Sid Fourie, Of Them I Spoke (Jansenville district personalities and topics)

Sid Fourie, Of Them I Spoke. Jansenville: the author, 1977.

22.5 x 17.5 cmm hard cover, dust wrapper, 254 pages, illustrations.

A little wear to the dust wrapper; otherwise in very good condition.

Sid Fourie was a well-known figure in Jansenville in the Karoo, and he seems to have had an unusually varied life.

He was born in 1896 in Jansenville, to an Afrikaans father of Huguenot descent and an English mother.  As a young man he reportedly worked digging wells and as a transport rider before becoming a clerk for local attorneys.  In 1914, during World War I, he joined the local 20th Mounted Rifles and served in operations connected with the rebellion near Upington. In 1919 he bought the Jansenville Chronicle newspaper and edited it for 45 years.

He became one of the towns central public figures. He served on the town council for 25 years and was mayor for 15 of those years. During that period Jansenville gained electricity, an airfield, and extensive tree planting projects.  He was remembered as eccentric, highly intelligent, widely travelled, and very generous. Sources say he financially helped local young people attend university and travel overseas. He also wrote books on the history of the district. These include Jansenville, Yesterday and Today: Chronicles and Anecdotes of a Noorsveld Town, 18551955 (1956) and Turning Back the Pages Jansenville The Story of a Noorsveld Town and District. The book that I am offering here appears to republish articles on topics and personalities of local (Jansenville district) interest that were earlier published (possibly in the Jansenville Chronicle) from the 1930s through to the 1970s.

His house in Jansenville was later donated to the town and became the Sid Fourie Historical House Museum, which still exists today as part of the local museum complex. 
One interesting detail: the museum reportedly preserves his personal library, war memorabilia, desk, and even his 1938 Chevrolet.