Wlliam Duncan Baxter

(1868 - 1960) Retailer and arts lover. Born in Dundee, Scotland, and came to South Africa in **. He was was the Mayor of Cape Town from 1907 to 1908. An avid theatre lover (?*), he left the University of Cape Town money in his will to build a proper theatre for Cape Town. His will stipulated “For all the people of Cape Town …utilise this bequest for the purpose of developing and cultivating the arts. This could, I am satisfied, best be done by establishing a theatre in Cape Town in which plays, operas, ballets, concerts and other forms of entertainment can be given.” This was finally achieved when the Baxter Theatre was opened in Rondebosch, Cape Town in October 1977. In recognition of his gift, the complex was named after him, and is in part maintained with the aid of an annual grant from the Baxter Endowment Fund - the remainder of William Duncan Baxter's bequest.

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