The pioneering Mortlocks of Hazelmere

The Mortlock family have been farming on Hazelmere, near Komani (formerly Queenstown) in the Eastern Cape, for 100 years.

Originally from England, Thomas Mortlock was born on 2 September 1877 on Charity Farm, Great Bardfield in the north of Essex. After the death of his parents, his eldest brother Luke took over the farm, while the young Thomas and his brothers Frank and Phillip came to South Africa in 1895 to look for a future for themselves.

Later that year, the Jameson Raid into the Transvaal took place. The raiders’ intention was to capture the Johannesburg gold mines but the venture ended in a humiliating defeat when they were rounded up and captured by Boer commandos. The tension between Boer and Brit now intensified.

Back in the tranquillity of the Eastern Cape Colony, Thomas Mortlock was on the farm, Ventnor, in the Winterberg Mountains