Shared Photo: Herbert Doust Image 2

Question

This Photo is from a newspaper clipping, it is of my Great Grandfather Herbert and his first wife and their first born, my great uncle Herbert David Doust.

TOP DURBAN BARBER, BERT DOUST, DIES AT 91

One of Durban's best-known barbers, Mr. Herbert ("Bert") Doust owned the Bay-veiw Hairdressing Salon on the Victoria Embankment and cut hair until his retirement at the age of 87. He sold the business earlier this year. Born in London in 1879, Mr. Doust began his career as a barber's apprentice in London at the age of 10. At the turn of the century he temporarily gave up his career to become a special service Sergeant responsible for shipping Mules from Italy and Spain to the British forces fighting in the South African war. Among those whose hair he cut were General Smuts, general Botha and General Hertzog. During his time in the Orange Free State he unsuccessfully stood for Parliament as a representative of the Labour Party. Keen on sport, He was a boxing champion among the British forces during the South African War and he also played soccer for Tottenham Hotspur. Mr. Doust is survived by his wife, Hilda, his daughter Lily, and three sons, Herbert, Robert and Chris.

WARATAH.

Mr. Doust worked in and owned barber's shops in many parts of South Africa, including Durban, Johannesburg and Kroonstad. He was fortunate to have refused a job as barber aboard the ship Waratah which disappeared without a trace off Port St. John's in 1909.

He is my Hero, why did he have to come to this Wartorn country?

I wish he never did. 

I wanted to share this family photo of Herbert Doust with the community. Location: Durban, Kzn, South Africa. Date: unknown.

Click here for the image details page or here for the full-sized version (1080 x 1920).

Answer 1

Thank you for sharing so much more than just a photo--it's quite an amazing biography as well.  The story of Herbert's life, in fact, reads something like an action-suspense movie, and I can even envision it being made into an entire mini-series, with all manner of plots and sub-plots and intrigue.  

I sense a soulful kind of heartache in Herbert's photo here--it's almost as if he feels torn by choices he must make, with such a deep and profound sense of duty and responsibility.  Herbert's noble character shines through his profoundly deep eyes, and the way he tilts his head just a bit forward and to his right, with brow slightly furrowed--shows this is a man who does not ignore problems, but instead aims straight for the biggest issue and tackles it head-on.  There is also a wise practicality to his expression, indicative that he would not suffer fools gladly, and would be wary of situations that intuitively felt off or wrong.

Thanks so much for sharing this photo and the accompanying obituary and family photo.  Truly amazing and inspirational!

Comments

Thank you for your comment Cynthia and your interpretation of his character, you are quite correct he was an amazing man. I only new him as a wee child so don't remember much, but he was very popular throughout South Africa. He is my Hero, my only regret is that the Queen sent him to fight in the South African war and he fell in love with this country and decided to stay after the war. I could have been a British citizen right now.

---

He really sounds amazing, Shaun--you are so lucky to have known him at all.  He sounds larger-than-life, and the kind of person who probably inspired thousands of people--probably everyone he met.

Answer 2

I love obits like this one. It tells a story. It really makes me sad to open he paper and see very shorts obits with just the barest information.

And what a story it is. Working until he was 87 years old! His life was connected with historical figures. A boxer and soccer player to boot. And a narrow escape in his background.

Shaun, Hanks for sharing this with us. It’s a real treasure. Cynthia’s description of the accompanying photo was spot on.