Emily Hobhouse
and the South African War
Emily Hobhouse was a controversial figure of her own time and is still so considered today. Who was she? And how did Emily’s life impact South Africa’s history?
In 1899, when Emily Hobhouse was 39 years old, a war was beginning in southern Africa. The British and two Boer republics were fighting over land and control. Emily grew up in Cornwall, England, and had read news of the conflict from her home. So far, the war was not going according to the British Empire’s plan. The British had more soldiers than the Boers, but the Boers knew the landscape and proved to be strong fighters. Frustrated by their failure, the British military leaders turned to controversial strategies. They began a “scorched earth” campaign to destroy the homes and farms of ordinary people. As a pacifist, someone who opposed war, Emily became concerned for the lives of these ordinary people.
The Boers were the descendants of Dutch-speaking people who had settled in southern Africa in the 1600s.
Uncovering Concentration Camps
Emily was interested in work that would improve the lives of other people. Shortly after the South African War began, she traveled to Cape Town to learn more about what was happening to Boer civilians. She soon heard that families weren’t just losing their homes, they were also being sent to camps. In these camps, there wasn’t enough food, clean water, shelter, or medicine. Emily visited the concentration camps and met Boer women, children, and older men who had been forced off their farms.
The native Africans who worked on Boer farms were also imprisoned in separate camps, though Emily did not see these firsthand.
Conditions in the Black concentration camps were harsh. Many Africans were forced to work for the British to receive enough food to eat.
Creating Controversy
In the summer of 1900, Emily returned to England. She shared her report and toured the country to speak about the terrible conditions in the camps. Criticizing British policies during the war was controversial, and many labeled Emily as a traitor and troublemaker. Yet, others were outraged to learn of the starving and sick Boer families.
By the time the Boers negotiated for peace in 1902, more than 26,000 Boer civilians, primarily women and children, had died in the camps. Up to 20,000 Africans also lost their lives in separate Black concentration camps. However, these deaths were not recorded or even widely discussed in South African history for decades.
Emily’s Legacy
After the war’s end, Emily set up schools for Boer women and girls to learn lacemaking, weaving, and spinning. These jobs could be done on farms and provide an income for families. She promoted peace in Europe during and after World War I and focused on feeding children.
Today, Emily remains a complicated figure. Her work took her across the world, opposing war and championing people’s basic rights in a time of great conflict. Although she took a stand against cruelty, Emily did not speak about the hardships facing native Africans in concentration camps. It would be decades before historians began to study how the war impacted the Black peoples of South Africa.
Emily passed away in England in 1926, little known in her home country. Yet, by those she helped in South Africa, she would be remembered as an important figure in the history of the South African War.