A groom with four gentlemen

A groom with four gentlemen
With his new identity he took a job as a groom with "four gentlemen" in a remote house in Turffontein. He was paid very well - 30 shillings a week - on condition he was honest and did not invite any friends on to the property. Then Note discovered something unusual about his employers. "Purely by chance, Note had taken up employment with one of the many gangs of highway robbers which thrived amidst the unsettled conditions which accompanied the birth of Johannesburg," says Van Onselen. Within a few months Note was invited to come along on one of the trips. "We had ridden as far as Jukschy River where we dismounted, and I was told to look after the horses," he records. "A coach was coming towards us, and the men pretended to be busy examining their horses' feet until the coach came up to us. The men then held up the driver of the coach with revolvers and some of them mounted the coach and threw all the boxes and trunks belonging to the passengers into the road. These were broken open and searched and all valuables and money taken by the four men." It didn't take the wily Note long to figure out that this was an easy means of making a living. "Until this time I did not know what robbery was and I was surprised to learn how easy it was to get money by this means." It wasn't long before he made a crucial decision. "Learning from my experiences with these four men how easy it was to get money by means of robbery, I decided to start of band of robbers on my own, which I eventually did." In early 1890 he made contact with two men in the black underworld, and set up a base in the rocky overhangs of the Klipriversberg hills 10 kilometres south of the town. Within a year or two a small community of about 200 men and women vagrants and petty thieves had established themselves in the hills. And then the leader of this group, Nohlopa, was caught and spent some time in jail, where he learned to read and write, spending his time studying the bible. When he returned he said he was going to drop out and preach the word of God. This decision gave Note the opportunity to take control of the gang of thieves, finally revealing his true genius.

With his new identity he took a job as a groom with "four gentlemen" in a remote house in Turffontein. He was paid very well - 30 shillings a week - on condition he was honest and did not invite any friends on to the property.

Then Note discovered something unusual about his employers. "Purely by chance, Note had taken up employment with one of the many gangs of highway robbers which thrived amidst the unsettled conditions which accompanied the birth of Johannesburg," says Van Onselen.

Within a few months Note was invited to come along on one of the trips. "We had ridden as far as Jukschy River where we dismounted, and I was told to look after the horses," he records. "A coach was coming towards us, and the men pretended to be busy examining their horses' feet until the coach came up to us. The men then held up the driver of the coach with revolvers and some of them mounted the coach and threw all the boxes and trunks belonging to the passengers into the road. These were broken open and searched and all valuables and money taken by the four men."

It didn't take the wily Note long to figure out that this was an easy means of making a living. "Until this time I did not know what robbery was and I was surprised to learn how easy it was to get money by this means."

It wasn't long before he made a crucial decision. "Learning from my experiences with these four men how easy it was to get money by means of robbery, I decided to start of band of robbers on my own, which I eventually did."

In early 1890 he made contact with two men in the black underworld, and set up a base in the rocky overhangs of the Klipriversberg hills 10 kilometres south of the town.

Within a year or two a small community of about 200 men and women vagrants and petty thieves had established themselves in the hills.

And then the leader of this group, Nohlopa, was caught and spent some time in jail, where he learned to read and write, spending his time studying the bible. When he returned he said he was going to drop out and preach the word of God. This decision gave Note the opportunity to take control of the gang of thieves, finally revealing his true genius.