In the 1980’s a Rosalind Slater published a collection of 10 books containing a collection of letters and diaries preserved by John Francis Slater and Sarah Ann Slater (Bland) from members of the Slater family to their parents at Carnarvon Dale farm on the Bushmans River.
The books are known as The Carnarvon Dale Papers and the one I have is number 7 – ‘Diamonds’. It contains letters written by Thomas George Slater (son) who was a diamond buyer and died in Kimberley on 31 December 1882.
My late grandmother was Mabel Mary Slater and her sister Constance Evelyn Slater are on record as being the daughters of this Thomas George Slater.
On page 12 of this book it states that he married a widow with two girls and names the two girls. The only record I can only find is where he married a Sarah Piers in Kimberley on 19 May 1881, but no further record. I do know that Thomas George in fact married a Sarah Philida Jacoba van Dyk (known in the Slater family as Daisy) who was the biological mother of the two girls. I believe he legally adopted the girls, hence them claiming to be Slater
If anybody can assist in helping me contact the heirs of Rosalind Slater or any other member of the Slater family who may know where the all the original documents making up the Papers can be found, this could well help me to unravel this mystery
I can be contacted on my email – ghtoget@gmail.com
Gavin Peterson
