Notable Burials

Catherina Elizabeth von Wielligh

née Coetzee · c. 1868–1888

Civilian — Early Settlement Period

Died at Kaapsche Hoop on 12 January 1888 at the age of nineteen, only hours after giving birth to a daughter. Her death occurred during the early goldfields period, when isolation, limited medical care, and the risks of childbirth made young women particularly vulnerable.

No marked grave has been identified, and her burial location has not been conclusively confirmed. Her presence in the historical record is therefore preserved through archival documentation rather than a surviving memorial.

Her death reflects the human cost of frontier life, where loss often occurred without lasting markers and was recorded more in documents than in stone.

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No tombstone survives to mark her grave in the cemetery.

From the Kaapsehoop Historical Cemetery — Notable Burials.