James O'Reilly
Lifespan: 1856 SA Scotland - 1938 Heidelberg
Occupation: Medical doctor
Family: He married Catherine Elizabeth "Cassie" Marrable (1861 Scotland - 1930 Heidelberg). They had three children.
The O'Reilleys moved from Scotland to Heidelberg in the 1880s.³ O'Reilly served as district surgeon in Heidelberg, with records noting him in the post as early as 1888 (he held it for at least 11 years before the outbreak of the Second Anglo-Boer War in 1899).
During the Anglo-Boer War (1899–1902), O'Reilly and his wife served on an ambulance train to Elandslaagte after consulting the Red Cross in Pretoria. Cassie O'Reilly worked as an (unqualified) nurse, including in the context of concentration camps or related relief efforts. She was voted onto the hospital committee and given the nursing portfolio. Due to local Afrikaner politics, Cassie was forced to resign from the hospital committee, but resumed the post soon after.³
After British forces occupied Heidelberg in June 1900, Captain Vallentin asked him to continue as district surgeon, but he refused out of loyalty to his oath to the South African Republic (Transvaal) and declined to serve under British authority. Some sources say O’Reilly was placed in charge of the hospital, but he had to resign his post as district surgeon as he was not allowed to work for the British government while still under oath to the Transvaal government.
The British suspected him of Boer sympathies. They believed he supplied intelligence, such as the locations of British forts and train schedules through Heidelberg (which Boers allegedly used for sabotage). Information was reportedly passed via maps hidden in mealie sacks to his pharmacist friend Walter Harvey's farm (nicknamed the "Boers Post Office"). British officers (including General Cooper and Major English) reportedly played tennis with him to keep him under surveillance. The hospital was closed, he was arrested (without explanation) and deported to the Cape. After Cassie complained about the conditions, the family was relocated to the Merebank concentration camp (near Durban).
After the war, the O’Reilly’s returned to Heidelberg.³ He was co-founder of the Heidelberg Club and the Volkskool, and long-serving member of the club's Executive Committee.
James O'Reilly was buried in Heidelberg's Kloof Cemetery.
O'Reilly lived in a house next to the Waverley Hotel (which was used as a hospital during the war). The property later became part of the O'Reilly business complex, and remnants like an old pigeon loft on the roof are still visible. The house received Blue Plaque heritage status in 2021.
From Blue Plaque on O'Reilly's house: "Dr James O’Reilly (1856-1939) stayed in this house with his wife Catherine Elizabeth (1861-1930). Dr O’Reilly was the district surgeon in 1888. The Doctor would leave a homing pigeon by his patients on the farms, which they would release if they required medical attention. During the 2nd Anglo Boer War, they were in charge of the Military Hospital, that was converted Waverley Hotel, that was next door. Both he and Cassie were interned in the Merewent Concentration Camp."
Comments
Post a Comment