Herbert Melville Guest
Herbert Melville Guest | |
---|---|
Mayor of Klerksdorp | |
In office 1910–1911 | |
Monarch | George V |
Governor General | Herbert Gladstone |
Prime Minister | Louis Botha |
Personal details | |
Born | Kidderminster, England | 29 January 1853
Died | 29 June 1938 | (aged 85)
Resting place | Klerksdorp Old Cemetery |
Spouse | Lucy Charlotte Lucas (married 1877) |
Relations |
|
Children | Ernest Lucas Guest |
Residence | Klerksdorp |
Military service | |
Allegiance | British Empire |
Battles/wars | Second Boer War |
Herbert Melville Guest (29 January 1853 – 29 June 1938) was an author, newspaper owner and politician of the Transvaal. He acquired the Klerksdorp Mining Record in 1889. He wrote several books on the Second Boer War in the area of Klerksdorp. In 1903 he became one of the first city council members and was mayor from 1910 to 1911. One of his sons was Ernest Lucas Guest, the prominent government minister of Southern Rhodesia.
Early life
Herbert Melville Guest was born on 29 January 1853 in
In 1869, diamonds were discovered on a farm belonging to the De Beers brothers in
After a few years he returned to Grahamstown and joined his father's printing, bookselling and stationer's business.[1]
Career
In 1889, three years after the discovery of the gold fields, Guest moved to Klerksdorp in the Transvaal, acquiring The Representative and renamed it the Klerksdorp Mining Record in August of the same year.[1] It exists today, after several name changes, as the Klerksdorp Rekord.[5]
In Klerksdorp, Guest participated in the local institutions and formed the Chamber of Mines and the Chamber of Commerce. Shortly before the outbreak of the
At the conclusion of the War in 1902, the Transvaal became a colony of the British Empire, under direct British Rule, as set out in the terms of the Treaty of Vereeniging. Farmers whose property had been damaged by British troops during the War were able to claim compensation and Guest was on the Compensation Committee handling the claims.[6]
He became a city councillor in 1903 in the newly formed Klerksdorp city council.
Personal life
On 19 April 1877, Guest and Lucy Charlotte Lucas were married at St.Bartholomew’s Church, by the Lord Bishop of Grahamstown.[7] They had five sons and two daughters.[1]
The eldest son, Ivor (1879–1917), served as a lieutenant in the Engineers in the Boer War.
Harold Herman (1880–1939) joined his father in the family printing business,
Guest's two youngest sons, Cecil Marmaduke (1888–1954), known as Duke, and Oliver Basil (born 1891), served in the
Herbert Melville Guest died on 29 June 1938 and is buried in the Klerksdorp Old Cemetery.[5][1]
Work
Guest wrote a number of books about Klerksdorp and the Second Boer War.[13][1]
- Vicissitudes of a Transvaal Dorp. Klerksdorp. 1901.
- With Lord Methuen: From October 1899 to December 1901. 1901.
- With Lord Methuen: From Belmont to Hartebeestfontein.
- With Lord Methuen and the First Division. 1902.
- The Anglo-Boer War: Incidents in the Western Transvaal. 1902.
- Prisoners' experiences.
- Portfolio of Klerksdorp Views. 1902.
- Klerksdorp and District. 1910.
- Some Reminiscences of Sixty Years Ago. 1925.
- History of the Guest Family. Vol. 1. 1915. (Vol. 2 (1938) by Reginal Steward Guest, one of his brothers)
- Boer War Episodes. 1939.
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Guest, Mr Herbert Melville (meteorological observation)", S2A3 Biographical Database of Southern African Science.
- ^ "Index entry". FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved 22 February 2015.
- ^ Gale 1974, p. 13.
- ^ Roberts, Brian (1976). Kimberley, Turbulent City. pp. 45–49.
- ^ a b c d e Marx, Roelf (February 2013). "Klerksdorp se ou begraafplaas". Quarterly of the SA Genealogical Society. 10 (1): 8.
- ^ a b c d Gale 1974, p. 15.
- ^ Mackay, Sue (23 April 1877). "Grahamstown Journal 1877 - 2 - April to June". Grahamstown Journal. Retrieved 26 October 2018.
- ^ a b c Gale 1974, p. 36.
- ^ "No. 29888". The London Gazette. 2 January 1917. p. 109.
- ^ "Casualty Details: Guest, Ivor Arthur Melville". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Retrieved 3 December 2012.
- ^ The Tweedie Family (PDF). p. 90. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
- ^ "Index entry". FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
- ^ "Results for 'au:GUEST, Herbert Melville.' [WorldCat.org]". www.worldcat.org. Retrieved 26 October 2018.
Bibliography
- Gale, William Daniel (1974). History of Coghlan, Welsh & Guest. ASIN B004H70LE2.