Emily Hobhouse was a British welfare campaigner in the concentration camps during the Boer War.
Hobhouse was born on April 9, 1860, in Cornwall, England.
In 1899, Hobhouse was appointed secretary of the South African Conciliation Committee.
It was a group that opposed the British government’s policy regarding South Africa.
Hobhouse arranged a mass meeting in London, where women protested against the actions of the British army in South Africa. She was the founder of the South African Woman and Children Distress Fund where she collected money for the Boer families.
In December 1900, Hobhouse visited South Africa for the first time. While in South Africa, Hobhouse visited concentration camps in the Free State and Transvaal areas.
She was appalled at the conditions in which the woman and children were forced to live.
When Hobhouse was not successful to persuade the British administration to make changes to the living conditions in the concentration camps, she went back to London to voice her concerns.
Hobhouse started focusing her campaign on the liberal opposition and was successful in the government sending a group of women to investigate the situation.
When Hobhouse wanted to return to South Africa in 1901, she was sent back to Britain when the ship she travelled in docked in Cape Town.
After the end of the Anglo-Boer War, Hobhouse returned to South Africa to help set up businesses in the Free State and Transvaal for the Boers.
Hobhouse and Margaret Clarke opened a school in Philippolis in the Free State. They also opened a spinning, weaving and wool-producing centre in the Langlaagte area, which is now Heidelberg.
In 1903 General Louis Botha arranged that a public meeting is held in Heidelberg.
The British Government agreed but had 500 constables in the area on standby.
When Botha arrived, Hobhouse accompanied him. At that time Hobhouse’s health was starting to fail her but she was adamant that she needed to be here. The meeting was held at the steps of the Klipkerk in Heidelberg.
At the meeting, two young girls presented Hobhouse with a bouquet. When Hobhouse stood up to accept the flowers the whole gathering applauded and a roar of appreciation could be heard.
In 1913, a tribute to Hobhouse was unveiled at the Women’s Monument in Bloemfontein.
Hobhouse died in London on June 8, 1926. Her ashes were spread at the Women’s Monument.
References: www.theguardian.com, sahistory.org.za, Heidelbergers of the Boer War by Ian Uys.
