At the end of the last century a Swede from Gothenburg decided to make the Karoo his home. According to reports, Frederick Toy lived in Beaufort West and Willowmore from about 1870 until the Anglo-Boer War broke out.  He could … Continue reading →

a typical Murraysburg cottage similar to the one in which the doctor lived Boer Commando units loved the Murraysburg branch of the Standard Bank. It  was in a far-flung isolated spot and easy to attack, so, for a while during … Continue reading →

“If you find a good horse, keep him,” was the advice given to British soldiers in South Africa in the 1850s.  They were instructed to look for “a horse that could be pulled up in his stride and one that … Continue reading →

Olive Schreiner, author, liberal free-thinker, champion of the under-privileged and women’s rights,  loved the Karoo, but she didn’t like Beaufort West. Olive stayed Beaufort West for a while during the Anglo-Boer War – towards the end of June, 1900. She … Continue reading →

Trooper P Burton (No. 4249) died of wounds received during a skirmish at Grootfontein, near Laingsburg on October 11, 1901.   He was only 24 years old.    He was buried in the Laingsburg cemetery and his comrades collected sufficient funds to … Continue reading →

A Cornishman who could trace his lineage back to the time of the Spanish Armada lies buried in the Great Karoo. Richard Hastings Tremearne, the British officer who supervised the building of the blockhouse lines in the Karoo,  was a … Continue reading →

During the Anglo-Boer War a young man decided to take leave of his commando and visit his parents in Aberdeen. Johannes Klue, however, never made it home. On February 2, 1902, he took a shortcut through Wolwekloof, on the farm … Continue reading →