60 Van der Westhuizen Street receives blue heritage plaque
According to the book, Die Geskiedenis van Heidelberg, 60 Van der Westhuizen street belonged to William St Clair McLaren.
In 1871, William St Clair McLaren (28) came to live with the Ueckermann family, helping in their store.
After a short time, McLaren and a friend, John Pagan, opened another store to compete with Ueckermann on the north side of Church square.
TF Carter described McLaren’s house and grounds, which occupied the whole one side of Church Square, as ‘of no mean order of design, indeed constructed with skill and taste’.
During the first Anglo Boer War, McLaren was set to have ‘made himself conspicuous above all others by his kindness to the officers and others taken prisoner during the war’.
One of the first prisoners brought to Heidelberg was Rudolf, the magistrate of Utrecht. He was kept in the prison for 26 days when his health began to fail. McLaren stepped in to obtain Rudolf’s release from ‘such closed confinement’ and had him brought to his house.
Later, when officers came from Laings Nek and it was proposed to incarcerate prisoners in the common jail, McLaren again used his influence with the authorities. As a result, officers allowed him to take prisoners as his guests.
McLaren and Pagan became surety for the prisoners to the extent of several thousand pounds.
When the suggestion was made to the authorities that sentries be placed at McLaren’s front and back gates, it received such indignant protest from McLaren that the authorities withdrew the suggestion.
Each officer was, however, made to sign a parole form and was not allowed to leave McLaren’s grounds. It was also forbidden to converse with any of the town’s folk. McLaren died a wealthy man in 1889 at the age of 46.
His son, William, born in Heidelberg in 1877 became one of the few Heidelbergers to fight for the British during the second Anglo Boer War.
He served with the Kimberley relief force as a second lieutenant and died of heart failure on July 26, 1900. His body was returned to Heidelberg to be buried next to his father’s.
Jurie Erasmus, the owner of Performatec, occupies the premises currently and is a well-known local IT specialist offering a variety of IT solutions and services.
