John Lincoln's wonderful book 'Stories from a Diamond Mine' tells the story of the Premier Mine (today the Cullinan Mine) and the village that grew up around it. We are honoured to be able to reproduce the book as a series (click here to view index). Below is the first installment which traces the history of Minnaars' Farm and reveals the complex story of how the land was acquired by Thomas Cullinan. The piece also describes the establishment of the Premier Mine and includes wonderful archival photos of early mining activity.
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Minnaars’ Farm: Elandsfontein No. 85. Compiled by J and AJ Minnaar, grandsons of Roelof Johan Minnaar (Junior) born 1852. An overview. Surveying of farm during 1859.
Cornelis Jacobus Minnaar (born 10th November 1805), a veltkornet and another government official surveyed his farm. A two-hour horseback farm was quite common in the early days. It was carried out as follows: The applicant must state his pre-selected centre point, to be crossed, as well as a starting point, where the first stone beacon is to be erected. Then the horses walk in an East-West direction at a steady pace, crossing the centre point until one hour has elapsed at which time a second beacon is erected. The process is repeated in a North-South direction. The size of the farm Elandsfontein was about 3000 morgen. Minnaar had his farm registered on 7th November 1859.
During 1861, a portion of the farm was sold to his brother, Roelof Johannes Minnaar. Roelof and his wife had two...
