Hi Marie

Origins of the West Family

To confirm and prove the origins of your grandmother Jeanetta Petronella West who was born on 29 May 1898 and died on 4 May 1963 in Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa.

Research Objectives

1.       Review Legacy’s work on the West line (an extensive task in itself).

2.       Prove or disprove their findings and give a clear and full explanation to demonstrate our conclusion including vital documents which they may have missed.

3.        Provide full and complete lists of the children belonging to Jeanetta’s father and grandfather.

4.       Locate a birth record for Jeanetta Petronella West born on 29 May 1898 in Cape Province, South Africa. Information previously indicated a birth in England so was not included in our South African certificate requests. Birth certificate requested by South African researchers separately.

5.       Take back Jeanetta’s line to her grandfather. A search for siblings of this grandfather have not yet been productive although there are Wests using your family's early traditional names who were born in the right part of South Africa until the 1850s.

6.       Determine when (approximately) the Wests emigrated to South Africa and why. Consider evidence that the Wests might have been on a ship in the early 1850s. Resolve confusion regarding which generation came over from England.

7.       Determine the occupations of Jeanetta's grandfather. Check South Africa, City and Area Directories for Jeanetta’s father and grandfather.

8.       South African records provide no information on Jeanetta’s grandfather’s father which causes difficulties in locating the previous generation. There are around 30 possible entries for Jeanetta’s grandfather in the 1841 English census. We will provide a table of these individuals of the right name born at the right time in England and eliminate those who died before the Wests set sail. From this selection we will be able to track those who stayed in England by taking their census entries past the time when the Wests left the country. We should then be left with a small number and would then rely on naming patterns and occupations. These names would then form a basis for further research. Should it appear that the earlier generations (Jeanetta’s great grandfather and his father) stayed in England, it will be necessary to search for probate records to see if the next generation is mentioned so that a connection might be made.

9.       We will search for a will for Jeanetta’s grandfather to see if any of his siblings were mentioned. We will conduct this search ourselves in any event to check.

10.    We will give additional information and instructions to South African agents depending on our findings and remove Christoffel Johannes Nagel born c1897 from our certificate request and change the requirement to Jeanetta, 1898.

11.     Amend our digital tree and the Schepers chronicle. It may be that another hardback book is required due to the extra information that has been found. (Books are usually up to 300 pages each).

I hope you find this acceptable and I have set up payments at £437.50 each. Please make payment as last time to:-

Glen Midgley sort code 403725 account 62391651

We look forward to telling all.

Thanks again, Amy