EPHRAUMS – Family #1175
Coenraad Christiaan Ephraums (evidently a Christian, although the surname suggests Jewish origin) came out to Ceylon early in 1784 working as an “official” servant on one of the ships belonging to the VOC (short for Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie, founded in 1602 and known in English as the Dutch East India Company). The typical immigrant from Europe came out to Ceylon in those days either as “official” VOC employee or as “unofficial” vrijburgher (Free Burgher) immigrant travelling under his own steam who, once established on the Island, could claim exemption from military service and a panoply of other civic perks, just like the prosperous, urbanised middle-class Burgher merchants who had flourished mightily in Holland since the Stadtholder system replaced Spanish rule in the late 1640s. At any rate Coenraad, of whom little is known, later became a Free Burgher of Pointe-de-Galle, where on June 2nd, 1793 he married Cotoewe Arachige Anona Sanche de Silva in Galle Fort at the relatively-new Groete Kerk (Dutch Reformed Church), completed in 1754. From her first two names we can surmise that the bride’s origins were Sinhalese, not Burgher, and from the rest of her name that her family had been Christianized under the Portuguese, before the Dutch take-over in the 1640s. The couple had four children, three of them born out of wedlock, the eldest of whom, Cornelius Adrianus, was born on April 25th, 1784. According to family tradition, Coenraad started off in Galle as a shipping clerk, each morning walking barefoot (a thrifty device to save on the cost of footwear) all the way between his modest home on the Wackwella Road and his employer’s office within the Dutch Fort, stopping to tie on his boots at the old Fort Harbour Gate entrance with its still-surviving “VOC” crest, facing the wharves where the barges serving the Dutch East India Co. sailing ships anchored out in the harbour embarked their bales of cinnamon
1 Coenraad Christian Ephraums + Kotuwe Arachige Sanchi de Silva
2 Cornelius Adrianus Ephraums, b:1784, d:1839 + Angenita Clara Van Ingen, m:May-23-1808
3 son
3 Daniel Ephraums, b:Dec-22-1811, d:Apr-23-1856 + Catherina Charlotte Zybrandsz, m: Dec-27-1833 (d/o Jacobus Zybrandsz & Johanna Wilhelmina Brechman)
4 Angelo Frederick Ephraums, b:1836, d:Nov-6-1868 + Harriet Mathilda Andree* (d/o Adolphus Wilhelmus Andree & Thomasia Dorothea Arnoldina Poulier), m:May-7-1855
5 seven (7) children
4 Clement Reginald Ephraums,
b:1841 + Anna Sophia Andree (half sister of Harriet Mathilda
Andree*)
4 Albert Richard Ephraums, b:1846, d:1904 + Laura Emmeline Anthonisz (d/o William Francis Charles Anthonisz & Jane Eliza), m:Jan-5-1876 at the Anglican All Saints Church in Fort, Galle
5 Richard Lionel Ephraums, b:1876 + Elsie Norma Beatta Daniel (d/o Arthur Drnest Daniel, b:2-May-1854, d:23-Jun-1924, & Anastasia Seraphina Van der Straaten, b:4-Jan-1851 in Jaffna, daughter of STEPHANUS VAN DER STRAATEN and ELIZABETH KEEGEL – Children of AE Daniel & AS Vander Straaten - ERNEST ARTHUR2 DANIEL, m. BEATRICE MILICIA FOENANDER, 10 July 1913, Dutch Reformed Church, Wolvendaal, Colombo (Ceylon) Sri Lanka; b. 5 August 1892.) m:Jul-15-1903
6 Verena (Ina) Laura Corrine Ephraums, b:Feb-1904 + Dr. George Herbert Arndt, m:1928
7 George Arthur Richard Arndt, b:22-Oct-1929 + Jeannette Ethel Austin, b:30-Mar-1941 in Colombo, (Ceylon) Sri Lanka ,m:4-Apr-1959 in St Andrews Scots Kirk, Colombo, (Ceylon) Sri Lanka (1163)
8 ARLENE THERESE ARNDT, b:8-Jan-1961, Colombo (Ceylon) Sri Lanka; m. IVAN FREDERICK BUDD JANSZ, 24-Aug-1984, (Ceylon) Sri Lanka; b. 20 November 1944, (Ceylon) Sri Lanka; d. 18 June 1994.
8 SANDRA LAURA ARNDT, b. 2 January 1963, Colombo (Ceylon) Sri Lanka; m. JOHN MATHEW STODART, 2 April 1988, St Columba, Perth, WA, Australia; b-19-Mar-1953.
8 STUART GEORGE ALISTAIR ARNDT, b:14-Dec-1963, Colombo (Ceylon) Sri Lanka. + JAYANE MARION STAINTON, m:7- Apr-1990 in Christ Church, Claremont, Western Australia, daughter of GEORGE STAINTON and MARY WILLIAMS. She was born 2 April 1969.
9 EMILY MARIAN4 ARNDT, b. 9 January 1994, WA, Australia.]
6 Anastasia (Nesta Brohier) Emmeline Ephraums (Nesta Brohier), b:1905 + Richard Henry Louis Hal Brohier (s/o Louis Cyrus Brohier & Fredericka Harriet Amelia Daniel), m:Aug-4-1929
7 Kenneth Gordon Hal Brohier, b:May-6-1930 + Molly Ritchie (Nurse at Joseph Frazer Memorial Nursing Home in Colombo), m:1950
8 Trevor Brohier, b:1956
8 Susan Pamela Brohier, b:1960
7 Pauline Fleur Hal Brohier (died in infancy)
7 Veronica Kay Hal Brohier, b:1950 + Jan McKenkemp
6 Arthur Richard Ephraums, b:1907 (blind) (famous Piano/Organ tuner) + Gladys
6 2nd spouse of Arthur Ruchard Ephraums, b:1907 (blind) (famous Piano/Organ tuner): + Nancy
6 Lescinska Sylvia Ephraums, b:1917
6 Roderick (Rod) Lionel Ephraums, b:1919 (blind)
5 [2] Agnes Sylvia Ephraums, b:1882 + [1] Arthur Edward Ephraums, b:1879, d:1931
6 [3] Arthur Edward Ephraums, b:1908
5 daughter died in infancy between the periods 1880-1884
5 daughter died in infancy between the periods 1880-1884
5 daughter died in infancy between the periods 1880-1884
5 Alfred Francis Ephraums
5 Edgar Lancelot Ephraums
5 Name Not Known
5 Name Not Known
5 Name Not Known
5 Alan Roy Ephraums, b:1895 and lived for a day only
4 Charles Peter Ephraums, b:1850, d:1924 + Georgiana Mathilda Bogaars (d/o George Nathaniel Bogaars)
5 Name Not Known
5 [1] Arthur Edward Ephraums, b:1879, d:1931 + [2] Agnes Sylvia Ephraums, b:1882
6 [3] Arthur Edward Ephraums, b:1908
5 Name Not Known
5 Name Not Known
5 Name Not Known
5 Name Not Known
4 Cyril Ephraums + Margaret
Dimbleby from Eastleigh
Hants who was the housekeeper of Sir Hugh Low, the British Resident in Perak
5 Hugh Ephraums
4 Wilfred Clements Ephraums
4 son
4 daughter
4 daughter
4 daughter
4 daughter
4 daughter
Note:
"Clement
Reginald Ephraums, the son of Daniel Ephraums and Catherina Charlotta Zybrandsz, was born in 1841 at Galle. After the death of
their parents, Cyril and his younger brother Wilfred were shipped off to live
with relatives at Penang. After finishing school at Penang in 1885, Cyril Ephraums joined the Perak Armed Police. He later married
young Englishwoman named Margaret Dimbleby from Eastleigh Hants who was the housekeeper of Sir Hugh Low,
the British Resident in Perak. Wilfred Clements Ephraums, began his working
life in 1885, when he was employed as a Financial Assistant at Tapah, Perak. Later, he became the Chief Treasurer of the
Malay Federation. In 1910, Cyril’s only son, Hugh, completed his studies in
England. He returned to Malaya to work for Osbourne
& Chapple, at the Gopeng
and Kinta Mines. His son Wilfred Charles became a senior rubber planter for the
Narborough Rubber Estate, located not far from Sungkai."
3 Peter Henry Ephraums
4 Lancelot Henry Ephraums + Louisa Isabel Warkus
5 Name Not Known
5 Name Not Known
5 Isabel Violet Ephraums, b:Jun-15-1892, d:1917 + Norman Gratiaen de La Motte, m:1915 (1250)
6 Neville de La Motte (Journalist, Writer)
6 Violet (Viola) de La Motte + Eric de Zilwa
7 Jeffrey de Zilwa
7 Marie Heloise de Zilwa + Adrian Barrington
5 Name Not Known
5 Name Not Known
5 Name Not Known
3 Name Not Known
3 Name Not Known
3 Name Not Known
3 Name Not Known
2 Name Not Known
2 Name Not Known
2 Name Not Known
Notes: AE
Coenraad Christian Ephraums, born in Amsterdam (no d.o.b.),
died in Galle, 21 September 1813 according to printed copy of the
genealogy from the DBU Colombo
I visited the Dutch Reformed Church in Galle while I was in Sri Lanka and noticed the Ephraums name on many gravestones and plaques. There was a caretaker who knew a lot about the history of the church. I also remember during my childhood that there was a departmental store with the name 'Ephraums Limited', Galle. The building is now occupied by a bank.
Section XV of the DBU Journal:
Henry Edmund Ephraums, born 30 August 1869, married in St. Andrew's Church, Mutwal, 21 June 1895, Agnes Magdalene Fernando, born 8 February 1876. Children born of the couple :-
1 Ernest Lionel Ephraums, born 10 July 1897.
2 Allan Victor Crosby Ephraums, born 21 June 1900.
3 Leslie Michael Ephraums, born 20 March 1911:
4 Jerome Ephraums m Anandi:
5 Nigel Ephraums
5 Darryl Ephraums
4 Anthony Ephraums m
5 Caroline Ephraums
5 Marianne Ephraums