Die volgende brief, gedateer 23/10/2008, bevesting die toestemming wat ek ontvang het om hierdie dagboek te plaas. Hiermee wil ek my dank uitspreek teenoor Frank en Tordis Bassingthwaighte hiervoor.


Hello Albie,

Your e-mail of 13 October was a great surprise and indeed very interesting. We have a number of questions and, we hope, you are willing to share the answers with us.

How did the CD get to your parents, Nico and Dinah Lombard in Vanrhynsdorp ? Although we live in the Western Cape (Hermanus) now, both my husband and I were born in Namibia, lived in Windhoek, and have often either slept over or passed through Vanrhynsdorp. We have done a lot of family research in the Namaqualand/Springbok area.

You mention that Jane Latham's brother, Richard who was born on the ship, is your mother's great-grandfather. Please give us more information as to how you trace the family history : give us names and dates of birth as well as death. Do you or your mother have any stories handed down from Richard Dixon ? If so, please share them with us in order to incorporate them into the family history.

Regarding the Latham Diary : we welcome you and you have our permission to share this unique story with your friends and others on your blog site. However, please do let us know of the name etc. of your blog site, as we would also like to visit it.

We are in the process of creating a 'Bassinghtwaighte Website' and this will have all the information we have collected to date.

You are absolutely correct, there are not many of us who are blessed with a genuine family history dating back to the 'Groot Trek' era and therefore we all must endeavour to collect it and preserve it.

Please do keep in touch and we look forward to a reply from you soonest.

Regards,
Frank & Tordis Bassingthwaighte.
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