Gerhardus Christiaan Lodewyk (Gert) Coetzer - Gerhardus Christiaan Lodewyk (Gert) Coetzer of Coetser

Thank you. I've corrected it. Please feel free to correct me as I go. I'm just collecting documentation and updating as I do. Do you think the s/z spelling was less significant back then?

The 'donnerse Engels' at it again with their version of Dutch/German names. Spelling was less standardised in those days and education limited by poverty and vast distances. My E Cape Naudé granny only had Std 6(Grade. 8) and her marriage signature alongside my Anglo grandfather's beautiful copperplate clearly illustrates this lack of schooling. Being the child of an impoverished farmer turned mounted policeman may have had something to do with it!

In some cases the spelling must have been significant, especially when someone deliberately changes the z to an s or vice versa after a family disagreement, or grudge, or their believe that one or the other was 'correct'. In quite a few cases the change occurs within a core family, as in my father's case, where his younger siblings became Coetzer while they've been in an orphanage, due to an administrator's idea of the correct spelling. The Philippus Jeremias who was the eldest of the Coetser brothers in the Battle of Blood River never aloud anyone to spell his surname with a z, while his siblings accepted the 'English' spelling.

Here is a link to an article I wrote some time ago about this issue
http://coetzercoetser.weebly.com/blog/coetzer-or-coetser-whats-in-a...

What an awesome article! Thank you for sharing. :D

Glad you enjoyed it, Drummond :)