Willowmore

Willowmore, first named Willow-Moore, gets its name from the farm, The Willows, and its original owner (William Moore) on which it is built.

Attractions

Also see the neighbouring towns

Willowmore lies in the Great Karoo to the northwest of the Baviaanskloof Nature Reserve, a World Heritage Site.

Architecture

There are several Victorian and Edwardian buildings in Willowmore.

Aasvoëlberg

Willowmore lies near Aasvoëlberg, a typical Karoo moutain ridge. There are several trails for both hikers and mountain bikers. Para-gliding and abseiling are also available.

Bakers Dam

Bakers Dam was built during the days of steam trains as a source of water for refilling the steam engines. Steam is no longer used, and the dam is now a municipal dam. Some bird watching can be done at the dam.

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History

William Moore (1776 - ) was born in Buckinghamshire (UK) and married Ann Dove (1772 - ) in 1792. In 1819 they emigrated to the Cape of Good Hope as members of the British Settler program. They came with their two adult children born in the UK: William junior (born 1795) and Eleanor (born 1801). William junior's first wife, Margaret Williamson, whom he married in 1817 in London, died soon after arrival. He then married a "local" girl, Petronella Catharina Terblanche. The had a daughter, also Petronella Catharina (born 11 November 1828), who in 1846 married Frederick Daniel Christian Lehmkuhl (a German born in 1822).

Willowmore began on the farm, The Willows, as a trading centre in 1864 and was first named Willow-Moore. in 1874 a magistracy was established. It became a municipality in 1884.

Anglo-Boer War

During the Anglo-Boer War Willowmore was in British territory, but several Afrikaans speaking men from the Cape Colony joined the Boer "army" in the north. The Colonial rebels from the Cape Colony were regarded as traitors and rebels by the British authorities, and many were executed after the war.

A few skirmishes took place around Willowmore and the Boer "army" even invaded the town, but "army" is a bit of a misnomer for the Boer forces as it consisted of citizens of the Boer republics (Orange Free State and Transvaal) who willfully enlisted in an untrained "army". The style of warfare was also more guerilla (or terrorist) like than that of the British forces.

Boer commandoes remained active in the Willowmore-Aberdeen area for more than a year.

On 15 December 1900 a few Boer Commandants from the north crossed the Orange River with approximately 700 men and entered the Cape Colony. On 11 January they had a skirmish with Lt Col J H G Byng near Murraysburg. One of the commandos under Commandant Gideon Scheepers then moved away and on 15 January they invaded Aberdeen (about 125Km from Willowmore).

Commandant Gideon Scheepers
(born ? - executed 18 January 1902 by firing squad)

Johannes Meintjies wrote a book on the life of Gideon Scheepers, Sword in the Sand: The life and death of Gedeon Scheepers.

On 18 January the Scheepers commando reached Willowmore and occuppied the town. This lasted for just over a month until 27 February when Colonel L W Parsons' troups chased them out of the Willowmore district. The Boers then tried to capture Aberdeen, but the town guard's defenses were too good, so they retreated into the mountains near Aberdeen.

Scheepers and his men were active until he became too sick to fight and surrendered to Captain Shearmann of the Hussars on 11 October 1901.

Scheepers was a member of the Free State Artillery and not a Colonial Rebel. It was thus very controversial that he was trialed and executed as such. He was executed 18 January 1902 by firing squad in Graaff-Reinet. It has been argued that it was because of his successful raids over such a long period that the British wanted to get rid of him in this manner. It is also puzzling why his grave has never been found. Seven others who were also executed were later reburied in Graaff-Reinet on 1 December 1908, but it was claimed that Scheepers' grave could not be found.

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Climate

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Economy

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