Energetic, industrious, versatile in her interests and a passionate ‘historic adventurer’, she lives every moment to its fullest. This is only a part of what makes Wendy May Dirkse Van Schalkwyk the dynamic person she is. She strides around Aberdeen as if she is being propelled by an invisible force, collecting historic information, looking for new and interesting projects, assisting in the general running of the Hopsriver farm, but never still. An hour in her company will advance your general and local historic knowledge at an unbelievable rate.
Wendy May Scott, born to an Irish father and English mother in Port Elizabeth on 8th May 1945, was educated at Collegiate School for Girls in Port Elizabeth. At the Grahamstown Training College, Wendy trained as a teacher and specialized in nursery school/infant education; she subsequently taught at schools in Port Elizabeth, one being the Summerwood School, where pupils came from the Summerstrand and Humewood areas. Wendy taught for 7 years, and in that period became the Senior Assistant of the school. Recently, the Grahamstown Training College honored Wendy as an ‘Achiever’ for the publishing of her book ‘Aberdeen of the Cape - A Retreat of the Future’, her work as a correspondent for the 'Advertiser', 'Stoep Stories', and the 'Hour Glass', also for stories submitted to the 'Karoo Sky' and for books co-authored, one being the 150 year festival of the NG Church in Aberdeen in 2005, ‘NG Gemeente Aberdeen 150 Jaar Fees 1855-2005’. Wendy has recently assisted Tony Westby-Nunn with research and information that he said was ‘invaluable’ in the production of ‘The Cape Journal Willowmore’. Copies of books written and co-authored by Wendy have been donated to local libraries.
Wendy’s very first articles appeared in the ‘Cape Collectors Guide’ in 1976. These articles were on ‘Brass Rubbings’ which she took from the top of a stone tomb of Sir William Molyneaux 1548, in Sefton Church, Liverpool, England in 1968. It was during this time that Wendy taught ‘docker’s children’ in a not very salubrious area of Liverpool, now known as ‘Beatle Country’.
Her work also involved dyslexic children and her research and subsequent teaching was so successful, that one of her past pupils is now a highly qualified lawyer in New York. Her knowledge and expertise opened many doors to her, and she was consequently offered a post by the United Nations.
Wendy is also an avid traveler. She toured Zimbabwe and Namibia spending a month in each country, and also visited Egypt to see where her war time pilot father had been stationed. In Europe, Wendy spent seven months traveling and over the past few years her overseas trips have taken her mostly to the U.K.
Wendy was invited to join the ‘Graaff-Reinet Study Group’ which is by invitation only and limited to 15 members. Here members are asked to talk on any subject except their profession and, as Wendy has so many diverse interests, it is probably not a difficult task for her to do. Her love for Victorian Architecture, her passion for the Karoo, for preserving local history and her vast knowledge, makes her a perfect tour guide for this area. She has also been instrumental in ‘cemetery documentation’. Recently Wendy assisted in the training of the first official tour guides for Aberdeen.
Wendy’s interests include genealogy, restoring and collecting antiques, tapestry, and her collection of antique porcelain dolls dressed by Liz van der Merwe, are beautiful and irreplaceable.
The Post Office and Magistrates Building in Aberdeen, declared a national monument in 1991, is largely due to Wendy’s efforts, as was the photographing of every single house in Aberdeen, done by the students of the University of Port Elizabeth in 1990.
Wendy married a farmer Pierre Dirkse Van Schalkwyk in 1973 and they have a daughter Anita May and a son Pierre Scott.
Wendy’s enthusiasm for life, boundless energy and endless interest in the historical Karoo towns that surround her, the care and motivation she has given her children family and friends, has made her one of the Karoo’s special women.
Wendy May Scott, born to an Irish father and English mother in Port Elizabeth on 8th May 1945, was educated at Collegiate School for Girls in Port Elizabeth. At the Grahamstown Training College, Wendy trained as a teacher and specialized in nursery school/infant education; she subsequently taught at schools in Port Elizabeth, one being the Summerwood School, where pupils came from the Summerstrand and Humewood areas. Wendy taught for 7 years, and in that period became the Senior Assistant of the school. Recently, the Grahamstown Training College honored Wendy as an ‘Achiever’ for the publishing of her book ‘Aberdeen of the Cape - A Retreat of the Future’, her work as a correspondent for the 'Advertiser', 'Stoep Stories', and the 'Hour Glass', also for stories submitted to the 'Karoo Sky' and for books co-authored, one being the 150 year festival of the NG Church in Aberdeen in 2005, ‘NG Gemeente Aberdeen 150 Jaar Fees 1855-2005’. Wendy has recently assisted Tony Westby-Nunn with research and information that he said was ‘invaluable’ in the production of ‘The Cape Journal Willowmore’. Copies of books written and co-authored by Wendy have been donated to local libraries.
Wendy’s very first articles appeared in the ‘Cape Collectors Guide’ in 1976. These articles were on ‘Brass Rubbings’ which she took from the top of a stone tomb of Sir William Molyneaux 1548, in Sefton Church, Liverpool, England in 1968. It was during this time that Wendy taught ‘docker’s children’ in a not very salubrious area of Liverpool, now known as ‘Beatle Country’.
Her work also involved dyslexic children and her research and subsequent teaching was so successful, that one of her past pupils is now a highly qualified lawyer in New York. Her knowledge and expertise opened many doors to her, and she was consequently offered a post by the United Nations.
Wendy is also an avid traveler. She toured Zimbabwe and Namibia spending a month in each country, and also visited Egypt to see where her war time pilot father had been stationed. In Europe, Wendy spent seven months traveling and over the past few years her overseas trips have taken her mostly to the U.K.
Wendy was invited to join the ‘Graaff-Reinet Study Group’ which is by invitation only and limited to 15 members. Here members are asked to talk on any subject except their profession and, as Wendy has so many diverse interests, it is probably not a difficult task for her to do. Her love for Victorian Architecture, her passion for the Karoo, for preserving local history and her vast knowledge, makes her a perfect tour guide for this area. She has also been instrumental in ‘cemetery documentation’. Recently Wendy assisted in the training of the first official tour guides for Aberdeen.
Wendy’s interests include genealogy, restoring and collecting antiques, tapestry, and her collection of antique porcelain dolls dressed by Liz van der Merwe, are beautiful and irreplaceable.
The Post Office and Magistrates Building in Aberdeen, declared a national monument in 1991, is largely due to Wendy’s efforts, as was the photographing of every single house in Aberdeen, done by the students of the University of Port Elizabeth in 1990.
Wendy married a farmer Pierre Dirkse Van Schalkwyk in 1973 and they have a daughter Anita May and a son Pierre Scott.
Wendy’s enthusiasm for life, boundless energy and endless interest in the historical Karoo towns that surround her, the care and motivation she has given her children family and friends, has made her one of the Karoo’s special women.
Article By: Joan Tinker
