The family moved from Towes River to Cape Town primarily for better educational opportunities for the brother, Arthur, and due to the father’s need for employment post-retirement.
Transcript
A says:
I was asking you a little while ago about your dad and the travelling and then. I'm remembering that then you went to Cape Town from Towes river, didn't you?
B says:
Yes.
A says:
You all went to. So why did you go to Cape Town?
B says:
Well, you see, I think in Cape Town we were supplied everything by the company, by the place, and then we had to go to pay for everything that we had. And then he would be able to play a lot of things by his.
A says:
Was it that you went to Cape Town because your brother, Arthur needed to go to school? Yes, Arthur needed to go to school. You had a big brother called Arthur and he needed to go to school in Cape Town, didn't he?
B says:
The local school didn't have facilities for.
A says:
Train, anything on, so he was passed a certain age. He couldn't. He couldn't get schooling. So to get high school, you went to Cape Town. Yes.
B says:
And also your dad didn't have any place to earn any money after he retired.
A says:
After he retired.
B says:
And then, you know, he had found something else to get his.
A says:
Get the money coming in.
B says:
Yeah.
A says:
So when you lived in Towers river, did you mostly speak Afrikaans?
B says:
We spoke both.
A says:
Did you?
B says:
Yes, we just switched in some wine.
A says:
Sometimes Afrikaans. Yeah, and sometimes English.
B says:
Everything we had, we had to buy and we were able to pay for things.
A says:
Because your dad was earning the money on the railways, because he was a train driver.
B says:
Yeah.
A says:
And when you went to. When you went to Cape Town, I remember you said everything was in English and you had a much bigger school to go to. The school was much bigger when you went to. When you went to Cape Town, wasn't it?
B says:
Yes. Yes. We had to pay for everything in Cape Town.
A says:
Yeah.
B says:
We didn't get anything. Nothing except your dad and my dad. We had lay, so we had availability, you know, availability for get things.
A says:
And did you tell me yesterday that one of the. One of the uncles, was it uncle. Which uncle had a lot of money and helped you?
B says:
Yeah.
A says:
Do you remember you said that he was in.
B says:
He was dressed in, you know, posh clothes.
A says:
Oh, that was the one that you told one of the brothers was very posh. Which brother was that? Which uncle was the uncle.
B says:
Uncle. And.
A says:
Okay, and then Uncle Tom was the naughty one.
B says:
Yes, that's right. He did everything wrong.
A says:
He did everything wrong, yes, yes. And then the other uncle was the one that did everything right. And he was the posh one. Yes.
B says:
And I'm trying in, uncle, in.
A says:
Okay.
B says:
He was an invalid doctor.
A says:
Really? Yeah.
B says:
So he was a very posh person.
A says:
Yes.
B says:
And. But he never supplied anything in the way of money. He supplied things, but he didn't supply.
A says:
Any money for things. And then you told me yesterday about, there was big Aunt Maggie and little Aunt Maggie.
B says:
Little Aunt Maggie. She was also a very nice person. They were all nice and supplied, but none of the nine brothers that my uncle had didn't supply any money for her food and clothing.
A says:
So when you get.
B says:
My dad had to supply lots of things what nobody else could supply. And they all supplied for me and anybody else who wanted that.
A says:
Yeah, yeah. Okay, well, we'll leave it like that at the moment. So that you went, you went to Cape Town from Towes river because your brother Arthur needed to go to school there. And it was a much bigger school, and you had to speak much more English when you went there. So it was a big change for you to go to Cape Town after living in little Towers river, where it.
B says:
Was much, much smaller things to supply what she needed for her life. And he did have an appetite. He did have a facility to have various things supplied to him for the rest of his life.
A says:
Okay. Like a pension. All right, well, we'll stop there for now, but that was lovely to.