Some housekeeping: Please follow me on Instagram at @johannesburg1912 where I post interesting Johannesburg related stuff on weekends (mainly).
Follow this blog via e-mail HERE. Scroll down on the right after archives.
My first book ‘Johannesburg Then & Now’ is available at local bookstores or internationally via Amazon or kindle. Click HERE for the relevant links
There are very few pictures of early Troyeville but the above postcard is a great landscape shot where one can see the great general changes over a period of just over 100 years. The postcard picture was taken from the Fairview Fire Tower around 1910. The picture below was taken from the fire training tower just behind the Fairview Tower in early 2014 (I wasn’t allowed up the actual tower as it’s a national monument). Most striking for me is seeing Hillbrow in the distance before it was built up (being another suburb where early pictures are rare). Much of Troyeville has stayed the same.
View across Troyeville looking north toward Hillbrow and Berea Hill 2014
On the 10 August 1889, 612 stands went on sale. It was the only Township started by Hollanders (Van Boeschten & Lorentz) hence all the Dutch street names. It was laid out in June 1891 and named after Gustav Arthur Troye. He was born in Germany in 1860 and came to South Africa when he was 17 and eventually qualified as a surveyor. The layout of Houghton Estate was also his doing. He began compiling maps and later worked for the Barnato Group and the Johnnies (JCI Investment Company) before starting his own practice. Troye lived in Parktown in a house on the corner of Oxford and Valley Road known as ‘The Towers’ although he originally named it ‘Welgelegen’. It was one of the many houses demolished to make way for the M1 highway. The house would have stood right under the highway where the Oxford Road off-ramp is when traveling north, just below Northwards.
Troye’s house in Parktown ‘The Towers’ circa 1928
‘The Towers’ with ecclesiastical additions in 1968 just before it was demolished
In 1892 the layout of Troyeville was changed by W. H. A. Pritchard to roughly how it looks today. The suburb had a slow start due to the recession but slowly started filling up with mostly middle-class residents. In later years the city encroached on Troyeville and other older suburbs close by. Light industry started infiltrating the area (especially the part of Troyeville behind the hotel and down to Ellis Park and along Commissioner Street). Also, many of these suburbs were poorly planned without adequate open spaces as developers tried to cram as many stands into the area as possible. This combination makes these areas less valuable today as pure residential areas even though they have amazing examples of early Johannesburg architecture and buildings. To add to this, Troyeville was one of the many areas in Johannesburg in the 1990s along with Hillbrow, Joubert Park, city centre, Berea, Yoeville, Orange Grove, Bertrams and Jeppe that the major banks ‘red-lined’ and wouldn’t approve bonds for new homeowners. Owners couldn’t sell (unless for cash or private arrangement) and the property prices slumped. Owners either abandoned their properties or sold them off cheap – sometimes to slumlords. A 2013 check on property prices shows that Troyeville is on the increase with a few historic houses selling in the lower millions. Certain parts of Troyeville are in better state than others with houses in the better parts holding their values.
Mansion on Pretoria & Clarence Street
Front view of Clarence Street house
Back view of Clarence Street house
There are no original plans for this lovely house but it’s estimated it was built in 1912. The steep twin gables give it an air of dignity. The building is Edwardian in design. In 1925 it was donated to the Salvation Army and appears to be empty at the moment. After the Salvation Army, the house was owned by The Star columnist Gwen Gill and after her, musician and singer Jennifer Ferguson. Hollard Insurance owned it for some time where it was used as a conference centre. It is now owned by and art collective.
Various semi-detached houses
Examples on Op De Bergen Street
Examples on the eastern side of Troyeville
While it’s common to focus on the buildings, mansions, and churches from a heritage or even preservation angle, it’s important to also shine some light on examples of ordinary houses and cottages from the time. These were built and lived in by ordinary working-class people who were as much part of the early pioneering spirit of the town as the capitalists and big risk-takers. I’ve always included examples in these posts, and these semis are further examples. One only has to compare the stylistic details and solidness of build of those old houses to any new developments going up anywhere today to appreciate their value. Old houses are not for everyone, but for those that love the quaintness and the history (and the fixing up), there is nothing better than being part of and preserving the history of the city.
Sadly though, many great examples of these types of houses are in areas where a house, regardless of its historic importance, is seen only as accommodation in a city where central space is at a premium.
Gandhi’s house 11 Albermarle Street
Gandhi’s house 2014
From the Blue Plaque inscription:
Indian leader Mohandas Gandhi lived here from 1904 to 1906 together with his wife Kasturba and sons Manilal, Ramdas and Devdas. They shared the house with Henry Polak, Gandhi’s friend and colleague in his law office. In 1905 they were joined by Polak’s wife Millie who describes the house in her book on Gandhi:
“The house was situated in a fairly good middle-class neighborhood, on the outskirts of town. It was a double-storied, detached, eight-roomed building of the modern villa type, surrounded by a garden, and having in front the open spaces of the koppies. The upstairs verandah was roomy enough to sleep on it, and indeed in warm weather it was often so used”.
Gandhi left for Durban in 1906 and never returned to the house (although he did return to Johannesburg). It appears that it was once thought that Gandhi lived at no.19. This was dis-proven based on the date of the plans (submitted in 1905) and that Gandhi’s son was taken to No.11 in the 1950s and remembered living there as a child.
David Webster House 13 Eleanor Street
Front of Webster’s house 2014
From the Blue Plaque inscription:
Anthropologist and activist David Webster lived here from 1986 until his assassination three years later. Dr Webster played a leading role in the Detainees’ Parents Support Committee, the United Democratic Front and affiliated organisations. He co-founded the Five Freedoms Forum formed as a home for whites in the struggle for democracy. On 1 May 1989, he was gunned down outside this house by an agent of the apartheid regime. Unveiled 23 March 2013.
Troyeville was also once home to the Foster Gang and African jazz musician Gito Baloyi.
Troyeville Park
Troyeville Park now named David Webster Park
Troyeville Park was given the residents by the company that took over the land (Troyeville Maatschappij Beperkt) on the 26 March 1907. It was originally known as Bloemen Hof and is now David Webster Park.
Op De Bergen Street forms the boundary between Troyeville and Fairview
Op De Bergen Street early 1910s looking east
Op De Bergen Street looking east 2014
According to the old maps, everything on the right was part of Fairview and everything on the left part of Troyeville.
Gem Theatre
Gem Theatre 2014
Gem Theatre and view down Commissioner Street late 1960s
This theatre was built in the 1940s and closed down in 1976. It has been used as an art gallery and a live music venue.
Regal Kinema
Regal Kinema Troyeville
Regal in 2014 with an odd addition to the front roof
This lesser-known cinema operated at the corner of Bezhuidenhout (now Albertina Sisulu Road) and Pretoria Street.
Hellier Street
Mansion on Hillier Street
This mansion on the corner of Hellier and Nourse Street combines oriental and modern influences. Hellier Street was originally spelled Hillier Street after Dr A. P. Hillier (1857-1911) who was a director of the Troyeville company. Born in England, he came to Johannesburg in 1893 from Kimberly where he had taken over Dr. Jameson’s practice. Hillier became a member of the Reform Committee and after his release from jail went back to England (not before being allowed out of Pretoria goal on bail to assist 19 doctors, under the supervision of Dr. Bensusan, administer relief to those injured by the Braamfontein explosion. He was chairman of the hospital board at the time). He also contributed a section on South African History in the Encyclopedia Britannica published in 1911.
The current owner of the house since 1991, architect Michael Hart shared the following: The house…on Hillier Street is recognised as being built in the style of Art Nouveau. It was built in 1905 at the same time that Art Nouveau was developing in Europe in particular Vienna and Paris. The Architect was Eugene Chappuis Metzler a Swiss architect who built the house for himself. The building has numerous elements inspired by buildings built in Europe between 1890 and 1905. There are also interesting elements that are a precursor to the Art Deco that followed in the 1920’s.
Williams Street
Sketch of William Street by Philip Bawcombe 1970s
I’ve come across two references to this street but have not found it on any recent maps. It was named in 1902 after Charles William Partridge by his father L. U. Partridge who privately owned part of the property where the street lay. Although originally named William Street it became Williams Street over the years. It appears to be the present-day Charles Street as can be seen by comparing the sketch by Philip Bawcombe and a current photo of the houses on Charles Street below. In a map from 1895, Pine Street runs under where Williams (now Charles) Street is. Pine eventually joined up with and became the main thoroughfare Bezhuidenhout which connected with Broadway and Roberts Avenue in Bez Valley Kensington. Bezhuidenhout was recently renamed Albertina Sisulu Road.
Charles Street 2014
Close-up of houses on Charles Street 2014
Spires
Spires on Troyeville ridge
There is a large concentration of churches contained within a few blocks of Troyeville and Fairview. The illustration above shows the unique skyline of church and other spires as seen from the Berea ridge across the way. Most of the churches no longer serve the original communities they were built for but are still thriving under different denominations.
View of Troyeville and the spires from Berea Hill 2012
Some of the churches
Baptist Church on Op De Bergen Street – originally a tin structure erected in 1897
Dutch Reform Church by Kallenbach & Reynolds 1906 in Op De Bergen Street
St. Andrews Presbyterian Church on Commissioner Street designed by Kallenbach & Reynolds 1903
Presbyterian Reformed Church originally the Dutch Reform Church Hall built in 1898 in Princes Street
Second Church of Christ in Blenheim Street
Other mansions and period houses in Troyeville
Victorian mansion on Op De Bergen Street
House with interesting chimneys and a turret
Forlorn looking mansion just off Op De Bergen on the Fairview border
Typical small house with gable and verandah
Interesting looking corner house
Johannesburg 1912 - suburb by suburb research 
Thank you for the well researched blog.
Thank you for this illustrated history. My English ancestors lived in Troyeville in 1912 and my uncle was born at 6 Bronde Terrace in Sept.1912. I cannot find Bronde Terrace now but think it could have been in the main street.
Does anyone have family photograph albums of growing up in early days of #Troyeville ?
Hi, I lived in Andries street, has the name been changed.
It’s still there between Beaufort and Dawe Streets.
Thanks found it, went there. All houses at bottem of street demolished, heartbreaking
Hi Marc. The house you refer to a the mansion on Hillier Street is recognised as being built in the style of Art Nouveau. It was built in 1905 at the same time that Art Nouveau was developing in Europe in particular Vienna and Paris. The Architect was Eugene Chappuis Metzler a Swiss architect who built the house for himself. The building has numerous elements inspired buy buildings built in Europe between 1890 and 1905. There are also interesting elements that are a precursor to the Art Deco that followed in the 1920’s. My name is Michael Hart I am an architect and the owner of the house since 1991.
Thanks, Michael! I’ll update accordingly. It’s a lovely house.
Hi.
Thanks for a very interesting post, but may I add a couple of observations.
IIRC, the Gem theatre actually falls within Kensington, as the boundary with Troyeville is actually a block away. The reason I know is that in the late 80s, I lived in Troyeville, on Apollonia Street, which meant that I fell just out of the catchment area for Jeppe Boys (despite having had an older brother attend it from the same house – weird!). To get around it, my address was changed to that of my godparents, who lived at 14 Albermarle Street, right across from Gandhi’s House (which nobody was really interested in, as the real landmark then was deemed to be Marymount Clinic, right at the bottom of the road, with a brilliant view from the ridge of Judith’s Paarl and Bez Valley). In the 80s, the Gem was used for a number of applications – one which I remember was that it was a fabric shop, selling all manner of random clothing materials. The other cinema you mention, the Regal, was, during that point in time, a mattress shop, using the rather original name (not) of The Mattress King.
The 1906 Dutch Reformed Church was right next to Fairview Junior Primary School, which, despite the name, actually had an address in Troyeville. I attended it in the early 80s, where there were 6 classrooms for Grade 1, Grade 2 and Standard 1 students, before we were passed on to Jeppe Prep or John Mitchell. During that point in time, there was serious talk about closing the school down, as there were about 40 students in total across the 3 years, and the feed for future years was quite limited – the neighbourhood was fairly Portuguese then, so about 50% Porra at the school, and the rest a mix of English speakers and Afrikaans speakers who (who didn’t go to the nearby Afrikaans medium primary school).
Thanks for your comment! You’re right, it is Kensington. In my mind, Kensington ended at the robots after the Kensington Sanotarium.
Wonderful to see troyeville- I was born in Whilemina Street 19th in 1962. I’m abroad in Italy since 1980, but Johannesburg is always in my thoughts every day – Its my life.
Thanks Anna!
Very informative Thanks fo your time and dedication into the history of Johannesburg
Thanks Robert!
People who go to the trouble to record photos and history give others so much pleasure, memories and interesting history. Really appreciated. Many Thanks. Marc Latilla you do so much to bring our past alive. It is exciting thank you.
.
Pleasure! Thanks for reading it all.
Greetings all. Thanx for this lovely site. I’ve lived in Eleanor St, Troyeville since 1989. I went almost immediately to the deeds office at the civic centre and got copies of the original 1905 house plans for my place. However I was overseas for a few years and when I returned the place I had stored much of my documents had a leak in the roof and the rain had come through and destroyed everything 😦
I returned to the deeds office hoping to get another copy but alas apparently they had or were in the process of digitizing all the drawings and deeds but many got mixed up or simply lost 😦 X2
I was thus wondering if anyone on this group has photos or copies of original plans of any of the original houses in Troyeville/Fairview? I’m not particularly interested in the formal heritage sites, but rather in any of the old neglected places that wouldn’t get a second glance.
Thanks Dylan, not sure you’ll find anything here, but you never know.