Springfontein
Encyclopedia
Springfontein is a small mixed farming town in the Free State
province of South Africa
.
The town was established in 1904 on the farm Hartleydale, which was part of the farm Springfontein. The name Springfontein, which is Afrikaans for "jumping spring", stems from the existence of a spring on the farm. A village management board was established in 1904 and the town attained municipal status in 1912. Farming with sheep, cattle and maize is prevalent in the district, and in the early part of the twentieth century the Springfontein Creameries were one of the main employers.
The town is an important railway junction on the main line to Johannesburg, being the point where the Bloemfontein line converges with the East London and Port Elizabeth lines and where a westward line to other Free State towns commences.
/Anglo-Boer War, there was a British
concentration camp here where 704 women and children died largely due to the severe winter of 1901. Their graves can be seen in the concentration camp cemetery. During the war the camp was visited by Emily Hobhouse
during her investigations of conditions in the camps.
Free State
The Free State is a province of South Africa. Its capital is Bloemfontein, which is also South Africa's judicial capital. Its historical origins lie in the Orange Free State Boer republic and later Orange Free State Province. The current borders of the province date from 1994 when the Bantustans...
province of South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
.
The town was established in 1904 on the farm Hartleydale, which was part of the farm Springfontein. The name Springfontein, which is Afrikaans for "jumping spring", stems from the existence of a spring on the farm. A village management board was established in 1904 and the town attained municipal status in 1912. Farming with sheep, cattle and maize is prevalent in the district, and in the early part of the twentieth century the Springfontein Creameries were one of the main employers.
The town is an important railway junction on the main line to Johannesburg, being the point where the Bloemfontein line converges with the East London and Port Elizabeth lines and where a westward line to other Free State towns commences.
Anglo-Boer War
During the Second Boer WarSecond Boer War
The Second Boer War was fought from 11 October 1899 until 31 May 1902 between the British Empire and the Afrikaans-speaking Dutch settlers of two independent Boer republics, the South African Republic and the Orange Free State...
/Anglo-Boer War, there was a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
concentration camp here where 704 women and children died largely due to the severe winter of 1901. Their graves can be seen in the concentration camp cemetery. During the war the camp was visited by Emily Hobhouse
Emily Hobhouse
Emily Hobhouse was a British welfare campaigner, who is primarily remembered for bringing to the attention of the British public, and working to change, the poor conditions inside the British concentration camps in South Africa built for Boer women and children during the Second Boer War.-Early...
during her investigations of conditions in the camps.