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Rupert Ford Marais

The Marais family in South Africa dates back to the arrival of Charles Marais, a French Huguenot immigrant, in 1688. Rupert was born on a farm known as Nektar, near Stellenbosch. He was a 6th-generation descendant of Charles Marais. Authors Eugene Marais (cousin) and Joy Packer (niece - her mother was Rupert's sister Ellen) were members of this branch of the extended Marais family. Melt Marais, former commander of the Pretoria garrison during the Boer War was also a cousin.

His father, Petrus Jacobus Marais, was a colourful character known as Lang Piet, on account of his being known as the tallest man in Pretoria. He was worth nine million pounds from gold prospecting in the Transvaal. Rupert was born in Pretoria, where his father owned the first double-story building in town, known as Nigel House. His gold fortune was due to finding gold on his farm, which later became the town of Nigel.  Lang Piet later returned to the Cape, where he lived at Wheatfields in Mowbray.  

The story of Rupert Marais, the swimmer, remains untold. Although he did graduate from UCT in 1901, it's unknown where he grew up, went to school, and when he moved from Pretoria to the Cape. The Claremont indoor swimming pool must have been near the Wheatfield house, although it is not known whether Lang Piet Marais built the home or if the children all went to school in the area.

The Marais family name - Rupert, his brother George, and a P. Marais - appears in the newspaper reports of swimming in the Cape between 1898-1902.  Rupert won the 220-yard Western Province Championship in January 1899. The Team Race, where he swum for the Leander SC, and where a P. Marais was listed as a reserve. It is unclear how the Marais children returned to the Cape, and became involved with the Leander Swimming Club. 

His brother Charles Marais also played water polo for Western Province, winning the Currie Cup in 1901. 

Rupert was born in Pretoria in 1880 and died there on 1 August 1924. He married Stella Felicia Emmett in St Peter's Church in Vryheid, Natal, on 5 October 1905. Stella passed away in Pretoria on 11 November 196. Her sister Venetia, married Charles Marais, another brother of Rupert Marais, in Vryheid on 5 October 1893. She also lived in Pretoria until she passed in 1954.

In June 1901, he passed the Law Certificate Examination at the University of Cape Town, and by 1902, he was practising as an attorney in Pretoria. Rupert Marais was joined by Norman Price (later to become Judge N. C. B. Price) and Charles William Clark, and the firm became known as Marais Price and Clark. Both Rupert and Norman Price were on the Board of Directors of the Standard Motor Company of Africa, where Rupert was also the Chairman. 

In the year 1882 a farmer Petrus Johannes Marais (nicknamed Oom Lang Piet) who owned the farm Varkensfontein in the Heidelberg district made an agreement with a prospector named Johnstone allowing him to prospect for gold on the farm Varkensfontein.

Mr. Johnstone' s prospecting operations continued for a considerable time shrouded in secrecy.

Then one day a stranger turned up at Oom Lang Piet's home and made an offer to buy the farm.

At the time of the offer Oom Lang Piet was by chance busy reading "The Fortunes of Nigel" by Sir Walter Scott, a story about a young man who was the victim of a dishonest intrigue but eventually achieved his goal in life

The stranger's visit immediately aroused Mr. Marais's suspicions to the extent that he decided to visit his farm himself.

https://www.nigel.co.za/history.htm

In 1882 a farmer Petrus Johannes Marais (nicknamed Oom Lang Piet who owned the farm Varkensfontein in the Heidelberg district) made an agreement with a prospector named Johnstone, allowing him to prospect for gold on the farm Varkensfontein.

Johnstone’ s prospecting operations continued for a considerable time shrouded in secrecy until a stranger turned up at Oom Lang Piet’s home and made an offer to buy the farm. At the time, Marais was reading “The Fortunes of Nigel” by Sir Walter Scott (a story about a young man who was the victim of a dishonest intrigue but eventually achieved his goal in life).
The stranger’s visit immediately aroused Marais’s suspicions to the extent that he decided to visit his farm himself. Once at the farm, he found that his suspicions were well founded.

With the experiences of the character in the novel in mind, he determined not to allow himself to be cheated by cunning fortune seekers and at once set about to establish his own company.  In July 1888 (two years after the discovery of gold on the Witwatersrand) Marais achieved his goal.

Marais attributed his luck to the novel he had been reading and therefore, called his company Nigel (after the character in the novel) and in this way, the town of Nigel came into being. In 1888 the state president Paul Kruger declared Nigel as a public digging under notice 331 and since then the history and development of Nigel are inseparable from those of the gold mines.

Once at the farm he found that his suspicions were well founded.

With the experiences of Nigel, the character in the novel in mind, he determined not to allow himself to be cheated by cunning fortune seekers and at once set about to establish his own company.

In July 1888, two years after the discovery of gold on the Witwatersrand, he achieved his goal.

Marais attributed his luck to the novel he had been reading and, therefore, called his company Nigel. In this way, the town of Nigel came into being.

https://www.citizen.co.za/heidelberg-nigel-heraut/news-headlines/2017/09/22/history-nigel-relived-iconic-buildings/  

Heavy Rainstorms in Pretoria

9 Maart 1886

On Saturday afternoon one of the most terrible downpours we have ever witnessed in Pretoria took place. The weather had been rainy all that week and on Tuesday evening a hailstorm raged in the direction of Magaliesberg, part of which approached the city in the northern direction. On Wednesday afternoon a violent windstorm came from the east, which drove up mountains of dust and lashed people free from thunder, which ended in a refreshing rain, which continued for a while. On Thursday the sky was more or less cloudy, but it did not rain. On Friday morning and also on Saturday morning there were beautiful rains, but on Saturday afternoon we had a miniature deluge. It started to rain just after 5 o'clock and for almost two hours there were continuous streams of rain, something like a waterspout [garden hose]. The streets soon turned into rivers, which at some points were downright dangerous to cross. People caught in the rain had great difficulty in finding shelter due to the heavy downpour and the streams of water that flowed through the streets.

The Aapies River came down as if it were a mighty torrent, roaring like the bulls of Bashan. There was an extraordinary quantity of water in it, such as has not been seen in its bed for twelve or fourteen years. In one of its tributaries a couple of persons narrowly escaped death in the water. Mr. Kuranda took Mrs. Rex in his spider, drawn with two horses, to that other side of the river to spend the evening with another lady. He got over the bridge that leads to the "Lovers Walk" clearly, but no sooner was he on the other side than the violent current carried his spider and horses off, and he and Mrs. Rex had to seek shelter each in a tree.

Mr. Melt Marais, brother of Mrs. Rex, heard cries of fear in the lane of the "Lovers Walk", undressed hastily and jumped into the water. When he came to the spider he found no one in it and feared the worst, but when he called out he was very glad to find that Mrs. Rex and Mr. Kuranda were each safe on a tree. Mr. Kuranda's "Black Boy" who had clung to a wheel of the spider, fortunately had a razor in his pocket. With this Mr. Marais cut the horses loose, which immediately swam out of the water. Then he first rescued his sister and then helped Mr. Kuranda out of his dangerous position. That spider was tied to a tree and taken out the next morning. It was fortunate that Mr. Marais, a strong and muscular young man, was nearby, because otherwise at least the horses would certainly have been drowned, while it is impossible to say what would have been the fate of Mrs. Rex, Mr. Kuranda and the "Black".

On the map of Van Vooren and Oerder from 1889 we see that there are two bridges over the Apies River. One is in Kerkstraat and the other is where Maré and Rissik street join together. It is the latter bridge that is in question here.

Melt Marais [1860 – 1916] Kom in 1868 saam met sy gesin na Pretoria en vestig hom op die plaas wat later Les Marais sou heet. Hy was ‘n ouer broer van die digter Eugene Marais. Sy beroep was die van makelaar en algemene agent in vennootskap met Kuranda en later, nadat die vennootskap verbreek is, ook op sy eie. Melt Marais word ook gekies as Veldkornet vir Pretoria en het as sodanig ‘n leidende rol gespeel in die verset teen die Engelse. Melt Marais was definitief ‘n “sterk en gespierde jongmens”. In 1976 word ‘n sportdag gehou om President Burgers se verjaarsdag te vier. Melt Marais, toe 16 jaar oud, wen die 150 yards en ook die hoogspring vir seuns met ‘n hoogte van 3 voet 10 duim [De Volksstem, 29 April 1876].

https://repository.up.ac.za/bitstream/handle/2263/18407/Pta%2012-03.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

https://www.bronberger.co.za/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=6732:Ons%20vat%20die%20Marais%20spoor%20van%20Jan%20die%20Gewer%20tot%20by%20Lang%20Piet%20en%20veldkornet%20Melt&catid=50:toeka-se-dae&Itemid=76 

News - Toeka se dae
Monday, 19 August 2024 10:00

Angie Kleijn

Noem die naam Eugène Marais en almal weet van wie jy praat . . . Digter, skrywer, advokaat, koerantredakteur, kenner van dieregedrag, prospekteerder, hipnotiseur, sterrekundige, ‘wonderdokter’, dwelmverslaafde. Minder is egter geskryf oor presies hoe hy in die Marais-familie inpas, hulle verbintenis met die goud- en diamantvelde en die grootste filantroop wat Suid-Afrika nog gehad het.

In Pieter Kapp se boek, ‘Nalatenskappe sonder einde’, skryf hy oor die enorme bydrae wat Jannie Marais, bekend as Jan die Gewer, en die Marais-broers van Stellenbosch nagelaat het. Danksy dié broers se kombinasie van versiendheid, hardwerkendheid en kundigheid het hulle rykdom op die destydse diamantvelde opgebou. Hulle is met dié geld terug na Stellenbosch waar hulle dieselfde eienskappe laat tel het in die onderwys, in belang van Stellenbosch, op sakegebied en veral in hulle pionierstoewyding aan Afrikaans.


Catharina Helena Cornelia Marais, ’n nooi Van Niekerk
Bron: geni.com

Eugène Nielen Marais se oupa, Charles Gerhardus Marais, wat op die familieplaas Nektar op Jonkershoek in die Stellenbosch-distrik geboer het, was ’n broer van Jan die Gewer se pa. Charles is met Petronella Johanna Elizabeth, ’n nooi Nielen, getroud en dit is waar die Nielen-naam in die familie vandaan kom.

’n Karakter, wat later groot naam in Pretoria sou maak, Petrus Johannes (Lang Piet) Marais, gebore op die plaas Nektar op 22 Mei 1838, was ’n ruk lank saam met die Marais-broers op die diamantvelde, maar het sy rykdom op die goudmyne gemaak, waar hy ’n miljoenêr geword het.


Eugène Nielen Marais omstreeks 1931, sowat vyf jaar voor sy dood
Bron: Wikipedia

Jan
Lang Piet se broer, Jan Christiaan Nielen Marais, was Eugène se pa. Hy is op 29 November 1822 op Stellenbosch gebore en is op 28 Maart 1843 met Catharina Helena Cornelia, ’n nooi Van Niekerk van Malmesbury, getroud. Hulle het 13 kinders gehad, waarvan Eugène die jongste was. Drie kinders is vroeg oorlede, maar ses dogters en vier seuns het grootgeword.

Die gesin het op die Marais-familieplaas Nektar gewoon. Jan was ’n prokureur en in 1860 het hulle Bloemfontein toe getrek waar Jan in 1863 as staatsekretaris aangestel is.


Jannie Marais, bekend as Jan die Gewer
Bron: ‘Nalatenskappe sonder einde’

Toe tref tragedie: Jan is in 1867 uit die staatsdiens ontslaan op aanklag van geldverduistering. Hy is vir ’n ruk onder huisarres geplaas en om verdere vervolging te voorkom, het die gesin in 1868 na Pretoria gevlug.

Jan en sy broer Lang Piet het in 1868 ’n gedeelte van die plaas Daspoortrand gekoop en dit Les Marais genoem. Dit was eers ’n tabakplaas, genaamd ‘Edith’s Farm’. Al Jan se seuns het aanvanklik op die plaas gewoon. Ná 1881 het die plaas aan Hennie Marais behoort voor 100 erwe in 1890 deur MH Walker opgemeet is.


Jan Christiaan Nielen Marais
Bron: geni.com

Nigel
Lang Piet was met Sarah Mary Catherine Florence, ’n nooi Belfield, getroud. Volgens CJ Mieny se ‘Eugène Nielen Marais – Feit en Fabel’ in die ‘SA Tydskrif vir Natuurwetenskap en Tegnologie, no. 3 1984’, het Lang Piet skatryk geword uit die goudmynbedryf omdat hy die plaas waarop die dorp Nigel begin is, besit het.

Die plaas se naam was Vlakfontein en Lang Piet het dit in 1881 gekoop, maar het nie daar gewoon nie. In 1882 het hy ’n prospekteerder aangestel om goud te soek. Vyf jaar later het ’n groep gouddelwers van Natal op Vlakfontein kampeer en gesien dat die prospekteerder, sonder Lang Piet se wete, goud gevind het. Hulle het Lang Piet £1 000 vir die plaas aangebied.


Lang Piet Marais en King Coffee – die langste en kortste man in toeka se Pretoria
Bron: Engelbrecht, SP, Eeufees-Album. Pretoria se eerste eeu in beeld

Lang Piet was besig om Sir Walter Scott se boek, ‘The Fortunes of Nigel’, te lees – ’n storie oor ’n jong man wat die slagoffer van oneerlikheid was. Met dié storie in sy agterkop, is Lang Piet self plaas toe en het gesien dat ’n goudrif ontdek is. Só is die naam Nigel gebore.

In ’n alternatiewe weergawe van dié storie word daar vertel dat Lang Piet ’n Skotse prospekteerder, Nigel MacLeish, aangestel het. Hy het die goudrif gevind en het dit Nigel’s Reef genoem. Lang Piet het die helfte van die plaas op 15 April 1887 aan sakemanne van Pretoria, wat hulleself die Nigel-sindikaat genoem het, verkoop. Die Nigel Goudmynmaatskappy is op 31 Maart 1888 geregistreer en het die tweede helfte van die plaas op 4 Junie 1888 by Lang Piet gekoop.


Veldkornet Melt Marais
Bron: Rosa Swanepoel-versameling

Lang Piet
Tog moet daar ’n verbintenis met die boek, ‘The Fortunes of Nigel’, wees want alle kerke op die dorp is na kerke in die boek vernoem. Lang Piet het heelwat eiendomme in Pretoria besit en een daarvan was Nigel House, die eerste dubbelverdiepinghuis op die dorp. Die tuine om die huis het amper die hele blok tussen Schoeman-, Pretorius- en Prinsloostrate beslaan. Die huis het later ’n hotel geword en het as Nigel House Hotel bekend gestaan.

Lang Piet het ook ’n erf op die noord-westelike hoek van Kerkplein, wat eers aan kaptein Struben behoort het, besit. Een van die geboue wat later op die erf gestaan het, was as die Marais-gebou bekend.


’n Groep offisiere van die staatsartillerie met Melt Marais in die middel
Bron: Rosa Swanepoel-versameling

Lang Piet was direkteur van die Lydenburg Gold Prospecting Co en aandeelhouer in Transvaal Mining. Verskeie winkel- en dranklisensies is aan hom toegestaan en hy het op menige komitee gedien, soos die een vir die stigting van ’n skool vir jong dames; ’n komitee vir die stigting van ’n hoërskool; en hy was voorsitter van die komitee vir die stigting van ’n perdereisiesklub.

Maraisstraat in Brooklyn is na Lang Piet vernoem. Ander strate in dié voorstad is na sy seuns vernoem (Rupertstraat en Charlesstraat), na sy dogter (Farrellstraat na Dorothy Noreen Farrell) en na sy skoondogters: Stellastraat na Rupert se vrou, Stella Felecia, ’n nooi Emmett, en Maystraat na Charles se vrou, Catherine May Venitia, ook ’n nooi Emmett.


Robert Kuranda
Bron: Men of the times

Melt
Waar Lang Piet se kinders Engelse name gehad het en grootliks met Engelse vrouens getrou het, was een van Jan se seuns, Melt Marais, veldkornet vir Pretoria en het ’n leidende rol in die verset teen die Engelse gespeel.

Melt is op 19 Julie 1860 op Stellenbosch gebore en sy skoolonderrig het op Grey College, Bloemfontein begin. Hy het in 1868 saam met sy gesin na die plaas Les Marais getrek.

Melt het in sport uitgeblink en is gereeld in ‘De Volksstem’ genoem. In 1876 is ’n sportdag gehou om president Burgers se verjaarsdag te vier en die 16-jarige Melt het die 150 jaarts gewen en ook die hoogspring vir seuns met ’n hoogte van drie voet 10 duim.

Melt het vir agt jaar op Les Marais geboer en het daarna ’n klerk in die handelsfirma Field & Hoffmann in Pretoria geword. Hier het hy genoeg ondervinding opgedoen om op sy eie te begin handel dryf en hy het in 1885 ’n algemene agent en makelaar geword.

Hy was vir 15 jaar veldkornet van Pretoria en was vir vyf jaar in bevel van die berede en voetsoldaat-vrywilligers. Met die Anglo Boere-oorlog was Melt in bevel van Pretoria en oor ’n jaartydperk het hy met die rang van veldkorent in Natal geveg. Hy was in die veldslae by Tugela en Ladysmith.

Toe die Britte Pretoria in 1900 ingeneem het, is Melt gevange geneem en na Groenpuntkamp in die Kaap gestuur. Ná die vrede van 1902 is Melt terug na Pretoria waar hy aangegaan het met sy gevestigde sakebelange.


Melt Marais se graf
Bron: eggsa.org

Trou
Melt het in 1887 met Magdalena Maria Marais (Lenie), die derde dogter van JM Boshoff, later tesourier-generaal van Transvaal, getrou en hulle het ses seuns en drie dogters gehad. Hy was ’n vrederegter vir die Pretoria-distrik en ’n lid van die Pretoria-klub en New-klub.

Sy broer, die digter Eugène, het Lenie se niggie, Aletta (Lettie) Beyers, in 1893 ontmoet toe sy in Pretoria kom kuier het en het in Augustus 1894 met haar getrou. Elf maande later (op 17 Julie 1895) het sy aan kraamkoors gesterf ná die geboorte van hulle seun (Eugène Charles Gerard Marais) op 8 Julie 1895; ’n verlies wat Eugène die res van sy lewe bygebly het.


Die grafsteen van Jan Christiaan Nielen Marais en sy vrou, Catharina Helena Cornelia
Bron: geni.com

Eugène was in ’n stadium ’n prokureursklerk by Melt se firma, Kuranda & Marais. Melt se vennoot was Robert Kuranda, wat in 1862 in Oostenryk as die seun van A Kuranda, ’n bekende lid van die Oostenrykse parlement, gebore is. Hy het in 1879 as troep in Suid-Afrika aangekom om in die Zoeloe-oorlog te veg.

Robert het in 1882 ’n ZAR-burger geword en het vir Alois Hugo Nellmapius as aankoper van plase gewerk. Hy was betrokke by die vind van goud op die plaas Doornfontein en het in 1888 saam met Melt Kuranda & Marais gestig, ’n firma wat met tye soveel as 2 500 bouwerkers in Johannesburg in diens gehad het.


Mabel Malherbe
Bron: Wikipedia

Kuranda & Marais se kantoor was in die Commercial Chambers, wat oorspronklik ’n woonhuis op Kerkplein was. Die firma se advertensie het vertel dat hulle die volgende doen: Die koop en verkoop van eiendomme, belê van geld, likwidasie van boedels, die oordrag van aktes en notariswerk. Hulle het ook adverteer dat hulle sake voor die laer en rondgaande howe in die republiek behartig en dat die dienste van ’n ervare prokureur daarvoor gebruik word.

Die Commercial Chambers is in 1892 gesloop om vir die Nasionale Bank-gebou plek te maak en Kuranda & Marais het na die Transvaal Mortage & Loan-gebou geskuif. Ná die vennootskap ontbind is, het Melt in 1899 na die Erasmus-gebou getrek.


Die middelste gebou met die groot stoep op Kerkplein was die Commercial Chambers
waar Kuranda & Marais se kantore was
Bron: Rosa Swanepoel-versameling

Jess
Een van Eugène en Melt se susters, Gezina Wilhelmina Constantia (Jess) het ook bekendheid verwerf. Die Engelse skrywer, Henry Rider Haggard, het haar glo as inspirasie vir die hoofkarakter van sy boek, ‘Jess – A tale of the Boer War’, gebruik. In die laat 1870’s het Henry twee akkers aan die “bokant van Pretoria” gekoop. Met die tyd van die Britse okkupasie in die Eerste Vryheidsoorlog het Henry en sy vriend, Arthur Cochrane, daar vir hulle ’n sinkdakhuisie gebou wat hulle spottenderwys ‘The Palatial’ gedoop het. Dié kothuis het later as Jess’s Cottage bekend gestaan.

Jess Marais het met Frank Rex, ’n afstammeling van George Rex, stigter van Knysna, getrou. Hulle dogter, Mabel Catherine Rex, het met Kenne Malherbe getrou en is in 1931 as Pretoria se eerste vroue-burgemeester gekies. Sy was die tweede vrou en die eerste Afrikaanssprekende vrou wat tot die parlement verkies is.