Oliver Grace (or Crace) Penfold, dental surgeon, was the eldest son of William Penfold and Clarissa Sophia Blunden and grew up in England. He qualified in London as a Licentiate in Dental Surgery (LDS) of the Royal College of Surgeons of England in 1898. Two years later he came to South Africa, was registered to practise in the Colony of the Cape of Good Hope on 15 October that year, and settled in Cape Town, where he practised until his retirement in 1940. He was married to Ivy Lousie Dalston and had at least two sons and a daughter.

At first Penfold collected moths, but he soon changed to plants. He became a member of the Botanical Society of South Africa in 1919. His specimens went to the Compton Herbarium in Cape Town.

List of sources:

Codd, L.E. & Gunn, M. Additional biographical notes on plant collectors in Southern Africa. Bothalia, 1985. Vol. 15(3/4), pp. 631-654.

FamilySearch: Oliver Grace Penfold. https://ancestors.familysearch.org/en/27FP-DGV/oliver-grace-penfold-1876-1954

Medical, Dental and Pharmacy Directory of South Africa, 1926-1927. Johannesburg: Eward Herbert, 1926.

Mocavo, at http://www.mocavo.com/Armorial-Families-a-Directory-of-Gentlemen-of-Coat-Armour-Volume-2/377822/535 and search for Oliver Crace Penfield.

National Automated Archival Information Retrieval System (NAAIRS), at http://www.national.archives.gov.za/naairs.htm Document relating to Oliver Crace Penfield.

Pietermaritzburg Archives Repository (NAB), Vol. NMC 34, List of medical practitioners, dentists, and chemists and druggists registered in the Cape of Good Hope on 31 December 1915.

Compiled by: C. Plug

Last updated: 2025-08-30 12:13:18