Kloppers - The search has begun

I have spent the last couple weeks searching many different geneological web sites searching for any hint of a trace of my Kloppers ancestors without much success.

I was faced with a couple of challenges, the first one being the fact that the Kloppers family comes from Zimbabwe which makes it difficult finding any info in South Africa. Apparently the building which housed the archive records in Zimbabwe burned down some years ago, which I'm almost sure was before they had any electronic records of archives, although I'm not confident that any of the Zimbabwean archives have been saved on electronic copies which doesn't paint an encouraging picture for any aspiring geneologist. Although I did manage to find the address of the Chief Archivist in Harare. If all else fails I could still contact them for some info.

I also discovered, to my delight, that uncle Klopper currently has posession of the Kloppers family bible with all the birth dates, names, etc. I can't wait to see how far that information goes. Sandra has offered that she will do the Kloppers geneology research and I'll do the Schoeman research, therefore I'm leaving this part of the research in her capable hands. Hopefully she can do some tricks from England.

This is what I have found thus far :

I have found the Kloppers coat of arms in "Die Groot Afrikaanse Familie Naamboek". Unfortunately I don't have an electronic copy to put on the blog.

I also found the Kloppers name meaning :

KLOPPER(S)
Betekenis : Beroepsnaam. Iemand wat soggens mense gewek het.
Stamvaders : (1) Hendrik Frederik Klopper, van Hoorn (Nederland). Kom in 1713 hier aan. Naam van sy eerste vrou onbekend. Hetrou 31.8.1717 met Catharina Botha (9 kinders). (2) Jan Christoffel Klopper, oorspronklik Kloffert, van Stockholm (Swede). Trou met Catharina Mulder; hertrou 20.11.1763, met Anna Maria Kress (2 kinders). (3) Philippus Johannes Kloppers, van Arnhem (Nederland), geb 30.6.1874, oorl. 7.12.1960. Kom in 1898 hier aan. Trou 1902 met Maria Magdalena Naude (3 kinders).