Christian Woite was executed by firing squad in Potchefstroom on the 6 January 1881. That was at the time of the siege of Potchefstroom during the 1st Boer War of 1880/81. It was the British garrison that was besieged by Boer forces.
Who was Christian Woite and how and why did he suffer this fate? Woite was a resident of Potchefstroom and a citizen of the Republic. He lived there with his wife Anna and nine children. Originally he came from Germany.
Christian Woite
He was born in 1838 and came to South Africa in 1862 with his wife Anna and their young son Wilhelm. The passenger list of the San Francisco which sailed from Hamburg to Kaffraria (Port Elizabeth) states that he was on board with his wife and son, that he was a tailor by trade and came from Drachhausen. It is interesting to note that when going through the list they were not the only people from that village. There were 13 names in total. It looks like there was a major exodus from the village of about 1000 inhabitants. What made people from that area flock in large numbers to South Africa?
Drachhausen is a village about 95km South-East of Berlin in the Eastern part of Germany (and 110km from my home town).
On the website of Natal German surnames he is...
