Kestell is a small

maize Maize (; ''Zea mays''), also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago from wild teosinte. Native American ...

farming town in the Free State province of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. Town 46 km west of

Harrismith Harrismith is a large town in the Free State (South African province), Free State province of South Africa. It was named for Sir Harry Smith, 1st Baronet, Sir Harry Smith, a 19th-century British governor and high commissioner of the Cape Colony. ...

and east of

Bethlehem Bethlehem is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, located about south of Jerusalem, and the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate. It had a population of people, as of . The city's economy is strongly linked to Tourism in the State of Palesti ...

. The new village was laid out in 1905 on the farms Mooifontein and Driekuil, acquired from Adriaan and Johannes Bezuidenhout. It became a municipality in 1906.

Dutch Reformed Church and town's naming

It is named after the Reverend Dr. John Daniel Kestell (1854 - 1941), Anglo-Afrikaner minister of the

Dutch Reformed Church The Dutch Reformed Church (, , abbreviated NHK ) was the largest Christian denomination in the Netherlands from the onset of the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century until 1930. It was the traditional denomination of the Dutch royal famil ...

from 1894 to 1903, author and cultural leader, who played an important role in the Anglo-Boer War and later helped with the Bible translations into Afrikaans. The Dutch Reformed Church building, designed by famed architect of dozens of churches and the Voortrekker Monument,

Gerard Moerdijk Gerard Leendert Pieter Moerdijk (4 March 1890 in Zwaershoek farm near Nylstroom, Transvaal – 29 March 1958 in Nylstroom), also known as Gerard Moerdyk, was a South African architect best known for designing the Voortrekker Monument in Pretori ...

, was inaugurated on 31 March 1928. The township was surveyed and laid out by William Homan in 1905. To prevent jealousy he 'called the long streets after the tall members of the committee and the short streets after the short members.'When the committee insisted that Homan had a street named after him, he selected 'a rough short street' which still bears that name.Memoirs of William Homan

Legacy

Prof. Dr JD Kestell at the Anglo-Boer War Museum in

Bloemfontein Bloemfontein ( ; ), also known as Bloem, is the capital and the largest city of the Free State (province), Free State province in South Africa. It is often, and has been traditionally, referred to as the country's "judicial capital", alongsi ...

is named after him.

War Battle

It is located southeast from the Battle of Groenkop-site of the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic and ...

. The battle took place on 25 December 1901 when General

Christiaan De Wet Christiaan Rudolf de Wet (7 October 1854 – 3 February 1922) was a Boer general, rebel leader and politician. Life Born on the Leeuwkop farm, in the district of Smithfield in the Boer Republic of the Orange Free State, he later resided at ...

Boer Boers ( ; ; ) are the descendants of the proto Afrikaans-speaking Free Burghers of the eastern Cape frontier in Southern Africa during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. From 1652 to 1795, the Dutch East India Company controlled the Dutch ...

troops defeated a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

column.

References

External links

Kestell - South Africa
Website managed by Kestell residents Populated places in the Maluti a Phofung Local Municipality Populated places established in 1905 Populated places founded by Afrikaners 1905 establishments in South Africa {{FreeState-geo-stub