Free State DestinationsHobhouse, Motheo Region
On the southernmost tip of the Eastern Free State region lies Hobhouse, named after the British girl who became a Boer heroine.
Emily Hobhouse visited the war-torn South Africa during the Anglo Boer War and was appalled at the conditions in the concentration camps. She promptly started nursing and welfare services amongst the Boer women.
So dedicated was this staunch suffragette that she called off her engagement. Her wedding veil hangs in the Head Office of the "Oranje Vrouevereniging" in Hobhouse, the first women's welfare organisation in the Free State. Hobhouse lies close to the Caledon River, 56 kilometres south of Ladybrand.
