Cornelius Koster (1866 - 1954)

Born 29 Jun 1866 in Ladysmith, Natal

Ancestors

Husband of Maria Catharina Margaretha (Potgieter) Koster — married 3 May 1897 in Ladysmith, Natal

Descendants

Died 25 Jul 1954 at age 88 in Springs, Transvaal, Union of South Africa

Problems/Questions Profile manager: André Laubscher [send private message]

Cornelius Koster was part of the Anglo Boer War (1899 -1902) Join: Anglo Boer War-Anglo Boere Oorlog 1899-1902 Project Discuss: ANGLO_BOER_WAR

Biography

Cornelius Koster is genealogies verbind aan Suid Afrika /is genealogically connected to South Africa

Bap. 9/12/1866

Marriage

Date & Place: 3 May 1897 - Ladysmith, Kliprivier, Natal [South Africa] ^[1]

Groom: Cornelius Koster (age 28 from Harrismith)^[1]

Bride: Maria Catharina Margaretha Potgiter (age 17 from Geluksburg)^[1]

Events

• 1900 - Prisoner of War, Ceylon, age 34, Series no. WO 108/368^[2]

Death

Date: 25 July 1954 ^[3]

Place: Far East Rand hospital, Springs^[3]

Name : Cornelius Koster^[3]

Age at death : 88y (born 29/6/1866)^[3]

Marital status : Married^[3]

Boer War Connection

The following details were recounted by his grand daughter Helena Philomela (Koster) Laubscher, recorded on paper by her husband Dirk Leonardus Ehlers Laubscher and entered by their son Andre Laubscher 20 February 2020 :

They were two of many unsung heroes of the Anglo Boer War (1899-1902), commonly referred to as the "Boer War". That epic struggle between the two Boer republics of Transvaal (ZAR) & the Orange Free State and Great Britain.

The War Time

At the outbreak of hostilities in 1899, my grandparents, a young couple with 2 small kiddies, a toddler born the year before & his eldest sister, were happily settling in on a block of land in the Free State near the Basutoland (now Lesotho) border. That little boy was destined one day to become my father.

As a Free State burgher, my grandfather served as a member of its militia or citizen's force, enlisted in the Harrismith Commando. Shortly after the declaration of war, the Free State joined forces with Transvaal and took up arms against the British. My grandfather was called up for active service and promptly left on commando. My grandma stayed behind to manage the farm as best she could with the help[ of their black farmhands.

Initially the Free State forces were mainly engaged in actions aimed at halting the British advance towards Bloemfontein and further on into the Transvaal. After the relief of Ladysmith and genl. Cronje's surrender at Paardekraal, the British regrouped and launched a massive onslaught to capture the Free State & Transvaal. The Boer forces retreated and took up position in the hills around Spioenkop to counter this move. The Harrismith Commando formed part of this line of defence. In the ensuing battle my grandfather got through unscathed.

After the battle of Spioenkop in which the British suffered severe casualties, the Boers withdrew in the face of heavy reinforcements brought forward by the British. At that moment in time, genl. Louis Botha had been elevated to Commandant General or Commander-in-Chief of the Boer forces. My grandfather & genl. Botha were cousins, their mothers being sisters. In the face of the advancing British, my grandfather's commando became engaged in a series of skirmishes and clashes. In one of these encounters they were vastly outnumbered and outgunned by the British and eventually taken prisoners of war. They were transported to the island of Mauritius for assessment by the British governor and sent away into exile in a POW camp on the island of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka).

The irony of this episode is that my grandfather and the said governor by the name of Warwick, years later became brothers-in-law, one of his sons marrying one of the latter's daughters.

My Grandmother

While my grandfather was on his way to Ceylon, the British unleashed what became known as their "scorched earth" campaign, looting the Boers' farms, burning down their farmhouses & crops and slaughtering their livestock. The women & children were herded into concentration camps where more than 27,000 succumbed.

My grandma, who could speak fluent Sotho & knew the Basuto culture, then decided to abandon the farm and seek refuge in Basutoland to escape the ignominy of being incarcerated in a British concentration camp and putting her & her children's lives at risk. She packed her horse and set off to Basutoland with her baby girl in front of her on the saddle and her little boy holding on to her at her back. She found shelter in a cave where she stayed hidden until the end of the war, cared for by the Basuto women under the protection of their great king Mosheshwe. Among our family memorabilia, a very special item kept by my father, was his little toddler suit made from animal skins by his mother while in hiding. It now holds pride of place in the war museum at Spioenkop Dam.

In the meantime my grandmother lost all contact with her husband. She knew he had been captured by the British and sent away to a POW camp somewhere in the British Empire, but apart from that he could have been dead.

After the end of the war, she returned from Basutoland to the small town of Geluksburg in Natal to live with her parents. The town of Geluksburg, incidentally, was laid out on their farm. My grandmother never went back to the farm she abandoned, not even to retrieve the valuables she had buried there. Everything was ruined and the land occupied by squatters.

POW camp

In the meantime my grandfather was languishing in the POW camp on Ceylon, praying for the day when he would be set free & taken home. At last peace was declared with the 2 Boer republics becoming British colonies. One of the conditions was that all Boer fighters & POWs were required to sign an oath pf allegiance to the British crown to be eligible for some compensation. Like many diehards, my grandfather and 5 of his mates refused. In retribution their repatriation was held back, preference being given to those who complied. This fired up my grandfather and the other dissenters who were all sick & tired of the monotony and boredom of camp life plus the prolonged separation from their country & loved ones. In desperation they plotted an escape, sneaking away and making a dash for a cargo ship that was lying there at anchor en route to Europe. They were picked up and taken on board as casual deckhands by the "friendly" captain. And so they earned their passage to Europe and from there to South Africa. However, this roundabout trip took up a considerable length of precious time before they were able to set foot on home soil again.

After the War

And so it came to pass that on a bright sunny day out of the blue my grandfather walked back into my grandma's life again. Together they picked up the pieces and started all over again to secure a livelihood for themselves & their children.

On his return from Ceylon, my grandfather soon realised that he had no other option but to sign the oath of allegiance and accept genls. Botha & Smuts' policy of appeasement, reconciliation and co-operation with the British. In the end he became one of their staunchest supporters and a true "Botha man" after the general's election as the first Prime Minister of the Union of South Africa.

With only the barest of necessities at their disposal they started off on a new beginning on a small government grant of land in the Free State which, through hard work and perseverance they built up and extended into a model farm called Netherby. In later years they also had a school built there to cater for the primary education of the children of the farming community in that region. And by a good turn of fortune, it so happened that the young girl who was to become my mother, started her teaching career at this school. Living in with my grandparents, over time she fell in love with my dad who was working on the farm with my grandfather.

After their marriage, they moved to Natal where my dad was appointed postmaster at Geluksburg. They had 3 children (myself & 2 brothers), but sadly my mother passed away when I was only 5 years old. For about a year I lived with my grandparents until my dad got married again to one of my late mother's sisters. They had 2 children, a boy & a girl.

Meanwhile, my grandfather had bought 2 farms in the Ladysmith district in Natal" Suffolk & Glen Lynne. He sold Netherby and settled on Suffolk until it was taken over by my dad and renamed Dagbreek, where I grew up in the foothills of the Drakensberg.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} Source:
   • Marriage - Civil registration (marriages), Natal, 1845-1899, 1897 (no. 190)-1897 (no. 705) Image 274
   Seen & added 24 Jan 2023 by André Laubscher
2. ↑ Source:
   • "Prisoners of War, 1715-1947", database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6FWW-YBG3 : 25 April 2022), Cornelius Koster, 1900.
   Seen & added 24 Jan 2023 by André Laubscher
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4} Source :
   • Death Information - Civil registration (marriages, deaths), Transvaal, 1869-1954, Pretoria 530-1722 1954 Randfontein-Swartruggens 1954 Image 2106
   Seen & added 24 Jan 2023 by André Laubscher

• SOUTH AFRICAN GENEALOGIES by J.A. Heese & R.T.J. Lombard
• Personal notes from grand daughter HP Laubscher
• AngloBoerWar website POW Camps
• Baptism of child Marie