Alois Hugo Nellmapius
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Alois Hugo Nellmapius (5 May 1847 – 27 July 1893), was a South African businessman, industrialist and pioneer conservationist.


Life and career

Born in Bielitz Poland on 5 May 1847. His given name was Alois Hugo Neumann the son of Albert and Charlotte Neumann, but upon coming to South African changed his last name for reasons unknown. He trained as an engineer in the Netherlands and arrived in South Africa on board the ship ''Nathan'' in 1873 - one of his fellow passengers was John X. Merriman, later Prime Minister of the Cape Colony. This was the year that gold was first found in the ZAR. He was successful at gold mining near Pilgrim's Rest in the
Eastern Transvaal Mpumalanga () is a province of South Africa. The name means "East", or literally "The Place Where the Sun Rises" in the Swazi, Xhosa, Ndebele and Zulu languages. Mpumalanga lies in eastern South Africa, bordering Eswatini and Mozambique. It ...
, and managed to obtain the first transport concession to
Delagoa Bay Maputo Bay ( pt, Baía de Maputo), formerly also known as Delagoa Bay from ''Baía da Lagoa'' in Portuguese, is an inlet of the Indian Ocean on the coast of Mozambique, between 25° 40' and 26° 20' S, with a length from north to south of over 90&n ...
in 1875. He constructed what is now known as the Nellmapius Road, from Mac-Mac and the goldfields, crossing the Crocodile River at Nellmapius Drift near
Hectorspruit Hectorspruit, officially Emjejane, is a small farming town situated between Kaapmuiden and Komatipoort on a southern tributary of the Crocodile River in Mpumalanga, South Africa. The farms in the region produce sugarcane, subtropical fruit and ...
to Matalha Poort in
Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...
. For these services he was granted 4 farms. Nellmapius made and lost several fortunes in his lifetime and was a close friend of
Paul Kruger Stephanus Johannes Paulus Kruger (; 10 October 1825 – 14 July 1904) was a South African politician. He was one of the dominant political and military figures in 19th-century South Africa, and President of the South African Republic (or ...
, there is a plaque in the National Kruger Park commemorating this very thing. He was the first digger on the Transvaal goldfields to make use of dynamite. Nellmapius served in the Sekhukhune Wars and the Mapoch campaign. He established
Irene Irene is a name derived from εἰρήνη (eirēnē), the Greek for "peace". Irene, and related names, may refer to: * Irene (given name) Places * Irene, Gauteng, South Africa * Irene, South Dakota, United States * Irene, Texas, United Stat ...
Estate (named after his daughter) near
Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends ...
and bought a number of farms on the Hennops River. He employed horticulturists Richard Wills Adlam, who had been the Curator of the
Pietermaritzburg Pietermaritzburg (; Zulu: umGungundlovu) is the capital and second-largest city in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It was founded in 1838 and is currently governed by the Msunduzi Local Municipality. Its Zulu name umGungundlovu ...
Botanical Garden, and his successor, Hans Fuchs. Under their management and with a temperate climate, ample water and fertile soil, they transformed the land into an extensive flower, fruit and vegetable garden of world renown. Flora Shaw of "
The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...
" of London, visited the Irene Estate in 1892 and was astounded at the scale of the farm and gardens: "With the exception of cherries, gooseberries and currants, all European fruits flourish well. Throughout the estate the water courses, which divided the fields, were bordered by hedges of quince, pear, apple, plum and peach...acres of roses, violets and ornamental plants surrounded the house..." Kruger House, situated in Church Street West, Pretoria, and built in a Victorian veranda style, was designed by Tom Claridge, one of Pretoria's first architects and was erected on the instructions of Nellmapius. He also owned the Pretoria newspaper ''De Pers''. Due to lack of funds he lost a Government manufacturing contract at Eerste Fabrieken to
Sammy Marks Sammy is a nickname, frequently for people named Samuel, and also an English spelling of the Arabic name Sami. People Music * Sammy Adams (born 1987), American rapper and songwriter *Sammy Cahn (1913-1993), American songwriter *Sammy Davis Jr. ...
. His first enterprise was the ''Hatherley Distillery'' that produced gin and whisky on the farm Hatherley, opened by President Kruger on 6 June 1883 and named ''Volkshoop''. He started the first gunpowder factory in South Africa and the Irene Lime Works. On the death of Nellmapius, Marks took over his concessions for the distillery, canning fruit and a ceramics factory. A portrait of Nellmapius is to be seen on the second floor of the Sammy Marks Museum. Nellmapius often entertained in grand style at Irene and a frequent guest was Transvaal president, Paul Kruger.
Arnold Theiler Sir Arnold Theiler KCMG (26 March 1867 – 24 July 1936) Pour le Mérite is considered to be the father of veterinary science in South Africa. He was born in Frick, Canton Aargau, Switzerland. He received his higher education, and later qu ...
's first employment in South Africa was with Nellmapius. He married Johanna Corlydia Hoffman in 1882, their son Ernest Harold was born in 1890. Nellmapius lived at the Irene Estate until his death in 1893, he was buried in the 'Golden Acres Cemetery' in Church street in Pretoria where Paul Kruger and many others of that time were buried.


Books

*''The Tycoon & The President: The life and times of Alois Hugo Nellmapius, 1847-1893'' - Helga Kaye (Macmillan, South Africa 1978) to 2021


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nellmapius, Alois Hugo South African businesspeople Hungarian emigrants to South Africa 1847 births 1893 deaths South African mining businesspeople