Rev. Charles Daniel Helm

FreeBMD Index

Marriages SepQ 1873 Charles Daniel Helm and Elizabeth E Von Puttkamer Kensington reg. District 1a 300

Named in his mother's DN (KAB MOOC 6/9/304/1050 filed on 14th May 1892 ref no: 97/790).

Links 

http://www.eggsa.org/library/main.php?g2_itemId=1715528 - photograph of gravestone

http://griquatownandersons.com/ancestors/79.htm

http://griquatownandersons.com/ancestors/80.htm

http://griquatownandersons.com/descendents/d9.htm

http://www.eggsa.org/library/main.php?g2_itemId=1715528

http://www.sahistory.org.za/people/charles-daniel-helm

http://www.bulawayomemories.com/other_helms/helm.html - The Helms of Hope Fountain by Gwenda Newton.

"South Africa, Dutch Reformed Church Records (Stellenbosch Archive), 1690-2011 ," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-6D79-2P?cc=1392488&wc=... : 21 May 2014), South Africa > Cape > Zuurbraak > Baptisms 1829-1876 > image 19 of 31; The Dutch Reformed Church Archives, Stellenbosch, Cape Town.

GEDCOM Note

<p>Founder of Hope Fountain Mission. -- From Alexis Hepburn and 'Rhodesia's Pioneer Women (1859-1896) by Jessie M. Lloyd</p><p>Extract from 'Pioneers of Rhodesia'</p><p>HELM, the Rev. CHARLES DANIEL (1844 - 1915).</p><p>Missionary. He was the grandson of two L. M. S. men and the son of another, Daniel Helm. Helm was born in Cape Colony and was educated at Swellendam and Cape Town and in London from 1868 to 1873. He joined the L. M. S. and volunteered for Matabeleland, and in 1873 he married in London Elizabet von Puttkamer of Pomerania, a companion and governess. They arrived at Cape Town the same year.</p><p>The Helms left Zuurbraak, Cape Colony, in October 1874 with their four-months-old daughter Jessie and two wagons. At Kuruman, which they reached at the end of January 1875, they stayed three mnths to recruit the oxen and to replace their servants with Bechuanas. They arrived at Shoshong about 24 June and stopped another three months, till Mrs. Helm gave birth to a son at the end of August. Mackenzie was away on leave, and the traders, including Dawson and Musson, tended the new missionaries during a bout of fever. The Helms resumed their journey on 8 November and reached Hope Fountain on 2 December.</p><p>Helm took over Thomson's pole-and-daga house for the latter had just moved into a new brick residence. Mrs. Helm fell ill within two months of their arrival, so they packed up and went to Shoshong. Helm, Mackenzie, Hepburn, Thomson and Holub left Shoshong for the south on 7 June 1876. Mackenzie was moving to Kuruman, Helm went for his family's health, and all the missionaries attended at Kuruman the annual meeting. They met Lieut. Grandy at the mouth of the Notwani, and Holub parted with them at a Bechuana village farther south. The Helms were two monthsat Kuruman, after which they returned to Hope Fountain.</p><p>Helm took over the brick house when Thomson left for England and Central Africa in 1876. Selous stayed with them during June and July 1878 to recuperate after his journey over the Zambezi. By 1880 Helm was postmaster for Bulawayo, and regular fortnightly mails came from Shoshong via Tati. The Helms went to Kuruman in altenate years for annual meetings, and from 1886 to 1888 they were on furlough, probably to England.</p>Helm was back at his station by May 1888, and in September and October he acted as interpreter for Rudd, Maguire and Thopson in their dealings with Loben. Helm witnessed the Rudd-Rhodes Concession on 31 October. He retired to Palpye during the Matabele War of 1893; he left Hope Fountain about 25 July, was at Palapye my mid-August, and returned to Matabeleland in early January 1894. Mrs. Helm died at Hope Fountain in November 1913, and her husband retired the next year and died in Bulawayo Hospital during January 1915. (Lm. LoLMS. EIG. StD. Ho7. SHw. R-2. PcJ. PP-2. PP-3. BiFs. SA-5.)