It will, perhaps, come as little surprise that I have a penchant for historical cemeteries. On a personal level, I find that cemeteries, and the graves in them, provide a unique and fascinating opportunity to learn more about not only one’s ancestors and family heritage but also the communities in which they once lived. From a professional perspective, because cemeteries are part of the cultural remains left behind by past communities, they can often be a valuable information resource for historians, providing clues to the socioeconomic and political conditions of bygone eras.

Given my interest in historical cemeteries and my passion for South African mining history, you can well imagine my enthusiasm when I discovered that Rene Reinders and Judith Mason, the two principal historians of the Pilgrim’s Rest museum, recently completed a project documenting the graves in the village’s historic cemetery.

The two historians spent the better part of 2014 researching all the marked graves in the cemetery and compiled such information into a small booklet, The Historic Cemetery of Pilgrim’s Rest, which is now available for purchase in the Pilgrim’s Rest information centre. As part of the project, each grave has been numbered and corresponds with numbered inserts within the booklet of the various people buried in the cemetery. To aid accessibility, a large map board has been erected just outside the graveyard, the grave numbers of which correspond to the information in the booklet.

However, it should be stated that not every grave in the cemetery is marked and, thus, the historians have only been able to accurately research and document 125 of the 335 graves. (According to Reinders, some of the graves are unmarked because the individuals wished to remain anonymous, while the other graves are blank simply due to the original tombstones having deteriorated before heritage conservation became a priority for the community.)

There is no doubt that the Pilgrim’s Rest cemetery is one of the most fascinating and unique graveyards in the country. Apart from being the resting place of many pioneers of the former Eastern Transvaal gold rush – not to mention many colourful residents of South Africa’s oldest gold mining village – the manner in which the graveyard was established is perhaps one of the village’s most enthralling narratives.

According to the recently published booklet, the origin of the Pilgrim’s Rest cemetery is closely connected to the legend of the Robber’s Grave, which is, arguably, one of the most famous graves in the country. The most fascinating aspect of this grave, apart from the intriguing name, is the fact that it lies at a north-to-south angle, rather than the traditional east-to-west angle.

While the exact history of the grave or the individual buried in it is uncertain, the legend tells the story of an unknown man who was caught and convicted of tent robbing between late 1873 and early 1874. Following his conviction, the thief was banished from the goldfields and warned never to return. Inevitably, he did not heed the warning and, a few days later, tried to sneak back into the mining camp. When he was spotted on the hill, now known as Cemetery Hill, he was shot and killed where he stood and buried where he fell. His grave lies north to south as a sign of disrespect, branding him a criminal for all posterity.

Shortly after this incident, two other people died and were buried near the robber’s grave. Thus is the unplanned origin of the Pilgrim’s Rest Cemetery on a particularly difficult and unpractical terrain. (You may want to bear this story in mind when your lungs are gasping for oxygen on the steep and strenuous hike up to the graveyard.) Who this robber was we will probably never know, but the booklet does give a number of plausible suggestions.

Interestingly, while the Robber’s Grave may be the original burial site, the oldest recorded grave in the cemetery belongs to Bazett Jarvis Blenkins, a British colonial who was both a pioneer of the Kimberley diamond and Pilgrim’s Rest gold rushes. It is reported that the 23-year-old died on June 12, 1874, on his claim, having been crushed to death by a 30 t quartzite boulder.

Kudos must be given to Reinders and Mason, working under the auspices of Mpumulanga’s Department of Public Works, Roads and Transport, which owns and operates the historic gold mining village, for undertaking such a historically enriching project. It has not only aided in the preservation of the village’s cultural heritage, but also provides tourists and interested parties with a unique opportunity to discover more about the lives of some of the Pilgrimites who have inhabited the gold-rich valley over the past 141 years.