Sam Goldreich
Full name: Samuel Goldreich
Lifespan: 1861 Germany - 1921 England (suicide)
Occupation: Jewish communal leader, businessman
Timeline
Biography
Born in East Prussia in 1862, son of a Rabbi, he reached England as a boy and attended to the Transvaal at the age of 18. In early Johannesburg he soon became known as a successful operator, both in the property and mining markets, being responsible for the erection of Goldreich Buildings in Joubert Street, which housed the original Post Office. He also opened up the area now known as Hillbrow, which in his honour still boasts of Goldreich Street. (Rosenthal).
Goldreich was a leading member of the early Johannesburg Jewish community, educated in Nottingham, England, arriving in SA in 1880 during the gold rush era on the Witwatersrand. He was involved in real estate and finance. He was made a member of the Colonial Institute. Goldreich was associated with companies like the Transvaal Mortgage, Loan & Finance, and helped develop suburbs such as Hillbrow, Regent's Park, and Wanderers View. His brothers (e.g., James Harris "Jim" Goldreich b.1867) were also property developers in the city.
In 1893-1894, land claims for Hillbrow were resolved and sold to Transvaal Mortgage (with which Goldreich was linked); the area was surveyed and marketed as a healthy, middle-class suburb with restrictions (e.g., no shops or multiple bars/hotels) to attract "respectable" residents.
On the 13th of July 1893 a court ruled that the claim for the ground that would become Hillbrow belonged to J. Nicholls. He swiftly sold it to Transvaal Mortgage, Loan & Finance with which Sam Goldreich was associated. The ground was surveyed in 1894 and on the 20th May 1895 permission was received to change the claims to stands. The area north of Pretoria Street and east of Banket Street was laid out.
He was one of the most influential early Zionists in South Africa, and served as President of the South African Zionist Federation (formed around the turn of the century). He played a major role in organizing Zionist activities post-Balfour Declaration, representing Johannesburg Jewry, and influencing the community's support for a Jewish homeland. Historical sources describe him as a formative leader who shaped South African Zionism, emphasizing it as more than philanthropy - tied to Jewish national identity.
Having fled the war, by March 1900 he had an office at 21 and 22 Mansion House Chamber in Adderley Street, Cape Town.
Goldreich was involved in post-Anglo-Boer War efforts (with Lord Milner) to readmit Jewish residents to the Rand and supported causes like aid for Jewish refugees (e.g., from Romania in the early 1900s). He was a well-connected figure who acted as a bridge between the Jewish community and the British colonial administration (under Lord Milner) after the South African War. He aimed to ensure that the Jewish population was seen as a middle-class, productive "white" constituency in the new Union.
In the 1890s, Samuel Goldreich, as President of the Zionist Federation, represented the Johannesburg Jewish institution with by far the largest following. Goldreich increased the scope of the Federation even further by effecting a unique coup: he managed to convince Lord Milner that a Jewish committee was necessary to look after Jewish repatriation applications, and to vet them before they were submitted to the Central Committee. In September 1900, Goldreich took up his position as head of the Special Committee. Within a few months, this committee had secured the repatriation and immigration of 13,000 Jews to Johannesburg. The efficiency of the special Jewish committee brought in far more Jews than might otherwise have been allowed, and actively promoted the rapid stabilization of Johannesburg Jews after the war. Goldreich remained active on the Johannesburg scene for a few more years. He was prominent on the executives of the Zionist Federation, the Board of Deputies and the Jewish Ladies’ Communal League.
He represents the intersection of entrepreneurial success in Johannesburg's boom years and committed Jewish communal/Zionist leadership during a formative period for both the city and South African Jewry.
In the postwar depression he lost most of his money, drifted to Australia and then back to England, where he committed suicide in 1921.
Goldreich Buildings
See also: Goldreich Buildings
The building with wooden verandahs and a central clock tower in Joubert Street (c.1895) was designed to be temporarily used by the Government Postal and Telegraph Services. It was the property of the Goldreich Brothers. In c.1903 it was converted into the first His Majesty's Theatre.
Goldreich Buildings built c.1895 (photo 1903), cnr Commissioner & Joubert Streets. Designed by architect MJ Harris. (SAAR, 1947)
Anecdotal comments
"Sam Goldreich, a Johannesburg pioneer and prospector, who gave his name to Goldreich Street, Hillbrow, should go down in history as the man who tried to enter into partnership with the Rothschilds. He came from Prussia but grew up in England, had settled in the Transvaal long before the discovery of the Rand and was eminent as a prospector, digger and claim-owner. One day he arrived at Nos. 13 and 14, Permanent Buildings, with a new discovery. “ Rosenthal,” he exclaimed, “ I have found cinnabar up in the Western Transvaal!" (Cinnabar is a rare mineral from which mercury is recovered.) The geologist, Dr Hans Merensky was appointed to conduct a survey, reported that the finds were "fairly good", and recommended that the Rothchilds of London buy the claims. The Rothchilds offer Goldreich £80,000, but Goldreich wanted an interest in the claims. The Rothchilds refused. So he never sold the claims.
In 1908 Goldreich purchased a large block of shares in the Transvaal Pearl Fishing Syndicate, a fresh water pearl operation, launched by John MacNamara’s Open Call Exchange - which appears to have been a combination of club, restaurant and place where one could trade in stocks unlisted on the official Exchange. (Munro)
"Coetzee and Wilson were the two heroes of this undertaking. Early in 1908 they astounded the old Transvaal Mine Department by seeking legal protection for pearl fishing in a region more than 500 miles from the sea. At first the officials thought it a joke, but were sobered when Wilson nonchalantly produced 24 pearls which he had found in the course of half an hour. It then came out that an oyster of the Uniondae species occurred in the Bronkhorst Spruit in the district of Pretoria and likewise in the Limpopo. From 30 miles of fishing rights granted to Messrs. Coetzee and Wilson by puzzled farmers, they had already recovered several hundred pearls." The mining application ultimately collapsed and nothing came of it.
Sources
- Shovel and Sieve. c.1959. Rosenthal, E. George Allen and Unwin: London.
- South African Architectural Record, August 1947.
- The making of a South African Jewish community on the Rand. 2024. Krut, R. Jewish Historical Studies: A Journal of English-Speaking Jewry.
- Rhodesian Jewry and its story. n.d. Rosenthal, E.
- Review of Shovel and Sieve. 2018. Munro, K. The Heritage Portal.
- History of Hillbrow Pt.1. Johannesburg1912.
Comments
Post a Comment