Bladsy 12
DIE POS/THE POST 26 September, 2014
NUUS/NEWS
diepos.linmedia.co.za
Resident of Bela-Bela shares his legacy “I’ve had a wonderful life and remained healthy and strong even into my 80’s.”
A
Brian Stone from Bela-Bela is known as the “father” of Settlers Agricultural High School. With him is his wife, Wendy. Andries Heyde Andries vanvan derder Heyde He is the second oldest resident in the Renaissance Retirement Village in BelaBela and has very fond memories of the school that was established after many of his efforts — Settlers Agricultural High School. Brian Stone (94) was born on 1 April 1920 in Johannesburg to Percy William and Harriett Stone. The Stone family lived on their farm, Hanover, in the Settlers area.
Before moving to the farm, his father had owned the Agnes Goldmine in the Barberton area. In an interview with The Post, Stone said his father once bought an original Model TFord for 15 pounds and two horses. Stone said as a young boy, he became very fond of the idea of becoming a farmer one day. In 1926 his parents sent him to an English-medium school in Settlers, called Mrs Duffy’s Private School, where he and three other pupils received their education. He and a farmworker called Dafoe, rode on
horseback each day to get there. After Mrs Duffy had closed her doors, he continued his education at a school called Lleweni School in the then Naboomspruit. He later joined the Settlers Primary School (today Lord Milner Primary School) and left school after Grade 8. His father died in 1934. “I remember that former Prime Minister, Jan Smuts, held a national day of prayer for rain, since it was incredibly dry in the country. Miraculously, when the people left church, it started pouring for three days on end, and I had an incredible crop that was on the verge of dying before the rain started,” he told The Post. His mother was not too keen on the idea of him becoming a farmer and she encouraged him to learn a trade to “fall back on”. In 1937 he got a job at the Witwatersrand Gold Mine where he sorted the miners’ job cards. During this time he made contact with a miner called Hastings Banda. Many years later, Banda became the president of Malawi. It was Stone’s hope that he would get an apprenticeship at the end of that year to become an electrical engineer at the mine, but he did not. He returned to Settlers to give farming another go. His mother, however, kept on insisting that he learned a trade and in 1939 he got a job as an apprentice blacksmith at the Warmbaths Blacksmiths and Engineering Company. “I injured my knee during a cricket match while I was a blacksmith. The doctor told my mother that I am not fit to carry on working as a blacksmith anymore, so I returned to the farm, again,” he said. In 1939 he threw himself into farming and
became very successful. During that time he became chairman of Lord Milner Primary School’s board and decided that there was a need for an English medium school that dealt mainly with agriculture. After several meetings with the then Transvaal Department of Education, Settlers Agricultural High School opened its doors in 1969. “If it wasn’t for me and the steps I had taken, that school wouldn’t have existed today,” he said. After the school had been established, the school board asked Stone if it should be named after him, but he declined the offer, he told The Post. The school hostel, however, was named after him and to this day still carries his name. Stone received his provincial colours in bowls and he had been club champion for 13 times in a row. The bowling green in Settlers was eventually named after him. During the 1980’s he had a near death experience when he had built a mill on his farm. His family owned the Springbok Flats Roller Mills, which later became the Chester Mills. During the construction he had suffered an electrical shock where about 380 volts surged through him, but he managed to survive the incident. His first wife, Hazel, died in 1991. His second wife, Wendy, worked at Settlers Agricultural School’s administration department. They tied the knot in 1996 — the same year Stone gave up farming. They moved to Bela-Bela in 2009 and retired. “I’ve had a wonderful life and remained healthy and strong even into my 80’s. I am thankful that my memory is still sharp, but for how long I will remain here on earth … who knows?” he said.