Friday, 4 May 2012

Initial research

For us, finding a person who has contributed to Grahamstown's history, proved to be a challenge.
Our first port of call, the internet didn't help us as much as we would have hoped. After unsuccessfully doing computer based research, we decided it best to drive around the town.
The Fine Art department at the University was our first stop, where we were hoping to find artist who has contributed to the city's history. There were some people of interest, like Christine Dixie, who recently had her works commissioned by the Smithsonian Museum of African Art, Washington D.C, Tanya Poole, an art lecturer at the University as well as an established artist and her husband Nigel Mullins, who is also also a famous artist. While all of these people are of great interest, we decided to carry on with our research.
This led us to Grocott's Mail, where we found out that a descendant of Thomas Henry Grocott, the founder of the newspaper, is still living in Grahamstown.
William Jeffery Grocott started to work at newspaper in 1960 and by 1964 was a partner at the company. After having worked there for 49 years, he retired, shifting his attention to charity work and the church.
Grocott's Mail is South Africa's oldest independent newspaper, which happens to have been founded in Grahamstown. Jeffery Grocott is an important figure because he upheld the family legacy, through his work at Grocott's Mail, with charity and the church, and he and has family have lived through much of the 200  years of Grahamstown as both citizens and journalists.
Thomas Henry Grocott's two daughter's Ida and Emma built the house the house that Jeffrey still stays in at 2A Milner Street. 

1 comment:

  1. This is a good account of your research process, although you could have included some of your references.
    You have chosen an appropriate template for this blog.

    ReplyDelete