Discover Johannesburg’s early days, people and buildings

I originally researched this article in 2012 and published it online on 13 April 2012. Since then I have added more details.

“They are trying to make Johannesburg respectable. They are trying to make snobs out of us, making us forget who our ancestors were. They are trying to make us lose our sense of pride in the fact that our forebears were a lot of roughnecks who knew nothing about culture and came here to look for gold. We who are of Johannesburg, we know this spirit that is inside of us, and we do not resent the efforts that are being made to put a collar and tie on this city. Because we know that every so often, when things seem to be going very smoothly on the surface, something will stir in the raw depths of Johannesburg, like the awakening of an old and half-forgotten memory, and the brick-bats hurtling down Market Street will be thrown with the same lack of accuracy as when pioneers of the mining camp did the throwing”…
so wrote Herman Charles BOSMAN of Johannesburg in A Case of Jerepigo.

Johannesburg’s early history is linked to the discovery of gold. The first white settlers crossed the Vaal River between the 1830s and 1840s. They comprised hunters, farmers, and prospectors. The Deeds Office in Pretoria was established in 1859. The earliest white farmers assigned themselves land. To demarcate a farm, the owner chose a point and measured the next point while riding a horse at a walking pace for 1.5 hours. He would then walk another 1½ hours at right angles to reach the third location. In the 1840s, land ownership was still unregistered, and the early Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek (ZAR) made allocations in its capital, Potchefstroom. Driefontein farm was founded in the 1840s and was initially owned by LP VAN VUUREN. It was then purchased by JJC ERASMUS and then by Johannes Lodewikus PRETORIUS. It encompassed most of what is currently known as Riverclub, Bryanston, and Randburg. Pretorius became the first owner to be legally registered with the Pretoria Deeds Office. Pieter NEL owned Zandfontein Farm. Rietfontein was first owned by JP BADENHORST and later by PR BOTHA. Prior to its acquisition by PP ROOS and CJ ROOS, Witkoppen was owned by PE LABUSCAGNE.

There are numerous accounts concerning gold discoveries by the first European settlers. In 1834, Carel KRIGE (some say Carel KRUGER from Bethulie) was hunting in the Witwatersrand and is reported to have discovered alluvial gold in the Jukskei River near the Crocodile River confluence.

In June 1852, a Welshman named John Henry DAVIS is believed to have discovered a tiny amount of alluvial gold in a river on the farm Groote Paardekraal near Krugersdorp. He decided to mine for gold, and a few months later, he presented it to ZAR President Andries PRETORIUS. He was paid £600 and told to leave the ZAR. John Henry DAVIS married Hester Josina Maria VAN LELYVELD on September 29, 1833, in Uitenhage. He was born in Cardiff as the son of John DAVIS and Eliza FORSTER. He died at the age of 80 at Kaalkol farm in Griquastad.

In 1853, prospector Pieter Jacob MARAIS (1827-1865) discovered signs of alluvial gold at the Crocodile and Jukskei River confluence. Two nearby farmers, Koos BOTHA and Tobias DE VLAMING, are reported to have observed the first gold panning in the Transvaal on October 7, 1853. He maintained a daily notebook during his trips and prospecting. Pieter reported finding gold in the Crocodile River and at Piet NEL’s on the Klein Jukskei River in his diary entries. The Nel farm was in Zandfontein (now central Sandton), with a little frontage on the Klein Jukskei (Braamfontein Spruit). This position would be near the Nicol Highway bridge, which crosses the Braamfontein Spruit. The supply of gold soon ran out.

Pieter was the son of a prosperous Paarl family. In 1847, he left the Cape and travelled to Liverpool, where he learnt of the California gold rush and started out for America. He failed to strike gold and quickly went on to fresh goldfields in Australia. In 1853, he returned to the Cape and travelled north to try his luck in the newly formed ZAR. At Mooirivierdorp (later Potchefstroom), he met BJ LIEBENBERG, the owner of the farm Bultfontein, and began panning for gold in the area. The first discovery was followed by another minor find in the Braamfontein Spruit, but his continuing search found nothing more. Pieter presented his findings to the Potchefstroom Volksraad in December 1853, requesting authorisation to continue prospecting. After several days of negotiations, he signed what is thought to be the first mining contract in the Transvaal. He was offered a significant sum if he uncovered gold that would benefit the republic, as well as the opportunity to run the resulting mine on behalf of the republic, but he was threatened with the “death penalty with no extenuating circumstances” if he revealed his findings to any foreign force. Two assessors were appointed, and he was required to submit any findings to them. Pieter continued to trek through the ZAR in search of gold. An unknown source informed the Bloemfontein newspapers about Pieter’s discoveries, and when Pieter wrote to the Volksraad on April 7, 1855, stating that he had found nothing more, they disregarded his testimony and summoned him to come before them. Prior to receiving the order, he had abandoned his quest and returned to the Cape in August 1855, where he eventually married Margaretha Anna Jacoba DE BEER and worked as a trader and wool broker in the Dordrecht district.

In 1855, John Robert LYS (1829-1880) journeyed from Pietermaritzburg to the ZAR on a hunting expedition. In 1856, he had trouble crossing a marsh on Driefontein farm, now known as Germiston and the eventual location of Knights Mine. When he returned to his wagon, he uncovered conglomerate rock, which when crushed contained gold. In 1867, he showed Karl MAUCH the location, but they did not pursue the matter further. Ten years later, he led an Australian geologist, AW ARMFIELD, to the same location. Armfield discovered gold from Driefontein to present-day Orange Grove, but died of blackwater disease before he could write a report. John lived and worked in Pretoria from 1857 to his death in 1880. He was the first resident magistrate in Pretoria. He married Olivia Selina FRY. She passed away in 1910 at the house of her daughter Olivia Elizabeth REDWOOD in Parktown, Johannesburg.

Robert Oliver Godfrey LYS (1860-1936), John and Olivia’s son, had a residence built around 1896 on Oxford Road in Parktown, next to Parktown Convent. It was known as Woodlands. A blacksmith named George HONEYBALL and Godfrey LYS discovered the Rand’s main reef together. George sold his rights to Godfrey for £25 without first evaluating the value of his discovery, who then sold them to a mining corporation. Godfrey was appointed manager of Crown Reef Mine. On September 27, 1932, George and Godfrey attended the Rand Pioneers dinner in Johannesburg.

Mining activity moved closer to Johannesburg in the 1870s and early 1880s. Henry LEWIS began mining the Blauuwbank field in 1874. Gold was discovered in quartz veins at Swartkop near Krugersdorp in 1878, followed by Kromdraai in 1881. Kromdraai was designated a public digging site in December 1885. By 1886, the amount of gold extracted from Blaaubank and Kromdraai appeared to be unsustainable, and mining halted in 1912.

The first ore-crushing gear was built in 1882 by Sigmund HAMMERSCHLAG, whose Tweefontein farm was located near Krugersdorp. He married Ida BOCK. He died in 1920.

In June 1884, Jan Gerritze BANTJES (1843-1914), who had been prospecting on the Witwatersrand since the early 1880s, discovered the Bird Reef on Vogelstruisfontein farm and milled the gold-bearing ore on-site as Bantjes Gold Mine. In 1883, he and Johannes Stephanus MINNAAR owned and ran the Kromdraai gold mine. It was the first government gold mining concession on what came to be known as the Witwatersrand. The area is known today as the Cradle of Humankind. Jan married Anna Wilhelmina SWANEPOEL in 1868 in Potchefstroom.

In 1884, two brothers, Frederick Pine Theophilus and Hendrik Wilhelm STRUBEN, who owned portions of the adjacent farms Sterkfontein and Wilgespruit in what is now Roodepoort, discovered what appeared to be the first paying seam on Wilgespruit. They named their mine Confidence Reef, but a year later, the quartz reef had not generated the anticipated windfall.

Prior to the main gold discovery, the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek was primarily a farming region. The Boer government dispatched the mining commissioner, Christiaan Johannes JOUBERT, and the acting surveyor-general, Johannes RISSIK, to inspect the goldfields. As the extent of the gold reserves became clear, fortune seekers from all over the world swarmed to the area. Initially, the ZAR did not anticipate the gold would stay long, so they only plotted out a little triangular area of land that became Ferreiras Camp. The first tent was pitched on July 9, 1886, by John Paptone DE ROI.

Amongst the prospectors who flocked to the Witwatersrand were George HARRISON, an Australian digger, and George WALKER from England. Walker had been a coal miner before immigrating to Kimberley, then prospected for gold at Pilgrim’s Rest where gold had been found in 1871. When coal was found in the Free State he became a coal miner again, and that’s where he met Harrison. Harrison had been a gold digger in Australia before arriving in South Africa. Walker and Harrison decided to leave the Free State and head to Barberton in the hope of changing their luck. In the vicinity of Johannesburg, they met the Struben brothers at Wilgespruit and asked for work. Walker got himself a job building a new cottage for the brothers, close to their mine workings. Harrison got himself a job at a neighbouring farm, building a cottage for the widow Petronella OOSTHUIZEN, owner of the Block D section of the farm Langlaagte.​

The Struben’s Confidence Reef was drying up and they laid off workers. Unemployed again, Walker called on Harrison at neighbouring Langlaagte. On April 12, 1886, the two men signed a contract with another of the Oosthuizen clan, Gerhardus (Gert) Cornelius OOSTHUIZEN, who granted them the right to prospect for gold on his portion of Langlaagte, Block C. Harrison immediately went to Pretoria to secure a one month prospecting licence. Oosthuizen, who was required by law to inform the state of any possible gold strike, wrote a letter to President KRUGER, advising him that “the reef is payable”.

In an affidavit by Harrison, written on October 12, 1886, he claimed full credit for the discovery on Gert’s property. He stated that he had delivered a letter to President KRUGER in July 1886, after which he was called in and asked him what his credentials were. Harrison said he was an experienced gold digger, who had worked on the mines in Australia. Another affidavit from Harrison dated July 24, to the Mines Department concluded: “I have long experience as an Australian gold digger and I think it is a payable goldfield”. As the discoverer, Harrison was entitled to a free claim. There are several reports of how Harrison made the finding and what role Walker played.

George HONEYBALL was the nephew of the widow Oosthuizen, and lived on her farm, where he worked as a blacksmith, carpenter and handyman. He met the other two Georges while helping to build the Struben and Oosthuizen cottages, with Harrison and Walker doing the masonry, and Honeyball doing the carpentry. Honeyball claimed that on February 7, 1886, he was in the widow’s home when Walker arrived with his sample of banket. Walker borrowed a frying pan, crushed the conglomerate to a coarse powder on an old ploughsare, and went to a nearby spruit where he panned it. It showed a clear streak of gold. The next day, Honeyball persuaded Walker to show him where he had found the rock, close to the boundary between the widow’s portion of the farm and her cousin Gert’s. Honeyball traced the line of the reef back into his aunt’s farm, and 600 metres away from Walker’s spot, he found a similar outcrop of rock. He broke off a piece, and got a prospector working on a neighbouring plot to pan it for him. There was gold in it. The prospector offered to pay Honeyball to tell him where he had found the gold, which he did, to Walker’s annoyance. Nor did the prospector keep quiet and word of the discovery spread quickly. Two days after Harrison’s visit to the president, the government telegraphed the local magistrate, asking him to verify the claims. It was already too late – gold diggers were flooding the area and had drawn up a petition, signed by 73 men and delivered on July 26, calling for gold fields to be proclaimed.

On September 20, 1886, Carl VON BRANDIS read in Dutch the proclamation made by President KRUGER, to the diggers:
“Proclamation by His Honour the State President – Whereas it has become apparent to the Government of the South African Republic that it is desirable to proclaim the farms named Driefontein, Elandsfontein, Southern portion of Doornfontein, Turffontein, Government farm Rantjeslaagte, Langlaagte, Paardekraal, Vogelstruisfontein and Roodepoort, all situated in Witwatersrand, district Heidelberg, as public diggings.
Therefore I, Stephanus Johannes Paulus Kruger, State President of the South African Republic, on the advice and with the consent of the Executive Council, in terms of section 5 of Law No. 8 of 1885, as amended, proclaim the above-named areas as a Public Digging in the following sequence and as from the following dates, respectively, to wit: –
The farms Driefontein and Elandsfontein, on Monday the 20th September, 1886;
The southern portion of the farm Doornfontein and the farm Turffontein, on Monday the 27th September, 1886;
The piece of Government ground named Rantjeslaagte and the farm named Langlaagte, on Monday the 4th October 1886;
The farms named Paardekraal, Vogelstruisfontein and Roodepoort, on Monday the 11th October 1886;
Insofar as they have not been beaconed off by owners or lessees for Mijnpachtbrieven, or, under Law No. 8 of 1885 as amended, reserved for cultivated areas, gardens, arable land and water furrows in the vicinity thereof.
God save land and people.
Given under my hand at the Government Offices at Pretoria, this 8th day of the month, September, A.D. 1886.
S.J.P. Kruger State President
W. Eduard Bok State Secretary”
Staatscourant (Government Gazette) no. 294 of the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek

Harrison and Walker began working on gold mining claims numbers 19 and 21, but neither grew rich from the discovery. Harrison sold his discoverer’s rights almost immediately, for £10. He disappeared a month after the diggings were proclaimed, while involved as a witness in a court case. The Australian government had asked the Kruger government to find a fugitive named George Harrison, wanted for embezzlement. Some say Harrison left for Barberton, but was killed by lions. Another claim was that he made it to Barberton, died there and was buried at Kaapschehoop. Walker also left the Rand, returning many years later to say he discovered the main reef. He was given a pension by the Chamber of Mines. He died on September 18, 1924 at his home 24 Dekker Street in Krugersdorp West. He married Elizabeth Johanna Catharina PRETORIUS in 1883 in Kroonstad. They had 13 children between 1885 and 1918, nine of which were still alive when George died. Elizabeth died in 1930.

Johannesburg began as a small gathering of roughly nine farms that had secured claims to mine gold. The region, currently known as Ferreirasdorp, is Johannesburg’s oldest neighbourhood. Johannesburg itself was founded on the farm Randjieslaagte, between the farms Doornfontein to the east, Braamfontein to the west, and Turffontein to the south. In mid-September 1886, FC (Ryk Freek) ELOFF, President Paul KRUGER’s private secretary, travelled to the Rand in search of a location for a new town. He chose Randjeslaagte, a government farm. It was windy, bleak, and unpopular among diggers; there was no complication from private ownership, and it was close to the gold reef. Surveyors Robert OCKERSE and JE DE VILLIERS were tasked with selecting government stands and planning the town’s layout. By November 3, 1886, the survey was completed, and the new town was given the name Johannesburg. It is named after Johnnes RISSIK and Christian Johannes JOUBERT. Joos HEYSTEK auctioned the first 986 stands on December 8, 1886. The first stand, No. 469, sold for £10.17s.6d. In the three-day auction, 936 stands were sold for a total of £13,000.

Within a few years, more than 100 small mines were established along the Witwatersrand, extending from Randfontein in the west to Springs and Nigel in the east. During the early days, many individuals died from diphtheria, enteric fever, and pneumonia. It was a dusty site. Initially, there was no corrugated iron for housing; instead, people lived in hartbeeshuise, mud-daubed reed homes or tents. Initially, most diggers and money seekers were not accompanied by their spouses or families. From September to December 1886, the population increased from approximately 100 to more than 3,000. The early diggers were followed by the jumpers, who displaced legal claim holders and established themselves as the owners. The jumpers caused so many problems that the diggers formed a committee, led by Jan ELOFF (1859-1939). Jumpers who were apprehended were flogged. Eloff Street, the first street surveyed, was named after Jan.

Between 1885 and 1898, 8,600 people relocated from Britain to southern Africa, the majority of whom settled in Johannesburg. Other fortune-seekers arrived, including Cornish and Australian miners, Scottish and American engineers, Germans, Jews (many from Lithuania), Frenchmen, and Indians.

Johannesburg’s formal establishment date is October 4, 1886, which was announced by President Paul KRUGER on September 8, 1886, when he declared the land open for public digging. Here are several Johannesburg firsts:

1886

HEYMAN established the first pharmacy on Commissioner Street in 1886, known as the Golden Mortar Dispensary.

Rose BLAKE, born on March 22, 1886, is also thought to be the first infant born in Ferreira’s Town. I could not find a matching record to confirm this.

The first liquor licence was given in June 1886.

On July 17, 1886, the Diamond Fields Advertiser in Kimberley announced the discovery of a 30-mile-long gold reef 50 miles south of Pretoria, which it dubbed “Vetvatterrand” (Witwatersrand). Eight days later, one of the richest Kimberley mining magnates, Joseph Benjamin ROBINSON, arrived in the ZAR. According to Eric Rosenthal’s book Gold! Gold! Gold!, he “behaved like a man demented, and scarcely lying down to sleep, hurried from farm to farm on the Rand, taking options or purchasing for cash.” Robinson had been beaten to the Reef by a swarm of diggers who had set up camp near the farm Turffontein’s only water source, Fordsburg Dip. The camp, named for Colonel Ignatius Philip FERREIRA (1840-1921), was made up of tents and wagons. He was the son of Ignatius FERREIRA and Hendrika POHL. In 1862, he married Baltrina ERASMUS. As a soldier, he participated in the Kimberley diamond diggings and the Pilgrim’s Rest gold rush. From there, he went to the Witwatersrand. The ground where the camp was created was formerly part of Turffontein farm. Ferreira and JP MEYER leased it from JF BEZUIDENHOUT JNR on July 14, 1886. On October 11, 1887, the ZAR purchased the contract for £5000 and incorporated it into Johannesburg. Africans, Chinese, Jews, and Indians were among the first to call it home.

The other two early camps where diggers established were Natal Camp (near Jeppestown) and Paarl or Afrikaaner Camp (now Paarlshoop). Natal Camp was on Durban Street, City and Suburban, before becoming Jules Street at the canalised Natal Spruit. Their leader was PJ MEYER, whom President KRUGER appointed as an unofficial mining commissioner in 1886.

Paarl Camp was formed in 1886 by a group of Paarl residents led by Daniel Francois DU TOIT. The Paarl syndicate bought Gerhardus (Gert) Cornelis OOSTHUIZEN’s farm on September 26, 1886. Stephanus Jacobus DU TOIT, subsequently the ZAR’s Superintendent of Education, assisted in the formation of the mining firm. The remaining farm was purchased for £8,000, which was paid in golden sovereigns.

In July 1886, the Diamond Fields Advertiser reported that Ferreira’s Town had a population of 300 people and 14 “hotels” that served spirits. Initially, the landdrost of Heidelberg issued the hotel permits. Starting November 10, 1886, mining commissioner Jan ELOFF awarded 25 hotel licenses.

Traffic jams began in 1886, when ox-wagon owners found themselves stuck in lines of up to five wagons deep and had to dismantle their wagons piece by piece in order to move. Colonel Ignatius Phillip FERREIRA arrived first with his ox-wagon, placing it near where he had set up camp to mine gold. Within a short time, a big number of wagons and carts had gathered around his wagon. In 2012, property owners in the Main Street Mall, primarily mining firms, transported a replica of his ox-wagon to the CBD, where it was permanently installed alongside other mining relics that now forms part of an outdoor mining museum. Although not the original, a similar wagon was discovered at the James Hall Transport Museum and rebuilt by Balthi DU PLESSIS, a Pretoria museologist and professional ox-wagon restorer. The leather thongs (osrieme), whips, and ropes used to tie up the oxen are no longer created the same way, but Balthi located two persons who still make them: HJ GREYLING of Victoria East, who makes the whip by hand, and S. DU TOIT of Cornelia, who makes the ropes.

Catholic religious groups played a significant influence in establishing schools in Johannesburg. Pope Leo XIII established the Transvaal as a separate prefecture in 1886, with the Rt Revd Odilon Monginoux of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate serving as the Transvaal’s first Apostolic Prefect. On July 20, 1886, Fr. John de Lacy, O.M.I., visited the Rand and applied for a plot of property large enough to accommodate a church, a school, and teacher housing. On July 18, 1887, the State Secretary responded that each church that sought such a facility would be provided a double stand, free of purchase and transfer duties. Fr. Monginoux purchased the piece of land surrounded by Fox, Main, Von Wielligh, and Smal Streets and built a tiny chapel, convent, and girls’ school. The Bishop of Natal, Monsignor Charles Jolivet O.M.I., moved six French Holy Family nuns from Pietermaritzburg to this institution, which opened on October 1, 1887. By the end of 1887, the convent housed 75 students. The school relocated to Doornfontein in 1895 and became known as the East End Convent. In 1905, the Holy Family sisters established Parktown Convent School.

Morris DONOVAN, known as Dynamite Donovan, was the first to erect dwellings on the Witwatersrand. In August 1886, he landed in the Witwatersrand from the Orange River Colony. Towards the end of 1886, he was appointed agent for Nobel’s explosives. He lived in a hut with a tarp roof, where he kept 300 boxes of explosives and 20,000 detonators. In 1887, he pegged out and sold 190 claims at Ferreira’s Deep. His second dwelling was a thatched-roof cottage on Plein Street, close to Dr MURRAY. His wife planted the first trees at the residence in 1887. In addition, in 1888-9, he built Bertrams’ first residence. He purchased an iron shanty and set it up opposite the Central Hotel on the corner of Sauer and Commissioner Streets. He leased it to brokers. His tenants included Abe BAILEY and boxer James Robertson COUPER (1854-1897). It became known as Donovan’s Corner. He sold it in 1889 and started farming, but he eventually returned to Johannesburg.

Fillis’ Circus performed in Ferreira’s Camp on September 27, 1886. It was the first planned commercial entertainment on the Witwatersrand. They later performed at Marshall Square. The event had been in Pretoria on September 15th, when a strong squall blew the tent down during a performance. The audience had to cut their way out through the sidewalls. In 1888. the circus was located on Bree Street, between Rissik and Harrison Streets.

In September 1886, a modest corrugated iron shanty was built on the site of the current Rissik Street Post Office. The postmaster was Cornelius Alwyn DORMEHL (1867-1954). At the time, there were 18 mail coaches running weekly between Johannesburg and Kimberley.

In October 1886, Henry Archibald THORENCE erected the first tennis court behind his business in Rooipoort. He married Edith Mary Louise TWISS.

Standard Bank established the town’s first bank in a tent on October 11, 1886. The manager stored the cash and securities in a huge safe. The bank eventually relocated to a thatched building at 185 Anderson Street. Donald Patrick ROSS was the first bank manager. The Ellis Park Arena features a Donald Ross Room. The first bank clerk was Mr P. MYNHARDT. The Standard Bank was staffed by 30 workers. By the end of 1888, Johannesburg was expected to have between 15,000 and 20,000 people and four banks.

The first burglary was reported at the Central Hotel. On the night of October 22, 1886, Bradford HAWKINS, John GRIFFIN, and Patrick SMITH broke into the hotel’s storeroom and took the spirits. They were apprehended intoxicated by a police unit led by John McINTOSH, the first Chief of Police.

The first court was in a tent, with Captain Carl VON BRANDIS as the first magistrate and JC JUTA as the first public prosecutor. On November 4, 1886, Von Brandis was promoted to special landdrost of the Witwatersrand gold fields. As magistrate, he was responsible for maintaining law and order while also resolving squabbles and fights in the diggers’ community. He quickly established order with his previous aide, Jan ELOFF, who is now the mining commissioner. Another one of his responsibilities was to perform marriage ceremonies. John Philipp FROST and Anna Susanna OOSTHUIZEN were the first couple he married, on January 24, 1887.

Von Brandis was born in Germany in 1827 into a military family. He saw service in Austria-Hungary and Italy. In 1857, he arrived to the Cape with the German Legion. He married Jane Margaret HOHNE. In 1859, he was serving in the Orange Free State government. Nine years later, he accompanied President PRETORIUS to Pretoria. When gold was discovered, President Kruger appointed him the first official mining commissioner.

A nine-man Diggers’ Committee was elected to help the landdrost and the mining commissioner. The first official election occurred on November 8, 1886. The founding members were Colonel Ignatius Phillip FERREIRA, John Spranger HARRISON, Hendrik Johannes MORKEL, Dr Johannes (Hans) SAUER, WP FRASER, JJ ELOFF, John Griffin MAYNARD, Thomas Yeo SHERWELL, and W. BISSET. The committee addressed drinking water, licenses, cemeteries, highways, and other issues of public interest. Charles SHAW, the first sanitary inspector, was appointed on February 21, 1887, and Dr Johannes (Hans) SAUER was appointed as District Surgeon the following month. It was at one of these committee meetings that John Spranger HARRISON (1857-1927) first met Cecil John RHODES. Harrison Street is named after him. The committee sessions were conducted in a tent, and smoking was not permitted. Rhodes entered a session one day, sat down, and lit a cigarette. Harrison witnessed the incident and informed Eloff, who stated, “Mr Rhodes, we shall be pleased if you will not smoke.”

The first company of the Zuid Afrikaanse Republieke Polisie, consisting of 16 men, was founded on November 12, 1886, with a precinct extending from Boksburg to Krugersdorp. The original police station was located on Kort Street, between Market and Commissioner streets. This property was used in the 1890s to construct the Gaiety Theatre. The Officers’ Barracks were located at the bottom of Market Square, while the mounted police barracks were in Kazerne on Bree Street. In 1887, a police station was built on the corner of Bree and Simmonds Streets.

On December 4, 1886, Charles JOHNSON was killed when a stone slid down a shaft on Doornfontein and struck him in the head while he was being hoisted up in a bucket. This was the first reported death in a Rand mining accident.

The inaugural horse racing occurred on December 30, 1886.

Arthur Ballantine EDGSON founded the first bar, and only one guy could be at the counter at any given moment. He later constructed the Central Hotel in 1887, a corrugated iron house with three or four linked bedrooms, a bar and a big dining room. Visitors could sleep on the dining room floor if they brought their own bedding. It also served as a post office. He also owned the Wayside Inn in Muldersdrift. He married Margaretha Magdalena Sophia MULDER. He died in 1903. When Randjeslaagte was declared the new town, Frank Howard BUSSEY, the second owner of Central Hotel, constructed a new hotel on the corner of Commissioner and Sauer Streets out of stone excavated from Doornfontein.

The letter delivery system was rather basic. Runners delivered letters from Pretoria three times a week, depositing them in a gin box in the hotel owned by Arthur Ballantine EDGSON in Ferreira’s Camp. While the early occupants were waiting for their mail, he read out the names on the envelopes. Mail accumulated, and by the conclusion of the first year of this service, there were 10,000 unclaimed letters, 130 of which were for the SMITH family.

Mrs Helena MINNAAR of Potchefstroom, her son, and two daughters opened the first boarding house – a wagon with a buck sail, east of Ferreira’s Camp. Mrs. ROWLEY operated a tea and coffee shack. ROSENTHAL & RITSON managed Cafe Française, the first cafe in Ferreira’s Camp, which was located at the corner of Market and Joubert Streets.

The first rugby club, Wanderers, was founded in 1886 and lost its first match against a Pretoria team before winning in 1887.

Rev. Stephanus Jacobus DU TOIT, the ZAR’s Superintendent of Education, led the inaugural NGK service in Johannesburg, which was held outdoors in mid-1886. The service was performed under the shadow of a willow tree near the future NGK Langlaagte and Abraham Kriel Orphanage.

In late 1886, Bishop BROUSFIELD paid a visit to Johannesburg. He remarked that 16 of the 26 shanties sold liquor. Three years later, the 16 had increased to 127. In 1891, a newspaper editor arranged a barmaids’ vote. Seventeen thousand ballots were cast in the 288 saloons. Mrs GROTH of Kimberley Bar was named the winner with 2,000 votes. She was described as an “Aphrodite blessed with an ample body and great personal charm”. After the British captured Pretoria on June 5, 1900, a military proclamation forbade the manufacture and sale of liquor, and all outlets were closed. The bars in Johannesburg reopened in January 1902.

The first cricket club was established in November 1886. In 1906, the first Test match was won against Britain.

In November 1886, Henry DUFF established the first school in Ferreira’s Camp, with 14 children. He built a schoolhouse for £7.10, plus £14 for furniture. There was a Henry DUFF, who was born in 1842 and died in Johannesburg in February 1889.

The Anglican Church was the first to request a location in November 1886.

1887

The first two cemeteries were Brixton and Braamfontein. Before they were built, a cemetery with 12 stands was set out in January 1887 on the corner of Harrison and Bree Streets. This location proved unsuitable, so the bodies were excavated in the 1890s and reburied in Braamfontein Cemetery. Braamfontein’s earliest burials occurred in 1888, and it now houses the remains of many early Johannesburg pioneers. During the Anglo-Boer War, a cemetery was established in Turffontein on the grounds of a detention camp. Brixton Cemetery was opened in about 1908. West Park Cemetery opened in 1932.

Charles J. CHANDLER constructed the first brewery in what is now Ophirton in early 1887. He had packed up his brewing unit in Kimberley and travelled to the gold fields with two wagons. By 1906, he was manufacturing 12,000 gallons of beer per day, including Kronen Lager, Crown Ale, and Stout. During the winter, he also brewed a special edition beer called Bock Beer Season.

The mining magnates sponsored the first banquet for President Paul KRUGER in February 1887. A month later, on St. Patrick’s Day, there was an Irish supper.

On February 6, 1887, the first Rand riot occurred. The white police officers got intoxicated in a canteen in Ferreira’s Camp. A confrontation with diggers ensued, during which the officers summoned their African constables for reinforcements. The constables were armed with sticks. When they arrived, they were instructed to “shaya” (strike) the diggers. The diggers attacked the police with fists, clubs, and stones, forcing them to leave.

William CROSBY was the editor of the first newspaper, the Diggers’ News, which premiered on February 24, 1887. Charles William DEECKER ran the Transvaal Mining Argus, which was first published on February 24, 1887. Four additional newspapers appeared the same year, including The Eastern Star (later known as The Star), which moved from Grahamstown. The Eastern Star‘s inaugural edition in Johannesburg was published on October 17, 1887.

The first person buried in Johannesburg was Mary DEARLOVE, who died on March 29, 1887, at the age of 45. Her nephew, Joseph Dearlove HARDY, a transport rider, was interviewed for the Sunday Times on April 23, 1911: “In March 1887, I excavated the first tomb on the Rand. My aunt, Mrs. Mary Dearlove, became unwell. I parked the wagon in what is now Market Square and let the oxen graze there while I walked up to the tent where my aunt was ailing. There were two doctors in attendance: a German and an Englishman who had travelled with the Rush. But they couldn’t help her, so I went to Captain VON BRANDIS and asked him where they buried people. He claimed he didn’t know if there was a place, but he’d send a man to show me a cemetery plot. I marked out the first grave, and my lads excavated it. A carpenter friend of mine, John MALZER, assisted with the coffin, but the closest clergyman was in Pretoria. We sent to Pretoria, but there was no transportation available, so Mr RENS read the burial service at the gravesite. As we returned from the cemetery, a Wesleyan priest appeared.”

Mary Ann LOW was born in 1841 in Adelaide, Australia. She initially married Robert McINTYRE, and they produced a daughter, Jane (who married Frederick OSBORNE in 1891). Mary’s second marriage was to Joseph Avery DEARLOVE in June 1865. Joseph was born in 1828 in Westminster, London, to John DEARLOVE and Mary Ann WILLIAMS. He died on April 24, 1906 in Boksburg. The St Mary’s Cathedral Burial Register lists him as Joseph Henry, who was buried on April 25, 1906, at the age of 78. In 1869, Joseph and Mary lived on Burger Street in Pietermaritzburg, and he was a farmer. In 1873, they lived in Kimberley, where he worked as a butcher. Mary and Joseph had the following children:
1) John, born 1865, died 1965 in Pretoria.
2) Mary Polly was born on March 28, 1866, and married John William KILFOIL (died 1902) in 1893.
3) Arthur Frederick William, born 1867 and died 1899; married M. WATSON in 1898. He is perhaps Frederick, who was murdered on November 2, 1899, while serving with the Imperial Light Horse (1st Battalion) at Ladysmith. Two of his brothers fought with the Boers and survived. Trooper Frederick was issued the regimental number 410.
4) Jessie was born in Burger Street, Pietermaritzburg, on October 25, 1869, and died in 1945. Alfred James CATTERALL was 26 years old, a bachelor, a bartender and storekeeper, and lived in Johannesburg when he married Jessie on May 15, 1888, at St Mary’s Cathedral. Jessie was 18 years old, a spinster who lived in Johannesburg. They got divorced in 1907.
5) Charles Edward, born 1870 and died 1946 in Johannesburg; married Elizabeth Phoebe COKER.
6) Joseph was born in Kimberley on November 16, 1871, and christened on June 15, 1873, at St Cyprian’s Anglican Church in Kimberley. He died in 1911.
6) Francis Avery, born in 1872, died in 1931. He married Agnes HUDSON, divorced in 1911, and then married Philis Grace BURDETT in 1918.
7) Joseph Avery, born in 1872.
8) Walter Henry Lewis was born in 1874 and died in 1928; he married Blanche HILL.
9) Edith Ann was born on February 1, 1877, and died on January 22, 1971, in Discovery, Johannesburg; she married Thomas Hodgson WHIPP.
10) John was born in 1879 and married Georgina SHUTTLEWORTH.

The first pet dog was Whisky, a fox terrier owned by Dr George James McCarthy MELLE in April 1887. Dr MELLE was among the first doctors in town. He was born in Rondebosch on June 18, 1861, to George Alexander MELLE and Alison TAIT. George James earned his medical education at Edinburgh University, graduating in 1886. In 1887, he served as a locum for Dr. J. FEHRSEN of Cradock. He then relocated to Johannesburg, where he became one of the few doctors in town. While in Johannesburg, he became secretary of the newly created Transvaal Medical Society. In 1889, he established a clinic in Robertson, Cape, where he remained until the outbreak of the Anglo-Boer War, when he served as civil physician for the British army. He then joined Dr HOFFMANN in Paarl, but returned to Robertson after a brief stint in Riversdale. In 1915, he left Robertson to practise in Rhodesia. He joined the South African Native Labour Contingent in 1916. In 1918, he was named medical officer to the Miners’ Phthisis Bureau in Johannesburg, and the following year, he became Mine Medical Officer of the Zaaiplaats tin mines. He eventually settled in Potgieterus. He died on September 13, 1937, at the Johannesburg General Hospital. He married Anna Elizabeth Susanna (called Annie) VAN NIEKERK in 1889. The couple had one child, Basil George von Brandis, who was born in Somerset West on March 31, 1891 and passed away on January 8, 1966 in Orchards, Johannesburg. He married Margaret Alexander (aka Peggy) DONALD. Dr Basil George von Brandis MELLE was a Rhodes scholar in 1912. He played cricket for Hampshire, Oxford University, Transvaal, and Western Province. His first class career lasted from 1908 until 1924.

The first hospital was constructed at the jail on Commissioner Street. The facility served as both a prison and a hospital. Dr Hans SAUER served as the first District Surgeon. In April 1887, the hospital relocated to a two-room galvanised iron and wood structure near to the jail. In August 1888, a temporary hospital facility was erected to house 14 patients. This marked the foundation of the Johannesburg Hospital, which is located on Hospital Hill. In Eric Rosenthal’s book, Gold! Gold! Gold!, Dr. SAUER described Ferreira’s Camp – “Within a fortnight after our arrival, Ferreira’s Camp began to assume the aspect of a busy place; tents and tented wagons covered a wide area, and here and there primitive reed-and-clay shanties appeared. Newcomers turned up every day, by ox wagon, by horse wagon, by mule wagon, and by every imaginable sort of vehicle, from the Old Colony, from Natal, from the Orange Free State, from Kimberley, from Pretoria, in fact, from all parts of South Africa. This rush continued without interruption for years. As there was practically no accommodation in Ferreira’s Camp, everyone had to manage in the open as best he could. All this happened in the beginning of the winter of 1886.”

Sidney George Walter INGLESBY was born on April 8, 1887, at Ferreira’s Camp, to Jessie Frances STAINES and Robert George Wolhuter INGLESBY. He was baptised two months later. Rev. BOUSFIELD led the first documented church service in Johannesburg, an Anglican service in October 1886 in the dining room of the first wood and iron Central Hotel in Ferreira’s camp. At Johannesburg’s 50th birthday celebrations, Sidney was formally honoured as the city’s first white child. President Paul KRUGER met Sidney, who was dressed in a kilt, during the Paardekraal Day celebrations in 1894. Sidney’s father left Cape Town for the Kimberley diamond diggings, then trekked to Barberton before stopping in the Witwatersrand when he observed the gold rush of 1886. In 1888, Robert purchased Misgund farm, located south of Turffontein. Sidney’s first employment was in 1900, when he earned £5 in a Johannesburg shop. He later joined the military during World War I after working as a labour recruiter in the mines of northern Transvaal and the Witwatersrand. He married Elsie Emily WARNE on January 7, 1920, at All Souls Anglican Church in Booysens. He farmed till the age of 78 in Holgatfontein, Nigel, and Lenaron Agricultural Holdings, Misgund. He died on January 5, 1970, at the age of 82, in Johannesburg’s General Hospital, and was cremated at the Braamfontein Crematorium. He was survived by his sister, Winifred Emily Magdalene of Melville, Johannesburg, and his eldest brother, Oscar Ronald (Ron) Staines (1885-1973). Oscar came to Johannesburg as a two-year-old in an ox wagon. During the Anglo-Boer War, he served as an outrider, delivering food to impoverished Boer women and children on farms. On April 25, 1973, Ron’s funeral was held at the Hope Woolith Church in Willowdene, Johannesburg.

The first gold, weighing 350 ounces, was sent to Pietermaritzburg on April 12, 1887. The first share exchange occurred in a miner’s tent at Ferreira’s Camp. The first shares were quoted on a stock exchange in June 1887. Johannesburg’s first stock market began in a tent, later moved to Donovan’s livery stables on the junction of Sauer and Commissioner Streets, and finally to a brick structure on Commissioner Street. This structure included stained-glass windows, tiled bathrooms, a bar, offices, and a front porch. The first stock exchange slump occurred in 1891, as described in the SA Mining Journal of 1912, when alluvial gold had run out and cash was required to mine below the surface.

The first telegram was sent on April 27, 1887, by J.E. SYMONS, the telegraphist. He sent it to himself. The office was on Market Street, and by 1890, it employed 26 telegraphists and sent out 400 000 telegrams each year. Symons had been with the telegraph section of the Kimberley Post Office during the siege. Prior to that he was the first and only postmaster at Macloutsie in 1891-92. In September 1892, Symons accepted a job as postmaster in Vryburg. His observations, With the Telegraph Squad in Besieged Kimberley, were published in the British Post Office’s magazine “St. Martin’s-Le-Grand”, Volume X, 125-142, 248-263.

Previously, it was thought that the first infant born at Ferreira’s Camp was Paulus Johannes HARTOGH, born on May 13, 1887. On June 5, 1887, he was christened in the NHK Rustenburg East as the son of Paulus Johannes HARTOGH senior and Cornelia Susanna Gertruida PRELLER. His parents married on March 23, 1885, in the Nederduitsch Hervormde Kerk in Pretoria. Paulus Johannes jnr married Amalia Cathrine VAN GEUNS on February 11, 1930, in the Johannesburg magistrate’s court. He died in March 1967 at Edenvale Hospital and was buried in Braamfontein Cemetery. His last residential address was 81 New Kempsey, 113 Fox Street, Johannesburg.

On June 11, 1887, the 33-year-old Reverend John Thomas DARRAGH, the first Anglican priest stationed on the Rand, arrived from Kimberley. The little group of Greek Orthodox settlers in Johannesburg lacked an priest, so they asked him to officiate marital and baptismal ceremonies. He gained approval from both his bishop and the Orthodox patriarch. After learning Dutch, he moved on to modern Greek and Orthodox liturgy and rites. He was the primary force behind the establishment of St Mary’s College for Girls. On January 6, 1888, the school opened in the hall of St Mary’s Church, located at the southwest corner of Eloff and Kerk Streets. The first teacher was Lettie IMPEY. The school eventually relocated to a new facility on the intersection of Berg and Marshall Streets in Belgravia, with Kathleen HOLMES-ORR as headmistress.

Around the same time, the Reverend established St Mary’s School for Boys, which served as the choir school for St Mary’s Church. Frederick CRANE served as the first headmaster. The school offered classes in Dutch, French, Latin, Greek, history, geography, maths and singing. Initially, the school shared a church hall with the Girls’ College. Herbert GOODWIN took over as headmaster in June of 1888. As the school grew, it relocated to the Presbyterian Church hall. By February 1890, there were 160 students. The curriculum had expanded to include subjects like German, painting, accounting, and music.

Height’s Hotel on Commissioner Street was erected in 1887.

St Mary’s Anglican Church was built in 1887 at the southwest corner of Eloff and Kerk streets.

In 1887, a Catholic church was built at the crossroads of Fox and Smal Streets.

The International Order of Good Templars organised Johannesburg’s first concert on June 21, 1887, to commemorate Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee. It took place at Thompson’s Store on President Street.

On July 23, 1887, the first government school in Johannesburg was created. The headmaster was Reverend RILEY. The school was affiliated with the Dutch Reformed Church, and Dutch was the language of teaching. By the end of 1887, the Dutch Reformed Church had established three government schools, all located near Market Square.

The Johannesburg Club was established in August 1887, and the Rand Club in November 1887. The Rand Club opened on February 1, 1890. The first club was established on the same site in 1888 out of wood and iron, and it was quickly replaced by the second. The current Rand Club structure, which is located on the same site, was built in 1904.

The NGK in Johannesburg was founded on August 14, 1887. Previously, the new settlement was served by the NGK Heidelberg.

On November 2, 1887, Frances (Fanny) BUCKLAND began teaching in the wattle and daub home of Abraham Davidson ALEXANDER and his wife Rachel. Abraham was an Australian stockbroker. The couple had two children: Isobel (married LEVY) and Muriel (1884-1975) who became an actress. The house was located at the corner of Jeppe and Rissik Streets. Frances’ school became Cleveland High School, then Johannesburg High School for Girls in Barnato Park.

The first postal strike in the Transvaal occurred on December 8, 1887, when 15 of the 17 postal employees stayed away in protest of the unbearable working conditions and the delay in salary payment.

Amanda Anna SCHILLING (first marriage to AQUENZA) was Johannesburg’s first barmaid, working for Charles Armstrong BROWN at a bar in Ferreira’s Camp. He was the town’s first tavern owner to install a billiards table and bar. She arrived in 1887. In 1939, a prospector named Edward Clarence TRELAWNEY-ANSELL wrote a book called I Followed Gold, in which he claimed, “I do not think that I shall ever forget the arrival of the first barmaid in Johannesburg. Her arrival had been anticipated. Stories circulated about her stunning beauty, the magnificent clothes she wore, the very low cut of her bodices, and so on. Special focus was also placed on how easily she gave her nightly favours – for a fee. The day came when the coach will arrive carrying this stunning bar. Crowds of Jo’burg “boys” gathered to meet her. The coach arrived, with the beauty sat inside. Cheers erupted as she was hoisted shoulder-high from the bus to the Central Hotel’s billiard room, where she was treated to iced champagne. Then she was forced to stand on the billiard table in clothing that today would be considered overdressed but was considered supremely naughty at the time – corsets and voluminous drawers edged with plenty of lace – and was sold to the highest bidder for the sum of £150, champagne flowing like water in the meantime, and everyone laughing and having fun.” Amanda married Charles, but the couple divorced in 1897. She later worked at the Vienna Cafe on the corner of Market and Joubert Streets. In 1903, she sought government compensation for losses incurred during the Anglo-Boer War of 1899-1902.

The Alpha was the first association football club, founded in 1887.

The Methodist Church was built in 1887 on the location of what became His Majesty’s Theatre on Commissioner Street.

Anne Francis Letitia IMPEY, known as Letty or Lettie, was the first female office worker in Johannesburg. She was the daughter of Richard Pullman IMPEY (born 1829 in Whitby, died 1920 in Benoni) and Hannah Tamplin HART (born 1908). Her father worked as a farmer near Greytown before moving to Burghersdorp and eventually becoming a manager at the diamond mines in Du Toitspan. He relocated to Johannesburg and became a civil servant. Lettie was born in King William’s Town and went to St Michael’s School in Bloemfontein. Her family arrived in Johannesburg in 1887 via wagon and horse from Aliwal North after a four-week journey. She founded a school in the vestry of St Mary’s with five children, which grew to 280 and received government funding. She met President Paul KRUGER while teaching. She quit teaching due to illness and moved to England. She returned to Johannesburg to work as a shorthand secretary for solicitor Henry LINDSAY around 1894. She caused quite a stir at the time, as she was the only woman in business and was booed by males for taking their place. She sat in the office with a screen surrounding her for privacy, because it was not appropriate for a lady to be seen working in an office! She married Tom Henry TANDY on June 2, 1897, in Johannesburg. His first wife, Elizabeth WELSH, died in 1895. They had a daughter, Ina Impey TANDY (married JACKSON), who was among the first students at Parktown Convent and later became president of the Old Girl’s Association. Lettie was elected chairman of the Northern Suburbs Unionist Party. She was a member of both the Unionist Club and the White Cross Legion. She enjoyed crafts, gardening, and croquet. She lived at 23 Curry Road in Oaklands, Johannesburg. Her memoirs are in the Strange Collection at the Johannesburg Public Library.

Joubert Park was founded in 1887 and laid out in 1889. The Diggers Committee requested a public park. It was initially named Joubert’s Plain after PJ JOUBERT, the military’s Commander-in-Chief at the time. The conservatory and beautiful fountain were built in 1898 and 1895, respectively.

The Theatre Royal, located on Market Street, was built in 1887.

Juta’s Bookshop began in 1887 at the northeast corner of Pritchard and Loveday Streets.

1888

The first railway tracks were installed in 1888. The Rand Tram started in March 1890, connecting Johannesburg and Boksburg. It was extended to Springs in October 1890 and Roodepoort in November 1890. The line from Cape Town reached Johannesburg in September 1892. The line to Pretoria opened in January 1893, Maputo in November 1894, and Durban in December 1895.

Fordsburg’s first swimming pool opened in April of 1888.

The Orange Grove Hotel was built in 1888 on Louis Botha Avenue.

St Augustine’s Church was a corrugated iron edifice built around 1888 on Height Street in Doornfontein, opposite the Doornfontein Hotel. Later, another chapel was built on the corner of Charlton Terrace and Harrow Road.

The Wanderers Club was created in 1888. The area was once known as Kruger Park. The old Wanderers clubhouse was destroyed by fire in 1898 and later rebuilt. After World War II, the Wanderers grounds were relocated to Illovo as the railway station expanded.

The Sisters of the Holy Family opened the General Hospital in 1888, in a temporary wood and iron structure on Hospital Street. The permanent building’s foundation stone was set on the same spot on March 29, 1889. The first patient was admitted in November of that year.

1889

The first mail pillar box was constructed in June 1889.

James Robertson (Jamie) COUPER was born in 1854 in Scotland. at 1884, he won the first South African heavyweight title by defeating Joe COVERWELL at Kimberley. On July 26, 1889, he faced Wolf BENDAFF in Johannesburg. This was South Africa’s first major international battle. On fighting day, all stores and the stock exchange were closed. The boxing contest was held in a hurriedly erected corrugated enclosure at Eagles Nest. After 27 rounds, James won the battle. He died on July 23, 1897, as the consequence of a self-inflicted revolver shot.

Marist Brothers’ Sacred Heart College, which established in October 1889 at 30 Koch Street, had 14 boys. In 1895, the school’s cadet corps formed a guard of honour for President KRUGER during the Agricultural Exhibition. By 1897, the Marist Brothers had 500 pupils.

The first bicycle track race took place on October 26, 1889.

Johannesburg’s first road was built in 1889, from Ferreira’s Camp to Jeppestown along what became Commissioner Street. Three ox wagons loaded with stones were pushed up and down in a straight line for a week to compact the stones.

William Henry MILES, the town engineer, was appointed in 1889. In 1892, he founded the town’s first fire department and station on Market Square, behind the Johannesburg Public Library and near Sauer Street. The Von Brandis Street Fire Station was located at Von Brandis Square, off Jeppe Street.

The Wesleyan Church was established in 1889 on Joubert Street, near the corner of Commissioner Street. Captain VON BRANDIS lay the foundation stone in July 1887. The first Methodist minister in Johannesburg was Rev. F. J. BRISCOE. In 1889, a larger church was built on the corner of President and Kruis Streets, a block distant from the original synagogue. It opened on January 21, 1889, and was in service until 1919.

The President Street Synagogue was Johannesburg’s first Jewish synagogue, operating from 1889 to 1926. It was one of the first brick structures in Johannesburg. They had previously held services on high holy days at other locations, including the Rand Club. The community eventually separated, and a new congregation called the Park Synagogue was created in Wanderers Park. It was inaugurated by President Paul Kruger in 1892. It closed in 1914, and the proceeds were used to create the Doornfontein Shul.

St Mary the Less Anglican Church, located on Park Street in Jeppestown, was completed in 1889. In 1984, it was the oldest structure in Johannesburg still standing.

The Doornfontein Club was founded in 1889 by Sam HEIGHT and was located on End Street. End Street Convent later occupies the site.

The Johannesburg Turf Club was founded in Turffontein in 1889.

The Globe Theatre was built in 1889 on the junction of Fox and Ferreira Streets.

St. Mary’s School opened in 1889. Mary ROSS founded it in Jeppestown, with the assistance of Reverend DARRAGH. Shortly later, she married the reverend.

The Grand National Hotel was built in 1889 on Rissik Street, between Pritchard and Kerk Streets.

Herbert EVANS’ paint store was the first in Johannesburg, opening on Eloff Street and then moving to Pritchard Street. He was Welsh. With a ladder and some paintbrushes, he began making paint, writing municipal signs, and providing glazing and gilding services. When over 30 tonnes of dynamite erupted at the Braamfontein magazine, breaking practically every window in Johannesburg, Herbert purchased all of the country’s glass and reglazed the city. In 1915, he founded Parthenon Paints, which became a leader in ready-mix colour paints, floor polish, and car varnish. The most well-known employee was Walter SISULU (later ANC secretary-general), who worked as a paint mixer for five years.

Canning & Goad designed the Old Arcade, Johannesburg’s first covered retail gallery, which opened in 1888-89. It joined Market and Commissioner Streets. The bottom story contained 20 businesses, while the first floor housed 51 offices. The ironwork that supported it was brought from Walter MACFARLANE’s Saracen Foundry in Glasgow, Scotland.

1890

The first Johannesburg census was conducted on April 2, 1890, and only white people were counted, for a total of 119,128.

On April 11, 1890, Chief Justice John KOTZE laid the cornerstone of St Michael’s College, an Anglican Church private school on on the corner of Commissioner and Crowns Street in Fairview. St. Michael’s College was the predecessor of all the Jeppe Schools. There were 25 students when the school first opened in 1890. The headmaster was Rev. Henry Bindley SIDWELL (later headmaster of Pretoria Diocesan School and subsequently Bishop of George).

On November 4, 1890, the first golf club was created.

The General Hospital opened on November 5, 1890. The east wing was completed in January 1893.

A Jewish school was established in 1890.

The Presbyterian Church was founded in 1890 on the north side of Kerk Street, between Rissik and Joubert streets.

The Nederduits Gereformeerde Kerk, often known as the Irene Kerk, was built in 1890 on the corner of Plein and Twist streets. Years later, the Landdrost Hotel was built on the property.

1891

The first roller skating rink debuted in February 1891 on Kerk Street.

The first snowfall came on Saturday, May 16, 1891, in the morning.

A locust swarm struck town on May 28, 1891.

On October 13, 1891, Sir Dan GODFREY led an orchestra at the Standard Theatre, playing the piano with one hand and conducting with the other. The Standard Theatre, built in 1891, was east of the Rissik Street Post Office.

The Johannesburg Chess Club was founded in 1891, and Lord Randolph CHURCHILL served as its first president.

1892

The NGK was constructed on Von Brandis Square in April 1892. By the end of the 1890s, it no longer served as a church. It was converted into the Law Courts, together with the remainder of the square, in 1909-1910.

The Johannesburg Lighting Company installed the first gas lamp on November 17, 1892.

The earliest prostitutes were women from the Kimberley diamond fields. By 1892, bigger numbers had arrived from France, Belgium, and Germany. The area between Bree Street in the north and Anderson Street in the south, Sauer Street in the west and Kruis Street in the east, which included the majority of the brothels, became known as Frenchfontein. The most well-known brothel was Sylvio Villa, located on the corner of De Villiers and Rissik Streets. It opened in 1895 and closed in 1906, owned by Auguste Francois ROGER. He married Therese BITTERLIN. He died in 1923. Alice MULLER was the madam, and she oversaw the nine working women: Evette VERWEY, Suzanne DUBOIS, A. DUMAS, Blanche DUMONT, Marie BUFFAUT, Jeanne DUBOIS, Marie ANDRE, Jeanne DURETT, and Georgette CARPENTIER. They charged “£1 for a short time” and “£5 per night.” They had to pay Alice £4 every month for food and shelter. This excluded clothing, laundry, and medical expenses. The Green House brothel was situated at 19-20 Sauer Street. Others included the Monte Christo, Phoenix, and Spire House. In 1888, Frenchfontein had 97 brothels, 77 saloons, 43 hotels, and 12 billiard halls. In 1898, a Morality Act was introduced, which provided for the possible expulsion of moral violators from the ZAR. When the Anglo-Boer War broke out in 1899, the prostitutes and pimps fled to Cape Town. This led to the Cape passing the Betting Houses, Gaming Houses, and Brothels Suppression Bill in 1902. They left again, some returning to the Transvaal and others heading to Durban and Pietermaritzburg.

In 1892, the Education Law was revised to require all teachers in government-subsidised schools to be Protestants, and schools could not receive subsidies for Jewish or Catholic students. All textbooks had to be in Dutch, and education in other languages could only take up four hours per week. In April 1895, the Witwatersrand Council of Education was formed in response to agitation caused by these developments. The board featured Sir Lionel PHILLIPS and Sir Abe BAILEY. In October 1895, the council issued a report stating that there were 55 schools for Dutch children in Johannesburg and surrounding areas, with 31 of them operating in school and church buildings and the rest in private homes. Of the 187 teachers, 46 had professional qualifications. It was projected that 2,000 of the 6,500 white children of school age did not attend school. In 1897-1898, fewer than 50 white children in the ZAR were in or above Standard 6. By the end of 1896, the council had taken ownership of three schools and assumed management and financial responsibility for three more. In 1897, it purchased St Michael’s College and renamed it Jeppestown Grammar School. Jeppestown School was the council’s flagship institution.

The first Thrupps store in Johannesburg opened in 1892, at the corner of Eloff and President Streets. In 1882, Charles Henry THRUPP left England for South Africa, where he made his way to King Williams Town to work as a local wholesaler. His employer tasked him with opening a store in Johannesburg, but after several years of good trade, the business fell on hard times and was forced to close its doors in 1892. Charles decided to acquire the grocery side of the business. Later that year, he opened his first store, Thrupps. The store provided quality local produce and imported specialities from all over the world. By the early 1900s, the cargo ships that sailed from the United Kingdom were laden with crates marked “Thrupps”. Charles provided a daily delivery service, which started with horse-drawn vehicles and bicycles. He also allowed monthly customer accounts. When the Anglo-Boer War broke out in 1899, he left Johannesburg, only returning after the war ended in 1902. This time, he established the business in Pritchard Street. He also opened two wine and spirit stores in 1902 and 1903 in Penlan House on Eloff Street and Jeppestown. The store occupied several premises in Johannesburg before moving to Rosebank in 1947. After World War II, over one million food parcels were packed and posted to Britain, about 1,000 parcels a day for four years. Among the food parcel clients was Jan SMUTS, who sent supplies to the Queen at Buckingham Palace, Queen Mary at Kensington Palace and Sir Winston Churchill at Hyde Park Gate in London. In the 1990s, the business moved to the Thrupps Illovo Centre at 204 Oxford Road.

1893

The first flower display contest was held at the Wesleyan Church in February 1893.

The earliest Orthodox synagogue was Fox Street Synagogue, located at 44 Main Street. It was referred to as the Beth Hamedrash. In 1893, an Orthodox group bought the modest dwelling. It was dismantled in 1912 and replaced with larger structures, which were eventually demolished.

The Jewish School of Johannesburg was founded in 1893 in Kerk Street for Eastern European immigrant children. A new school was built in 1896 on a site adjoining the Park Synagogue on the corner of De Villiers and Joubert Streets and was opened on July 14. 1897 by the Chief Justice J. KOTZE. It was a three-story building with a hall on the ground floor. During the Anglo-Boer War the British commandeered the school for a hospital. After the war ended, the British government took over some of the existing private schools including the Jewish School and on July 28, 1902 it became the Jewish Government School. Its first principal was AM ABRAHAMS who came out from London, England. By 1907, the school had 500 pupils but was overcrowded. In 1913, land was bought in End Street near the Doornfontein Station and the school was built the following year. The school continued to be run by Abrahams who served as principal from 1902 to 1925. IH HARRIS succeeded him and served as principal from 1925 to 1940. The school was later remaned I.H. Harris School.

Kimberley House, a two-story building, was built in 1893 on Pritchard Street between Harrison and Loveday Streets. It was dismantled in 1984.

The original wood and iron library relocated to its first permanent home on Kerk Street, which had previously served as a church. In September 1898, a new library building replaced it.

The first Stuttafords store, called Thorne & Stuttafords, opened in 1893. In 1897, a second store opened at Aspey’s Corner.

1894

The first telephone system, brought from Paris, went into service in Plein Square in September 1894, with approximately 250 subscribers. The following instructions were issued: “Subscribers to the Telephone System should not wait for a return bell after calling the Central Station using the black button on the instrument.” When the latter is pressed, the receiver should be removed from the hook, and upon request from the Central, the name and phone number of the subscriber with whom connection is desired should be provided. When the reply “Voorwaarts” is heard, reinstall the receiver on the hook, press the white knob, and wait for the return bell before taking the receiver down again.”

Joseph Barnett ISAACS was born in Brynmawr, Brecknockshire, South Wales, around 1861 as the son of Barnett ISAACS and his wife, Ellen. They were a Jewish family. Joseph moved to Johannesburg in 1889 and founded J. Barnett & Company in 1895. His younger brother, David, later joined him. They worked as photographers for the London magazine Black & White. The Barnett Collection refers to the brothers’ early photography. In 1897, Joseph, who was unmarried, experienced bronchial issues while travelling overseas. He died in Wales in July 1897, after contracting pneumonia while climbing in Switzerland. David took over the business and continued to take photographs, including some from the Anglo-Boer War. In 1902, he created a postcard series. The main shop was on the corner of Eloff and Pritchard Streets, and the images were processed at his residence on 2 Sherwell Street in Doornfontein. The original Barnett store was located in the Mutual Buildings. David rose to prominence in the film industry after co-founding African Consolidated Theatres with Isidore William SCHLESINGER. When David planned to sell his photographic company, Charles Davidson DON, editor of The Star from 1915 to 1938, met him and convinced him to sell the collection to The Star, which he did in the 1920s. David died in 1964, aged 90. The 2,100+ photographs document Johannesburg’s early years between the 1890s and 1913, including its buildings and streets, gold mining, primarily on the Witwatersrand but also as far as Barberton, and events such as the Jameson Raid in 1895, the Matabele Rebellion in 1896, the Queen Victoria Jubilee in 1897, and the Anglo-Boer War from 1899 to 1902.

Joseph Benjamin ROBINSON, a gold and diamond mining magnate and Randlord, founded Robinson Bank in 1894 at the corner of Market and Simmonds Streets.

1895

In January 1895, Senior Detective J.J. DONOVAN was arrested on charges of collecting bribes from Mr. GREENSTONE, the owner of a canteen. He was dismissed.

The first baseball game was played on February 10, 1895, at the Old Wanderers Club, with Simmer and Primrose facing City and Robinson. American miners introduced the sport to Johannesburg, and which was kept alive by Dr BRENMAN and JC HOLDERNESS.

The first movie in South Africa was presented on April 4, 1895, at the Grand National Hotel in Johannesburg. On April 19, 1895, the first kinetoscopes—boxes that allowed people to watch moving images—were made available to the public in Herwoods Arcade on Pritchard and President Street.

The first electric street lamp was installed on the corner of Rissik and President Streets in October 1895.

1896

The Sanitary Committee decided that a census of Johannesburg and its suburbs, within a three mile radius from the Market Square should be taken to capture accurate statistics to plan ahead for the needs of the new town. The census was conducted on July 15, 1896 under Arthur Herbert BLEKSLEY, the Director of Census. The report was published September 15, printed by the Standard and Diggers’ News in Johannesburg.

The first cinema screening in South Africa took place on May 9, 1896, at the Empire Palace of Varieties on the junction of Commissioner and Ferreira Streets. It was founded in 1895 and is headed by Edgar Maurice HYMAN (died 1936). That year, the first South African film was made, with sequences taken from the front of a tram in Johannesburg. The Apollo Theatre on Pritchard Street featured moving pictures, and the first bio-cafés debuted in 1912.

The first house-to-house mail delivery occurred on November 2, 1896, when 20 postmen delivered 3,000 letters. Three months later, in February 1897, the £3,000 budget was not authorised, and the service was terminated.

The Anglican, Wesleyan, and Congregational mission societies built the first schools for Black children in Johannesburg. By 1896, Johannesburg had seven mission schools for coloured and Indian children, as well as four that admitted children of all races. The Reverend John DARRAGH helped establish two of the latter schools. The first was St Cyprian’s Mission School, which opened in early 1890 in Velskoendorp, west of Brickfields and Burghersdorp (now Newtown and Fordsburg). Miss SOAMERS supported the head teacher, Emma SHAW. St Cyprian’s was initially awarded a state subsidy, but this was revoked after a government examination discovered that the school had numerous coloured and indigenous boys among its students, who shared desks with white boys. The school managed to survive. In November 1891, the Reverend founded Perseverance School to educate the children of poor English and Dutch-speaking parents. It was located in Ferreira’s Camp, and Miss E. HAM was the principal. The school was awarded a government subsidy, but an inspection in February 1892 revealed that coloured boys made up the large majority of the students. This subsidy has likewise been withdrawn. Darragh was submitted to the Attorney-General for prosecution, but none ensued. In retaliation, funds were withdrawn from Perseverance, St Cyprian’s, and St Mary’s School for Boys.

The 1896 census counted 16,038 children in Johannesburg. There were 62 schools, perhaps 50 of which were reserved for white children. Seven of these schools received state aid. Approximately 7,000 white children could not read or write and were not taught to do so. A small percentage of Black youngsters received formal schooling.

The Gereformeerde Kerk was constructed in 1896 on the former Kazerne site.

The fort was built between 1896 and 1899 and is still standing on Kotze Street in Hillbrow. The coat of arms of the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek is engraved inside the main courtyard.

The Park Station building was created by Dutch railway engineer Jacob F. KLINKHAMER in 1894 to replace the early wood and iron buildings of the Park Halt halt. In 1896, the edifice was built at the Pletterij Den Haag foundry in Holland and shipped in sections to Johannesburg. The island platform, with its pitched corrugated iron roof and elevated central barrel vault, was built between 1896 and 1897, together with five other buildings. The structure remained in service until 1951. It was removed in 1948 and reassembled at Esselen Park in Kempton Park, where it remained until 1993, when it was relocated to a concrete podium in Newtown.

H.W. Markham Outfitter and Clothier was a leading supplier of men’s clothes. The six-story structure on the corner of Eloff and Pritchard Streets was constructed between 1896 and 1897. It was designed by George RANSOME, the same architect who built the first Markham store in Adderley Street, Cape Town, in 1873. Henry William MARKHAM arrived in Cape Town from England in 1873. He set up a successful outfitter’s business and in 1895 opened his first branch in Johannesburg. After Henry’s death, his son-in-law took over the business.

1897

A Benz Voiturette made its debut in Johannesburg. The Standard & Diggers’ News said that it was “the motor car, or noiseless carriage, the first and only in South Africa” and was displayed at Wanderers’ Grounds on Wednesday, January 13, 1897. Hess & Co. organised the exhibition. On the same day, two ladies from a touring theatrical company became the first women in the country to sit in an automobile.

The first mayor, Johan Zulch DE VILLIERS, was installed on October 1, 1897, having arrived in town the same day. He was born in Paarl in 1845 and began his political career in the Orange Free State Volksraad (Parliament). He was regarded as “a reliable, honest, and tactful official.” He travelled to the ZAR in 1881 and served as a special landdrost (magistrate) for Pretoria, Barberton, Lydenburg, and Swaziland from 1881 until 1897. He lived at 22 Koch Street, near Joubert Park. On October 1, 1897, the first municipal council was also established. The town was divided into 12 wards, each with two councillors, one of whom had to be a ZAR burgher. De Villiers remained mayor until 1900. Although he departed from public life in 1902, he served on the Transvaal Legislative Council for two years. He died in 1910.

Kensington Sanatorium opened in 1897. John Francis BEARDWOOD, an architect, designed it in 1897. It was created and operated by the Catholic French sisters of the Holy Family from its inception until 1915.

The Deutsche Schule on Edith Cavell Street was established in 1897.

The Grand Station Hotel was erected in 1897 on Main Street in Jeppestown.

The Methodist Church was built in 1897 on De Korte Street in Braamfontein.

The Pioneer Hotel, located on Loveday Street, was built in 1897.

The Rissik Street Post Office was built in 1897.

The Carmel Building was constructed in 1897 at the northeast corner of Diagonal and President streets.

Penlan House was built in 1897 on Eloff Street, between President and Pritchard Streets.

1898

In November 1898, Chief Detective Robert FERGUSON was discovered purchasing gold amalgam and sending it to Count SARIGNY. He was dismissed.

Acme Cigarette Company was founded in 1898. In 1902 the United Kingdom’s Imperial Tobacco Company and the United States’ American Tobacco Company agreed to form a joint venture, the British-American Tobacco Company Ltd. In 1904 the company bought out a number of South African tobacco companies including Holt & Holt Ltd, Acme Cigarette Company, and the British Tobacco Company (South Africa) Ltd. The new company, who’s operations covered South Africa, Rhodesia and Nyasaland, was named the United Tobacco Companies Ltd.

Shortly before Christmas 1898, Thomas EDGAR, a boilermaker from Lancashire, got into a drunken altercation with a neighbour. A ZAR police officer shot Thomas while he was resisting arrest. The police officer was charged with murder, but the prosecutor lowered the case to homicide and released the suspect on bail. This sparked protests from uitlanders (foreigners), who got a petition requesting Queen Victoria intervene to remove the “intolerable state of affairs” in the ZAR. In order to diffuse the crisis, Jan SMUTS attempted to reach an agreement with the mining firms. He asked Percy FITZPATRICK to be the primary negotiator for the mining houses. FitzPatrick had been imprisoned for his role in the Jameson conspiracy and was freed on parole with the condition that he refrain from any political engagement for three years. Smuts waived this condition. After negogiating a deal, FitzPatrick disclosed the specifics to The Star, causing the discussions to collapse. FitzPatrick left for Cape Town by rail, and on March 31, 1899, he requested that MILNER send the petition signed by 21,000 British subjects on the Rand. By mid-1899, Britain and the ZAR were about to go to war.

St. John’s College opened in 1898. The school was formerly located at 32-34 Plein Street. The school closed after one year due to the commencement of the Anglo-Boer War. When it reopened, it was discovered to be too small and was relocated to a new wood and corrugated iron structure on the Union Ground in 1902. The school relocated to its current location in Houghton in 1907.

1900

The first pet shop opened in 1900, in a tearoom on the corner of Noord and Harrison Streets. Isobel SOLOMON is said to have brought the first pet cat to town from the Cape.

1902

King Edward VII High School was first called Johannesburg High School for Boys and was the second government high school for boys to be established in the Transvaal under the Milner scheme. It opened on April 14, 1902, with six boys and five members of staff including the headmaster. The first headmaster was Captain Edward Lancelot SANDERSON M.A (3rd Battalion Prince of Wales Own Yorkshire Regiment), who was educated at Harrow and King’s College, Cambridge.

1903

The first women’s hockey club was founded in 1903/4, and the first hockey Test was played in 1925 versus England.

Roedean School, located on Janie Street in Jeppestown, opened in 1903. In 1905, it relocated to Carse o’Gowrie Road in Parktown.

1904

Cuthbert’s Building was built in 1904 at the southwest corner of Eloff and Pritchard Streets. It was designed by the pioneer architect and founder of one of the oldest architectural firms in South Africa, William Henry STUCKE.

1905

Wright and Graves marketed “K boots” on the first electric sign about 1905.

Parktown Convent, located on Oxford Road in Parktown, opened in 1905. When End Street Convent decided to open a boarding school, the Order of the Holy Family took over.

1906

The first electric trams were inaugurated in March 1906, running from town to Siemert Road in Doornfontein. The trams operated until March 1961.

The foundation for the End Street Synagogue in Doornfontein was laid, but it was never completed due to a lack of money. A Catholic nun, Kate O’BRIEN, received the building as a donation. The foundation stone on exhibit at Great Park Synagogue is from Doornfontein.

1910

The first ice rink, dubbed Niagara, opened in 1910 at Park Station.

1927

The first traffic light was installed in March 1927 at the intersection of President and Rissik Streets. It was placed in the middle of the road, but was quickly knocked down by a driver.

General

The new town’s early population was primarily male. George MEREDITH established the town’s first barbershop in Ferreira’s Camp.

The town opened its first jail on Commissioner Street. Mr C. BRAHN served as the first jailer. It was a brick structure with thatched roof. A later jail was constructed on the site of the later Drill Hall, at the corner of Twist and Plein Streets.

William Somerset MORKEL (1845–1914) established the first butcher shop in Ferreira’s Camp, on the corner of Bree Street East and Marshall Square. He later opened a second butchery in Bok Street, Doornfontein. Pieter Loreth MORKEL, William’s father, worked as a butcher at the Cape. Willem also became a butcher and relocated to Kimberley, where he married Johanna Helena MARITZ (15 January 1854-20 May 1918), and they had children:
1) Theunisina Christina, born December 13, 1874.
2) Hendrik Johannes (aka Harry), born July 2, 1876.
3) Gerhardus Maritz (called Gerrit), born June 23, 1878, died July 1955, married Flora Fanny MATTHEWS (born November 25, 1880).
4) William Somerset (aka Sommie) was born on September 26, 1879, and died on July 11, 1921, in Bethal. He married Hester Jakowa KOTZE.
5) Stephanus Kimberley (aka Steve), born November 18, 1881.
6) Douglas Francis Theodore, born 18 October 1885, died 20 February 1950 in Johannesburg; married Hulda Marie BUCHLER (died 1930).
7) John Vernon Bester, born January 16, 1890, died 1924.

Willem’s brother was Hendrik Johannes MORKEL, also a Rand pioneer. Hendrik had been an attorney and
auctioneer in Kroonstad. The brothers shared the same Post Office Box number, 45, for many years. The family initially lived on Davies Street in Doornfontein before relocating to Bok Street in Hospital Hill. Harry participated in the Anglo-Boer War alongside his brothers Gerrit and Steve. On March 10, 1900, the British took Sommie as a prisoner of war at Abraham’s Kraal and transferred him to Deadwood, St Helena. Both shops shuttered during the war, forcing the family to rely on a modest rental income to survive. Sommie and Douglas became Springbok rugby players. Harry was a champion hurdler. Sommie was also a mining contractor.

The earliest brick structure was a residence constructed for Richard Guy RIMER (1858-1935). In the 1920s, it was still standing near Park Station on Eloff Street. In front of the home, he planted blue gums. He married Clara Jessie Maude MOODIE. The Barberton Gold Mining Company was founded in 1884, two years after Tom MCLACHLAN discovered payable gold in the Barberton area, by brothers James Cook RIMER, Richard Guy RIMER, and Graham BARBER.

Remembering Old Johannesburg, by John O’Meara

For Jo’burg was a mining town
And a very lively spot.
You’d get caught up in the action
Whenever things got hot.
A raw and ugly place, they say,
Like me with a very plain face,
But we both grew up so suddenly
There was little time for grace.

And when there’d been some fighting
We thought it quite a lark
To count the feet of policemen
being buried in Milner Park.
Later cannons started booming
along the road that led to the zoo,
lobbing shells on the hill at Brixton,
and we were there watching too.

There was such a mix of people
and colours of many a race
that later, when I travelled
I never felt out of place.
I’ll always be grateful to Jo’burg
for giving me a lively start.
Though it was a hardy place to live in,
it was a town with a very big heart.