Ignatius Ferreira
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Colonel Ignatius Ferreira |
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|---|---|
| Born |
Ignatius Philip Ferreira 5 July 1840 Grahamstown, Cape Colony, South Africa |
| Died | 13 May 1921 (aged 80) Kranspoort, Louis Trichardt district, Northern Transvaal |
| Occupation | Soldier, fortune hunter, miner and farmer |
| Spouse(s) | Baltrina Erasmus |
Colonel Ignatius Ferreira, CMG DSO (5 July 1840, Grahamstown, Cape Colony – 13 May 1921, Kranspoort, Louis Trichardt district, Transvaal) was a South African soldier, fortune hunter, miner and farmer of Portuguese descent. He is more commonly known for having the earliest gold mining camp on the Witwatersrand named after him called Ferreirastown (Ferreirasdorp), which was on the edge of the farm Randjeeslagte soon to be proclaimed as the site of a new town called Johannesburg.
He was born in Grahamstown in 1840 to father Ignatius Ferreira and mother Hendrika Pohl. He was educated at the Wesleyan Grammar School in Grahamstown. He would later marry Baltrina Erasmus, in 1862, also known as Neef Naas. He would take up farming before moving to Kimberley where he attempted to prospect unsuccessfully for diamonds but met Sam Wemmer. When Sam Wemmer moved to Middlesburg in the Transvaal to farm, Ferreira soon followed and resumed farming. He would later attempt to prospect for gold in Pilgrim's Rest, Kaapsche Hoop and in Barberton.
His military career started in the Cape Colony as a trooper in the Cape Mounted Police, training under Sir Walter Currie. While living in the Transvaal, he became a Field Cornet under Schalk Burger and served in the first war against the Secocoeni in 1876. In 1877, Ferreira raised a unit called Ferreira's Horse for the first time. Early in 1879, Ferreira and his new unit took part with other British forces in the Anglo-Zulu War in Zululand against the Zulu leader King Cetshwayo. The unit was said to consist of 115 men serving under General Henry Buller. Later in the same year on 28 November 1879, Ferreira took part in the Secocoeni Campaign in the North-eastern Transvaal, where he again commanded the Ferreira's Horse. The British and Native force under the command of Colonel Baker Russell would attack the stronghold of the Pedi tribes leader, King Sekukuni in the Sekhukhuneland. The tribe, having taken refuge in a mountain stronghold, was assaulted by Ferreira and the British and native forces over several days before the tribal king surrendered on 2 Dec 1879 to him. For his effort in the campaign he was awarded the companion class of Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George (CMG). In late 1880s, Ferreira and his horseman would take part in the Basuto War. It was raised for a third time outside Pretoria, also known as the Transvaal Horse, and would assist the Cape Colony to put down the Basuto rebels and took with it two 9-pounder field guns. It was disbanded in 1881 and at that time had a strength of 450 men.
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