Alexander Elias Victor Julius Carl Von Levetzow (1855 - 1914)

Born 14 May 1855 in Neuhof, Kassel, Hesse, Germany

Ancestors

Husband of Caroline Frederika Ziervogel — married 31 Aug 1880 in Zoutpansberg, Northern Transvaal, South Africa

Husband of Kathleen Bridget Helen (Emmett) Atkinson — married 6 Dec 1902 in Vryheid, Natal, South Africa

Descendants

Died 16 Dec 1914 at age 59 in Pietermaritzburg, Indlovu DC, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Errol Nicholson [send private message]

Alexander Elias Victor Julius Carl Von Levetzow was born on 14 May 1855 in Neuhof, Kassel, Hesse, Germany.

Staats Artillery

There are so many references in the Archives to Mr A von Levetzow that it is almost impossible to believe that that they all refer to only one man! He first appears in the official annals in connection with a charge of insubordination in the Staats Artillerie; the details are not clear. However, whatever it was that he and the Kaptein of the Artillery disagreed about it appears to have been minor, for he is soon mentioned taking over the Artillery stores, including “kruid en kogels”!  He then leaves and is mentioned delivering arms for which the state duly pays him. 

Landrost of Zoutpansberg

He arrives on 10 March 1879 to take up his post as the Landrost of Zoutpansberg, where he is also Ex Officio, Justice of the Peace.  By 1881 A von Levetzow is the Clerk to the Landrost at Waterberg and in 1883 he is the Assistant Post Master General of Pretoria.  He resigns from this post and then becomes a Tax Collector in Utrecht; the climate apparently suited him and he became the Clerk to the Landrost of Utrecht and then, with the establishment of the Republic of Vryheid, its Landrost. 

Vryheid Republic

There is a document that records him requesting the appointment of his future father in law, John BB Emmett, as Acting Landrost and Public Prosecutor in 1891.  In 1893 he is appointed Justice of the Peace of Vryheid and, possibly a little ironically, also applies for a licence to become a Dynamite Agent!  The next year he requested permission to mine coal in Vryheid, it is not clear whether on his own behalf or for other residents of his district. 

He certainly opened a publishing house in Vryheid and ran the local newspaper, the “Nieuwe Republikein”, as well as printing books for the government, as evidenced by orders and invoices over the period 1895 to 1899.  Alexander was not afraid to stand and be counted, pleading for support of the poor Burghers of the District and standing for the 2nd Volksraad of the Republic in 1899.

Union of South Africa

Alexander, writing on the letterhead “A von Levetzow, Land, Estate and Commission Agent” on 23 May 1909 was clearly gearing up for the Referendum on the Constitution of the Union of South Africa.  He informed the government that he had three sons in the then Rhodesia, who were all eligible to vote and, should the government provide the railway tickets, he would see to it that they returned to vote.  He believed that every vote would count!  The sons were Alexander F. in Blinkwater Falcon Mine, Gwelo, and Carl Frederick and Hartwig Ludwig in Salisbury. The government responded, probably not unsurprisingly, they were “unable to grant any such facilities.”

He then implored the government, in a letter of five pages dated 26 June 1909, to consider providing sheep for the indigent farmers of the Vryheid District, as poverty loomed for 200 landowners after the losses amongst cattle as a result of tick-bite fever.  There were no funds and the government expressed regret at being unable to assist.

First World War

The decision of the of the Union of South Africa to enter the First World War on the side of the British and subsequent division amongst the population in the wake of the Anglo Boer War is well known. What is less well known is the sometimes-shameful behaviour surrounding the internment of German and Austrians in the country.  The Union Government arranged for the detention of so called ‘enemy aliens’ at various places throughout the Union during August and September of 1914.  Rebellion broke out in mid September 1914 and the Government decided to move the internees to Fort Napier in Pietermaritzburg, in the ‘most British portion’ of the country.  Initially only men of military age were interned, but as the Union Government grew more alarmed by the rebellion, the net was spread more widely and German settlers of long standing were swept up in it.  “A pathetic group of near destitute wives and children crept into the city seeking lodgings and charity so that they could be near their husbands and fathers confined in the Fort.  These unfortunate victims of a conflict not of their making were snubbed, ignored or patronized by the whites of the city according to their temperament or affiliation.”   Into this net was swept the 59-year-old Alexander von Levetzow!  He had drawn attention to himself by publishing an article entitled “Germany One Man” in the 1 October 1914 edition of the Vryheid Herald.  There was immediate reaction from the authorities.  The Magistrate of Vryheid sent a copy of the article to the Attorney General and the South African police duly informed Alexander that he was “not to publish matter containing sympathetic references to the Enemy.”   A letter in the archives from K von Levetzow written from Lourenco Marques, dated Dec 20th 1914 and addressed to the Officer Commanding, Fort Napier, requests a ‘full explanation for my husband’s death.’ 

The OC replied on the 28th December 1914 as follows, ‘to inform you that your late husband died suddenly in the camp, at about 4 am, on the 16th instant, from Chronic Nephritis (kidney failure) and heart failure.  The remains were buried in the Cemetery at Pietermaritzburg on the afternoon of the 17th instant.  The funeral was attended by the Camp Captain and three intimate friends of deceased, and the funeral service was read by a Clergyman from amongst the Prisoners of War. I wired to the Magistrate, Vryheid, to ask if any family members should like to attend the funeral, but as I received no reply until the morning of the 18th instant, I arranged for the body to be buried as above stated.  Your two sons arrived here on the 18th.”  Obviously these were not Kathleen’s sons, but Alexander’s by his first marriage.   Unfortunately, while this story was now over for Kathleen, it did not end there for many others. 

On 7 May 1915 a German submarine sank the Cunard liner Lusitania off the Irish coast and spread terror throughout Pietermaritzburg.  ‘Horace Rose’s Natal Witness was as crude in its anti-German feelings as was the worst of the British tabloids.’  A Citizen’s Vigilance Committee sprang into being ‘to conduct a witch-hunt into the private lives and family ties of suspected Germans or German sympathisers.’  In meeting out justice in preventing such persons from trading in the country it was found that many city notables succeeded in securing for themselves licenses previously granted to Germans. 

And then, ironically, that man Lord Kitchener, who had himself burned the countryside and interned its people in the Anglo Boer War, met his fate in the Russian seas when the HMS Hampshire was sunk on 5 June 1916.  This unleashed another wave of unrest in Pietermaritzburg.  This time the authorities were quick to act and unrest was swiftly defused. 

However, the Union Government was alarmed at the unrest and decided to move the internment camp from the city.  This resulted in the city elders rushing posthaste to the inform General Botha that this was not necessary.  “While the citizens of Pietermaritzburg were anxious to prevent Germans from trading with them they did not want to lose the market that the camp offered, even if its customers were German.  The Government backed down and the camp remained at Fort Napier until 1919 when the internees were released and many were repatriated, willingly or unwillingly, to Germany.”    Karl von Levetzow reports another interesting impact of all of this xenophobia on the family; of the ten Alexander von Levetzow children, four changed their surname to Impey to avoid the harassment described above!

Sources

• Source: State Archives, Transvaal, TAB, Various, SS, Numerous.

• Source: State Archives, Transvaal, TAB, Petition, SOP, Petiton by Alexander von Levetzow, Vol 9, Ref 872 /1901.

• Source: State Archives, Natal, NAB, PM, Herald Newspaper, 13 June 1903, Vol 42 Ref 1903/1838, 1903.

• Source: State Archives, Natal, NAB, PM, Re-enfranchisement of the Burghers, Ref 1904/10479, 1904.

• Source: State Archives, Natal, NAB, PM, Request for Government Representation at Memorial Service, Vol 52, Ref 1905/74, 1905.

• Source: State Archives, Natal, NAB, CSO, Request for Railway Tickets for Referendum, Vol 1872, Ref 1909/3006, 1909.

• Source: State Archives, Natal, NAB, NT, Request for support of indigent farmers, Vol 148, Ref 2534/1909.

• Source: Magazine, Natalia, Graham Dominy, Pietermaritzburg's Imperial Postscript: Fort Napier from 1910 to 1925; Intimidation and the Internment Camp, 1914 - 1919, The Natal Society Foundation, No 19, December 1989, Pages 34 - 39.

• Source: State Archives, Natal, NAB, AGO, Warning re printing of pro German articles, Vol I/8/149, Ref 133A/1914.

• Source: State Archives, Central Archives, SAB, BNS, ACVJC vonLevetzow, Vol 1/8/58 Ref 2063, 1917.

• Source: Family Research: Des Lynch and Karl von Levetzow, June 2001.

• Source: Stephen Hutchings Hutchings Web Site, MyHeritage family tree.