Philanthropist and authorBorn: St. Ives, Cornwall, UK – 09 April 1860

Died: London, UK – 08 June 1926)

On the maternal side a Trelawney, Emily Hobhouse  has traced her descent from two well-known families belonging to the British aristocracy. Her father was the Anglican minister in the Cornish village of St. Ive, near Liskeard, where she lived a life of frustration up to her 35th year.

A typical Victorian education for girls denied her the intellectual development enjoyed by her youngest brother, the sociologist Prof Leonard T. Hobhouse, a kindred spirit. The social work she did in the parish and caring for an invalid widowed father presented few opportunities for self-expression. After his death she broke away and became a church social worker – the only task she felt competent to do – at Virginia in a mining region of Minnesota, to which Cornish miners had emigrated.

Emily’s engagement to an American businessman fell through, and on the outbreak of the Second Anglo-Boer War she found herself in London in the circle of the pro-Boers, prominent among whom was her uncle, Lord Hobhouse. As secretary of the women’s branch of the Conciliation Committee, which tried to avert the war, she organised a mass meeting of women to protest against the war in Queen’s Hall, London.

Reports of the systematic burning of Boer farms by British soldiers caused her to see ‘a sort of vision’ of herself amidst homeless women and children. She established a relief fund, came out to South Africa, and during the first five months of 1901 visited many of the camps in the Free State and the Northern Cape to which civilians were being herded in their hundreds and where bad organisation and a serious epidemic of measles combined to claim an appalling number of lives.

For her Britain’s honour was at stake. Her flaming indictment of conditions prevailing in the camps caused the British war government to be severely criticised by the Liberal Opposition for their ‘methods of barbarism’. A Government committee under Millicent Fawcett substantiated the most serious of her charges after a fatal delay of months, but ‘that Miss Hobhouse’ was reviled for her compassion for enemy subjects.

She was denied further access to the camps and when she arrived again in Table Bay on 27 October 1901 to render what aid she could to destitute British refugees from the war zone, she was deported under martial law.

Early in 1903 she visited the devastated districts in the Transvaal and the Free State to which ruined Boer families were returning after the cessation of hostilities at the height of a severe drought. She criticised the repatriation committees and established a relief fund mainly for the purchase of spans of oxen and seed for the farmers. She also established a fund for home industries, which from 1905 to 1908 she personally initiated with a school for spinning and weaving, first at Philippolis and later also in Johannesburg. A lace making school at Koppies (Orange Free State) formed part of this scheme.

When the National Women’s Monument was erected at Bloemfontein, the motif depicted by Van Wouw in his principal group was a camp scene as recorded by her. She was invited to unveil the monument on 16 December 1913, but owing to heart trouble she had to cut her journey short at Beaufort West; her inaugural address was, however, read out and circulated in both official languages.

Her books The brunt of the war and where it fell (1902), an English translation of the diary of Alida Badenhorst (Tant Alie of Transvaal, her diary, 1880-1902 1923), and her compilation of Boer women’s war experiences, War without glamour (1924), did pioneering work in giving documentary proof of civilian suffering in time of war, and amounted to a plea for the abolition of war.

A fervent pacifist, she co-operated with the Women’s International Peace Movement during the First World War, spending three months in Amsterdam. In 1915, on her way to Italy and without the knowledge of her government, she went to Germany where she tried to act as mediator between the belligerents. For this she was denounced in Britain as a traitor. In spite of poor health she carried on an untiring struggle against famine in post-war Europe, especially in Leipzig and Vienna, for which she received contributions amounting to £15,500 from South Africa. On the initiative of her friend, the wife of President Steyn, funds (£2,300) were collected in South Africa for Emily Hobhouse to enable her, poor and infirm, to buy a house at St. Ives, the well-known seaside resort in Cornwall.

Women from the Orange Free State used to send her a ‘wonder box’ of South African delicacies every year. Up to her death she remained grieved at heart because her own people never understood that her concern for her country’s honour had been one of her chief motives.

Following Mrs. Steyn’s suggestion her ashes were brought to South Africa and buried at the National Women’s Monument on the occasion of a great national gathering on 27 October 1926. The village of Hobhouse (Orange Free State) was named after her.

Emily Hobhouse

Source: SESA (Standard Encyclopedia of Southern Africa)

At a State funeral in South Africa the State assumes responsibility for the ceremonial arrangements and provides appropriate military honours. Such a funeral constitutes the final act of homage by the State and the nation to South Africans who have held high public office or rendered distinguished service. The Cabinet decides whether a State funeral should be offered. It is guided by precedent and by such considerations as the public office which the deceased held, the nature of the services rendered to the nation and the public esteem which the deceased enjoyed.

State funerals were accorded to Sir Patrick Duncan and Dr. E. G. Jansen, both of whom died while serving as Governor-General. Other recipients of this honour were General Louis Botha, the first Prime Minister of the Union, and General C. R. de Wet, as well as Advocate J. G. Strijdom and Dr. H. F. Verwoerd, both of whom died in office as Prime Minister; Dr. D. F. Malan, a former Prime Minister; Dr. T. E. Donges, State President Elect and former Cabinet Minister; Mrs. Rachel Isabella Steyn, widow of the last President of the Orange Free State, and Cabinet Ministers such as Mr. J. H. Viljoen, Dr. A. J. Stals and Mr. M. C. G. J. (Basie) van Rensburg, who died in office. General J. B. M. Hertzog’s family declined the offer of a State funeral. The family of Field Marshal J. C. Smuts also declined an offer of a State funeral and preferred a military funeral.

If the offer of a State funeral is accepted by the family, the funeral service is usually held in a church of the denomination to which the deceased belonged. A historic change was introduced on the death of Prime Minister Strijdom when the Cabinet decided that the service should be held in the amphitheatre of the Union Buildings in Pretoria. This precedent was followed a few years later at the time of Dr. Verwoerd’s death. The officiating clergymen are selected in consultation with the deceased’s family, whose wishes are also sought on such matters as the order of service and choice of hymns. Clergymen are drawn from both language groups. The military honours, which are an integral part of State funerals, are determined by military protocol, by the deceased’s military associations and the public office which the deceased held. Flags are flown at half-mast from Government buildings on the day of the State funeral.

South African diplomatic and consular missions abroad also fly their flags half-mast on that day.

Unlike several other countries, South Africa has no national church, cemetery or pantheon for the burial of its leaders and famous citizens. Dr. Jansen and Prime Ministers Strijdom and Verwoerd were buried in the Heroes’ Acre at the Old Cemetery in Church Street West , Pretoria , which has acquired some of the attributes of a national cemetery. General Louis Botha was buried in the New Cemetery in Pretoria West. General Hertzog was buried on his farm Waterval, near Witbank. Field Marshal Smuts was cremated and his ashes scattered from a hilltop on his farm near Irene. Dr. Malan and Dr. Donges were buried in the cemetery at Stellenbosch.

For the Afrikaners, the National Women’s Monument at Bloemfontein is also a national burial-place.

In the early days of the settlement at the Cape people of note were buried inside church buildings. Provision for a place of worship was at once made inside the Castle. Consequently the Rev. Joan van Arckel was laid to rest at that particular spot in the unfinished Castle in Jan. 1666. Only a fortnight earlier he himself had officiated at the laying of one of the four foundation stones of the new defence structure. A few months later the wife of Commander Zacharias Wagenaer was buried in the same ground; likewise Commander Pieter Hackius, who died on 30th November 1671. By 1678 the little wooden church inside the Castle proved too small, and when a new site was selected provision was made for a cemetery immediately outside the church, but the custom of burials inside the building continued. The whole piece of ground where the Groote Kerk and its adjacent office building now stand was enclosed by a strong wall. People were buried on this site before the completion of the church building. The first to be buried there was the Rev. Petrus Hulsenaar, who died on 15th December 1677 and was laid to rest where the church was to be built. The bodies of those who were buried in the wooden church inside the Castle were reinterred here in a common grave. After that a fee equivalent to about R12 was charged for a grave inside the church, as against R1.00 for a burial-place in the churchyard.

The church building was completed in 1703, and the first governor buried inside its walls was Louis van Assenburgh, who died on Sunday, 27th December 1711. The following year ex-Governor Simon van der Stel died on 24th June and was buried inside the church; a memorial was put up behind the pulpit. He was followed by several notable persons, all buried inside the building: Governor Maurits Pasques de Chavonnes, whose death occurred on 8th September 1724; Governor Pieter Gijsbert Noodt (died 23rd April 1729); the wife of Governor Jan de la Fontaine (June 1730), Governor Adriaan van Kervel (19th September 1737) and Governor elect Pieter, Baron van Reede, who died at sea on the way out and was buried in the church on 16th April 1773. The last of the Governors to be buried in the Groote Kerk was Ryk Tulbagh. Although his death occurred on 11th August 1771, the burial was postponed 17th August to enable country folk to attend the funeral of the `Father' of the people. Some memorial tablets and escutcheons can still be seen at the Groote Kerk, but most disappeared during rebuilding operations, including that of Simon van der Stel. The escutcheon- of Baron Pieter van Reede is still to be seen on the outside wall of the enlarged building near the original steeple. Another conspicuous tablet, but of a much later date, is that of Chief Justice Sir John Truter and Lady Truter, who died in 1845 and 1849 respectively and were buried in the churchyard a few years after the reconstruction. It is believed that the first Jan Hendrik Hofineyr in South Africa, who was superintendent of De Schuur and died in 1805, lies buried in the little cemetery still preserved at Groote Schuur, but it is impossible to identify his grave.

Notable Huguenot personalities are buried in Huguenot cemeteries at French Hoek, La Motte and Dal Josafat. A historic Jewish cemetery has been preserved in Woodstock, while many notable figures lie buried in the cemeteries at Mowbray and Woltemade. The Cape Malay community at all times took a pride in the graves of their leaders who died at the Cape. Apart from the kramat at Faure where Sheik Yusuf lies buried, there are kramats on the slopes of Signal Hill, being tombs of Khordi Abdusalem, Tuan Said (Syed), Tuan Guru and Tuan Nurman. New structures were erected here in 1969.

Comdt. Tjaart van der Walt, 'the Lion-Heart', was buried in 1802 where he fell in battle against the Xhosa tribes in the hills at Cambria, a few km from the Gamtoos valley. Dr. John Philip of the London Missionary Society, who died in 1851, is buried near Hankey railway station in the Gamtoos valley, and with him his son William Enowy, who drowned on the day when his father's water scheme was officially opened. Frederik Cornelis Bezuidenhout, whose death in 1815 was the prelude to the Slachter's Nek Rebellion, lies buried on his farm on the upper reaches of the Baviaans River, near the Bedford-Tarka road. A significant number of British settlers and sons of the 1810 Settlers were killed in battle in the Frontier Wars. At least one had the place he was buried named after him – Bailie's Grave near Keiskammahoek in the Ciskei; Charles Bailie, son of Lt. John Bailie, the founder of East London, was killed here in the Sixth Frontier War. Settler cemeteries in various parts of the Eastern Province contain the graves of many leading pioneers.

At Keiskammahoek is Gaika's grave, proclaimed a national monument. He was the founder of the Gaika tribe and died in 1829. The grave of his son and successor, Sandile, killed in the Ninth Frontier War in 1878 and buried at Stutterheim, has been provided with a bronze inscription by the Historical Monuments Commission. In Durban, the cemetery of the Old Fort has been proclaimed a national monument along with the fort itself; also the grave of Lt. King on the B1uff (James Saunders King was one of the original settlers at Port Natal). The site was also proclaimed where a few Voortrekkers fell fighting against the British at Congella station.

In Zululand is Piet Retief's grave where he was buried, next to the other victims of the massacre, in 1839 in the present Babanango district by the Commando that avenged his death. Near by, on the battlefield of Italeni, European graves have been found recently by Dr. H. C. de Wet and farmers of the neighbourhood. Two graves, some distance away from the others, may possibly be those of Comdt. Piet Uys and his son Dirkie. The graves have as yet not been opened nor identified with any degree of certainty. In the immediate vicinity of Dingaan's Kraal, where Retief lies buried, the Historical Monuments Commission's bronze plaques protect several Zulu graves: Senzangakona, founder of the Zulu nation and father of Shaka, Dingaan, Mpande and Mageba – all in the district of Babanango. When Dinuzulu died near Middelburg (Tvl.) in 1913 his last wish was granted – to be buried with his fathers. His grave, like that of Senzangakona, has an inscription in the Zulu language only. The memorial to Shaka near Stanger has been proclaimed a national monument; also Mpande's kraal and grave in the Mahlabatini district. Cetewayo's kraal, also in Mahlabatini, has the Commission's plaque. Comdt. Hans de Lange's grave at Besters station near Ladysmith has been preserved.

In the Orange Free State the grave of Moroka, chief of the Seleka branch of the Barolong tribe near Thaba Nchu, has been provided with a bronze plaque. Of the Republican presidents three lie buried in Free State soil: J. P. Hoffman at Smithfield, J. H. Brand in the Old Cemetery at Bloemfontein, and M. T. Steyn at the foot of the National Women's Monument. President J. N. Boshof's grave is in the Old Cemetery at Pietermaritzburg, that of M. W. Pretorius in Potchefstroom, and F. W. Reitz at Woltemade in Cape Town. Gen. C. R. de Wet and the Rev. J. D. Kestell rest at the foot of the National Women's Monument, where the ashes of Emily Hobhouse are also preserved. Sarel Cilliers is buried at Doornkloof near Lindley.

Much of the early history of Kimberley can be read from tombstones in three old cemeteries: the Pioneers' cemetery; Du Toitspan cemetery, where the victims of the concentration camp (1901- 02) were laid to rest; and the Gladstone cemetery which contains the graves of Lt.-Col. N. Scott-Turner of the Black Watch, of George Labram, maker of `Long Cecil', and of those who fell during the siege of Kimberley at Fourteen Streams, Dronfield and Carter's Ridge.

Interest in Pretoria centres largely round the Heroes' Acre in the Old Cemetery in Church Street West where Paul Kruger was buried, and Andries Pretorius as well as President T. F. Burgers were reinterred in 1891 and 1895 respectively. The children of A. H. Potgieter refused the reinterment of their father and so he still rests where he died, at Schoemansdal in the Zoutpansberg. Of the Prime Ministers of the Union of South Africa, two lie in the Heroes' Acre, namely J. G. Strijdom and Dr. H. F. Verwoerd, while Gen. Louis Botha was buried in the same cemetery, but before a corner of it had come to be designated Heroes' Acre. Gen. J. B. M. Hertzog is buried on his farm Waterval in the Witbank district. Gen. J. C. Smuts was cremated and his ashes scattered on a koppie on his farm near Irene. Dr. Malan was laid to rest in the cemetery outside Stellenbosch, as well as the President elect, Dr. T. E. Donges. Dr. E. G. Jansen, Governor-General, was buried in the Heroes' Acre.

Of the Prime Ministers of the Cape Colony, Dr. L. S. Jameson died in-London, W: P. Schreiner in Wales, and T. C. Scanlan in Salisbury, while Cecil John Rhodes rests at World's View in the Matopos. The first Prime Minister, Sir John Molteno, lies in Claremont cemetery, Sir Thomas Upington at Maitland, Sir Gordon Sprigg at Mowbray; and John X. Merriman, though he died at Stellenbosch, was laid to rest in Maitland cemetery. J. H. Hofmeyr (`Onze Jan'), by whose grace the Prime Ministers ruled, is buried at Somerset West. Of the Prime Ministers of Natal, Sir Henry Binns, who died at Pietermaritzburg, was buried in the military cemetery, Durban. Natal's first Prime Minister, Sir John Robinson, lies in the Church of England cemetery in Durban; Sir Frederick Moor at Estcourt, Sir George Sutton at Howick, and C. J. Smythe at Nottingham Road. Sir Albert Hime died abroad. The only Prime Minister of the Orange River Colony (1907-10), Abraham Fischer, died in Cape Town and was buried at Maitland.

Of the Boer generals among the older generation, Piet Joubert was buried on his farm Rustfontein in Wakkerstroom, in accordance with his own request; Schalk Burger on his farm Goedgedacht in Lydenburg, Piet Cronje on his farm Mahemsvlei in Klerksdorp, and J. H. de la Rey in the Western Transvaal town Lichtenburg. Of the famous South African literary figures, Olive Schreiner, initially buried at Maitland, was reinterred on the summit of Buffelskop, near Cradock; Jan Lion Cachet and Totius (J. D. du Toit) at Potchefstroom, and Jan F. E. Celliers in the Old Cemetery, Pretoria; while C. Louis Leipoldt's ashes were interred on the Pakhuisberg in Clanwilliam. The co-founder of the Kruger National Park, Piet Grobler, was buried in the New Cemetery, Pretoria, and the best-known finance minister of the Union, N. C. Havenga, at his home town Fauresmith. Public-spirited communities as well as private families all over South Africa have at numerous places gone to great trouble to preserve the graves of pioneers and public figures. At Ohrigstad the tombstones of Voortrekker graves have been brought together in a concrete but in the form of an ox-wagon, the oldest stone being that of J. J. Burger, born at Stellenbosch, over 1 600 km away, in the 18th century.