Benoni Bygones: Treasures of Howard Avenue found in loft

The City Times is proud to revive a monthly history piece compiled by local history enthusiast Glynis Cox Millett-Clay, which she has named Benoni Bygones.

A residential hotel at 137 Howard Avenue was the largest hotel of its type in Benoni and was owned by one family longer than any other residential hotel in the town.

Wembury was originally a farmhouse built in the late 1890s and initially owned by early pioneers to Benoni, the Sherwell family, who bought it in 1900.

The name Wembury was chosen by the Sherwell’s as they came from Wembury near Plymouth in England.

When people started arriving in Benoni during the early gold mining days, accommodation became a huge problem and the Sherwells decided to take in boarders.

Realising there was a need for more accommodation, they built onto the farmhouse and eventually the boarding house grew to the hotel that it was.

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The main building in which the dining room was situated was the original farmhouse and on the side of this was the old dairy.

The stables at the back of the property were used for storage space and the farm manager’s cottage was turned into an additional room.

Having run the hotel for 32 years, the Sherwells sold the property to Constance Luckhoff in 1932 and she continued building more rooms onto the house and landscaped the grounds into a beautiful garden.

When her husband fell ill and died two years later, Constance still found time to run the hotel and be part of other many local organisations.

She was also instrumental in starting the Old People’s Home on Howard Avenue.

When Constance retired to Southbroom in 1954, her son Les Luckhoff and his wife Jean (Bethell), whom he met and married in Somerset, England in 1945, took over the running of the hotel.

It stayed in the family for just over 60 years until it closed its doors in 1993.

Today, Wembury Mews Complex is built on the same property.

Treasure chests

Twenty-one years later, in March 2014, Colin Maudsley, the owner of Law House Trading Trust and Camellia Properties, purchased two semi-detached houses (192A and 192B) on Howard Avenue.

While they were renovating the houses, Armstrong, the head worker, found two trunks in the loft.

After going through the contents, which were full of dust and also somewhat deteriorated, Colin found a mine of treasures that belonged to the Luckhoff family when they lived in Benoni.

The treasures that were found in the loft included photos of the early Luckhoff family, lots of horticultural data, knitting and sewing patterns and letters written by family members.

All these and more were sent to Carolynn (Luckhoff) Bruton, the daughter of Les Luckhoff, who now lives in Cape Town.

(Source: Various newspaper cuttings and photos found in the attic of 137 Howard Avenue/story by Glynis Cox Millett-Clay/updated: October 25, 2024).

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