A special commemoration has been held in South Africa to honour and remember an incredible Cornish woman who saved thousands of women and children’s lives during the Anglo-Boer War. Born into wealth and raised in the hamlet of St Ive (no ‘s’) in South East Cornwall, Emily Hobhouse was a Cornish woman who went to South Africa in the last years of the Victorian age and exposed the appalling conditions in the concentration camps run by British men.
Alone, she challenged the British Empire to face its abuses, in the midst of a war when patriotic sentiment was running high. During an era when women had no voice, she demanded that injustice be recognised and redressed. She was deemed a traitor by the UK government and written out of UK history books, whilst celebrated as a national heroine in South Africa.
Her funeral took place in 1926 in Bloemfontein and her ashes were encased within the Anglo-Boer War memorial itself.
Her funeral was recreated at the end of last month to commemorate the 100th anniversary since Emily Hobhouse’s death, with the team behind Cornwall’s incredible The Story of Emily museum in St Ive organising the key event.
Those watching the event in person and on South African live TV were transported to 1926 as they watched a re-enactment of Emily Hobhouse’s ashes interred in a niche at the foot of the National Women’s Monument. Emily’s funeral was the first South African state funeral for a woman, and the only one for a foreigner.
The project leader of this event – which took 10 months to plan – was the researcher and curator of The Story of Emily, Elsabé Brits; with the assistance of an 80-strong organising team. See why everyone needs to visit the stunning immersive gem of a museum here.
More than 650 people took part in period dress. As in 1926, 206 girls from Eunice Girls High and Oranje Girls High schools took part in the procession.
Dressed in white, with thin white veils, each carried a palm leaf, as they did a century ago. Leading the procession, which walked 600m on Monument Road right up to the monument, was the Free State Youth Wind Ensemble playing a funeral march, followed by four children who carried the name of ‘Emily’: three girls and a boy named ‘Emile’.
More than a hundred women in black followed, representing those invited to the funeral long ago. Back then, they were survivors of the concentration camps, as well as a choir consisting of girls. One hundred years ago, many academics walked in their academic regalia, and volunteers did so again. Actors represented the “VIPs” of 1926, arriving in antique motors. A horse commando also followed; this time, many women were on horseback, unlike in 1926.
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Opened in 2024, The Story of Emily, in St Ive is an immersive historical experience and museum that is helping tell Emily’s story to the UK and international audience.
The experience won Silver in the National Visit England Awards earlier this year, as well as the internationally recognised THEA themed entertainment awards.
We visited The Story of Emily about a year after it opened and we were very impressed with the museum, and South African restaurant too.
You can check out our review of The Story of Emily here or better still, go and see it for yourself. For more information visit https://thestoryofemily.com/
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Source: www.cornwalllive.com
