Early Life
Born on the family farm Doornfontein in the Winburg District of the Orange Free State, he was the son of Adrianus Johannes Gijsbertus de la Rey and Adriana Wilhelmina van Rooyen. De la Rey was a Boer of Spanish, French Huguenot and Dutch descent. His grandfather, a school teacher and the patriarch of the De la Rey family in South Africa came from Utrecht, Netherlands. After the Battle of Boomplaats, 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. The De la Rey family moved once again, this time to Kimberley after the discovery of diamonds. As a young man, De la Rey worked as a transport rider on the routes serving the diamond diggings at Kimberley.
Read more about this topic: Koos De La Rey
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Toil, envy, want, the patron, and the gaol.”
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