AFTER contacting Paarl Post about my unknown great- grandfather, an excellent article was put together and published swiftly with a photograph on 18 September.
To my surprise I received two positive responses in as many days and now I know who he was!
What a heartwarming lot the people in Paarl turned out to be. The unselfish sharing of information has helped us solve a 100 year family mystery and made the family very happy.
Family secrets have a habit of dying out with their keepers and we had just about given up hope of ever finding out who my greatgrandfather was, when the good people of Paarl came to the rescue.
It turns out that the photograph published was that of John Powell who had been a teacher at Paarl Boys’ High about a century ago. As he hailed from Montagu, it is likely that he indeed was my great-grandfather.
The tyranny of distance has been reduced by the reach of the internet and the generosity of good old Boland spirit to help others.
I trust there will always be a place for community institutions like the Paarl Post and I certainly cannot thank you enough - priceless!
Dr Pieter J Kriel
Adelaide, Australia
