TOPIC:

capepolice:
Thanks for this.
If I can somehow figure out where exactly Rodeklip is/was, then perhaps I can narrow down which of the three Combrinks` my rifle owner probably is. Will try to get this out of the way before contacting your researcher.
Cheers,
John S

Hi

Just a shot in the dark. Seeing that there might possibly be a spelling error in the name, is it possible that the name Rodeklip could be spelt incorrectly as well? Couldn't it possibly be Rondeklip, Afrikaans for "round stone" or "round rock". There might be more than one, but there is a place like that situated south west of the Hartbeespoort Dam in the North West Province (Transvaal during the war). It's a few miles west of Pretoria, also close to Johannesburg. It's close to the Magaliesberg mountainrange, which saw a few skirmishes along it during the war

boerburgher:
Interesting theory. Perhaps Rodeklip was spelled wrong, and Rondeklip is a possibility- that only makes things more complicated, but at this point, must be considered.
An idea- might anyone in SA have access to an old atlas from around 1900-1910, and could look up to see if Rodeklip might be listed? If no place exists, then maybe there is a spelling error to the word Rodeklip, and several other permutations on the word need to be examined.
Any thoughts??
Cheers,
John S

There is reference to a former RodeKlip in what is now Namakwaland.

m24lbarg01.naspers.com/argief/berigte/la.../2000/01/7/41/1.html

It appears to be a 6564ha ranch.

bricketts:
If that reference is to a placename that goes back to +- 1900, then that would be a good lead, indeed.
Where in SA exactly is Namakwalaland??
Another bad thought- if the owner of this rifle was killed in the Boer War, or did not claim his medal later, is there any other lists available other than the ABO list that might have my man on it??
Also, were the Lydenburg, Middleburg and Carolina commandos formed at those locations, thus having those names?
Thanks!
John S

John,

Carolina, Middleburg and Lydenburg are all in the Mpumalanga Province which was the old Eastern Transvaal. No where near Namakwaland which is on the other side of the country bordering Namibia(SWA)

I would therefore say your man was certainly from the Transvaal. I have not seen any nominal rolls etc that have the Boer men listed on.

Namaqualand (Afrikaans: Namakwaland) is an arid region of Namibia and South Africa, extending along the west coast over 600 miles (970 km) and covering a total area of 170,000 square miles/440,000 km². It is divided by the lower course of the Orange River into two portions - Little Namaqualand to the south and Great Namaqualand to the north.

Cheers
Adrian