The ‘Faraway Cousins’ in South Africa

All the street names of the Transvaal neighborhood in Leiden – with the exception of a few streets such as the Lopsentraat, Morskade and Morsweg – share the fact that they refer to historical figures that fought in the First and Second Boer War in South Africa (respectively 1880-1881 and 1899-1902) against the British Empire.

These wars made a great impression on the people in the Netherlands. Against all expectations, the Boers defeated the English in the First Boer War. The Boers had faded into the background, but after their victory, the Dutch generally felt a certain connection with the descendants of the Dutch colonists that had settled in South Africa in the 17th century under the guidance of Jan van Riebeeck. Across the country people showed support for the battle of the Boers. Propagandist children’s books and songs were created, in which their heroism (‘heldhaftigheid’, Fig. 1) was celebrated. In dozens of other cities in the Netherlands, streets were named after leaders of the Boers, who were heroes in the eyes of the Dutch in that time (Fig. 2, 3 & 4).

As such, the Dutch felt connected to their faraway cousins in Africa, and this connection they called the ‘stamverwantschap’, which translates roughly to ‘ancestral kinship’. However, this connection did not have many practical consequences. Sure, there were volunteers and nurses who joined the Boers, some people made donations, and various Dutch people, among whom the young Queen Wilhelmina, attempted to change the minds of the British. But significant actions, like sending troops to South Africa, were held off. The British were far too strong for such actions, and the Netherlands did not want to risk losing its far more lucrative colony, the Dutch Indies (present-day Indonesia).

In England, people were enthusiastic about the war as well, but their enthusiasm resulted in sending tens of thousands of British soldiers. All the large colonies supplied troops, and the English people could help by giving donations or by fighting themselves. The papers reported very positively about the British, while the Boers were accused of many things. We still know the names of many English people who participated in the Second Boer War. For example, Mahatma Ghandi and Arthur Conan Doyle (the author of James Bond) helped as nurses, Winston Churchill travelled there as journalist and military man, and Queen Victoria became the face of the British force. Feminists however, such as Emily Hobhouse, rose up against the British use of concentration camps.

Everywhere in the Netherlands we find streets with the name Reitzstreet, but still there is something special about the Reitzstraat in Leiden. The street was actually only named in 1920, long after the Boer Wars. The street was in fact called … Marialaan. That’s right, a woman’s name!

Do you want to know how the street names of the Transvaal neighborhood in Leiden got their name? Please read our longread!