The Lerena Archive
1882–1950 · 18 fixed points

The timeline

Every dated thing this archive can stand behind, in order, with the record it rests on — and the handful of world events that explain why a Rosario horseman was at the Cape at all.

YearDateWhatResting on
1882 22 February *** Pablo Armando Lerena born at Rosario de Santa Fe. ***
Life		 His own Argentine passport, 1940; corroborated by "Clase de 1882" on the army enrolment card.
1882 The Argentine Stud Book is created by the Jockey Club on 30 June - the year he was born.
The world		 Turf histories. A coincidence, recorded as one.
1899 October The South African War begins. Roughly 360,000 horses are shipped into the country; Argentina is one of the main sources.
The world		 Remount-trade histories. He was 17.
1902 31 May The war ends. About 600 Afrikaners emigrate to Argentina - the traffic ran both ways.
The world		 Argentina-South Africa relations.
1905 25 November His eldest son Roque Luis Armando is born at Cape Town.
Life		 Corpus Christi Wynberg baptism register, 1911.
1908 *** He enrols for Argentine military service at the CAPE TOWN consulate. *** The card names his father and mother.
Document		 Ficha de enrolamiento, Cajon 985 (Lera), image ark 3:1:3QHK-MQL4-NQWN.
1911 3 September He marries Mary Septima Taylor at St Dominic's, Wynberg. He is a HORSE-DEALER of Diep River; both are single; both sign their own names.
Document		 Cape Province marriage register no. 160, ark 1:1:88RY-GF3Z.
1911 12 June Roque, born 1905, is baptised at Corpus Christi, Wynberg - three months before his parents' wedding.
Document		 The baptism register, naming both parents.
1915 Guardia Nacional, 6th Cavalry - the service the 1908 card enrolled him for.
Document		 Annotation on the 1940 passport.
1920 6 January Ricardo JUAN CARLOS Lerena born at Claremont, Cape - carrying his Argentine grandfather's name.
Life		 Named with this exact date in the 1950 estate.
1924 6 October Nuno Fernando Lerena born at Wynberg, Cape. David's grandfather.
Life		 Named with this exact date in the 1950 estate.
1931 Plans lodged for STABLES at Koeberg Road, Rugby.
Document		 Cape Town municipal file, KAB 3/CT 4/2/1/3/474 B796.
1935 15 November Mary Septima dies at 34 Florence Road, Observatory, aged 51. Buried Maitland, grave 7719A.
Life		 Cape Province civil records; Maitland interment register p.3215 entry 163.
1935 November Two of his sons appear in the LDS South African Mission church census - Ricardo at Claremont, Nuno at Wynberg.
Document		 LDS Church Census Records (Worldwide), 1914-1960.
1940 24 December *** Argentine passport Serie A No. 07962, issued at Cape Town on Christmas Eve. *** Profession: Trainer. Widower. A scar on the forehead.
Document		 The passport itself, in the family's papers.
1947 10 September Argentina and South Africa establish diplomatic relations - thirty-nine years AFTER the Cape Town consular office enrolled him.
The world		 Argentina-South Africa relations.
1950 19 March He dies at 7 Forth Road, Newlands, of coronary thrombosis. Registered as "Robert Paul LERINA", Race Horse Owner, widower.
Life		 Union of South Africa death certificate A 214036, entry W612/50.
1950 Estate: gross 15,527 pounds 15s - about half a million today - including a claim for 26 pounds of CARROTS.
Document		 First and Final Liquidation and Distribution Account, MOOC 6/9/17017.
The gap that shapes the page. Between his birth at Rosario in 1882 and his eldest son’s birth at Cape Town in 1905 there are twenty-three years with nothing in them — and the only plausible bridge this archive has found is the remount trade of 1899–1902. The horses →