THE KNOBEL FAMILY AND RELATIONSHIPS

About the Book

This book consolidates the information gathered by Johan Balthazar Knobel in the original book titled “The Knobel Family and Relationships” (published in 1894), and subsequent less formal documents made in 1895 and 1906, just before and just after the Boer War. The author stated on the cover of a copy of the book presented to a relative that he felt that the original work was: "A labour of love, much spoiled by the printer & by the copyist of type writing, Pretoria 8 January 1896” Whilst this publication attempts to remain as faithful to the original published work as possible, it does take into account his subsequent hand-written corrections, expansions, and explanations or translations where deemed appropriate to ease reading. The inconsistent or misprinted names and/or dates have been kept in the original work and are corrected at the back of the document in the section titled “Photographs and Family Ties”. Some inconsistencies are also explained in footnotes. The dates in the section Family Ties obviously only go until the cutoff date of 1906, as in the original. We, the present family, are busy compiling a more detailed family list for future generations which will be available soon. We would appreciate any information from all the family members for this project.

About the Author

The author, Dr. Johan Balthazar Knobel was born on 5 May 1853 in Colesberg, Northern Cape, South Africa, the grandson of the first Knobel to land in South Africa in 1803. He qualified as a Medical Doctor in Glasgow in 1877 and subsequently travelled through Europe seeking information on the Knobels and their origins. This fascination continued throughout his life, resulting in him publishing the original book of this title in 1894 of which he gave copies to family. One of these now resides in the South African Archives. He also wrote two further papers in 1895 and 1906 expanding on his findings and making certain corrections. Dr. Knobel practiced medicine in Philippolis and Pretoria through to his retirement. He died in 1931 and was survived by his wife, Anna Maria, and five children.