Hermanus, Western Cape, South Africa
In 1902 the village of Hermanuspietersfontein had its name shortened to a much more manageable, Hermanus, by the postmaster.
This gorgeous seaside town has a proud history dating back to the early 1800s when a man by the name of Hermanus Pieters followed a path etched into the ground by a herd of elephants.
Hermanus Pieters was a traveling teacher and Sheppard who growing tired of his locality, made the decision to pack up and try somewhere new.
He wandered south of Caledon along the elephant trail and ended up next to the sea where he discovered a fresh spring.
Hermanus Pieters decided to set up camps here because of this spring and the fine grazing the land provided for his livestock
. This beautiful setting became known as Hermanuspietersfontein (directly translated as Hermanus Pieters Fountain)
By 1886 so many families had moved to Hermanuspietersfontein that a church and school were built.
In 1902 after an irate postmaster’s complaint due to the towns’ exceptionally long name, Hermanuspietersfontein became Hermanus.
The residents of Hermanus fought strongly for their home to remain a sleepy, quaint seaside village rather than succumb to the modernization that was creeping up all around them. One of the most significant contributors to this "village feeling" was William Hoy who was a frequent visitor to Hermanus.
Hoy was the general manager of the railways and he ensured that the natural beauty of Hermanus would not be marred by the extension of the railway line into the village. Hundreds of years later Hermanus is the only place with a railway station in the country with no trains.
Over the years the once small fishing community on the rugged South Cape coastline has steadily grown to become one of South Africa’s most well-known and loved tourist destinations.
About Token:
Interestingly there is a Mooisig street in Hermanus "Hemel en Aarde" suburb ... The token is made of Aluminium and is 31.4 x 21.9 mm in size. It is 1.2mm thick with a smooth edge. They where also Uniface.
There is not much info available on this dairy...
Some info on Hoy ....Interesting reading
SIR WILLIAM HOY
AND THE TRAIN THAT NEVER REACHED HERMANUS
One of the holiday- makers who will never be forgotten is William Hoy. Like many other great South African settlers, Hoy was borne in Scotland.
At the age of 12 he left school and set off to Edinburgh where he found work as a junior clerk on the north British railway, earning 12 shillings per week. Hoy, who had beautiful copperplate handwriting, started learning pitman’s shorthand and soon was earning extra pocket money teaching shorthand at night school. In 1890, a recruiting officer of the cape government railways arrived in Edinburgh.
Hoy successfully applied and soon after, arrived in Cape Town. After only two years in the country, he became chief clerk to the traffic manager in Kroonstad and a year later, when he was 27 he was the Transvaal agent for the Railways.
During the Anglo- Boer war, Hoy was in charge of military railways, coordinating the movement of troops, supplies, horses, and etcetera. Hoy married Gertrude Price in 1901. T
hey only had one daughter, Maudie. His farther- in- law, Sir Thomas Price, General Manager, appointed him as chief traffic manager, a post he had earned by hard work.
Another milestone came when he bought the first type writer in the country and personally typed the first letter which possibly made him the first and only railway manager to have risen from ranks of shorthand typist. In 1910 he became the youngest railway
General Manager ever and had control of the second largest Government- owned railway in the world. It was during this time that the Hoys wanted to get away from Cape Town and they discovered Hermanus, where he could enjoy his favourite hobby- fishing.
He became the most enthusiastic patron of the village and was enchanted by its natural charm. Local businessmen and residents alike were hopeful that the general manager of the railway would soon help them by building a branch line from Bot River to Hermanus. Their hopes, however, came to nothing, as Hoy wanted Hermanus to remain unspoilt and not run over by masses that could turn up once there was a railway line.
When deputation pressed him for the line to Hermanus , he took them to Sir Lowry’s pass station on a new years day and when the train arrived , hundreds of people , laden with picnic baskets , blankets and radios poured from the train , laughing and talking excitedly.
Hoy introduced the first road service of South African railways from the railway station at Bot-River to Hermanus in 1912. Lorries to carry freight [particularly fish] and a bus to carry passengers were introduced.
William Hoy was knighted in 1916 .He died in 1930 at the early age of 62. His fishermen friends carried his coffin up a newly made pathway for the burial on the Koppie. This is a mountain just behind the station building which was very close to his heart. From that day on it was named Hoy’s Koppie.
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