Robert Parkin the Boer Part 4

By the time the South African War began in October 1899 — thirteen years after Robert’s death — the family still appeared to be prospering. Some of the farms had already been subdivided, but it seems that most of the family continued to live on the land.

True to Parkin tradition, the Boer Parkin clan had grown substantially. All ten of Robert’s children who married went on to have families of their own. In total, Robert had ninety-six grandchildren — around two-thirds of whom were born before his death — something he would undoubtedly have taken great pride in.

The South African War had a catastrophic impact on Boer families as a result of British strategy and tactics.

The Boer started with the Boer Republics initiating preemptive strikes into Natal and Cape province in October 1899 with a number of decisive victories. The tide started turning in the British favour in early 1900 and by the end of that year the British had annexed Transvaal and Orange Free State Republics.

After the intial surprise attacks by the Boer that overwhelmed the British forces IN strategic towns and railway junctions in and around Ladysmith in Natal Colony and Mafikeng and Kimberley in the Cape Colony.  Then with numbers bolstered, the British forces advanced relatively easily, with the Boers heavily outnumbered. The combined Boer population of the two republics was approximately 250,000 people, with only about 50,000 men of fighting age.

By contrast, the British deployed more than 110,000 troops at the start of the war, a number that quickly rose to 180,000. By the end of the conflict, nearly 500,000 British troops had been used.

Despite these odds, the Boers refused to surrender. They adapted new tactics, shifting to guerrilla warfare. In response, the British implemented a “scorched earth” policy designed to deprive Boer commandos of shelter, supplies, and support.

This strategy resulted in the destruction of approximately 30,000 farms and the removal of around 115,000 Boer women, children, and a small number of men into concentration camps. About 25% of those interned died as a result of disease, malnutrition, and poor conditions.

These policies did not affect white Boers alone. An estimated similar number of black South Africans were also interned in separate concentration camps, where conditions were often worse and record-keeping was poor. As a result, death tolls are likely under-reported. Furthermore, black internees were not released at the same time as whites after the war, with many men being sent to work in the mines while women and children remained confined as a form of “security”.

Returning to Robert’s family, the Boer Parkin descendants — children, grandchildren, and even great-grandchildren — were deeply affected by the war.

With the family largely concentrated southwest of Bloemfontein, their farms lay directly along routes used by British forces advancing toward the battlefronts during the early stages of the conflict. One farm in particular, a subdivision of Vlakfontein known as Parkin’s Rust, where Jane Elizabeth Parkin, her husband Joachim van Loggerenberg, and their seven children lived, was commandeered by the British and used as a remount depot.

Many members of the family were interned, and several farms were burned to the ground. Most — if not all — of Robert’s Free State descendants supported the Boer cause, either by fighting or by resisting British occupation. At the same time, it is worth noting that other Parkin families elsewhere in South Africa had joined British forces, illustrating the divided loyalties common in extended settler families.

Records show that from this single family group, at least forty individuals were interned in concentration camps or taken prisoner. At least three infants and young children are known to have died as a direct result of camp conditions. Several men were transported thousands of kilometres away to prison camps in India and Bermuda, while their families were left behind in Free State camps.

For a family that had spent decades building land, livelihoods, and community, the war marked a devastating rupture whose effects would echo for generations.

Robert Parkin the Boer Part 3

 Following the example set by his father John, Robert raised a large family — enough, as the saying goes, to form a rugby team — though he stopped at thirteen, born over a period of twenty-five years from 1847 to 1872.

As was common among early settler families, not all children survived to adulthood, and some did not outlive their parents. After the first four children born in the Rietrivier area — Christina, John (Jan), Charlotte, and Elizabeth — the remaining nine were born and registered in Bloemfontein: Gerrit (Gert), Maria, Robert, Christiaan, Fanny, William, George, Jane, and Jane.

The second-last child named Jane died before the age of two, and shortly thereafter the thirteenth child was born and also named Jane — a common practice at the time when a deceased child’s name was given to a later sibling. Two of the children, John and Fanny, never married nor had children.

With six sons, there was good prospect for the Parkin name to become firmly entrenched in the region during the period when it was governed first as the Orange River Sovereignty (1848–1854) and thereafter as the Orange Free State (1854–1902), until the conclusion of the Anglo-Boer War. Five of the daughters also carried Robert’s lineage into other families, including the surnames van den Berg, Sommers, Bradfield, Blackie, and van Loggerenberg.

In the early years of settlement, prior to formal British administration in 1848, Boer trekkers would stake claims to land by occupation, sometimes marking boundaries with piles of stones, blazed trees, or prominent natural features. In 1848, under British rule in the Orange River Sovereignty, a formal system of Land Certificates was introduced. This required rudimentary surveying and the placement of stone beacons to define the corners of a property.

Robert was issued with “Landcertificaat No. 268” for Vlakfontein on 1 May 1849. This certificate would have been issued under British administration and recorded in official registers in Bloemfontein. The farm was later formally surveyed in April 1883 by a landsmeter (surveyor), and this diagram forms the earliest surviving survey record of the property in the office of the Surveyor-General in Bloemfontein today.

On 16 June 1853, Robert placed an advertisement in the Bloemfontein newspaper The Friend of the Sovereignty and Bloemfontein Gazette offering the farm Vlakfontein for sale, indicating his intention at the time to leave the Sovereignty. The advertisement described the farm as:

“This farm, on which are two fine stone kraals, possesses a large quantity of good arable land, suitable for sheep and cattle, abundance of water, easy access for stock and for the purpose of irrigation, and plenty of firewood. Title clear, and quitrent very moderate; and a credit extending over ten years can be obtained for the amount of the purchase money; thus offering to the intending settler, the speculator, and others an opportunity of procuring a good farm on very easy terms, which very rarely occurs.”

This strongly suggests that Robert held unencumbered title under a formally issued Land Certificate and that the annual quitrent (tax) was low. In a period when land disputes were not uncommon, the phrase “title clear” would have carried particular reassurance.

In the end, Robert did not sell the farm in 1853. Vlakfontein later formed one of the three properties listed in his will dated 1885, the other two being Klipdrift and Roodepoort, which he acquired in the intervening years.

With Vlakfontein estimated at approximately 3532 morgen (about 3 000 hectares) and the other two properties at least 1,500 hectares each, Robert had accumulated a substantial amount of high-quality land in a prime position. The farms appear to have been close to one another, possibly even adjoining, stretching roughly west to east along the main route from the Cape to Bloemfontein and further north.

This would have made them ideal resting points for travellers, horses, and cattle, with reliable water and grazing, and would also have supported the family’s other occupation as butchers.

In the years leading up to Robert’s death on 15 January 1886, he and Johanna suffered the loss of four children.

The first was Jane (born 1870), who died before the age of two. Fanny (born 1863) is recorded only by her birth and appears to have died young. Elizabeth (born 1849) died in 1872 on the farm Vlakfontein. She had married Richard Bradfield at the age of nineteen and had two children before her death at just twenty-two.

Interestingly, Elizabeth left a detailed will appointing her husband as executor and leaving £100 to her sister Maria — a considerable sum at the time, likely equivalent to more than a year’s wages for a skilled artisan. Her will also mentions properties in Port Elizabeth, which she likely inherited from her grandfather John Parkin. The remainder of her worldly goods was left to her two infant children, Louise and Robert.

The fourth child to pass before Robert was John (Jan), born in 1847, who died on the farm Vlakfontein in 1884. He never married.

On 15 August 1885, Robert and Johanna signed a joint will setting out how their estate should be divided among their surviving children, spouses, and grandchildren. It was their wish that the farms Vlakfontein, Roodepoort, and Klipdrift remain within the family and be shared equally, with the surviving spouse retaining life rights to the properties.

In accordance with the liquidation laws of the time, the farms were placed on auction in April 1886 to establish market value, although it was anticipated that the properties would ultimately remain within the family. As expected, the offers were insufficient, and in August 1886 the family signed an agreement withdrawing the land from the public market and partitioning the farms into undivided shares.

Following the settlement of Robert’s estate, the farm Vlakfontein was divided into eight equal portions of 441 morgen, with a small area left as a family graveyard at the southern end of the original farm.

The resulting subdivisions, recorded in the Surveyor-General’s office on 26 August 1890, were as follows:

• Vlakfontein remainder – Appears to have been left to George Parkin. Later, in 1895, this division was again subdivided into:

 o Kleingeluk – George Parkin

 o Vlakfontein remainder – Charlotte (Parkin) and Schalk van den Berg

• Langedeel – William Parkin

• Parkin’s Rust – Robert (jnr) Parkin

• Van Tonderspoort – Jane Elizabeth (Parkin) and Joachim van Loggerenberg

• Klippan – Christiaan Jacobus Parkin

• Kleinfontein (later called Fonteintjie) – Maria (Parkin) and Jacob J. Sommers

• Halfweg – Charlotte (Parkin) and Schalk van den Berg

• Rustgevonden – Gert Parkin

The precise location and subsequent history of Roodepoort and Klipdrift remain uncertain. One possibility is that these two farms lay adjacent to one another along the Modder River on the boundary of the Bloemfontein and Boshof districts. Further research is ongoing.

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Robert Parkin the Boer Part 2

Robert and his family left the Rietrivier area in the late 1840s due to growing disputes between the Griqua people under Adam Kok III and the Boer settlers.

This was a tumultuous period in southern Africa during the early to mid-1800s, with peoples of all origins — Bantu, European, and Khoi — moving across the interior in search of land and opportunity.

The Ndebele and Basotho had moved into central southern Africa during the upheavals known as the Mfecane in the early 1800s, a period of widespread conflict and displacement associated with the rise of powerful kingdoms such as that of Shaka Zulu. 

These groups clashed with Boer trekkers who were simultaneously moving northwards during the Great Trek, largely driven by dissatisfaction with British rule at the Cape.

The British themselves were also expanding their colonial influence further into the interior.

Then there were the “Basters,” later known as the Griquas, a mixed-descent community who had moved north from the Cape in the late 1700s, likewise disenchanted with British control. By the early 1800s they had settled across large parts of what is today the Northern Cape and the south-western Free State. The Griquas were renowned as skilled horseback fighters and hunters rather than traditional farmers.

The Griquas laid claim to vast stretches of fertile land in the Rietrivier region and had already defended this territory against Basotho incursions, most notably at the Battle of Dithakong in 1823.

When Boer settlers such as Robert and his family arrived in the area during the 1830s and 1840s, the Griquas initially agreed to lease land to them under a treaty signed in 1840. However, as increasing numbers of Boers moved north in the 1840s, many began claiming ownership of the farms they occupied, often ignoring the earlier agreements made with the Griquas.

The British intervened in an attempt to reduce tensions, generally siding with the Griquas regarding land ownership. Matters came to a head in 1845 when the Griquas arrested a Boer farmer under Cape Colony law. This sparked open conflict, and later that year British forces joined the Griquas at the Battle of Swartkoppies, quickly defeating the resisting Boers.

The outcome was a new land agreement known as the Maitland Treaty. However, many Boer settlers refused to recognise its terms, and sporadic skirmishes continued across the region.

Faced with ongoing instability, Robert moved his family to what he believed was safer territory closer to Bloemfontein — a town proclaimed by the British in 1848 — where fewer groups were competing for the same land.

There is a certain irony in this move. Many Boers had begun the Great Trek to escape British authority, only to resettle near newly established towns that were once again under British control.

Robert Parkin the Boer Part 1

 Most of the followers of this page would know by now that John Parkin the 1820 Settler and his family played a huge role in the development of the city, Port Elizabeth and was considered a property mogul in the early years of the town's development.

John's property portfolio at the time of his death in 1856 had prime properties in the old Main Street (including the property where the station stands today) and the farms Baakens River and Hartbeesfontein which today make up a substantial portion of suburban Gqeberha.

But not many would know that his son Robert (b1817) was not far from a land baron himself, albeit some distance from Port Elizabeth.

Robert abandoned Port Elizabeth to trek with the Boers inland sometime between 1840 and 1843. Like many of the Boer settlers in the Eastern Cape, he was seeking better pastures and perhaps disapproving of the British govt imposing laws and curtailing freedoms.

En route, he met a young woman by the name of Johanna Christina van den Berg. The van den Berg family hailed from Graaff-Reinet in the Cape and were also moving further north, stopping in Colesberg where in January 1844, Robert and Johanna married and in April the same year, Johanna's parents had their last child. The newly married couple temporarily settled in and around Rietrivier area with there first 4 children baptised in the NG Kerk. Robert and the van den Berg family then moved further north / east from Colesberg / Rietrivier area to the Orange River Sovereignty (Free State) around 1850 and settling close to the newly established Bloemfontein (founded in 1846).

Robert was the only one of John Parkin's 15 children to marry into a Boer family and trek northward. There are two of his grandchildren, James, son of John (Jnr) who married Anthonetta Marthina Van Niekerk and Isaac, son of Cradock who married Helena Anna Rudolphina Wilhelm but both stayed in the Eastern Cape. The majority of Afrikaner Parkin family in South Africa are descendants of Robert. It is worth noting that James Parkin and his wife Anthonetta were Transvaal based around this time with descendants predominantly Afrikaans speaking, but this discussion is primarily about the Free State Parkin family. A number of James Parkin's descendants have provided significant input into the family tree and it is thanks to those like Garnet and Louis. (Part of this side of the family emigrated to South America as farmers in more recent decades.)

This decision of Robert Parkin to join the Boers provided an interesting juxtaposition in the family because Robert's side of the family integrated with the Boers and resulted in a number of Parkin family having their first language as Afrikaans. Just over Fifty years after Robert's arrival in Orange Free State Sovereignty, there was of course the 2nd Anglo Boer War and British Concentration Camps, which will be discussed in other parts.

https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?mid=1zPfALEKkeznYYfdnx7BxB0p6hok&usp=sharing

My interest in the Parkin Family genealogy began early.

As a young boy, my father had told the story of John Parkin having been an 1820 settler and that we were distant relatives. He was proud of the fact that we were of English heritage. When we had lived in Port Elizabeth in the early 60s, he had done a little research in the Port Elizabeth Library and always had this information vividly available in his memory. I didn't pay too much attention to my fathers stories a a boy other than having the knowledge of our English roots, perhaps too young.

Then, as a teenager, a letter from the 'Human Science Research Council' arrived in an official looking envelope addressed to me. Immediate thoughts were this had something to do with conscription, but in the letter, they described how a book had been written called "John Parkin, of Baakens River Farm and his Family" by N.P Sellick. The book was selling for R4.75 inclusive of GST. After reading the letter a few times, the letter was placed back in the envelope and into the bottom drawer of my desk and forgotten about.

Two years later, the dreaded conscription letter arrived, leading to military basic training in Heidelberg Transvaal. Lo and behold, bumping into another conscript with the surname Parkin seemed fateful. Attempts at conversation proved futile - his English was as bad as my Afrikaans, and communication was impossible.

So shocked at the thought that such an English surnamed person had his home language as Afrikaans, that during the next leave it was a point of discussion with my father. With laughter he reminded me that our side of the family was also Afrikaans and the only reason we spoke English at home is because his father, Christiaan Jacobus Parkin (who died before I was born) had sent all his children to English medium schools. My Heidelberg Parkin fellow 'roofie' (South African military slang for recruit) was a fairly close relative! But I never did come across him again.

The HSRC letter was still in the bottom drawer and I wrote back requesting a copy of NP Sellick's book. They wrote back – one copy left, same price, please send postal order. And so, my journey down the rabbit hole of Parkin Family genealogy began.

Which brings me to the Afrikaner Parkin family. The following is a series of posts exploring Robert Parkin and his family in the Free State. Some of the information still needs to be fleshed out with a visit to the deeds office and other institutions. 

But let's start.

 Hi Parkin Family

During a recent visit to Cape Town, I spent a little time in the Western Cape Archives researching John Parkin's records. I found two new interesting facts that were never mentioned in the well known book about John Parkin and his family of Baakens River Farm, by NP Sellick.

Although Sellick mentioned there are some records regarding some involvement with Frederick Korsten and even that John's one son was named Cradock after Korsten's development then known as Cradock Place, it appears Sellick did not come across some of the documentation now held in the Western Cape Archives.

There is a document which is a written appeal, dated November 1827, by John Parkin against a sentence that was imposed on him of a fine for 300 Rix Dollars (equivalent to about £21 then or around R25 000 today) for libel.

In the appeal, John describes the situation that resulted in the fine as follows.

John Parkin had gone into a partnership with John Damant, who at the time was married to Frederick Korsten's only child, Maria Johanna Charlotta (Korsten), to build a saw mill situated in Korsten's   farm area which he was developing into and industrial area. Korsten's farm, previously known as Papenkuilsfontein, and then in 1825 as Cradock Place or Town. It is not clear when the partnership started, but John Damant passed away in April 1825 while the saw mill construction was still underway and the partnership still ongoing. This would show that John Parkin was economically active and adding huge value to the development of Port Elizabeth in its very early development before 1825.

From John's appeal explanation, it appears in agreement with Korsten and his daughter, John Parkin continued with the completion of the saw mill project and once complete, wanted to settle the partnership agreement with Maria Damant. Whether this was a buy out or any other settlement of payment is unknown at this stage, however, John was at this stage told to come to agreement with a Notary, Mr Chabaud (Speak to my layer). 

After some negotiation and agreement on all but one aspect, Chabaud had told John that in the next day, he would come to agreement on the final aspect. After a some time, there was no final  agreement and Chabaud then reneged on their earlier agreed items and proposed the dispute be put forward for arbitration.

Angered, John had then written (he claims someone wrote on his behalf) a somewhat heated letter to Maria Damant, lamenting the fact he felt that Chabaud was using delaying tactics that would only benifit Chabaud and cause more costs for Damant and Parkin. 

Unfortunately, Maria Damant took the letter to Chabaud and he consequently sued John Parkin for libel resulting in the 300 Rix Dollar fine.

John went on in his letter of appeal that he was struggling to make ends meet with 9 children and having only arrived in 1820 (although he clearly had been making some money as he had just taken transfer of the farm Baakens River which he bought for £123 ).  He further said he was not educated in the laws of the Colony and did not know he should not have signed a letter with the language that was in it and that the letter was not for public scrutiny, addressed to widow of John Damant for her eyes only. He also argued that the damage to John Parkin's reputation now that the letter was made public through the courts was worse than a private letter which Chabaud should not have seen.

At the bottom of the document are 2 words written by whoever heard the appeal. "Cannot interfere" dismissing the appeal.

References - Western Cape Archives - Source CO, Volume 3935, Reference 127

The other interesting information discovered in the Archives is a large farm property that John Parkin purchased in 1834. In the archives is a memorial written by John Parkin on 14 Nov 1835 where he makes an appeal addressed directly to the Cape Colony Governor at the time, Sir Benjamin D’Urban G.C.B. to set aside the 4% duty on the purchase of the property which was due by Frederick Potgieter due to the complexity of the transaction.

The farm was Kragga Kamma, 2936 morgen (approx 1300 hectares) according to a Surveyor General drawing in 1816.

John Parkin attended an auction on 20 July 1834 for the estate of the late Adolf Landman after his wife, Isabela Elizabeth (Vogel) death where the Kragga Kamma farm was sold to one Frederick Evert Potgieter for Rx12170 (Rix Dollars - or around £953, a substantial amount of money in those days which would be equivalent to R3.5m today). Frederick was the husband to one of Adolf and Isabella's daughters, Jacomina Johanna Christina 

In the memorial written by John, he states that Potgieter could not get the securities required to finalise the sale of the property after the auctioneers hammer dropped and that John then paid Potgieter for the property so he could pay the auctioneer. In John's argument to remit the duty, he said Potgieter did not receive any benefit from the sale of the property to John in terms of money or anything else and the sale took place within an hour of the auction so Potgieter should not have to pay the 4%, but John would on the transfer to his name. His memorial was accompanied by a statement by the auctioneer, Litsman (?) confirming the sale to Potgieter and immediately thereafter to John Parkin.

It all seems a bit odd that one of the spouses of the children who were probably beneficiaries of the deceased, Adolf and Isabella Landman's estate, would purchase the property at the auction and then, not having secured funding, sold immediately to John. Perhaps a deal had been struck?

I am yet to come across the records of when John sold Kragga Kamma farm, but it was definitely not part of his estate at the time of his death in 1856. 

Reference     - Western Cape Archives - Source CO, Volume 3981, Reference 64

                      - SG Website - https://csg.dlrrd.gov.za/esio/searchproperty.jsp    

                         Farm - Kragga Kamma, Region Port ELizabeth, Parcel 00000023, Portion 00000

2026-01-16T10:16:36.000Z

With Christmas holidays spent in the Eastern Cape close to the 1820 settler original settlements, I was fortunate to do some cycling along the dirt roads and paths through some of the historical 1820 settler settlements along the Kariega river. What a stunning area. 

John Parkin's settler party was designated a piece of land they named Devonshire Farm along the northern parts of Kariega river. Today, this area is dominated by private reserves and in particular, the Rutherford owned farm 'Lands End Private Game Reserve' is in the middle of the original Parkin Party farm. 

If any of you are ever in this area between the old Grahamstown and Kenton on Sea, drive past this area and take a look how difficult it must have been for those early settlers. And for those who can afford it, book a night or two in the Old Pumphouse at Lands End.

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