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Anglo Boere Oorlog/Boer War (1899-1902) BRANDFORT Camp

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Botes, Fouche, Joubert, Lourens and 16 others
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Profiles

Brandfort

People in camp

5368

People who died in this camp

1297

Although the Ladies Committee stated that Brandfort camp was opened in March 1901, it had certainly been formed by the end of January 1901, when it was reported that there were about two hundred people living there, mainly from Bultfontein and Hoopstad. At this stage many of the Boer families were scattered through the town or living in wagons, rather than in tents. Dr Last, from the town, cared for the inmates and there was, unusually, one trained nurse.1 Some of the people living in the town were able to support themselves and the British authorities were reluctant to supply them with rations. Nor did the British want to force them into the camps - ‘bear in mind that these camps are not meant to be prisons; you must act in all cases with tact’, the Chief Superintendent warned the Brandfort superintendent. By August 1901, when Dr Kendal Franks visited the camp, everyone had been moved into tents.

From the first, the medical officer was concerned about health in the camp. A number of small children were suffering from diarrhoea, although there had been no fatalities. Women and children slept on the ground with little protection and the doctor was concerned that they would suffer from pulmonary diseases in the wet weather. He urged the erection of corrugated iron huts with wooden floors or the provision of mattresses at the very least. But, at this early stage in the civilian administration of the camps, economy was the order of the day. Blankets would be provided only where absolutely necessary, along with mattress ticking. The women must make their own bedding with 15 lbs of hay allowed them, the MO was informed.3 Fortunately at this stage the inmates still had the cattle which they had brought into camp with them and milk was freely available for the children. Later on, however, grazing deteriorated and the refugee stock was sold to the ORC administration and removed to farms nearer to Bloemfontein,. In other respects the camp was administered very frugally and there were few comforts. Two boilers had been acquired to ensure that boiled water was available but the inmates had nothing to store water in to prevent it from becoming polluted afterwards.

A black camp grew up alongside that of the Boers, reaching about 1 800 people by mid-April 1901; by August there were at least 4 000 inmates. In the early days, at least, black inmates received the same rations as the whites but the accommodation was much more haphazard, consisting of ‘rather poor’ tents, which some people covered with matting to make them more waterproof. No sanitation was provided and inmates had to ‘report’ to a wooded kloof a mile above the camp ‘for the purposes of nature’. In March 1901 there were still no paid officials. The camp was too far away for him to supervise properly, the superintendent complained, and he recommended that ‘Peter’ be appointed to oversee. Dr Last provided the black inmates with basic medical attention but there was no hospital accommodation for them; those needing hospital care were treated in the ambulance wagons. Fortunately there were few at this stage, the most serious being syphilitic and leprosy cases5 Clearly health in the camp was not good, however.

At the end of March the superintendent reported that Peter was down with fever and infant mortality was ‘rather high’. It might become necessary to appoint a white superintendent, he noted. Eventually Peter was demoted, replaced by a white superintendent, Mr Meintjes, at the derisory salary of £5 a month, previously paid to Peter. An assistant, Hendrik Khukhu, was also appointed. Children attended school in the local town location. Eventually the size of the black camp was partially reduced by returning a number of Basuto nationals to their homes in Basutoland. About September 1901 it was decided to move the black camp from Brandfort. This meant new arrangements had to be made for the men who worked in the white camp, along with their families.

They Survived

A

  • Simon Aaronson (21)
  • Ackerman Dirk Jacobus.(42)
  • Date arrival:15/06/1901. Date departure:31/07/1901

B

C

D

E

F

H

J

K

L

S

T

V

They Died

A

  • Alberts, Catharina Helena, Mev and two daughters
  • Status of Husband - on commando

B

C

  • Cause of Death: whooping cough
  • Cause of Death: Pneumonia
  • Hester Johanna Cornelia Coetzee (24) Circa 1877 - 15/10/1901
  • Cause of Death: Measles + Pneumonia
  • Jacobus Cornelis Cordier (8) Circa 1893 - 8/10/1901
  • Cause of Death: Measles
  • Elsie Petronella Margaretha Cordier (3) Circa 1898 - 14/10/1901
  • Cause of Death: Measles
  • Johanna Hendrina Cordier (19) Circa 1882 - 14/10/1901
  • Cause of Death: Measles + Whooping Cough

D

E

F

  • Cause of Death – Nephritis

H

  • Cause of Death – Broncho Phneumonia

I

J

of measels and pneumonia on 27/9/1901

  • Death Notice: VAB MHG 754

K

L

  • Cause of Death – Debility

M

N

O

P

Q

R

S

T

  • Cause of Death: Old Age
  • Cause of Death: Bronchitis
  • Cause of Death: Convulsions
  • Cause of Death: Diarrhea
  • Cause of Death: Measles & Pneumonia
  • Cause of Death: Measles & Debility
  • Cause of Death: Diphtheria

V

  • Cause of Death: Measles
  • Cornelis Jacobus Petrus Venter (8) Circa 1893 - 2/10/1901
  • Cause of Death: Measles

W

  • Cause of Death: Whooping Cough

How to Participate

If you have an ancestor who was in the ABW Brandfort Concentration Camp:

  1. Get yourself added as a collaborator
  2. Navigate to your ancestor's profile
  3. Under the "More Actions" link choose "Add to Project"
  4. Select the ABO ===Brandfort===" project

How to add a link is explained in the attached document - Adding links to Geni profiles to projects.

Optional:

  • Include in the "About Me" section of each person a brief biographical sketch of their lives. Also include their Settler party and ship name and arrival date if known
  • Include a photograph/painting of your ancestor if one exists.
  • Your ancestor's profiles should be marked as "public" and not "private".
  • All included profiles should include full identifying information including birth and death dates as well as birth and death locations. It would also be very helpful if the immediate family of your pioneer ancestor, (their parents, siblings and children) profiles were public profiles also.
  • Do not make public any profiles of living people.

NOTE: All POW included on this project will have their profiles editable by other geni.com collaborators of this project. The object of reproducing the list here is to see if these people can be located on Geni and perhaps develop trees from them. To take part in any project - you do need to first be a collaborator - so join the project. See the discussion Project Help: How to add Text to a Project - Starter Kit to get you going!

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