From Pam Karp
10/10/2011 at 4:34 AM
Hi Sharon and Hatte (and David)
This is to introduce myself as a relative of David Prins who first drew my attention to the public discussion on the Oppenheimer family. David also suggested that I make contact with you both re future project discussions. He is aware that I grew up in South Africa and emigrated to Sydney (Australia) some 31 years ago.
I would love to work with you all on this project. The Oppenheimer family was a well known name at our dinner table. The background being that my father Emmanuel (Mannie) Jacobson, a gold prospector, was involved in the discovery of gold in the Orange Free State on a farm known as Aandenk. A monument has been erected by the Historical Commission on this site as a mark of the first borehole and names those individuals that were involved in mining gold at Aandenk. (Unfortunately my father and his partner ran out of money with only 400 feet short of reaching payable gold!). Ernest was approached to invest in their company Wit Extensions as it was called, and the borehole was taken over by Anglo American (Oppenheimers) in 1945.
Mannie and Ernest Oppenheimer are both featured in two books: The Historical Monuments of South Africa and the Gold Miners of South Africa, the latter giving the history of the gold miners from 1885 - 1961. Harry Oppenheimer is also featured, however to a lesser extent. I have copies of both the books. I look forward to hearing how I can be of assistance with the project. Regards, Pam Karp (Jacobson)
