Born 3rd April 1853 in the village town of Devizes in Wiltshire. Died in 1934 in Natal, South Africa. Married three times.
1st Marriage : Julia Annie Grant. on 20 Oct 1880. (b. 2 April 1852. D 15 Mar 1884) in South Africa.
2nd Marriage :Mary Eliza Wood on 8 Nov 1884.(b 21 July 1848. d 22 Jan 1912). Third Marriage Florence Procter b 15 Mar 1876. (His surviving spouse at the time of his death) He was a freeman of the City of London. He emigrated to South Africa (date?) The National archives of South Africa have several of his transactions recorded. He is noted in the SA census of 1909. He applied for 50 pegging licenses in Klipoortjie in 1909 and renewed the rights to his claims in 1909 and again in 1910. There is a stained glass window in his memory in St Paul’s church in central Durban. SA, where he set up a shop which sold Chinese curios in Durban. He was named in the Natal Who’s Who of 1933, along with his son John Lewis.
John Arthur Smallbones and Julia Annie Grant had children :
1 John Lewis Smallbones (Also known as Jack). (Born 1881) SEE BELOW:
2 Annie Ethel Mary Smallbones b 15 m 1884.
ref birth reg essex, greater London. Free BMD birth Index ancestry.com
Annie Ethel Mary Smallbones married John Percy Long.(predeceased) She died in 1965 aged 81.
Annies Ethels death ref NASA MHG 552/65.
John Percy Longs Death ref : NASA archives MHG ref 1601/59
John Arthur Smallbones and Florence Proctor had a child (Half brother to John Lewis)
1 John Procter Smallbones (born 3 Mar 1917)
Refs: death of Mary Eliza Wood. – NASA source LEER Vol 0 source 19354
Refs: Florence Procter – N.A.SA Source MSCE. Vol 0 ref 20844/1934
JA Smallbones census 1909 – N.ASA source CEN Vol53 Ref EE3295
JA Smallbones Jewellery transaction 1908 – N.ASA Source DCU Vol 111 Ref 197
JA Smallbones mining claims – NASA source MMB Vol 134 ref MCK876/09 and NASA source MMB Vol 157 ref MCK304/10
Whos Who ref Natal Mercury 1933
*JOHN LEWIS SMALLBONES (1881 – 1956)
John Lewis was born on 23 Aug 1881 registered birth Camberwell, London, Surrey. Died in Rhodesia 1956. Married Helen Michael Courtis (previously married to Charles Arncliff Mappin) She was born on St Michael’s Mount off the Cornish Coast. The Courtis family has a genealogy back to the 1400s in Cornwall. At the time they were married, Helen Michael Mappin had a daughter named Gwen Mappin. John Lewis started the Prudential Insurance Company, later known as Southern Life Insurance. (The main Southern Life Building in Johannesburg was administered by the Anglo American Property Corporation in the 1980s. There is a record of John Lewis being in dispute in a case vs the SA Trade Union Assurance Society in 1950. There is also record of a dissolving of partnership in 1949. It is thought that John Lewis originally went to SA to fight in the Boer War. There is a record of him joining Brabants Horse regiment (Scouting) He would have probably signed up at Queenstown South Africa. As an older man he was always immaculately dressed in a suit, waistcoat and tie everywhere he went. They lived in a fancy house - 25, First Avenue, Lower Houghton, Johannesburg. It was the first house built in that area. John Lewis was known in Durban and was mentioned in the Who’s Who of Natal in 1933 along with his father John Arthur. John Lewis and his wife retired to Rhodesia where they were unfortunately murdered along with their married daughter Helen in 1956.
Details of John Lewis Birth cetificate (Duplicate extract held) entry # 127. Date/place of birth 24 Aug 1881 at 9 Dunstan Rd. Father John Arthur Smallbones. Mother Julie Annie Smallbones (Formerly Grant). Fathers occupation Warehouseman. Birth reg on 4 Oct 1881.
John Lewis in the boer war. WO records uk Archives reg Brabants horse 126
John Lewis refs Birth reg quarter of Oct Nov Dec 1881. ref Birth Deaths Marriages of national Reg England and Wales
Death registered NASA source MHG Vol 0 Ref 6823/56
Helen Courtis – previous married name is mentioned in her death notice. Ref NASA sourceMHG Vol 0 ref 6824/56
Trade Union dispute : NASA source LEER Vol 0 Ref 1717/1950.
Ex-parte NASA source WLD Vol 0 ref 1610/1949
Murder ref – Police Printers BSAP – CID cases of note 1959.Salisbury Rhodesia
John Lewis and Helen Michael Courtis had children:
1a (Step-child to John Lewis. Her father was Charles Arncliff Mappin ) Gwen Mappin. born ? Married to Leslie Matthews (one time deputy Mayor of JHB, and school principal) She died of a heart attack after 1957.
Gwen Mappin and Les Matthews had children:
1a1 John Matthews Living
1a2 Michael Matthews. Livng
1a3 Guy Matthews b c 1950. Died c 1973.
1* John Arthur Pearce Smallbones ( 1906 - 1970) (see more details below)
2 James Edward Thomas Smallbones. b 28 Feb 1909 d 23 Sept 1911 Edward died very young as a toddler.
3 Owen Smallbones ( 1913 - 1973) born 10 Mar 1913 Married Louise Buchanan Gardiner on 26 Feb 1938. She was his surviving spouse in 1973 when he died. Louise was born on 16 June 1910. They had children
3a1 Francis Helen Smallbones Born 4 Mar 1939 Living
3a2 Athlea Gwendolin Smallbones. Living
Refs – Owens death. NASA source MHG Vol 0 ref 3710/73.
4 Helen Mary Smallbones ( 1915 - 1956) born 9 Jan 1915 Married 19 Mar 1936 to Lionel Frank Penney b 9 July 1914. Helen died in 1956 when she was murdered along with her parents John Lewis and Helen Michael Smallbones in Rhodesia.
Helen and Lionel had children :
4a1 George Lionel Penney b 5 Feb 1941. Living
4a2 Helen Anne Penney. b 24 Nov 1946 . Married Lance Davis. Living
Ref Helens death – NASA source MHG Vol 0 ref 5825/56
5 Douglas George Smallbones (1916 – 2003) Born 1917. d 3 Aug 2003
Married Joan Beryl (Riding) Cooper 27 Nov 1943. Joan born 11 May 1920. George Smallbones and his wife Joan lived in Natal.They had children: Living
*JOHN ARTHUR PEARCE SMALLBONES ( 1906 - 1970)
John Arthur Pearce, son of Lewis Smallbones. Affectionately known as Japs. Born 1906 Died 1970. South Africa. Married Blanche Estelle Ross-Munro in South Africa. on 14 Feb 1931. Ross-Munro was born? . Blanche Ross-Munro and John Arthur Pearce were divorced on 9 Mar 1955. John Arthur later married Ann Joubert,on 19 Mar 1955.Anne was his surviving spouse at the time of his death. John was a businessman in Johannesburg.
Refs: Blanche Ross-Munro divorce from John Arthur Smallbones. NASA source WLD Vol 0 Ref 440/1995
John Arthur Pearce death NASA source MHG sys 01 ref 9508/7
John Arthur Pearce and Blanche Ross-Munro had children
1 St.John Leslie Smallbones b 1931 - SEE BELOW*
2 Patricia Blanche Smallbones b 14 Oct 1932. Married 18 Dec 1954 to Maurice V Launder. b.11 April 1931. Had children Living.
3 Jillian Moncrieff Smallbones b 30 October 1943.Married Mr Dwyer They had children Living
1* ST.JOHN LESLIE SMALLBONES ( 1931 - )
St John Leslie Smallbones was born on 21 Nov 1931 in Johannesburg South Africa.(Affectionately known as Johnny - called Coppie by his Uncle George Smallbones) He married Ivy Edna Visagie in Salisbury Rhodesia at the BSA Police Chapel on ? in 1954. Ivy Edna Visagie born 26 Mar 1935. St John Leslie Smallbones attended Jeppe High School in Houghton South Africa.. Current status - Living. Ivy and St John Leslie Smallbones had children :
1 Ian Leslie Smallbones b 1955 , Salisbury Rhodesia. Married Jennifer ?
Ian leslie Smallbones and his wife Jennifer ? had children:
1a1 ?? Smallbones born ?Living
1a2 Mark Smallbones born ?Living
1a3 Barbara Smallbones born ?Living
2 Susan Michael Smallbones born in 1958 in Salisbury Rhodesia Susan Michael was named after her great grandmother Helen Michael Courtis Smallbones.. Married Frank Guthrie in Salisbury Rhodesia in 1978. Susan Michael Smallbones and Frank Guthrie had children :
1a1 Bryoni Sue Guthrie - living
1a2 Bradburn Guthrie - Living
*3 JANE SMALLBONES (1961 - ) See below for more detail
4 John Andrew Peter Smallbones. Born ? April 1964 in Salisbury Rhodesia. (Sometimes affectionately known as Japs but more often as Jon-Jon) Married Elinor Guthrie .Living.
John Andrew Peter Smallbones and his wife Elinor Smallbones had children :
1a1 Melinda Smallbones Living
1a2 Joshua Smallbones Living
* JANE SMALLBONES ( 1961 - )
Jane Smallbones was born in 1961, 4th March, in Salisbury Rhodesia. Jane married Frank Flowers who was born on 2nd Sept 1947. Frank Flowers was previously married to Roslyn Ehrke and Jane inherited 2 step-children from that marriage (Frank James Flowers) Living and (Karl Bernard Flowers) Living. Frank Flowers has extensive family with a detailed family tree, dating back (as of 2007) to 1700s. The family was originally Gentleman-farmers of Lenborough and Padbury Northampton and Buckingham Counties Uk.(See The FLOWERS FAMILY TREE)
Jane Smallbones and her Husband Frank Flowers had a child:
*1a St John Paul Smallbones. born 16 Sept 1981. Living.
