Editing Volksrust (section)

==History==

The town was laid out in 1888 on the farms Boschpad Drift, Rooibult or Llanwarne, Verkyk and Zandfontein, and proclaimed in 1889.<ref name="Dict">{{Cite book|title=Dictionary of Southern African Place Names|last=Raper|first=Peter E|last2=Moller|first2=Lucie A|last3=du Plessis|first3=Theodorus L|publisher=Jonathan Ball Publishers|year=2014|isbn=9781868425501}}</ref> It lies at an elevation of {{convert|5429|ft|m}}, and {{convert|4|mi|km}} north of the pass through the [[Drakensberg]] known as [[Laing's Nek]].<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=y|wstitle=Volksrust|volume=28|page=195}}</ref> Municipal status was attained in 1904.<ref name=Dict/>

Dorothea de Jager, daughter of Dirk Uys, one of the battle victims, named the town Volksrust ''(Nation's Rest)''. The name probably refers to the citizens resting here after the [[Battle of Majuba]] on 27 February 1881,<ref name=dsapn>{{cite web|title=Dictionary of Southern African Place Names (Public Domain)|url=https://archive.org/details/DictionaryOfSouthernAfricanPlaceNames|publisher=Human Science Research Council|page=462}}</ref> a decisive battle leading to the [[South African Republic|Transvaal]]'s victory against the [[United Kingdom|British]] in the [[First Boer War]]. During the [[Second Boer War]] the British authorities built a [[Boers|Boer]] [[concentration camp]] in Volksrust. Visiting officials and army officers described the conditions of the camp as poor, though it suffered a death rate below the Transvaal average.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Volksrust |url=https://www2.lib.uct.ac.za/mss/bccd/Histories/Volksrust/ |access-date=2022-09-24 |website=British Concentration Camps of the South African War 1900-1902}}</ref> A memorial exists in Volkrust town square to the Boer women and children who died in the camp.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Concentration Camp Memorial |url=https://www.battlefieldsroute.co.za/place/concentration-camp-memorial/ |access-date=2022-09-24 |website=Battlefields Route |language=en-ZA}}</ref>

[[File:Majuba Hill-01 Nov 2008.jpg|thumb|right|280px|[[Battle of Majuba Hill|Majuba Hill]] as seen from [[Battle of Laing's Nek|Laing's Nek]] where two decisive battles were fought between the British and Boer forces in the First Boer War]]