Tufthill Farm, South Africa
Photograph of Tufthill Farm in Eastern Cape, South Africa.
Courtesy of Mr Stanley Cawthorn
Marion MacNeill was born at Hough in 1841 and married Richard Brown in Glasgow in 1872. Five years later, her brother Donald married Mary Napier. Some time after that, the two couples emigrated to Eastern Cape, South Africa.
They had to contend with all that nature hurled at them, from torrential rain and hail storms to blazing heat and crop pests. Their nearest village and train station was Toise River about twenty-five miles away. Goods were fetched by ox wagon which took a full twelve hours for the round trip.
Births and deaths in the community were celebrated or mourned by all. When a neighbour died, the closest men turned out to lay out the body, put it into the coffin and hold the burial.
Black and white photograph of Tufthuill Farm in Eastern Cape, South Africa.
Marion and Donald MacNeill from Hough at Tufthuill Farm in Eastern Cape, South Africa. Marion married Richard Brown in 1872 and her brother Donald married Mary Napier in 1877. Some after that both couples emigrated to South Africa.