Fraser Alexander: born at St Helena; buried in Benoni
Fraser Alexander was born on the island of St Helena in 1864; a mid-Atlantic island on which his family had lived for close to 200 years - and where various ancestors had been involved in guarding Napoleon during his exile.
He came to South Africa in 1872. After he served in the Anglo Boer War and worked as the chief reduction officer of Crown Mines, he settled in Benoni in 1912.
He built an Edwardian house at number 135 Woburn Avenue, which no longer exists.
He founded the company ‘Fraser Alexander’, which constructed slimes dams, and pioneered many of the technologies still used today to build and maintain these dams. He was involved in building many of the slimes dams on the Witwatersrand.
The company which he founded is over 100 years in age and is presently located in Jet Park.
The Alexander Dam at Geduld bears his name; and was one of the first dams he constructed. Fraser Alexander was also a founder of East Rand Engineering, which was later incorporated into EL Bateman.
He was a good rugby player and founder of Diggers Rugby Club. He was the first captain when the club won the Transvaal Floating Trophy.
Fraser Alexander was elected to represent North East Rand in the Transvaal Provincial Council in 1927 and stood for Parliament for Benoni, in 1929. He built the first flat-roofed Art Deco house in Benoni – called ‘Helia’ – in 1934, at number 31 Sunnyside Avenue, Westdene.
He was among the first Rotarians in Benoni and served as president of the Benoni Rotary Club. Fraser Alexander died on January 13, 1943 – and is buried in the Benoni Cemetery. Information supplied by Glynis Cox Millett-Clay.
