Posted on June 22, 2010

Ancestry24, a division of Naspers Publishing, has lasted longer than anyone anticipated. From its humble beginnings on a home-grown html website 5 years ago when there were a meagre few thousand records it has developed to where today it boasts 2,5 million records of transcribed material. These records vary from death notices from the National Archives, passenger lists from the PWD series, Anglican Church Records, Government Gazettes to thousands of headstone inscriptions from around the country.

Our aim is to make as many records as possible available to the public in an affordable and accessible format and to cater for all aspects of South African heritage. Because of the lack of access to archives where most of our records are kept we decided to continue taking every opportunity of digitizing material that is in the public domain.

Ancestry24 has found a niche way of providing South Africans with as much basic information as possible without having to go to an archive and a library.

The average South African finds it difficult to get immediate access to records on their ancestry and family history. The easiest and most obvious way, besides finding documents in your own home, is to visit your local cemetery where the family is buried. Ancestry24 has taken the initiative to photograph and transcribe as many cemetery records as possible. This project is not only aimed at family historians but goes towards South African heritage as whole.

A large percentage of our cemeteries are being vandalized and stripped by criminals who not only steal the lead lettering on the headstones but simply smash the headstones for no apparent reason. Many of our cemeteries are not maintained because of alack of Government funds.

This simple and pro-active project can be spread throughout any communities whereby almost any member of the public can contribute by either helping to photograph the headstones or tag images. Other ways of helping is to adopt a grave and tidy it up or get a group of school children to do a project on their local cemetery. Children can learn about who the people buried there are, when did they die and causes of death, e.g. war, epidemics, etc. as well as why cemeteries are segregated, and the wealth and economic status of families as to what type of headstone was erected.

Ancestry24 has photographed a number of entire cemeteries in the Cape such a Clanwilliam, Klawer, Lamberts Bay, Citrusdal, Vredendal, Bot Rivier, Kleinmond as well Muizenberg and Plumstead. The latter are still being tagged and made visible on our site each week. Volunteers to help transcribe and take photographs in Gauteng and the Free State are needed to help. People who offer to photograph and tag 500 images each will be entitled to a free 1 year subscription to Ancestry24. We particularly invite interested people to get involved as part of their Mandela Day contribution.

Our volunteering group called 'Friends of the Crypt' has been approved by the Cape Town City's Cemetery section to photograph all the city's cemeteries. The next project is to photograph Maitland Cemetery over a period of 1 year. Because of the complexity and size of 100 hectares we need project co-ordinators who are dedicated and intuitive to make this project successful.

As part of our ongoing access to information we are also asking the public to submit copies of old documents such death notices, birth, marriage and death certificates. These images can be added to the contributors section on the Ancestry24 website to help the public find information much more accessible.

Armchair genealogy is new and relatively inexpensive way for the public to find information without having to either drive or fly to the major archival centres around the country or have to pay for petrol and parking. As more and more records become available and more material is submitted by the public the wealth of our heritage can only grow and increase awareness on how delicate our records and how easily we can preserve our heritage.

Heather McAlistair runs Ancestry24.com an online ancestral and genealogical database.

Access the Ancestry24 website here.