Paul Kruger

The five historical buildings were built adjacent to one another over a period of about 50 years in the late 19th Century. Today they have been beautifully restored and equipped with authentic furniture and artifacts from the time of their occupation. Collectively known as the Paul Kruger Country House Museum, they are owned and curated by the Recreation Africa Group and are accessible to the public. The five historic buildings have each been awarded blue plaques.

The farm Boekenhoutfontein was bought by Paul Kruger in 1862 and he and his family lived there from 1873. After his death in 1904 the farm was divided between his two sons, Pieter and Jan, and his son-in-law Theunus Eloff; Pieter bought out his siblings’ shares in the early 20th Century. After his death, portions of the farm were sold off in subsequent years and the buildings were extensively altered and finally abandoned and allowed to fall into disrepair.

Paul Kruger circa 1876 (HF Gros via the...

Combined with a brief reflection on Pretoria’s railway history, this article primarily sets out to reflect on the history of the two railway station buildings that were erected at the foot of a hill in Pretoria.

In support of this historical narrative, inclusive of key events that occurred at the Pretoria station during the Anglo-Boer war, this article’s main focus is on the visual history of the two station buildings (completed during 1892 and 1912 respectively), as portrayed on picture postcards over a 25-year period (late 1890’s to mid-1920s).

Whilst photographs of the Pretoria station also exist for the period between 1892 and 1899, picture postcards only became commercially viable in South Africa during the Anglo-Boer war period (1899 – 1902).

Introduction

Just south of young Pretoria, the first of two Pretoria station buildings, completed during 1892, was erected at the bottom of Time Ball Hill located at the end of Market Street (Paul Kruger street today).

But where does the name Time Ball Hill originate from?

During 1880 the Postmaster General, JA de Vogel, devised a scheme using a telegraph post whereby the arrival and delivery from the different mail routes into young Pretoria town could be signalled to Pretoria citizens. These signals varied from a suspended ball, a flag or a drum that was placed underneath the telegraph post (Andrews & Ploeger, 1989).

The hill, renamed to Salvokop around 1944, has also occasionally been referred to as Railway Hill.

It was thought that the name Salvo (meaning simultaneous discharge...

In May 1900, Lord Roberts of Kandahar, Commander-in-Chief of the British Forces, was poised to culminate his illustrious military career by marching triumphantly into his enemy’s capital city and concluding the South African War. But it was a charade. There could be no victory without a vanquished foe and the Boer leaders were still at large with a fighting remnant of their army. Another two bitter years of warfare lay ahead.

Lord Roberts (National Library of Ireland)

In the city, rumours were rife and the people awaiting the British advance lacked information and were desperately worried and afraid. Morale was at its lowest. Bessie Collins, a loyal republican despite her English surname, kept a daily letter-diary addressed to her friend in Port Elizabeth. On 6 May: “We all feel that we are very near the end. One more stand and all will be over. Our hearts are heavy. We fear the worst. The men are so weary and faint hearted that we do not even know whether their officers will get them to make a last stand.” Her concerns were probably echoed by many in the town when a week later she recorded: “I cannot see the use of shedding more blood and only long for this awful war to cease. It is getting unendurable to...