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.
THE HISTORY OF 60 STRYDOM STREET AND MAGISTRATE F.K. MARÉ
ARCHITECTURAL STYLES AND LAND ROOTS (1865)
The residential property located at Number 60 Strydom Street stands as a classic example of Mid-Victorian architecture. The specific design is classified as a Pavilion house, an architectural style that originally evolved in Britain and was widely implemented across the Grahamstown region during the 1850s and 1860s.
The underlying roadway derives its name from Ockert Andries Strydom, the original pioneer landowner of the farm on which the town of Heidelberg was established. The primary Akte van Transport (Deed of Transfer) registered for this specific parcel of land, designated as Erf 161, was officially granted to O.A. Strydom on 26 December 1865. This precise registration date directly coincides with the arrival of the Irish surveyor, T.W. Fannin, who had been formally commissioned by town founder Heinrich Ueckermann to map out the town grid.
DEED TRANSFERS AND THE MARÉ HOMESTEAD (1875 - 1879)
In 1870, the land title of Erf 161 was transferred directly from the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek (ZAR) to Mr Albert Walsh for a sum of ten shillings sterling. The official transfer document was personally signed by the State President of the Republic at the time, President Joubert. Within two months of this transaction, Walsh sold the plot at a substantial financial profit to Frederik Korsten Maré, who had been serving as the resident Landdrost (Magistrate) of Heidelberg since 1866.
Following the purchase, Maré commissioned the construction of the Pavilion-style house. The Magistrate and his family occupied the home until 1879. During this residency, the future ZAR President Paul Kruger, who maintained a close personal friendship with the Maré family, was recorded as a frequent overnight guest at the house.
By 1875, Maré systematically expanded his local estate, acquiring four adjacent residential plots consisting of Erven Numbers 160, 174, 175, and 176. The core homestead property was destined to remain under the continuous ownership of the Maré family descendants for the next 100 years.
THE STANDARD BANK LEASE AND BURIED GOLD SOVEREIGNS (1879 - 1886)
In August 1879, the Maré family vacated the home and leased the entire structure to the Standard Bank for a monthly rental fee of £7. The building represented a massive operational upgrade from the bank’s original, cramped commercial premises on Church Street, which had been active since 1877.
The appointed bank manager was Mr Frederick Watt Standen, a bachelor who resided inside two of the property's rooms while utilizing two separate rooms to conduct daily banking transactions. The remaining two rooms of the layout were sublet to a private lodger.
In 1880, Mr P.H. Mynhardt was transferred from the Pretoria branch to reinforce the local office, and the two men managed the British-owned banking institution throughout the turbulent months of the First Anglo-Boer War. At the sudden outbreak of hostilities, bank officials grew deeply concerned regarding the safety of the £17,000 in physical specie coins stored in the bank vault.
To safeguard the assets from potential seizure, the bankers secretly transferred and buried £10,700 in gold sovereign coins deep within the garden of a wealthy local Heidelberg merchant, Mr W.S. McLaren. The treasure remained completely undisturbed throughout the war. (Local historical records note that the McLaren estate previously occupied the site of the modern Bambi Chemist on Begeman Street, extending behind the Klipkerk directly through to Pretorius Street).
Following the conclusion of the war, the regional economy suffered a severe slump, prompting corporate executives to permanently close the Heidelberg branch. Local client accounts were transferred to Pretoria, and the physical currency reserves were forwarded to Standerton. The Standard Bank eventually returned to Heidelberg in 1886, establishing a new branch along Ueckermann Street where it has traded continuously ever since. (The branch later moved adjacent to the Post Office - a building currently occupied by Home Affairs - before relocating to the Heidelberg Mall).
MONUMENT DECLARATION AND SUBDIVISION HISTORY (1903 - 1989)
The Maré estate underwent an initial parcel subdivision in 1903, when a portion of the outlying grounds was sold off to Mr W.A.E. Schultz. The remaining core land package, including the historic Pavilion house and the adjacent stables, stayed in the possession of the Maré family until 1984, when the property was purchased by the Methodist Church.
The church initially acquired the historic site with the explicit intention of demolishing the Victorian house to clear ground for a modern community hall, but local preservation efforts successfully halted the destruction. The building's national historical value achieved absolute legal protection in 1989, when the property was officially declared a National Monument.
BIOGRAPHY OF LANDDROST FREDERIK KORSTEN MARÉ (1821 - 1921)
Frederik Korsten Maré was born in Uitenhage on 27 November 1821, the sixteenth of seventeen children. He completed his schooling in Port Elizabeth before participating in the trekking movement out of the Cape Colony, settling in Pietermaritzburg in 1838. In 1845, he married Johanna Helena Josina van Niekerk of Graaff-Reinet, a union that produced ten children.
By 1859, the family relocated across the Vaal River into the Transvaal territory. Maré's administrative capability resulted in his appointment as the Landdrost of Pretoria in 1861, a strategic governance position he held for two years. On 10 July 1866, he was officially appointed as the Landdrost of Heidelberg, eventually purchasing Erf 161 nine years later to establish his family home.
Following the British annexation of the Transvaal Republic in 1877, Maré demonstrated his political loyalty by flatly refusing to take the mandatory oath of allegiance to the British crown. He formally resigned his position as Magistrate in March 1878. At the time of his resignation, the tiny rural village of Heidelberg comprised approximately 25 houses and a total population of 100 inhabitants.
During the subsequent First Anglo-Boer War of 1880 - 1881, Heidelberg served as the official seat of the provisional government of the restored Transvaal Republic. The independent Vierkleur flag was triumphantly hoisted on the town square on 16 December 1880, marking Dingaan's Day, and Paul Kruger, Marthinus Pretorius, and Piet Joubert were named as the governing Triumvirate to protect Boer national interests. The historic peace treaty that concluded the war was officially signed in Heidelberg on 21 March 1881.
In April 1882, following the restoration of republican independence, Maré was formally reappointed as the Landdrost of Heidelberg. While he was a deeply dedicated member who worked to advance the Nederduitsch Hervormde (NH) Church, he strongly rejected the controversial church unification movement with the Nederduitsche Gereformeerde (NG) Church in 1885.
Frederik Korsten Maré passed away on 4 January 1895 at the age of 74. His wife, Johanna, survived him by more than two decades, passing away on 27 January 1921 at the advanced age of 94. Both pioneers are interred side by side in the family plot at the historic Heidelberg Kloof Cemetery.
Sources: The historical Tour Guide of Heidelberg compiled by Lynn Fordred, and the foundational archival registers preserved inside the Heidelberg Methodist Archives.
