Loubser and later Neejtje Strauss. Unlike his elder brother he never took out British citizenship. In June of 1914 Heinrich and his wife and two children went to visit his mother in Germany. Due to the start of the First World War in August he was stranded. Was this unfortunate or could he foresee what was to unfold? Whatever the case, it was to cause problems for his elder brother. (https://www.vassa.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/VASSA-Report-Amschwand-Avontuur-Grasberg-2013.pdf)
In 1917 the South African Ministry of Finance charged Hermann Buhr under Act 39 of 1916 with ‘Trading with the Enemy’. This was due to Hermann helping Heinrich to set up a trading store in Loeriesfontein before the start of the war. Loeriesfontein is a town 60 kilometres to the north of Nieuwoudtville. According to Hermann’s defence, lthough there was no written partnership agreement between this brother and himself it was understood that Heinrich was to have a two-thirds share and he was to have the remaining third. Also, that all capital should remain in the business. Furthermore, practically all of the assets of the business were either stock-in-trade or promissory notes. The Ministry of Finance wanted to liquidate the business and place the resulting monies with the Custodian of Enemy Property. Whilst Hermann had no objection to the profits being handed over, he requested that the court make provisions to safeguard his interests by allowing his partner’s capital to remain in the business. After due deliberation it was decided that the share of Heinrich was to be vested in the Custodian of Enemy Property but that it was not necessary to liquidate the business. An important factor in this decision could have been that of the assets of the business (₤7461-8s-3d) over ₤3000 was in the form of promissory notes given by local farmers, who would have had to repay their debts had the business been liquidated. Obviously the Buhr brothers understood the difficulties of farming in the agterveld. There was also another Buhr trading store at Brandkop, between Grasberg and Loeriesfontein. It is not known exactly when Heinrich Buhr returned to the Cape but it must have been prior to 1921 when he purchased two arable lots in Loeriesfontein each of 12½ morgen. (https://www.vassa.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/VASSA-Report-Amschwand-Avontuur-Grasberg-2013.pdf)
Name Hermann Henry Buhr
Sex Male
Age 90
Birth Year (Estimated) 1876
Birthplace Hamburg, Duitsland
Event Type Death
Event Date 21 May 1966
Event Place Grasberg, Calvinia, Cape Province, South Africa
Event Place (Original) Grasberg, Neuwondhille, Calvinia
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:DZWP-BTPZ?lang=en
Kinders:
i.1. Johann Jacob BUHR, geb. 1900, oorl. 1940
i.2. Margaretha Helena (Grieta) BUHR, geb.1901, oorl. 1996 x Vivier
i.3. Catharina Gesa (Rina) BUHR, geb. 1903, oorl. 2001x Giliomee
i.4. Hester Christina(Hetta) BUHR, geb.1905, oorl. 1975 x Wahl
i.5. Anne Elise BUHR, geb.1907, oorl. 2000 x Spangenberg
i.6. Maria Elizabeth BUHR, geb.1909, oorl. 1988 x Gouws
i.7. Martha BUHR, geb.1909, oorl. 1997 x Visser
i.8. Elias Albert BUHR, geb. 1910, oorl. 1992
i.9. Freda BUHR, geb. 1919, oorl. 1987 x Mulder
