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THE ANGLO BOER WAR/BOERE OORLOG 1899-1902
HEIDELBERG TRANSVAAL
The aim of the project is to connect as many Geni profiles onto the project.
People in camp
4369
People who died in this camp
254
A short history.
Heidelberg was one of the oldest camps and was probably already in existence in October 1900, when families harbouring Boer commandos were brought into the town, although there may also have been substantial numbers of destitute Boers for whom the British had to provide. By February 1901 there were over 1,200 people living there but the camp was never very large. At the end of June 1901 there were only 751 inmates and the number remained at under 1,000 for most of the period of the existence of the camp. Later a number of the families were moved to the Natal camps. Unusually, the superintendent for the entire life of the camp was a local Heidelberg man, 32-year-old Lieutenant Arnold Allison, previously with the Corps of Guides, who was married to a Boer woman.1 A number of Free State families had fled to Heidelberg as the British army advanced and they also found themselves in the camp. In May, however, they were returned to Kroonstad. It was some time before a similar exchange took place from the Free State, however, since Transvaal ‘refugees’ were not accepted until English-speaking Uitlander refugees were also allowed back – an indication of how sensitive the British authorities were to the anxieties of the impoverished Uitlanders at the coast. A black camp was probably formed early in 1901 but there is little information about it. There were also a handful of black servants in the white camp – 49, including 20 children in November 1901.2
The camp soon outgrew its original site and a second camp was established towards the end of May 1901, linked by a deep sluit and a bridge of poplars and stone, it was reported. Later a third camp was also set up. Dr Kendal Franks considered the site a good one on high ground, well supplied with water. The camp seems never to have been fenced although both Dr Franks and the Ladies Committee recommended it, the former because the people, who were allowed into town twice a week, tended to bring back ‘quack remedies’, Boer traditional medicines, while the Ladies Committee wanted to keep out animals. The British doctors, schooled in a more modern medical tradition, heartily disapproved of Boer medicine. Heidelberg was one of the camps where the use of folk remedies was commented upon, including cow dung mixed with sulphur, giving rise to diarrhoea, and cotton tied round babies’ wrists to prevent convulsions. ‘Would that all Boer “remedies” were equally harmless’, the Ladies Committee lamented. Another medical curiosity in the camp, upon which Dr Franks commented, was a pair of dwarfs, brothers, both burghers and both of whom were married with large families. The children, he noted, were well formed.3
Allison was an easy, sympathetic superintendent, untroubled by Boer habits which disturbed the visiting British inspectors. While the tents were always clean, the appearance of the camp was scruffy. A number of people lived in sod houses, roofed with galvanised iron and others remained for some time in their wagons with tents pitched at the side. As the camp expanded, however, tents were pitched in the approved style in neat rows. Facilities tended to be rudimentary. There were no washing facilities for the women at all and only rough provision for the men, the Ladies Committee noted in November 1901. ‘Small black boys’ were employed to keep the latrines clean which also seemed hardly ideal. Nor was Allison inclined to force the children into hospital. The people preferred nursing their own children, he noted, until it became necessary to send them to hospital. The low rate of sickness during the early months made this laissez faire attitude possible. In July 1901 there were only eleven deaths, nine of them from measles.4
http://www2.lib.uct.ac.za/mss/bccd/Histories/Heidelberg/
Blue names Geni Profiles
Black names Not on Geni Yet
Survivors
A
- Named as Mrs Nicolaas Francois Alberts 29 years old.
- Came from Langzeekoeigat, Heidelberg and was captured on 19/1/1901 and transferred to MEREBANK CAMP on 22/10/1901
- With her were the following children, Hendrik Abraham (7),Petronella Elizabeth Maria (6)and Johanes Petrus Godfried (4).
B
- Johannes Frederikus Wilhelmus Baarsden (21) Unique ID NO 120914
- Camp History:Tent number: 902
- Farm History: Schiekfontein, Heidelberg
- Relationships: is the husband of Mrs Johannes Frederikus Wilhelmus Baarsden
- Philippus Rudolph Botha 1849-1923
- Aletta Helena Petronella Botha (Koen) 1853-1942
- Petrus Jacobus Botha c. 1880
- Isabella Maria Herselman (Botha) c. 1881-1920
- Theunis Rudolph Anton Botha 1884
- Susanna Magdalena Nel (Botha) 1886
- Emerencie Wilhelmina Maria Gravett (Botha) 1888
- Rudolph Philippus Botha c. 1890
- Adam Rudolph Botha c. 1892
- Theodorus Cornelius Botha c. 1894
- Aletta Helena Petronella Botha (Koen) 1853-1942
C
D
E
F
G
H
- Maria Margaretha Elizabeth Herbst 1854 - 1925
I
J
- Anna Maria Johanna Joubert 1882 - 1945
- Gertruida Johanna Cornelia Joubert 1887 - 1972
- Jeremia Marthinus Joubert 1890 - 1969
- Johannes Jacobus Cornelis Joubert 1886
- Martina Catharina Joubert 1896 - 1986
- Maria Margaretha Elizabeth Joubert 1883 - 1973
K
L
M
N
- Andries Jacobus Neethling 1852 - 1932
- Rachel Petronella Neethling (de Villiers) 1862 - 1931
- Anna van der Merwe Neethling
- Hendrik Ludolph Neethling 1886 - 1919
O
People who died
A
B
- Barend Petrus de Beer 1816 - 1902
- Aletta Maria Buurman 1867-1901
C
D
J
M
- Christoffel Johannes Marais 21/6/1902-19/7/1902
- Aged 23 Son of Jan Gabriel Marais. He came from the farm Diepkloof in Heidelberg.
- Abel Jacobus MaraisAged 5
- From Diepkloof Heidelberg. 1/6/190 -19/7/1902
- Maria Adriana Marais Aged 21 1/7/1901-19/7/1902
- D.o. Jan Gabriel tent 511. Came from the farm Diepkloof, Heidelberg
- 'Willem Marais Aged 20 (1/7/1901-19/7/1902)
- S.o. Jan Gabriel Marais from the farm Diepkloof, Heidelberg. Tent 511
- Mrs Jan Gabriel Marais 48 (1/7/1901 - 19/7/1902)
- Came to camp and stayed in tent 511 with her children. She was self supporting.
- Had two farms Vlakplaats and Diepkloof in Heidelberg. Was captured on the latter.
- Elizabeth Magdalena Marais (17) 1/7/1901 - 19/7/1902. D.o. Jan Gabriel Marais
- Catrina(Katrina) Marais (7) 1/7/1901-19/7/1902 Heidelberg farm Diepkloof
- Gert Petrus Marais (2) 1/7/1901-19/7/1902
- Johanna Cornelia Marais (12) 1/7/1901-19/7/1902
- Aletta Maria Marais (6) Unique ID no 119029 Tent No 6 arrived 8/12/1900
- Farm History: Vlakplaats, Hedelberg.
- Family: D.o. Sarel Johannes Marais and Aletta Maria buurman. Both died.
- Gerhardus Petrus Marais (12)Unique ID 119027 Arrived 8/12/1900 Tent no 6
- Farm History: Vlakplaats, Hedelberg.
- Family: D.o. Sarel Johannes Marais and Aletta Maria buurman. Both died.
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