North West

Historians, researchers and collectors often come across situations of surviving family members having thrown away or having destroyed historical family documents and photographs as they may either have no sentimental interest or simply cannot relate to their relative’s historical past. Sadly, in these instances, no thought is given to donating such documentation / items to charity organisations where researchers and collectors in turn can “scratch” out relevant material to record potential significant historical information that may be contained therein.

The author was given a box containing a variety of documentation some two years ago, the content of which all relates to a young man, Gerardus Bodde, dating from between 1911 and 1918.

This box, containing photographs, letters, certificates, newspaper and magazine cuttings, was picked up at a Johannesburg rubbish dump some 20 years ago, and retained with the intention of conducting research – a task the author gladly accepted when the find was brought to his attention. Accolades to the couple who had the intuition and foresight to comprehend the potential historical value of the content of the box.

Stories such as these are always strengthened where photographs are included. If there were no photographs included in the box, the author himself would probably not have been “attracted” to the content in any way. 

Some 85% of the information contained in this article was extracted from the content of the box whilst the remaining 15% was obtained from the South African National Archives or the author’s own photographic research collection (one picture postcard).

Gerardus Bodde, a first...

Potchefstroom is home to the longest avenue of oak trees in South Africa. The grand oaks stretch for almost 7km and contribute to the character and beauty of the city. Recent research indicates that the number of trees has declined from 710 to 530 and certain sections are in a deplorable state. In the article below Lennie Gouws explores the history and current state of iconic Oak Avenue.

Concerns about the condition of the oak trees of Potchefstroom have infuriated the people of Potchefstroom over the decades.

In 1977 the whole town was up in arms when plans were underfoot to uproot part of the Oak Avenue. The Potchefstroom Teachers Training College applied to have a part of Hoffman Street closed, due to the fact that it divided the campus of the College, after a new administration building was erected west of Hoffman Street, whilst the rest of the campus was on the eastern side of the street.

This meant that the street directly to the east of Hoffman Street, Tom Street, had to be widened to accommodate increasing traffic. In order to do so the trees had to be removed.

According to Richard Ingram, editor of the Potchefstroom Herald at the time, the newspaper was inundated with letters on the matter and the Herald launched an editorial campaign to preserve the trees.

A public petition was drafted and signed and led to the avenue being declared a National Monument. According to the proclamation of this heritage site, the Oak Avenue “lends to the...

An extensive milling industry was in operation since the very early days of Potchefstroom and between 1847 and 1890 no less than nine mills were strung out next to the Mooi River down from the North Bridge. This area was ideally suited for milling operations due to the slope of the riverbank.

It is not known when the first mill was erected, but in 1855 a certain Henwood had the machinery of a mill transported from Natal to Potchefstroom. It was so heavy that he had to pay an extra £15 to the transporters for damages incurred while transporting the machinery.

The first person who lived in the area where the mills were later erected, was JH Grobler, the magistrate who was responsible for the laying out of the town when it was relocated from Oudedorp to Potchefstroom. His mill stood where the Piet Malan club house on the Fanie du Toit Sports Grounds of the North-West University, Potchefstroom campus is today and it was known as “Oude Molen”. The name is still familiar since the tennis club of the staff of the PU for CHE is known as the Oude Molen Club.

The mill was later known as Hjul’s mill. The building still existed in the 1950s and was raised to build the new club house.

Most of the plots on which the mills were built were fairly small. Subsequently mill owners infringed on the nearby road and this caused problems and court cases.

None of the mills on...

A few years ago we were involved in a battle to save historic Nedbank documents that were being thrown away by the company. For a while the future of the documents looked bleak but thankfully the story had a happy ending when top Nedbank executives got involved. The documents were moved to the Sandton head office and the execs committed to hire an archivist to go through the collection.

During the early stages of the saga we found an old booklet compiled to celebrate Nedbank's 50th birthday (1938). The publication contained photographs of a number of Nedbank branches which we have reproduced below.

Benoni Branch

Bloemfontein Branch

Durban Branch

East London Branch (main image as well)

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Below are photographs of a remarkable set of  sketches depicting the early buildings of  Mahikeng (Mafikeng / Mafeking). They were submitted by Louise Fincham, a proud resident of the town in the 1970s and 80s. The limited edition set, sketched by the artist Alice Burkett, was commissioned by the local community in the lead up to Mahikeng's Centenary celebrations in 1985. Feel free to add details and memories of the buildings in the comments section below. (Main image - Market House 1899)

Dixon's Hotel

Mafeking Public School

Minchin's Law Office

Springall & Co

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Potchefstroom today is a city, but in the pioneer years they experienced frontier living at its utmost. The Voortrekkers crossed the Vaal River to colonize the area at the end of 1838 and Potchefstroom was proclaimed on 22 December 1838, the first town to be established by the Voortrekkers. In a short space of time it became a frontier town, the last outpost of 'civilization' for travellers into Africa.

The primary aim of the Voortrekkers, or emigrants as they called themselves, was to colonize the area and almost all of them settled on farms. In the beginning therefore, there were no shops where they could buy necessities which they could not produce themselves. Products that they needed were weapons, ammunition, victuals such as sugar, coffee, clothes, medicine and metal ware and all these needed to be imported.  It was only later that itinerant peddlers started visiting farms to sell their wares.

The backbone of the existence of the Voortrekkers was farming. Non-existent roads and a lack of markets meant that that each farmer only produced what he and his dependants could consume.

Under the guidance of Andries Hendrik Potgieter, their leader, the Volksraad prohibited all Englishmen from crossing the Vaal River. English merchants were regarded as political agents. This strict rule was later lifted to allow English subjects to live in towns, but they were not allowed to own property outside the town. Subsequently they settled in town, becoming shop-owners, as opposed to the Afrikaans speaking Voortrekkers who were farmers and landowners.

It...

Although it has been severely contested, it is generally accepted that Potchefstroom is the oldest town founded by the Voortrekkers north of the Vaal River and that it was founded in 1838. The Mooi River area was well-known to Andries Hendrik Potgieter, the founder, when his party of Voortrekkers, or emigrants, as they were known at the time, settled here. Potgieter first saw the area during the winter months of 1836 and he passed through the area again later when on commando against Mzilikazi. Due to the beautiful stream of clear water (Mooi River) and the fertile soil on the banks of the river Potgieter decided to settle here. It is said that he planted a willow tree on the banks of the Mooi River indicating the place where he wanted to settle.

His scouts, which were sent ahead of the larger group, however, chose an area about 11 km upstream from where Potgieter was said to have planted the tree. This is where Potgieter’s group settled in 1838.

The official history of Potchefstroom, written by Prof Gert van den Bergh, accepts the official founding date as 22 December 1838. This is due to a newspaper report that appeared in the ‘The Natal Advertiser’ in 1921 which said “Old Mr Barent Swart, of Klerksdorp, furnished me many years ago with . . . an exact date of its founding. His words were: ‘Oudedorp was proclaimed a dorp on December 22, 1838." By the time this was written the town was relocated and...

We spotted this wonderful story in Heritage Potchefstroom's fourth quarter newsletter. It tells the story of the establishment and growth of the first English church in the Transvaal. Thank you to Heritage Potchefstroom for giving us permission to publish.

About two decades after the first Voortrekkers came to the Mooi River valley, they were followed by itinerant traders, some of whom were English speaking. The Voortrekkers were mostly farmers and in need of the wares that the traders were selling.

Dr Edward Twells, bishop of the Anglican Church in the Free State visited the Mooi River area in 1862 and held the first English service here.

The first deacon was Mr W Richardson who arrived in Potchefstroom in June 1866 to serve the 60 members of the church. The first service he held was on 26 June 1866. At first a vacant store was used as a place of worship. One of the first churchwardens was Thomas Ayres (1828 -1913), who later became known worldwide as a naturalist, but died in poverty in his house in Sol Plaatjes Avenue.

First St Mary's -The first church was erected at 166 Walter Sisulu Avenue. The Standard Bank was later built on the street front, slightly in front of the church. This photograph was taken on 7 November 1900 and appeared in the Potchefstroom Herald on 29 August 1969...

Friday 16 October 2015 was a very special day in the history of Tiger Kloof. We opened of the Old Tigers' Hall (which use to be a girls dining hall before apartheid's Bantu Education Act closed the school). The renovated building is dedicated to the memory of all the Old Tigers who attended the institution from 1904 until it was closed in 1962. The building had been derelict for 52 years until last year, when a grant from the Anglo American Chairman's Fund enabled renovation of the old school's girls dining hall.

Amongst the honoured guests was Archbishop of Cape Town Njongonkulu Ndungane, Sir Ketumile Masire former president of Botswana, Dr. Gaositwe Chiepe (Botswana's first minister of education) and Archie Mogwe (Botswana's first minister of foreign affairs). The occasion would have been co-hosted by Dr. Ruth Mompati (former South African ambassador to Switzerland), who was a former student and patron of the school. Sadly she passed away this year.

The Old Dining Hall

Tiger's Hall 2015

Brief History of Tiger Kloof Educational Institution

Tiger Kloof Educational Institution was founded in March 1904 twelve kilometres south of Vryburg, where the Rev. WC Willoughby unpacked a borrowed wagon and started to build a school with great cooporation and assitance from the...