Samuel ("Sam") Bancroft Woollat (or Woollatt), veterinarian, was the son of Samuel Parkes Woollat and his wife Elizabeth Hubbard. He qualified as a member of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (MRCVS) in London in July 1897. That same year he came to Natal, having been appointed in October by the Natal Veterinary Department. After being stationed in Pietermaritzburg until November 1898 he succeeded J.W. Baxter* in Durban. In October 1901 he was appointed principle veterinary officer for Natal at the age of 25, succeeding H. Watkins-Pitchford*. He was stationed in Pietermaritzburg.

From 1900 to 1906 Woollat published a number of articles in the Natal Agricultural Journal on a variety of animal diseases, including worm in sheep (1900), Glanders and Horse Mange (1902), East Coast Fever (1905, 1906), plant poisoning (1905), and Redwater (1906). In 1904 he represented the Natal Colony at the Inter-Colonial Veterinary Conference on animal diseases in South Africa, held in Cape Town. By 1906 he had 14 District Veterinary Surgeons under him, including S.T.A. Amos*, A.F. Harber*, F. Hutchinson*, W.M. Power*, F.A. Verney*, and J.L. Webb*. He qualified as a Fellow of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (FRCVS) in 1905.

In 1908 Woollat resigned in favour of farming, but subsequently became managing director of Federated Meat Industries in Durban until 1932. From 1914 to 1919 he was president of the Natal Agricultural Union. He also served on a commission appointed by the Prime Minister, General J.C. Smuts*, to evaluate conditions in South West Africa (now Namibia) following South Africa's occupation of the territory during World War I (1914-1918). He was a member of both the Transvaal and Natal Veterinary Medical Associations, and later of the South African Veterinary Medical Association.

Woollat was married in 1899 to Florence Marshall, with whom he had four children.

List of sources:

Cape of Good Hope, Department of Agriculture. Report of Proceedings at Inter-Colonial Veterinary Conference on Animal Diseases in South Africa. Parliamentary Report G87-1904.

Curson, H.H. The veterinary profession in South Africa... Journal of the South African Veterinary Medical Association, 1930, Vol. 2(1), pp. 3-22; 1931, Vol. 2(2), pp. 95-101.

Journal of the South African Veterinary Medical Association, 1927, Vol. 1(1), pp. 84-85, List of members.

Natal [Colony]. Report of the Principal Veterinary Surgeon, 1902-1905/6.

Natal Agricultural Journal, 1900-1906, Vol. 3, 5, 8 and 9: Articles by Woollat.

Natal civil service list, 1906.

Natal who's who, 1906.

Posthumus, P.J. Past Veterinarians in South Africa (10th edition) Vol. 2, [1992].

Register of veterinarians of the Union of South Africa... Journal of the South African Veterinary Medical Association, 1929, Vol. 1(3), pp. 77-83.

Samuel Woollatt. My Heritage Family Trees. Retrieved on 17 June 2021 from https://www.myheritage.com/names/samuel_woollatt

Compiled by: D.W. Verwoerd

Last updated: 2026-03-23 09:47:43