Barney Barnato

Barney Barnato was born at Aldgate, London, England on the 5th July 1852  and died at sea, off Madeira on the 14th June 1897), financier, was the second son of Isaac Isaacs, a general dealer, and his wife Leah. After receiving a rudimentary education, he left the Spitalfields Jews’ Free School when he was fourteen to earn his living in his father’s shop. He also worked behind, and occasionally on, the music-hall stage.

British TV announcer Esther Rantzen found she was related to Barney Barnato Part 2, 3, 4, of Who do you think you are.

Shortly after assuming the additional name of Barnato in his teens, as his elder brother Henry Barnato had done, he followed Henry to Kimberley, arriving at the Cape in 1873, not in legendary poverty, but with fifty pounds.
B. and his brother in’1874 established ‘Barnato Brothers, dealers in diamonds and brokers in mining property’, and B. soon became the dominant force in the firm. Two years later he had accumulated £3 000 and bought his first claims in the Kimberley mine.

B.’s dazzling career was based on a shrewd suspicion that diamonds were not a surface deposit but a volcanic extrusion; thus he was able to buy many ‘exhausted’ claims, whose real value became apparent once the blue sub-surface soil began to be worked. He was also among the first to appreciate that amalgamation would facilitate control of diamond production and thus price maintenance, by reducing the number of producers.

So in 1881, having opened a branch of Barnato Brothers in London the previous year, he floated the Barnato Diamond Mining Company in Kimberley, and set out to be the dominant financial magnate in the diamond industry. C. J. Rhodes,* of the De Beers Company, had similar plans. The resulting struggle for supremacy passed through two main stages: firstly, for the control of the Compagnie Française des Mines de Diamant du Cap, of Paris (better known in Kimberley as ‘the French company’), the only major firm still not controlled by either of the rivals in 1887, and, secondly, to buy up any shares remaining on the open market. The first stage ended with B. (who had merged all his diamond interests in the Kimberley Central Diamond Mining Company) as the owner of the French company, but with Rhodes, backed by the Rothschilds and assisted by Alfred Beit,* in possession, through a successful stratagem, of one fifth of the Kimberley Central itself.

B.’s capitulation and agreement to amalgamate with De Beers ended the second stage. Despite his originally superior resources, he had been handicapped because his shareholders, less reliable than his opponent’s, and unable to resist the lure of soaring prices, had persisted in selling, inevitably, to Rhodes or his agents. A new company, De Beers Consolidated Mines Ltd., controlling by far the greater part of South African diamond production, was formed on 13.3.1888, but only after B., an orthodox businessman, had reluctantly agreed On the face of Rhodes’s threats to resume buying) that the new company’s profits should be used to further imperialistic expansion.

Fearful of losing all his influence, B. insisted that he should be one of the four ‘life governors’ who would direct the firm. Thanks to Rhodes he also entered the Kimberley Club, and, in 1889, the Cape Legislative Assembly. Despite having been in the Kimberley divisional council since 1880, B. was no politician and was rightly regarded as the parliamentary representative of De Beers rather than of Kimberley. None the less and despite the unpopularity of the company’s policy of restricting the production of diamonds, he survived the election of 1894 and remained a member of Parliament until his death.

During late 1888 and early 1889 B., having changed his mind about the prospects of the Witwatersrand, began buying shares and property there on a scale which, though it eventually did much to inspire confidence in the area and promote its development, cost him dear in the setback of 1889, when the old extraction methods proved inadequate in a pyritic zone. He floated and controlled the New Primrose, the New Croesus, the Roodepoort and Glencairn and the Main Reef gold-mining companies, and he had an interest in most of the others.

During 1888 he acquired a majority holding in the Johannesburg Exchange and Chambers Company, which erected a new and larger stock exchange during 1889-90. The Johannesburg Consolidated Investment Company was founded by B. in 1889, with a capital of £175 000. Originally it had been a land company, and through it B. had bought the whole of old Doornfontein, but it soon became one of South Africa’s major mining and financial houses. B. also established the Johannesburg Waterworks, Estate and Exploration Company in 1889. The Barnato Bank, Mining and Estates Company, started in London in 1894, was his least successful venture; it was really nothing more than a repository for B.’s unsaleable stocks. Such a device, only possible in a time of over-speculation such as the ‘Kaffir boom’ of the mid-nineties, marred his reputation and, in 1896, without having ever published a report or an account, he discreetly merged the company with the Johannesburg Consolidated Investment Company. B. was one of the principal manipulators of the boom; his loss of £3 000 000 when it collapsed in October 1895, owing, he later suspected, to preparation for the Jameson Raid, is a clear indication of his lack of complicity, even though his nephew, S. B. Joel,* was deeply involved in the Reform Movement. B.’s attempts to set an example and bolster the market were appreciated in London; later, in 1895, he was entertained at the Mansion House and admitted to the Carlton Club.

Uninterested in politics and utterly unwilling to gain the vote in the Transvaal Republic at the expense of his British citizenship, yet able to see the Transvaal Afrikaners’ point of view, B. got on fairly well with Pres. S. J. P. Kruger.* Rather than co-operate with other ‘Randlords’, he preferred to go personally to the head of state, a procedure which Kruger appreciated and understood. B.’s representations helped to bring about the admission of the Cape railway to the Witwatersrand and, though he was unable to obtain the withdrawal of support from the Netherlands Company (N.Z.A.S.M.) or the granting of municipal government to Johannesburg, he regarded the general situation in the Transvaal as reasonably satisfactory and likely to improve.

To a limited extent the leading Reformers owed the commutation of their sentences to B.’s vehement threats to close his mines and so cause large-scale unemployment and loss of revenue. No sooner had their release been effected (11.6.1896) than B. presented Kruger with the pair of marble lions still to be seen at the Church Street entrance to the old Pretoria Presidency, and denounced the Raid as a stupid crime by people who, heedless of the Transvaal Afrikaners’ natural feelings, had diminished the chances of improved political and economic conditions.

Despite outward appearances, Barnato was a sensitive, even a neurotic man, subject to fits of acute depression and troubled by the responsibilities of his position. By 1897 overwork, strain and worry had reduced him to a nervous condition in which he threw himself overboard while on a voyage to England for his health’s sake. At Southampton the coroner’s jury found that he had died ‘by drowning while temporarily insane’ and the body, which had been recovered, was buried on 20.6.1897 in Willesden cemetery, London. The manner of Banarto.’s death caused alarm in financial circles, which subsided when his affairs were found to be in order, though he left less than had been expected: £1 000 000 (in contrast to his brother, Henry Barnato’s, £5 800 000 in 1908).

His main interests, apart from his work, were popular drama, in which he often took part, horse-racing and boxing. Lacking dignity and self-restraint, and being a powerful and aggressive man, he was often willing to settle differences with his fists, especially in his younger days, while his ignorance, rooted in an aversion to reading (though he was a member of the committee of 1889 which founded what became the Johannesburg Public Library) was extraordinary, as he hardly even glanced at newspapers.

There is, however, no doubt that his reputation has suffered as a result of his unwise practice of never contradicting rumours about himself, however malicious, and there are no valid grounds for regarding him as either a fool, or, worse, a criminal whose financial success was founded upon illicit diamond-buying.

He was, rather, a generous, public-spirited man, whose industry and financial acumen benefited South Africa in general and Johannesburg in particular, at a time of enormous economic development.

Barney and Fanny Bees, the daughter of A. Bees of Kimberley, went through a ceremony of marriage at the Chelsea registry office, London, on 19.11.1892. Three children were born of the marriage. Barney was a deeply affectionate family man, his wife and children always accompanying him during his frequent business travels. Barnato and his wife had a daughter, Leah Primrose Barnato, and two sons, Isaac Henry Barnato (who became an airforce pilot and was killed during the First World War) and Wolf Barnato.

B., who did not live to see the completion of his Johannesburg and London mansions, has no actual monument, though Barnato Street in Berea, Johannesburg, is named after him. He paid for the construction of the Barnato Wing at the Johannesburg General Hospital but the name was dropped in the course of extensive rebuilding operations in later years. There is, however, a portrait in oils in the possession of the Johannesburg Consolidated Investment Company, and the National Portrait Gallery, London, has a pen-and-ink drawing of him by Harry Furniss. There are further portraits in the McGregor Memorial Museum, and the De Beers boardroom and library, Kimberley. A well-known cartoon of  Barnato. appeared in Vanity Fair. In addition, the following books and periodicals (infra) contain portraits of B.: Raymond, Lewisohn, Emden, Joel, Marsh, The Graphic (19.6.1897) and The Illustrated London News (19.6.1897).

Adriaan Jacobus Louw Hofmeyr

Born in Calvinia on the  13 April 1854 and died in Bellville, Cape Province  on 01 May 1937, minister of the N.G. Kerk and political agitator, was the eldest son of Prof. N. J. Hofmeyr of the Theological Seminary, Stellenbosch, and his wife, Maria Magdalena Louw.

Hofmeyr  was educated at Stellenbosch where he completed the B.A. degree at the Victoria College and his training at the Theological Seminary. In 1879 he was admitted to the ministry and in 1881 ordained at Willowmore. In 1883 he was called to Prince Albert, and was, as in the previous parish, active in promoting church music and rehabilitating the indigent. Requested by the Cape Church, he visited its members in Mashonaland in 1891, becoming an enthusiastic supporter of Cecil John Rhodes’s  plans for expansion north of the Limpopo. Although he made his mark as a public speaker he refused a request to stand for election to the Cape parliament. After the Jameson Raid (1895-6) he tried in vain to reconcile J. H. Hofmeyr (Onze Jan) and Rhodes.

In 1895 he accepted a call to Wynberg but in July 1899 the Presbytery found him guilty of serious misconduct and suspended him.
Subsequently he settled in Bechuanaland where he was mainly active with political propaganda against the government and the policy of the neighbouring Transvaal Republic. He acquired an unfavourable reputation among the Afrikaners as being markedly pro-British and shortly after the start of the Second Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902) he was taken prisoner by an invading Boer commando at the Palapye railway station. From November 1899 he was detained in the State Model School in Pretoria together with British officers who were taken prisoner and with whom he identified himself completely. Among them was the British journalist Winston Churchill. When Pretoria was occupied in June 1900 he regained his freedom and on the recommendation of Sir Alfred Milner, whom he taught Afrikaans, was engaged as agent by the military authorities to persuade the republicans to lay down their arms. His efforts failed, however, and after several months he left for England where he published an account of his experiences during captivity under the title The story of my captivity (London 1901). The work was characterised by declarations of loyalty towards Britain and contempt for the fighting Boers.

Next he campaigned to influence British public opinion against the deputation of the Cape politicians, John X. Merriman and J. W. Sauer, who visited England from January to July 1901. By means of letters in the London press he also tried to refute the disclosures of Emily Hobhouse about the concentration camps. The issue was confused, however, when the Liberal opposition press released the facts connected with his suspension from the ministry and stressed that H. had no status or prestige among his own people.
After the war he settled at Kuruman. In 1926 he was readmitted to the ministry and became assistant minister at Heilbron.
In 1928 he was ordained minister at Kuruman and retired in 1933. He married Anna Joubert. A photograph of him appears in The story of my captivity (supra) and in the Jaarboek van die Nederduits Gereformeerde Kerke in Suid-Afrika, 1938.

Search over 2780 individuals listed in the 1927  Krugersdorp Voters List to find your missing ancestors and relatives. If your ancestors were miners on the Reef Goldfields then this is the place to start looking.

You will find surname, first names, title, address and occupation in this collection.

Find chemists, bus drivers, attorneys, clerks, constables, diggers, engine drivers. hairdressers, masons, shift bosses, speculators, teachers, transport riders or even undertakers.

In 1886 the partners Cecil Rhodes and Charles Rudd acquired mining properties along the outcrop of the newly discovered gold-bearing reefs of the Witwatersrand. Their acquisitions included the farms Luipaardsvlei near the present town of Krugersdorp.

The causes of the war must be sought first in South African politics and secondly in international politics at the end of the 19th century. Because of their interrelationship these two causes are here treated as one.

To a certain extent it can be said that the seeds from which the war was to stem were sown during the Great Trek. This had as one of its most important results the fact that the second half of the 19th centuty after the two Boer republics, the Transvaal and the Orange Free State, had gained their independence -was to see an increasing conflict between the political aims of the Afrikaners and the British. In events such as the Basuto wars, which the Free State had to wage for self-preservation, and the annexation of the diamond-fields, the germ of the development of Afrikaner nationalism is to be found. The annexation of the Transvaal in 1877 and the First Anglo-Boer War (1880-82) which it caused gave this nationalism such an impetus that it was to become a dominant factor in South African politics.

At the same time British imperialism in respect of South Africa was revealed. Imperialism was not by any means limited to Britain, but was a world-wide tendency. Other European powers, such as Germany, France and Italy, were also engaged in it. The result was the ‘scramble for Africa’, in which these powers competed with one another to establish colonies on the continent. This acquirement of colonies was chiefly motivated by the idea that the colonies would provide raw materials for British industries and at the same time would be markets for manufactured products. When other countries also became industrialised and established their own colonies, Britain could no longer consider herself one jump ahead of the rest of the world. This fact was of particular significance for South Africa.

The champion of the British imperialist cause in South Africa was Cecil John Rhodes, who became a member of the Cape Parliament in 1881 and rose to be Prime Minister in 1890. His great ideal was to bring the whole of South Africa under British control. He was to find his chief antagonist in President Paul Kruger of the Transvaal Republic, who became the leader of Afrikaner nationalism after 1881. Kruger’s great aim was to protect the political and economic independence of his state, to check British influence and to prevent British control. It was inevitable that there would be a clash between him and Rhodes, who succeeded, by the annexation of Bechuanaland and of Rhodesia, in surrounding the two Boer republics completely, precluding any further expansion on their part. After that the only outlet for them that was not in British hands was Delagoa Bay, to which the Transvaal built a railway, financed by German and Dutch capital.

The discovery of gold on the Witwatersrand in the Transvaal Republic in 1886 was to the advantage of British imperialism. Thousands of British subjects moved to the Transvaal to try their luck. They began to campaign for equal political rights, which the original Transvaalers could not grant for fear of losing their independence. After the agitation had continued for some years, some of the leading Uitlanders (foreigners) in Johannesburg conspired with Rhodes, which led to the abortive Jameson Raid at the end of 1895. This event not only marred the relations between English and Afrikaners in South Africa, but also revealed to an amazed world that Britain and Germany were no longer on very friendly terms. Germany had already invested a considerable amount of capital in the gold-mines, and besides she had an idea of gaining possession of Delagoa Bay. The Emperor William II was moved to send a congratulatory telegram to President Kruger on the failure of the Raid. This caused much indignation in Britain, and the Government, in which the Colonial Secretary, Joseph Chamberlain, was a leading figure, was determined to cut the knot in South Africa by terminating the independence of the Transvaal.

It was with this policy in view that Sir Alfred Milner, a convinced Imperialist, was sent to South Africa in 1897 by the British government as Governor of Cape Colony and High Commissioner in South Africa. He seized his opportunity at the beginning of 1899, when the Uitlanders in Johannesburg renewed their agitation. This time they sent a petition to Queen Victoria, begging for British support. Milner also urged interference on their behalf. Pres. M. T. Steyn of the Orange Free State, who feared that war would result and wished to prevent it, then invited both Kruger and Milner to a meeting in Bloemfontein to discuss the situation. The talks lasted from 31st May to the 5th June. The main subject was the granting of the franchise to British subjects who had settled on the Witwatersrand. Although Kruger made considerable concessions, Milner remained unsatisfied, as he was already contemplating the destruction of the independence of the Transvaal by military force. For this reason the Bloemfontein Conference failed.

After his return to Cape Town Milner urged the British government to send troops to South Africa, and they began to arrive in August and September. The Transvaal government now made further concessions regarding the franchise for foreigners, but these were not sufficient to satisfy Milner. The Orange Free State, as well as the Transvaal, saw in the arrival of the British forces a threat to their independence, and on 9th October an ultimatum was sent to the British government: if the troops were not removed, a state of war would exist between Britain and the Boer republics. And so the war began on 11th October 1899. A few days later Chamberlain stated in the House of Commons that the war was necessary to maintain Britain’s position in world affairs. The diminution of British power, owing to the rapid rise of important competitors, turned the problems in South Africa into a matter of prestige for Britain. She had to show that she could compel a recalcitrant small state to submit to British domination.

Princess Catharina Maria Radziwill was born Ekaterina Adamevna, Countess Rzewuska, in St Petersburg, Russia on 30th March 1858. A journalist and only daughter of Count Adam Rzewuski, an exiled Polish noble-man living in Russia. Christened Ekaterina, she later changed her name to Catherine Maria. Whilst living in Russia and a favourite of Tsar Nicholas she married Prince Wilhelm in 1873 at the age of 15.

Princess Radziwill

They settled in the Radziwill family palace in Berlin and moved in the highest social circles, but because of her indiscretions – under a pseudonym she had written a series of articles in La Nouvelle Revue, in which she caricatured the royal family and other nobles. Her political meddling however resulted in her being banished from the imperial German court.

In 1886 the Radziwills settled in Russia, where they lived at her country estate on the Volga, and in St. Petersburg during the winter season, alternated with journeys to the most fashionable European holiday resorts.

Although she was never officially divorced, the Princess spent more and more time away from her husband and five children until she they separated in 1895 whilst they were in Russia.

She built up contacts with influential people in the journalistic world, and more or less by chance in February 1896 Princess Radziwill met Cecil John Rhodes* at a dinner function in London given by Moberly Bell, the manager of the London Times.

In July 1899 she manoeuvred a passage on the same ship and at Rhodes’s table on the South Africa-bound S.S. Scot, and charmed him into an open invitation for lunch and dinner at his estate, Groote Schuur. However, she soon antagonised Rhodes by her intrusiveness, and he tried to get rid of her by paying her bill at the Mount Nelson Hotel – where she had entertained lavishly and spent more than she could afford – on condition that she would leave the country. The Princess duly departed and arrived in London in April 1900, but returned to Cape Town in July, and in Jan. 1902 started her own periodical, Greater Britain.

Their acquaintanceship was slight and they did not meet again until July 1899 when Princess Radziwill joined the ship in which Rhodes was sailing from England to South Africa. From then on she pursued Rhodes relentlessly. Although she hinted at a romantic entanglement, her interest in Rhodes appears to have been largely political. She was intent on making a name for her-self in South African politics. Rhodes strongly resented her interference in his affairs and went to great lengths to avoid her, but his attempts to shake her off were in vain which purported to up-hold Rhodes’s views.

It was partly as a result of the debts incurred in publishing this news-paper that she embarked on a career of forgery.

While Rhodes was away in Rhodesia and London, she forged his signature to various promissory notes, which forced Rhodes, although gravely ill, to return to South Africa, these were presented to banks and money-lenders in Cape Town. Rhodes denied signing these. Her forgeries were eventually exposed when Rhodes arranged for one of the notes to be cashed. Legal action was instituted against her and Rhodes returned to South Africa from Europe, against his doctor’s orders, to face her in court. In an attempt to have the case with-drawn the Princess threatened to produce certain papers which, she claimed, incriminated Rhodes, but she failed to produce the papers, or to attend court, and the case went against her. No action was taken by the authorities as a result of her proven forgeries and it was only when she rashly sued Rhodes for £2 000 that criminal proceedings were commenced. Rhodes died during the preliminary hearing of the criminal case and his death was widely attributed to his insistence on returning to South Africa to confront her.

She was committed for trial on charges of forging letters, telegrams and accounts, and sentence of two years’ imprisonment was passed. Rhodes gave evidence in court, but died before the trial ended. On her release from Roeland Street jail in Cape Town in 13 August 1903, after serving 16 months.

When she re-turned to Europe she commenced legal proceedings against the Rhodes Trustees, claiming £1 400 000 on the grounds that Rhodes had employed her as a political agent and was the father of a daughter born to her in 1897. There is no evidence to support either of her claims and she withdrew her action before it came to court.

Soon after her return she began to write her memoirs, which were published as My recollections (1904). After the death of Prince Radziwill as well as Cecil Rhodes, man and empire-maker (London, 1918). in 1911 and her deportation from Russia as a result of the publication of her Behind the veil of the Russian court (1913; under the pseudonym Count Paul Vassili), the Princess married a businessman living in Stockholm, Charles-Emile Kolb, and later changed her name to Catherine Kolb-Darwin. In 1916 she published Furstinnor i Röda Korsetts tecken, on the work of the Red Cross, and in the same year went to England and the United States to lecture on this subject. She settled in New York and became an American citizen. She died on 12 May 1941 in New York.

Acknowledgment Standard Encylopeadia of Southern Africa and Dictionary of South African Biography.

Image source: Acknowledgment Standard Encylopeadia of Southern Africa

Books to read: Cecil Roads & the Princess by Brian Roberts. Published by Hamish Hamilton London 1969. ISBN 241 01603 7

Cetshwayo, son of Mpande - Source: Cape Archives, E3248

What were our ancestors doing in 1882?

Who was making the headlines and What did they talk about around the supper table?

Here is a look at some of the people, places and events that made the news in 1882.

Huguenot Memorial School

The Huguenot Memorial School (Gedenkschool der Hugenoten) was opened on the 1st February 1882 on the farm Kleinbosch in Daljosafat, near Paarl. It was a private Christian school and the first school with Afrikaans as teaching medium.

The school was under the auspices of the Genootskap van Regte Afrikaners. Past pupils included the writers Andries Gerhardus VISSER, Daniël François MALHERBE and Jakob Daniël DU TOIT (Totius). The first classes were given in a small room but soon an old wine cellar was converted into a two-storey building which housed two classrooms downstairs and the boarding school upstairs. The first Afrikaans newspaper, Die Patriot, as well as the first Afrikaans magazine, Ons Klyntji, came from this school.

The Coat of Arms of "Die Genootskap van Regte Afrikaners"

The school was closed down in 1910 as by then Afrikaans was taught in government schools. In 2001 renovation work was started after a fundraising campaign brought in more than R1-million. Most of the money came from readers of the Afrikaans newspapers, Die Burger and the Volksblad. Naspers, the Stigting vir Afrikaans and KWV also made important contributions. The renovated building was opened in March 2002. It has an Afrikaans training centre upstairs and guest rooms downstairs.

The main people behind the renovation project were writer Dr. Willem Abraham DE KLERK (1917 – 1996) and Fanie THERON (chairman of the Simon van der Stel Foundation and the Huguenot Society, deceased 1989). Others who were also very involved included Sr. C.F. ALBERTYN (Naspers director), Van der Spuy UYS and Dr. Eduard BEUKKMAN. In 1985 they launched the Hugenote Gedenkskool Board of Trustees and with a R10 000 donation from the Helpmekaarfonds, a servitude on the building and land was bought. De Klerk’s wife, Finnie, and Theron’s wife, Anna, were at the official opening as their husbands did not live to see their dream come to fruition.

Dutch as official language

After the second British occupation of the Cape in 1806, English became the only official language. In 1856 J.A. KRUGER, the M.L.A. for Albert, asked for permission to address Parliament in Dutch. His requested was denied, and this started a campaign to get Dutch recognised as an official language in Parliament. On the 30th March 1882, Jan Hendrik HOFMEYR (1845 – 1909), also known as Onze Jan, appealed for the use of Dutch as an official language in Parliament alongside English. He was supported by Saul SOLOMON, a Jewish newspaper publisher and printer in Cape Town. On the 9th June the campaign finally got a positive result when an amendement was made to the Constitution allowing the use of Dutch in Parliament.

Official status was granted on the 1st May and the Act was later passed. On the 13th June, Jan Roeland Georg LUTTIG, the Beaufort-West M.L.A., was the first to officially deliver a speech in Dutch. There is no official record of the speech in Dutch, but the English version was published in the 14th June 1882 Cape Argus newspaper. The other version is in the Cape Parliament Hansard.

It was a short speech – “Meneer die Speaker, ons is baie dankbaar dat die opsionele gebruik van die Hollandse taal in albei huise van die parlement toegelaat is. Wanneer ek sê dankbaar, dink ek praat ek namens diegene wat die twee huise met hul petisies vir dié doel genader het. Ek put vreugde daaruit dat my Engelssprekende vriende die voorstel nie teengestaan het nie, my komplimente gaan aan hulle.

Ek hoop om die raad in die toekoms ook in Engels, in my ou Boere styl, toe te spreek. Sodoende kan dié Engelse vriende wat nie Hollands verstaan nie, die geleentheid hê om te verstaan wat ek probeer oordra. Ek vertrou ook dat alle nasionale verskille in die toekoms sal verdwyn en dat mense van alle nasionaliteite en standpunte hand aan hand sal beweeg om die welvaart en vooruitgang van die kolonie te bevorder”. According to the Hansard, the Speaker pointed out that the Act had not yet been proclaimed, so members could not yet make speeches in Dutch, but that the House would accommodate him this time.

On the 15th June, Cape school regulations were amended to allow the use of Dutch alongside English.

On the 26th and 27th June, the town of Burgersdorp celebrated the use of Dutch. The celebrations were organised by Jotham JOUBERT (M.L.A. and later a Cape Rebel ) who also proposed a monument to mark the occassion. A country-wide fundraising campaign was launched. The monument was built by S.R. OGDEN of Aliwal-North for £430. It consisted of a sandstone pedestal on which stood a life-size marble statue of a woman. She points her finger at a tablet held in her other hand on which the main inscription reads “De Overwinning de Hollandsche Taal “. The monument was unveiled on the 18th January 1893 by D.P. VAN DEN HEEVER, with Stephanus Jacobus DU TOIT (1847 – 1911) delivering the main speech.

During the Anglo-Boer war, the monument was vandalised by British soldiers who took parts of it to King William’s Town where they buried it. After the war, Lord Alfred MILNER had the rest of the statue removed from Burgersdorp. After much protesting, the British eventually provided Burgersdorp with a replica in 1907. This one was unveiled at ceremonies on the 24th and 25th May 1907 when former President M.T. STYEN and the author D.F. MALHERBE addressed the crowd. The original monument was found in 1939 and returned to Burgersdorp. In 1957 the damaged original monument was placed next to the replica.

In 1883 knowledge of Dutch was compulsory for some government positions. In 1884, it was permitted in the High Courts and in 1887 it became a compulsory subject for civil service candidates. Afrikaans only gained equal status with Dutch and English as an official language in South Africa via Act 8 of 1925. Dutch remained an official language until the 1961 Constitution stipulated the two official languages in South Africa to be Afrikaans and English.

Goosen and Stellaland republics

In 1882 a group of Boers established the short-lived republics of Stellaland and Het Land Goosen (aka Goshen ) to the north of Griqualand West, in contravention of the Pretoria and London conventions by which the Zuid Afrikaansche Republiek had regained its independence.

On the 1st April the republic of Het Land Goosen was declared. The terms of the Pretoria Convention of August 1881 had cut away part of the Transvaal. This led to problems as local Chiefs disputed the boundaries. Britain did not help matters by acknowledging Mankoroane as Chief of the Batlapin and Montsioa as Chief of the Barolong, both beyond their traditional territories. Supporters of Moshete, under the leadership of Nicolaas Claudius GEY VAN PITTIUS (1837 – 1893), established Het Land Goosen. One of the co-founders was Hermanus Richard (Manie) LEMMER, who later became a General in the Anglo-Boer War. Het Land Goosen later merged with the Stellaland republic to form the United States of Stellaland.

Stellaland was also a short-lived republic established in 1882 by David MASSOUW and about 400 followers, who invaded a Bechuana area west of the Transvaal. They founded the town of Vryburg, making it their capital. The republic was formally created on the 26th July 1882, under the leadership of Gerrit Jacobus VAN NIEKERK (1849 – 1896). In 1885 the British sent in troops under Sir Charles WARREN, abolished the republic, and incorporated it in British Bechuanaland.

Shipping accidents

Shipping accidents (wrecks, groundings, etc…) were common along the South African coast. In 1882 there were quite a few:

January – James Gaddarn, a barque, off Durban

February – Johanna, a barque, off East London

March – Poonah, off Blaauwberg

March – Queen of Ceylon, a barque, off Durban

April – Gleam, a barque, off Port Nolloth

April – Roxburg, off East London

April – Seafield, a barque, off East London

May – Francesca, a barque, off East London

May – Louisa Dorothea, a schooner, ran aground at Mossel Bay

May – Clansman, a schooner, off East London

May 28 – two ships, the Agnes (Capt. NEEDHAM) and the Christin a (Capt. G. LOVE), run ashore at Plettenberg Bay

June – Bridgetown, a barque, off Durban

June – Louisa Schiller, a barque, off Cape Hangklip

June – Ludwig, a schooner, off Algoa Bay

June – Gloria Deo, a barque, off Quoin Point

July – Elvira, a barque, off Durban

July – Erwood, off Durban

December – Adonis, a steamer, off Portst Johns

December – Zambezi, a schooner, off Durban

Smallpox

A smallpox epidemic broke out in District Six in 1882. This led to the closure of inner city cemeteries, and the construction of drains and wash-houses in the city. These improvements didn’t go as planned. The cemetery closures led to riots in 1886. The cemeteries along Somerset Road were not in a good condition, so Maitland cemetery was built. As the Muslim community carried their dead for burial, Maitland was too far for them, and along with the Dutch, they protested against Maitland for two years. Once the inner city cemeteries closed, the Dutch compromised but the Muslim community did not. They buried a child in the Tanu Baru (first Muslim cemetery) in protest. About 3 000 Muslims followed the funeral procession, as police watched. After someone threw stones at the police, a riot started and volunteer regiments were called out. One of the Muslim leaders, Abdol BURNS, a cab driver, was arrested. In the end, neither the Dutch nor the Muslims used Maitland. They found a piece of ground next tost Peter’s cemetery in Mowbray and used it as their cemetery.

The smallpox threat was felt further afield. It was believed that smallpox could be beaten by whitewashing the walls of homes, and for this reason lime and carbolic acid was distributed free to residents in Beaufort West. At Modder River, about 35 km from Kimberley, the settlement was used as a quarantine station to keep smallpox away from Kimberley. Travellers enroute to Kimberley had to produce a valid vaccination certificate or be vaccinated at the station.

Zulu King in London

Cetshwayo reigned as King of the Zulus from 1873 to 1884. He made an alliance with the British in order to keep his long standing enemies, the Boers, away. The alliance collapsed when the British annexed the Transvaal and supported Boer land claims in the border dispute with Zululand. This led to the 1879 Anglo-Zulu War where the British suffered defeat at the Battle of Isandlwana and Zulus at the Battle of Ulundi. Cetshwayo was captured and taken to the Cape. In 1882 he travelled to London where he met Queen Victoria on the 14th August. On his return he was reinstated as King in a much reduced territory and with less autonomy. He died on the 8th February 1884.

Sporting moments

Ottomans Cricket Club was founded in the Bo-Kaap in 1882. The Rovers Rugby Club was founded in Cradock on the 6th September 1882. The first rugby match in Mossel Bay was played on Saturday, 2nd September 1882. Mossel Bay Athletic Club played against George Athletic Club. The first bowling green was laid out in 1882 when a club was established atst George’s Park in Port Elizabeth. In 1882 the Jockey Club was founded by 10 horse-racing members at a meeting held in the Phoenix Hotel in Port Elizabeth. The first South African soccer club was Pietermaritzburg County. On the 17th June 1882, its delegates met at the London Restaurant in Durban ‘s West Street and the Natal Football Association was founded.

Transit of Venus

The transit of Venus was observed from stations in Durban, Touws River, Wellington, Aberdeen Road (a railway stop) and at Cape Town ‘s Royal Observatory.

Banking

District Bank was established in Stellenbosch in 1882. It paid between 5 to 6% on fixed deposits and 2% on current accounts, compared to the Standard Bank which paid an average of 3.5% on fixed deposits and no interest on current accounts. The District Bank did not charge cheque fees or ledger fees. It was later taken over by Boland Bank. The Natal Building Society (NBS) was also established in 1882, in Durban.

New brewery

The Old Cannon Brewery in Newlands was established in 1852. In 1882 it merged with Ohlsson’s Cape Breweries.

Steel industry

South Africa ‘s industrial development has heavy roots in its mining industry. With virtually no steel industry of its own, the country relied on imported steel. The first efforts to introduce steel production dates back to the creation of the South African Coal and Iron Company in 1882. The first successful production of pig iron occurred only in 1901, in Pietermaritzburg.

Mariannhill Monastery

The monastery near Pinetown was founded as a Trappist monastery by Father Francis PFANNER in 1882. It became a renowned missionary institute with schools, a hospital, an art centre and a retreat.

Boswell’s Circus

The BOSWELL family has been involved in the circus business since the 1800s in England. James BOSWELL was born in 1826 and went on to perform in various English circuses as a clown, horseman and equilibrist. He died in the circus ring of Cirque Napoleon in Paris in 1859 while performing a balancing ladder act. He had three 3 children, all of whom performed in circuses. His eldest son, James Clements, opened his own circus, Boswell’s Circus, in 1882 in Yorkshire.

Boswell’s Circus toured England and was very popular until it closed in 1898. James Clements and his five sons – Jim, Alfred, Walter, Sydney and Claude – continued performing in theatres and music halls, and eventually put their own show together called Boswell’s Stage Circus. Madame FILLIS, who owned Fillis’ Circus in South Africa, saw one of their performances and signed them up for a six-month contract. In 1911 James Clements, his sons, Walter and Jim’s wives, six ponies, a donkey and some dogs set sail for South Africa. The family and their animals were stranded when Fillis’ Circus closed down some months later. Fortunately for generations of South African children, this did not stop them and they went on to build a successful business that is still in existence.

Pretoria

A public sale on Church Square, Pretoria, in the 1890's

Church Square was created in 1855, on the orders of M.W. PRETORIUS. The DEVEREAUX brothers, town planners, designed a square for market and church purposes. Pretoria expanded around Church Square. During its early days the square was also used as a sports field and in 1883 the long-jumper Izak PRINSLOO set the first world record by a South African. The first church on the square was completed in 1857, but burnt down in 1882. Burgers Park was established as Pretoria ‘s first park in 1882. On the 14th June 1882, the Transvaalsche Artillerie Corps was formed under the command of Cmdt. H.J.P. PRETORIUS.

Stephanus Johannes Paulus KRUGER, later President of the Zuid-Afrikaanse Republiek, was born on the 10th October 1825. He was so respected by his people that the first Kruger Day was celebrated on the 10th October 1882. The following year it was declared a public holiday. After the Anglo-Boer war it lost official status, until it was again declared a public holiday in 1952. In 1994 the day again lost its official status.

Kimberley

On the 2nd September Kimberley became the first town in the southern hemisphere to install electric street lighting. It was an initiative of the Cape Electric Light Company. Electric lighting was also installed in Parliament in 1882, and an arc-lighting installation was commissioned in the harbour. Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, Christmas 1882 saw the world’s first electrically-lit Christmas tree installed in the New York house of Thomas EDISON’s associate Edward H. JOHNSON.

The Kimberley Club was founded in August 1881 and opened its doors on the 14th August 1882. Cecil John RHODES was one of the men behind the club’s establishment. Amongst the first members were Charles D. RUDD, Dr. Leander Starr JAMESON, Lionel PHILLIPS and J.B. ROBINSON.

Knysna

The farm Melkhoutkraal was laid out in 1770. In 1808 George REX, who arrived at the Cape in 1797, bought the farm. In 1825 Lord Charles SOMERSET decided to establish a town on the lagoon, to make use of the surrounding forests for ship building. George REX donated 16 ha of land for the new village, named Melville for Viscount MELVILLE, First Sea Lord from 1812 – 1827. Knysna was formally founded in 1882 when the two villages, Melville and Newhaven (founded in 1846) amalgamated.

Muizenberg

In 1882 the railway line reached Muizenberg. The area was originally a cattle outpost for the VOC before it became a military post in 1743. It was named Muijs se Berg after the commander Sergeant Willem MUIJS. Muizenberg was a staging post between Cape Town and Simon’s Town. After the railway line was extended, the area developed fast and became a popular holiday destination.

One of Muizenberg’s prominent residents was Professor James GILL. He was born in Cornwall in 1831 and came to the Cape in 1860, where he took the post of professor of Classics at Graaff-Reinet College. In 1871 he moved to Cape Town as Classics professor at the Diocesan College. He was an opininated man who did good things throughout his career but was also involved in many controversies. He was dismissed from the College in 1882. He opened a private school in Muizenberg and became the editor of the Cape Illustrated Magazine. He died in Muizenberg on the 1st February 1904.

Villiers

The town of Villiers, on the Vaal River, was established in 1882 on the farms Pearson Valley and Grootdraai. It was named after the owner, L.B. DE VILLIERS. In 1882 the Volksraad was requested to open a post office there, and this led to Villiers being proclaimed in 1891. In 1917 it acquired municipal status.

Newcastle

The first government school in Newcastle was established in 1882 as a junior primary school with 47 boys and 30 girls.

Okiep

The Cornish Pump House was built in 1882. It was used to pump water from the mine and this pump house is the only remaining one of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere.

East London

A view of East London in the 1880's

The prison in Lock Street was built in 1880, replacing the old one on the West Bank. It was built by James TYRRELL and comprised an officers’ quarters, administration block, hospital, kitchen and two single-storey cell blocks to hold 100 prisoners. The first execution happened in 1882, for which a drop gallows was placed in the hospital yard. St.Andrew’s Lutheran Church was established by German settlers in 1872. It is the second oldest church in East London and was dedicated on the 30th November 1882.

Grahamstown

City Hall was officially opened on the 24th May 1882 by the acting Mayor Samuel CAWOOD. The foundation stone was laid on the 28th August 1877 by Sir Henry Bartle FRERE, Governor of the Cape.

Durban

Durban Girls’ High School was established in 1882. The old theatre Royale was built in 1882 and had seating for 1 000. It was closed in 1937. The Natal Herbarium was started in 1882 by John Medley WOOD, then Curator of the Durban Botanical Gardens. It was initially known as the Colonial Herbarium but changed its name in 1910 when it was donated by the Durban Botanical Society to the Union of South Africa.

Port Elizabeth

South End Cemetery in Port Elizabeth was started. The country’s oldest art school, Port Elizabeth Art School, was founded in 1882. It later became the College for Advanced Technical Education, originally situated in Russell Road, Central. In 1974 it moved to Summerstrand and became the PE Technikon in 1979.

Kaapsehoop

In 1882 gold was discovered in the Kaapsehoop valley. When a larger deposit of gold was found near the present day Barberton, most of the prospectors moved there. The first payable gold was mined at Pioneer Reef by Auguste ROBERTE (aka French Bob) in June 1883. Barber’s Reef was the next big find in 1884. Sheba ‘s Reef, the richest of all, was discovered by Edwin BRAY in May 1885.

Port Shepstone

Port Shepstone came into being when marble was discovered near the Umzimkulu River mouth in 1867. It flourished from 1879 when William BAZLEY, one of the world’s first underwater demolition experts, blasted away rock at the mouth to form the Umzimkulu breakwater. The town was named after a Mr SHEPSTONE, one of the area’s prominent residents. Before 1901 the area depended solely on a port that was developed inside the river’s mouth. Boats were often wrecked and blocked the harbour entrance, but it provided a vital transport link for the tea, coffee and sugar cane grown by farmers along the river’s banks.

Supplies were brought in on the return voyages from Durban. With the arrval in 1882 of 246 Norwegian, 175 Briton and 112 German settlers, this shipping service became more important. The Norwegians arrived on the 29th August aboard the CHMS Lapland. The new settlers were offered 100 acre lots around the town at 7 shillings and 6 pence an acre. Port Shepstone was declared a full fiscal port in 1893 and, after Durban, became the region’s second harbour. Eventually, with the ongoing ship wreckages and the arrival of the railway, the harbour was closed down.

Harding

In 1882 the first hotel was opened in Harding. The village then consisted of three trading stores and four private homes.

Dundee

Dundee was established on the farm Fort Jones belonging to Peter SMITH, who had bought it from a Voortrekker settler, Mr DEKKER. He named the town Dundee, in memory of his original home in Scotland. By 1879, as a result of the Anglo-Zulu War, a tent town had sprung up on a portion of the farm. British soldiers attracted traders, missionaries, craftsmen and hunters but after their departure the tent town ceased to exist. With his son, William Craighead; son-in-law Dugald MACPHAIL; and Charles WILSON, Peter proclaimed the town in 1882.

Dewetsdorp

The Anglican Church was inaugurated on the 17th December 1882 by the Anglican Bishop of Bloemfontein. It was named St. Bartholomew’s. Before this, Anglicans held services in the town hall. The church’s foundation stone was laid on the 18th August. It cost £395 to build and seated 60. Rev. L.A. KIRBY was the first minister. The first baptism was on the 7th January 1883, that of Arthur SKEA. The church was declared a national monument in 1996.

Fort Hare

Fort Hare was built in 1847. It was named after Lt.-Col. John HARE and remained a military post until 1882, when part was given to Lovedale and part to the town of Alice.

Kuruman

The London Missionary Society (LMS) established the Moffat Institute in Kuruman in 1882, as a memorial to Robert and Mary MOFFATT and in the hope that it would revive the mission station.

Upington

Upington’s history starts with Klaas Lukas., a Koranna chief, who asked for missionaries to teach his people to read and write. In 1871 Rev. Christiaan SCHRODER left Namaqualand for Olyvenhoudtsdrift as the Upington area was then known. He built the first church, which today houses the Kalahari-Oranje Museum. In 1879 Sir Thomas UPINGTON visited the area to establish a police post, which was later named after him.

In 1881 SCHRODER, Abraham SEPTEMBER and Japie LUTZ helped build an irrigation canal. Abraham (Holbors) SEPTEMBER, said to be a Baster and the son of a slave from West Africa, was farming in the area in 1860. He was married to Elizabeth GOOIMAN. He devised a way to draw water from the river for irrigation purposes. In 1882 he was granted land facing the river. In 1896 Abraham and Elizabeth drew up a will, bequeathing the land to the survivor and thereafter to their three sons. Abraham died in 1898. In 1909 Elizabeth appeared before the Court in Upington on a charge that squatters where living on the land. It was here that she heard that Willem DORINGS, a smous, was claiming the land as his. This claim was to have repercussions, even in 2000 when the great-great-grandchildren of Abraham were still fighting for the land in the Land Claims Court.

Elizabeth and her sons owed Willem £326, but Willem produced documents that they sold him the land for that sum. The family were under the impression that they had a debt agreement with Willem. They refused to leave the farm and Elizabeth died there in 1918. In 1920 the family were removed from the farm by the new owners who had bought it from Willem. According to Henk WILLEMSE, Abraham’s great-great-grandson, the family started action in 1921 to get their land back. He has documents dating back all these years, which also show that Willem DORINGS was William THORN. Part of their land claim was for the land on which the Prisons Department building stands in Upington’s main road. This belonged to Abraham’s eldest daughter, Elizabeth, who lost it when service fees were not paid. In 1997 Nelson MANDELA unveiled a memorial plaque to Abraham.

The Waterfront

A view of East London in the 1880's

The Victorian Gothic-style Clock Tower, situated near the site of the original Bertie’s Landing restaurant in Cape Town, has always been a feature of the old harbour. It was the original Port Captain’s office and was completed in 1882. On the second floor is a decorative mirror room, which enabled the Port Captain to have a view of all activities in the harbour. On the ground floor is a tide-gauge mechanism used to check the level of the tide. Restoration of the Clock Tower was completed in 1997. The Robinson Graving Dock was also constructed in 1882, as was the Pump House. The Breakwater Convict Station was declared a military prison in 1882. This allowed military offenders from ships and shore stations to be committed for hard labour.

Sources:

Drakenstein Heemkring

Afrikanerbakens; Federasie van Afrikaanse Kultuurvereniginge publication

Burgersdorp: http://www.burgersdorp.za.net/burgersdorp_photos.html

Maritime Casualties: http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Ridge/2216/text/MARITIME.TXT

The Will of Abraham and Elizabeth September: The Struggle for Land in Gordonia, 1898-1995; by Martin Legassick; Journal of African History, Vol. 37, No. 3 (1996)

Land Claim Case: http://www.law.wits.ac.za/lcc/wp-content/uploads/jacobs2/jacobs2.pdf

Rapport newspaper, 23 Jan 2000

Boswell’s Circus: http://www.boswell.co.za/

Article researched and written by Anne Lehmkuhl, June 2007

Christiaan (Frederik) Louis Leipoldt

Born in Worcester, 28 December 1880 and died in Cape Town, 12 April 1947. Physician, poet and author, Louis was the fourth child of Christiaan Friedrich Leipoldt (Died: 11 November 1911), a Rhenish missionary and N.G. Kerk minister, and his wife Anna Meta Christiana Esselen (Died: 24 December 1903), the daughter of the Rev. Louis F. Esselen, a Rhenish missionary of Worcester, in whose home in Adderley Street Leipoldt was born and where he lived with his parents until he was four years old. His maternal grandfather gave Leipoldt his first lessons in reading and writing, guided his general education and exerted great influence on him during his formative years. His paternal grandfather, J. G. Lepoldt, was a Rhenish missionary at Ebenhaezer on the Olifants River and at Wuppertal. Leipoldt’s father was also a missionary, first in Sumatra and from 1879 at Worcester. In 1883, however, he became an N.G. Kerk minister and settled in 1884 at Clanwilliam in the N.G. parsonage in Park Street.The relationship existing among the members of the Leipoldt family was not a happy one, while Leipoldt’s relations with his mother were decidedly unhappy. However, he held his father in high esteem and greatly respected him.

An intellectually gifted child, Leipoldt received an exceptionally good grounding at home in the natural sciences, history, geography, languages (Greek, Latin, French), literature and Eastern religious conceptions. His father had an extensive library and gave Leipoldt informal instruction and guided him towards independent study by teaching him to consult source material and to solve problems on his own. This laid the foundation for his independent trend of thought in later years. His curiosity and spirit of investigation also manifested themselves in later life in his diversity of interests apart from literature: in education, the supernatural, in politics, psychology, philosophy, history, botany and in the culinary art. Even as a child his general knowledge was exceptional.

Leipoldt’s three home languages were English, German and Dutch. As a child he was able to read the language of the Malays. At a very early age he read a great deal, evinced a thirst for knowledge, a great capacity for work and an astonishing memory. He read the works of Dante, Bunyan, Milton, Racine and Scott, and before he was ten years old he knew long passages from the works of some of these authors. English became the language he used for journalism, while his poetry, prose and plays were written mainly in Afrikaans, although he began by writing his poetry in English.

Leipoldt’s childhood days were not happy. As his mother prevented his association with other children, he led a very lonely life in Clanwilliam. He remained at home until he had passed his matriculation examination. Two trips to Cape Town (1886 and 1890) made a deep impression on him. Although he attested to his unhappy life right to the end, nevertheless some of his poems reveal the intense joy which as a child he experienced in nature.

As an artist Leipoldt developed at an early age. His father encouraged him to read literary works and made him write essays which he criticized. This encouraged the artistic qualities dormant in him. From his sixth year he corresponded with his grandfather Esselen and this first conscious setting down of his observations trained him in the art of writing. Because of his loneliness he, even before his eighth year, created imaginary playmates in his writings. Throughout his life he continued to converse with himself in his poems, especially in his “Slampamperliedjies” (vagabond songs).

As the age of eight he wrote a tragedy inspired by Van Limburg Brouwer’s Akbar. Between the ages of ten and twelve he earned his first money with stories, which were published in the London Boy’s Own Paper and The Cape Argus, as well as with journalistic literature in The Cape Times, Cape Monthly Magazine and Scientific African. His creative and journalistic work during these early days was thus combined. At the age of fourteen he became a reporter for The Cape Times in the North-Western Cape. During these early years he also furnished news items for Johannesburg and Bloemfontein newspapers. He was helped with his poetry by an English minister, the Rev. C. D. Roberts, who also wrote poetry.

Leipoldt’s love for botany was awakened early in his life. In his twelfth year he met the well-known German botanist Rudolph Schlechter collecting plants in the veld outside Clanwilliam. Schlechter invited Leipoldt to accompany him on his trip by ox-waggon to Namaqualand. He later also became friendly with other well-known botanists such as Peter MacOwan, Harry Bolus and Rudolph Marloth.

Journalism was Leipoldt’s first profession. In 1896 he wrote to The Cape Times on the colour question, which gave rise to a violent controversy and F. S. Malan the editor of Ons Land devoted a leader to it. In 1898 Leipoldt published a number of sketches on Clanwilliam in the Cape Industrial Magazine. He also matriculated in that year. As the life in Clanwilliam was too confining for his budding genius, he moved to the Cape where he became a journalist for De Kolonist. Before his twentieth year he was already a contributor to several leading newspapers abroad. When the Second Anglo-Boer War broke out Leipoldt was unable to reconcile himself with the pro-Rhodes sentiment of De Kolonist and Het Dagblad and became the Dutch correspondent for the pro-Boer newspaper the South African News, which sent him to the North-eastern front. He also wrote communiques on the war for overseas newspapers such as the Manchester Guardian and Daily Express (England), Het Nieuws van de Dag en De Telegraaf (Holland), Petit Bleu (Belgium), the Hamburger Neueste Nachrichten (Germany), the Chicago Record and the Boston Post (U.S.A.). During the war Leipoldt travelled about a great deal in the Cape Colony as a shorthand recorder for the circuit court, and in 1900-01 he attended the court sessions dealing with Cape rebels. During this period he wrote a number of poems which appeared later in his first volume of poetry, such as ‘Oom Gert vertel’, which originated in Dordrecht in 1901, based on incidents related to him by an old man shortly after the engagement at Labuschagnesnek. His first published verses were war poems which appeared during the war in English in the pro-Boer New Age. In 1900 he published two sketches ‘De Rebel’ and in 1901 ‘Bambinellino’ in the Dutch art publication Elesevier’s Geïllustreerd Maandschrift . They were written in Dutch but with an Afrikaans dialogue. It was the first belletristic contribution by an Afrikaans author to a Dutch paper. ‘De Rebel’ was the forerunner of the poem ‘Oom Gert Vertel’.

At the end of 1899 the editor of the South African News was imprisoned under martial law and the nineteen-year-old Leipoldt became editor until October 1901, when the paper was temporarily suspended under martial law. Leipoldt refused an offer from a Rhodesian newspaper and in 1902 went abroad. He travelled through Holland, Belgium, France and Spain as a reporter for the Manchester Guardian. In 1903 he enrolled at Guy’s Hospital, London, as a medical student but continued with his journalism, writing for English and American papers. In addition he attended lectures on law, and on occasion he travelled to the Netherlands to interview Pres. S. J. P. Kruger in Utrecht on behalf of the British press. In 1904 he became the editor of Sir Henry Burdett’s The Hospital, travelling to Europe and America to collect in-formation about hospitals. He also edited School Hygiene, the official publication of British school physicians.

In 1907 Leipoldt completed his medical studies, being awarded the gold medal for surgery as well as for medicine. He became a houseman at Guy’s hospital and furthered his studies in orthopaedics and children’s diseases in Berlin, Bologna, Vienna and Graz. In 1909 he went on a six-month luxury yachting excursion along the coast of America as personal physician to the eleven-year old son of the millionaire press-magnate, Joseph Pulitzer. In the U.S.A. he visited orthopaedic centres. In 1909 he received the F.R.C.S. in London and again travelled to France, Italy, West Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. In 1909 his first book appeared: The ideal graduate study institution: what Germany has done (London, 1909). Between 1910 -11 he was attached to the large children’s hospital in Chelsea, London, and to the German hospital at Dalston. At this time he published his first book on nutrition and diet: Common sense dietetics (London, 1911), an adaptation of which he issued a quarter of a century later entitled The belly-book or diner’s guide (London, 1936).

He became a school doctor, first in south London and then in Hampstead, and in this capacity he frequently travelled to the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy and the U.S.A. In January 1912 for health reasons he accepted the post of ship’s doctor in the Ulysses, on its voyage from England to the Dutch East-Indies, where he visited Java, Sumatra and Borneo. In June 1912 he returned, resumed his work in Hampstead and wrote a manual entitled The school nurse: her duties and responsibilities (London, 1912). While in London Leipoldt studied for and obtained various diplomas in cookery. Throughout his life he was interested in the culinary art and is known for his Kos vir die kenner (Cape Town, 1933). During the war in the Balkans (1912 -13) he again acted as war correspondent, for the allies, the Bulgarians, Roumanians, Servians and Greeks in their struggle against Turkey, but as a physician he on occasion even tended wounded Turks and as a mark of gratitude the University of Constantinople conferred an honorary degree on him.

Leipoldt’s poetical talent flourished during the years that he spent overseas, but as a poet he still felt the indelible effect of the Second Anglo-Boer War. In 1910 his friend J. J. Smith helped him in London with the editing of his first volume of poems, Oom Gert vertel en ander gedigte (Cape Town, 1911). It consisted of poems which dated from 1896 and is one of the most important volumes of early Afrikaans poetry. Together with J. F. Celliers and Totius (J. D. du Toit), whose volumes of poems appeared more or less simultaneously, he became known as one of the ‘Driemanskap’. The poems included in Leipoldt’s first volume are written in a magnificent colloquial Afrikaans bearing the characteristic Afrikaans and South African stamp; the volume has also some of the finest Afrikaans war poems. The poem which also furnishes the title of the volume is a dramatic monologue and Oom Gert is regarded as the first vital character in Afrikaans literature. This volume also contains brilliant nature poems and illustrates Leipoldt’s interest in the child, both in his role as a physician and later as a foster father.

Leipoldt in his role of the child’s friend reveals himself at an early stage in his other literary works. One of his most attractive stories entitled ‘Die weeskindjie wat ‘n moeder wou hê’, appeared in 1914 in Die Brandwag.

In 1914 Leipoldt returned to South Africa, and in April of the same year he became chief medical inspector of schools in the Transvaal, the first post of its kind in South Africa. When the First World War broke out in August, Gen. Louis Botha commandeered him for service in the Department of Defence. Later on he accompanied Botha as his personal physician, but in June 1915 he resumed his duties as school medical inspector.

In the meanwhile Leipoldt continued his work as a creative artist, and in this year revealed his ability as a dramatist. His first published play, Die Laspos, a one-act play which appeared on 25 May 1919 in Die Brandwag, was followed in 1920 by his second volume of poems Dingaansdag (Pretoria, 1920) which did not attain the high standard of the first. It dealt with the Great Trek and the Afrikaner nation during the First World War and the Rebellion. In his first volume the poet had sympathised and associated himself with the suffering and fortunes of his people, but in the new volume his political sentiments had undergone a change. Shortly afterwards a third volume of poems entitled Uit drie wêrelddele was published in Cape Town in 1923, and these poems were a great improvement on those of the previous volume. Some of them were written in England and others in the East Indies. Three of the best known poems in this volume are ‘By die vlei’, ‘Die man met die helm’, and ‘Grys-blou butte’, depicting a lonely man advanced in years. In ‘Droom en doen’ Leipoldt endeavours to forget the Second Anglo-Boer War and sallies forth to meet a new future. The poet who was so indignant about the war in Oom Gert vertel en ander gedigte now sought conciliation. He also revealed a strong cosmopolitan outlook.

Leipoldt evinced a strong interest in the East, its religion, customs, inhabitants and scenery, as is illustrated by his journey to the Orient (1912) and his poems on the East Uit Drie wêrelddele and Uit my Oosterse dagboek (Cape Town, 1932). His art was permeated by his interest in the exotic, the strange and extraordinary, the supernatural, the problem of death, the here-after, and in abnormal and deviate characters. Whereas Leipoldt had always been a man of sober, sound judgement in the scientific field, in journalism and in his everyday relationship with people, in the sphere of art he tended to be swayed by emotion.

In 1916 he assisted with the medical inspection of schools in Natal and in 1919 in the Cape. As a medical inspector of schools he did much for school tours, school holiday camps and convalescent homes for ailing children. His love of teaching was not only clearly discernible in his medical work but also came to the fore in various writings, such as Praatjies met die oumense (Pretoria, 1918), in which he proffered a miscellany of advice to parents on educational, medical and other topics. In 1919 Leipoldt and Dr Anne Cleaver established a school clinic in Johannesburg, the first of its kind in South Africa, and in the following year he published Die Afrikaanse kind in siekte en gesondheid (Cape Town, 1920). Among his best-known books for children are the educational Praatjies met die kinders (Pretoria, 1920), Stories vir kinders (Cape Town, 1922) en Kampstories (Pretoria, 1923), which appeared at a time when there was comparatively little in the way of Afrikaans reading matter for children.

During the time that Leipoldt was living in Pretoria in the capacity of medical inspector of schools he was also a regular contributor to Die Brandwag . He edited the Transvaal Medical Times and published poems and popular science articles in periodicals and newspapers such as De Goede Hoop, Ons Moedertaal, Die Boervrou, Die Volkstem and Die Huisgenoot. In Pretoria he became friendly with Dr F. V. Engelenburg, the editor of De Volkstem. In 1922 Leipoldt joined the editorial staff of the newspaper and in 1923 became its assistant-editor. However, he could not agree with Gustav S. Preller who succeeded Engelenburg in 1924 and was dismissed in 1925, butLeipoldt continued to write the column ‘Oom Gert se diwigasies’ for the paper until 9 December 1931.

In the early twenties Leipoldt published his greatest dramatic work entitled Die heks (Cape Town, 1923), which he had commenced writing in English during the years 1910-11 while in London. It was rewritten in Afrikaans in 1914 prior to his return to South Africa and he continued working on it until it was published in 1923. Even today it is regarded as one of the most important Afrikaans dramatic works and established Leipoldt as one of the pioneers in this field.
In the 1924 general election he stood as a candidate for the South African Party in the Wonderboom constituency, but was defeated. In April 1925 he again moved to Cape Town to set up practice as a child specialist, and spent some of his happiest years there until his death. Leipoldt cherished a deep affection for Cape Town with its scenic beauty and historical associations with the past.

Leipoldt opened his home ‘Arbury’ in Kenilworth to underprivileged boys who resided with him as his foster children. He legally adopted one boy, Jeffrey Leipoldt. In 1928 he accompanied a group of school children on a two-month holiday tour to England.

In Cape Town Leipoldt wrote medical articles for The Cape Argus. In 1926 he became secretary of the Medical Council of South Africa and editor of the South African Medical Journal, and also acted as a part-time lecturer on children’s diseases at the University of Cape Town (1926 -39). In 1939 he became part-time secretary of the South African Medical Council, travelled throughout the country and attended congresses and meetings. In 1934 an honorary D.Litt. degree was conferred on him by the University of the Witwatersrand.

From the thirties onwards Leipoldt showed a growing interest in his literary work, and these years proved particularly rewarding for him as an artist. Die laaste aand (Cape Town, 1930) was the first Afrikaans play ever written in verse form, although he had begun working on it as early as 1915. It is one of his best works, for which together with Die heks he was awarded the Hertzog prize in 1944. Die Bergtragedie (Cape Town, 1932), a long poem on which he had begun working before 1900 (originally in English), is not of a high standard although Leipoldt considered it good. A volume of poems entitled Skoonheidstroos (Cape Town, 1932), appeared at this time and included poems written during the period 1923-32. This work was also awarded the Hertzog prize and contains a number of Leipoldt’s loveliest poems, such as ‘n Kersnaggebed’, although it never achieved the heights attained by Oom Gert vertel en ander gedigte. At the beginning of the thirties a number of less successful works appeared: Afgode (1931), Die Kwaksalwer (1931) and Onrus (1931). Apart from these dramatic works Leipoldt also published three one-act plays: Jannie (1919), ‘n Vergissing (1927) en Die byl (1950).

His prose works were chiefly a product of the thirties. The first to appear was Waar spoke speel (Cape Town, 1927); it was followed by Wat agter lê en ander verhale (Cape Town, 1930); a long psychological novel: Die donker huis (Cape Town, 1931); and a lengthy historical novel set in the period shortly after the Great Trek: Galgsalmander (Cape Town, 1932). Die moord op Muizenberg (Cape Town, 1932) is a detective novel. Die rooi rotte (Cape Town, 1932) is a book of short stories. Uit my oorsese dagboek (Cape Town, 1932) is an absorbing travel book. Die verbrande lyk (Cape Town, 1934) is another detective story. Die dwergvroutjie (Cape Town, 1937), is a psychological story and was originally written in English. Bushveld doctor (London, 1937) is a well-written autobiography. This was followed in 1939 by Die Moord in die bosveld (Cape Town, 1939). In his prose works, which consist mainly of murder and detective stories, Leipoldt’s preoccupation with the abnormal in psychology, and with the supernatural and the mysterious comes to the fore. His prose works never attain tLeipoldthe heights achieved in his plays and poetry, yet he possesses a flowing and absorbing narrative style; and although it was small, he undoubtedly had a share in the development of Afrikaans prose. During these years he also wrote stories for children: Paddastories vir die peetkind (1934), Die wonderlike klok, Die mossie wat wou ryk word (1931) en Die goue eier (1937). He also published popular science fiction for children as exemplified in As die natuur gesels (two volumes, Cape Town, 1928, 1931).

Apart from his creative work during the thirties he published a number of works such as Medicine and faith (London, 1935) and various historical works based on secondary source material: firstly, Jan van Riebeeck: a biographical study (London, 1936), of which a German translation also appeared : Holland gründet die Kapkolonie: Jan van Riebeeck Leben and Werke (Leipzig, 1937). There is also an Afrikaans version entitled Jan van Riebeeck: die grondlegger van ‘n blanke Suid-Afrika (Cape Town, 1938). Leipoldt had begun to collect the material for his biography as early as 1896. The most significant facts about the Voortrekkers were summarised by him for young people in Die groot trek (Cape Town, 1938), which coincided with the Voortrekker centenary. During the Huguenot jubilee year he also published Die Hugenote (Cape Town, 1939). After his period of office as secretary of the South African Medical Council and editor of the council’s journal had ended in 1944, he devoted himself mainly to journalism and to acquiring information for a biography on Pres. S. J. P. Kruger which he had begun in 1906 but never completed. In his poetry and plays Leipoldt also showed an interest in historical characters such as Wolraad Woltemade, Pieter Gijsbert Noodt and other figures like De Lesseps and Multatuli.

When the Second World War broke out Leipoldt favoured South African participation. He wrote sonnets on the war for The Cape Times, the Forum, Die Volkstem, en De Stoep, a Curacao newspaper.

Leipoldt died shortly after the war of a heart complaint caused by rheumatic fever which he had contracted at the age of seven. The casket containing his ashes was interred at the entrance of a cave surrounded by boulders in the rocky country of the Pakhuispas near Clanwilliam, that countryside which he had loved so deeply, a short distance from the Clanwilliam-Calvinia road near Kliphuis. It is a picturesque part of the country where he roamed as a child. After his death three volumes of his poems were published: Die moormansgat en ander verhalende en natuurverse (Cape Town, 1948); Gesëende skaduwees (Cape Town, 1949) which contained poems written during the period 1910 to 1947; and The ballad of Dick King and other poems (Cape Town, 1949), Leipoldt’s only volume of English poems. This contains verses written at the time of the Second World War and also older poems, some even dating from his youth. They appeared under the name Pheidippides, a pseudonym whichLeipoldt had used in newspapers when publishing his English poems on the Second World War.

After Leipoldt’s death, 300 years of Cape Wine (Cape Town, 1952) and Polfyntjies vir die proe (Cape Town, 1963) also appeared, compiled from particularly absorbing articles written under the pseudonym K. A. it. Bonade in Die Huisgenoot (1942-7). His valuable collection of cookery books and his manuscripts of recipes are in the S.A. Library, Cape Town.

The University of Cape Town has a valuable and comprehensive collection of Leipoldt’s letters, manuscripts and journalistic work, as well as books which he donated to the library, such as the comparatively unknown poems which he wrote for the University of Cape Town Quarterly in the thirties.

Biographical information written by Leipoldtand published in Die Huisgenoot, include ‘Clanwilliam: herinneringe aan ‘n ou dorpie’ (5 November 1926), ‘Eerste skoffies’ (1 December 1933), ‘Oor my eie werk’ (6 December 1940), ‘Jeugherinneringe’ (9 May 1947) and ‘My jubileumjaar’ (17 January 1947). His ‘Outobiografiese fragment’ appeared post-humously in Standpunte (18 December 1950). He never succeeded in carrying out his resolution to write an autobiography.

Leipoldt’s literary output constitutes only a part of his rich, versatile life, and yet it represents one of his greatest contributions to South Africa. Remarkably diverse in nature, his works include articles on popular science, journalistic work, translations, and numerous volumes of poetry, plays, novels, short stories and travel reminiscences. The quality of his work is not uniform and his poems frequently lack finish; nevertheless he is still one of the greatest Afrikaans poets and dramatists.

Leipoldt, who from childhood had received a strongly English-orientated education, enjoyed moving in English circles and during his later years spent most of his time among the English-speaking section. As a poet, although he wrote typically Afrikaans poetry and transformed the then unmoulded literary Afrikaans of the early twenties into an elevated medium for poetry, later he tended to ridicule the Afrikaner, the typically Afrikaans characteristics, and the Afrikaans language which he had employed so skillfully as a writer. He even spoke disparagingly of his war poems, describing them as a product of youthful immaturity. He had always been opposed to the Afrikaans-Calvinistic viewpoint, although he frequently employed Christian sentiments in his poems and was without difficulty able to identify himself with the aspirations of the Afrikaner. The English press devoted a good deal of space to Leipoldt in their columns at the time of his death; nevertheless, his passing was felt most keenly by the Afrikaans-speaking section and his memory remains indelibly imprinted among the Afrikaner people. There are two facets discernible in Leipoldt’s character: on the one hand his astounding versatility, his ability to contend with a number of interests simultaneously, and on the other the picture of a person of many conflicting emotions.

Although Leipoldt confessed to being lonely, he had a wide and influential circle of friends and acquaintances, including Gen. J. C. Smuts, Dr Engelenburg, Prof. P. D. Hahn, John X. Merriman, the Roman Catholic priest F. C. Kolbe, Prof. P. MacOwan, Dr Rudolph Marloth, Marcus Viljoen and Dr Harry Bolus. It was Dr. Bolus who encouraged Leipoldt’s love of nature, made him conscious of the beauty of Shakespeare’s sonnets, and provided him with financial backing when he went overseas in 1902. Abroad Leipoldt made the acquaintance of Pres. S. J. P. Kruger, Dr W. J. Leyds and Ramsay Macdonald. Leipoldt also numbered Cecil John Rhodes and a few prominent women among his acquaintances. Although he never married and on occasion made odd pronouncements about women and also wrote little love poetry, he was known for his conspicuous gallantry towards ladies and there are agreeable female characters in his poetry, in “Die heks” and in “Van Noot se laaste aand”.

In his poetry Leipoldt created an impression of strong individualism and detachedness, yet he contrived to serve his fellowmen in public life in many spheres: as a physician, as a journalist and as a lover of children.

There is a statue of Leipoldt in plaster of Paris by Florencio Cuairan in the Jagger Library of the Cape Town University, and one in bronze in the public library, Clanwilliam, and in the Medical Centre, Wale Street, Cape Town. Photographs taken at different stages in his life appear in Burgers (infra).

Source: Dictionary of South African Biography (Volume II)

Image: Cape Town Archives

Rhodes Memorial Under Construction 1907

James Andrew Clift (1867-1944) left his home town Mousehole in Cornwall in 1894 to join thousands of Cornish stonemasons and miners working in the Witwatersrand ‘s gold mines. He soon found work fixing steel head gears onto the large stone anchor blocks that were used to transport men and ore in the underground mines.

In 1895 he headed south to work as a stonemason in the Higgo Quarry in Kloof Neck at the foot of Table Mountain. The quarry was owned by the Higgo brothers, Cornishmen who had immigrated to South Africa with their parents in 1850. The Higgo Quarry was one of the largest in Cape Town and employed as many as 120 masons at a time.

In 1896 Clift’s wife Caroline, son John Andrew (6) and daughter Linda (5) joined him in Cape Town. The Clift family returned to Cornwall at the outbreak of the South African, and settled on the Scily Isles off the Cornish coast for the duration of the war, returning to Cape Town once peace was declared. In 1902 the family lived in Fir Cottage in Higgovale.

By 1906 James Clift was working as an independent granite contractor. His first large contract was to supply and erect the granite for the Rhodes Memorial on Devil’s Peak. The memorial in honour of Cecil John Rhodes was designed by Sir Herbert Baker.

The Rhodes Memorial contract was completed in 1908, and realising that Cape Town ‘s own supply of building grade granite had for all practical purposes come to an end, Clift decided to open his own quarry and masons’ yard in Paarl.

At the time Paarl was at the centre of a thriving granite quarrying and contracting industry. There were several commercial quarries on the slopes of Paarl Mountain. Joseph Allen had a quarry on the farm Labori and Wilson & Carr owned the Bon Accord Quarry. Other quarry owners and operators included McBurny & McGunn, Bishop & Williams, Steward & Co, De Palo, Monteni and Minnaar.
Clift decided to lease the Minnaar quarry on the farm De Hoop in southern Paarl. Today the quarry is just north of the KWV’s head office in Main Street, and surrounded by residential suburbs. He also opened a masons’ yard in Concordia Street near Paarl Station. In 1916 the Clift family moved into Sarnia Villa opposite the yard. This granite double storey house is still in the Clift family. 

Clift continued to supply granite for many of Cape Town ‘s historic landmarks such as the Houses of Parliament, First National Bank in Adderley Street and the Old Mutual and Post Office buildings in Darling Street. In Paarl his business worked on the Town Hall, the KWV’s head offices, the First National Banks in southern and central Paarl, as well as schools such as Paarl Boys’ High. His last major contract was the Huguenot Monument in Franschhoek, completed in 1944.

Today the business James Andrew Clift started is the oldest family owned granite contracting business in South Africa and managed by his great-grandsons. Their quarry on De Hoop farm is also the oldest granite quarry still in use.

James and Caroline Clift in 1938

James Andrew Clift (1867-1944) married Caroline Ethel Davies (1868-1945) on the 10 November 1889 and had seven children: John Andrew (1890-1918), Linda (1891-1966), Karl (1897-1902), Carrie (1899-1899), Elizabeth Emma (1904-?), William (1906-1994) and James Frederick (1908-1981).

Article written by: Marguerite Lombard (nee Lombard)
Marguerite would love to hear from people who have any information on Paarl’s quarry owners, masons or granite industry in general, email her at: [email protected]

IMAGES:
Rhodes Memorial Under Construction 1907
Clift’s masons, during WW2 possibly during construction of the Franschhoek monument. James Andrew Clift is seated in the centre, flanked by his two sons William (Bill) and Frederick (Fred) on his far right. To his left is Kathy Cooper (secretary) and possibly Pieter Haupt (bookkeeper).
James and Caroline Clift in 1938

Have you ever wondered why your Ancestors became Freemasons? Was it because of the idea of belonging to a secret society, or perhaps a night off from the nagging wife once a week? Men join and practice Freemasonry to make themselves better human beings, and the rituals, symbolism, and teachings of Freemasonry focus on morality and ethics.

What are Free Masons?

Freemasonry is a fraternal secret society limiting its membership to adult men who believe in a Supreme Being. While it absorbed a good deal of occult symbolism from its roots in Renaissance Hermeticism, and a great many male occultists have belonged to it in the last 300 years, it is not an occult order. Similarly, while it was closely associated with liberal political causes for the two centuries after 1717,and Masons such as Louis Thiabult, Piet Retief and President Brand and Cecil John Rhodes have played important roles in political affairs and South African history, it is not a political organization. Non-members are often surprised to learn that its actual focus is self-improvement.

What do they do?

No Freemason is ever asked to perform any task or take any oath which may conflict with his duties to his God, his family or as a citizen. Freemasonry is not a religion, but it demands that every member believe in a power greater than man. It does not focus solely on charity, but strongly promotes charitable activities and encourages members to contribute to those less fortunate than themselves. It is certainly not politically motivated, but it expects its members to play a meaningful role in society.

In simplest terms, Freemasonry’s aim is to improve the world we live in by uplifting the moral and spiritual standards of the men living in it.
Freemasonry is many centuries old, the most commonly accepted theory being that it originated back in medieval times when the great cathedrals of Europe were built. The stonemasons who created these magnificent Gothic structures formed craft guilds to protect the secrets of their trade, to help one another and to pass on their knowledge to worthy apprentices.
In 17th century England, these guilds began accepting honorary members. These new members were men of learning and position who were not working stonemasons or even associated with the building trades. As time passed, they developed into a separate body, referred to as the Free and Accepted Masons, and it is from this that structured Freemasonry was formed. The earliest recorded “making” of a Freemason was in 1646, being that of one Elias Ashmole.

History of the Masons in South Africa

Formally organised Freemasonry, as we know it today, began with the founding of the Grand Lodge of England in 1717. Looking to expand their horizons, they opened foreign Lodges such as The Hague in Holland in 1734. As the Order progressed, so a number of new Grand Lodges were established, one of the earliest being the Grand Lodge National of the Netherlands in 1758. Each of these Grand Lodges then sought to spread further by establishing new Lodges both at home and in their territories overseas.

While history shows that there were a number of Freemasons living in the Cape prior to this date, it was on the 2nd May 1772, that the Dutch formally introduced Freemasonry to South Africa and 10 founding Brethren established Lodge de Goede Hoop under the Mastership of Abraham Chiron. To say that these early Brethren laboured diligently is an understatement and it is recorded that some 400 degrees were conferred in the first 9 years and that in 1775 alone, the Brethren met 32 times and conferred 53 degrees.

It is worth noting that, in the early days, the Cape’s main purpose was to provide a safe shelter and halfway-station en route to the East Indies and the Dutch East India Company played a major role in all local activities. Indeed, the Lodge depended for its existence on visitors and generally failed to attract the local residents as members, mainly because of the rigid social and religious attitudes of the confined Cape society. This consisted mainly of two broad classes, the Company official and free burgher. Due to rigid Company policy their employees were not permitted to trade or own land until they were released from their contracts, and it was only after this that they could settle in the Cape and become free burghers. The Masonic philosophy of equality in the Lodge violated the structure in the Cape where difference in rank between Company officials and free burghers was practiced. Religious interference was also widespread.

In the early 1780s, war broke out between England and Holland and, as a result, ships stopped calling at the Cape. This had a major impact on Masonic labours and contributed to the Lodge, in 1781, going into recess for a period of some 9 years. The Lodge recommenced activities in the early 1790s, this time attracting more prominent persons of the Company, such as Johannes Andreas Truter, later to become Chief Justice of the Cape.

These more influential members offered some protection from the Company and the pulpit and, whereas previously almost all the members were of a transient nature, more and more of the new initiates were locally born and primarily resident in the Cape – a far more stable situation. The Lodge has now laboured, uninterrupted, for well over 200 years.

It is not the objective of this article to concentrate on a single Lodge, and little more will be said about Lodge de Goede Hoop itself, although it is impossible to ignore the very major role it has played in all aspects of the history of South African Freemasonry. Indeed, in one way or another, every single one of the Lodges operating in this country can trace its foundations back to the Mother of all our Lodges.

In the late 18th century, after the year of the British occupation in 1795, there were a large number of members of overseas Lodges living in Cape Town. De Goede Hoop allowed them to use their facilities, with certain restrictions, and they functioned as irregular Lodges. One of these was Goede Verwachting, which was duly warranted as a lawful Lodge in the early 1800s. In the process of ratification, the name was changed to de Goede Trouw, now our Number 2 Lodge.

Further impetus was given to Freemasonry in the Cape by the take over of the Batavia Republic in 1802, and, after that, with the arrival of Jacob de Mist, a Deputy Grand Master in Holland, who then became the 1st Deputy Grand Master, National Netherlandic Constitution in the region. He had been sent out to re-establish the Dutch presence in the Cape and one of the important avenues he used was Freemasonry.

The 2nd British occupation of the Cape Colony saw the return of the British Military Lodges. The Commander in Chief was a Freemason and, seeing him as an ally, the Deputy Grand Master National welcomed him into Lodge De Goede Hoop as a protector.

However, the influx of English speaking members into the Lodge brought its own tensions. Almost inevitably, the English speaking members broke away in 1811 and formed the British Lodge, this being the 1st permanent Masonic involvement in the territory by the United Grand Lodge of England.

Political circumstances triggered off the Great Trek when thousands of burghers moved North. Coupled to the general economic climate, this adversely affected Freemasonry at the time. Relative prosperity in the 1850s, however, resulted in an influx of English settlers and the development of the Eastern coast and the Natal Colony. The Craft was revitalised, with English Freemasonry spreading to the Eastern part and Dutch Freemasonry towards the newly formed Republics of the Orange Free State and Transvaal. Once again, the use of English in the Dutch Lodges created tensions and in 1860 resulted in the formation of the very 1st Lodge under the Scottish Constitution, that being Lodge Southern Cross. The 1st of the local Irish Lodges, St Patricks, was formed in 1897. There were now four Constitutions at labour in Southern Africa.

As early as 1875, there were calls for a United Grand Lodge to be formed, where all Masons would be able to find a common home and there was a similar move in 1892, when the proposal was narrowly defeated. While no unification has yet been successfully pursued, it must be said that the 4 Constitutions have almost always worked together in great harmony, have shared many projects and have always promoted the common cause of Freemasonry.

There have been some extremely testing times, such as during the Anglo-Boer war, and there are many tales of Masons from opposite sides remembering their Masonic oath and saving their Brethren. It is also noted that Temples were often spared from destruction.

Perhaps as a result of political circumstances, the upsurge of Afrikanerdom and a growing campaign for a South African Republic, the striving for a South African Grand Lodge again gained momentum. The failure to make any progress in establishing a United Grand Lodge resulted in some of the Brethren of the Netherlandic Constitution forming an entirely South African “Grand Lodge” in 1952. As it was irregular, however, the 4 Constitutions operating in South Africa prohibited members from attending the meetings.
The 2nd World War heavily disrupted the world’s Masonic structures and, once the war had ended, the Grand Lodge of the Netherlands was forced to re-establish itself. In so doing, they had decided to accept Grand Orients which did not comply with ancient land marks, the 2 most important being the belief in a living God and the presence of a Volume of Sacred Law during the labours of the Lodge.

This resulted in grave disagreements with the Grand Lodges of England, Ireland and Scotland who threatened to withdraw recognition from the Netherlands – a serious problem for the Netherlandic Lodges in South Africa who worked in close cooperation with the various Lodges under these Constitutions.

When a break in the relationship between the Netherlands and the 3 Grand Lodges became imminent, the English Grand Secretary advised Districts in South Africa of the situation. The Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of England wrote to Colonel Colin Graham Botha advising him that, in the circumstances, it would probably be prudent to break away from the Netherlands. As a result, in 1961, the Grand Lodge of Southern Africa was duly established.

Today, the Grand Lodge Centre is based in Orange Grove, Johannesburg. 5 Provincial Divisions have been established over the years, being Southern (1863), Northern (1906), Central (1962), Eastern (1977) and Eastern Cape (2002). The harmonious interaction between the various Divisions, as well as that enjoyed with the Sister Constitutions, plays a very positive role in the overall development of South African Freemasonry.

This article draws extensively on a paper which was presented by M Wor Bro George Groenewald and appreciation is extended to him for his efforts. It is also acknowledged that material has been drawn from various brochures produced by our Sister Constitutions.

Social life at the Lodge

The focal point of social life in the later 8th and early 19th century for masons, and many non-masons, was the Lodge De Goede Hoop’s Society Rooms, a building adjacent to the main lodge.

As early as 1794, these rooms offered recreation and relaxation – meals, a library, billiards, bowls, skittles and “Kolf” played on a small course in the grounds. But all games of chance were prohibited. Similar facilities were offered when the lodge moved to its new property in the Garden Domburg on Bouquet Street in 1803.

There were few other venues in Cape Town for men to meet for serious discussion or recreation. One of the earliest social clubs was the Society Concordia in Concordia Gardens on Bouquet Street. Founded in 1797, it offered meals and a small library but the members “principally drank, smoked and gamed”. In the first British occupation in 1795 the African Clubhouse in the Heerengracht, another exclusive social body, was formed, later to change its name to Society Harmony. It also offered a library, billiards, cards and meals.

After the second British occupation in 1806, Cape Town could boast of other clubs, the New Clubhouse, Union Club and De Vriendschap. All had limited membership. While several masons were members of these clubs, the majority supported the De Goede Hoop Society Rooms, which grew in importance with the passing years, particularly as members often met three to four times a week for lodge business and adjourned afterwards to the rooms for evening refreshment and relaxation or used the society facilities at weekends.

The golf “course” and bowling green at De Goede Hoop Lodge created much interest and, after the first quarter of the 19th century, periodical golf matches were held followed by beefsteak dinners. A floating trophy of a silver golf club was awarded but so enthusiastically had this game been taken up that, in 1848, its playing on Sunday was prohibited. The golf “course” was in effect a pitch and putt course, the only course of its kind in the environs of Cape Town.

De Goede Trouw and British Lodges, both of which owned land on Bouquet Street, followed De Goede Hoop’s example and opened flourishing society rooms. While De Goede Hoop Lodge Society Rooms were open to guests, the lodge ensured privacy for members by holding “Society Days” on Thursdays and Saturdays. All Effective Members had to be present on one or both of these days or they were fined.

The Society Rooms were rebuilt in 1814 at a cost of £4 000 and included a large hall 104 ft. (31,6 m) long and 20 ft. (6 m) wide which later became the meeting place of the Cape House of Assembly for many years.

“Discord, disunion and animosity” among members led to the dissolution of the Society Rooms in 1834. But this seems to have been a device to get rid of some undesirable members for, a month later; the Society Rooms were reformed, though under stricter regulations. At the end of 1842 non-masons were admitted to membership of the society and the lodge made admission to the society an easy way of obtaining initiation.

The billiard room was, however, kept solely for use of members who individually bought shares in the “Biljard Tafel”.

Use of the Society Rooms was offered to members of the Cape House of Assembly when the Assembly met in the hall from 30 June 1854. The Assembly made alterations to the premises during its lease of the building, which lasted to 1874.

In the meantime the lodge opened its extensive gardens to the public for promenade concerts and theatrical performances. The grounds were illuminated, a vegetable garden uprooted and gravelled and a stage erected while concerts were held until the end of 1875. Lodge members were issued with free vouchers while the public was charged a small entrance fee and proceeds went to charities.

Other lodges – British and De Goede Trouw, for instance – were not so much in the public eye, not having the grounds to offer these recreational amenities. But their presence in Cape Town society did not go unnoticed by the public for, in common with De Goede Hoop, their members paraded through the streets every St John the Baptist’s Day, 24 June, the occasion of the installation of their new master, or on public ceremonies.

For masons’ families, St John’s Day was also a time of entertainment after the new master had been installed. The first recorded festivity was on St John’s Day in 1 775 when De Goede Hoop members held a concert to which ladies were admitted and the entertainment lasted to 4 am.

These concerts, followed at times by supper, were to become annual features on that day but apparently, during the Dutch East India Company rule, no dances were held. This changed under the first British occupation as a result of the presence of military lodges.

Africa No. 1 Lodge, formed by the 98th Regiment and others in 1798, held a Masonic ball in 1801. Lady Anne Barnard on 4 January 180 wrote to the Earl of Macartney: “Tomorrow there is a great Ball in town at which I don’t appear nor any of the English ladies of fashion at the Cape whose husbands are not masons. There is much taste for masonry here.”

She complained that the married ladies had been invited, presumably as companions for the military, but not one non-mason husband.
When the British regiments departed, these functions ended and the social occasions for masons again became evenings at lodge society rooms or all-male banquets following Masonic ceremonies.

As military lodges returned with the second British occupation, Masonic balls again became a feature, principally held by English lodges, both in Cape Town and the Eastern Province.
A Masonic “dress ball” was held by British Lodge in June 1844 at the George Hotel, 36 Heerengracht, setting a yearly pattern.
Lodge anniversaries were also occasions for jollity. British Lodge celebrated its jubilee on 9 August 1861 with a Grand Ball, which was described as “one of the gayest affairs that had ever taken place”. Both Dutch and English masons attended and Sir Christoffel Brand, the Netherlandic Deputy Grand Master, gave a special address.
The masons’ families were not forgotten. Entertainments for them included concerts, musical soirees and the inevitable suppers. Often the men dined in one room and their families in another.

Some Famous South African Masons

Anreith, Anton

Anton Anreith

Anton Anreith became a Freemason in 1797 as a member of the Loge de Goede Hoop. He was born in Riegel near Freiburg in Breisgau, Baden, Germany on 11th June 1754 and died in Bloem Street, Cape Town on 4th March 1822, sculptor and art teacher.

Bale, William Ebrington

Born in Tedburn St Mary, Devon, England on 14th April 1820 and died in Pietermaritzburg on 13th November 1903, Natal immigrant, businessman and philanthropist. He belonged to the Masonic Lodge in Pietermaritzburg.
Bell, Charles Davidson -A prominent Freemason.

Botha, General Louis - He joined Aurora Lodge in Pretoria 1890, then a Dutch Lodge.

Brand, President

President Brand was born in Simonstown on 21st June 1797 and died in Madeira House, Stal Plein, Cape Town on 19th May 1875. He was an advocate, journalist, and first speaker of the Cape Parliament. He played an important role in South African Freemasonry. In 1819, while still a student, he became a member of the La Vertu lodge in Leyden, and on 6 July 1824 he joined the De Goede Hoop lodge in Cape Town. After holding various offices he was appointed in 1847 by Prince Frederick of the Netherlands as deputed grand master of the movement at the Cape, the highest office of Freemasonry in the Colony. Under his leadership the movement prospered in South Africa, and new lodges were founded whose disputes were sometimes settled by Brand. One example of his activities in this connection was the dispute (which he settled in 1866 and expounded in two publications in 1867: Masonic epistle and Masonic decision) over the viability of the Colesberg lodge. Brand travelled a good deal in the interests of Freemasonry, and carefully noted the routes and length of his journeys. His ‘Journey book 1860-66′, which is in the Orange Free State Archives, bears evidence of this. In Pretoria in 1869 he visited the Aurora lodge of which Pres. M. W. Pretorius was a member.
Burgers, T.F. President

Chisholm, John

Born in Carlisle, England circa 1777 and died in Cape Town on 26 th September 1856), civil engineer, was waterworks engineer for Londonderry, Ireland, from 1807 to 1812 and completed the installation of that city’s water supply – Master Mason.

Chubb, Ernest Charles

Born in London, England on 16th September 1884 and died in Durban, Natal on 9th October 1972, ornithologist, natural historian and museums pioneer.
De Klerk, Daniel Petrus
Born in Onverwacht, Molteno, Cape Colony on 25th October 1883 and died in Cape Town on 14th August 1964, lawyer, cultural leader and businessman. He was the first master of the first Afrikaans Masonic Lodge.
De Villiers, Bernardus Josephus van de Sandt.

De Vries, Maurits
A Dutch Jew, Lawyer, politician and author.

De Wet, Olof Godlieb
Born in Cape Town, baptised on 11th October 1739 and died in Cape Town on 6th December1811, V.O.C. official and judge. In May 1772 he was one of the founders of the Masonic Lodge, De Goede Hoop.

Duminy, Francois Renier

Francois Renier Duminy

Born in Lorient, France on 4th October 1747 and died in Cape Town on 26th May 1811. V.O.C. official, was the ancestor of the Duminy family in South Africa. Grand Master of the lodge De Goede Hoop from 1794 to 1797. In the history of the lodge De Goede Hoop, the time during which he was a member is known as the Duminy period.
Faure, David Pieter
Born in Stellenbosch on 11th November 1842 and died in Camps Bay, Cape Town on 17th August 1916, minister, founder of the Free Protestant (Unitarian) Church in Cape Town. In 1869 Faure became a member of the Masonic lodge De Goede Hoop and from 1870 held various positions in it. In 1892 he became Deputy Grand Master for Southern Africa and from 1895 to 1907 he was Provincial Grand Master of the Goede Hoop lodge of Freemasons.
Forssman, Magnus Johan Frederik
Born in Kalmar, Sweden in 1820 and died in Pretoria on 7th October 1874. He was the surveyor-general of the Transvaal Republic and the first master of the Potchefstroom Masonic Lodge.

Hofmeyr, Jan Hendrik (‘Onze Jan’)
He was a Statesman.

Huckins, Daniel Montgomery
Born in Sedgwick, Hancock Co., Maine, U.S.A. circa. 1814 and died in Cape Town on 18th February 1862. He was the American consul to the Cape Colony. He was a Freemason of the brethren of four Cape Town lodges, De Goede Trouw, the British Lodge No. 419, the Joppa Lodge and the Southern Cross Lodge.

Korsten, Frederik
Born in Zierikzee, Schouwen Island, Netherlands on 17th August 1772 and died in Cradock Place, Port Elizabeth on 16th June 1839. He was a pioneer and a businessman. He was a member of the Masonic Lodge, De Goede Hoop.

Lewis, Charles Edwardes
Born in Milford Haven, Wales on 5th December 1855 and died in Newlands, Cape Town on 13th January 1945. He was a classical scholar and educationist.

Lezard, Ernest
Born in London on 15th January 1873 and died in Johannesburg on 9th May 1947. He was an auctioneer, art expert, and a composer.

Born in Monifieth, Angus, Scotland on 16th November 1845 and died in Cape Town on 1st March 1925. He was an educationist.

James Barrie Lowe

Low, James Barrie

Lys, John Robert
Born in Alderney, Channel Islands on 17th January 1829 and died in Pretoria on 14 th August 1880. He was a pioneer merchant in Pretoria and started the first Masonic Lodge in Pretoria in 1868.

Meintjies, Stephanus Jacobus, M.R.C.S., M.D.
He came of a well-known Graaff-Reinet

Born in Cape Town on 26th August 1770 and died in Cape Town on 4th June 1838. He was a jurist, advocate, deputy fiscal and member of the Council of Justice.

Johannes Henoch Neethinling

Neethling, Johannes Henoch

Ornstein, Abraham Frederick
He was a Minister of religion and educationist. He was prominent in the masonic lodge De Goede Hoop.

Philipps, Thomas
An 1820 Settler was a was a staunch Freemason, responsible for the founding of the Albany Lodge in 1828, and its first Master. Except for the Lodge de Goede Hoop, Cape Town, this is the oldest Masonic Lodge in South Africa.

Pretorius, M.W. President
He was made an honourary member at De Goede Hoop Lodge in 1862.

Phillips, Sir Henry Lushington
Born in Manchester, England in 1825 and died in Southport, England on 5th December 1896. He was a judge and founder of the Prince Alfred Masonic Lodge in Pietermaritzburg.

Prince Frederik of the Netherlands
Grand Master

Purland, Thomas Terence Constantine (Con)
Born in London, England on 4th February 1860 and died in Wynberg, Cape Province on 19th August 1923. He was a civil servant and soldier as well as Master Mason of Simonstown Lodge.

Reitz, F.W. President
Initiated in May 1874

ellekamp, Johan Arnold
Born in Amsterdam, Netherlands on 16th January 1812 and died in Bloemfontein on 25 th May 1866. He was a pioneer trader with the Voortrekkers, Bloemfontein landdrost and member of the Orange Free State volksraad. He was also worshipful master of the Unie Masonic lodge in Bloemfontein.

Johan Smellekamp

Sm

Thibault, Louis Michel
He became a Freemason and at the Cape was admitted to the Lodge De Goede Hoop.
Trichardt (Trigardt), Louis
Born in Cape Town on 11th October 1763 in Cape Town and died on 5th June 1845. He was the judicial official at the Cape and president of the council of justice. For many years he was the grand master of the grand lodge in South Africa and provincial grand master for South Africa of the English order of Freemasons. On 12th January 1829 he became provincial grand master of all the lodges in South Africa. When he died he was buried with full Masonic honours in the Somerset road cemetery.

Truter, Johannes Andreas (Sir John Andries)
Truter was Deputy Grand Master for South Africa of the Order of Freemasons (Netherlands constitution)

Van Praagh, Joseph
Born in County of Middlesex, England on 15th July 1864 and died in Kimberley on 13th February 1946. He was a diamond merchant and a Rhodesian pioneer. He first became associated with the Masonic movement in England, at the age of twenty-one, and before coming to South Africa served as Master of the Samson Lodge in London. In Salisbury he was first Senior Warden and then acting Master of the Rhodesian Lodge and in Sydney-on-Vaal he helped found and build up the Mendelssohn Lodge, of which he was an Honorary Past Master. Later he became a member of the Richard Giddy Lodge in Kimberley and played a prominent part in national Masonic affairs. At the time of his death he held the British Empire record for service as a District Grand Master and was the world Senior District Grand Master of the English Constitution. He was South Africa’s ‘Grand Old Man of Freemasonry’, and his diamond jubilee as a freemason, celebrated in November 1945, it was attended by freemasons from districts throughout the country as well as from Rhodesia.

Also:

Richard Southey
General Louis Botha
Field Marshall Lord Roberts
General Ben Viljoen
Lord Kitchener
CJ Langenhoven
Lord Metheun
Sir Redvers Buller
Arthur Conan Doyle

Origins and Connections of Freemasonry

Type: Fraternal
Founded: Some time before 1590 in lowland Scotland
Actual Origins: Evolved out of Scottish medieval craft guilds of stoneworkers.
Legendary origins: Almost infinitely varied
Alternate names:
Ancient Free and Accepted Masons; the Craft; Free and Accepted Masons, Masons; the Royal Art
Adonhiramite Masonry
Adoptive Masonry
Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry
Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine
Ancient and Archaeological Order of Druids
Ancient Noble Order of Gormogons
Ancient Order of Druids
Ancient Order of Druids in America
Beneficent Chevaliers of the Holy City
Benevolent Protective Order of Elks
Builders of the Adytum
Clerks Templar
Co-Masonry
Crata Repoa
Druid Circle of the Universal Bond
Egyptian Rite
Emperors of the East and West
Fraternal benefit societies and orders
Fratres Lucis
Germanenorden; Hell-Fire Club
Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn
Improved Order of Red Men
Kabbalistic Order of the Rose Cross
Knights of Columbus
Knights of Pythias
Ku Klux Klan
labour unions
Loyal Orange Order
Order of Mopses
Order of the Amaranth
Order of the Eastern Star
Order of the Golden and Rosy Cross
Ordo Templi Orientis
Palladian Order
Patrons of Husbandry
Philadelphes
Priory of Sion
Rite of Memphis
Rite of Memphis and Misraim
Rite of Misraim
Rite of Strict Observance
Rosicrucian Fellowship
Rosicrucian Order of the Crotona Fellowship
Rosicrucians
Royal Order of Scotland
Royal Oriental Order of the Sat B’hai
Royal Society; Societas Rosicruciana in America
Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia
Society of Eight
Society of the Inner Light
Sublime Perfect Masters
Swedenborgian Rite
Wicca
Woodcraft
York Rite
Ancient Noble Order of Gormogons
Antimasonic Party
Roman Catholic Church

Sources and Acknowledgements

Grand Lodge of South Africa
Provincial Grand Master RW. Br. Alf Rhoodie
Standard Encylopeadia of South Africa
The Element Encylopeadia of Secret Societies by John Michael Greer
The Freemasons of South Africa by Dr.A.A. Cooper

How do you become a Free Mason ?

Contact: Grand Lodge of South Africa
Grand Lodge Centre
75 – 13th Street
Orange Grove
Tel: 011- 6401324
Fax: 011-6403915

www.grandlodge.co.za
Email: [email protected]

David Isroff - 7th Mounted Rifles 1916 Aberdeen

The Jewish links to South Africa are said to have originated with the Portuguese voyages of exploration around the Cape in 1452. Jews were involved in these early voyages as mapmakers, navigators and sailors.

Find Jewish Burials right here

In 1652, Jan van Riebeeck led the first permanent settlement of Dutch colonists under the auspices of the Dutch East India Company. With his group were Samuel Jacobson and David Hijlbron, the earliest recorded Jews.

The Dutch East India Company controlled the Cape from 1652 – 1795 and only permitted Protestant Christians to reside at the Cape despite the significant number of Jewish shareholders in the company. Due to this, Jacobson and Hijlbron were baptized Christians on December 25, 1669, with records of these baptisms found in the registers of the Dutch Reformed Church. This was in contrast to the Dutch West India Company, which sent two hundred Jews to colonize Brazil in 1642.

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Colorful characters such as the soldier Isaac Moses, known as “old Moses the Moneychanger” and Joseph Suasso de Lima of Amsterdam, who started the first Dutch newspaper in SA, arrived. Nathaniel Isaacs, an early explorer of Natal who befriended the famous Zulu chief, Chaka, was a Jew. Early British families include De Pass, who played a major part in the establishment of the shipping, sugar and fishing industries. Saul Solomon founded the English press in Cape Town.

Increased religious freedom, permitted under the short lived Batavian Republic in 1803, continued after the British took control in 1806. In 1820, the British government gave assisted passage and land grants to people willing to settle in the wilds of the Cape Colony. The first group of settlers was known as the 1820 settlers. Early British Jewish immigration occurred with about sixteen Jews arriving amongst the 1820 Settlers. This included the Norden and Norton families who played a significant role in the early development of the Cape Colony. In the 1860′s, other European Jews started to arrive from Germany and Holland.

By 1880, there were about 4,000 Jews in South Africa. It is estimated that more than half of these were brought out from Hesse-Cassel, Germany, by the Mosenthal family, who developed extensive trading operations in the Cape Colony, the Orange Free State and Natal.

Jewish Refugees en route to South Africa, in Jews' Temporary Shelter

From 1880, Jewish immigration increased rapidly. The pogroms (1881-1884) and other catastrophes – droughts, floods, deportation and fires, particularly in Kovno Gubernia, the Russian province with Kovno ( Kaunas now) were major factors in the emigration. The choice of South Africa was determined by special circumstances and not, on the whole by the attractions it offered to the general run of settlers who were not refugees. There was strong potential for success – in particular with the discovery of the diamond fields in Kimberley in 1869 and the goldfields in the Transvaal in 1886.

Sammy Marks, from Neustadt, Suwalki Gubernia (province), is regarded as the pioneer of Lithuanian emigration – he became a friend of President Paul Kruger and was highly successful as an industrialist. Barney Barnato, London born, was a partner of Cecil John Rhodes in the formation of the De Beers Diamond Company (later control passing to the German Jewish family of Ernest Oppenheimer with the assistance of the Rothschilds).

Over 47,000 Jews were enumerated in the first nationwide census of 1911. Most of these were Lithuanian (Litvaks) from the then provinces of Kovno, Vilna (Lithuania), Courland (Latvia), Northern Suwalki (East Prussia and later Poland) and Minsk, Grodno, Vitebsk, Mogilev (Belarus).

Louis Noick, Ostrich feather dealer

As an undeveloped country, South Africa offered opportunities to early immigrants that were far better than anything they could have had in Eastern Europe. The travelling hawker or “smous” became an institution in the remote rural areas. Many settled in small towns as shopkeepers and tradesmen. A number of very efficient entrepreneurial farmers were founders of the wool industry, ostrich feather industry and the citrus industry.

The Contemporary Community

The distinctive characteristics of this community as compared to other new world communities are:

The predominance of Litvaks (Jews from Lithuania, Latvia and portions of Belarus), hence the unusually homogenous composition of the community.

The very strong influence of Zionism in the South African community.

The amalgam of Anglo-Jewish form and Lithuanian spirit which characterizes the institutions, both lay and religious of the community. The Jewish day school movement is a powerful educational presence and its pupils consistently get excellent scholastic results.

The distinctive situation where Jews had formed part of a privileged minority dominating a multiracial society. This has also led to Jews becoming prominent in the anti-apartheid and liberation movements.

In the past 30 years, there has been a large emigration of Jews to the USA, Canada, Australia, Britain and Israel. Political and economic change has led to an influx of Zimbaweans, Israelis and Russian Jews.

Immigration

At various times attempts were made to limit the influx of Jews, e.g., in 1903, by excludion on the grounds that Yiddish was not a European language. This was successfully countered in the Cape Legislative Assembly.

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Jewish immigrants came by ship with the major port of entry being at Cape Town (a small number entered at Port Elizabeth and Durban). The major waves of migration occurred from 1895 onwards. Shipping agents, Knie and Co. and Spiro and Co., had subagents in shtetls (small towns) who accepted bookings for passage to South Africa.

Embarking initially at the port of Libau (Latvia), a good proportion of the Jews were transported on small cargo boats under rudimentary conditions to England. A much smaller number passed through Hamburg or Bremen.
Upon arriving in England, many came first to Grimsby or London and were taken to the Poor Jews’ Temporary Shelter (PJTS) in Leman Street in the East End of London.

The Shelter inmates received assistance in the form of board, lodging, medical treatment and travel advice was given by the Shelter. In one year alone, from November, 1902, 3,600 out of 4,500 Shelter inmates went on the Union Castle Line to the Cape. In 1902, the fare was £10.10.0 (ten guineas) – more than the fare to America (For a more detailed discussion of these and shipping records see the article by Prof A Newman SHEMOT Vol. 1:3 1993).

Emigration Records from Great Britain

Ships’ Passenger Lists at the Public Records Office, Kew, London, are stored under reference BT 26 Passenger Lists, Inwards, 1878-1888 and 1890-1960, these lists give the names of all passengers arriving in the United Kingdom where the ship’s voyage began at a port outside Europe and the Mediterranean Sea.

Names of passengers who boarded these ships at European ports and disembarked in the UK are included in the lists. Passenger lists for ships whose voyages both began and ended within Europe (including the UK and the Mediterranean Sea ) are not included.

BT 27 Passenger Lists, Outwards, 1890-1960, give the names of all passengers leaving the UK where the ship’s eventual destination was a port outside Europe and the Mediterranean Sea. Passenger lists for ships whose voyages both began and ended within Europe (including the UK and the Mediterranean Sea ) are not included.

The Cape Town Archives also houses immigration records of Jewish people which are held in the CCP collections.

Jewish Sources

The Johannesburg Jewish Helping Hand and Burial Society (Chevra Kadisha). The majority of Jews have been buried in large cities. Johannesburg probably accounts for over 75% of all burials. The earliest record is that of Albert Rosetenstein in May 1887. Burials commenced in 1887 for Braamfontein cemetery, Brixton in 1914 and West Park in 1942).
Specific information about individuals or communities may often be obtained from the South African Jewish Board of Deputies.
Synagogues and communal records include:

Marriages: Marriage authorization certificates and copy Ketubot marriage certificates) and ‘Gets’ (religious divorce)

Religious Institutions:

Orthodox : The Office of the Chief Rabbi can give copies of marriage and divorce certificates. (United Hebrew Congregation). The vast majority of Jews in South Africa are Ashkenazi Jews, also known as Ashkenazim. These are Jews descended from the medieval Jewish communities of the Rhineland. Many later migrated, largely eastward, forming communities in Germany, Poland, Austria, Eastern Europe and elsewhere between the 10th and 19th centuries. There is also a strong Lubavich (Chabad branch of Hasidic Judaism founded by Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi ) movement and smaller Sephardi (Sephardim are those Jews associated with the Iberian peninsula and whose traditional language is Ladino.The name comes from Sepharad, a Biblical location that may have been Sardes, but identified by later Jews as the Iberian Peninsula (and southern France). In the vernacular of modern-day Israel , Sephardi has also come to be used as an umbrella term for any Jewish person who is not Ashkenaz) and Masorti congregations. There are 48 Orthodox Religious groups listed in Johannesburg.

Reform communities keep separate records (United Progressive Jewish Congregation of Johannesburg). Many Jews remain with a strong identity but outside the religious net. Intermarriage is very common, but emigration is the main limiting factor to population growth. (Reform Judaism affirms the central tenets of Judaism – God, Torah and Israel – even as it acknowledges the diversity of Reform Jewish beliefs and practices. All human beings are created in the image of God, and that we are God’s partners in improving the world. Tikkun olam – repairing the world – is a hallmark of Reform Judaism as we strive to bring peace, freedom, and justice to all people).

South African Online Jewish Genealogy

The Southern Africa SIG (special interest group) was founded in 1998.The SIG publishes a quarterly newsletter. General information about the SA Community and genealogical research is on

The SA-SIG has an electronic discussion group with a free subscription on JewishGen WebForm Centre for Jewish Migration & Genealogy Studies
Our intention is to create a comprehensive database of records and information relating to Jewish immigration to South Africa.
The thinking behind the inception of the Jewish Migration and Genealogy Project is twofold:
to map the entire history of Jewish migration to South Africa with the aim of providing authoritative and definitive data for the Discovery Centre at the South African Jewish Museum (SAJM).
To integrate the genealogical data in multi-disciplinary research initiatives under the auspices of the Isaac and Jessie Kaplan Centre at the University of Cape Town.
The primary aim of the project is to research the estimated 15,000 core families who migrated to Southern Africa between 1850-1950 from England, Germany, Lithuania, Latvia and Belarus.
In broad terms, the research will focus on the locations where the families originated, patterns of migration to South Africa, where families first settled, communities they established, growth of families, and subsequent movements and emigration. As such, aspects such as passenger arrival lists, naturalization lists, community records, records of marriages, births and deaths, family trees, etc., will be looked at.
The centre is under the umbrella of the Isaac and Jessie Kaplan Institute for Jewish Studies at the University of Cape Town and will also have a public access section located at the South African Jewish Museum.
South African Jewish Rootsweb
South African Jewish Museum South Africa Jewish History Virtual Tour
S. A. Special Interest Group for Jewish Genealogy
Jewishgen – Jewish genealogy main site
Witbank Jewish Genealogy site
Jewish South Africa – the South African Jewish community on the Web. Beyachad South Africa Board of Deputies
African Jewish Congress
Telfed – the website for the Southern African Jewish Community in Israel

Notable Personalities, Civic affairs, charities:

Morris Alexander
Bertha Solomon
Dr Henry Gluckman
Helen Suzman

Medicine
Sydney Brenner
Aaron Klug
Sir Raymond Hoffenberg Philip V. Tobias

Law
Issie Maizels
Arthur Chaskelson
Albie Sachs

Arts
Irma Stern
Sir Anthony Sher
Ronald Harwood

Commerce and Industry
Mosenthal family
Oppenheimers

Agriculture
Esreal Lazarus – potato king
Ostrich industry
Citrus- Schlensinger
Motion Pictures- Schlezinger

Insurance
Schlezinger
Doanald Gordon
Sir Mark Wienberg

Acknowledgements and Source: Saul Isroff