Major A.T. Jonsson Bridge
A very interesting and unique story about Nick Jonsson’s Grandfather – Major A.T Jonsson as well as his dad, Benjamin Jonsson dating back to 1929!
Nick Jonsson has been a major benefactor to the Durban Country Club since 2022, playing a pivotal role in the Club’s recovery and the renovation of its golf course following the devastating floods of April 2022. In 2025, he was elected Chairman of the Durban Country Club, a position he currently holds. Under his leadership, the Club continues to pursue a renewed vision of reestablishing itself as one of the premier golf courses in South Africa and the World.
Extract from The First 60 Years by Joyce Wrinch-Schulz page 23….
There were deaths aplenty to mourn on the golf course over the 60 years, but the most memorable births to be celebrated at the Country Club were the Jonssons.
Although he was farming at Highflats, Major Aubrey Jonsson spent a good deal of time when he visited Durban at the Country Club and was an outstanding golfer.
Indeed he was the Prince of Wales Cup Champion in 1929 when he brought his wife Elizabeth into Durban for her third confinement. They already had two sons.
Major Jonsson had arranged to meet his friends for a game of golf at the Country Club the very morning that his wife gave birth to a son – Jeremy – at 3 a.m. So he was excused for arriving a little late. However he hadn’t played more than a couple of holes when he received an urgent message on the course from Alice Gibson. His wife had had a baby daughter (Felicity). What a surprise – as they hadn’t been expecting twins!
Once the game was over and he had stood a round of celebratory drinks, the new father raced into town to buy a second crib, pram and other necessities for the second baby. He took them up to the house in Vause Road where the babies had been born, admired his two new infants and then went down to the Club for lunch and a game of snooker, so that his wife could rest. At four o’clock there was another telephone call for the major. His wife had produced another baby – a second boy. Instead of the anticipated single birth – the family had increased by three!
By this time it was too late to buy yet another crib, so young Benjamin Jonsson spent the first night of his life in a drawer!
