Heinrich Ueckermann
Full name: Heinrich Julius Friedrich Christiaan Ernest Ueckermann
Lifespan: 1827 Germany - July 1883 Heidelberg (Gauteng)
Occupation: Trader, cooper, politician
Wife: Married Elizabeth Mason (1831 England - 1910 Pretoria) in 1850 in Pietermaritzburg. They had 13 children.
Biography
Ueckermann arrived in South Africa in 1849. He disembarked in Durban and set up business in Pietermaritzburg, where he initially worked as a cooper and later ran a store.
After the birth of their first son (1852), the family began extensive ox-wagon treks into the interior (as far as the Soutpansberg), during which at least one daughter was born (1854). The inland did not meet their expectations, so they returned to Pietermaritzburg. After the birth of their second son (in 1856), they moved inland again.³
Ueckermann met Jacob Maré on the farm Eendracht (on the northern slope of the Suikerbosrand). While staying there, he walked the Suikerbosrand hills hunting for game and came across settlers on the banks of the Blesbokspruit (on the farm next to Langlaagte). As an entrepreneur, he saw the opportunity to establish a trading post due to the main trading routes passing through.⁵ In c.1860 he purchased part of the farm Langlaagte (Langlaagte 172) from O.A. (Okker Andries) Strydom and his brother-in-law J.L. Venter for about £25. He built a home and started a trading store.³
By 1862 a settlement had grown around his store, attracting other traders, farmers, and settlers. He took the initiative to lay out a town around it, applying for official recognition. The first application made to the National Council (“Volksraad”) failed, as none of the stands were formally measured at that time. After the development of the Church Square in 1865, the town was proclaimed on 28 March 1866 as Heidelberg - named after his university town in Germany, as the landscape reminded him of it.
During the 1860s-1870s he became a leading citizen: ran a successful trading store, chemist (apothecary), and building contractor. He also became a member of the Executive Council. One of his rooms served as the town’s first temporary gaol (secured by a wagon wheel). In 1869 the government bought a potion of Stand No 86 from Ueckermann on which a Magistrates Court and Jail was built in 1888.²
He also played a key role in community infrastructure, such as overseeing the building of the first church (Nederduits Hervormde Kerk) in 1864/65, where he served as a member and secretary.
Post-1866 he represented Heidelberg in the ZAR Volksraad. In 1869 the Volksraad appointed him (alongside President Pretorius, Commandant-General Paul Kruger, et al) to a high-level diplomatic commission to negotiate a treaty of commerce, friendship, and border definition with Portugal over Delagoa Bay (now Maputo Bay in Mozambique). The treaty covered trade rights, consular privileges, extradition, and the exact boundary line between the Transvaal and Portuguese East Africa. It was ratified on 21 August 1870.¹¹
He was a member of the Uitvoerende Raad (executive council), and at one point acted as mayor.
He had a vision for the town as an educational center, which influenced later developments like a teachers' college (1906-1967). In the town's very early days, one of his rooms served as the first temporary gaol, secured simply by a wagon wheel.
He is remembered as a visionary who helped transform a trading post into a formal town and encouraged settlement and growth. A bust and memorial in the town honor him as the founder, and Ueckermann Street is named after him and his family, who remained prominent in local history.
Carl Ueckermann Sr. (half brother) Carl August Friedrich Ueckermann (Carl Sr.) (1837 Germany - 1902 Pretoria) Carl arrived in SA later. In 1875 he was appointed Justice of the Peace and Public Prosecutor for Heidelberg. He was an attorney (De Villiers and Ueckermann, at least in 1890⁸), magistrate (landdrost) in 1878. While serving as magistrate, he reported on the inadequate jail facilities in Heidelberg. He was also Acting State Attorney (1883), later responsible clerk for deeds/patents (1889) and knighted by Portugal (1887).¹º
Carl Ueckermann Jr. (nephew)
Carl August Frederich Ueckermann (Carl Jr.) (1862 Cape Town - 1933 Pretoria)
During the 1890’s, Carl Ueckermann Jr., a conveyancer, transferred properties in Heidelberg. Was also a director of both the Zoutpansberg Palmietfontein Estate Gold Mining Co., and The Paarl Pretoria Gold Mining and Exploration Co. (by 1890).⁸ By 1892 he was also a director of White Swan Copper located on the farm Oudezwanskraal, Boschkop, south-east of Pretoria.¹²
Fritz Ueckermann (oldest son) Frederich Ernest Ueckermann (1852, Natal - 1916 Pretoria) Farmer (c.1876). Bailiff, sheriff, Assistant Postmaster (1887), Postmaster (1888) of Heidelberg.
Alfred Ueckermann (grandson)
John Alfred Ueckermann (1880 - 1901 Standerton area)
Alfred was part of the Heidelberg commando soldiers killed in action. He was reburied in the Heroes Acre in the Kloof Cemetery on 17 October 1903.⁵
- Die Geskiedenis van die Afrikaners in Johannesburg 1886-1900. 1976. Fourie, J.J. (thesis)
- Hello Heidelberg: Old Gaol / Old Prison
- The Citizen (Heidelberg Nigel Heraut, 13 February 2023.
- Heinrich Julius Friedrich Christiaan Ernest Ueckermann
- Heidelberg Heritage Museum
- John Alfred Ueckermann
- Carl August Frederich Ueckermann
- The Gold Fields of South Africa. 1890. Dennis Edwards & Co.
- Miscellaneous Pamphlets on South Africa. 1888. Great Britain Colonial Office.
- Index der Staatscouranten over de jaren Augustus 1881 tot en met 1890. 1899.
- Bay of Lourenço Marques: Dispute between Portugal and Great Britain submitted to the arbitration of the President of the French Republic. 1875.
- The Financial, Statistical, and General History of the Gold & Other Companies of Witwatersrand, South Africa. 1892. Goldman, C.S.
Comments
Post a Comment