THE Brown & Annie Lawrence Home, for the aged, is the oldest retirement home in Pinelands. I was opened by HRH Princess Alice, the Countess of Athlone on 21st February 1930. Mr Brown Lawrence was a successful businessman having set up the company B Lawrence and Co in 1901 dealing in soap, candles and as …
In the early days of Pinelands there were two private school in Pinelands. The first school started in 1926 when Mrs Bush had opened her house in Central Avenue to 16 pupils. The principal was Sheila Ross the daughter of the Conservator of Forestsliving in the Uitvlugt Homestead. The number of pupils soon rose to …
Over the years a multitude of social clubs were formed in Pinelands. Among them were a Writers Circle, a Stamp Circle, Toastmasters, Caledonian Society, Study Group, the Mothercraft Circle, a Sequence Dance Club, Woodworkers Club, Choral Society and Cine 8 Club. However, the most important for many years was the Horticultural Society. A meeting held …
The first sports club in Pinelands was the Pinelands Lawn Tennis Club which met for the first time in the home of Mr Brooks in October 1923. The first two courts had already been built next to the Police Camp. The third and fourth courts followed in 1924 and 1925. The practice wall built in …
Pinelands had its own Gretna Green complete with a marriage anvil and marriage certificates. It was part of the Pinelands Old World Country Fayres that were held in the early 1940s with the aim of raising funds for the Mayor’s National War Fund. The first fair was held in April 1940 over three days on …
The small Catholic community in Pinelands became an independent parish in 1946 but had no church building. While Holy Mass took place at the Civic Hall, baptisms, funerals and weddings took place at St Patricks in Mowbray. The parish priest lived at Vincent Pallotti as the chaplain to the sister’s congregation. The church was originally …
The spiritual needs of the predominantly Christian residents of Pinelands were met at first by group meetings in the homes of residents. In most cases they outgrew homes and had to make use of the Town Hall and the Girl Guides Hall before being able to build their own churches. While the churches cater for …
The tragedy of a house on fire is not an unusual experience for Pinelands residents. With the large number of thatched houses, fire prevention and fire services have been an essential part of Pinelands since the late 1930s. It is incredible to think that prior to that there were no fire hydrants in Pinelands. When …
The many vleis in the Pinelands area attracted yellow billed duck, pheasants and partridges, but also attracted mosquitoes which plagued residents. In the thick bush, duiker and hare were commonplace. Buck were still found in the area, with the claim that the last Steenbok was shot by Mr Maag outside his house in Central Avenue. …
Richard Stuttaford was looking for a suitable site to build a town in South Africa similar to Letchworth in England which had been built based on the Garden City concept of Ebenezer Howard. The Spanish Influenza Epidemic of 1918 effected two out of every three residents in Cape Town, which had a population of 199 570. …
