Hi to all Parkin family and other vistors

This site is dedicated to those wanting to know more about the Parkin family in South Africa and also provide a forum for all descendants of John Parkin to share information about the family.


John Parkin, an 1820 settlers, was the first Parkin to set foot in South Africa, in Algoa Bay on 20th May 1820. He was accompanied by his wife Elizabeth Abraham (nee Howard) and his first four children, William, John, Jane and Robert. Initially settling on the farm designated by the British Government to the Parkin party, some 14km south west of Bathurst in the Eastern Cape, he moved into Port Elizabeth soon after and during the early years of the cities existence, quickly acquired a large portfolio of the Port Elizabeth real estate.


Today, not much (if any) of his original land remains in the Parkin name, with only a few items in the city remaining as an acknowledgement of his input into the beginnings of Port Elizabeth, namely Parkin Street in North End and a memorial plaque in a park in Stella ave Fernglen, close to where his original homestead was.


Marrying a second time, John Parkin's offspring could have made up a rugby team, all of 15 kids. Upon his death in 1856, his estate was never settled as a number of his children had moved on from Port Elizabeth and some thought to be dead. In the years that followed, some of his property was purchased from the estate by the government of the day for in order to build the Port Elizabeth Railway Station, where it still stands today. In the 1960's, a descendant of John Parkin, (N.P. Sellick) interested in determining who still had a claim to the estate, researched the Parkin genealogy in conjunction with the HSRC and wrote a book "John Parkin of Baakens River farm and his family, 1820 to 1970", which gave the basis for the family tree that can be found on this site.


To this I have added my direct family from information my father could still remember before his death in 1993 and more recently, through contact with Parkin Family on the net, have managed to update other lines in the family tree.


In order to see if you,your parents or grand parents are listed in the tree, do a "find" search on each of the pages in this Blog Archive (bottom right of this page) 2009, October, showing the various generations. As a guide, birth dates for the various generations are as follows


  • 2nd generation birth dates between 1810's and 1840's
  • 3rd generation birth dates between 1830's and 1890's
  • 4th generation birth dates between 1860's and 1910's
  • 5th generation birth dates between 1890's and 1930's
  • 6th generation birth dates between 1940's and 1970's
  • 7th generation birth dates between 1970's and 2000's
  • 8th generation birth dates between 1990's and 2000's
  • and now the 9th generation in the 2000's

I would be happy to hear from anyone that has more information about the family or your particular lineage in order to updated the family tree.

You can find my contact details here http://www.blogger.com/profile/00702972045824582781


Sunday, January 8, 2017

Excerpts from "John Parkin of Baakens River Farm and his Family" by NP Sellick, Publishes by Human Science Research Council, 1978

                      The Parkins From Overseas

"The name Parkin is derived from Peterkin or Perkin - old English diminutives for the Christian name, Peter. Like other names that developed from Christian names it was adopted by different persons in different parts of England from about 1 100 onwards. Early examples of the name occur in the Subsidy Rolls of Suffolk and Stafford which in 1327 list the name of Parkyn.

In Yorkshire and elsewhere there are Parkin families with Armorial Bearings and the earliest of these dates from I589 in London and has earlier provenance. No Devonshire Parkin was entitled to Armorial Bearings. In that county, the Parkins were fairly numerous when the name first appears in the indices of wills proved in the Courts of Exeter which begin in the early 16th century. The earliest entry is that of Joan Parkyn in 1539 and the name is spelt in eight different ways but by 1800 the commonest spelling is Parkin or Parkyn. Forty three Parkin wills are listed from 1550 to 1 800 but unfortunately the destruction by bombing of the Exeter records in 1942 makes it difficult to obtain further information of these Devonshire Parkins; all that can be said definitely is that the name Parkin was established in the Exeter and South Devon region from the second half of the 16th century and that the persons who bore it were yeomen farmers, craftsmen and traders of sufficient means to enable them to bequeath property by testament. Starting with the information that John Parkin was born in Topsham on 2 August 1787, search was made for his baptism in the Topsham Parish Register without success and extensive examination of all available records of wills, births and marriages in which relevant entries might be expected has thrown no definite light on the family of Parkins which left Devonshire for the Cape in 1820.”
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Saturday, August 6, 2016


Double Centenary not far Away

 
 
2020 is not far off! Not that I am wishing time away, but you would know that 4 years in today's day and electronic media/ social media age, it will be gone in a flash. And then it will be 200 years since the first Parkin family members arrived in Algoa Bay, Cape Colony - 20 May 1820.

In the 1920's there were centenary celebrations in Port Elizabeth commemorating the Settler's arrival. Included in these celebrations was the construction of the Campanile at the harbor entrance. The Nelson Mandela Bay Development Agency (NMBDA) has recently undertaken to revamp the campanile, which was originally completed in 1923. The 23 bells were removed so that the supporting structure and the bells could be refurbished. The refurbished bells were on display at the NMBDA offices in the old tramway building and , if you follow the Parkin Family of South Africa on Facebook, you would have seen some of the photos of the Parkin Party bell taken by family members.
 
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The Story of the 1820 Settlers

Fascinating article on the 1820 settlers, giving insight on the history prior to the Settler Scheme and challenges the Settlers encountered.
http://www.eggsa.org/1820-settlers/index.php/articles-2/1820-history
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The Parkin Party travelled to Cape Colony on the HMMS Weymouth

Ship Weymouth 
Scheme the Government Settler Scheme 
Tonnage 826 tons 
Ship Type HM Store ship, Frigate with 11 cannons 
Departure Port Portsmouth 
Parties Biggar, Bowker, Duncan Campbell, Cock, Ford, Gurney, Hyman, James, Menezes, Osler, Parkin 
Number on Board 478 
Departure Date 7th January 1820 
Landfall Port Table Bay, Cape Town 
Landfall Date 26th April 1820 
Final Port Algoa Bay, Port Elizabeth 
Final Port date 15th May 1820 
Other Information HMS WEYMOUTH was built in 1804 as the Indiaman Wellesley, and was purchased by the Royal Navy in 1811, for use as a Storeship, armed with 11 guns. She was later used as a Convict Ship, from 1828, and broken up in 1863.

Source: www.1820settler.com
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List of Emigrants as part of the 1820 Parkin's Party

The list below contains details of the members of the above party which formed part of the British government-assisted emigration scheme to the Cape Colony, South Africa.

The settler's age in 1820 in years is reflected in brackets.   

Surname

Name

Spouse,
if applicable

Children,
if applicable

Occupation/
Other

CloggWilliam (29)Maria (27)William (3)
Maria (1)		Gardener
HarwardChristopher  a.k.a. Harwood
LeachBenjamin (30)Ann (30)Ann (3)Mason
LeathernWilliam (16)  In care of Robert Newcombe
MayhoJames (28)Jane (24) Farmer
NewcombeRobert (31)  Cooper
ParkinJohn (32)Elizabeth (30)William (9)
John (6)
Robert (2)
Jane (1)		Carpenter
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Hi All,

Well, it has been a long time since writing on the blog, but this does  not mean that we have not been busy updating in the background. We now have almost 3 times the number of names we started with, now over 4100 descendants of John Parkin mentioned.

Check out if you are mentioned here.
Descendants of John Parkin as at Aug 2016
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxIrPBf5E_C-bUdMT3hFSTZocjA/view?usp=sharing

See if you can find your link into the tree and if the data is not up to date for your family, please feel welcome to contact me to update if you are happy to share.
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Monday, September 24, 2012



Happy Heritage day Parkin family members! If you are in Port Elizabeth and looking for something to do today, take a drive to Fernglen and have a look at the original burial site of John Parkin , or pop in to the St Georges Park cemetery and view his original grave stone. Both places are marked off on the map attached.


Alternatively, if you are in the mood for a bit of a drive on Heritage Day, take a trip to the original 1820 settler Parkin Party farm near Bathurst.


https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=206347900800815034964.0004ca6f933e938ee3f1e&msa=0
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