Bellevue Seminary


Last year I borrowed my grandmother’s photo albums to scan all her photos.  Yesterday I was looking through these scanned photos and found this one of the Bellevue Seminary in Somerset East.  The description in Ouma Trudie’s album next to the photo was:
 “Bellevue Saal – plek vir LO, 1948” 
or Bellevue Hall – The place for PT, 1948. 
Bellevue Seminary 1948
Before her marriage to my grandfather Ouma Trudie was a gym teacher at Bellevue Seminary in Somerset East.  I knew that my grandparents lived here for a while but it was interesting to find the photos.

In April 2012, while on our honeymoon, H and I visited Somerset East.  Here is our photo of the same building.  
Bellevue Seminary 2012
The Old Bellevue Seminary in 72 Paulet Street is a National Heritage Site.  Rev JH Hofmeyer of the Dutch Reformed Church ask the church council of his church to build and finance a seminary for girls.  The foundation stone for the school was laid on 19 July 1881 on the ground in Paulet Street.  Carl Otto Hager designed the building and the first principal was Miss Jan Wright of Aberdeen, Scotland
Here are a few more of Ouma Trudie’s photos from item the gym girls gave in 1947.

(In case you were wondering “ouma” is the Afrikaans word for grandmother.
Location: 72 Paulet Street, Somerset East 5850, South Africa

Comments

  1. Firefly the Travel Guy04 September, 2013 14:45

    I've got a couple of albums from my grandmother and aunt that I need to have a look at for some old pics of places to compare to what it looks like today. I think I need to go and dig them out.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Lu-Gerda17 September, 2013 21:18

      I found it very interesting that my grandmother had lots of pictures of people and not as many places. But then realised it is because she is people person and they were more important than the places they visited.

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