Jacobus Arnoldus Graaff
Sir Jacobus Arnoldus Combrinck Graaff, KCMG | |
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Born | Villiersdorp, Cape Colony | 4 March 1863
Died | 5 April 1927 England | (aged 64)
Occupation | Businessman, politician |
Nationality | South African |
Sir Jacobus Arnoldus Combrinck Graaff GBE KCMG, also known as 'Sir James', was a South African cabinet minister, Senator, businessman, and South African Party whip.
Jacobus Graaff, younger brother of Sir David Graaff, was born on the Wolfhuiskloof farm near Villiersdorp in 1863. Following his father's death in 1875, he left Villiersdorp to work with his brother David at the Combrinck & Co. butchery in Cape Town. In partnership with his brother he took over the business in 1881.[1]: 155 In 1899 he and his brother co-founded and was a partner in the Imperial Cold Storage and Supply Company.[1]: 55
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/2/27/Graaff_Donation.jpg/220px-Graaff_Donation.jpg)
He was chairman of the Afrikaner Bond's Cape Town branch and was elected to the Legislative Council representing the northwestern Cape in 1903. After the Union of South Africa was formed in 1910, he became a senator. From 1913 to 1920, he was minister without portfolio in Louis Botha's cabinet. He was minister of public works, posts and telegraphs in Jan Smuts's second ministry. He was knighted as a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG) in 1917.[1]: 155
In 1907, Jacobus and his brother made a GB£100,000 donation (equivalent to £41,100,000[2] or R471,195,167 in 2010[3]) for the establishment of the De Villiers Graaff High School in Villiersdorp.
He lived in a large mansion, Bordeaux, on the beach front in Sea Point. Graaff was regarded as an expert on animals as well as an eccentric, earned the moniker "Mal Jan" (crazy Jan).
Graaff was buried on his estate in Bellevue, Portervilleweg. He insisted on being buried in a coffin with a glass lid and a working telephone in case he woke from the dead.[4]: 251
See also
External links
- Messrs. Combrinck & Co.'s New Cold Storage Depot (The Cape Town Guide 1897)
- Messrs. Combrinck & Co.'s New Cold Storage Depot (The Cape Town Guide 1897) cont.
References
- ^ a b c Brooke Simons, Phillida (2000). Ice Cold in Africa: The History of Imperial Cold Storage & Supply Company Limited. Cape Town: Fernwood Press. p. 252. ISBN 1-874950-50-4.
- ^ Measuring Worth, Relative Value of a UK Pound Amount – average earnings. Retrieved 26 June 2010
- ^ EX Archived 2 February 2008 at WebCite, Universal Currency Converter. Retrieved 26 June 2010
- ^ Dommisse, Ebbe. Sir David Pieter de Villiers Graaff: First baronet of De Grendel. Tafelberg.
- 1863 births
- 1927 deaths
- People from the Western Cape
- Afrikaner people
- Government ministers of South Africa
- Communications ministers of South Africa
- Members of the House of Assembly of South Africa
- Graaff family
- South African Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George
- South African philanthropists