Maré Residence is a Heritage site.
On May 20, Tony Burisch of the Heidelberg Heritage Association awarded the latest blue plaque for Heritage to magistrate Frederik Korsten Maré’s residence to Hermias Nieuwoudt.
The blue plaque is no 52 in Heidelberg.
Magistrate Frederik Korsten Maré (1821 – 1895) was appointed as the first magistrate of Heidelberg on July 10, 1866. Frederik Maré was born on the farm Zwartkopsrivier, Uitenhage, on November 27, 1821. His parents had 17 children of which he was the second to last of the offspring.
In approximately 1838 Maré moved from the Cape Colony to Pietermaritzburg and there he married Johanna Helena Jesina van Niekerk in 1845.
Ten children were born from the marriage. In 1859 the Maré’s moved to the Old Transvaal where he was appointed as the magistrate in Pretoria in 1861. On June 10, 1866, Maré was appointed as the first magistrate in Heidelberg.
When Britain annexed the Transvaal Republic in 1877, Maré refused to sign the oath of loyalty and resigned as magistrate. After the first Anglo Boer War Maré was reappointed as magistrate of Heidelberg.
Apart from his official obligations he also had strong religious convictions. As an active member of the then Dutch Reformed Church, he was one of the obstinate. He refused to become part of the United Church and stood by his conservative principles.
He was actively part of the church struggle of the grieved delegation in Rensburg who chose to rise the Dutch Reformed Church from the ashes, after which a bitter struggle was led about church property.
It was hectic and never-ending that even the then president, Paul Kruger, could not successfully mediate between the two parties. Years later and after his death, the fraternal quarrel would finally be settled in the High Court. Maré died on January 5, 1895.
Maré together with his wife Johanna is buried in the Kloof Cemetery. A true frontiersman for Heidelberg if ever there was one.
The sponsor of the plaque was Hermias and Elzabé Nieuwoudt.
