Jack Rose

John George Rose (1876-1973) was a South African analytical chemist, an officer in various wars and a Grand Master of the freemasons of South Africa.

Rose was born on11 January 1876 in Cape Town,South Africa. He was the son of John Edwin Benjamin Rose (Auditor-general of the Cape Colony)andEmmerentiaJohanna Steytler. He died inCape Town in a house calledBeau Soliel in 1973 at 97 years old. Today the house is the Beau Soliel Music Centre.. He attendedthe South African College Schoolin Cape Town and passed matric at the University of the Cape of Good Hope in 1893.

At the end of 1896 he started to work asassistant analyst in the Government Analytical Laboratory, Cape Town.In 1912 the Government appoint him as afirst grade chemical assistant in the Government Analytical Laboratory . TheSouth African Railways and Harbours Administration appointed him as Chief Chemist in 1929. He stayed in that position until his retirement in 1935. He was an analytical Chemist by trade.

Rose was a member of various Science and Chemical Organizations or Association and published articles:

• 1903- Membership ofthe South African Association for the Advancement of Science
• 1905- Membership oftheBritish Association for the Advancement of Science.
• 1910- Membership Royal Society of South Africa.
• 1910- Published papers :
  • The Insizwa copper-nickel deposits
  • A new Cape thermal chalybeate spring
• 1921-Membership of the South African Association of Analytical Chemists.
• 1923- Presidentof Cape Chemical Society.
• 1929- Published paper:- Alcohol mixtures as motor fuel in South Africa.
• 1933- Membership Institute of Chemistry of Great Britain and Ireland.
• 1943- President of South African Association for the Advancement of Science.

• 1899- World record holder for one hour cycling. He did just under 48km in the hour.

Jack Rose had a long military career , stretching over two World Wars:

• Served in the South African College Cadet Corps forfive years, later becoming the Corps Commander.
• In the Anglo-Boer War between1899-1902, he was a Captain in the Cape Colonial Cycle Corps. In this war he received theQueen’s medal.
• Rose then served as lieutenant in the Duke of Edinburgh's Own Volunteer Rifles
• In World War 1 he wasassigned to theMechanical Transportin theGerman South West Africa project. He received theStar medalandCroix de Guerre medal. He obtained the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel and later became theChief Inspector of Mechanical Transport inEast Africa. Then then also received the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) medal.
• World War II broke out and Rose was Director of Transportation of theUnion Defence Force.

He was a Grand Master of the Freemasons in South Africa from 1944 to 1957, after he took over from Conrad Silberbauer. ColonelC.G. Botha took over from him in 1957.