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    A Painful Journey and More
    A Painful Journey and More
    A Painful Journey and More
    Ebook59 pages33 minutes

    A Painful Journey and More

    By Vernon W. Wilson

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    Charles Wilson and his wife, Mabel Sarah had a small diamond claim in Klipdam when the Anglo-Boer War commenced in October 1899. The area was occupied by Boer Army soon after and eventually in December 1899, the family was forced to leave everything behind and move to The British Army controlled area south of the Modder River or face internment. Hours after the family left their home, tragedy struck. This is a true story about a woman who is forced to travel from her home, near Barkly West and north of Kimberley, with five young children two months after the outbreak of the Boer War. She undertakes a journey of 1000 kilometres partly through a war torn country and mostly semi desert area of South Africa in the heat of summer to reach the safety of Cape Town. This story covers the background to Mabel Sarah’s family and relatives from the time her grandfather arrived in South Africa. The story includes various journeys her parents undertook while she was growing up, her marriage and events leading up to the time she was forced to leave Klipdam.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherVernon W. Wilson
    Release dateDec 7, 2014
    ISBN9781311913555
    A Painful Journey and More
    Author

    Vernon W. Wilson

    Born in Cape Town, South Africa. Obtained a Bsc Degree in Science at the University of Cape Town. Worked in a research department of a major packaging company before switching to Information Technology in 1977. Lived in Johannesburg for twenty years. Travelled extensively on business to the USA, UK and Europe. Also travelled privately to these and many other countries. Hobbies include photography, genealogy, gardening, DIY, reading, walking and writing. Lives in Auckland, New Zealand.

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      Book preview

      A Painful Journey and More - Vernon W. Wilson

      A Painful Journey and More

      Vernon W Wilson

      Published by Vernon W. Wilson at Smashwords

      Copyright © 2014 Vernon W. Wilson

      Smashwords Edition, License Notes

      This e-book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This e-book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

      ISBN: 9781311913555

      Contents

      Introduction

      Mabel Sarah

      Diamonds

      Fauresmith

      Charles Wilson

      The Boer War

      Tragedy

      Modder River

      Cape Town

      Additional Genealogy Details

      Books by the same author

      A Painful Journey and More

      Introduction.

      A shortened free version of this work was published earlier (July 2014) at Smashwords under the title, ‘A Painful Journey’. Some more detailed information and photographs which have become available to the author is included in the new version of this work with the above title.

      [There is also a genealogical section at the end of this work which includes record details of Brunette, Donaldson, Fuller, Gilbert, Glendining, Jessup, Ricketts and Wilson families.]

      The Boer War as with all wars has scarred many families, not only for the people living at the time of the conflict, but in the aftermath. The effects of any war lasts for generations. Both of my grandfathers were affected by the Boer War. One of my great grandmothers and one of my wife’s grandmothers lost their husbands during this war. In both cases large families were left behind fatherless. As with our great grandmothers there were many thousands of other woman left behind to face a possible lifetime of emotional pain, sadness, loneliness and diminished economic circumstances. Such is the price that society pays for war. The Boer War was not a large war compared to the scale of the war that would engulf most of the world twelve years after the end of hostilities signed at the Treaty of Vereeniging in 1902.

      The discovery of diamonds in the area covering the north eastern part of the British ruled Cape Province and the Western part of the Orange Free State in the 1870s led to a large influx of foreigners, mostly English. Then in 1876 the discovery of gold near Johannesburg again led to another large influx of mostly English people. Such was the influx of the Uitlanders as the foreigners were termed, that both Boer Republics, particularly the South Africa Republic denied the foreigners social and political rights for fear of losing control of their countries. This led to tension and an unsuccessful armed attempt to overthrow the South African

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