We are honoured to publish this powerful piece of research dealing with many aspects of the outbreak of plague in Johannesburg in 1904. The piece was compiled by Tim Capon, the great grand-nephew of Emily Blake, the only nurse to die during the epidemic. The research comes at a time when historians and residents are up in arms over reports that a massive mixed use development containing over ten thousand residential units, offices, restaurants, hotels and schools is planned for the Rietfontein site.
Introduction
This paper is part of a larger work looking at the life of my great grandaunt, Emily Blake, who sailed to South Africa in May 1901 to nurse victims of the Third Plague Pandemic. Over ten years of research has gone into this project and probably a good many more will be needed before it is completed.
In this paper I hope to show that the Rietfontein Plague Hospital is possibly one of the few untouched areas that have a direct causal relationship to Mahatma Gandhi's life in South Africa; those he helped and nursed, and those he knew and died, still remain buried at the site, including my great grandaunt Emily Blake, whom he mentions in his work 'The Story Of My Experiments With Truth'. Those who died represented a cross section of South African society, from all ages, sexes and races; however, they were predominantly of Indian descent.
The recent decision to develop the site, and the lack historical information about the site and...
