The saga of the Maid of Fort Beaufort

Graham Jooste tells a moving and poignant love story set against the backdrop of the war-torn Eastern Cape during the height of the Frontier Wars in the mid-1800s.

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One lovely Sunday afternoon, young John Marvell walked hand-in-hand with his sweetheart, Ann, on the outskirts of their village in Hampshire in the UK. He had often mentioned to her that he would like to become a sailor and travel the oceans in search of adventure.

Ann listened in awe to his ambitions and wondered if anything would ever come of it.

The next day, John simply disappeared. His distraught parents and the rest of the village started to scour the countryside, with many suspecting foul play from the smuggling fraternity that operated along the coastline.

The county sheriff was alerted and, after a few weeks of searching, with no results, the inhabitants settled back into their routine of fishing and farming.

A month later, the village woke to the news that Ann had not slept in her bed and was missing from her home. Another search revealed nothing, and the entire surrounding population was involved in searching and gossiping.

What Ann actually did was disguise herself as a boy and find her way to Plymouth.

After some two years at sea searching for John, she returned to England and found employment aboard the good ship Abercrombie Robinson as a steward. It is not known whether she made contact with her family.

The ship sailed for the Cape in 1842, with Ann still dressed as a boy.

During the voyage, rough seas brewed up, and Ann slipped on the deck and was injured. Fortunately, a medial doctor was on board, and to his amazement, he discovered that the steward was in fact a girl. He immediately notified the captain, John Young, who was in a quandary about what to do with the young woman.

At the dinner table that evening, Lieutenant-Colonel Lindsay and his wife volunteered to take Ann on as a nurse maid for her two children.