In the article below, Oscar Norwich, Johannesburg historian and collector, explores a few early gaols in Johannesburg and then reveals the history behind the Johannesburg Fort. The piece first appeared in the 1983 edition of the old Johannesburg Historical Foundation's journal 'Between the Chains'. Thank you to the Norwich family for their kind permission to publish this article.
BOOK REVIEWS
J. B. Taylor’s A Pioneer Looks Back is one of those understated memoirs that rewards careful and sympathetic reading. It is not the self-promoting autobiography of a dominant Randlord, nor a triumphalist corporate history written to secure a legacy.
BLUE PLAQUES
This building was the headquarters of the notorious Msomi gang, who conducted a reign of terror in the township in the late 1950s.