TOPIC:

Served: Commandant Lotter.

ELS, Johannes Jacobus Martinus, 47
Viljoenshout, Somerset East
Captured Paardefontein, 5 Sep 1901
POW No. 24678
Bermuda; penal servitude for life




..

Viljoenahout? ...likely Viljoenshoek

Thanks Rob, typo on my part, though POW lists give Viljoenshout rather than Viljoenshoek. Corrected to the former.

Vijoenshout doesn't sound like an Afrikaans place name; the WMBR has this, though an apostrophe shouldn't be used in Afrikaans:
Surname: ELS
Name: JOHANNES JACOBUS MARTHINUS
Trial Date: 20 SEPTEMBER 1901
Address: VILJOEN'SHOEK
District: SOMERSET-OOS
Commando: KMDT LOTTER
And the concentration camp records give Viljoens Hoek / Viljoenshoek / Viljoenshoop
as the same place.
All of which reflects, I think, several things:
1. The language barrier, esp. when English speakers wrote down spoken Afrikaans words.
2. Many burghers were only semi-literate at the time
3. Boers spoke Afrikaans but generally wrote Dutch or something close to Dutch. Afrikaans was not an official language with a written grammar until 20+ years later.

Rob, Neville Hout is also a Dutch expression for small forrest. There are plenty of examples in Holland e.g. Haarlemse Hout