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Merton Keep
Arcadia, Tshwane (Pretoria), Gauteng
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Click to view map Coordinates: | HISTORY: Thomas William Beckett was born in August 1851 at Merton Abbey, an old stately home in Kent, England. The Beckett family sailed to Melbourne, Australia to settle there while Thomas was still a child. However Tom Beckett senior, together with his twelve year old son Thomas, set sail for South Africa in 1864 leaving his wife and the rest of their children behind. Although originally bound for Cape Town, they ended up in Port Elizabeth, via Mauritius. Unfortunately Beckett Senior passed away 18 months later, leaving fifteen year old Thomas Beckett alone to fend for himself (Allen 1971: 137). Beckett starting working for the firm, Savage & Hill and was enterprising from a young age. At 19 he set off for the Kimberley Diamond Rush but had little luck there. He then joined into a business venture with Hill and Paddon which proved to be successful. In 1874 Beckett married Miss Ormond from Bloemfontein and they set off for the Transvaal, settling in Pretoria to trade on Church Square. In 1876 he bought a corner erf on the northern side of Church Street where he built a single storey brick shop. At the same time Beckett bought a whole block from ex-President MW Pretorius where he built a modest thatch house planting Blackwood trees along its perimeter and called it Blackwood Villa (Allen 1971: 138). The business TW Beckett & Co grew and branched out, buying an outfitting company in the process. Branches of the business were established in Rustenburg, Pietersburg and Johannesburg with an office in London. Beckett became a prominent business man and was appointed the Chairman of the State Bank, trustee of the Wesleyan Church and a member of the first elected town council after the Anglo Boer War. He also launched the well-known brand of tea, Five Roses (Allen 1971: 139). In 1895 Beckett bought a site in Arcadia, on the slopes of Meintjies Kop where he employed a leading building contractor, John Munro, to build a residence for his family of twelve children. The house was named Merton Keep, after his ancestral home in England and had views across Brooklyn to the slopes of Waterkloof and Groenkloof. The house cost £24 000 with many of the supplies imported from Durban. Originally the house had a billiards room and a square tower over the front doors, which were demolished when the French Embassy bought it in 1950. Many stained windows were also removed, including one with the family crest. The residence originally included stables and a coach house (no longer part of the site) which was later converted to a house for one of Beckett’s sons, George. It belongs today to the Swiss Embassy. The family had to vacate the house in 1900 when the British forces, led by Lord Roberts marched into Pretoria and commandeered it for a hospital during the Anglo-Boer War. Tents were erected outside the house for fever patient care, as per Mrs Beckett’s request, except for Prince Christian Victor of Schleswig-Holstein who died in a bedroom of the house. Mrs Beckett did not want patients with Typhoid fever in the house. The Prince was the grandson of Queen Victoria and died of fever in 1900 and is buried in the old Church Street cemetery. Beckett, during the War, continued to support the Boer cause. He provided various essentials and supplies to the commandos. He also helped set up and supplied various other hospitals run by the Red Cross as well as their mobile units (Theron 2000). The Beckett family moved back into the Merton Keep after the War where Mr & Mrs Beckett remained until their deaths. TW Beckett died in 1924, and Mrs Beckett ten years later. Some of the land had already been sold and land had been given for Government Avenue. After Mrs Beckett’s death the house and remaining grounds were sold off and the house converted into flats. During World War 2 it was used again as a hospital, run by the St John’s Ambulance Brigade (Allen 1971: 141). In 1949 Merton Keep was bought by the French authorities for use as a Chancellery and Embassy. It was extensively altered between 1950 and 1953 into the current form of the house. The building is still owned by the French Embassy and is currently the residence for the French Ambassadress to South Africa. (Brendan Hart, 2023) Books that reference Merton Keep
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