Page 171 - KBHA BULLETIN 7

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Schalkwyk, has come along this evening to tell you about his proposed calendar of
events which will take place at the end of the year. We are grateful to him for providing

us with the obvious title for our book, namely “A Century of Kommetjie”, and
especially for the timing, which will enable us to have copies available for the non-

residents who participate in the Centenary celebrations and want a lasting reminder of

our quaint village.

It should be emphasized that this book was not intended to be an up-dated version of
the late Dr. Midgley’s publication titled “Kommetjie C.P.”. There are still many

residents living in the area who are direct descendants of the original families and with
a wealth of stories still to be told. I have been living in the village for a mere 17 years,

so am still counted as a bit of a newcomer but I do want to speak briefly about a truly

remarkable woman, known to many as the First Lady of Kommetjie.

Ann Seeliger

Our book is dedicated to the memory of Ann Seeliger, described as our inspiration,

mentor and preserver of so much of the local history.

Long before we thought of retiring to Kommetjie, - in fact I was probably uncertain of
its exact location in those days - I happened to tune in to a radio interview between

Dewar McCormack, head of the then English Radio Station, and Ann Seeliger at her

family home Lorelei. I was fascinated by Ann’s very descriptive recollections of family
holidays spent in Kommetjie from 1905, onwards. Her father, Johann Carl Ernst

Seeliger, was the first South African-born architect of note and set up practice in Cape
Town in 1890. In 1904 Ernst Seeliger and three of his friends, Anton Benning and

Joseph Rubbi – both leading builders in the City – and Kenne Teubes, the Government
Surveyor, were among the first to buy plots in Kommetjie and Ann’s father designed

the four stone beachfront cottages as holiday homes. (Fig. 5.2).

Ann wrote her own story of Kommetjie, and although she never intended it to be

published, much of the information used by Dr Midgely in his book was provided by