Traders and Trading Stations of the Central and Southern TranskeiMichael Charles Thompson, ISBN:9781874976516, R279.95, Order
2009/11/26
A PROJECT that was taken up to pass the time and which soon became a labour of love for retired East London businessman, Mike Thompson has culminated in a comprehensive and fascinating book on the history of trading stations in the Transkei.
The book, aptly named Traders and Trading Stations of the Central and Southern Transkei, took Mike 10 years to complete and details the history and family lineages of the many families and their trading stores in the Transkei. Along the way he enlisted the help of several friends, a university student in Cape Town and a professor in KwaZulu-Natal.
The idea for the book, explains Mike, came about after he had a brain tumour removed in November 1999, which left him blind in one eye and unable to continue working at his manufacturing representative business, Flemmer and Thompson. “I needed something to pass the time and decided to start putting down what I remembered about the trading stores I used to visit as a travelling sales rep,” said Mike. “A friend of mine, Carl Vernon, who worked at the East London museum was actually the major driving force behind the book. He encouraged me to put down what I remembered from my days as a rep.”
I would very much like to get hold of a copy of this book. It was suggested by a man living in the Transkei when he read about me trying to trace information about my mothers family and my grandparents. My step grandfather had a trading store in Shawbury, where my mother lived as a young girl. She wrote in her diaries about her life growing up in the Transkei. Places like the farm she was born on (Flora's Farm), Umtata, Kwam, Shawbury, Cala, are all mentioned. I especially wanted to find out about my grandparents - Catherine Frances Paulick married Anton Paulick, then later married a man I only know as Daddy Muller ( he is the one that had the trading store). It is very difficult to get information from so far back, or even to find grave stones for dates of birth and death. Since my mothers death in 2006, I have been reading through her diaries and her whole life story is in there. So, I decided to write her biography, using all the information I got from our chats, and from her diaries. Is one able to get your book 'Traders and Trading Stations of the Central and Southern Transkei' second hand?
ReplyDeleteDear Frances
DeleteYou might be able to source a second hand copy from one of the following:
Chapter 1 books - 011-4831899 or 011-4833697
Clarkes Bookshop - 021-4235739
www.abebooks.co.uk
I hope you find a copy ;-)
Kind regards
Fogarty's Bookshop