Sammy Marks - Family Life

Family Life

At forty years of age and a very wealthy man, Marks started thinking about marriage. He returned to Sheffield in England and married Bertha Guttmann, nineteen years his junior. From this union nine children were born, six boys and three girls. Having himself received a limited schooling, Marks set great store by education and saw to it that the children were taught at home by governesses - boys until the age of eight, girls until the age of twelve and then they were sent to private schools in England.

Marks built a grand Victorian mansion, Zwartkoppies Hall, near Pretoria, which became well-known to celebrities and dignitaries visiting South Africa. Having the same restless energy that led to Marks's success, his wife Bertha controlled the house and its staff with ease, managing to raise nine children, breed poultry, garden, and entertain on a lavish scale. Luncheons, dinners, croquet on the lawn, tennis and billiards, parties were all regular events, and there were often no fewer than 30 guests at a time. A staff of 14, most of whom were engaged through an agency in London, carried out the housework. Parlourmaids, kitchenmaids, laundrymaids and gardeners, as well as a governess, a cook, an estate carpenter and an English butler. A massive stove in the kitchen, with five ovens and 10 hot-plates, testified to the scale of the entertainment.

After Marks’ death, his widow and some of the children lived in the house until the death of the last one in 1981. After a period of standing vacant, the family realized it was in need of maintenance and a suitable tenant was sought. In 1984 an agreement was reached with the National Cultural History Museum according to which the Government was to buy the contents of the house from the estate, restore the house and rent it from the family trust. In 1986 the Sammy Marks Museum opened its doors to the public. In 1995 roughly 73ha surrounding the house and upon which all of the historical buildings are situated, was cut from the rest of the farm and sold to the National Cultural History Museum.