Volume 3 is now available at R380 per book. In Port Elizabeth contact Fogarty’s or Alan Montgomery at 084 981 8491 and in Joburg contact Dean McCleland at 082 801 5446
Port Elizabeth of Yore: Volume 3-The Winds of Change
Port Elizabeth of Yore – Volume 2
Volume 2 – Unchartered Territory is now available
Port Elizabeth of Yore : Volume 1 – Defying the Odds – Now Available
This volume is available as follows: Soft cover = R 320, hard cover now discounted to R390 plus shipment costs to SA destinations at R100. Copies of the book can be collected in Port Elizabeth from Alan Montgomery at 084 368 1304. It can also be purchased from Fogarty’s. Alternatively contact me, Dean McCleland at deanm@orangedotdesigns.co.za or 082 801 5446.
As Port Elizabeth celebrated its bicentenary in April 2020, this event has to be celebrated for not only was it the birth of a new town, but it was also home to many of our ancestors. This four-volume set of books records those birth pangs and well as the people and events which over the next 150 years made Port Elizabeth what it is today.
Comments on the back cover
Initially Port Elizabeth was only earmarked as a landing place for the British settlers and not as their destination. Yet in the thirty-year period from 1820 to 1850, contrary to expectations it experienced a tremendous growth spurt. So prodigious in fact was its expansion that it even overtook Cape Town in terms of the volume of exports.
This is the story of the people and events that form the basis of this incredible journey.
This book forms part of a four-volume series which takes the reader on the fascinating odyssey from the original inhabitants – the Khoi – through the town’s development into an entrepôt, wool processor and exporter to its pinnacle as the Detroit of South Africa.
Port Elizabeth of Yore: Cradock Place-A golden past obliterated
In establishing Cradock Place, Frederick Korsten broke the template for the development of a new town. Instead of rough-hewn dwellings gently suffusing an area until steady increments in wealth enabled the increasingly wealthy elite to build houses of distinction, Cradock Place dispensed with these steps. Instead Korsten built a huge integrated enterprise which encompassed all the processes in producing salted beef. Attached to it was a majestic home on a par with the best homes in the Mother City. Korsten even owned a ship, the 500-ton Helena, to transport the finished product to its final destination being the British garrison on Mauritius.
The house was destroyed in a malicious arson attack on the 13th March 1909 whereas the impressive mill was lost due to lack of maintenance and repairs by a parsimonious town council detached from saving Por Elizabeth’s heritage.
Instead of Korsten and Cradock Place being revered in South Africa as the epitome of development, and acknowledgement of Korsten’s role in its establishment, both largely remain unknown by the majority of residents over 200 years later.
Main picture: Cradock Place before the fire of 13 March 1909. Originally the farm Papenkuilsfontein, it was the home of Frederick Korsten from 1812.
Continue readingPort Elizabeth of Yore: Inhumane treatment aboard Ships
Three types of involuntary passengers aboard ships were often subject to the most vicious form of abuse; convicts being transported to the antipodes, French sailors captured in the war against the French in the Indian Ocean and slaves being ferried to their future home. Their abuse stretched over the whole ambit of violations such as dearth of food, lack of comforts of the most basic kind such as mattrasses to sleep on, clothes to wear and physical violence.
As a spectator to the abuse inflicted, Samuel Eusebius Hudson possessed limited powers and abilities which he could muster in order to alleviate these unfortunates’ plight.
Main picture: Samuel Eusebius Hudson
Continue readingA SMAC in The Face #79: Thanksgiving, 2024
Thanksgiving Day is the day that America gives thanks to their God, Mammon, for the bounty they have received. And for this year, their god has dished up a massive bounty for the majority of Americans. We are talking about the people of God’s Own Party, the Republicans. They have been delivered control of the House, the Senate and the Supreme Court, all guided and ruled over by their Ayatollah, the Supreme Turkey embodied on earth by Trump. The Turkeys are running Thanksgiving and, for at least the next four years, will be running the farm and going feral.
Continue readingPort Elizabeth of Yore: Samuel Hudson – Diarist exposes Cape Society
In writing a historical piece, at worst one is confronted by a set of facts that reveal little of the real person, their motivations and their personality. At best, only glimpses of the inner person will be exposed usually insufficient to no more than titillate.
The release of the book entitled Pepysian Perceptions of the Cape 1798 to 1828 has led to a numerous long-held assumptions being debunked in spite of previously being cast as immutable and indelible.
The blog will cover the extraordinary life of Samuel Eusebius Hudson as well as pealing back invalid assumptions of life in Port Elizabeth from 1810 to 1825.
Main picture: Sketch of Samuel Eusebius Hudson by Lady Ann Barnard
Continue readingPort Elizabeth of Yore: Early irrigation schemes on the Gamtoos River
The Gamtoos Valley is a very fertile region. All that it required to convert it into a lush farm was water. Even prior to the 1820 Settlers arriving in Algoa Bay, various people were aware of its significance, but none could not actualise its potential as both the Khoi and the Trekboers were nomadic by nature and lived off the land. Hence fertile arable land was not a priority.
It was a countrywide tour by Frederick Korsten that would plant the seed of combining cattle and the salt from the saltpans near Bethelsdorp to produce salted beef for export. Once ensconced at Papenkuilsfontein, having purchased it from Thomas Ferreira in1812, Korsten spotted the nearby Hankey on which to create a farm.
This blog covers the disastrous attempt by Korsten to create an irrigated farm on the Gamtoos as well as briefly dealing with two subsequent successful schemes.
Main picture: Philip’s Tunnel
Continue readingPort Elizabeth of Yore: Pre-1820 Traders and Merchants
The advent of British soldiers stationed at Fort Frederick as well as the seizure of the Zuurveld in 1811-1812 opened up commercial opportunities for merchants. The first business to exploit these opportunities was Frederick Korsten.
To do so required an investment in the area. In the case of the contract with the British forces on Mauritius to supply 3000 barrels of salted beef, Korsten was compelled to make a substantial investment in cattle, mills, warehouses, smithies, tanneries, granaries and cooperages.
Notwithstanding that, other entrepreneurs also perceived the same opportunities albeit on a smaller less grand scale
Main picture: Cradock Place painted by Thomas Baines
Continue readingA SMAC in the Face #78: Trump – Demagogue or Demigod
Is the surprising Trump victory going to be like a James Bond martini where the world ends up being shaken but not stirred? Will the ‘Despicable Me 2’ Gru and his Minions lead the post-truth world across an event horizon into a black hole? For SMAC’s look at this conundrum, read on.
Continue readingPort Elizabeth of Yore: Business acumen of Frederick Korsten assessed
Korsten possessed the temperament to succeed as an entrepreneur in spades, yet as will be shown, he was not necessarily successful in every venture which he tackled. In comparison with his friend Samuel Hudson, he was less dogmatic and more disciplined, but ultimately only marginally more successful.
Samuel Eusebius Hudson was a friend Korsten of long standing who was also an entrepreneur at heart. From his diary one is able compare their management and business styles and divine the flaws in each’s business character.
Main picture: Cradock Place painted by Walford Arbouin Harries in 1870
Continue readingA SMAC in the Face #: The Ozempic Games
TRIGGER WARNING: The excessive and egregious use of outrageous puns might lead to vomiting, induced or involuntary particularly amongst bulimics.
The best thing that can be said about the US presidential election is that the farce is over and what a farce it proved to be. Between the dominating issues of Ukraine, the Middle East, the US Elections and that trusty old standby, the corrupt and incompetent ANC, SMAC has become about as much fun as treating piles. It’s time to put the p (not a typo) back into fun as we move from weighty world issues to weighty personal issues. It’s time to take a weight off our shoulders and lighten the mood as we look into the world of weight loss. For SMAC’s take on that 3-ring circus (Ozempic, Weygovy, Rybelsus) comprising the Ozempic Games, read on.
Continue readingA SMAC in the Face #76: Going, Going, AGOA!
Well, the egregious grifter did it. He won the 2024 US Presidential election by a landslide. How he did it will have the pundits pondering and pointlessly pontificating for years. In fact, it’s likely to become a university course – you’ll be able to study Political Science majoring in Blowing Your Own Trumpet and the Art of the Steal amongst many other fawning indigestible courses. The question now is what is he going to do with his victory? We know that he likes to do things on a whim but we can be sure that his presidency will be anything but whimsical.
Continue reading