Jacob Halm was born in 1866 at Ringen um Rhein in Germany. He attended schools in Ringen and Altona, and University in Giessen, Berlin and Kiel, receiving his doctorate from Kiel University. He worked as an astronomer at the Strassburg and Edinburgh Observatories before coming to South Africa as chief assistant at the Royal Observatory in Cape Town (now the South African Astronomical Observatory). His special interest was in spectroscopic astronomy and he published papers in this field. Eric Halm, son of Jacob Halm, was born in Germany and received his schooling in Edinburgh and Cape Town. He graduated B.A. at the University of the Cape of Good Hope in 1914. He had a distinguished career in the Natal Education Department, starting as a teacher and being in turn a headmaster, inspector, and finally the Secretary for Education.