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9/2/086/0003

Group

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SiteID: 

27485

FullSiteName: 

Bulhoek, Steynsburg District

SiteCategory: 

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No

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Public - accessible to all site users

Author: 

Anonymous

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Post date: 07/08/2012
Site Comments:

Archive Import
History: The farm Bulhoek is situated about 20 km north of Steynsburg, at the foot of the Suurberg, on the road to Venterstad. This farm has acquired a certain degree of fame as the traditional birthplace of the illustrious President Paul Kruger.
Upon the question whether Paul Kruger was born on the farm Bulhoek or at Vaalbank, there has been more disputation than there has been on any other detail of his life. In 1936 a Kruger Birthplace Committee at Steynsburg under chairmanship of Mr. Jan Bekker bought the house and 3,4 hectares of surrounding ground of the farm Bulhoek and insisted that the Historical Monuments Commission declare it an historical memorial as the birthplace of Paul Kruger. Immediately a controversy began. The suggestion that Paul Kruger was born at Bulhoek was refuted and Vaalbank on the Brak River in the Colesberg district was declared to be his birthplace. At the request of the Commission, the Chief Archivist at that time, Mr. C. Graham Botha, investigated the matter and came to the conclusion:
‘From a study . . . of the evidence adduced, it would appear that the weight is in favour of Bulhoek where President Kruger was born.’ The Commission also requested its chairman, Senator F. S. Malan, to visit Steynsburg personally and make an investigation in loco. He reached a conclusion similar to that of Graham Botha. The Commission accepted the findings of these two gentlemen and in 1939 had a bronze plaque placed at the door of the house at Bulhoek bearing the words:
‘Birthplace of President S. J. P. Kruger, 1825 to 1904’. Here the matter rested for close on twenty years. In
1958 Mr. Herman Bekker re opened the issue by making a formal application to the H.M.C. to declare the house at Bulhoek an historical monument. This again sparked off the controversy regarding the birthplace of the old President. The Commission now gave instructions to Dr. A. Kieser, Director of the Archives, who had in 1936 expressed himself in favour of Vaalbank, to institute searching investigation into the whole matter. On the grounds of the testimony of President Kruger himself and of documentary proofs, he established the fact that the President was born at Vaalbank No. 381.
With this data at its disposal, the Historical Monuments Commission decided to replace the bronze plaque at Bulhoek with another one in honour of the President’s mother. It is worded as follows:
‘Elsie Steyn, a daughter of Douw Gerbrand Steyn and his wife Ahda Barendina (Nee v. d. Walt), lived here from 1809 onwards. She spent her youth here until her marriage to Casper Jan Hendrik Kruger on 3rd September, 1820. After that the couple lived here from time to time. In October, 1825, she became the mother of Stephanus Johannes Paulus Kruger, later the State President of the South African Republic.’"
Visual Description:
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Site Features:
Condition: PoorThe building has deteriorated badly since restored and is in serious need of extensive work.
Construction Date: 1817
Materials:
Catalogue: , No: , Significance Category:

 
 

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