Contributing to Benoni’s development
Charles John Wickee was born in Copenhagen, Denmark on December 4, 1862.
He came to South Africa in 1881, and during the Anglo Boer War, he established himself as an estate agent.
In 1904 he bought several stands in Benoni by public auction and entered on the development of the new township.
Wickee was a town councillor in Benoni for five years, and from 1907, he practised as an architect while continuing to develop real estate.
Until 1925, he was the local representative of the United Building Society, which invested heavily in Benoni’s development.
A famous landmark of Benoni was the Honorable Wickee Fountain which was erected as a memorial to the soldiers who died in the Anglo Boer War.
This stood in front of the Swan Hotel at number 26 Swan Street in the early 1900s.
Wickee married Jessie Sophy Jane Noakes of Gads Hill, Shorne, Kent, England in 1890 and had four children of which only one, Waldamar Charles William Wickee, survived.
He retired between1931 and 1932, and died on February 9, 1935, at his home, The Clifford, in Howard Avenue, Benoni.
Information supplied by Glynis Cox Millett-Clay.
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