Mpumalanga, BELFAST, Concentration camp and military cemetery (3)

Cemetery information:- Belfast was one of the later camps, started by the civilian administration rather than the military, between 4 and 10 June 1901. The camp was not easy to administer since it was scattered thtough the damaged town. In the beginning accommodation included houses, the Dopper church and the town. By late August 1901 tents had been erected, some in a square in the middle of the town, others on a vacant site to the west, while more were to be pitched further north. In October 1901 about two-thirds of the camp inmates were still living in houses. Health was not very good in Belfast camp. By June there was ‘much sickness’ and measles arrived in August 1901. The Transvaal Hotel was converted into a hospital to provide for the measles patients and this helped to reduce the mortality. When peace was declared at the end of May 1902, thanksgiving services were held in the church. The camp was finally closed in December 1902 after a land settlement scheme made it possible for the most indigent families to return to the land. (source: https://www2.lib.uct.ac.za/mss/bccd/Histories/Belfast/) Album complete. eGGSA captions by: Lorraine Beechey, Dal Good and Alex van Niekerk. Information also available on the GGSA Cemetery DVD:- Cemetery ID: 1692 No of names: 369 Google Earth Project Information:- GPSID: 1810 GPS: -25 41.346, 30 01.646