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Born 21 July 1841
Hendrik Christoffel was born 21 July 1841 Rustenburg and baptised on 8 March 1842 at Pietermaritzburg. He was the eldest child of Hendrik Christoffel Janse van Rensburg born 19 September 1819, baptised Beaufort-West 5 December 1819, died. dist. Zoutpansberg 1866) (Tvl. Boedel nr 20623 - Miscellaneous) and Anna Gertruida Cecilia COMBRINCK (born 10 December 1825, baptised Graaff-Reinet 15 January 1826, died dist Zoutpansberg c. April 1861) (Tvl. Boedel nr 20620 - Miscellaneous) they were married c 1840 in Pietermaritzburg.

In 1857 he moved to the Schoemansdal, and in 1879 he was appointed as commmandant of Zoutpansberg. In the Zoutpansberg he had the farm Boschfontein, also another farm Turffontein in the sub-district of Marabastad, district of Zoutpansberg. He was the veldkornet for the sub-district of Marabastad at first. He joined in most of the battles with the wars against the African tribes. He was also nominated as military adviser for Pietersburg to the first Volksraad.

Farming
He farmed on "Turffontein" and "Boschfontein" in the district of Marabastad (south of Pietersburg)

Anglo-Boer War
The Anglo-Boer war saw the might of the British imperial forces numbering close to an half million soldiers fighting a peasant force of 90,000. The imperial forces resorted to the scorched earth policy of burning all the farms and destroying the crops and animals. The British also erected 3,700 miles of barb wire fence to try and contain the Boers. They erected 8,000 blockhouses to restrict mobility. Finally they resorted to placing the Boer women and children in concentration camps, where 28,000 died in the camps. It should me kept in mind that many African blacks were also placed by the British in concentration camps during this war, and about 14,000 of them died in the camps. Not only did many van Rensburg suffer and die, but they also played their part in the war effort. During the Anglo-Boer War Hendrik Christoffel Janse van Rensburg became the Commandant of the Zoutpansberg commando, he took over command from commandant Barend VORSTER.

Married 5 November 1861 to Cornelia Visser
He got married on 5 November 1861 at Schoemansdal, with Cornelia VISSER (b12c1d5e6f4g1), she was born in Natal 11 September 1843, and she was baptised in the Ned Herv Kerk, Potchefstroom 3 June 1844 {she was the daughter of Johannes Petrus VISSER born 23.8.1821, bapt 20 September 1822 & Johanna Christina Carolina VAN DER MERWE (b2c9d6e9f2g2) born 15 December 1825, bapt 15 Jan 1826}. A visiting Pastor Begemann performed the wedding ceremony. Cornelia died at her daughter Annie VAN ASWEGEN home, in South Rhodesia, on 27 October 1928. They had the following children:

Children
h1 Johanna Christina Carolina Janse born 1862, married Theunis Marthinus SNYMAN (He was son of Petrus Johannes SNYMAN, & Petronella Margaretha ROBBERTSE), he was born at Rustenburg, he died 9 July 1930 at his home in Pietersburg at the age of 71 years. They farmed at Dieplaagte, Pietersburg

h2 Hendrik Christoffel Janse born 1864

h3 Cornelia Hendrika Janse born 1866, married David Johannes DE VAAL

h4 Maria Elizabeth Janse born 1868, married Paul Jacobus Frederick ROOS

h5 Catharina Jacoba born 1870, married Carel Christoffel Lodewicus ERASMUS

h6 Anna Gertruida Cecilia born 1872, married Johannes Jacobus Nicolaas VAN ASWEGEN

h7 Petrus Johannes born 1874 subdistrict Marabastad, dist Zoutpansberg, married Zagrya DU PREEZ wid of Gerbrand Hugo VAN DOUW

h8 Gezina Josina born 1876, married John Gordon FOGWELL

h9 Hendrik Lodewyk Floris born 1878

Participation in Anglo-Boer War
Commandant HCJ van Rensburg was in charge of the Soutpansberg fighting force (Photo from 'Onze Krygsofficieren'). This van Rensburg was ordered to go North of the Limpopo river and destroy the railway line Hickman, Vol I, p 178, 179. He was very cautious since the enemy had cannons and he did not have any. He requested that cannons should be send to support them. The British was under the command of PLUMER and he was accountable to BADEN POWELL who was stationed at Mafeking. Van Rensburg and his men got to the border on the 19 October and their instructions was to cross the Boundary at Rhodes drift and destroy the railway line up to Bulawayo, in order to stop the British from using Beira as a supply route. GROBLER and van Rensburg did not follow the orders and Generals CRONJE and JOUBERT were very dissapointed and tried to persuade them by means of shame and failure rather than direct command. On 2 November 1899 with the extra big maxim guns, van Rensburg with 300 mounted men was able to drive the British away. The English were under the command of SPRECKLEY and when under fire they hoisted the white flag. When the burghers steped forward the English started to fire again. During the night Spreckley and his 100 troopers fled. Van Rensburg failed to surround the English that night which would have halted their escape. The British fled to Tuli, van Rensburg should have taken the initiatve and driven home his victory. Instead van Rensburg and his men waited and heard from their captives that more British reinforcements were expected,, thus he retreated. J.H. Breytenbach in Geskiedenis van die Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, Vol I, p 418 describes his demeanor as "besluitloosheid en aksieloosheid". F.A. Grobler from Waterberg was in over all command. Judge KRAUSE refers to him as "brave but easily led by van Rensburg .... they knew how really poor old Commandant van Rensburg was to listen to anyone and everyone", he also stated, "Commandant van Rensburg (whose poor mind was still in a state of doubt)".

There are two reports of Commandant van Rensburg and the time frame seems to short to accommodate both:
On Friday 15 December 1899 he was involved in the Battle of Colenso http://rapidttp.com/milhist/vol017cc.html

On the 27th December 1899, Cmdt. Van Rensburg captured Upington quoted in http://rapidttp.com/milhist/0/d00janne.html

Van Rensburg was a good natured person, even his dealings with POW reflects his kindness.

HCJ van Rensburg possibly tended to weigh up the situation a little too much and he should have hit the Rhodesians hard on several occasions but failed to do so. Almost certainly he could have overpowered the Rhodesians who were based at Fort Tuli - he had the hardware, the men, and most importantly men accustomed to fighting in these conditions. He also tended to fall for Rhodesian rumour mungering which was rife at the time. Still one man does not operate alone and those around him must have also take some blame, although the High Command in Pretoria placed it on GROBLER and H.C.J. I see that HICKMAN got most of his facts from a book Die Beleg van Mafeking by JP or JH BOTHA.