Hobhouse is a tiny agricultural hamlet in the Free State, between Ladybrand and Wepener, named after the famous Boer War humanitarian and activist, Emily Hobhouse.
Briton Emily Hobhouse campaigned for the welfare of the hundreds of thousands of  Boer women and children detained in British concentration camps during the Anglo-Boer War at the turn of the 20the century. They were held in horrific conditions, in camps where disease was rife, and death was at point taking up to 50 children a day across 34 camps.
Many of these camps were situated in this area of the Free State.
Despite the history behind Hobhouse’s name, there is not much to make the tiny town more than a curiosity on the R26 Maloti Route between Ladybrand and Wepener, a route taken for the rural and mountain scenery of this part of South Africa bordering the mountain Kingdom of Lesotho.
Read more on Emily Hobhouse and the British Concentration Camps of the Anglo – Boer War.
Getting there: Hobhouse is located at the juncture of the R709 and the R26. Take the R26 from Ladybrand en route to Wepener.
