In Appreciation of Malcolm Jansze: A Genealogist from the Top Drawer-by Michael Roberts
Dr. Malcolm Jansze with his adopted family in Horana, Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka Burgher Family Genealogy – Research and data collection done by Dr. Malcolm Jansze in Sri Lanka
His Story: I was interested in genealogy at about age 8 years when my grandmother chatted to me about hers and grandpas large families. From then I drew up charts and went to the church to confirm my grandparents births and dates etc. By age 14 years I was drawing up charts for our families.
At 18 years when I went to uni at Colombo, I went to the DBU and copied out all their genealogies. This led to cross references and more genealogies. Then at 24 years when I started working I was able to visit more churches and get more info. My father who was learning touch typing asked me for documents to practice on , and I gave him these (My writing was terrible anyway!). He got interested and then took over the maintenance of the genealogies, while I did the gathering of info. He wrote out all the genealogies by hand (no pc’s in those days) and as they enlarged he wrote them out over and over again. My brother who was working at IBM showed me the advantages of pcs – and so I bought one in 1990. Unfortunately Dad was losing his eyesight so I had to take over the work – as I had retired from my job. Newspaper obits & emails kept rolling in with questions and info – and there are too many people to thank individually.
I wish to acknowledge the work of my grandmother, and especially my father. Also later on Nina Van Dort of Amsterdam, Noreen Wright of Melbourne & Victor Melder of Melbourne, gathered and sent general info. I have to thank all the people who gave me their genealogies – for info for them and for me. And also excuse me if I have left you out of the acknowledgements.
However I also acknowledge the DBU – as it gave me the base for the whole setup. And also now Fazli Sameer, who was my original mentor when I started on the internet, and is now helping me with putting all this on the internet
Furthermore – I am not God – so errors inevitably creep in, Printers devils, copying errors etc are generally unavoidable though I have tried my best. And also one sometimes makes wrong conclusions – particularly when father and son have the same names , and several wives. Please understand and excuse these mistakes.
I would be delighted to receive & correct info on any mistakes – and to receive your input. Please feel free to contact and correct. MJ
A NOTE, courtesy of Victor Melder: It is most saddening to report the tragic death of Dr. Malcolm Jansze in Sri Lanka on Jan 12,2015 when he was involved in a motor bike accident with another biker. His contribution towards the research and compilation of Sri Lanka Burgher Genealogy is so valuable. May he Rest in Peace! obit: JANSZE – DR. MALCOLM. Son of the late Vernon and Neliya, brother of the late Cecil, brother-in-law of Noreen and Uncle of Darren (both of Sydney, Australia), passed away on January 15. His remains will lie at A.F. Raymond’s Funeral Parlour on Thursday, January 22, and the cortege will leave at 4.00 p.m. on that date for interment at the General Christian section of the Kanatte Cemetery, Borella.
