Reginald B Saner

Full name: Colonel Reginald Blaine Saner

Lifespan: c.1874 Durban - 1945 Johannesburg

Occupation: Attorney, war veteran

Partner in: Saner & Nathan Attorneys

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Biography

Saner was the son of Captain Charles Taylor Saner (Past President, Chemical, Metallurgical and Mining Society); brother of Captain Hubert Evelyn Saner (both also military figures). He married Gloria Saner.

RB Saner's father, Captain Charles Taylor Saner.

Saner was educated at St. Andrew's College, Grahamstown. He served in the Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902) as a Captain in the Imperial Light Horse (service number 851). He also participated in WW1. During WW2 he served as a Colonel in the Union Defence Force (South African Forces), dying "on active service".

Not much is known about Saner other than that he was a well-known Johannesburg attorney who, like many others, took a personal interest in mining.

Stamp on a mining lease agreement, 1921.

Contract details of the above noting "Reginald Blaine Saner", 1921.

With his partner, Edward Nathan, he obtained control of the Amianthus Asbestos Mine. In due course Saner and Nathan was brought into contact with Simon Brand.

"Reginald B Saner was a well-known Johannesburg attorney who, like many others, took a personal interest in mining. With his partner, Edward Nathan, he obtained control of the Amianthus Asbestos Mine. In due course... the firm of Saner and Nathan was brought into contact with Simon Brand. When the Amianthus Asbestos Mine near Barberton was offered, my father put Saner and Nathan in touch with Brand and soon after World War I, Saner went to England and called on him... After that pleasant afternoon, they got down to business and the sale of the Amianthus Mine was arranged at a price of £ 350,000... And then came the end of the story - as inexplicable as the career of its hero. A cable arrived in Johannesburg in March, 1924. 'Simon Brand died suddenly today.' He had dropped dead in his office and with his passing went the hope of a fortune from the mine." (Rosenthal).

Saner & Nathan, were active in the early 20th century, particularly in the 1920s, specializing in commercial and mining law amid Johannesburg's gold rush and post-Union economic boom.

The firm handled high-profile mining deals, including acquiring control of the Amianthus Asbestos Mine near Barberton. This mine was a significant asbestos operation in South Africa, producing chrysotile asbestos from around 1900 until its closure in the late 20th century due to health concerns and declining demand. (Note: "Amianthus" is an archaic term for a type of asbestos; the mine is sometimes referred to as the Msauli Asbestos Mine in modern records.)

Saner traveled to England post-World War I to negotiate the mine's sale to Simon Brand for £350,000 - a deal that fell through due to Brand's sudden death in March 1924. The mine was later acquired by Turner Brothers (a major UK asbestos firm) after the option expired.

Little else is documented about Saner in digitized archives - he doesn't appear in major legal directories from the era or Union of South Africa gazettes from the 1920s. He may have been a smaller-scale practitioner. The partnership with Nathan suggests a possible early collaboration. South African legal firms often restructured during the interwar period due to economic shifts, so Saner may have been an associate or co-founder .

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Sources

• Shovel and Sieve. c.1959. Rosenthal, E. George Allen and Unwin: London.
• St. Andrew's College (Grahamstown) Cadet Corps, Private R. B. Suner 1894. AngloBoerWar
• South Africa War Graves Project