Tragic Case

The Rose’s Round-up on tourism newsletter details an especially tragic case of the effect of the Bantjes legacy.

A wealthy Scottish man by the name of James Alexander Thwaits living in Beaufort West had married a Miss Bantjes and had several children with her. When the notice of Bantjes’ strange will was published in South Africa in 1894, Thwaits disinherited his children from his first wife, believing that these children would qualify to inherit the larger Bantjes fortune.

Sadly, this was not the case, and when Thwaits died shortly after changing his will, these children from his first wife were left destitute.

Are you a descendant of James Alexander Thwaits or do you know anyone who is? Please get in touch, we’d love to hear from you.

Seated Lady in Striped Dress with Four Little Girls by Franz Antoine. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, David Hunter McAlpin Fund, 1948.