A Talk By Roger Webster
One of the things that very easily happens to all of us during this thing called life, and I suppose more easily to historians, is that we not only get bogged down in the drudgery, the crime, the corruption and the increased rage of every day life, but we also tend to become stuck in the past and completely forget that tomorrow's history is actually being written today.
I have just had the privilege of spending the weekend in the magnificent little hamlet of Aberdeen which is some 50km South of Graaff-Reinet. A dusty nonplussed little town with no critical mass to speak of. Very little reason for its existence actually.
The little hamlet is in reality, an absolute gem. It is one of the best preserved Karoo towns with over 200 houses that date back to before 1890. About half of these houses have flat roofs with parapets and has been declared an architectural conservation town with its Victorian baronial ostrich style dwellings as well as Karoo, German, Gothic Revival, Russian and Flemish Revival styles. Let me tell you something of its history.
In 1675, Simon van der Stel ordered an exploratory trek from the Cape under Ensign Schrijver. This was in response to messages received from the Hottentot tribe called the Inqua-Quena under Chief Heykon who wished to barter with them for cattle and sheep. Upon arrival in the area, they were asked to wait until Chief Heykon and 150 of his men arrived from the Chief's Royal Kraal and successfully bartered some 1000 head of cattle and 300 sheep. The next incidence that is recorded some years later, is when the Inqua-Quena were violently robbed of 2000 cattle and 2500 sheep.
Slowly but surely as the frontiers were pushed further and further into central Southern Africa, so the settlers arrived and the today farmers took root in the area and eventually a church was built in 1855 on the farm Brakfontein to service the the local farming community. Plots around the church were eventually auctioned off and the little hamlet of Aberdeen was borne. As was the custom in those days, the wealthy farmers from time to time would have a plaas huis (farm house) and a dorp huis (townhouse) and everybody would trek into town, attend the church service, facilitate trade and barter and the critical mass of Aberdeen started to take shape. The name Aberdeen is one of 36 Aberdeen's world wide and was so named after the birth place of that famous missionary and founder of the NG Kerk (Dutch Reformed Church) in South Africa - the Scotsman Dr Andrew Murray.
There is a very good book containing all this information which is an absolute must for the aficionados. It is simply entitled "Aberdeen". The book is written by a local farmer's wife called Wendy van Schalkwyk and in it is the fascinating history of this delightful hamlet. It is full of anecdotes of the place and the people in bygone times. "Like who...?" I hear you say. How about the story of John Alexander Baxter. Let me tell you what happened to him...
John tried to to join the British forces but was refused because of his poor eye sight. He then went to Klerksdorp and joined the Boers under General Liebenberg. We find most of the commandos towards the end of the war in desperate straits. No remounts, very little ammunition and their clothes in rags and tatters. There is a canard that says that the Boers would disguise themselves in khaki uniforms and that subsequently an Irishmen called Kitchener, passed a law that stated that any Boer found wearing a British uniform would be summarily shot. Removal of epaulets, insignia and badges did not matter. Baxter was one such unfortunate lad. He had very poor eyesight and when he asked the local black people to show him the direction towards the Boer camp while wearing khaki, they thought he was British and he walked straight into the British Garrison. They arrested, court marshaled and sentenced him to be shot; all on the same day! He was sitting on a trunk when he calmly asked the British Colonel Schoebell if he may have a pen and paper so that he might write to his parents and loved ones prior to his execution. After writing to his family, he knelt to pray. He asked if he may smoke his pipe and he had a glass of whiskey with the Colonel. The British soldiers saluted him as if he were a British soldier and fell in to march him to his grave. He refused to be blindfolded or sit down. He was asked to turn around and, within seconds, was no more. He was awarded the burial of a soldier. He lies in the cemetery in Aberdeen. At a later time, it is said that General Jannie Smuts, on being introduced to Schobell, ignored him completely and walked past him because of this incident.
But enough of the past and it's poignant people. Aberdeen slowly began to atrophy and now we come to the point of this story. A marvellous renaissance is taking hold of this pretty little hamlet as people who are sick and tired of the rat race and the crime of our cities, start looking for alternate life styles in their later years. Remarkable people have started moving into this little town, revitalising it, refurbishing it, restoring the homes which still can be bought at very reasonable prices and being there is witnessing the remake of a town. Mavericks and intellectuals, vibrant people who refuse to take the old trodden route of old age homes and a very few friends are now banding together in this little town, creating their own future. Which amply proves that it is not where you stay but really who you are as a person that matters. People from all over the country, Durban, Johannesburg, Cape Town - you name it - are moving in, taking over, getting involved and what you are actually witnessing is a magnificent rebirth of a once sleepy hollow.
Potters, painters, retired business executives, artists all renovating not only these beautiful period homes, but becoming actively involved in remaking what they term "their town". An awe-inspiring situation to witness. It just goes to show that the pioneering spirit for creating something out of very little is still so active and alive in South Africans. so, to the wonderful people of Aberdeen like renowned artist Hilary Graham and his wife Dallis, Joan tinker whose birthday we celebrated in Karoo style, Lynn Dugmore who owns the magnificent Pagel House. Graham Ashington, who is lovingly restoring Greenfields, Lauree Yell and her absentee husband who were looking for a little dorp to stay in and their motor car broke down in Aberdeen - they never left. To all those beautiful free thinking spirits and particularly to the author Wendy van Schalkwyk for her beautiful book on the area and it's history, thank you for sharing your time and your passion with my wife and I. As you now start writing the new history of that town on a daily basis, I have no doubt that as more and more like-minded and free spirited people discover what you are doing, the town will grow and blossom into something very special and unique - like the beautiful flower in the midst of the Karoo.
An extremely large attendance of Aberdeen book lovers was present at the opening of Aberdeen Book and Crafts on Saturday August 2nd 2008. Peter and Sue Shaw have obviously a keen insight into book display and an easy method of pricing the books.
