Your guide to Heidelberg Gauteng
#Mr Maré's House
Heritage Blue Plaque #Nr 20
MR MARE'S HOUSE - 60 Strydom Street
What is the story here?
In 1875 erf 161, was transferred from the Zuid Afrikaansche Republiek to Mr Albert Walsh for ten shillings sterling, the transfer being signed by Joubert, (the Republic’s State President) himself. Within two months the plot was sold, at a considerable profit, to F.K. Maré, who had been landrost of Heidelberg since 1866. The house was presumably then built. Maré and his family lived in this house until 1879, during which time it is said that Paul Kruger (a friend of the Maré family) was a frequent overnight visitor. The property was to remain in the hands of the Maré family for the next 100 years. By 1875 Maré had also acquired the four adjoining properties viz., erven nos. 160, 174, 175 and 176.
Number 60 Strydom Street can be described as being typical of Mid Victorian architecture. This style, known as a Pavilion house, evolved in Britain, with many houses of this type being built in the Grahamstown area in the 1850’s and 60’s.
Strydom Street is named after the original owner of the land on which the town Heidelberg stands, Ockert Andries Strydom. The first “Akte van Transport” (Deed of Transfer) registered against this piece of ground, Erf 161 was dated 26 December 1865 to O.A. Strydom. This date coincides with the arrival of Fannin, the surveyor, who was commissioned to survey and lay out the proposed town of Heidelberg.
In 1875 erf 161, was transferred from the Zuid Afrikaansche Republiek to Mr Albert Walsh for ten shillings sterling, the transfer being signed by Joubert, (the Republic’s State President) himself. Within two months the plot was sold, at a considerable profit, to F.K. Maré, who had been landrost of Heidelberg since 1866. The house was presumably then built. Maré and his family lived in this house until 1879, during which time it is said that Paul Kruger (a friend of the Maré family) was a frequent overnight visitor. The property was to remain in the hands of the Maré family for the next 100 years. By 1875 Maré had also acquired the four adjoining properties viz., erven nos. 160, 174, 175 and 176.
In August 1879 the house was leased to the Standard Bank for £7 per month. The house was said to be a great improvement on the bank’s first premises on Church Street, which had been in use since 1877.
The bank manager appointed was Mr Frederick Watt Standen, a bachelor, who lived in two of the rooms, two other rooms being used for banking purposes, and the remaining two being rented out to a lodger. In 1880 Mr Standen was joined by Mr P.H. Mynhardt of the Pretoria branch. These two men operated the British-owned Standard Bank for the duration of the first Anglo-Boer War. At the outbreak of war there was considerable concern for the safety of the £17,000 in coins kept at the bank. It was decided to bury £10,700 in gold in the garden of the prosperous Heidelberg businessman, Mr W.S. Mclaren. Here the gold remained untouched until the end of the war. (Note by Tony: Mr Mclaren’s property was where Bambi Chemist is in Begeman Street, behind the Klipkerk and went all the way up to Pretorius Street)
After the war, business in the Heidelberg area slumped and it was decided to close the Standard Bank’s Heidelberg branch. Accounts were transferred to Pretoria and the money sent to Standerton. The Standard Bank was to re-open in Heidelberg on Ueckermann street in 1886, from where it has traded ever since. (Note by Tony: The Standard Bank moved to the building next to the Post Office, which is now Home affairs and then to the Heidelberg Mall)
In 1903 the Maré land was again sub-divided and a portion of the ground was sold to a Mr W.A.E. Schultz. The remaining ground, house and stables remained the property of the Maré family until 1984 when the property was bought by the Methodist Church. In 1989 the property was declared a National Monument. (Note by Tony: The Methodist Church bought the property with the intention of demolishing the house and building a hall in its place. Luckily this never took place)
Source: Tour Guide of Heidelberg compiled by Lynn Fordred.
Frederik Korsten Maré
Frederik Korsten Maré was born in Uitenhage on the 27th November 1821. He was the sixteenth of seventeen children and attended school in Port Elizabeth before trekking from the Cape Colony and settling in Pietermaritzburg in 1838. He married Johanna Helena Josina van Niekerk, from Graaff-Reinet, in 1845 and the marriage produced ten children.
By 1859 they had moved to the Transvaal, and he was appointed as landdrost of Pretoria in 1861, a position he held for two years. He was appointed landdrost of Heidelberg on the 10th of July 1866 and purchased Erf 161 nine years later in 1875, at which time the house was presumably built.
After the annexation of the Transvaal Republic in 1877 Maré refused to take the oath of loyalty to the British government and resigned from his position of landdrost in March 1878. At this time the village of Heidelberg was described as “an extremely small one consisting of about 25 houses and 100 inhabitants”.
During the War of Independence (First Anglo-Boer war), Heidelberg was the seat of the provisional government of the Transvaal Republic and the Vierkleur was raised here on 16 December 1880, Dingaan’s Day. Paul Kruger, Marthinus Pretorius and Piet Joubert were named as the Triumvirate to take charge of the Boer’s interests. The peace treaty that ended the war was also signed in Heidelberg on the 21st of March 1881.
In April 1882, Maré was reappointed as landdrost of Heidelberg. Maré was a member of and always actively involved in the advancement of the NH Kerk, but he refused to be involved in the unification with the NG Kerk in 1885.
Frederick died on the 4th January 1895, 74 years old. His wife Johanna died 26 years later, on the 27th of January 1921, 94 years old. They are both buried in the Heidelberg Kloof Cemetery.
Source: Heidelberg Methodist Archives
