UCT Libraries

BC 697 THE VICTORIA FALLS AND TRANSVAAL POWER COMPANY PAPERS

 

Manuscripts & Archives

 

University of Cape Town Libraries

 

donated to

The University of Cape Town Libraries

by

Mrs M D Mullins

A List

compiled by

Margaret Curran

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

Biographical Notes

The Collection

A.

THE V F P Co. 1910-1948

B.

THOMAS GEORGE OTLEY (1873-1965) and HIS CAREER WITH THE V F P Co. 1911-1948

C.

PERSONAL CORRESPONDENCE OF THOMAS GEORGE OTLEY 1911-1960

D-E

ADDENDA

THE COLLECTION

The Victoria Falls and Transvaal Power Company Papers, numbering 403 items, were donated to the University of Cape Town Libraries by Mrs D M Mullins, whose father, Thomas George Otley, was the third

and last General Manager of the Company.

The papers include correspondence, memoranda, minutes, notebooks, photographs and leaflets connected with the establishment and running of the Company.

The two main sections deal with the history of the V F P, as it was known, and the career of Thomas George Otley within the Company.

A third and smaller section comprises Mr Otley's personal correspondence, of particular interest being that from the Marquis of Winchester, first Chairman of the V F P and a personal friend.

Of additional historical interest is the V F P Company's existence from 1910-1948, spanning two world wars and the miners' strikes on

the Witwatersrand in 1913 and 1922. The V F P power stations were the main source of power supply to the developing mines until the Company was taken over in 1948 by the Electricity Supply Commission.

There are no restrictions on the use of the material but permission should first be obtained from the University Librarian.

INTRODUCTION

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

THE V F P COMPANY was first registered in 1906 in Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia, its' main object being "to generate, develop and accumulate electrical power at the Victoria Falls, on the River Zambesi in Rhodesia, the Transvaal Colony and elsewhere". A small power station was erected below the Victoria Falls but, owing to the expansion of the Gold Mining Industry in the Transvaal and Orange Free State, the scope of the undertaking increased far beyond the first expectations. Major extensions of the V F P Company's transmission and distribution system were required to furnish power to the developing mines, and the V F P's electric system was soon the largest in the southern hemisphere.

The first chairman of the Company was the Marquis of Winchester and

its Managing Director Mr Arthur Hadley, CBE. The first General Manager in South Africa was Major the Hon Walter Lewis Bagot, DSO, who was succeeded in 1927 by Dr Bernard Price, with the title of General Manager and Chief Engineer. At the end of 1936 Dr Price was appointed Resident Director and Mr Thomas George Otley, who had joined the Company in 1911 as Mechanical Engineer and later Assistant Manager, became General Manager, until 1948, when the V F P Co. was taken over by ESCOM.

In 1947 the South African Government gave notice of its intention to expropriate the V F P Company and its subsidiary, the Rand Mines Power Supply Company, the undertaking to be conducted in future by the Electricity Supply Commission. Negotiations were concluded in July

1948, the price paid to the V F P Company being approximately £15 000 000.

THOMAS GEORGE OTLEY was born in 1873 in Sheffield, England, where at

the age of 15, he was apprenticed to an engineering firm and later joined the firm of Vickers Sons and Maxim. In 1899 he became associated with Arthur Wright, one of the leading Consulting Engineers in London and gained experience in power station design and construction in Britain and other parts of the world. In 1911 he obtained the post of Mechanical Assistant to the Chief Engineer of the V F P Co., at that time Bernard Price, and their co-partnership lasted until 1948, when the V F P Co. ceased to exist.

In succession to Price, Otley was the last General Manager of the Company and during his long career with it, was one of the leading engineers who directed the operation and expansion of the V F P from its small beginnings in 1910 until it was the largest steam power undertaking in the southern hemisphere. Among the major works constructed and operated under his general direction were ESCOM's Witbank, Klip and Vaal Generating Stations and the first hydro-electric generating station on the Zambesi River at the Victoria Falls.

A past president of the S A Institute of Engineers, he was also a steward at the Jockey Club of South Africa and a life member of the Rand Club and of White's Club in London.

He died, aged 91, at his home in Johannesburg in 1965.

 

BC 697 VICTORIA FALLS AND TRANSVAAL POWER COMPANY

 

A.

THE V F P Co. 1910-1948

No. of items

A1-3

History of the Company

 

A1

History of the V F P Co. Ltd. by A J Slater (one-time secretary of the Company) 1925 TS

1

A2.1-A2.2

Narrative of the Victoria Falls Power Company as he knew it, by the Marquis of Winchester. TS with MS notes. Covering letter to T G Otley dd. 3/12/56. Signature illegible MS

2

A3.1-A3 .18

The 1914 strike on the Reef and how it affected the V F P Co. 18 photographs

18

A4-A11

Company correspondence, memoranda etc.

 

A4.1-A4.15

Correspondence from Walter Bagot (General Manager of the V F P Co.) to T G Otley about Co. affairs. 1914-1925. MSS and TSS

15

A5.1-A5.11

Correspondence from T G Otley to Walter Bagot and the Marquis of Winchester about Co. affairs. 1926-1937 TSS

11

A6

License of the Rand Mines Power Supply Co. Ltd. 1910 plus amendments 1913-1933

1

A7

Memo of T G 0's visit to Berlin 1926 on V F P Co. business TS

1

A8

Memo of T G 0's interview with Sir James Maxwell, of the Rhodesian Government 1930 TS

1

A9.1-A9.49

Correspondence between T G 0 and Bernard Price, (General Manager of the V F P Co. after Walter Bagot) who was in England April-October 1934. Includes copies of correspondence from T G O to Arthur Hadley, for Price's information. MS and TSS

49

A10

Power of Attorney granted by V F P Co. in favour of T G Otley. 1937 TS

1

A11.1-A11.4

Correspondence connected with granting of Power of Attorney TSS

4

A12-A13

Committee of Management

 

A12.1-A12.1.1

Formation of a Committee of Management in the event of T G 0's absence TSS

2

A13.1

Index to the Minutes of the Meetings of the Committee of Management 1937-1941 MS

1

A13.2-A13.126

Minutes and agends of meetings of Committee of Management 1937-1941 TSS

128

A14-A17

Company Staff Service Agreements, Publications, Photographs

 

A14.1-A14.30

T G Otley's memos and letters concerning service agreements of the V F P Co. staff 1939-1942 TSS and MSS

32

A15.1

V F P Co. Handbook. Contains facts, regula­tions, duties etc. governing the management and operation of the Co. Prepared by V F P London office circa 1920/25

1

A15.2-A15.4

Articles and pamphlets about the V F P Co. 1925, 1966, 1967

3

A15.5-A15.7

Three publications by Bernard Price - Compressed Air supply on the Rand 1929, Power Supply on the Rand 1930, Some aspects of the Union's Economic Development Policy. 1946

3

A16.1

Poem - The Marquis and the Magnate. Humorous verse by staff members Rider and Read about the V F P Co. Written 1912. TS with MS notes

1

A16.2

Covering letter from J H R in verse. 8.3.12 TS

1

A16.3

Letter from C S McLean to T G O about poem. 30.6.48 TS

1

A17.1

Photograph Album of V F P Co. Senior Staff members, compiled by Bernard Price. 1906-1936

1

A17.2

List headed 'The V F P Album - 1936' with short biographies and the position in the Co. of all the staff members included in the album, headed by Bernard Price TS

1

A17.3

Additional brief biography of Bernard Price TS

1

B.

THOMAS GEORGE OTLEY (1873-1965) and his career with the V F P Co. 1911-1948

 

B1.1

Short biography of T G 0 (1873-1965) TS

1

B1.2

Letter from T G 0 to J R Beard outlining his (Otley's) career 25.3.61 TS

1

B2.1-B2.45

Correspondence between T G O and the V F P Co. from 1911-1948 about his move from England to South Africa, his terms of service, bonuses, appointments, renewals of service agreements MSS and TSS

47

B2.46-B2.48

Original service agreements between T G O and the V F P Co. in 1911, 1914, 1917

3

B2.49

Official appointment as General Manager to succeed Bernard Price 1937

1

B3.1-B3.4

Four diaries of calculations, sketches, engineering tables etc. 1910-1948 MSS

4

C.

PERSONAL CORRESPONDENCE of THOMAS GEORGE OTLEY 1911-1960

 

C.1.1-C1.2

Exchange of letters terminating his service with Arthur Wright in England in 1911.

 

15.6.11 MSS

2

 

Cl.3

From Arthur Hadley in England 6.8.14 MS

1

C2.1-C2.17

Correspondence concerning his Parktown property, native servants' levy, from his bank manager, his insurance society, 3rd Party insurance etc. 15.6.11-1.5.61 MSS and TSS

17

C3.1-C3.46

Correspondence from the Marquis of Winchester to T G O 1914-1960, partly concerning the V F P co. but mostly personal, about Winchester's marriages and money difficulties, his life in Monaco and the Bahamas.  Also from Winchester's attorneys to T G 0 re an affidavit about money lent by T G O to Winchester MSS and TSS

46

 

 

 

 

ADDENDA TO BC 697 - THE VICTORIA FALLS AND TRANSVAAL POWER COMPANY PAPERS

 

 

Donated by Mr. A.J. Slater, former Secretary of the V.F.P. Company, to the Johannesburg Public Library.  The following copies were purchased by the University of Cape Town Libraries in September 1982.

 

 

 

No. of Items

D

Material related to the sabotage of V.F.P. Co. power connections in February 1942.

 

D1.1-D1.4

Correspondence between Mr. A.E. Hadley, Managing Director of the Company and Mr. T.G. Otley, the General Manager. TSS 6.2.42­12.2.42.

5

D2.1-D2.3

The Chief Engineer's reports TSS 9.2.42-10.2.42

3

D3.1-D3.15.1

Photographs of damage to masts, power lines, poles etc.  Pencil notes on back of photographs.

16

D4.1-D4.3 (b)

Laboratory reports of fuses used in sabotage with sketches. (Oversize)

3

D5.1-D5.3

Sketch plans of localities where sabotage took place. Each plan is in segments, but numbered and lettered to facilitate assembling. (Oversize)

4

E1

'Twenty Years in the U.F.P.' - Chapter V11 of A.J. Slater's book 'Recollections of a Johannesburg Man'.

1

 

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