Jan Thomas Martens

Jan Thomas 1859 Greytown Jan Thomas Martens

Jan was born on November 30th, 1859 in Greytown and his baptism took place on January 1st, 1860 in Pietermaritzburg.  Jan's father was Cornelius Jacobus Martens and his mother was Victoria Liversage.  His paternal grandparents were Jan Thomas(1) Martens and Anna Maria Isabella Coetzee; his maternal grandparents were Samuel Liversage and Harriet Elisabeth Bond. He had three brothers and two sisters, named Samuel, Niel, Klein Koos, Harriet and Anna.  He was the second oldest of the six children.  He died at the age of 59 on January 14th, 1919 in "Honeyfontein", Greytown.  He was buried in GREYTOWN, Main cemetery.

• Death Notes

  Died at Honeyfontein

• General Notes

  From Umvoti when he married Susanna.
  http://www.greytown.co.za/deaths.htm#Martens,%20Frederick
  Martens, Jan Thomas (1), b. 1859 m.Susannah Engela Vermaak, 9 children, m. Anna Magritha Wessels (of Honeyfontein), 2 children Regina and Johannes Bernadus, d. intestate on 1918.
  He farmed at Honeyfontein
  Must also have been on Fairfield as his son Cornelius Jacobus was born on Fairfield.
  (NOTE: Honeyfontein was also the birthplace of Louis Botha sic "Born on the farm Honeyfontein (Heuningfontein) in 1862, Louis Botha went on to become the first prime minister of the Union of South Africa from 1910 to 1919.)
  Also: A cairn on the farm Honeyfontein situated on the Pietermaritzburg road marks the spot where in 1862 Louis Botha was born, the 8th of 13 children. 
  The Heine Spruit was in flood and his mother couldn't make it back to Greytown to the family farm Onrust! 
  He attended the Hermannsburg Mission School and left the district at the age of about 12.
  Louis was to become Commandant-General of Transvaal forces after distinguishing himself at Ladysmith, Colenso and Spioenkop during the South Africa War. Later in 1910 he became the first Prime Minister of the Union of South Africa and in 1919 he attended the peace Conference in Versailles. 
  
  According to Nicola Harris, Annie grew up on Groenkop, Seven Oaks

Details of Jan's family with Susannah Engela Vermaak