The story of Dukla

Dukla is a small village in the south-eastern corner of Poland, close to the Slovak Republic border. In late 1892 or early 1893 a young married couple left this area and migrated to London, where in 1899 their third son (and my maternal grandfather) Stanley, was born.

Stanislaw (Stanley) was interned in Reading jail as a conscientious objector from 1917-1918 and emigrated to South Africa in 1921, where he became a successful businessman. By the 1940s Stanley owned a farm near Pietermaritzburg, which he named Dukla. He had a sign cast in aluminium with the name on it. After his death, my aunt became guardian of this sign and for many years her houses in Rhodesia and later South Africa were called Dukla.

Today my aunt still has a copy of the Dukla sign outside her house, as do my 2 cousins. I am lucky enough to have been given the original sign and hope to name my house Dukla once the sign is restored.

If you want to know about anything, you study its history. If you want to know about yourself, you study your ancestry.

English ancestor

surnames are: Agar, Barugh, Beeford, Collier, Edwards, Ellerbie, Els(e)tob, Farrow, Foster, Frank, Frankland, Hickson, Holburn, Hugill, Jopling, Lacy, Norris, Petch, Rountree, Smith, Snowdon, Sonley, Storr, Strickland, Thompson, Wass, Wilk(e)s and Wren.

German ancestor

surnames are: Beer, Blanth, Gambs, Gerster, Gobel, Gorbach, Hane, Herlemeier, Karg, Kollmuß, Kresser, Lechermeier, Löcherer, Margraf, Milz, Netter, Niggl, Pfauer, Reichart, Romberg, Schauer, Schoder, Seiler, Speth, Steib, Steible, Straubing, Sutter and Sutterlitte.

Dutch ancestor

surnames are: Bentinck, de Nassau-Zuylestein, Gijsing, Heijlen, Hensen, Strache, Turnor, van Ginkel, van Leefdael, van Meetkercken, van Raesveld, van Reede, van Serooskerken, van Wassenaar, Verbaarschott and Wroth.

South African ancestor

surnames are: Badenhorst, Barnard, Boshoff, Cordier, de Jager, Martinet and Swart.

Polish ancestor

surnames (Austro-Hungarian Empire) are: Frysick, Kuren, Mikosz and Mysliwiec.

STRICKLAND cousins

include:Atkinson, Baldwin, Barwick, Bennett, Bentley, Bowes, Broughton, Bulmer, Chapman, Charter, Duck, Duffield, Dunning, Ebetson, Ellerby, Ellerker, Emmett, Foster, Foxton, Frank, Garbutt, Harding, Hardwick, Hodgson, Inman, Jackson, Jennings, Kirby, Leckenby, Leng, Lonsborough, Moxham, Norris, Oke, Page, Parker, Parkin, Peirson, Potter, Read, Robinson, Shepherd, Sigsworth, Sleightholm, Smith, Snowden, Sturdy, Taylor, Teasdale, Thompson, Walkington, Ward, Watson, Webster, Weighell and Yuill.

BOSHOFF cousins

include: Arpin, Barnard, Bekker, Botha, Carter, Claasen, De Jager, De Swart, Eksteen, Fouche, Fourie, Fraser, Gerber, Haveman, Hillebrand, Kemp, Kleynhans, Langenhoven, Marx, Meyer, Munro, Nel, Norris, Oosthuizen, Papenfus, Pelser, Prinsloo, Rademeyer, Rothman, Smit, Smythe, Stears, Stols, Swanepoel, Swart, Terblanche, Theunissen, Uys, Van Ginkel, Van Greunen, Van Niekerk, Van Rensburg, Van Schalkwyk, Van Staden, Van Tonder, Van Wijk, Von Twisk, Vorster, Weyers and Zaaiman.