Jacobus Johannes Gideon Nel (1836-1916)
1836 – 1916
Names
- Baptismal name
- Jacobus Johannes Gilliam [?]
- Given
- Jacobus Johannes Gideon
- Surname
- Nel
The formal baptismal name and the name a person was actually called are both kept, and neither is derived from the other. Spelling drift between records is evidence, not noise.
Three generations around this person
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Click any name and the same three generations are drawn around that person instead. There is no first couple here and no top to the tree: it is only ever the family standing closest to whoever you are reading about, and a blank is a gap in the record rather than a statement about anybody.
Immediate family
- Brothers and sisters
-
- 1838Susanna Hendrina Magdalena Nel (1838-1909)
- 1842Anna Francina Christina Nel (1842-1912)
- 1844Elias Albertus Nel (1844-1914)
- 1846Christina Elizabeth Nel (1846-1908)
- 1850Johannes Abraham Nel (1850-1941)
- 1852Hester Jacoba Nel (1852-1935)
- 1858Catharina Wilhelmina Arnoldina Nel (1858-1939)
- 1863Gideon Jacobus Louw Nel (b.1863)
- Married
- Anna Jacoba van Wyk (1842-1925)
- Children
- Christina Elisabeth Nel
A life in the record
- 1836 born Born
- 2 December 1888 witness Witnessed a baptism · Jacobus Johannes Gideon van der Merwe
- 1916 died Died
Who stood with them
Who signed at a baptism, a will or a survey is not incidental. It is the clearest surviving record of which families stood close to which.
- they stood for
Jacobus Johannes Gideon van der Merwe baptism · 2 December 1888
dates known, no other trace here
Stories
- mentioned The van der Merwes of the Hantam
What we don't know
- No dated record ties this person to a specific piece of ground.
A sourced gap beats an unsourced fill. These are the open questions on this person, stated rather than papered over.
Sources
- Calvinia baptism register, 1888: the baptism of Jacobus Johannes Gilliam van der Merwe, 2 December 1888Nederduitse Gereformeerde Kerk, gemeente CALVINIA, doopregisterEntries of November and December 1888; the van der Merwe entry is the last on the left-hand leaf
Research notes
[11 Aug 2026] A DIRECT ANCESTOR, named on ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS rather than taken from a tree: he is named as the father of Christina Elizabeth NelM on her 1867 Calvinia baptism entry (SRC-399) and again on her 1895 death notice (SRC-400), AND he stood as a witness at his granddaughter's baptism at Calvinia in 1887 (SRC-380). His grandson born 1888, PER-000219, carries his name entire. NO FAMILYSEARCH ID YET, which is a gap worth closing - the standing rule for imports on this project is that a row should carry one so it can be re-checked against the live tree. Name and the family link only; no dates and no place beyond what the documents give.
[11 Aug 2026, SRC-412] FAMILYSEARCH ID AND DATES ADDED. This row was made this morning from a baptism index and a death notice, neither of which carries an id, and the gap was flagged on it. The son's family-tree closes it: 9F3V-N1X, 1836-1916. They married at CALVINIA on 11 JANUARY 1858 and had thirteen children.
*** [SRC-629, 7 Sep 2026] THE REGISTER CALLS HIM GILLIAM, NOT GIDEON. *** He stood as first witness at his grandson Kola's baptism at Calvinia on 2 December 1888, and the clerk wrote 'Jacs Johs GILLIAM Nel' - on the same line as the child, who is entered as Jacobus Johannes GILLIAM. So the third name is attested as Gilliam for BOTH men, in one hand, on one day. This model calls him Gideon, from compiled sources. display_name is left alone and doopnaam is marked with a query, because this is one register writing his name in passing as a witness rather than his own baptism entry - good evidence for the form the family used, and not the same thing as his own font. WHAT WOULD SETTLE IT: his own baptism, about 1836. WIT-00383.
*** [SRC-630, 7 Sep 2026] HIS PARENTS ARE FOUND, AND HIS OWN NAME NOW HAS A GRANDFATHER BEHIND IT. *** He had no parentage in this model at all until today. Father: JACOBUS GIDEON NEL (PER-002053, 1812-1873), baptised 7 February 1813 as 'Jacobis Gidion', with JACOBIS GIDION LOUW as first witness. Mother: SUSANNA FRANCINA LOUW (PER-002054, 1817-1902), married at Clanwilliam 2 February 1834. So he is a Jacobus Johannes Gideon whose father was a Jacobus Gideon, named in turn for a Jacobus Gideon Louw. THREE MEN, ONE NAME, AND THE 1813 REGISTER SPELLS IT GIDION - which is the evidence LEAD-0343 lacked when it backed the 1888 'Gilliam' yesterday.
These are working notes, not finished prose: they carry the reasoning, the corrections and the things still marked to verify. They are kept here so the page itself can read as what is known.
Open questions
-
Was the Nel third name Gilliam or Gideon, and who was Hendrika Gertruida Visser?
priority P2 · LEAD-0343
The Calvinia register of 2 December 1888 (SRC-629) writes GILLIAM for both the child Kola (PER-000219) and his maternal grandfather (PER-001816), where this model has carried GIDEON for both from compiled sources. Which is the baptismal form? And the fourth witness, HENDRIKA GERTRUIDA VISSER, is held nowhere here, yet Kola named a daughter Hendrieka Gertruida in 1929 - who was she to this family?
What would settle it The grandfather's own baptism entry for the name; any register naming Hendrika Gertruida Visser beside a Nel, a van Wyk or a van der Merwe.
Elders
FamilySearch profile 9F3V-N1X