I often drive past this old Victorian house set in a leafy garden in the middle of suburbia and alongside a canalized river, but have never known anything about it. All you can really see is an alluring gable with the date 1789 on it (which turns out is stretching the truth a bit - although there might have been some buildings on the site in the late eighteenth century, the gable is most definitely later nineteenth century). Anyway, this is Timour Hall, which is run by the International Police Association as a guest house. It has an rich history that includes a link to Percy FitzPatrick of Jock of the Bushveld fame. They have an interesting website but nothing about why it is called Timour Hall, except that it was given the name in 1878 by Mrs Aletta Jacoba Smith. Maybe some colonial link to East Timor in south-east Asia?
Cape Town Time
9 years ago
Maybe Caroline should do a bit more research with some depth to it before making statements as to the age of Timour Hall. At present she has probably dated the gable correctly but she should take note that there is actually a house supporting this gable. I would like to know how she has come to the conclusion that the age of the house iis "stretching the truth a little"
ReplyDeleteAccording to the book The Old Buildings of the Cape, by Dr Hans Fransen and Mary Alexander Cook, Timour Hall was almost entirely rebuilt when it was named Timour Hall in 1878 by a later owner, Mrs Aletta Jacoba Smith (a granddaughter of William Duckitt): "The present impressive homestead is entirely Victorian in appearance with a Cape Dutch gable surmounting a portico which covers part of the elevated stoep ..." "The refashionings probably took place during the ownership of Aletta Jacoba Smith... The house almost certainly INCORPORATES a late 18th century building" they go on to say, but there is nothing concrete to show - only some traveller's letters and written scanty records of an earlier dwelling. (Jonathan Ball Publishers)
ReplyDeleteI think people who make sarcastic comments like the first one anonymously are not worth the comment space they take up. If they want to critisise a blogger then they should at least have the conviction of their critisism to place their real name or a link to their own blog or website. Some of us blog because we do it as a hobby and have passion for it, not because we get paid to do it and have hours to research every single thing we post. Some facts are better than none. And you did include facts. Quite a few actually. If you can't find the rest it doesn't mean that you should not do the post. Anyway, rant over.
ReplyDeleteA picture like that can only be from your part of the country. Cape Dutch style buildings always look so out of place on our side.
I'm currently researching the history of the house and the people who lived there over the years. Although it is true that the current building was not the original structure on the land, there has been a home here since 1796, hence the date on the gable...
ReplyDeleteAll I can say is "YAY, Firefly!"
ReplyDeleteJane x
Me too. THanks Jonker - your sentiments are mine too.
ReplyDeleteJo - if you ever publish anything about this lovely old house, it would be great to know. It must have a very rich and fascinating history.
ReplyDeleteI will certainly let you know... I've managed to trace back to the 1600's for one of the ancestors of a person who lived here and am working on the others... it's a bit of a hard slog, but ultimately worth it!
ReplyDelete