TOPIC:

Eduard Willem Van Musschenbroek

Guide, Field Intelligence Department
Guide, Imperial Corps of Guides
Conductor, Army Service Corps
Assistant Press Censor, Standerton – Anglo Boer War

- Queens South Africa Medal (Transvaal) to GUIDE A.V. MUSSCHENBROCK. INTELL: DEPT.
- Kings South Africa Medal (South Africa 1901 & 1902) to GUIDE E.W. VAN MUSSCHENBROEK. F.I.D.

Edu Van Musschenbroek was an interesting man who lived at a time and in an era where interesting men seem to have been almost the norm.

Born in 'Klein Hoenlo', Olst in the Netherlands on 25 April 1859, Van Musschenbroek came out to South Africa with his parents Jean Gisberto Pierre Herman van Musschenbroek and Maria Teding van Berkhout in 1882 when he was 23 years old. The family settled in the remote reaches of the Upper Tugela in an area known as Oliviershoek with the closest settlement resembling a town being Ladysmith, over 50 miles away. As they looked out of their front door they would have been confronted with the full majesty of the Drakensberg mountain range.


A rather grainy photo of Edu, his wife and children

Apart from his parents there were a number of siblings who made the trip out from Holland in the forms of Samuel Cornelis, Anne Marie and Jeanne Gisbertha Jacoba. As an aside, Edu and his two sisters all married into the well-known Allison family from Ladysmith. His sister Jeanne, known as Cobie, recounted in later life the experience the family had when they arrived in Durban and disembarked from the Kinfauns Castle.

‘When we landed at Durban there were no facilities at all. We were carried from a small boat by natives. Captain and Mrs Gilbert had an hotel where the Marine Parade is now, sea sand right up to the building. We stayed there for some days till we could get on with our journey up country. The railway only went a short way in those days. We had a wagonette and wagon with our luggage. We put up a big tent every night to sleep in and struck some very bad weather at Karkloof and Curries' post (in the Natal Midlands)

My father bought a farm at Groot Geluk, Oliviershoek, Upper Tugela, not very far from the beautiful Tugela falls. There was no house of any kind so we decided to live in a huge beautiful cave till such time that a house could he built. It was really one of nature's beauty spots. a lovely waterfall 30 feet high at one end and wild trees and ferns and wild begonia everywhere. We spoke only in High Dutch and French at home when we first arrived.’

It didn’t take long for Edu to find himself a bride among the daughters of Farmer Allison in their neighbourhood. He wed Elia Maria Theodora Allison at Hoffenthal in Upper Tugela on 11 October 1883 when he was 24 years of age. His bride, from the farm “Rosenthal” was the same age. Herr Glockner, a Berlin Missionary officiated at the proceedings. Their first child, Gisbertho Rudolf Lydius (known as ‘Bertie’) was born on 26 March 1885. He was followed by Cornelia (‘Nellie’) born on 24 February 1886, Elia Marie Theodora (‘Ella’) born on 27 October 1887; Kathleen Evangeline Clemence (‘Clé’) born on 28 September 1890; Edward Marthinus Cornelius born on 18 June 1895 and Samuel James Thilophilus (‘Sam’) born on 26 August 1898. All of the above were born on Grootgeluk with the exception of Sam who was born in the Transvaal.


A map showing Oliviershoek realtive to Ladysmith and surrounds

The pater familias of the Van Musschenbroek clan passed away on 11 July 1890 leaving the running of the farm to his wife and daughters. The menfolk had long prior fled the coop and were seeking their fortunes elsewhere in South Africa. She passed away in Florida Road, Durban – whence the remaining family members had repaired - on 25 September 1901.

As the end of the 19th century drew to its inevitable close the temperatures in South Africa were rising. Long simmering tensions between the British Government and the two Boer Republics of the Orange Free State and the Transvaal reached boiling point and a declaration of war followed on 11 October 1899. Suddenly, overnight, the peace and tranquillity of the entire Southern African region was disturbed. Those of foreign descent living and working in and around the Transvaal Republic made for the nearest train in order to escape the Rand and the potential of imprisonment by the Boer forces were they to remain.

Very often, the best way to determine a man’s movements and actions at this time of conflict and uncertainty, was through the medium of the Claim for Compensation Forms that were completed soon after peace was arrived at with the surrender of the Boer forces on 31 May 1902 – in many instances claims were submitted as early as 1901 when, after the fall of Pretoria, those who had fled were trickling back to take up the task of rebuilding their lives and reclaiming their property only to find that either the Boer or British forces, in almost equal measure, had looted and destroyed much of what they had left behind.

Edu Williem Van Musschenbroek was no exception – he completed his Compensation Claim form on 22 September 1902 and, within its voluminous pages, one can piece together what his war consisted of.

Stating that he was a tenant on the farm “Waterfall” in the Heidelberg District of the Transvaal before the war (this was the farm of his brother-in-law, Theo Allison) he gave his current address as the farm “Eastleigh” in the Germiston District. He claimed to be a British Subject “through long residence in Natal where I was a voter.” His claim was for the sum of £812 and a lengthy inventory was provided by way of justifying the amount. He claimed to have been a refugee from the Transvaal and stated under oath that he “was born a Hollander, came to Natal in 1882 and left for the Transvaal in 1895. He considered himself a British Subject in Natal through long residence and had a vote there in 1892 or 1893 in Upper Tugela but had no papers of naturalisation.

He went on to say that he had left the Transvaal in August 1899 (this was at the time when Boers were starting to make life difficult for “Uitlanders”, as foreigners were called). He then went on to list the various capacities in which he had served the Military Authorities. These were as a member of the Ladysmith Town Guard (no evidence can be found to substantiate this); an A.S.C. (Army Service Corps) Conductor; a Guide and Interpreter and an Assistant Press Censor. A further claim was that he had taken the Oath of Allegiance in Ladysmith in September 1899, on joining the Town Guard. Unlike most who fled the Transvaal for Delagoa Bay and Durban, Van Musschenbroek headed across the border to Natal and the familiar environment of Ladysmith – little knowing that in a few short months the town and the garrison there would be under siege.

Having remained in Ladysmith throughout the 120 day siege, he the left for Durban in March 1900 whereafter, some four months later, in July 1900, he left for Standerton in the Eastern Transvaal where he was to remain until September 1901. It was here, in this recently conquered corner of the Transvaal that he was to play a role as Guide and Interpreter to the British Authorities. He was, in most respects, the ideal candidate. A Dutchman who identified with the British cause and who could move about and interact freely with the local Dutch communicating with them in their own language. It was also whilst in the area that his skills could be put to use as a Press Censor, making sure that any letters in Dutch incoming and outgoing from the Concentration Camps in the region, passed muster and didn’t betray any secrets.


Standerton where he was an Assistant Press Censor

Accompanying Van Musschenbroek’s Compensation Claim was a sworn statement from A.S. Strydom, a Boer combatant who confirmed that,

“When Lord Roberts’ army reached Meyerton District, Heidelberg I surrendered to his officers and was permitted to go back and stay on my farm near Klip River Station. I remember passing the residence of E.W. Van Musschenbroek on the farm Waterfall sometime between the months of June and November 1900 when I saw British soldiers loading up the iron from the house of the said E.W Van Musschenbroek into a mule wagon. At this time a Captain Spenser was Commandant of Klip River Station.”

More often than not, there was an anxious wait before the success or otherwise of one’s claim filtered through. In the meanwhile, hard pressed farmers had to try and make do with the help of their neighbours many of whom were in straits more dire than their own. In a follow-up statement Van Musschenbroek provided yet more detail of his movements and what was “missing”. It read as follows:

“Appeared on this the 26th day of January 1903 Edward Willem van Musschenbroek sworn states:

I am a British subject and lived at the farm Waterval, District Heidelberg. I left the Transvaal on the 16th of August 1899, before the war broke out, from here I went to Ladysmith, Natal, and remained there during the siege. After the siege I went to Durban. On the 18th July 1900 I joined the Intelligence Department as Guide and Interpreter till 30th September 1900. Before the war I was farming at Waterval, I leased a portion of the farm from Mr. A.B. Allison.

I have put in a claim for £812 -10 for losses sustained during the war. I claim £42 – 10 for livestock, the Boers took it. I was told I got no commandeering notes, one of the horses I got a present from my father-in-law Captain Allison, the other I bought for £12. I claim for 100 fowls, I bred them myself. I have …. the market value on them. When I left my farm I did not leave anyone in charge. I claim £100 for damage done to buildings, the buildings I made myself, and cost me about £100. The buildings are all destroyed. I was informed that the military destroyed the buildings.

I claim £670 for furniture etc. looted. I made enquiries but cannot find out what became of the furniture and effects. I had one half tent wagon originally cost £110, this was bought during 1889. The wagon was in good repair. I got nothing back of the stuff I left at the farm. I am a poor man with a large family to support. I shall be glad if the Government can give me an advance of some money to make me to start again.

E.W. van Musschenbroek”

This plea seems to have triggered a response, although not an ideal one. A protracted battle now ensued wherein Military Legal Advisers grappled with his claim that he was a “British Subject by naturalisation”. It seemed that the veracity of his claim hinged on a legal principle. Fortunately this was finally resolved and an amount of £450 was allowed on 7 April 1903.

The matter now resolved, Van Musschenbroek picked up the pieces of his life, bringing his family members up from Durban to live with him once more. He was awarded the Queens and Kings South Africa medals for his considerable efforts.

Life now began to return to normal and, on 23 August 1906, from his farm Allisonia (via Standerton) he addressed a letter to the Department of Agriculture in Pretoria stating his intention of importing from Germany a “special breed of milch goat” and asking both for advise and, ever the opportunist, a subsidy for the railage from Durban to his farm. It seems his entreaty fell on receptive ears as not only did he get some wholesome advice but was also referred to the guidelines on what grants were made by the department.

Eduard Willem Van Musschenbroek passed away on 11 October 1938 at the age of 80 years and 5 months on his farm in the Small Holdings of Vlakfontein in the Benoni District of the Transvaal. He was survived by his children his wife having predeceased him on 1 June 1934.

Acknowledgements:
- The Van Musschenbroek family page (Internet)
- Jeppe's Maps of the Transvaal
- Churchill's Map of Natal 1900
- Ancestry and Familysearch.org for marriage and death notices

I have been looking forward to his story and you did not disappoint. Many thanks, Rory.