How the fiery Grietjie Badenhorst defeated an English general

Margaret Badenhorst of Colesberg in the Northern Cape was a tough lady. She wasn’t the least bit intimidated by John Denton Pinkstone French, 1st Earl of Ypres, when he served as a British army general stationed in her town during the Anglo-Boer War. One of Badenhorst’s direct descendants, Pieter Badenhorst, told Annelie Coleman the tale of this formidable great-great-great-grandmother of his.

- Annelie Coleman

Margaret Elizabeth Badenhorst, known simply as ‘Ouma Grietjie’ by the people in her community, was married to Jan Hendrik Badenhorst, and they lived on the farm Raaswater in the district of Colesberg. The couple left the farm in 1881 when their son Pieter took over the farming business. Incidentally, the farmhouse was commandeered by the British forces as a hospital because of the ongoing skirmishes with Boer forces nearby.

BORDEAUX

After leaving Raaswater, Grietjie and her husband moved to a house in Colesberg called Bordeaux, where she stayed for 37 years. Their house was built in Church Street on one of the first stands proclaimed in 1830. It was a well-built house, and featured a coach house and stables.

One of the most interesting features of Bordeaux is the ancient grapevine planted outside by the patriarch of the well-known Murray family, the Reverend Andrew Murray, in 1830. The vine, of the Black Acorn variety, is thriving and still bears fruit to this day. It has grown over the years to cover Bordeaux’s entire back veranda.

“Following my grandparents’ passing, the ownership of the house changed hands a few times. It was truly a grand day when the family regained possession of this historic building some years ago. Ouma Grietjie is still very much part of our lives, and quite a few people have claimed that they have heard the floorboards creek strangely and someone fiddling around in the kitchen at night. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was Ouma making sure her standards were being kept up!” says Pieter Badenhorst, Grietjie’s great-great-great-grandson.