Nicolaas Meyer was born in the Volksrust District, Transvaal, South Africa in 1904. He spent his early childhood years on a farm where he helped with the herding of cattle and tending to the fields. He grew up in a very religious and conservative family where the Dutch Reformed Church was the anchor of life. Meyer attended Witwatersrand University and successfully completed three qualifications. He joined the Civil Service in 1927 and was posted to the Native Affairs Department in Johannesburg. In 1938 he was transferred on promotion to the department of Social Welfare to take up the appointment of Manager of Native Affairs with the Municipality of Germiston. In 1947 he joined the Kimberley City Council as Manager of Native Affairs where he remained until he retired in 1969 as Director of Bantu Administration and Development. In 1935 he married Lydia Joyce Freezer. Over the years they were vitally interested in African art and antiques, and built up a wonderful collection of Africana and porcelain, Cape Silver, copper, and brass. The entire “Meyer Collection” was bequeathed to the William Humphreys Art Gallery in 1989, and it has been permanently on display in the “Meyer Wing”.