Marquard is a small 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 ...

that serves

Winburg Winburg is a small mixed farming town in the Free State province of South Africa. It is the oldest proclaimed town (1837) in the Orange Free State, South Africa and along with Griekwastad, is one of the oldest settlements in South Africa loc ...

in the northwest. The town was set up in 1905 by an influential Dutch Reform minister, JJ Marquard, with the help of

Christoffel Cornelis Froneman Christoffel Cornelis Froneman, commonly known as Stoffel Froneman (Leliehoek, Winburg, 26 March 1846Cypress, District Marquard, 12 March 1913), was Field cornet, veldkornet, general and Vice-Commander-in-Chief of the Orange Free State Boers, Boer ...

, the commandant of the

Orange Free State The Orange Free State ( ; ) was an independent Boer-ruled sovereign republic under British suzerainty in Southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century, which ceased to exist after it was defeated and surrendered to the British Em ...

. It was established on the farm Varschfontein and attained municipal status in the same year. Marquard is 169 kilometers east north-east of

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 ...

and 45 kilometers south-west of

Senekal Senekal is a town situated on the banks of the Sand River (Free State), Sand River in the eastern part of the Free State (South African province), Free State province of South Africa. It was named after Commandant FP Senekal, who led the encro ...

. The town was named after J J T Marquard, minister of the Dutch Reformed Church in

, who had pleaded for the establishment of the town.

References

Populated places in the Setsoto Local Municipality Populated places established in 1905 1905 establishments in South Africa {{FreeState-geo-stub