Chapter 11 - Anna Johanna Marais (1924 - 2002)

Anna Johanna Marais was born on the 9th of December 1924 in Roodepoort to Johannes Francois
Marais (1897 - 1948) and Anna Johanna Marais born de Villiers (1898 - 1985).

Anna was educated in Johannesburg and her occupation was a Book Keeper. 

In 1956 she Married "Harold James Kemp" in a registry court in Mbabane Swaziland.   There are no birth records found for him, although there are several WW1 records in the South African Military Archives.  It seems he changed his name a few time in different variations.   

Before 1914 there is no record of him at all. 

Having done my DNA matching, there are no KEMP matches or even many English names. 

Chapter 10 - Johannes Francois Marais (1897 - 1948)

 Johannes Francois Marais  - My Grandfather

Born:  Jan 9th, 1897 in Tzaneen, Northern Transvaal South Africa to Francois Johannes Marais and Elizabeth Heubrecht Marais (Born Bekker) 

Died:  Sep 3rd, 1948 in Discovery Hospital, Roodepoort, South Africa - Buried in Roodepoort Cemetery. 

On the Form of Information of a Death below, the Informants signature is E.F. Zentgraf who was his wife's sister:

Eugenie Francis Zentgraf (born de villiers) 1903 - 1996

Anglo Boer War

At the Age of 4 years old Johannes Francois Marais was captured with his pregnant mother and half siblings and taken to the POW Boer concentration camp in Pietersburg.  

His Mother died in the concentration camp and the newly born infant died the day after. 

A few months after arriving in the POW camp in Pietersburg they were transferred to Howick were they remained until the end of the War. 

His Father Johannes Francois Marais who was also captured was sent to a POW Camp in India and returned in 1902. 

Johannes Francois Marais born 1897 - Married Anna Johann Marais (born de Villiers) in 1922

Annie De Villiers

Born:  June 3rd, 1898 (Roodepoort)

Died:  April 1st, 1985 (Krugersdorp) 

They had 9 children 7 Sons and 2 Daughters 

1923 - Birth of son: Johannes Francois Marais - July 1, 1923

1924 - Birth of daughter: Anna johanna Kemp (born Marais) - Dec 9, 1924

1926 - Birth of son: Frank (Francois Johannes) Marais - Sep 21 1926

1928 - Birth of son: Barend Rudolph (Benjamin) Marais - June 1 1928

1930 - Birth of son: Johannes Stephanus Phillipus Marais - Sep 5 1930

1932 - Birth of son: Sarel Marais - Sep 22 1932

1934 - Birth of daughter: Huibrecht Elizabeth Fouché (born Marais) - July 19 1934

1936 - Birth of son:  Pieter Gysbert Robert Marais July 26 1936

1941 - Birth of son: Lourens Niklaas Marais Feb 2 1941

Chapter 9 - Johannes Francois Marais (1867 - 1950)

 Johannes Francois Marais, b2c2d1e3f4g10h2i2 - My Great Grandfather 

Birth: February 25, 1867 Cape Province, South Africa

Death: March 05, 1950 (83)  Tzaneen

Immediate Family:

Son of Johannes Francois Marais, b2c2d1e3f4g10h2 and Sophia Cecilia Marais, b2c2d1e2f4g5h9

 

 Husband of Aletta Susanna Marais (born Bekker) 1873 - 1893

Birth of daughter: Johanna Katrina Botha (born Marais)  Middelburg, Transvaal  Apr 2 1891

Birth of daughter: Aletta Susanna van Der Zee (born Marais) Aug 19 1893

 

Husband of Elizabeth Heubrecht Marais (born Stapleberg) Great-grandmother 1877 - 1901

Birth of son: Johannes Francois Marais Tzaneen Jan 9 1897

Birth of son: Master Marais - Birth: Pietersburg Burgher Concentration Camp May 13 1901 (Died May 15 1901)

The Anglo Boer War (1899 - 1902)  

In May 1901 Johannes and Elizabeth lived on the Farm Woodbush in Magoebaskloof, Northern Transvaal South Africa, they were captured by the British and all the Woman and children were sent to the British Concentration Camp in Pietersburg. 

Johannes Francois was sent to India as a POW where most of the Boers who were captured were sent. 

Elizabeth was heavily pregnant at the time and gave birth to a son on the 13th of May, 1901 she died on the 14th of May and the cause of death was entered as parturition and exhaustion. 

Her Son who was unnamed died the following day 15th of May 1901 Cause: congenital debility.

Elizabeth's father who signed her death certificate, Hendrik Johannes Bekker died a few days later on the 18th of May 1901. 

Here is a photo of the Pietersburg BC

Prisoners of War

Surname                 Marais

Name                 JOHANNES FRANCOIS

Age                         33

Address                 PIETERSBURG

District                 ZOUTPANSBERG

Where Captured HAENERTSBERG

When Captured 1901/05/04

Camp                 TRICHINOPOLY

Country                 Indië

Ship (To)                 Onbekend

Ship (Back)

POW Number         18892

Ref ID                     18062

After Johannes Francois Marais returned from the POW Camp in India in 1902 he married for a 3rd time. 

Husband of Helena Dorothea Petronella Marais (born Stapelberg) 

Birth of Son: Andries

Birth of Son: Unknown

    

Brother of 

Pieter Schalk Marais, b2c2d1e3f4g10h2i1; 

Jan Gabriel Gabriël Marais, b2c2d1e3f4g10h2i3  

Engela Helena Elizabeth Marais

Death Notice of Johannes Francois Marais - 1950 signed by his Daughter Johanna Botha (Marais) 

 

Chapter 9 (b) - The Anglo Boer War 1899 - 1902

 In modern society suffering caused by war is still a reality. 

South Africa experienced this suffering during the Anglo-Boer War, also referred to as the South African War of 1899-1902.  The war started in October 1899 and finished on the 31st of May 1902.

The outcome was bitterness, hatred, dispossession and division for many decades to come.

n Pretoria, representatives of Great Britain and the Boer states sign the Treaty of Vereeniging, officially ending the three-and-a-half-year South African Boer War.

The Boers, also known as Afrikaners, were the descendants of the original Dutch settlers of southern Africa. Britain took possession of the Dutch Cape colony in 1806 during the Napoleonic wars, sparking resistance from the independence-minded Boers, who resented the Anglicization of South Africa and Britain’s anti-slavery policies. In 1833, the Boers began an exodus into African tribal territory, where they founded the republics of the Transvaal and the Orange Free State. The two new republics lived peaceably with their British neighbors until 1867, when the discovery of diamonds and gold in the region made conflict between the Boer states and Britain inevitable.

Minor fighting with Britain began in the 1890s and in 1899 full-scale war ensued. By mid-June of 1900, British forces had captured most major Boer cities and formally annexed their territories, but the Boers launched a guerrilla war that frustrated the British occupiers. Beginning in 1901, the British began a strategy of systematically searching out and destroying these guerrilla units, while herding the families of the Boer soldiers into concentration camps. By 1902, the British had crushed the Boer resistance, and on May 31 of that year, the Peace of Vereeniging was signed, ending hostilities.

The treaty recognized the British military administration over Transvaal and the Orange Free State, and authorized a general amnesty for Boer forces. In 1910, the autonomous Union of South Africa was established by the British. It included Transvaal, the Orange Free State, the Cape of Good Hope and Natal as provinces.