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 another site.


The editor of this blog also manages this comprehensive Parkin family tree starting with John Parkin's parents in Exeter, Devon England which links to some of John's sibling's descendants still living in Exeter. It contains the names of over 3700 of William's descendants and their spouses. If you are a descendant of William Parkin born 1745 in Exeter, Devon England and would like to see how you fit into the tree and/or willing to share some details about your close family to add to the tree, please make contact through the details on this blog page.

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Keep the updates rolling in!



Wow, the updates are coming fast now. Thank you Lindsay de Klerk and Elizabeth Leslie Te Roller for more info about the Parkin Family. Catch the latest update on the link below.

Thanks to Tjaart Johannes Parkin for the latest update and congratulations on your newest additions to your close family.

Keep the updates rolling in!

You can download John Parkin's descendants summary here!

https://docs.google.com/open?id=0BxIrPBf5E_C-VFNuVWpSa2dTdVE

and a tree here

https://docs.google.com/open?id=0BxIrPBf5E_C-MldmV0xxYWlIYzQ
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2 comments:

  1. BambaleeniAugust 5, 2015 at 11:44 PM

    Hi Keith

    Just to give you an update on the Parkin family regarding Thomas, son of John Parkin & Maria (second marriage) as I noticed that this was incomplete.

    Their daughter was Kathleen Parkin died 1942 who married Richard Harry Williams. (1 February 1876 Oxfordshire - 20 June 1940 Port Elizabeth) Their only daughter was my mother Elizabeth Joyce Williams 15 October 1923 born Port Elizabeth died 25 August 2000 in the Isle of Man.

    My mother married Dunstan Cuthbert MBE (22 July 1907 Capetown - 22 June 2001 Isle of Man) on 11 April 1953 in Nairobi, Kenya. They moved to England in 1954.

    Two sons born in Devon, England, Brian 1955 and Richard 1959. Two daughters born in the Isle of Man, my sister Karen Suzanna 1962 and myself Esme Helen 1963.

    I have only just started to do a family history search after finding some of my mothers papers, she had obviously started this journey just before she become ill in the late 1980's before the power of the internet. It is indeed fascinating reading and your site has indeed filled in an awful lot of gaps.

    Well done.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Keith ParkinMarch 24, 2026 at 12:18 PM

    Thank you for your kind words.
    Please do not hesitate to contact me via email if you would like to share more information about the family.

    ReplyDelete

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