TOPIC:

www.angloboerwar.com/forum/surname-v/218...ummelan-j-commandant

Seems like he did get the ABO medal; the Vorm B May be of interest to the family

Hi Rob,

Thanks for the input; unfortunately they are two different people.

Johannes van Brumlen / Brumelen / Brummelen most likely fought in the Boer War and most likely for the Ficksburg Commando but in the public domain there is no record (unless he used an alias) of him being taken POW or died at sea as stated by Willemse.

As you have mentioned it may be worthwhile engaging a professional like Dewald to see what else he can find; he has helped me out numerous times in the past.

Regards,
Sturgy

Sturgy, you think there were two Johannes van Brumlens, one from Ficksburg and one from Holland? The 1907 death notice signed by Mrs van Brumlen ( Venter?) says he was a Hollander who was a stock farmer and they were married in Ficksburg.
Now in my experience Ficksburg is not a metropolis and van Brummelen is not a common name. One explanation might possibly be that there was only one man and two or more versions of his story… hence the Vorm B might tie things together?

Rob, Sturgy,

Having read through all of the above, I believe it is very likely that there was only one man with this name. I suspect van Brumelen abandoned his wife at the end of the war, leaving South Africa as one of those who refused to pledge allegiance to the King, hoping to create a new life abroad. He would not have been the only one to follow this path, General Viljoen perhaps being the most famous example. In the latter case, Viljoen's wife had the money to sue for divorce (seemingly aided by her husband, who wished to remarry). Perhaps due to financial constraints, Susara Maria chose a different route and fabricated her husband's death, similarly opening the door to the possibility of remarriage. This scenario would explain why she chose to register Johannes' death a full five years after the event.

Larnyjeaney, do you have a date for Susara Maria's second marriage? If she remarried shortly after the registration of her first husband's death, that would add weight to the above hypothesis. The affidavit (shown below) certainly suggests this was the case: "I make this statement as I am desirous of entering into a second marriage".

Neville





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Neville, I think you may be on the right track here. She seems to have wanted to muddle the waters. On the death certificate she stated that her husband's will was destroyed during the war, implying the same fate for other official documents. She also couldn't remember the names and other info about her in laws, which I find rather hard tp believe. I couldn't find any reference to the name Brumlen and perhaps she deliberately made that mistake for the cause stated. This would also explain her halted signature on the Affidavit which appears to be in two parts Brum-len.