Jacobus Hercules de la Rey was born on 22 October 1847 on a farm in Winburg, a town in the then Free State Republic.
After the Battle of Boomplaats (August 1848), the family farm was confiscated by the British and the family trekked into the Transvaal and settled in Lichtenburg. As a child De la Rey received very little formal education.
He was a legendary military officer who served as a Boer general during the South African War (1899-1902). De la Rey also had a political career and was one of the leading advocates of Boer independence. He is featured in the September BattleToursZA Newsletter as the ‘Personality of the Month’.
