Schreiner House Museum

About Schreiner House Museum

South African author, pacifist and political activist, Olive Schreiner, is best known for her novel, The Story of an African Farm. The book was first published in 1883 in London and quickly became a best-seller, despite causing controversy over its frank portrayal of freethought, feminism, premarital sex and pregnancy out of wedlock and transvestitism.

The Schreiner House Museum is one of Cradock’s interesting and attractive historical buildings. From 1868 till 1870 it was home to Olive and three of her siblings. Her elder brother, Theo, was principal of the “Government Aided School” in Cradock at the time. The other two siblings were her elder sister Henrietta and her younger brother Will, later Prime Minister of the Cape Colony.

Today the Schreiner House is a National Monument containing Olive’s personal library, exhibitions depicting her life and those of her siblings, and copies of all the books she wrote. There is also a bookshop selling a wide variety of books, including Schreiner’s most celebrated work, The Story of an African Farm, as well as other books by and about her.