Racheltjie de Beer
Encyclopedia
Rachel de Beer (sometimes known by the diminutive form, Racheltjie) is a (probably) fictitious Afrikaner
hero
ine, who gave her life in order to save that of her brother. She was the daughter of George Stephanus de Beer (b. 1794).
The fable goes that in the winter months of 1843 Rachel was part of a trek from the Orange Free State
to the south-eastern Transvaal
. During one of their nightly stopovers, the members of the trek realised that a calf
called Frikkie, much-beloved by their children, was missing.
A search party was formed, in which Rachel and her six-year old brother also took part. However, during the gathering dusk
Rachel and her brother got separated from the search party and became lost. As the night progressed it got very cold and started snow
ing.
Realizing that their chances of survival were slim, Rachel found an anthill hollowed out by an aardvark
, took off her clothes, put them on her brother and commanded him to get into the hollowed-out anthill. She then lay in front of the opening of the anthill in order to keep out the cold.
The children were found the next morning by the trekking party. Rachel was dead, but her brother had survived.
It is possible that neither children existed, however. The history of the period is not well documented. To date no undisputed proof has been presented to substantiate any claims regarding Racheltjie de Beer.
Fiction or not, Rachel de Beer is entrenched in the Afrikaner culture, which is evident by the number of streets and schools named after her.
Although record keeping around the supposed time of the incident was certainly not complete, enough inconsistencies and ambiguities are highlighted to put serious doubt as to the existence of Rachel de Beer at the time mentioned.
It turns out that there was a De Beer family that fits the names and ages as mentioned in the original story quite closely. However, they lived 60 years later. If the incident happened in 1903 instead of 1843, this family would fit the facts quite nicely. It would also better explain why there is no mention of this story before the early 1900s.
Unfortunately by the 3rd edition of the work more information has come to light to also eliminate this last possible scenario. The Rachel de Beer in this instance has been confirmed to have lived well into adulthood.
Based on this research it seems unlikely that the story of Rachel de Beer is factual.
Afrikaner
Afrikaners are an ethnic group in Southern Africa descended from almost equal numbers of Dutch, French and German settlers whose native tongue is Afrikaans: a Germanic language which derives primarily from 17th century Dutch, and a variety of other languages.-Related ethno-linguistic groups:The...
hero
Hero
A hero , in Greek mythology and folklore, was originally a demigod, their cult being one of the most distinctive features of ancient Greek religion...
ine, who gave her life in order to save that of her brother. She was the daughter of George Stephanus de Beer (b. 1794).
The fable goes that in the winter months of 1843 Rachel was part of a trek from the Orange Free State
Orange Free State
The Orange Free State was an independent Boer republic in southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century, and later a British colony and a province of the Union of South Africa. It is the historical precursor to the present-day Free State province...
to the south-eastern Transvaal
South African Republic
The South African Republic , often informally known as the Transvaal Republic, was an independent Boer-ruled country in Southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century. Not to be confused with the present-day Republic of South Africa, it occupied the area later known as the South African...
. During one of their nightly stopovers, the members of the trek realised that a calf
Calf
Calves are the young of domestic cattle. Calves are reared to become adult cattle, or are slaughtered for their meat, called veal.-Terminology:...
called Frikkie, much-beloved by their children, was missing.
A search party was formed, in which Rachel and her six-year old brother also took part. However, during the gathering dusk
Dusk
Dusk is the beginning of darkness in the evening, and occurs after twilight, when the sky generally remains bright and blue. Civil dusk is when the earth has rotated enough that the center of the sun is at 6° below the local horizon...
Rachel and her brother got separated from the search party and became lost. As the night progressed it got very cold and started snow
Snow
Snow is a form of precipitation within the Earth's atmosphere in the form of crystalline water ice, consisting of a multitude of snowflakes that fall from clouds. Since snow is composed of small ice particles, it is a granular material. It has an open and therefore soft structure, unless packed by...
ing.
Realizing that their chances of survival were slim, Rachel found an anthill hollowed out by an aardvark
Aardvark
The aardvark is a medium-sized, burrowing, nocturnal mammal native to Africa...
, took off her clothes, put them on her brother and commanded him to get into the hollowed-out anthill. She then lay in front of the opening of the anthill in order to keep out the cold.
The children were found the next morning by the trekking party. Rachel was dead, but her brother had survived.
It is possible that neither children existed, however. The history of the period is not well documented. To date no undisputed proof has been presented to substantiate any claims regarding Racheltjie de Beer.
Fiction or not, Rachel de Beer is entrenched in the Afrikaner culture, which is evident by the number of streets and schools named after her.
Genealogical perspective
In the very comprehensive genealogical work “The De Beer Family – Three centuries in South Africa” several pages are devoted to the Rachel de Beer story, looking at all the possibilities from the available genealogical data.Although record keeping around the supposed time of the incident was certainly not complete, enough inconsistencies and ambiguities are highlighted to put serious doubt as to the existence of Rachel de Beer at the time mentioned.
It turns out that there was a De Beer family that fits the names and ages as mentioned in the original story quite closely. However, they lived 60 years later. If the incident happened in 1903 instead of 1843, this family would fit the facts quite nicely. It would also better explain why there is no mention of this story before the early 1900s.
Unfortunately by the 3rd edition of the work more information has come to light to also eliminate this last possible scenario. The Rachel de Beer in this instance has been confirmed to have lived well into adulthood.
Based on this research it seems unlikely that the story of Rachel de Beer is factual.