Sir David Pieter de Villiers Graaf. First baronet of De Grendel

2011, Hardcover with dust cover. 366 pages. Very good condition; like new. Under 1kg.

Sir David Graaff's unique South African story begins as a poor child in Villiersdorp, watching over sheep and pigs. Like a fairytale, he was helped by a well-off friend of the family and taken to Cape Town to work at the man's butchery. Within a few years, David was not only in charge of the butchery, but was the first person to use refrigerated storage facilities for meat in South Africa. This led to the building of a business empire that made him a millionaire. He went on to have a colourful life and played a role in many South African milestones. He helped create Roggebaai by filling in the harbour with construction rubble, he entered politics to become mayor of Cape Town and brought streetlights to the town, expanded his business empire by providing meat to the British during the Anglo-Boer War and bought the wine farm De Grendel. As a bachelor in his fifties, the British monarchy awarded him the hereditary title of baronet - in the belief that it would die with him. But soon David married the young daughter of the pastor of the Grootte Kerk in Cape Town, and started a family that included the politician Sir De Villiers Graaff.