Ledgerton James Saunders

He lived in a 9 bedroom house on the border of (ring road around) the Turffontein racecourse in Alberton. Once the children had left, he and his wife ran a boarding house here.

He was a transport rider, had many types of carriages and wagons with which he often transported VIPs. A prize possession was the Cape Cart.

During the war, he had to flee when the soldiers took over his home. He and his wife Ouma Staats, fled to Basutoland (Lesotho) where they sheltered at the Leribe Mission Station.

Their son, William Ledgerton was born there. (Source: Records National Archives; oral history various immediate family members)

They were very poorly compensated for the loss and damage to the home. Source: Records in the National Archives.

When he was circa 40 yrs old, he choked on a peanut (Told by my mother, her mother and also his sister on separate occasions) and died.

He owned another home in Turffontein which they generously allowed an aunt (sister?) to live in till her death, whereupon his estate was reopened and a very large sum was demanded for rent in retrospect. His son, William took care of his mother and made an arrangement to pay this huge sum. (Source: Records in the archives).

At one stage they lived with his son in a plot / smallholding in Heidelberg, which is now built up as a housing complex. (oral: Interview with his sister Phyllis and later, his daughter, Elinore)