Meet one of our centenary contributors – Glynis Cox Millett-Clay

The custodian of Benoni’s history, Glynis Cox Millett-Clay, will be taking us down memory lane with some of the stories that made headlines.

This is part of City Times celebrating its centenary.

Her love for the rich history of Benoni led her to start a Facebook page, Benoni History – Now and Then.

The Farrarmere resident has been living in Benoni for the past 43 years.

She moved to Benoni in 1978 with her husband Charles and two children.

Glynis said at the time her husband was starting a new chapter in his life, which necessitated the move to Farrarmere.

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“In 1981, a new challenge came my way and I took on a half-day job working for a local company after being a stay-at-home mom for seven years,” said Glynis.

“This new challenge opened my life to many more challenges and eventually after being a personal assistant for a Boksburg nursery for 20 years, I retired in 2009.”

The historian said two years before the Benoni municipality celebrated its centenary in 2007; she was inspired to publish a pictorial coffee table book on Benoni’s past and present.

“A Benoni Centenary Book committee was formed with nine inspiring Benoni residents. We were all motivated and enthusiastic by the idea, so we diligently collected as much information from history books, postcards, newspapers and booklets on Benoni.

“The late Rentia Roodt, who was a librarian at the time, was most helpful as she had access to old newspapers and could access a lot of interesting news of the past,” she said.

“The book never materialised due to expensive publishing costs and a lack of sponsorships. With all the data collected it was shelved until 2013 when I had an idea to start the Facebook group.”

Glynis said some of her most fascinating interest in our local history is the story of how the farm Benoni was laid out by Johan Rissik around 1881 and then the township that was laid out by Sir George Farrar, who was appointed as the town planner in 1902.

He laid out the streets and planted lots of trees.

“Another fascinating part of the Benoni history is the gold mining stories and the Cornish miners from Cornwall (where I descend from).

“Part of my research was meeting and talking to the wonderful Jewish Benoni boys like Gerald Nestadt, Joe Civin and Sam Grolman. May their souls rest in peace.

“The late Percy Tucker is another loyal Benonian who shared some history with me. Ron Jankelowitz is also enthusiastic about Benoni and has lots of stories to tell.”

She added that she thought it would be a good forum to expose the history and pictures of Benoni through the Facebook group.

“In that way, it would cost me nothing other than my time and effort to scan the information and manage the site.

“It stayed in its infancy with little or no comments, and then in March 2014, it blossomed into what it is today. My idea was to also re-connect old family and friends who had lost touch with each other. The name changed slightly to Benoni History– Now and Then.

“Most rewarding of being an administrator of this group is helping children with their school projects. I love doing research and finding information for them. I presume it derives from my genealogy hobby, which I have been doing for the past 40 odd years. The two go hand in hand.

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“I do not know everything about Benoni, and I’m still learning as I go. I do make mistakes and I’m grateful for those who correct me.”

Congratulations to the City Times on celebrating your 100th birthday.

“I wish you continued success on your journey. My highlights and most favourites are the great success stories,” said Glynis.