TOPIC:

Hello Erich

Britstown was occupied on numerous occasions by the Boers, each time British troops arrived to eject them:

Dec 1900 - Lt-Col AW Thorneycroft, Thorneycroft's Mounted Infantry
February 1901 - company Warwickshire Mounted Infantry
March 1901 - Col J Adye, Royal Artillery reinforces
and finally later in March the Commander-in-Chief himself, Lord Kitchener, arrives with more troops concerned at the seriousness of the rebellion.

Mr Steyn sounds like the farmer of Donker Hoek.

Any context on Mr Swan?

The Commandant at De Aar would have been an Army officer and there may have been more than one during the war - what time period?

Regards
Meurig

Hi Erich

Mr B M J Steyn was the owner of the Farm Donkerhoek. In 1906 land for the the railway line from De Aar to Prieska was expropriated from the farm Donkerhoek.

(From SA national Archives )

Regards

Adrian (No2)

Hi Erich

Mr Swan had a court case in Britstown in 1907.

SWAN, L. CLAIM FOR ADDITIONAL WITNESS EXPENSES. BRITSTOWN.
STARTING 1907

REX Vs SWAN, L Britstown 1907

So you could look up this case perhaps to see who Swan was ! Or perhaps I can find it.

Regards

Adrian (No2)

Hi Erich

And lastly Houwater.

This is also a farm near Britstown, also on the same railway line referred to.

Owned in 1906 by the Smartt Syndicate Ltd. (Could be Smartt, not Small ?).

Names also mentioned at Houwater are McIvor and Sutherland as owners of farms at Houwater.

Regards

Adrian (No2)

Hi Erich

Dr Smartt

Sir William Thomas Smartt (Ireland, 22 February 1858 - Cape Town, 17 April 1929) was a South African politician, and founder and leader of the Unionist Party.




Sir Thomas Smartt
He graduated in medicine at the University of Dublin in 1880 and left for South Africa where he went to Britstown as physician. A keen farmer, he later founded the Smartt Syndicate, one of the largest dams in the then Cape Colony at Houwater near Britstown. He kept good relationships with local farmers and was an enthusiastic member of the Afrikaner Bond.

Smartt was chairman of the commission called Scab in 1892 and the his report led to the Organisation nominating him as their candidate for the constituency in Wodehouse in the 1894 general election. He took his place in the Cape Legislative Assembly. In 1897, when Rhodes's government fell, Smartt was interior minister in Sir Gordon Sprigg's cabinet. In 1898 the Sprigg government also collapsed and Smartt was a member of the Legislative Assembly to be elected in Cathcart. With the outbreak of the Anglo-Boer War in 1899 he was with Rhodes in Kimberley when it was besieged. He went on to become a commissioner in 1900 (Minister) for public works, but withdrew his support of Sprigg when the latter was opposed to the abolition of the Constitution. Smartt increased pressure for his claims to the premiership of Cape Colony in 1904 on Leander Starr Jameson, but was minister of lands and public works in Jameson's cabinet from 1904 to 1908.

As acting prime minister in 1905 he supported the expansion of the colony for white settlements in Kakamas and set up a select committee for the allocation of vacant Crown land to eligible applicants. From 1908 to 1909 Smartt member of the National Convention, paving the way for the Union in 1910. In 1911 he founded the British Unionist wing, the Official Opposition in Parliament to the South African Party. He followed Jameson as party leader in 1912. Meanwhile, as his first election after unification, he was elected as Member of Parliament for Fort Beaufort. He was removed in 1915 and again in 192. In 1920, he signed a coalition agreement with Gen.Jan Smuts and was minister of agriculture.[1] When Gen. Jan Smuts was defeated in 1924, Smartt became as second in command of the Official Opposition.

He retired from politics before the 1929 election and died on 17 April that same year.


From Wikipaedia

Regards

Adrian (No2)

Thank you guys...
I thought I would upload the transcript of the diary, might be easier...

I am trying to turn this into a book that I will post for free on Amazon... hopefully by Christmas
Although I am using creative license on a few things

Again, thank you for everything.

The following is verbal history that I have received from the family...

Conclusion

The story goes that Robert Lees and 3 other men managed to escape within days of landing up in a prison camp. Some farmer eventually hid them, allowing them to rest and clean up. Word got spread around that a farm to farm serach was on for them. Word also has it that General Delerey or General De Wet issued an order for them to be shot on sight. The farmer loaned them 4 horses and they managed to make it back to British lines. The 4 horses were returned to the helpful farmer.