Today in history, on February 24, 1926, the Bedfordview suburb was officially named.

According to the Historical Dictionary of Greater Johannesburg, published in 1999 by Naomi Musiker and Reuben Musiker, the township dates back to 1853.

This was when Gerhadus Phillippus Leonardus van der Linden took up residence on the farm Elands Vontyn (now Elandsfontein), in the ward Suikerboschrand, part of the district of Potchefstroom.

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This area was for many years proclaimed as mining ground and until 1926 was known as Geldenhuys Estates Small Holdings.

It became grazing land in 1926 under the name Bedfordview, after the country estate, Bedford Farm, belonging to Sir George Herbet Farrar, purchased in 1893.

The name Bedfordview was the result of a competition held in 1926 to find a new name for the area overlooking Bedford Farm.

Online sources report that a young woman named Daisy Dollery won the competition and thought there was a nice view from Bedford Farm.

‘Bedford View’ (two words) was then registered. The report further states that over the years, the name has contracted to one word.

The Bedfordview Village Council book by Dr JJN Cloete, published in 1960, states that the old residents of Bedfordview still remember that there was a British Cavalry Camp on the farm Elandsfontein during the Anglo-Boer War of 1899 to 1902. It is held that the oak trees along Van Buuren Road were planted by the British soldiers.

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Ward 20 Clr Jill Humphreys shared that there is one oak tree, which is 100 years old, just outside the Bedfordview Town Hall. However, she raised concerns that its intrusive roots are ripping up the entrance pavement.

The coat-of-arms of Bedfordview features an eland holding a fountain as a tribute to the early rural history of the town.

Share your memories and photos of this suburb with Bedfordview journalist Naidine Sibanda via email, nsibanda@caxton.co.za