Hoedspruit History

The very first official landowner of the farm Hoedspruit was Dawid Johannes Joubert. He arrived in the lowveld in 1844 and settled in the area between the Blyde River and what is now known as the Zandspruit River.  

In 1848 on the 5th May, he took the opportunity to register the farm for the first time at the land office which was situated in Ohrigstad, thus it was in 1848 that Hoedspruit had any official recognition and registration towards the town and municipality that it is today.

A few years later, in the 1850’s, Ohrigstad was expanding and becoming the central town in the greater region, however, at the time, it was decided that only the older settlers should be allowed to settle in and around the immediate area of Ohrigstad and anyone younger than 45 was encouraged to move further away from the town and settle elsewhere. As a result, a group of young men – all under 45 – made their way down the escarpment and settled in the area between the mountain and the Blyde River on a farm that they then called …. Jonkmanspruit (meaning “young man river/stream/creek”). A few of the other young men settled a little further on, on the farm they called Welverdiend (meaning “well deserved”) and yet another on a farm that he called Driehoek (meaning triangle) due to the shape of the farm itself. These are some of the original names that still exist in the area today and are all situated around the edges of what was the original farm called Hoedspruit.

 The name Hoedspruit itself was given by Dawid Johannes Joubert and was directly as a result of an incident after a major cloud burst on Mariepskop area in 1844 (when he first arrived in the area) which caused the “now called Zandspruit” to come down in a flash flood. During this event he ended up losing his hat in the flooding river. Bearing in mind that a hat in those days was a valuable resource for a farmer (used for sun protection, or to collect water from a river for yourself or your horse and even used to rest your head on when you slept in the open veld at night) and not something that could be easily replaced as there were not “hat shops” on every corner, this in itself was a major event for Dawid Joubert and a major loss for him during his early explorations and activities in the region, and as a result, he then named the river the Hoedspruit (the Hat River/stream/creek) – as in the River that stole his Hat. 



Dawid Johannes Joubert also had a farm up in the Orighstad area and spent his time between both farms, however in 1860 he was sadly killed by a Leopard while on his farm in Ohrighstad. 

During the years that the farm was owned by Dawid, Hoedspruit farm that he had registered with the Land Office in Ohrighstad was huge and extended pretty much from the Blyde River to the Klaserie River and of course towards the town centre as it exists today. 

   At pretty much the same time a major dispute erupted between the Portugese in the then Lourenço Marques (Maputo), and the South Africans in the then Transvaal Republic. The Portugese were insisting that the Drakensberg mountain range just behind the town of Hoedspruit was in fact the international border between Mozambique and South Africa and the South Africans were insisting it was the Lebombo Mountains. As a result, Oom Paul Kruger, then president of the Transvaal Republic ordered for a proper land survey study to be done and for the official border to be assessed and finalized.

There were no qualified land surveyors at the time in South Africa and thus they had to be brought in from Europe – three of the main surveyors coming into the area included Von Weilligh (after whom the large Baobab in the Kruger park is named), Vos and Gillfillan.

While the Land surveyors were in South Africa (or the Transvaal Republic as it was then), Oom Paul then declared that they should also officially mark out the various farm boundaries for the farms and regions along the Drakensberg mountains before returning back to Europe as this area was starting to gain attention as for potential settlement opportunities. All the exceptionally large farms – such as the original Hoedspruit farm, were then divided up into smaller registered farms (although still belonging to and being run by a single farmer). It was then up to these European Land Surveyors to give names to all the official farms that they were formalizing and with little knowledge of any local cultures, languages or aspects, all the farms were then given European names of cities, states and countries that they were obviously familiar with. Thus, it is that we currently live in an area where official farm names include names such as Essex, Madrid, Berlin, Richmond, Chester, Moscow, Dublin, Dundee, Fife etc 



From the late 1800’s to early 1900’s Abel Erasmus and his business partner Org Basson had a very successful transport business transporting mine equipment between the upcoming mines in the Gravellote area and t     he port at Lourenço Marques (Maputo). A crucial resource in their business was their span of “Geel-bek” oxen. Abel had a breeding stock of these oxen that he was very proud of and kept the core breeding stock secure at his farm “Orinoco” near the Mpisane Fort situated in Rolle (near Thulamahashe) and named after a Shangaan Chief in the region called Mpisane Nxumalo.

At this very same time, a garrison of British soldiers was seconded to the area that were infamously known as Steinaecker’s Horse which included the Kruger Park hero – Harry Wolhuter.   

Steinaecker’s Horse was a volunteer military unit that fought on the side of the British during the Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902). It operated mainly in the Lowveld of South Africa and Swaziland. The unit was formed by an interesting man named Francis Christiaan Ludwig von Steinaecker, a former Prussian-German soldier with extensive military experience. He came to SA in 1886, working as cartographer in German South-West Africa, before settling in Natal in 1890. He became a British subject and when the war broke out in 1899, he joined the Colonial Scouts.

He came to the attention of General Buller, commander of the British Forces during the early stages of the war, and after participating in a series of successful campaigns against the Boers, he was given permission to raise his own cavalry unit, called Steinaecker’s Horse. He was also promoted to the rank of Major. The unit (close to 600 men) consisted mainly of local inhabitants of the Lowveld region, while local Black groups such as Shangaane and Swazi, also assisted (or rather, were utilized by the unit) in their activities.

The core purpose of this garrison was to intercept any potential shipment of arms being sent by the Dutch to the Boers in the Transvaal via Lourenço Marques and moving into the interior. In addition to this, they were also instructed to burn down the homesteads of any boers that were suspected in assisting with the shipping of guns to the Boer Commando’s, however, before doing so, the soldiers reportedly emptied out the homesteads of all valuables which were kept for themselves before the homesteads were then set alight. This earned them the additional name of The 40 Thieves. 



It is also due to the activities of Steinackers horse that Thulamahashe (situated between Acornhoek and Bushbuckridge) got its name. Thulamahashe translated means “the dust or the silence of the horses” and refers to the silence and dust that would be created whenever the horses would ride out from the Mpisane Fort.

As part of their infamous activities, Steinaeckers horse had also started stealing from Abel Erasmus’ breeding stock in Rolle and rustling the oxen down to locations in the Barberton area (where the garrison spent much of their time as a base). 



In response to this, Able Erasmus went to lay a formal charge with General Ben Viljoen – the Commander General for the Boers in the region, who was situated in Lydenburg and he in turn sent Kommandant Piet Moller to the region to sort out the issue and deal with Abel’s complaint. With some inside information and clever tactics, the Boers were able to attack Mpisane Fort, where Steinaeckers Horse was situated at the time and headed up by Cpt Francis Farmer. Even with over 600 local blacks on the side of Steinaecker’s Horse, Kommandant Piet Moller and his small band of young Boers were successful in their raid and killed Cpt Farmer (who reportedly was found naked and thus died with no clothes on) and the rest of the garrison escaped or surrendered.

Once Steinaecker’s horse had been disbanded, some of the remaining individuals who had fallen in love with the region – such as Harry Wolhuter remained and were then largely responsible for the development of the Kruger National Park (officially proclaimed in 1926)

Prior to this, in 1910, after WWI, the Selati Railway was built and traversed over the farm of Hoedspruit. 

Although originally established for transport reasons, passenger travel also became popular and together with this, the need for stops along the way to allow for passengers to alight and disembark from the trains, was identified. The 5 main stops that were initially identified on and alongside the Hoedspruit Farm include, Klaserie Town, Kapama, Hoedspruit, Olifanttank and Mica. In the early days of the Selati Railway, the old Steam Trains would stop at each and every stop.



Interestingly, the Hoedspruit station is actually not situated on the remaining official farm of Hoedspruit and in fact falls on the farm Berlin. This is as a result of an unintentional error. The train driver, coming from Lourenco Marques side, had been given instructions to stop after “the third bend by the large Knobthorn tree” (or something along those lines) to offload the steel and material to build the original station, and he made a mistake and selected the wrong tree where he stopped to off load the station building materials. The stations was then built on this spot and it was only years later that it was realized that the Hoedspruit Station was in fact not on the farm Hoedspruit but was in the farm Berlin. Obviously, as so often happens with a train station, development then started building and occurring around the station which has eventually lead to the town we know today. So thinking back on it all, had the train driver not made the mistake he did make, either the town would be situated in a totally different location to where it is now, or alternatively, if his error had been discovered earlier and the station name then changed, we could potentially all be living in the town of Berlin today.  

In the early 1950’s Schalk Roos and his son Piet Roos – originally from Brits, purchased the farm Berlin with the intention of registering the town of Hoedspruit as an official town and development. In 1952, they then built the first General Dealers and an accompanying motor repair shop alongside the railway line. The original foundation of this shop is still visible in the old building behind exact stores (and next to Jazee’s) in the old section of Hoedspruit. 



Following this, a mill and a small hotel was also built – Hotel Fort Coepieba. The name Coepieba was developed by the original owner – Barend Basson and was a combination of his name and his family and friends – Coert Steinberg – a friend – contributed to the COE portion of the name, Piet, who was his bank manager, contributed to the PIE portion of the name and then the remaning BA was taken from his son’s name – also called Barend, thus all combined gives us the name COE..PIE…BA. The early residents of Hoedspruit will always fondly remember the old Fort as a central establishment to the town and will be able to regale you with many a colourful and often infamous story of life in the only pub of a bushveld town. The hotel itself still exists although has been rebuilt and vastly changed over the years, however, the historical pub itself no longer exists but once stood in the grounds where the Sunset Office Park now stands. 

The concept of nature reserves started after the proclamation of the Kruger National Park in 1926. Until that date farms in the Lowveld were utilised for hunting purposes and conservation was the last thing that came to mind. With the proclamation of the Park, conservation awareness was born and the portion lying to the west of the Park, between the Sabie River in the south and the Oliphant's River in the north, was the first area where the concept of private nature reserves was born.

In 1926 Charles Boyed Varty and Frank A Unger, both ardent sportsmen and true lovers of wildlife, purchased the farm Sparta, in the present Sabi Sands Game Reserve, and thus pioneered the 'game farm' idea in this area. A year later W A (Wac) Campbell, the patriarch of Natal Sugar Estates, and a foundation member of the newly constituted National Parks Board, bought Mala Mala, Eyrefield and Marthly in this reserve, and subsequently acquired several other adjacent farms. During the early thirties almost all the farms in the 'Toulon Block' (Sabi Sand), as well as several other in the neighbourhood, were purchased by private individuals.



In 1934 some of the owners looked for a scheme of co-operative game protection. They took their problem to the Transvaal Land Owners Association (TLOA) which had many functions, including the administration of unoccupied agricultural and game farms for individuals or groups. The TLOA suggested that the Sabi Private Game Scheme be formed. This name was changed in July 1948 to Sabi Sand Wildtuin and formally proclaimed a private nature reserve on 27 January 1965.

New ParagrFrom 1926 to 1937 A M Mostert had a concession to take overseas tourists into the Kruger National Park and thus started the first safari business in the Lowveld. As a result of his love and appreciation of wildlife, he began to look for game farms bordering onto the Park and in July 1936, using pack donkeys, went over the farms Nederland, Peru, Ceylon, and Rothsay, eventually deciding to buy Nederland, at five shillings per morgen.



Because there was no access road to the farm, he had to build a road from the Acornhoek-Orpen road to Nederland. The Klaserie River had to be avoided as it was perennial and carried more water than it does today. He maintained this road for eighteen years until 1955 when the road to Roodekrantz was constructed. Mostert brought tourists to Nederland, offering them drives at night and wilderness trails over the farm by day. He bought portions of the farms Peru and Ceylon. Thus his idea of a private nature reserve was created. However, for business reasons, he was unable to carry out his original idea.

In 1955 the Kruger National Park decided in principle to fence the western boundary of the Park as a measure against the future spread of foot and mouth disease. The veterinary department asked for the fence and also wanted to eliminate all game outside the Park. This was bound to affect the game position and no one really knew what the overall result in the long term would be. Oswald Pirow called a meeting about the fencing of the Kruger National Park. The meeting was held on the football field at Acornhoek and a huge crowd attended. He pointed out the at as individuals they would get nowhere, but as a group they would be a force to be listened to. After representations were made to the Government, the fencing was temporarily shelved.

The Timbavati Private Nature Reserve was proclaimed in 1956, in terms of the 1949 Game Ordinance. The first committee consisted of Oswald Pirow KC, chairman, Col J D Pretorius, Dr Pierre A Hugo, Dr AA Shoch and J A McCall-Peat as the secretary. Paul Sauer, Minister of Lands, was Honourary President, and Dr R Bigalke, then the Director of the National Zoo in Pretoria, was vice President, Dr T J Steyn, Director of Nature Conservation and N G Gilfillan, President for the Protection of Wildlife in South Africa, were chosen as honourary members.



The Crookes family joined Timbavati as full members, being persuaded by Freddie Gillatt to do so, The AGMs used to be held at Ernest Whittingstall's house at Klaserie. Timbavati appointed a warden, Ted Whitfield, who used to come over once a month to Klaserie to see how things were getting on. Timbavati was initially not fenced, and there was big block of land between Klaserie and TImbavati that was not included. This land was utilised for cattle and agricultural activities. This block of land later became Umbabat.

When Pirow died in 1957 the question of fencing off the Park reared its head again. A Commission of Enquiry, known as the Diesel Commission, for the protection of the country's borders against Foot and Mouth disease, was Dr A M Diesel (Chairman), A E de Villiers, M C Elloff and F G H van der Veen (representing the South African Agricultural Union), R Knobel and R J Labuschagne (representing the National Parks Board), J S Murray (representing the Department of Bantu Affairs and Development), Dr J H Viljoen (representing SWA), Dr M C Lambrechts (REPRESENTING THE Department of Agricultural Technical Services). L R Huystek (of the Meat Board), acted as secretary. The Commission recommended that a game-proof fence be erected round the entire Kruger National Park and along the Swaziland border, Mozambique and the northern territories. Dr Pierre Hugo, of Timbavati, did not agree. He approached the minister who agreed that there would be no fence. When he walked out, however, the Vets walked in and the fence went up. TImbavati then realised that they too would have to fence. Klaserie was unable to participate and forced to withdraw



In 1961, when the Kruger National Park started to fence their western boundary, the Timbavati Private Nature Reserve was also fenced. This fence had a devastating effect on wildlife during the 1962 drought. For centuries large herds of wildebeest and zebra migrated to the west and returned after the first spring rains. With the erection of this fence the animals were prevented from following their usual migratory routes and thousands dies of thirst and hunger next to the fence.

In 1962 Dr D J Serfontein of Pietersburg, applied for the proclamation of the whole area west of Timbavati to the railway line and from the Olifants River to Acornhoek, to be known as the Rusemi Private Nature Reserve, but due to certain problems, this idea was shelved.

A few years elapsed before the concept of a private nature reserve for the Klaserie area was raided again. Paul Mouton and Daan du Preez each bought portions of the farm Fife and influenced their friend Jan de Necker to purchase a portion of the farm Charloscar. Cattle farmers were still very active on Charloscar and Moscow and they got their mutual friends, Stoffel Botha, who became Administrator of Natal and later Minister of Internal Affairs and of Post and Telegraphs, and Wynand Lindeque, to buy out these farmers.

During January 1969 Clyde Sussens contacted Jan de Necker and suggested that they consider a nature reserve on both sides of the Klaserie River, De Necker thought it a splendid idea and discussed this with Paul Mouton, Daan du Preez and the others.

Their first task was to approach the individual landowners personally to obtain their approval and support. But their initial problem was to contact the Crookes family who owned four farms along the Klaserie River. The first meeting of 14 landowners was held on 28 January 1969 in Randburg to discuss the formation of a game reserve. A committee was elected and consisted of Jan de Necker, chairman, B de West, secretary, P L Mouton, E A Roux, J W Beith, J T Muller and J C Sussens. It was decided that John Muller be supplied with all the relevant information to enable him to approach the Crookes family with a view to inviting them to join the group, Jon Muller was connected to the Crookes family through his brother-in-law marrying a Crookes. They were to be offered pro-rata terms, but these could be altered if they were not considered satisfactory. The committee had to draw up a constitution that had to be presented to the owners of farms in the envisaged area and to arrange a further meeting of these owners when the constitution was to be submitted for their approval.



As the Crookes family owned approximately 30 000 morgen in the heart of the proposed reserve, it was realised that without them the reserve would not be viable. The only solution was to convince them of the promoters' bona fides and that they had no ulterior motives. So Paul Mouton and Jan de Necker flow to Durban to put themselves virtually on the carpet. After discussions, this lasted for two hours. The Crookes family finally agreed to become members of the Reserve. It was a tremendous breakthrough and Jan de Necker paid tribute to them for their assistance in establishing the reserve. The preparation work took many months and entailed a lot of travelling. They had to obtain approval from the Provincial Administrations, department of Agriculture, Nature Conservation, Veterinary Service and many more.

After establishing which landowners wanted to become members, they could set the boundary of the Reserve., They approached a fencing firm, H Jacks Gate and Wire Works (Pty) Ltd, in Johannesburg, for a quotation to fence off the approximately 48 miles in dense bush. As this firm had never had to undertake an assignment of this nature they were unable to quote. The only solution was to take the owner of the company's son, accompanied by Paul Mouton, Eddie Roux and Jan de Necker, to Klaserie. They followed the boundary line where the fence was to be erected by Landrover, which took a week. They made use of maps and where they could not use motorised transport they had to walk. They had to make camp in the bush at night and the usual night sounds proved to be quite a hair rising experience for the city men. In spite of all the difficulties the company gave a reasonable quote between R795 and R950 per mile, excluding the cost of clearing the terrain.

In preparation for the meeting to be held at Fort Coepieba Hotel, at Hoedspruit on 12 July 1969, a budget was prepared and copies of the constitutions of Timbavati and Sabi Sand obtained and attorneys instructed to draft a constitution, which was circulated before the meeting,. The meeting, held at Fort Coepieba on 12 July 1969, was attended by a large number of landowners, including a representative of the Crookes group. This was a very important meeting and Paul Mouton and Jan de Necker prepared themselves thoroughly for this meeting. As was to be expected, some of the members were extremely sceptical, and asked a lot of questions, but proceedings were generally positive. After a long discussion Leonard proposed that the meeting should proceed with the formalities of founding the reserve and that the meeting should be regarded as the foundation meeting of an association of owners with the purpose of establishing the Klaserie Private Nature Reserve. The proposal was seconded by Daan du Preez and the motion was carried unanimously.

This was followed by a meeting in Johannesburg when Col. L G F Wolf proposed that the constitution be dealt with clause by clause. Messrs I F G Gillatt and Col. Wolf proposed amendments to certain clauses which J C G Botha undertook to have redrafted and ready for mailing by the middle of September 1969. The next, and crucial meeting, was held on Wednesday 8 October 1969 at the Boulevard Hotel in Pretoria. The morning before the general meeting, the Committee met to conclude certain last minute details regarding the proposed fencing, gates and the financing of the project. The same after noon thirty six owners attended this meeting, and after discussing the proposed constitutions, each owner had to verbally confirm that he wanted to become a member of the Reserve and the acceptance of the constitution. Thus the largest private nature reserve in South Africa was established.



The following owners were unanimously elected as members of the first Executive Committee: J D J de Necker, I F G Gillatt, T C B Crookes, J Ogilvie-Thompson, J T Muller, P L Mouton, J C G Botha, E A Roux, B de Wet ad I Z Lombard MPC. At a meeting of the newly elected Executive Committee, held on the same day at the Boulevard Hotel, J D J de Necker was unanimously elected chairman of the committee and I F G Gillatt the vice-chairman. P L Mouton was appointed secretary. At this meeting it was decided to advertise for a game ranger and the members were requested to draw up a list of duties for the ranger. To start the functioning of the Reserve and the erection of the fence, a loan of R20 000 was obtained from the Standard Bank. Jan de Necker was personally the guarantor for the facilities which have been made available from the Standard Bank to the Reserve.

From six applications, Van Reenen van Vuuren was appointed the first game ranger of the KPNR and took up his post of 1 March 1970, at a basic salary of R 200 per month. Othmar Bach provided camp accommodation for the ranger and his family on the farm Dundee. The final tender of H Jacks Gate and Wire Works (Pty) Ltd, was accepted for fencing the reserve at R750 per mile plus R800 for transportation of the material to site The quotation of R98 per mile for clearing a road, 10 feet wide, in the inside of the boundary fence, submitted by Nanteskor (Pty) Ltd, was accepted. There were five entrance gates: (1) At the junction of the road from Hoedspruit and the Copenhagen boundary (Xipalapaleni), (2) at the south-western corner on the farm Sark (Xikankaneni) – now locked, (3) the gate on the farm Kent (Matamani) – now closed, (4) on the southern boundary of Charloscar, near the Klaserie River (Incheni), and (5) at the junction of the boundaries of Ross and Fife (Xanatseni).



Poachers were still very active when the KPNR was formed and the warden's first diary entry was the case against three men who entered the reserve illegally to hunt. They shot three impala and a kudu and left the entrails under a tree. The tyre marks of the vehicle were followed to the Copenhagen (Xipalapaleni) gate. Along the way they stopped to continue their hunt and some 22 Hornet cartridges were found. At the gate the register was completed by 'De Wet' and two companions who kindly left a message: 'Mooi so, hou so aan dan is ons miskien more nog vriende" (Good, keep on like this and perhaps we will still be friends tomorrow). The registration of the vehicle was incorrectly recorded, but Jack, the gate watchman, recorded the correct registration number. The matter was reported to Erasmus, Nature Conservation Official at Hoedspruit. On investigation it was found that the vehicle, registered at Germiston, did not exist, but a week later two of the poachers (Theron and Basson) were arrested in Germiston. They were trialed at Hoedspruit for poaching 23 impala, 1 giraffe, 1 kudu and 1 wildebeest. They were fined R500, with a further R200 suspended and their 1966 Ford vehicle and their guns confiscated. Initially poaching was rife, but after a number of arrests, convictions and education, incidences have dropped, but never to be eradicated altogether. The first annual general meeting was held on 11 July 1970 at Hoedspruit, attended by some 32 landowners. The fence was not completed and for this reason the Reserve could bit be proclaimed. Due to the drought of 1971 the Klaserie River was dry and water had to be obtained from boreholes. The game started moving northwards towards the Olifants River where large concentrations of impala, giraffe, zebra and wildebeest gathered. With the first spring rains that the game returned to Dundee, Northumberland and Northampton. There was also an increase in the elephant population, estimated at approximately 150 animals, and three major breeding herds of buffalo, which moved up and down the Klaserie River. The Shanatseni-Klaseriemond road had been repaired and it was a first class motorway and could be driven at speeds exceeding 50 kph. Unfortunately the untimely death of Charles Engelhard had the effect of preventing the completion of the Klaserie-Copenhagen road (main entrance road), known as the 'Engelhard Boulevard', which had been badly washed away after 125mm of rain fall during October 1971.

Percy Wood ('Pump') Willis (1876-1959) was the first to settle permanently in the Bushbuckridge and Acornhoek area. He got his nickname while serving with the famous 'Steinaecker's Horse' during the Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902) at Sabi Bridge. One of his tasks was to operate the pump delivering water to the Barracks and for this duty he was rewarded with the nickname 'Pump' which stuck forever after. His brother, Betram Churchill, was known as 'Clinkers' because he kept the fire going to pump water. Other member f 'Steinaecker's Horse' who became well known in the Lowveld, were John Edmund Delacoer Travers, Nevelle Edwardes and Harry Wolhuter. At the conclusion of hostilities 'Pump' and his brother went into storekeeping together at Bushbuckridge and Acornhoek.

John Edmund Delacoer Trvers (1876-1954) also moved to the Bushbuckridge-Acornhoek area and in 1904 bought the farm Champagne, 8mm south of Acornhoek and 16km north of Bushbuckridge. After the Anglo-Boer War Col. Baron Ludwig Franz (Francis) von Steinaecker's (1854-1917), the commander of the famous 'Steinaecker's Horse', first tried to obtain a permanent commission in the British armed forces, but was refused. He then tried tobacco farming on the farm London, just north-west of Bushbuckridge, but when this failed he moved in with Griffith's, the Native Commissioner at Bushbuckridge. After a while Griffith's wife gave him an ultimatum to choose between her and Steinaecker's. John Travers extended hospitality to him until the First World War. As the war progressed Steinaecker's became aggressive and said that Germany would win the war. Travers eventually gave him notice to leave, but when he refused the Police were called in. When they arrived, on 30 April 1917, Steinaecker's took strychnine and died at the age of sixty three. He is buried in the cemetery at Bushbuckridge. In 1914 'Pump' joined the 2nd Imperial Light House and saw action in South West African. In a night attached against German forces at Gibeon 'Pump' lost his right leg and won a Distinguished Conduct Medal for his bravery. On his return to Acornhoek he and his brother expanded their interests by taking over two trading stores from HH L Hall & Sons in co-partnership with Ernest Whittingstall )(1884-1976), under the style or firm of "P W Willis & Co". On the farming side they extended their interests to include cattle, citrus, cotton and tobacco. Gradually through the years the partnership expanded until they owned 18, 000 morgen of land and had 16 trading stations (posts). Rand Consolidated Mining Company owned the rest of the area. In the early days 'Pump' Willis and Ernest Whittingstall had a donkey wagon, with two donkeys, and they used to go up and down the Klaserie. They used to hunt the whole area to the Olifants River and on ground belonging to the mining concerns. There was no one there, as it was just bare ground, and used to camp on the farms Dover and Northampton in the present Klaserie Private Nature Reserve.

During all this time 'Pump' was also playing his part in a wider field. After a life time of hunting, he left his rifle in favour of a camera, eventually to become one of the best known wildlife photographers in South Africa. Some of his photographs are published in Stevenson-Hamilton's book: South African Eden. He also became a valued honourary Game Ranger, and his opinions on wildlife were greatly respected. He also was able to use his pen in support of Stevenson-Hamilton against the many detractors of fauna and flora preservation, whose attacks never ceased until the Sanctuary was finally declared a National Park in 1926. Soon after the Kruger National Park was proclaimed Harry Otto, who was then manager of Two Streams Creamery at Ixopo in Natal, visited the Kruger Park where he met 'Pump Willis. In 1929 Edwin Crookes and his Aubrey were members of a hunting party that went to the Bushveld to shoot wildebeest.



Returning home they slept on the Acornhoek station platform where they met 'Pump 'Willis who was collecting parcels for his trading store. Willis later went to stay with Harry Otto at Ixopo and also renewed his acquaintance with Edwin, who farmed in the High flats area close by. The meeting resulted in Edwin visiting Willis at Acornhoek. From there they travelled to Northampton in the donkey wagon. 'Pump' Willis approached Edwin and asked him if he knew of anyone who was interested in buying a shooting farm in the Lowveld. Edwin sad he was sure his cousins would be very interested. On his return to Natal, Edwin called on John Crookes and told him, enthusiastically, of his find. John is reported to have said that he was 'interested' while George Crookes felt it was 'quite a good thing' (George and John were brothers and Edwin's first cousins). In those days these farms were fetching 1 Pound per morgen with river frontage and 10/- without.

During 1936 George, John and Edwin Crookes visited the Bushveld to inspect the farms and stayed with Willis. As a result of this trip Northampton was purchased from Whittingstall and Willis by George and John Crookes jointly. The farms had nothing on them and in 1938 they built a simple hunting camp – three rondavels and a pit toilet with hessian around it. I was close to the river which they used for washing and bathing.

George and John Crookes began taking hunting parties to Klaserie. The first official hunting trip took place in 1938. Because it was so basic all womenfolk were barred. So impressed with the area were George and John that seven more farms were bought – George bought Dover, Northumberland, Dundee and London, while John (Having already bought out George's share of Northampton), bought Kent, Elgin and Cumberland. Thomas Andrews (1856-1928), of Barberton, bought Kent during 1925 which was managed by his son Alan Andrews, growing grapefruit and raising cattle. After the death of Thomas Andrews, in 1928, the estate was distributed amongst the sons and Alan Andrews obtained Kent. He sold Kent to John Crookes in 1939. As Andrews had cattle on Kent, there was a big cattle kraal. The kraal manure was feet deep and was sold during the war for war funds. The camp side on Northampton was selected by Willis, and was built under his and Whittingstall supervision, using mainly female labour. During August 1950 John Crookes sold Northampton to Freddie Gillatt (his nephew) with the proviso that a camp identical to that on Northampton had to be built for John Crookes on Kent. The site was chosen by Collin Whittingstall and Freddie Gillatt, on high ground, with a spectacular view of the Klaserie River. Willis also choose a site for the building of Dover Camp. It was an ideal spot amongst the trees overlooking the Klaserie River, constructed by builders from the South Coast. The building programme was completed in record time, however – because the builders were terrified of the wild animals! It subsequently transpired that the camp had been incorrectly sited, on Northumberland. In the early diagrams the river was placed diagrammatically and it wasn't plotted accurately. Northumberland has always been shown as having a corner of river frontage with the whole of the river running through Dover, but in fact it was the other way round. Actually the only bit of river frontage on Dover was the triangle on which the Klaserie Private Nature Reserve headquarters, Motlasedi, was later built.

By now the Crookes had two camps, the one on Johns Farms and named Northampton and the other on George's property named Dover. George Crookes died in 1948 and left Northumberland to Vernon Crookes, Charles Crookes, Freddie Gillatt and Edwin Crookes. The four took it in turns to use Dover camp. Vernon went up frequently to hunt trophies - but when Charles made the trip it was to make the most of nature.



Willis was the main one looking after this area and in former years he placed spikes in the access road to deter poachers, they were so placed that all four tyres of a vehicle would be punctured. At an early stage a gate was put on Kent and the keys were kept by Willis. After Willis retired to Nelspruit, Whittingstall took over and in 1950 each camp had 2 camp guards. Whittingstall owned the farm Fleur-le-Lys where he had a store and postal agency. This was basically the start of Klaserie village. When Acornhoek, where he lived, was sold in 1970 to the SA Trust, he moved to Klaserie village.