Godfray Lys
Full name: Major Robert Oliver Godfray Lys
Lifespan: 1860 The Eyrie, Pretoria - 1936 Johannesburg
Occupation: Prospector, military officer
Wife: Phyllis Bruce Taylor (1863 Pretoria - c.1930) married in 1888, in Johannesburg.
- Lt. John Robert Lys (1829 England - 1880) was a former British naval lieutenant. He spent time in the Cape around 1850 before farming near Harrismith. In 1855 he settled in Pretoria and became a respected merchant, mining entrepreneur, politician and landdrost of Pretoria. He assisted landdrost, A.F. du Toit, to lay out the centre of Pretoria (disputed). He was known as the "Father of Pretoria" for his civic contributions (e.g., starting the library, Anglican church, horse breeding, and more). He was one of the first Englishmen living in Pretoria (after the Devereaux brothers and William Skinner).
- Olivia Selina Fry (c.1835 England - c.1910 Pretoria) was the stepdaughter of Rev. Cole from England. She aided fundraising to build the first hospital in Pretoria, while John Robert Lys served on the planning committee.
As a boy, Godfray joined his father and Karl Mauch on a wagon trek to the Witwatersrand area, where Mauch predicted gold would bring thousands of workers there in the future.
- Karl Gottlieb Mauch (1837 Germany - 1875 Germany) was an explorer, geographer, self-taught geologist, and naturalist whose expeditions in southern Africa during the 1860s and early 1870s played a key role in publicizing the region's mineral wealth and ancient ruins. He is best remembered for his reports on goldfields in what is now Zimbabwe and Botswana, and for being the first European to widely publicize (and map) the ruins of Great Zimbabwe in 1871.
Prospecting
He joined the Struben brothers (H.W. "Harry" and Fred Struben) in their Sterkfontein Junction Mining Syndicate and worked at the Confidence Reef near Krugersdorp/Wilgespruit. The Strubens erected an early battery there in the mid-1880s (around 1884–1886). Godfray helped prospect and operate on what they believed was payable gold-bearing quartz veins (Confidence Reef), though it proved limited compared to the deeper conglomerates. He never claimed to discover the Rand's Main Reef but emphasized how the Strubens' efforts drew prospectors like George Harrison, George Walker, and George Honeyball, whose 1886 finds sparked the Johannesburg boom. Interviewed in the 1930s, he downplayed personal credit but highlighted how early efforts enabled the Rand's development.
- Hendrik Wilhelm (Harry) Struben (1840 Germany - 1915 Cape Town). He became a transport rider, farmer, and prospector from 1859 onward, and represented Pretoria East in the Volksraad (ZAR parliament) from around 1876.
- Frederick Pine Theophilus (Fred) Struben (1851 Pietermaritzburg - 1931 England). He married Godfray's aunt, so he was Godfray's uncle. He was the hands-on prospector and geologist of the duo.
- George Harrison, George Walker, and George Honeyball are often referred to collectively as the "three Georges" in South African mining history. They were itinerant prospectors and workers whose activities in early 1886 on the Langlaagte farm (in what is now Johannesburg) led to the exposure of the gold-bearing Main Reef conglomerate - a discovery that triggered the Witwatersrand gold rush, the founding of Johannesburg, and the transformation of the region into the world's richest gold-producing area.
"Godfray never forgot his Father's conviction of gold somewhere in the Witwatersrand, and later with his Struben Uncles was to crush the first ever lump of gold found by George Honeyball via George Walker. He and the Strubens had erected their 5-stamp Sandycroft Mill next to a sparkling stream about half a mile away from the Confidence Reef and were crushing all the gold-bearing rocks they could lay their hands on when Honeyball arrived with that wonderful bit of rock on a momentous day in February, 1886. Honeyball had persuaded Walker to show him the place where he literally stumbled over the outcrop of the Main Reef and he, in his turn, has broken off another lump and has set off posthaste to Struben's Mill. He found Fred Struben in the little cottage erected next to the mill. He showed him the lump of rock and asked him if it was goldbearing. Struben took the chunk of rock and after examining it closely said it was merely a piece of pyrites. "Where did you get it?" he inquired bluntly. "But I'll pan it" he continued "and will tell you if it contains gold." His question had, however, annoyed Honeyball who put the lump of rock in his pocket and walked moodily away.
Down by the spruit he came accross Godfray, who was in his shirt-sleeves and busily engaged in attending to the mill. His gay and cheery greeting mollified Honeyball, who dived once more into his pocket and drew out the lump of rock. Godfray says .... "By Jove," I said. "That's gold."
"Then I paused, for in the flash of that moment, I seemed to see Karl Mauch and my Father and Arnfield, and many others all seeking gold, and I found myself repeating Fred Struben's words that had brought me all the way from Maritzburg - "thousands of men and millions of capital" - and there we were completely down and out, still searching for a payable streak, crushing tons of poor stuff all our money gone, and insolvency staring us in the face. And suddenly a moody-looking fellow crashed down the path from nowhere and shoves right under my very nose the loveliest bit of banket I had ever seen. I felt myself trembling from sheer excitement.
"Man alive", I said impatiently, "don't you see how rich it is? But let us pan it and I will show you the gold."
"Honeyball hesitated, and started to explain how Walker had first found the Reef, but I cut him short and asked him straight out what he wanted for his information. Then having agreed to pay him £5 for showing me the spot, we at once proceeded to pan out the piece of rock. In my excitement and anxiety to make a thorough test, I spilt a few shillings worth of mercury, but we soon got a fine bead of gold. And then I knew for certain that Honeyball made a great strike..." (Pretoriana, 1978)
- George Honeyball (1857 England - 1949 Johannesburg) was an English immigrant blacksmith and miner who played a supporting role in the 1886 discovery of the Witwatersrand Main Reef conglomerate, which sparked the Johannesburg gold rush. He was one of the "three Georges" (alongside George Harrison and George Walker). Honeyball emigrated to South Africa in the early 1880s, settling on the Langlaagte farm (owned by his uncle, Gert Oosthuizen) as a blacksmith. Honeyball sold his claim cheaply and didn't profit much from the boom.
- George Honeyball (1857 England - 1949 Johannesburg) was an English immigrant, blacksmith by trade, and minor prospector who became part of the "three Georges" trio (alongside George Harrison and George Walker) associated with the 1886 discovery of the Witwatersrand Main Reef conglomerate.
- A.W. Armfield (fl.1877) was an Australian geologist recruited by Sir Theophilus Shepstone (British Special Commissioner for the Transvaal) in 1877, following the annexation of the Transvaal Republic to the British Crown amid financial bankruptcy and threats from chiefs like Sekhukhune and Ceteswayo. Shepstone consulted with Pretoria pioneer John Robert Lys for ways to boost revenues through mineral discoveries. Lys suggested importing a qualified geologist from Australia, leading to Armfield's arrival.
In summary:
1867: John Robert Lys discovered gold at Lysvlei (a valley on the Driefontein farm near modern Witfield in Boksburg/East Rand) while trekking between Pretoria and Heidelberg. This was family lore he shared with his son Godfray and explorer Karl Mauch (during Mauch's 1868 stay with the Lys family in Pretoria). It predated the major Witwatersrand rush but wasn't systematically exploited due to limited technology and focus on northern goldfields like Tati.
1877: Post-British annexation (April 12, 1877), Sir Theophilus Shepstone consulted John Robert Lys for revenue ideas, leading to Australian geologist A.W. Armfield's recruitment. Lys guided Armfield to Lysvlei on Driefontein, where they panned good gold samples from a spruit, extended checks to the watershed above Orange Grove, and Grobler's farm at Kromdraai - confirming auriferous rock over ~10 miles. Armfield died of blackwater fever before reporting, delaying development.
1886: Godfray Lys, working with uncles Fred and Harry Struben, prospected at Lysvlei/Driefontein post-George Harrison's Main Reef find at Langlaagte. Godfray personally struck a gold reef there, which the Strubens sold to William Knight, forming the Witwatersrand Gold Mining Co. (Knight's Mine), one of the East Rand's first operations.
Later life
"After World War II, the value of properties in Parktown shot up, and with it, taxes. The completion of Hohenheim in 1894 set in motion a migration of Rand Mines glitterati to the newly surveyed township, Parktown. Other leading citizens like Godfray Lys, George Farrar and Thomas Cullinan soon followed and prices for stands rocketed. By 1896, 52 lots had been sold." (Welz)
- Sir George Herbert Farrar (1859 England - 1915 Namibia) was a mining magnate, Randlord, politician, and soldier who played a major role in the development of the Witwatersrand goldfields. He emigrated to South Africa in 1879, initially working in Barberton before moving to Johannesburg in 1887 amid the gold rush.
- Sir Thomas Major Cullinan (1862 Cape - 1936) was a South African diamond magnate, prospector, politician, and mining entrepreneur best known for founding the Premier Mine near Pretoria and giving his name to the Cullinan Diamond, the largest gem-quality rough diamond ever discovered.
His wife Phyllis was one of the sisters of prominent Johannesburg figures William P. Taylor and James B. Taylor who were instrumental in petitioning President Paul Kruger for land and raising funds for what became the Wanderers Club. Phyllis suggested the club's initial name, I Zingari, symbolizing sportsmanship ideals before it was renamed Wanderers. In October 1888, amid a financial depression, Godfray contributed to the revival of the Wanderers Club by purchasing debenture shares. This helped fund the club's pavilion, ground leveling, and development. He was also a founding member of the short-lived Wanderers Polo Club in 1891. However, it folded in 1892 due to lack of sustained interest and was never revived.
- In 1945, the South African Railways (government) expropriated the entire original Wanderers ground to expand Johannesburg Park Station amid post-WWII urban growth and railway needs. The club was given a short notice period (initially around six months) to vacate. The facilities moved to Illovo in 1956.
- Shovel and Sieve. Rosenthal, E. c.1959. George Allen and Unwin: London.
- John Robert Lys, Pioneer of Pretoria. Pretoriana Commemorative Issue. 1978. Makin, A.P.
- Restorica 27, 1992. Welz, C.
- Wanderers History
- S2A3 Biographical Database of Southern African Science
- Pretoriana, March 1978.
- A petrologist in South Africa: Frederick Henry Hatch and the Witwatersrand Goldfield. 2012. Howarth, R.J.
Comments
Post a Comment