Fred Struben
Full name: Frederick Pine Theophilus (Fred) Struben
Lifespan: (1852 Pietermaritzburg - 1931 England)
Occupation: Prospector
See: Harry Struben (his brother), Johan Struben (his father)
Fred Struben
Biography
Their family immigrated from Germany in 1850, initially settling in Pietermaritzburg before moving to Pretoria in 1855. Their father, Johannes Struben, was a Dutch-born retired ship’s captain and an official in the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek (ZAR).
- Johannes Hermanus Marinus Struben (1806 Netherlands - 1869 Pretoria) married Frances Sarah Beattie (1818 England - 1854 Ladismith) in 1838, and Catherine (Anderson) Brooks (1832 Scotland - 1914) in 1855. He was appointed to Klip River Division magistracy in August 1850. He he absconded to the Transvaal in 1856. Frances died shortly after they arrived in Natal
He was possibly named after the Secretary of Natal affairs “Theophilus” Shepstone and Sir Benjamin Chili “Pine”, the Governor of Natal.
He married Mabel Dicey (1866 England - 1957 England) in 1890.
Fred was the uncle of Godfray Lys. One of Godfray's mother's half-sisters married Harry Struben (likely Mary L. Cole, whom Harry wed in 1868), creating the step-nephew tie.
Fred Struben and his older brother Harry were pioneering German-South African prospectors, miners, and entrepreneurs whose work on the Witwatersrand directly contributed to the events leading to the major 1886 gold discovery that founded Johannesburg. They are often credited with extracting the first payable gold from the Reef (though in quartz veins rather than the richer conglomerates) and attracting prospectors to the area. Fred was the hands-on prospector/geologist in their pioneering partnership.
His pre-gold career included:
- Working alluvial diamond claims on the Vaal River (1870).
- Prospecting at Pilgrim's Rest (1872–1873).
- Participating in the punitive expedition against the Bapedi under Sekhukhune (1876).
- Organizing transport during the Anglo-Zulu War (1879).
- Traveling in Europe during the First Anglo-Boer War (1880–1881) after British annexation of the Transvaal.
- Unsuccessful prospecting at Barberton after its 1884 gold find.
Prospecting
In December 1883, Fred toured the Witwatersrand seeking gold. He and Harry formed the Sterkfontein Junction Mining Syndicate to explore farms like Sterkfontein, Swartkrans, and Wilgespruit (near modern Roodepoort/Krugersdorp, invited by owner Louw Geldenhuys).
In August/September 1884, Fred spotted and discovered a promising auriferous quartz vein on Wilgespruit. He panned samples showing high gold content (noting in his diary "a grain of gold for every grain of sand"). Harry named it Confidence Reef. Proclaimed September 18, 1884, it marked the first payable gold extraction on the Witwatersrand.
They imported stamp mills/steam engines (first battery erected 1884–1885), blasted/digged with Zulu workers and Cornish miner George Arnold, and worked the site until 1888. Fred drew a key geological section of the Witwatersrand (north-south stratigraphic view of "sandstone," "slate," and reefs) around April 1885, aiding understanding of the geology.
Location of Confidence Reef
"It has, I believe, been claimed by several that they were the first discoverers of the Rand. There were several men hard at work prospecting for it before 1886, but as far as I can say, the true discoverer of the Rand was Fred Struben." (Taylor, 1920)
Though quartz-vein gold yields disappointed (limited compared to deeper conglomerates), their publicity, assays, and activity drew prospectors like George Walker (who worked there briefly) and Harrison to the area, indirectly enabling the 1886 Main Reef find at Langlaagte. Remnants (shafts, battery foundations) survive in Kloofendal Nature Reserve.
"The Star of January 1892 states that the first plantation (of trees in Johannesburg) was planted on the Struben’s farm, Waterfall, near Roodepoort, in 1888. Fred and Harry Struben found gold there in 1874, calling their find Confidence Reef... numerous trees were planted in the area: wild acacia, teak, olive, tambotie, beech, ebony, seringa, mimosa and quince." (Davie, 2021)
A 1936 monument (later damaged/destroyed) honored the brothers for "discovering and proving the gold-bearing conglomerates... September 1884" via "brotherly co-operation."
Later life
"Yet it was fruit that really changed the Hex River scene and turned the cattle runs into orchards. This is the birth-place of the Cape fruit export industry. Some give credit to Rhodes and others to Pickstone, great figures in the early days. But the founder was Fred Struben, who formed the Cape Orchard Company, bought land in the Hex River Valley, and brought the experts L. M. Dicey and P. R. Malleson on to the scene to grow the fruit. Struben had the capital as a result of his Rand gold discoveries. Charles Struben declared that his uncle selected the Hex because of the rich soil, the water, and the main railway line. That was in 1892, five years before Rhodes started his fruit-growing enterprises. Struben's company put up a cold storage plant for fruit at Orchard as far back as 1903; then other farmers in the valley began to understand the possibilities. But when the brothers bought the group of farms called Glen Elgin and went into action, they showed everyone else how to make a struggling industry prosperous."
Fred and Harry sold most interests (including Wilgespruit claims) in 1888-1889 for a fortune, retiring. Fred bought a large estate in Devonshire, England, where he lived quietly until his death in 1931 (aged 80). His wife Mabel later sold eastern Wilgespruit portions. Fred's papers (including the 1885 geological section) are at the University of the Witwatersrand.
Place names like Struben Street (Pretoria), Strubenkop (Lynnwood), and Strubendam (Lynnwood Glen) derive from the family.
Sources
- Shovel and Sieve. Rosenthal, E. c.1959. George Allen and Unwin: London.
- Frederick Pine Theophilus Struben
- SA Mining and Engineering Journal. July 21, 1920. Taylor, W.P.
- Beyond the City Lights. 1957. Green, L.G.
- Joburg’s first trees. 2021. Davie L. The Heritage Portal.
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