Abstract

BERGH, J.S.. S.J.P. Kruger and landownership in the Transvaal. Historia [online]. 2014, vol.59, n.2, pp.69-78. ISSN 2309-8392.

State President S.J.P. Kruger may be regarded as one of the leading landowners in the Transvaal during the nineteenth century. As one of the early settlers he was entitled to some land free of charge. He also acquired a few farms as compensation for his services as commandant and commandant-general in the early years of the new Transvaal Republic (ZAR). In addition to this, Kruger became a very prominent buyer of farms, as well as erven in some towns - initially in the western half of the Transvaal, but later also in the eastern and northern Transvaal. Kruger sold a large number of his farms for small sums to his sons and sons-in-law, but also sold some at market prices to others. His most lucrative transaction occurred when he and his son-in-law, F.C. Eloff, bought the farm Geduld to the east of Johannesburg in 1886. After the discovery of coal and gold on this farm Kruger was able to sell it for a very large sum and he became a relatively wealthy man.

Keywords : S.J.P. Kruger; landownership in the ZAR; F.C. Eloff; Geduld No. 134.

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