Ian Handford: The secret benefactor who helped build Torquay

The first time the name Struben came into my life was while researching famous Wellswood figures of the past for the Civic Society, who were financially assisting the cleaning and extension of the Memorial Fountain on Wellswood Green to honour John Snelgrove.

Like Snelgrove, Frederick Struben was a major benefactor to Torquay. John had retired to Wellswood from London, and, in partnership with Mr Struben (Fred), Mr Ball, Mr Taylor, and Mr Lord, jointly created a Sick and Provident Society for Torbay cabmen. John’s experience as a director at Marshall and Snelgrove in London proved invaluable. Fred, a wealthy man, had chosen Torquay as his future home, purchasing Summerfield, a villa on Middle Lincombe Road.

Fred's wealth came from Africa after he and his brother Harry were the first men to discover what ultimately became known as the Central Rand and Western Rand goldfields in the 1880s. Today the goldfields have supplied virtually half of the gold mined anywhere in the world.

Fred and Harry retired in 1888, at which point Fred moved to London. However, after only a few months, he settled in Torquay, while Harry remained in South Africa, residing in Cape Town.

Not long after, Fred sold Summerfield and purchased Malpass Lodge, a much larger villa with extensive grounds on Haldon Road, Wellswood. He and his family moved in during 1894, renaming the property Kya Lama, a Zulu phrase meaning My Home — in what Fred announced would be a tribute to his African roots. Today, the property is known as Wylam Lodge.

Frederick (Fred) Pine Theophilus Struben was born on June 14, 1852, one of nine children of Dutchman Johannes Struben and his wife, Francis Beattie. Francis's father had insisted Johannes become a naturalised Englishman before giving consent to the marriage. Born in Natal, Fred moved with his family to Pretoria in 1855 after his mother’s passing. His father, Captain Johannes, remarried and relocated the entire family.

The Struben boys were adventurous from an early age. Fred quickly became an ardent geologist, while Harry, at just 17, purchased a waggon and oxen to run a transport service between Durban and Pretoria. Both brothers pursued gold and diamond prospecting, and they were the first to discover gold in what later became the Witwatersrand gold reef. Harry soon became the first chairman of the Chamber of Mines, and it was not long before both brothers earned enough money to retire.

After moving to England, Fred married 23-year-old Mabel Dice, the youngest daughter of the late Captain WT Dice of Collaton St Mary, Paignton. They married on October 16, 1890, and enjoyed a busy social life according to Fred's diary: "We have a ten-ton yacht in the harbour which gives us great fun and pleasure as we go out sailing nearly every day in the bay and are able to supply the house with fish of many kinds as we are generally nine when sitting down to breakfast - it goes a long way to feed them".

Fred became treasurer and later president of the Cabmen’s Mutual Benefits and Insurance Society alongside John Snelgrove. He also served on the management board of Torquay Hospital from 1895. He was President of the Constitutional Club at Ellacombe and later funded its conversion of the skittle hall into what became a lecture hall called the Struben Lecture Hall, which could seat 100 persons when it opened in 1898 as a Conservative Reading Room.

Later the building was renamed the Ellacombe Conservative Club. As a staunch Conservative, Fred had turned down the opportunity to run as the Divisional Member of Parliament for Torquay but fortunately did serve on the local council.

To be continued...