Arnoldus Pannevis, a teacher, is generally considered to be the spiritual father of the society. The actual founding members were Gideon Malherbe, CP Hoogenhout, DF du Toit (nicknamed Dokter, i.e. "Doctor"), DF du Toit (nicknamed Oom Lokomotief, i.e. "Uncle Locomotive"), his brother SJ du Toit, August Ahrbeck, Petrus Malherbe and SG du Toit. Everybody except Hoogenhout and Arbeck were related.