Moin zusammen,
u.g. Token habe ich vor einigen Wochen in England gekauft.
Vorderseite: Gowie Brothers, Kimberley - Clothing ,boots, shoes and hats
Rückseite: Gowie Brothers, Kimberley- Automatic Photobo
Durchmesser: 31 mm
Metal: Messing
Lt. Hern handelt sich um ein "Werbe" Token und wurde zwischen 1871 und 1915 benutzt.
Da die Informationen über d. Token sehr "Mager" ausfielen , entschied ich mich im WEB nachzuforschen und stieß
auf d. Mail von 2001 (!!) in rootsweb:
To: <SOUTH-AFRICA-L@rootsweb.com>
> Sent: Friday, November 16, 2001 8:56 PM
> Subject: Help !
>
>
> Hi everyone
>
> I'm also new to this and need your patience please !
> My maiden name is GOWIE and I have very few immediate family still living,
> which makes it difficult for me to get hold of some of the basic info - what
> I do have is sketchy at best. I would like to trace my GOWIE roots in South
> Africa - I believe I am at least a 4th generation Gowie born in Southern
> Africa, possibly 5th.
> My father was Cecil Gowie, born in Johannesburg 20.5.1924 , one of four
> brothers and my mother was Eileen Vina Margaret Hacking born 12.12.1927 born
> in Southern Rhodesia. My grandfather was Dudley John Wreford Gowie and
> grandmother Agnes Martha (I think Cox).
> I think my grandfather was a full-time soldier and served back in the UK
> from time to time as at least one of my Uncles was born in the UK, but all
> settled in SA.
> I believe that there were supposedly two Gowie brothers who emigrated from
> the UK, I think Scotland, in the 1800's. I don't know where they landed,
> but there is evidence of Gowies settling in Grahamstown and Kimberley. There
> is also a Gowie Road in Cleveland, Johannesburg and I would love to who it
> was named after and why.
> Is anyone familiar with the name GOWIE or even HACKING ? Or can you at least
> point me in the right direction.
> Thanks, I would be so grateful
> Moireen
Toll , dachte ich, und schickte Ihr diese Mail:
Hello Moireen,
My name is Marc R. and I am a collecter of african coins and tokens. I live in Germany and last week I bought the attached token in England.
As I was interested in the history of this token, I googled and found your mail in rootsweb (dated 16/11/2001) where you were looking for 2 brothers from your family. I just wanted to inform you that your lead seems to be correct. The Gowie brothers had a shop in Kimberley !
I also got the following information from the web:
" In 1871 Mr. Gowie commenced business on the Diamond MArket as a general outfitter with two sons as partners. At the end of 1886 they moved to the corner of DU Toits Pan Road and Jones Street in a building that was specially built for them. This building had a double story and a clock tower. The front part of the shop was used for the clothing department and the Jones Street entrance is for shoes and boots. The place was lighted out with electricity and it was one of the best lit shops in Kimberley. They also sold schrubs, flowers and all pot plants which they received weekly from Grahamstown. They closed shop in 1910 and Pritchard, the tailor moved into the building"
I hope that I could help you in getting more information about your ancestors !
Best wishes from Hamburg
Marc
Daraufhin antwortet Moireen:
Hello Marc
Isn't technology wonderful sometimes?! Thank-you for taking the time to write and fill me in on what you had discovered - that was very thoughtful of you and I really appreciate it - especially when a stranger does this for you from the other side of the world!
Since I posted that query on Rootsweb, I have done a lot of digging myself and know much more about the family. But it is still good that you followed up with me as I may have still been searching - plus I knew of the coins but do not have a good image of one, so the pictures you took are a fantastic addition to my family history file.
I also didn't know how the store was run or what they stocked, so thank-you for all that too.
I don't know how much info you require, but I can tell you that it was Charles Ross Gowie who opened the store in Kimberley in 1871. He was my Great Great Grandfather. He was a very successful merchant who in the 1850's, started his own outfitters/department store in Grahamstown in the E.Cape (South Africa)and by 1871 had premises in Graaff Reniet and Johannesburg as well as Kimberley. He was originally from Scotland and his nephews Charles and William Gowie ran a well-known nursery and horticultural business in Grahamstown, which is why he would have been able to carry plants and seedlings in his stores too!
So....... I'm interested to know..... in those days, did each store have its own currency (how would that work?)or were they just commemorative coins?
Amazing how these things end up being scattered all over the world! Don't know where in England you found the coins, but there are strong family links to Hull in Yorkshire.
Anyway, Marc. Thank-you again for this lovely gift J
Best wishes from Calgary, Canada!
So lebendig kann Numismatik sein
!!
Lieber Gruß
Marcisharki
