The farm Vlakfontein, on which Treeferns Trout Lodge is situated, belonged to the family for four generations since 1865 when the first title deed was registered in the name of Frederik Jacobus Mare, whose great grandson, Frederik, is still living on the farm. Originally the farm was approximately 2000 hectares, but was since then divided in several portions. The remaining portion of portion 3 of the farm, which still belong to us is 572 hectares. A family cemetary on the farm witnesses the last resting place of these generations.

The farm played a strategic role in the Anglo-Boer War because of its altitude and vantage. Stone fortresses are still in excistence, and are the silent witnesses of the Battle of Vlakfontein on 3 July 1901, a description of which can be viewed on this web site, a year later than the nearby and more important Battle of Berg-en-Dal close to Belfast on 27 August 1900.

 In the article reference is made of  the bravery of Lieutenant English, the great great grandson of whom, Warren English, visited Treeferns and emotionally commented : “Very strange to read the back of the file about the Boer War, and see that my great great relation fought in the very  area against the Boers…. William John English, I salute you; I came here to relax and catch trout whereas you were here to defeat the old “Transvaal” and spilled blood on the same grass that has so much history that I would not have realised 100 years ago such a peacefull place was the venue of a battle !!! R.I.P. my grand father > Fortune favours the Brave. ” Warren English (11 February 2006).

William John English

The Boer Forces in the Eastern Transvaal were under the general command of Gnl Benjamin Johannes (Ben) Viljoen (1868 – 1917). 

Gnl. Ben Viljoen was a distant relative of Karel Viljoen, grand-father of Marietjie, co-owner of the Remaining portion of Portion 3,  Vlakfontein.

On the side of the Boer Forces, Gnl. Ben Viljoen was honoured as a war hero. He fought in the guerilla war in the Eastern Transvaal, and acquired international fame for his heroic capture of a ships cannon, the Lady Roberts, which Winston Churchill remembered as follows :

“ A Maxim Vickers Gun abandoned by the Boers in a donga was about to fall into British hands, when that notorious ruffian, the fearless Viljoen himself, brought back a team of horses and escaped with the gun, threading his way between the red flames and black clouds of lyddite shells which the British artillery concentrated on him – a feat that were it done by a British officer, he would assuredly be covered with decorations.”

The British Forces were desperate to capture Gnl. Viljoen, which they eventually did. He was escorted in numbers to Machadodorp, and from there transported to Pretoria, and via Durban, Cape Town to St. Helena as prisoner of war with the Britannia in March 1901. He therefore did not participate in the Battle of Vlakfontein on 3 July 1901, and his loss to the Boer Forces was disastrous and most certainly  forced them to retreat from Vlakfontein.

After the War he emigrated to the USA in 1904 where he died in 1917.

Source: Viljoen Gedenkboek, 1977.