Boston, Bellville Explained

Boston, or Boston Estate, is a suburb in Bellville, City of Cape Town, South Africa, and is one of Bellville's oldest residential suburbs.

Boston, Bellville
Pushpin Map:South Africa Western Cape#South Africa
Coordinates:-33.895°N 18.6233°W
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Name:South Africa
Subdivision Type1:Province
Subdivision Name1:Western Cape
Subdivision Type2:District
Subdivision Type3:Municipality
Subdivision Name3:City of Cape Town
Subdivision Type4:Main Place
Established Title:Established
Established Date:1900
Population Density Km2:auto
Demographics1 Title1:Black African
Demographics1 Title2:Coloured
Demographics1 Title3:Indian/Asian
Demographics1 Title4:White
Demographics1 Title5:Other
Timezone1:SAST
Utc Offset1:+2
Postal Code Type:Postal code (street)
Postal Code:7530
Postal2 Code Type:PO box
Area Code Type:Area code
Area Code:021

History

In 1900, a company from the United States of America bought a piece of land known as “the Willows” from a Mr Duminy. This land used to be part of Loevenstein. The new owners decided to subdivide the land into stands and which spurred residential development in the area.[1] The popular building style was Victorian. Bay windows, wooden floors, lead glass windows, pressed steel ceilings and wooden frame windows were common features of individual homes.[2]

Etymology

Boston is named after the eponymous city of Boston, Massachusetts. Most street names in Boston reflect the suburb's US connections, e.g. Broadway, Washington, Gladstone, Lincoln, Salisbury and Cleveland.[3]

Education

D.F. Malan High School,[4] Totius Primary,[5] Boston Primary,[6] (first English medium school in the Northern Suburbs[7]) and Vredelust Primary[8] are schools located within the area.

Murder

Boston was the location of the infamous “Scissors Murderess”, Marlene Lehnberg and her accomplice Marthinus Charles Choegoe, who murdered Susanna Magdalena van der Linde on 4 November 1974 with a pair of scissors in Gladstone Street, Boston. Lehnberg had an affair with van der Linde's husband, Christiaan. This drew South Africa and the world's attention to the suburb. Judge Justice Diemont found both guilty on 12 March 1975 and after appealing the death sentence Lehnberg and Choegoe were sentenced to jail for 20 and 15 years respectively.[9]

Notable residents

Annette Cowley, retired South African Swimmer[10]

Rashied Staggie, former leader of the Hard Livings gang. In 2004 he was convicted of stealing weapons from the Faure police station. He was sentenced to 13 years in jail. He stayed in a highly secured property in Boston. Rival gangs tried to kill him there a number of times. Crime is below average in this suburb.[11]

Francois Van Coke, stage name for Francois Badenhorst is a rock singer. Associated acts include Fokofpolisiekar and Van Coke Kartel. He also acts as a solo artist. He and his wife are local residents.[12]

Crystal-Donna Roberts, South African actress and SAFTA winner for her role in Krotoa (2017). She was also the first South African actress to walk the red carpet at the 72nd Venice Film Festival in light of her role in The Endless River (2015). She and her husband are local residents in Boston.[13]

Donovan Wright, South African Marathon runner and Comrades marathon Gold medallist, came from an underprivileged past to end up in Boston.[14] [15]

June van Merch, South African actress, currently resides in Boston.[16]

Albert Maritz, actor, grew up in Boston.[17]

Park

The Jack Muller Danie Uys Park in the suburb is used to accommodate a Parkrun.[18]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Bellville: Interesante gebeurtenisse van 1861/ Tygerbergstories . Bellville: Interesting occurrences from 1861/ Tygerberg stories . 8 May 2018. Rossouw, E..
  2. Web site: Victorian Buildings in South Africa . 8 May 2018 . Picton-Seymour, D..
  3. Web site: Boston woonareas . Boston residential areas . 8 May 2018 . Rossouw, E..
  4. Web site: kontak . Contact . 8 May 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180512175338/http://www.dfmalan.com/kontak . 12 May 2018 . dead .
  5. Web site: Geskiedenis . History . 8 May 2018.
  6. Web site: contact Boston Primary . 8 May 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180517233715/http://www.bostonps.co.za/CONTACT-US . 17 May 2018 . dead .
  7. Web site: School-History . 8 May 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180509080908/http://www.bostonps.co.za/School-History . 9 May 2018 . dead .
  8. Web site: Vredelust Primary . 8 May 2018.
  9. Web site: The scissors murder . 8 May 2018.
  10. Web site: Annette Cowley . 10 May 2020.
  11. Web site: South Africa: Staggie home shot at in drive-by attack . 8 May 2018 . Schronen, J..
  12. Web site: Nou meer pappa as rocker . He is no more a dad than a rocker. 8 May 2018. Malan, M..
  13. Web site: Voorbladstorie . 2 April 2019.
  14. Web site: Athletics . 8 May 2018.
  15. Web site: Comrades gold medal turns Wright's life around . 8 May 2018.
  16. Web site: Depressie het my vir vyf jaar kasty . 12 June 2020.
  17. Web site: Pa se liefde vir teater vorm Albert . 9 November 2020.
  18. Web site: Parkrun . 2 April 2019.