In this video Dave looks at a Mauser with a rare feature, extensive use, and an interesting backstory.
Dave would like to offer a big thank you to Elne Watson for her excellent research.
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Supplemental data 19/9/2021:
The rifle butt is carved to: P.J. PRETORIUS, Grootfontein, Vrijheid (modern spelling = Vryheid). His full names were: Pieter Jacobus Casparus Pretorius.
Further to my recent video titled ‘The P.J. PRETORIUS Numbered Mauser’, one of my friends and regular viewers Drummond Corrie, has kindly undertaken an amazing amount of ‘digging’. His dedicated research has ’Hit the Jackpot’ revealing details about the original owner of this Boer Mauser rifle named to P.J. Pretorius. He established that this man actually had a third Christian name (that is not noted on the rifle). His full name was Pieter Jacobus Casparus Pretorius. He also established that Pieter had a younger brother named Jacobus, who was captured during the war.
Drummond’s hobby is genealogy. He mainly researches families from South Africa, and has been a great help to me over the last few years.
In my video you will recall that I had managed to locate a map of the farm ‘Grootfontein’ and established that the owner was a certain Jan C. Pretorius. However, I was unable to trace any more details about the burger whose name is carved onto the rifle butt.
Well thanks to Drummond, I can advise the following (Note: this is a brief overview of his detailed research): Drummond found a marriage certificate for the owner of the Mauser; Pieter Jacobus Casparus Pretorius married a young lady named Hester Antionetta Prinsloo. They were wed in Middelburg on 8-2-1893 (only six years before was broke out). On the wedding certificate, Pieter J.C. Pretorius listed his residence as ‘Grootfontein’, district Vrijheid - ‘Checkmate’ !
Drummond also found that a burger named Jacobus Hermanus Pretorius (born Sept. 1880), was the brother of P.J.C. Pretorius (owner of the rifle). Jacobus Hermanus Pretorius aged 23, was captured on the Zululand border on 7th March 1902. He was serving in Commandant Grobler’s Commando. Burger Jacobus H. Pretorius was sent to a POW Camp in India (POW No. 31065).
Drummond confirmed that the farm named ‘Grootfontein’ was owned by Jan Cornelius Pretorius (father of the Mauser owner). His research revealed that Jan C. Pretorius married Cornelia Johanna M. Maree of Harrismith in 1863, and that they had two sons.
Searching through the Pietermaritzburg Estate files of Cornelia Johanna Maree (married Jan C. Pretorius), Drummond confirmed that she had two sons. A Death Notice stated that Pieter Jacobus Casparus Pretorius (owner of the Mauser), was deceased on 8-1-1911 (aged only 41 years).
Eleven years after the death of Pieter Jacobus Casparus Pretorius, his widow Hester A. Pretorius remarried. She married a widower named Andries Bernadus Groenewald in Ermelo on 30-12-1922. Hester passed away in Amersfoort on 10-12-1944.
Thanks to the comprehensive information ‘unearthed’ by Drummond, I now have a ‘detailed and interesting’ history about this Boer Mauser named to P.J. Pretorius.
Abridged version by: Dave C. George, 10th September 2021.
You can purchase any of the three books in the Carvings from the Veldt series here: www.boerwarrifl...
Or you can purchase from these suppliers in a country near you to save on freight costs!:
USA: Leo Hamel in California: leo@leohamel.com
UK: Jeremy Tenniswood in Colchester: info@militaria.co.uk
Germany: Ulrich Sander, US Books: info@usbooks.de
South Africa: Sue Hahn in Cape Town: suehahn5050@gmail.com
New Zealand: Neil Reed in Whangarei (part 2 only): nzreeds@xtra.co.nz
Australia: Books on War in Brisbane: admin@booksonwaraustralia.com
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