NORRIS & DORA C. 1881 - 1948

Norris was delayed on the farm for a few months before joining the family in the Cape.   

Their first home was a hotel on the beachfront at Sea Point near the Hotel Bordeaux with Grandmother (Mammy) as O.C.  Cecil remembers there being packs of children begging: “Gee stukkie brood” and Mammy agreeing, “They are a sticky brood!” 

Eventually Norris bought a house in Saunders Road, Bantry Bay beyond the Queens Hotel.   Mostly the children’s time was spent at Saunders Rocks swimming, playing etc.

George started his wireless hobby and for an aerial, rigged up a long pole, which he had carried from the mountainside and stripped.  A friend, Hyna Wicht, did the same at his home in Lower Kloof Road.   Norris gave George “a halfcrown” to transmit a message, which George did manually tapping out in Morse Code to Hyna who appeared some 10 minutes later with his copy reflecting exact wording sent – a record in communication had been established!

Around this time, Gordon had a canoe - constructed from a sheet of corrugated iron (he  had  requested a passing steamroller driver  to  ride  it  over to  remove  the  corrugations!), which he used to paddle around Saunders Rocks.   One day he unluckily overturned and the side of the canoe slashed his upper leg very seriously.   The wound bled profusely and no doctor could immediately be contacted.   Dora calmly went down into the cellar (most houses had cellars in those days for coal, wood etc.) and returned with a spider’s web, which she used to staunch the bleeding.   When a doctor eventually did arrive, he was at first not amused with the method of treatment but had to ultimately agree it probably saved Gordon’s life!   Gordon carried the scar for the rest of his life.

To generate an income, Norris obtained agencies for many varied lines, including, at one stage, ladies stockings; and by 1922 he had bought Fresnaye Estate from Conrad Silberbauer which encompassed 175 plots, mainly above Avenue St Denis, the highest sites up Lion’s Head, which he started selling off for around £300 each.  

A large advertisement appeared in the “Cape Times” dated 21 September 1922  headed: “Solve your housing problem with £300!”

He was permitted to name three of the avenues and chose Drelincourt (Dora’s maiden name), Bordeaux and Berrange.  The latter after Louis Berrange Smuts – a cousin of General Smuts – who befriended Gordon and Cecil - they used to visit him on Sunday mornings and were plied with biscuits and lemonade.

The family home “Morland” (from Westmoreland) was built at the corner of Avenue Disandt and Avenue St Charles.    When they moved in there was plenty of undeveloped surrounding land on which to play - these times, from the children’s perspective, were the happiest.

Hotel Bordeaux was a beautiful building designed by Sir Herbert Baker and originally owned by the De Villiers Graaff family.

This was around the onset of the Great Depression which was to ravage economies and private lives worldwide. 

The family moved into Bordeaux where the parents had a very large room in the hotel itself - so large that Norris complained of the distance he had to walk just to get his cuff-links!  - whilst the boys lived in an “annexe” at the rear. 

The story goes that one day Gordon was in the toilet and George asked him to hurry up.  When he did not, George decided that action was needed so he fetched the wheelbarrow and, at speed, rammed the door down.  The rest is for one’s own imagination! 

Norris began consolidating his selling lines to concentrate more on wines and spirits and “Dent & Co” was born.  

Betty had a wonderful social life during the time she lived at Bordeaux, wining and dining with the elite.  

However, this scenario was not for one as young as Keesha, and in view of her youth, and the thought that she was becoming spoilt in such affluent surroundings, she was sent to boarding school. 

The hotel was run with an Italian Manager and was mainly frequented by the very wealthy and titled families from England.  

Unfortunately, and along with the worsening effects of the Depression, not all paid their bills which sometimes were substantial after extended holidays in the sun and despite many efforts, the hotel eventually went into liquidation in mid-1931 and was bought by a Mr Le Roux in the September for £22,600.   Despite having three cars in the garage, Norris frequently walked to town to his offices.

The family vacated the hotel and rented “Columbia” in Gibson Road, Kenilworth for £24.10s a month.  “Columbia” had a tennis court which was well-utilised on dry weekends which was also a time for the two younger boys to clean and variously repair motor cars.  

Norris continued to sell off the Fresnaye plots and daily,  on  his  way  home  visited pubs, clubs and hotels in the city and suburbs  such  as  Mt.  Nelson,  Grand,  Langham,  Kelvin  Grove,  City  Club  and  others  in  the  hopes  of  securing  liquor  orders.  He  also  regularly  visited the districts: Caledon,  Hermanus, Paarl, Malmesbury, Darling etc, to obtain orders for Dent & Co wares.  

Norris had sold a Fresnaye plot in exchange for a Fiat car which gave constant problems over several months before being sold. 

Norris took the family to Muizenberg to swim occasionally and also up Table Mountain which, incidentally, had a fall of snow on 31 August 1931. 

A Commander Kidson arrived in Cape Town in April setting a new record air flight from London taking 6½ days!  

During the year George announced his engagement to Rita Salkeld, Gordon turned 21 and Keesha finished school in Grahamstown. 

Despite living a fairly hectic social life, the year was frustrating for Norris, business was bad, money was tight and he was often looking to try to remit funds to England as the SA£ was worth 15% to 20% more than the British £.

In the wake of the depression business continued to be difficult and Norris had outgrown the small representative agency for “Deoch & Doris”, “House of Lords” and “King William IV” whiskies and had joined the local “ring” or association which enabled Dent & Co to expand into other leading brands e.g. Gordon’s gin, Hennessy brandy and also sherries, ports, French and German wines, beers etc.   

In January 1932 - Betty obtained a job with the SA Mutual and Tsha (as Norris called Keesha), having passed her JC exams, started music lessons.

Efforts were on the go to fix employment for both Cecil and Gordon. It became clear that contact needed to be made with overseas suppliers and it was decided that Norris and Dora were to go to England. 

Keesha was enrolled at Rustenburg Girls High School as a boarder and arrangements were finalised for the two younger boys to stay with the Sedgwick family.  

After moving everything out of “Columbia”, sorting out the younger children, the parents, Betty and the Vauxhall departed for England on 19 April on board the “Ceramic”.  They arrived at Tilbury on 7 May.  

Norris changed SA£1 for British £1.5s.6d opening an account at Barclays Bank in St Martins Lane. A heavy social regime started with visits to theatre, dining at the Savoy, Dorchester, Romanovs et al. Norris had many business calls eg Veuve Cliquot, Angostura, Gordons Gin etc. He also rented a suit from Moss Bros to attend the Derby!  Dora made money betting but Norris lost it. They were seated in Lord Dewar’s box.  At Ascot they met Mrs Thomas Meikle of Salisbury, Rhodesia. 

(Ed: From the  early 80s I bought my suits from Moss Bros in  Regent  Street.)

The Vauxhall had gone along for service and maintenance and was used to tour from London south to Bournemouth, through Devon and Cornwall up through Exeter and Chester to Liverpool. On to Preston and Blackpool and the Lake District.

Norris visited his father’s grave and then on to Glasgow, Edinburgh, etc and back to London to the Russell Hotel. 

(Ed: This trip Maureen and I did in reverse in the 80s including staying at the Russell.)  

In August, Norris and Betty flew Imperial Airways to Paris, saw various business contacts (Mumm etc) and visited the Moulin Rouge.  Betty returned to England by boat and Norris went on to Belgium and Germany.  

Returning to London Norris won the Johnny Walker agency.  Dora used the time to replenish her wardrobe, with the milliner and corseter calling on HER at their Liverpool hotel!  They all met up in Liverpool, saw Gracie Fields in a show, visited Manchester and then boarded the “Ceramic” once more on 1 September to return to South  Africa.

Meanwhile back in Cape Town: Included in the Dent & Co product range was GH Mumm’s “Cordon Rouge” champagne.   The supplier provided cardboard replicas of the quart bottles which Gordon and Cecil fitted to the radiator cap of the coupé which Gordon had acquired for use when the parents were abroad – they thought it good advertising!

On the return voyage, a fellow passenger, Bowater, proved to be something of a poet having penned on the penultimate night of the voyage on 17 September 1932:

The “senior” Dent’s were met at the Cape Town docks by the stalwart, and seemingly ever-present, Mr Armfield and the other children. They moved temporarily into the Princess Hotel in Newlands. After over three weeks of hectic house-hunting the furniture was retrieved from storage at Dent & Co and the family moved into “Sebakwe”, Main Avenue, Claremont which also had a tennis court.  The year ended on a quiet note with South  Africa coming off the Gold Standard on 28 December which brought the SA£ almost back to parity with Sterling.

Early in the new year Betty embarked on a hairdressing course, which necessitated buying an artificial wig at £5.5s on which to practise, but later had problems getting a job which prompted Norris to express the opinion that: “Ladies hairdressers are crooks!”

At the  end of April the family moved to “Bodowen”, Fife Road, Rondebosch. Gordon’s first building project seems to have been the garage he completed at the Becketts. 

Norris and the  boys regularly played tennis and the family had many musical evenings joined by George and Rita, who were also regular visitors for tea and meals.  

In the light of the ongoing effects of the Depression, the sale of the Fresnaye plots continued slowly.  Norris spent considerable time finalising the Dent & Co move to premises in Loop Street. George installed the electric bell system and Gordon some shelving at the new premises.  Gordon and Cecil were frequent car chauffeurs and mechanics!

1934 dawned with the good news that Gordon had passed his Advanced Building and Engineering exams “1st class”; and Keesha her Senior Certificate. A trip to England again was in the air under pressure from Dora who wanted to take Keesha there. In April Norris agreed to up Cecil’s pay at Dent & Co to £10.10s per month and the family moved to “Roodenberg”.

The parents with Keesha and Betty sailed on the “City of Exeter” on 19 June – Cecil and Gordon were billeted to “Mowbray Hall” boarding house. The ship arrived at Tilbury Docks, London on 9 July. London proved to be the usual round of business and social meetings, dinners, luncheons and clothes fittings. 

A major purchase was a Rolls Royce in which they motored to Liverpool, Preston and Blackpool before going on to the Lake District, Glasgow and Edinburgh – the latter to see many Scotch Whisky contacts. Then back to Liverpool via Appleby having called on “Old Wm. John Dent”.  (Ed: Not sure who this may have been?) 

Back to London and the Cumberland Hotel, more business, final attention to the Rolls, financial arrangements and on to the “City of Nagpur” sailing from the Royal Albert Dock for Cape Town on 20 October without Betty who was completing a hairdressing course. 

They arrived back in Cape Town on 9 November - Betty arrived home a month later and the family moved into the Vineyard Hotel while looking for a house. The next rented abode was called “Tandem”. The Rolls was re-registered with the number CA 1820 – alluding to Norris’ agency for Africa for Johnny Walker Whisky whose motto at the time was “Born 1820 – Still going strong!”

A major feeder road, Sea Point’s High Level Road, in those days did not enter the city as it presently does at the top of Strand Street.   

Norris had the vision of an alternate throughway named “New Higher Level Road” from Fresnaye further up and along the slopes of Signal Hill and had acquired Scottish Kloof with this in mind plus another piece of land approaching Camps Bay at the other end where there was a quarry at the top of Lower Kloof Road.   

Around 1934, some “bright and loyal civic persons” got wind of his intentions and bought up parcels of land above the High Level Road, which led Norris to abandon the scheme.  The New Higher Level Road ultimately, in 1935, became Ocean View Drive.   Norris was also involved in the founding of the Fresnaye Sports Club.

Somewhere along the line, also in the early 30s, Norris became a Freemason and was a member of Lodge Southern Cross No. 398 SC in Cape Town.

January 1935 saw Gordon leaving for Johannesburg. He missed Cecil’s 21st birthday which Cecil himself “avoided“ by going on holiday – he was relieved at Dent & Co by Keesha. 

Norris, following the dictates of the liquor trade, made almost daily calls on clubs, pubs, hotels, visiting ships often lunching or dining late with one or other of his cronies.  He played the occasional round of golf (Hout Bay golf course – which is no longer in existence!), billiards and afternoon bowls at Kelvin Grove club.

Dora, however stuck to her Lion Special!

Business calls also extended to the West Coast, Garden Route and places in between.  However, there could be days on end when the telephone did not ring at the office and it would be impossible for people in today’s times to begin to imagine what living during the time of the Depression was like.  

In  March 1935  Norris rented the property known as “Bloemendal” – in much earlier history the vegetable garden serving the Castle – and the family moved in in mid-April. The Rolls Royce was accommodated in the stable.

Norris re-did his will, transferred banking accounts to the Long Street branch of Barclays Bank and Keesha joined that bank in that month.  In December, Norris, Dora and Tsha went to see Gracie Fields at the Opera House and Gordon came home for a Christmas visit.

King George V died on 20 January 1936. The London to Cape Town air record was broken by Tommy Rose in 3 days 17 hours!  Cecil was making several visits to Worcester – a girl called Iza was the attraction and she receives a mention in Norris’ diary.  

In February Norris bought “Bloemendal” for £6,000 but did not have the property registered in his name to avoid the transfer costs. 

Cecil handed in his notice end of March in an attempt to leave Dent & Co but this was thwarted by his father.   

Another overseas  visit, which was to be their last sea voyage, saw Norris trading in the Rolls as part payment for a Humber Snipe which he would take delivery of in the UK.  Cecil was responsible for packing up “Bloemendal” and the children were installed in a flat in “Westbrook Court”, Rondebosch.  Norris and Dora departed Cape Town on 6 August aboard the “Silver Beech” which sailed up the east coast, through the Suez Canal with many stops and arrived in  London on 19 September.  They were booked into the Strand Palace Hotel.  

Norris records sending George a cheque for £10 as a wedding present. Delivery of the Humber was taken. They went on the “Jagersfontein” via Antwerp on to Berlin where they stayed for a while at the Kaizerhof  Hotel. They visited many places of interest. 

Norris recorded after the Berlin visit, which was after the 1936 Olympic Games, his opinion that “serious problems were looming on the horizon”. Returning to Cape Town through the Bay of Biscay on the “Jagersfontein” they hit a storm so serious that a sailor was killed - he was buried at sea.  They arrived home on 28 November. Gordon, again,  appeared for Christmas.

At the end of March 1937, the family moved out of the flat and into “The Firs” in Rondebosch.  The stock market fluctuated seriously through the year due to “rumours ex London”.  

Keesha ran into trouble over a boyfriend, Chris King, which developed into a major row with her parents.  Big brother George was implicated and called in to attend the confrontation.  Keesha had to promise to  “dismiss” King, Norris sent the latter a registered letter and the upset resulted in George virtually being estranged from his parents for almost two years.  The boyfriend agreed not to have any contact with Keesha, but only till she turned 21. 

At the end of May, Cecil intimated again that he wished to “strike out on his own” as he saw no prospects at Dent & Co.  Somewhat surprisingly, Norris this time agreed!  

Norris’ diary note of 16 June reads: “Cecil married by special licence – secretly.”   A couple of months later there were a few notes to the effect that “Cecil and wife called” and finally Cecil left the firm at the end of August and departed on the “Bloemfontein” on 2 September for Durban and thence to Johannesburg.  A replacement clerk was engaged at £8 per  month, and Norris bought an Austin delivery van.  

Betty had been sick throughout the year and finally had her appendix removed on 4 October spending 2½ weeks in hospital.  Gordon appeared for Christmas,  yet again. Keesha, having her own car began to take over chauffeur duties frequently conveying Norris to and from his office. There appeared a few indications of some restlessness on the part of Norris including remarks that he “didn’t like South Africa”.

Norris had several property deals during the year including the sale of “Bloemendal” to St Georges Grammar School.  

(Ed: Perhaps the Bloemendal connection influenced Cecil to send Bill to St Georges in 1952: The book “Cross  of Gold” , published to commemorate the 150 year anniversary of the founding of the school, confirms Dent ownership of Bloemendal, following our having donated the relative documentary evidence to the school.)

Cecil and family arrive in December for Christmas and, this  time Gordon arrives just before New Year.  On 2 January there is some consternation as “Cecil’s son is taken to Buxton Home.”

Gordon stays on in Cape Town (presumably the building industry is already slumping owing to troubles in Europe) doing odd building repairs and alterations and also builds a ”spec” house financed by Norris which they battle to sell.  Betty has her tonsils out in February. Cecil and Mamie return to Cape Town on 28 May when a farewell party is given for Betty who leaves for Bulawayo on 1 June.  Cecil re-commences a job with Dent & Co.  George calls on his father and it appears that their rift is healed.  Rita and George had a house in Roodebloem Road, Woodstock Estate – just below De Waal Drive.

On 3 September at 11.00 am Britain declares war on Germany.  The same afternoon Norris recorded: “Werth asked for approval of engagement with Keesha.”  Within a day or two Mrs Werth and Mrs Viljoen called on Norris and Dora – presumably Willie’s mother and his sister Erna (the latter, much later, to become George’s second wife).

Within two days Hertzog resigns as Prime Minister and is replaced by General JC Smuts.  Willie and Keesha’s engagement party is held on 11 September and they are married on 21 September with a reception at home with ± 50 guests.  British warships begin to be attacked and sunk and Norris again, with fingers crossed, places substantial orders for liquor.  Amazingly these arrive later by ship.In October a Mr Maskell calls on Norris to advise that he was taking over Bertrams Groot Constantia.

And then, out of the blue, as far as everyone else is concerned, the family business is gone.  Norris’ diary on 22 December reads: “Concluded sale of Dent & Co to Maskell.”!

Apparently Maskell was an Englishman who had come to South Africa to escape the War in Europe – Hitler’s invasion of France.   

He was married to the daughter of one of the Natal sugar barons and must have been well-off having purchased Bertrams, then Dent & Co and soon thereafter Spilhaus liquor business.

Norris held on to the fixed properties but within a relatively short time, he and Dora moved to Salisbury (now Harare) in Southern Rhodesia. 

His business interests included ownership of the Queens Hotel and the Grand Hotel and they lived on the Ridge in the  suburb  of  Avondale.