Woolf Joel
Person Male Born 1863 Died 14/3/1898
Born Spitalfields. South African mining magnate and businessman.
The web provides the following anecdote:
Early in 1898, just before leaving for South Africa, Woolf gave a dinner party at the Savoy Hotel. One guest had to cancel at the last minute and, sneering at superstitions, Woolf went ahead with a table of thirteen. A few weeks later he was shot dead in his office in Johannesburg. Since then, whenever the situation requires it, the Savoy provides a fourteenth diner, initially this was a member of staff but now it takes the form of Kaspar, a 3ft high wooden cat.
Find a Grave says that Joel was shot by a blackmailer. Elsewhere we read it was because he refused to assist in the kidnapping of President Paul Kruger.
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