I became fascinated some years ago with Sir George, who is, I believe, not as well-known as he deserves to be.
I have been collecting any information I could find with the ultimate aim of writing his biography.
The land which he owned was originally known as Bedford Farm, after the town where he grew up in England and it was from this that Bedfordview derived its name.
The original entrance gatehouse to the farm still stands on the present Farrargate complex on Civin Drive.
It is quite correct that he was one of the major developers of gold mines but at no stage did he have anything like a monopoly. He was certainly overshadowed by organisations like Corner House and Wernher Beit.
He was the major shareholder and chief executive officer of ERPM and president of the Chamber of Mines, as well as being one of the founders of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.
His political career was almost as important as his involvement with mining.
He was one of the signatories to the letter which triggered the Jameson Raid in 1896 and was originally sentenced to death which was later commuted to a fine of twenty-five thousand pounds.
In 1903 he was largely responsible for bringing to the mines Chinese labour, necessary because of the shortage of local workers.
His most significant contribution to South Africa’s political interest was the drafting, in co-operation with Jan Smuts, of the South Africa Act, which established the Union of South Africa in 1910.
In the first Union Parliament, he became leader of the opposition (the Unionist Party).
He withdrew from politics shortly after the establishment of the Union in order to devote more time to the management of ERPM.
When General Louis Botha undertook his campaign in South West Africa to prevent Germany from using it as a base for invading South Africa, he appointed Sir George to restore the railway line from Luderitz to Keetmanshoop, which had been destroyed as part of the German retreat.
On May 19 he was travelling on an inspection trolley near Kuibis (which is about half way along the line from Keetmanshoop) when they encountered a sandstorm, in the course of which they were hit by a train travelling in the opposite direction.
Sir George died the next morning from his injuries.
His body was brought back to Bedford Farm where his funeral took place on June 16. The delay was caused by the time taken for his wife to travel back from England.
Some idea of his importance is conveyed by the fact that the memorial service in Boksburg on 23 May was conducted by the Archbishop of Cape Town.
I am particularly interested in his social life, which appears to have been very active.
He had six daughters and there is a fascinating picture of two of them riding horses through Boksburg East in 1907, waving posters which pleaded “Vote for Daddy”.
He was also a keen racehorse owner, his horse Rhanleigh won the Durban July in 1914.
He was also one of the founders of the Rand Show.
I hope that I will one day have time to explore the local newspaper archives to learn more about this side of his life.
He was renowned for being one of the few Randlords to “get his hands dirty”, frequently going underground at ERPM. At the same time he was something of a clean-freak at home, wiping his hand across the piano before a party to make sure it had been properly dusted.
