Henry Douglas Warden
Henry Douglas Warden was a British Resident of the Orange River Sovereignty from 1846–1852, bought the farm Bloemfontein from Johannes Nicolaas Brits.
He went to the Cape in 1819 and was sent to Natal in 1842, where he participated in the siege of Congela. Four years later he was appointed magistrate of the Transoranje and bought the farm Bloemfontein where he and his family settled. The town later became the City of Bloemfontein.
Family Roots
Family folklore dictates that Major Warden was the grandson of an illegitimate child of Prince Charles Edward Stuart, the so-called Young Pretender, alsp known as "Bonnie Prince Charlie".
His father, Charles Frederick Warden, born circa 1765 as per his military record, born 29/3/1797, baptised 7/4/1797
2. George Gustavus, born 15/8/1798, baptised 2/9/1798
3. Henry Douglas born 29/1/1800, baptised 2/2/1800
4. George Horatio born 1/1/1803, baptised 28/1/1803
Henry Douglas Warden joined the military and was posted to South Africa where he lived life-long, became a prominent person in the South African history and the founder of the city Bloemfontein that became the judicial capital of South Africa, housing the Supreme Court of Appeal.
He joined the Cape Riflemen as ensign on 25 May 1820, promoted to Lieutenant on 15 September 1825. In 1826 Lieutenant Henry Douglas Warden was instructed to cross the Orange River. In 1835 he built Fort Warden at the Great Kei Way in 1835, 7 km south-east of the confluence of the Kei and the Komgha Rivers. After displaying extraordinary courage including in the sixth Frontier War he was promoted to Captain on 1 March 1839. .
On 16 January 1846 Major Henry Douglas was appointed British Resident in Transoranje This was in the territory of the Griqua captain Adam Kok in which he was to maintain law and order. He founded the town of Bloemfontein in 1846 on the farm Bloemfontein which he had bought from Dolf Britz at £37,10s. In 1848 Andries Pretorius forced Warden to leave Bloemfontein. But in the same year after the battle of Boomplaats he returned as British Resident of the Orange River Sovereignty. From 1848 to 1852 he laid the foundations of an administration which was later to become a model republic.
After the death of Henry Douglas Warden's first wife, Major Warden married Susanna Elizabeth Minnaar on 5/7/1834 in Grahamstown.
They had 10 children:
1. Charles Frederick +1900 in a Durban concentration camp, Magistrate of Harrismith, the town Warden was named after him, x Johanna Agnes Adam. They had no children but brought up one of George Horatio's sons William Gustavus.
2. George Horatio *Chelsea London Oct 1839, +1915, transport driver, sailor, later farmer in Ladybrand, x Johanna Lucretia van der Hoven.
3. William Gustavus Douglas *March 1841 Fort Beaufort + 7/12/1922 Ladybrand, prospector in Barkly-west, x Anna Maria Jacobs. They had 4 daughters, including Johanna Catharina x Jacobus Hercules de la Rey.
4. Edward Minnaar was a Jack-of-all-trades in Griekwaland-west, rebel in the gold war – jailed for 4 years, died insolvent, x Hester Elizabeth Jacobs
5. Stephen Gustavus + 1857, shortly after his father.
6. Mary Susanna +young
7. Eliza Frances + 1836, x Stead
8. Louisa Phillipa Jan 1852 Bloemfontein – Dec 1923 Harrismith, x Carl Wilhelm Kies.
9. Mary Emily *17/2/1856 +1944, x A J Wolhuter in 1857, son of Voortrekker Frans Mathys Wolhuter.
10. Stuart Cooper *1857 in Clocolan, after his father's death. Farmer Mount Margaret, Ladybrand and his wife's names were Margaret Susanna.
Major Warden's children were educated in an Afrikaans community and played a very important part in building up the Orange Free State.
Major Henry Douglas warden's son Charles later became the magistrate of Harrismith. Three well-known streets in Bloemfontein, namely Charles Street, Henry Street and Elizabeth Street bear the names of his children up to this day. Warden sold his farm Douglas Valley outside Bloemfontein after the Declaration of Independence of the Orange Free State in 1854. After his retirement he lived in the George district where he died at his residence of pneumonia on 2 Dec 1856 .
Major Henry Douglas Warden's death was reported as follows in the Grahamstown Journal: "Tuesday 9 December 1856 - DIED at his residence, Black Waters, District of George, on Tuesday the 2nd December 1856, Major Henry Douglas WARDEN, late British Resident Orange River Sovereignty, at the age of 56 years and 10 months, leaving a widow, nine children and a large circle of friends to deplore his loss."