Diana Marah "Billy" Wilkins

1920 - 1981  (60 years)

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• Name	Diana Marah "Billy" Wilkins
  Nickname	Billy
  Birth	24 Jul 1920	Elliotdale,(Bomvanaland) Transkei,South Africa.,
  Gender	Female
  Death	16 Jul 1981	Durban,Kwazulu-Natal,South Africa.,
  Person ID	I48	My Genealogy
  Last Modified	29 Aug 2022 | Edit

  
  

  Father	Ernest William Wilkins,   b. 28 Aug 1881, Chatham,Kent,England., d. 15 Jan 1950, Shamrock Nursing Home,Stutterheim,Cape,South Africa., (Age 68 years)
  Mother	Alma Hansine Katharine Hansen,   b. 8 Jul 1884, Flensburg,Schleswig-Holstein,Germany., d. 30 Oct 1933, Umtata,Cape,South Africa., (Age 49 years)
  Marriage	28 Jun 1907	Elliotdale,Cape,South Africa.,
  	_HTITL: Husband _WTITL: Wife
  Family ID	F15	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Andrew Osmund Thompson,   b. 16 Feb 1920, Bizana,Pondoland,South Africa., d. 28 Jun 2016, Margate,Natal,South Africa., (Age 96 years)
  Marriage	30 Jun 1945	Johanesburg,Transvaal,South Africa
  	I remembered Ma's and my wedding day - it was 30 June 1945. How do I remember? Well, some money-conscious person said that Ma arranged this date as it was the last day of the income tax year and as we married on that day, I had to pay Ma's income tax. Thinking on, I think I got 6 weeks leave from the army [embarkation leave] before going to Burma and after about a month's leave I asked for a couple of weeks extension of leave and the night before I was due to go back to camp, a corporal in the detachment I was in, phoned me up in Jo'burg [at your aunt Ursula's home] and asked if I had heard the news. Being newly married what the heck would I want to listen to the news!! It was about the dropping of the atomic bomb.
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  Children	1. Derrick Ladbury Thompson,   b. 16 Apr 1947, Nairobi,Kenya., (Age 79 years)   2. Veronica Mary Elizabeth Thompson,   b. 26 Dec 1950, Nairobi,Kenya., (Age 75 years)   3. Donna Ursula Thompson,   b. 28 Dec 1954, Nairobi,Kenya., (Age 71 years)
  Family ID	F14	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	3 Apr 2020 | Edit

  
  

• Photos

  Billy Wilkins _TYPE: PHOTO

  
  

• Notes

  Born in Elliotdale. Attended bording school in Port Elizabeth after her mother died. Went to Johanesburg (because her sister lived there) to attend Technical College taking domestic science. Taught in Christiana, W. Tvl, South Africa Took a post as Dietician at the Fever Hospital in Johannesburg. Married in Johannesburg during the war. Followed Andrew to Niarobi on a civilian flight taking several days to get there. Lived in Nairobi while Andrew was way doing survey work for months at a time, during the Mau Mau uprising. An incident during this time convinced her to never again employ domestic help in the home. Moved to Lusaka 1959 and was heavily involved in Woman's Institute, helping to organize relief packages for refuges fleeing the Congo Uprising. During this time, to 'exercise her mind', she inrolled in bookkeeping, typing and shorthand, all of which she excelled in. Lived in Bloemfontein 1964-1969 1969-1980 lived in Bulawayo, again getting involved in relief work, this time producing appetizing meals in a canteen manned by volunteers, for troops passing through Bulawayo during the Bush War. 1980 moved to 'Wenwe' the dream of retiring on the South Coast realised. 1981 died in hospital in Durban.