Hans Sauer (11 June 1857 - 28 August 1939) was an
Orange Free State
The Orange Free State ( ; ) was an independent Boer-ruled sovereign republic under British suzerainty in Southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century, which ceased to exist after it was defeated and surrendered to the British Em ...
born medical doctor, lawyer, adventurer and businessman. He is regarded as a Rand Pioneer, arriving in Johannesburg in 1886 shortly after the discovery of gold and was the town's first district surgeon. He is linked with the creation of Rhodesia.
Early life and education
Johannes Sauer was born in
Smithfield,
Orange Free State
The Orange Free State ( ; ) was an independent Boer-ruled sovereign republic under British suzerainty in Southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century, which ceased to exist after it was defeated and surrendered to the British Em ...
in 1857.
[, ] He is the brother of
J.W. Sauer.
[ His father was the town and district ]Landdrost
''Landdrost'' ({{IPA, nl, ˈlɑndrɔst, lang, Nl-landdrost.ogg) was the title of various officials with local jurisdiction in the Netherlands and a number of former territories in the Dutch Empire. The term is a Dutch compound, with ''land'' mean ...
.[ His father, Johannes J. Sauer, moved the family to ]Aliwal North
Maletswai (previously Aliwal North) is a town in central South Africa on the banks of the Orange River, Eastern Cape Province. It is a medium-sized commercial centre in the northernmost part of the Eastern Cape. The Dutch Reformed Church was b ...
where he practised law and farming but died in 1870. His mother was Elizabeth W.S.M. Kotzé.[ Sauer was schooled at ]Burgersdorp
Burgersdorp is a medium-sized town in Walter Sisulu in the Joe Gqabi District Municipality of the Eastern Cape province of South Africa.
In 1869 a Theological Seminary was established here by the '' Gereformeerde Kerk'', but in 1905 it was mov ...
, Cape Colony from 1872 until 1876.[ After completing school, he was sent to the London to continue his studies at ]University College London
University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...
.[ By October of the same year, he went to ]Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...
to study medicine and graduated in 1881 with a MB and CB.[
]
Medical career
He returned to South Africa in 1882 and headed to Kimberley
Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to:
Places and historical events
Australia
Queensland
* Kimberley, Queensland, a coastal locality in the Shire of Douglas
South Australia
* County of Kimberley, a cadastral unit in South Australia
Ta ...
diamond fields and offered the job as a Quarantine Officer on the Modder River, examining people heading to the town.[ A year later he left his position and joined Dr. Oskar Sommershield in a hunting trip that took him through the Transvaal and into ]Mozambique
Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...
to Lourenco Marques
Maputo () is the capital and largest city of Mozambique. Located near the southern end of the country, it is within of the borders with Eswatini and South Africa. The city has a population of 1,088,449 (as of 2017) distributed over a land are ...
.[ Leaving that town, they headed back into the ]Eastern Transvaal
Mpumalanga () is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. The name means "East", or literally "The Place Where the Sun Rises" in the Nguni languages. Mpumalanga lies in eastern South Africa, bordering Eswatini and Mozambique. It shares bor ...
to the goldfields of Barberton.[ At ]Lydenburg
Lydenburg, also known as Mashishing, is a town in Thaba Chweu Local Municipality, on the Mpumalanga highveld, South Africa. It is situated on the Sterkspruit/Dorps River tributary of the Lepelle River at the summit of the Long Tom Pass. It h ...
, he met Leander Starr Jameson
Sir Leander Starr Jameson, 1st Baronet, (9 February 1853 – 26 November 1917), also known as Starr Jameson, was a British colonial politician, who was best known for his involvement in the ill-fated Jameson Raid.
Early life and family
He w ...
. He would then return to Kimberley after the outbreak of a smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by Variola virus (often called Smallpox virus), which belongs to the genus '' Orthopoxvirus''. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (W ...
epidemic and remained until 1886.[
]
Johannesburg
In 1886, he was employed by Cecil John Rhodes
Cecil John Rhodes ( ; 5 July 185326 March 1902) was an English-South African mining magnate and politician in southern Africa who served as Prime Minister of the Cape Colony from 1890 to 1896. He and his British South Africa Company founded ...
and Charles Rudd
Charles Dunell Rudd (22 October 1844 – 15 November 1916) was the main business associate of Cecil Rhodes.
Early life
He was born at Hamworth Hall, Norfolk, the son of Henry Rudd (1809–1884) and his first wife Mary Stanbridge. His family ...
with a 15% share, and he headed to Johannesburg to join the Witwatersrand Gold Rush
The Witwatersrand Gold Rush was a gold rush that began in 1886 and led to the establishment of Johannesburg, South Africa. It was a part of the Mineral Revolution.
Origins
In the modern-day province of Mpumalanga, gold miners in the alluvial ...
where Sauer bought up mining claims along the Main Reef on behalf of the men. In a growing mining town, he soon had many interests but his main appointment was on 6 March 1887 as Johannesburg's first district surgeon with friend Ignatius Ferreira
Colonel Ignatius Philip Ferreira, (5 July 1840, Grahamstown, Cape Colony – 13 May 1921, Kranspoort, Louis Trichardt district, Transvaal) was a South African soldier, fortune hunter, miner and farmer of Portuguese descent. He is more c ...
sometimes acting as his anaesthetist.[ Other positions held included chairman of the Diggers Committee, chairman of the Rand Club and a chief consulting surgeon at the new Johannesburg Hospital as well as investing in coal mining in the ]East Rand
The East Rand is a major urban area located in the Gauteng province of South Africa. It is the urban eastern part of Witwatersrand that is functionally merged with the Johannesburg conurbation. The region extends from Alberton in the west to ...
to supply fuel to the gold mines.[ He was involved with the first hospital in the town, an extension of the jail hospital on 1 August 1888 and involved in the new Johannesburg Hospital, a dedicated building that opened on 29 March 1889.][, ][ He would marry Cecile J. Fitzpatrick in 1890, the sister of Sir Percy Fitzpatrick.][
]
Rhodesia
In 1891 he left Johannesburg and returned to London to study law and take his bar.[ He would return to Africa by invitation of Rhodes to inspect the potential goldfields in ]Rhodesia
Rhodesia ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state, unrecognised state in Southern Africa that existed from 1965 to 1979. Rhodesia served as the ''de facto'' Succession of states, successor state to the ...
before returning to London where he completed his law degree.[ He returned to Rhodesia in 1893 as head of the Rhodesian Exploration Company and arrived during the ]First Matabele War
The First Matabele War was fought between 1893 and 1894 in modern-day Zimbabwe. It pitted the British South Africa Company against the Ndebele (Matabele) Kingdom. Lobengula, king of the Ndebele, had tried to avoid outright war with the compa ...
began and would eventually establish himself in Bulawayo
Bulawayo (, ; ) is the second largest city in Zimbabwe, and the largest city in the country's Matabeleland region. The city's population is disputed; the 2022 census listed it at 665,940, while the Bulawayo City Council claimed it to be about ...
.[ Settled in the town with his wife and family, he bought up land that had been peg out by the war veterans of Rhodes' ]British South Africa Company
The British South Africa Company (BSAC or BSACo) was chartered in 1889 following the amalgamation of Cecil Rhodes' Central Search Association and the London-based Exploring Company Ltd, which had originally competed to capitalize on the expecte ...
and resold it to Rhodes.[
]
Jameson Raid
Sauer was in Johannesburg during the infamous Jameson Raid
The Jameson Raid (Afrikaans: ''Jameson-inval'', , 29 December 1895 – 2 January 1896) was a botched raid against the South African Republic (commonly known as the Transvaal) carried out by British colonial administrator Leander Starr Jameson ...
in December 1895. After the raid failed, he was arrested and imprisoned by the South African Republic
The South African Republic (, abbreviated ZAR; ), also known as the Transvaal Republic, was an independent Boer republics, Boer republic in Southern Africa which existed from 1852 to 1902, when it was annexed into the British Empire as a result ...
but paroled as the Second Matabele War
The Second Matabele War, also known as the First Chimurenga, was fought between 1896 and 1897 in the region that later became Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). The conflict was initially between the British South Africa Company and the Mata ...
broke out in 1896 and he need to return to Rhodesia to rescue his family.[ He returned for his trial and was found guilty and sentenced to two years jail and 2000 pounds, but released on its payment.][
]
Return to Rhodesia
He returned to Rhodes in Rhodesia and was present at the surrender of Ndebele warriors to Rhodes and a peace treaty enacted.[ He and his family resettled in Bulawayo in a suburb named after him.][ He would continue in the gold mining industry there and become a member of the town's council from 1897–98, its acting mayor in 1898 and founding member of the Bulawayo Club and in the first Rhodesian Legislative Council.][
]
Personal life
Sauer was married to Cecile Josephine, ''née'' Fitzpatrick, who had been born in Ireland. Their fourth child, C. P. Fitzgerald (1902–92) became a sinologist and Professor of Far Eastern History at the Australian National University
The Australian National University (ANU) is a public university, public research university and member of the Group of Eight (Australian universities), Group of Eight, located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton, A ...
.[Rafe de Crespigny]
Fitzgerald, Charles Patrick (1902–1992)
anu.edu.au. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
Death
He would return to the United Kingdom in 1900 and died in Dinant
Dinant () is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality of Wallonia located in the Namur Province, province of Namur, Belgium. On the shores of river Meuse, in the Ardennes, it lies south-east of Brussels, south ...
, Belgium
Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...
in 1939.[
]
Legacy
In the Johannesburg Central Business District, Sauer Street is named for him. Sauer Town West, a suburb in Bulawayo, is named after him.
Published works
*
*
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sauer, Hans
1858 births
1939 deaths
South African general practitioners
South African surgeons
South African public health doctors
Cape Colony lawyers
Orange Free State people
South African Republic people