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Families and History of 'Groot Spelonken' / Zoekmekaar: 1880-1920

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Bezuidenhout, Botha, Bronkhorst, Colyn and 16 others
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Profiles

  • Marthinus Jacobus Potgieter (1838 - 1904)
    Death Notice: Information of Death: Huwelik 9 Junie 1864 (Potchefstroom)
  • Gerhardus Stephanus Scheepers (1797 - 1837)
    SK: deur David Abraham Swanepoel Doop (gemerkte kopie ook opgelaai): Gert Scheepers waarna verwys word in Louis Tregardt se dagboek. Hy word min genoem, synde hy so vroeg oorlede is. Hy word na sy dood...
  • Wynand Jacobus Bezuidenhout (1869 - c.1947)
    Britse Konsentrasiekamp, Pietersburg History Name: Dwarsrivier District: Spelonken Notes: no property Date arrival: 13/06/1901 Date departure: 23/01/1902 Reason departure: absconded === GEDCOM Source =...
  • Hendrik Lambert Johannes (II) Bronkhorst (1830 - 1897)
    Probate: TAB MHG O/12980 (1897) - see 'Sources' Hendrik Lambertus Johannes Bronkhorst was a resident of the Groot Spelonken area, Zoutpansberg (i.e north / north-east of Pietersburg) towards the end o...
  • Andries Hendrik Potgieter, b7c8d7e2f9 (1831 - 1923)
    Geboorte en doop: [(3de van bo links] Civil Death Notice: [Thank you, Ciska!] Sien ook Voortrekkermense III (Herinneringe van A.H) Hy gee sy geboorte datum aan as 15/10/1830. Veldkornet van Grootspel...

The purpose of this project will be to record the Groot Spelonken farms (and their changing ownership), the families who lived there during the period, their interrelationships and their stories of struggle and survival.

Groot Spelonken was a rugged rural area, north east of Pietersburg (Polokwane), centred around a little hamlet called Zoekmekaar (now called Morebeng in the Limpopo Province of South Africa). Loan farms were awarded to Boer farmers from about 1880 (apparently to create and populate a rural buffer for the ZAR). During the Apartheid years, many of the northernmost Groot Spelonken farms were bought by the Government and transferred to black tribal authorities. In a bizarre turnaround, some of the land was later returned and made available commercially for white ownership. Some of the 'original' white owners were able and fortunate to reclaim and re-buy some of the farms in question.

During the Anglo-Boer War of 1899-1902, Groot Spelonken was an area under administration and command of a Field Cornet [Afr: 'n Veldkornetskap]. The Field Cornet reported to the Commandant of the Zoutpansberg Commando of the 'Zuid Afrikaansche Republiek'. Most of the able-bodied men were active members of this 'Groot Spelonken' Field Cornetcy. One of the last major remnants of this Veldcornetcy (a group of 72 burghers) was captured near Ellerton Mine in 'the lowveldt' on 20 May 1901, and promptly sent off as POWs to Bermuda. By that time, or soon thereafter, most families (old men, women and children) were systematically rounded up and 'concentrated' in the Camp at Pietersburg, where many families suffered hardship, sickness and death. Small groups of some families, however, still traversed the area in an effort not to be captured by British Forces.

The infamous BVC or Bushveldt Carbineers (including Breaker Morant) operated throughout this area, fortunately after the majority of the Boer population had already been removed. We are not aware of any specific atrocities that occurred within the geographic area of the Veldcornetcy, as the known incidents were mostly northwards towards Elim and south eastwards towards Mooketsi. and Duiwelskloof.

  • One Grobler family (who hailed from Welgevonden 193, Spelonken) suffered an atrocity near Mooketsi. Charles Leach describes the incident as follows in his book 'The Legend of Breaker Morant is DEAD and BURIED':
    • In the late afternoon of 5 September 1901, a small group of Boer women, children and an old man were attacked by a BVC patrol commanded by Ltn. Hannam. Jan Derk Grobler (13) and Jacobus Daniel Grobler (5) were both shot dead and their sister, Elizabeth Maria Grobler (9) was wounded. The next morning the two boys were buried at Blass Perreira's store.

Following the Anglo-Boer War many families tried to rebuild their lives and their farms. Due to the good offices of Senator GG Munnik the railway line from Pietersburg was extended via Zoekmekaar to Louis Trichardt.

Through utter perseverance some farmers succeeded, but in later years most descendants sought to find and build a future elsewhere. It is precisely for the many descendants scattered globally that this project would like to record and reveal historic and genealogy information.

NOTE: All phrases shown in blue are clickable links to profiles, maps or related information. Please feel free to join the project and contribute directly, or, if you prefer, contact Johann Ahlers with ideas, corrections and contributions.

Farms and Ownership

Google Map of the area for general orientation: https://goo.gl/GjSRBU

Soekmekaar orientation map (extract from 1950's 1:250000 map). See the full image and download from this project's Photos and Documents folder - link in menu at the top right of the page
media.geni.com/p13/a3/e7/55/74/53444842b0346e83/extract_from_a_modern_1950_s_map_of_zoekmekaar_1_in_250000__large.jpg?hash=1e52dd1af6098413fd1118bc417f4da6267d3563890edae22e9a98e287613a4c.1716620399 North is up. Soekmekaar town just below and left of centre. 'Groot Spelonken' may have roughly covered the area within the blue outline. As such it stretched from Rustfontein in the south to Wakkerstroom in the north; from Ruigtevlei in the west to the edge of the escarpment in the east. The R36 runs from Bandelierkop (off-map) in the northwest down to Mooketsi and then Duiwelskloof (both off-map to the southeast).

Map of Groot Spelonken Farms extracted from the Zoutpansberg Mining Rights Map of 1905, updated 1907.
media.geni.com/p13/53/90/bd/ee/53444842b0567541/extract_from_zoutpansberg_map_of_mining_rights_1905_updated_1907_large.jpg?hash=b2b6227887bff5165225d5828055515d24323cea9cae0f543718be7982697771.1716620399 Farm names and sizes should be nearly identical to the status during the Anglo-Boer War. The map is similar in orientation and size to the 'modern' Orientation map above, but covers a larger area towards the west. NOTE that there are two Welgevonden and two Driefontein farms, hence the importance of the number, e.g. Welgevonden 1510.

Farms at the time of the Anglo-Boer War

Families and their interrelationships

  • Bezuidenhout - link to the farm Dwarsrivier during the Anlgo-Boer war
  • Botha
  • Bronkhorst
    • Hendrik Lambert Johannes Bronkhorst farmed on Nooitgedacht, Groot Spelonken. This seems to be Nooitgedacht in the Lowveldt. He had three wives.
  • Colyn
  • Davies - the 'famous' Welsh-born teacher at the Afrikaans-medium Daviesville School, who taught the children to sing the Welsh National Anthem in Afrikaans. Many years later, this would save South African Rugby from being expelled from the IRB.
    • A Spelonken student of Davies, the later Prof. Fritz Eloff, won the support of the Welsh Rugby Union when he sang the Welsh National Anthem in Afrikaans in full cry at the start of a Wales-England rugby test match. The International Rugby Board was due to meet in Wales the following week...
  • Dique
  • Duvenhage - strong link to the SM Venter branch. Further information to follow.
  • Eloff
  • Grobbelaar - became son-in-law of the Welgevonden Venters
  • Grobler
  • Haasbroek - link to the Grobbelaar family
  • Jacobs - from the farms Geluk, Helpmekaar and Voorspoed
  • Janse van Rensburg
    • Two Janse van Rensburg brothers settled in Groot Spelonken. They were not Voortrekkers, but moved to the area to partake in the loan farm scheme offered by the ZAR in the late 1880s. The brothers were born near Riversdal in the Cape Province, moved to Aberdeen (Cape) and then to the Boer republics, finally settling in Groot Spelonken. Probably due to their relatively recent arrival from the Cape, and their existing relationships to siblings there, they do not seem to have joined the Boer Commandos during the Anglo-Boer War, and ended up in the Pietersburg Concentration camp where they lost five of their children.
    • Josephus Nicolaas Janse van Rensburg (married to Sesara Elizabeth Susanna Janse van Rensburg) - died on Rietvlei in 1934.
    • Johannes Frederik Lodewicus "Radikoffie" Jansen van Rensburg, f5g3 (aka Radikofi) x Martha Johanna Margaretha Janse van Rensburg, d7e1 lived on the farm Rustfontein, but moved to Bandelierkop in 1912 (following the death of his wife). His nickname, Radikofi, was given to him by the local black population - it means 'he likes Coffee'. He was a friend of Senator GG Munnik who was instrumental in extending the railway line from Pietersburg via Soekmekaar to Louis Trichardt in the years between 1902 and 1910. A small station south of Soekmekaar was established and called Munnik, whilst the next train halt (?) was called Radikofi (next to the entrance to Radikofi van Rensburg's farm Rustfontein). Radikofi's wife was apparently buried in 1912 in an unmarked grave on Rustfontein (with a lovely view of the lowveld), whilst Radikofi was buried on Groenepunt near Bandelierkop in 1924. Radikofi's grandson, Manie Eloff, was successful in acquiring, holding on to and developing the farms Welgevonden 1510 (PJL Venter) and Wakkerstroom (AH Potgieter) - eventually sold in the 21st century to Westfalia Fruit. Manie was also able to consolidate the Venter/Van Rensburg farms near Bandelierkop (Bellevue, Klipput, Groenepunt, Doornveld).
  • Joubert
    • Francois Nicolas (Frank) Joubert, was a teacher at Munnik and subsequently a farmer at Soekmekaar, Frank married a daughter of John and Dora Rawe (see Rawe family below). [Frank's brother, Lt Joubert, was the pilot of a military airplane out of which a bomb fell by accident, on 28 May 1924, into a crowd of spectators during a weapons show at Kuruman, killing four and injuring 32.]
  • Kelly
    • John Thomas Kelly SV/PROG came to South Africa as a British soldier (91st Argyllshire Reserve Battalion), joined the A H Potgieter trek after the Battle of Zwartkopjes (1845) and settled in Schoemansdal at the foot of the Zoutpansberg.
    • Cmdt JT (Tom) Kelly was a Field Cornet of Groot Spelonken at the time of the outbreak of the ABW, He was captured on 23 Sep 1901 and sent to St Helena. They farmed Boskopjes. During the ABW his wife Tienie lived with her parents on the farm Ballymore adjacent to Elim and escaped capture by the British forces.
    • Cmdt. Kelly's son, Fld.Ct. John Thomas Kelly, was captured on 16 Oct 1901 (aged 25) and sent to India.
  • Lubbe
  • Mollett
    • John Austen Mollett and his wife, Engela Maria Gertruida Mollett, settled on the farm Doornrivier either just before or during the initial stages of the Anglo-Boer War. They were from Boshof in the Free State. See John's profile for more information about the family.
      • John had worked at the Witwatersrand Goldfields for a short time, and was a Rhodesian Pioneer having been a member of the Rhodes column when they entered Rhodesia. He however refused to accept and occupy a farm there and returned to the Northern Transvaal, where he lived most of his life in the vicinity of Mokeetsi.
      • At the time of the 2nd Boer War, John was a farmer on the Doornrivier farm in the Spelonken District. On the 17th May 1901 John and his wife surrendered to the British and were incarcerated in the Pietersburg concentration camp on the 3rd June 1901. He brought to the camp 10 oxen, 2 cows and 2 calves. They were discharged on the 5th August 1902.
        • About his time in the camp John made the following statement under oath which is often quoted in Afrikaner nationalist websites:
          • “Daar was hakies in die vleis, en “Coopers” poeier in die meel, van vitrioel in die suiker het ek persoonlik ondervinding gehad, ek glo dat niemand wat daar was dit kan betwis nie”.
      • John and Engela had 11 children.
    • Dorothea Christina Schonegevel (Dora) Rawe, the sister of John Austen Mollett, was married to James John (John) Rawe, SV/PROG. More information on the family can be found at her profile, and under the Rawe family below.
  • Momberg
  • Page
    • Daniel Christoffel Page and his wife, Leah Sophia Page, moved to the Soekmekaar area from the Houtboschberg district. At some stage they resided on Wakkerstroom, but later were recorded on 'Ruwe Storme'
      • Their grandchild, Pieter Johannes Pieterse, was a well-known Afrikaans writer, story-teller and TV personality (Maak 'n Las, Swerwerskos, Boude en Blaaie)
  • Potgieter
  • Rawe
    • James John (John) Rawe, SV/PROG and his wife, Dorothea Christina Schonegevel (Dora) Rawe, settled at Doornboom in the Groot Spelonken area of the Soutpansberg District before the Anglo Boer War. She was the sister of John Austen Mollett who farmed on Doornrivier.
      • A daughter of John and Dora, Edith May Raw, married Francois Nicolas (Frank) Joubert, who was a teacher at Munnik and subsequently a farmer at Soekmekaar. See Joubert family above.
      • A grandson of John and Dora, William (Bill) Chalmers, was a Rhodes Scholar and studied at St Andrew's College, Grahamstown and at Trinity College, Oxford University in 1956. After teaching Classics at St Andrew's College in South Africa for 14 years, Bill Chalmers became actively involved in the South African politico-religious debate, and was known for his Radio Chaplain and Cross Questions television discussion programme. He also pursued his passion for art, and was commissioned to paint 'The Stations of the Cross' which now hangs in the old Settler Church of St John's in Bathurst, South Africa, where he served as lay minister.
    • As devout members of the Anglican Church they established the Evans Memorial Church after the death of their son-in-law Rev. R.L Evans.
  • Roets - strongly linked to at least the SM Venter branch.
  • Seegers - a clear link to the JD Venter branch, but seems to have left the area to farm beyond the Zoutpansberg towards Messina.
  • Steyn
  • Van der Lith
  • Van Dyk - linked to at least the SM Venter branch
  • Venter
    • It is a surprising fact that nearly ALL the Venters (and there were quite a few) who settled in Groot Spelonken were descendants of only three of the sons of one man, Jacobus Daniel Venter, b3c2d1e5. This JD Venter was a Voortrekker who joined the PD Jacobs party from his farm Zoetendalsvlei, due north of Uniondale and due west of Willowmore in the Karoo. (Zoetendalsvlei saw the birth of his eight children, but sadly also the death of his wife.) For widower JD Venter's family the Great Trek must have been quite an expedition, but all's well that ends well, and for JD and a few of his children the Trek ended with marriages in the Potgieter Laager at Potchefstroom in 1840. JD Venter would have two more children with his second wife.
    • The three sons of JD Venter who fathered the Venter settlers of Groot Spelonken were:
      • SM Venter branch
        • Stephanus Marthinus Venter - it does not seem that he settled in the area himself.
        • Descendants listed on Geni
        • This branch of the Venters had strong linkages to the Grobler, Roets and Van Dyk families. The first generation Spelonken descendants married Duvenhage, Fourie, Grobler (2x), Janse van Rensburg, Logenberg (?), Mienie, Oosthuyzen, Pieterse, Potgieter, Roets (2x) and Van Dyk (2x). Four of the brothers of the first generation apparently settled on the farm Driefontein 195 / Oog van Driefontein:
          • Jan Louis Venter x Christina Catharina Venter (Oosthuyzen)
          • Stephanus Marthinus Venter x SC Roets xx IJS Strydom (gebore Duvenhage)
          • Pieter Johannes Lodewyk Venter x Anna Sophia Venter (Grobler)
          • Ferdinandus Wilhelmus Venter x Anna Susanna Venter (Fourie)
        • The Janse van Rensburg linkage was to a Schoemansdal branch - not closely related to the two brothers that settled in Groot Spelonken.
        • Veldkornet Stephanus Marthinus Venter, from this SM Venter branch, was the Field Cornet of the Groot Spelonken area durng the Anglo-Boer War.
      • JD Venter branch
      • HJ Venter branch
    • A fourth son, Pieter Johannes Lodewyk Venter, played a leading role in matters of the Hervormde Church in the Northern Transvaal. He was the first elder (Afr: Ouderling) of the Hervormde Church in the region and settled on a portion of the farm Sterkloop - the remaining portion of the farm was used to establish the town Pietersburg (now Polokwane). Although it was speculated that the town was named after PJL Venter, the honour was really bestowed on General Piet Joubert. Neither PJL Venter nor his descendants seem to have settled in Groot Spelonken at any stage. PJL Venter soon moved from Pietersburg to the district of Standerton and finally settled near Middelburg, Mpumalanga. He was married five times, but sadly outlived only four of his wives.
    • Research on the descendants of a fifth son, Jan Louis Venter, e5f1, has revealed only one daughter who may temporarily have been in the Spelonken. She was Anna Catharina Venter x Gerhardus Venter from the JD Venter branch. Both of them returned to Bosmansfontein in the district of Standerton and died there in the 1920's.
    • For research purposes, you might want to have access to all the descendants of JD Venter from Zoetendalsvlei (listed on Geni to date). Happy researching!
  • Whiley - see connection to Page family above.

Field Cornets of the Groot Spelonken veldcornetcy

  • WJH Potgieter; [listed in ZAR Govt documents in 1892]
  • JT (Tom) Kelly (from at least 1895). During the ABW he soon became a Commandant.
  • SM Venter [during (and after) the Anglo-Boer War]

Battles of the ABW with Groot Spelonken participation

Prisoners of War during the Anglo-Boer War

To be completed (alphabetically, with date of capture/release and place(s) of internment, if available)
NOTE: see related projects

Residents of, and deaths in, the Pietersburg Concentration Camp

To be completed (alphabetically, with date of entry, tent number, date of departure (or death) - where available) NOTE: Please see the Pietersburg Concentration Camp project

War Claims after the Anglo-Boer War

To be completed (alphabetically with name of farm, quantum of claim and names of family members mentioned - where available)

UNlinked individuals: Known Groot Spelonken residents with profiles on Geni, but NOT YET linked genealogically

Notable people who descend from Groot Spelonken settlers

  • William (Bill) Chalmers, a grandson of John and Dora Rawe, was a Rhodes Scholar and studied at St Andrew's College, Grahamstown and at Trinity College, Oxford University in 1956. After teaching Classics at St Andrew's College in South Africa for 14 years, Bill Chalmers became actively involved in the South African politico-religious debate, and was known for his Radio Chaplain and Cross Questions television discussion programme. He also pursued his passion for art, and was commissioned to paint 'The Stations of the Cross' which now hangs in the old Settler Church of St John's in Bathurst, South Africa, where he served as lay minister.
  • The Eloff brothers are grandchildren of Radikofi Janse van Rensburg and Martha J M Momberg:
    • Prof Frits Eloff: long-time President of the Northern Transvaal Rugby Union and the National Parks Board; and well-known in South African and International Rugby circles.
    • Prof Hannes Eloff: sociologist and archeologist involved with Mapungubwe.
    • Manie Eloff: agricultural scientist and farming entrepreneur - managed to consolidate most of the Janse van Rensburg, Potgieter and PJL Venter farms in Groot Spelonken, as well as their farms near Bandelierkop.
  • Senator GG Munnik - Although Senator Munnik wasn't born in Groot Spelonken, he had a big influence on the area, firstly as Mining Commissioner for the Northern Transvaal, then as Landdrost for Pietersburg and finally in extending the railway line from Pietersburg to Louis Trichardt via Soekmekaar. One of the minor stations, a hamlet south of Soekmekaar, was named 'Munnik'.
  • Pieter Pieterse, a descendant of the Whiley and Page families - was a famous Afrikaans writer, storyteller and TV personality (Maak 'n Las, Swerwerskos, Boude en Blaaie). He wrote dozens of books and scripts and received several literary awards. Pieter was cruelly killed in March 2002 at 65 years of age at his home in Marloth Park near Komatipoort. His wife Jenny discovered his badly decomposed body after he was last seen the previous Sunday in church. He was stabbed 28 times with a sharp object in the heart, lungs, and head.
  • Singer - songwriter Andries Hendrik Potgieter

Any other unresolved genealogy issues

Including research tips and pointers specific to the area

Useful Reference Material
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