author
Jacoba Elizabeth De la Rey
1856–1923
A vivid firsthand voice from the Anglo-Boer War, her writing follows the danger, displacement, and endurance of a woman determined to keep her family together. Best known for a single memoir, she left behind an intimate account of life on the move during one of South Africa’s most turbulent conflicts.
1 Audiobook
A woman's wanderings and trials during the Anglo-Boer War
by Jacoba Elizabeth De la Rey
About the author
Born in 1856, Jacoba Elizabeth de la Rey, often known as Nonnie de la Rey, is remembered for A woman's wanderings and trials during the Anglo-Boer War, a memoir first published in 1903. The book tells the story of her experiences during the South African War from a deeply personal point of view, giving readers a rare account of what the conflict meant for women and families.
She was the wife of Boer general Koos de la Rey, but the record of her life shows that she was far more than a footnote to a famous husband. Later historical and archival sources describe her as a resilient and determined figure who spent part of the war living a nomadic life with her children rather than entering a British concentration camp.
De la Rey died in 1923. Though only one book is widely associated with her today, it remains valuable for its immediacy, its plainspoken courage, and the window it opens onto everyday survival in wartime.