My (paternal) grandmother’s family
My paternal grandmother, Dorothy Farquharson (Ogg) Shillington (born 1918) was born in Cape Town. She finished school at 16 and left university at 21 years old. She studied a Bachelor of Arts in Latin, Greek and mathematics and then a Masters in Classics at the University of Cape Town. She then taught at St Cyprian’s Girls School. Her sister was Mary Gertrude (Ogg) Crocker (1915 -1991) who married Horace George Crocker (1916 – 1949) in 1939 (he was also married to Ann Stewart Fleming at some stage). Mary was an actress in London and was sick in bed for a large portion of her life.
Dorothy (Ogg) Shillington
Dorothy (Ogg) Shillington
Dorothy’s father Alexander Ogg (1870-24.2.1948 Johannesburg) was born in Glenbuchat, Aberdeen, Scotland and moved to South Africa, working as a professor of physics at the University of Cape Town, specialising in magnetism. After interference from the Trams that were then running through Rondebosch, he began working during the nights, after which he moved to the Hermanus and started the Hermanus Magnetic Observatory in the 1930’s. His wife Gertrude Elizabeth Winifred (Harvey) Ogg was born (1875) in Breconshire, Glamorgan in Wales, they married in 1910.
Alexander Ogg “1905: as first Professor of Physics and Applied Mathematics at the newly established Rhodes University College, Grahamstown, became one of the most wellknown figures in S.A. in the field of physics; 1917-1919 Professor of Physics at the S.A. School of Mines and Technology (later University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg); in 1918 acting principal of this university; 1920-1936 Professor of Physics at University Cape Town, where he supervised the setting up of the new De Beers Physical Laboratory; took the lead in 1930 in erection of a permanent magnetic observatory in 1932 at the University Cape Town; served as president of the Royal Society of S.A. for five years.”
“The first Professor of Physics appointed to the TUC was R A Lehfeldt. Probably the most important research achievement during his tenure was the accurate measurement of the acceleration of gravity on the Highveld, which supported the theory of isostasy. Lehfeldt’s successor, Alexander Ogg, was Professor of Physics as well as Acting Principal for three years only, 1917-1920. He had come from the Chair of Physics at Rhodes University College, and after his short spell in Johannesburg, left to take up the position of Head of the Department of Physics at the University of Cape Town.” From the University of Witwatersrand Annuals
Alexander Ogg
Alexander Ogg’s parents were Charles Ogg (1815-1882) a farmer and Ann (Farquharson) Ogg (1831-1918), born in Glenbuchat and Belnaglack, Scotland respectively.
Charles’s parents William Ogg (1785-1851) and Mary (Dingwall) Ogg (1786-1848) were from Strathdon and Tarland, Aberdeenshire, Scotland respectively. William’s parents were Alexander Ogg (1751-1789) born in Aberdeenshire and Barbara McRobert (1754-1789), from Scotland.
My (paternal) grandfather’s family
My paternal grandfather, Patrick Henry Shillington was born in Zimbabwe (then Rhodesia) in 1909. At the age of 9 or 10 he suffered from Scarlet Fever. He required an operation, complications of which left him completely deaf. At 13 he moved to Northampton in the United Kingdom to attend a school for the deaf. He studied architecture at the University of Cape Town, receiving a diploma (degrees were not yet available in Architecture).
Patrick Henry Shillington
His parents were Thomas Shillington and Valerie (Welensky) Shillington (born in Rhodesia). Thomas was a journalist born in either Ireland or England. Valerie’s mother was a Ferreira, possibly from Portugal. Valerie was a journalist and was the Editor of the Cape Times Woman’s Magazine. Valerie was the eldest of 13 children, the youngest being Sir Roy Welensky who went on to be the Prime Minister of the Federation of Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) and Nyasaland (Malawi)– Northern and Southern Rhodesia and Nyasaland, in 1958.
Valerie (Welensky) Shillington
Valerie was married three times. Her first husband was Thomas Shillington, my grandfather’s father, who left Valerie when Patrick was four years old. Thomas came back to visit Patrick (aged 16) in 1925, which was the first time that he knew that his father was not Mr Fischer. Patrick also had two half sisters, Barbara (Shillington) Lever and Pan (Shillington) Hutchinson. Barbara had three sons (Micheal, Tony and ?), Pan had a son Robert Hutchinson, and daughter Sue (Hutchinson) Densem.
Thomas Shillington
Valerie married her second husband, Mr Fischer in 1922, when Patrick was 13 years old. Their son David A. Valdermar was a diplomat in Pretoria, after which he lived in Austria for 20 years working at the Atomic Energy Commission, on the economics of nuclear weapon disarmament.
David A. Valdermar and Patricia had four children Dinah, Michael, Desdee and Patrick John. Michael and Patrick went to boarding school in South Africa and then in Oxford in the United Kingdom. Deesdee married a Norwegian psychologist and had one child. Michael married a lady from Czechoslovakia and adopted two children. Patrick John, married Sue and had one child.
David A. Valdermar Fischer
Her third husband was Jan Van Rooijen of Dutch decent (they did not have any children together). He was a Professor of Radiology, specialising in cancer. He died in approximately 1966.
Jan van Roojien
My paternal grandparents
Patrick was Dorothy’s senior by 9 years. They met at university in Cape Town and married in circa 1944, after which they moved to Port Elizabeth, Springs in the Transvaal, and then Johannesburg where John was born in 1945 in Blanket Street. My father, Frank was then born in Greenside while they lived in 65 Mowbray Road. After which David was born.
Dorothy (Ogg), John and Patrick Shillington
Thanks to John for the corrections.
lucypoppins 