In a previous article on the Neilson brothers, the author states: “It is still not clear whether the Neilson brothers were South African or potentially foreign photographers who saw a commercial opportunity in photographing the South Africa deep-level mines.”
The veil around who the two brothers were has now been lifted by Jim Read, who resides in Sparta, Georgia, USA. After reading the original article published on The Heritage Portal (click here to read), he established contact with the author. Jim is currently conducting his own genealogical research.
Jim kindly shared family information available to him around the Neilson brothers plus adding additional information about his own grandfather, James Wilbur Read, who was also cited in the above-mentioned article.
In short: - J. Wilbur Read and the Neilson brothers are family, all originating from the USA.
J. (James) Wilbur Read (1866 – 1946)
James Wilbur Read was born in Farm Ridge, LaSalle County, Illinois, USA and was a second cousin to the Neilson brothers.
First landing in South Africa during 1899, aged 33, his emigration documents (dated 12 September 1899) listed his occupation as “Newspaper”. He had been living in Chicago at the time and presumably came to South Africa as a journalist to report on the Boer War. On his arrival in South Africa, Charles Butler Neilson (the eldest of the Neilson brothers) signed James Wilbur’s “identification” documentation. At that stage Charles Neilson had been in South Africa for some two and a half years...
