In the era prior to the introduction of income tax, the major source of revenue for the fledgling town and colony, apart from the levying of tolls, was derived from the collection of customs duties which were levied on all incoming sea freight.
Probably in an effort to thwart corruption, but also to reflect their status, customs officials eventually earned the highest emoluments of all civil servants during the early colonial era.
Main picture: Customs House at the entrance to the harbour still resplendent with its huge tower circa 1895
Operating on a shoestring
On October 1st 1821, the first Customs Officer, William Dunn, was appointed and commenced work in December 1821. Due to a paucity of formal buildings of any description, however modest, prevailing in a hamlet which had rapidly expanded into a town, one can assume that Dunn had visions of employing his own devices and ingenuity to set up an “office”. He must have envisaged some temporary structure possibly even a shack, probably even constructed by himself somewhere close to or on the landing beach. Without facilities and oversight of any kind, one can imagine that record keeping was atrocious, back-handers were common and money “fell off the carts” en route to the Mother City. All aspects of the operation reflected scarcity, shortage and deficiency.
In the nick of time, Dunn was rescued when he was offered the use of one of an old wooden garrison building dating back to the first British occupation from 1795 to 1803 to use as an extemporised Customs Office; maybe not elegant, but infinitely preferable to constructing his own abode. Only in one aspect was it not ideal. As this structure was presumably located in the vicinity of the garrison’s other buildings, it would have been located on the top of the hill in the vicinity of the junction of Belmont Terrace and Military Road. Notwithstanding this, the Customs Department was aware of the need for an appropriate building in close proximity to the shore.
Unmet expectations
In February of the new year, 1822, Dunn became aware that a quote of R$34,500 had been accepted from Mr. H. Schutte to erect a new building for use as a Customs Office. After a delayed start, the government took the opportunity in April 1823 to switch the construction to a harbour on the Kowie river, which in 1825 was renamed Port Francis in honour of Sir Lord Somerset’s son. Construction commenced in August 1824 and the building was completed by the end of the year. Thus Dunn was left wih the old wooden garrision building.
During the same month as Dunn’s appointment, a grant of land in Main Street was made to Nicolaas Hitge “to build an inn which might prove a decoration to the town.” Hitge built the Red Lion Hotel on the site which had formerly been granted to Piet Retief. This site is currently the Woolworths building. Hitge also ran a bakery and butchery on the premises. At the end of 1823 Hitge gave notice of his intention to sell the property. This timeous sale enabled the Government to take over this building for use as a Custom House as well as Public Offices. William Dunn must have been best pleased with his new offices, the first formal Customs House in Port Elizabeth. The move to a formal building certainly represented progress. Later the Red Lion Inn was resuscitated in Evatt Street but Hitge had nothing to do with it.
On January 19th 1822, three months after his appointment as Customs Officer, Dunn was also appointed as the town’s first Postmaster. Presumably Dunn easily performed both jobs simultaneously as the work volume could not have been onerous. In 1824 a request for a new building was supported by the local landdrost J.G. Cuyler, but Dunn had to be satisfied with permission being granted in April 1825 to hire Hunt’s house as a combination cstoms house, post office and private residence. The annual rent was R$60.
Competition from the Kowie
The continuous clambour to create a harbour at the mouth of the Kowie was the one dissonant feature of the relationship with the competing port. Round one was won by the Kowie when the builder H. Schutte could not commence construction of a Customs House timeously. Perhaps in retribution due to the late start or overt opportunism, Schutte was directed in April 1823 to build it at the Kowie instead. Construction started there in August 1824 and the building was completed by the end of the year.
By 1826 support for the Kowie as the major eastern Cape port was on the wane. The commissioners of enquiry decided that a Collector should be appointed at Port Elizabeth and a separate customs house established where “the customs duty received in the Eastern Province may be accounted for in the same manner as those in Cape Town”. They felt that Algoa Bay was more “attractive to shipping” ain addition to being close to Uitenhage where they proposed to have the seat of government. It was recommended that a customs officer continued to be appointed at Port Frances, “who should report to and act under the orders of the Collector at Port Elizabeth”. Following responsible conservative fiscal discipline and practice, the whole move was finances by trimming £900 off the salaries of customs and port officials in the Western Cape.
Shenanigans
On the 26th July 1826, Port Elizabeth was proclaimed a free port. It was now open to foreign trade with the required dues being paid to the local Customs Officer. Dunn held both of these posts simultaneously until January 1828 when he was dismissed as Postmaster on the nebulous grounds of “malpractice”. This charge could run the gamut of misapplying the rules table to receiving bribes. History is also silent on whether Dunn’s employment as Customs Officer ceased on the same day but presumably it did as on the 31st January David Policy Francis was appointed Collector of Customs and Port Captain. During January George Ubsdell was appointed Postmaster as William Dunn’s replacement. Ubsdell would serve in this post as Postmaster until 1840.
Cautious optimism misplaced
After Dunn’s initial optimism of the speedy resolution of the accommodation question, his hopes were dashed. Dunn was consoled that at least the old wooden garrison buildings were still available. In 1824, a request for a new building, supported by the Local Landdrost, J.G. Cuyler, was issued. In the interim during 1823 both of Moresby’s properties adjacent to Military Road were purchased by Richard Hunt, who had established an hotel in Markham House. Instead of erecting a new building, Dunn had to be satisfied with permission being granted in April 1825 for him to hire one of Hunt’s houses as a combination Customs House, Post Office and residence at an annual rent of R$60.
Separation of functions
In 1828 D.P. Francis was appointed Port Eizabeth’s first Collector of Customs and Port Captain. By 1831 it was decided to create a separate post of Harbour Master. Edward Wallace duly arrived in November and took over the Port Office from Francis but it was found that the Customs Office was too small for both of them. Thus Francis suggested that Wallace operate from the two buildings used to house the port boatmen which were conveniently near the landing beaches.
Lateral moves
The exact location of the Customs Office of the succeeding 37 years is uncertain. According to Harradine, it was in two locations – Customs Street and Market Square – but no indication is provided of the exact location nor the duration of the occupation. Nevertheless, a clue is provided by Jon Inggs in his thesis on the harbour development as he states that “by 1831 it was decided to create the separate post of harbour master. Edward Wallace duly arrived in November and took over the port office from Francis. But it was found that the customs office was too small for both of them. Thus Francis suggested that Wallace operate from the two buildings used to house the port boatmen which was conveniently near the landing beach.” At best this Customs Office was little more than a well-used shed oozing the smells of surf boats and sweaty Mfengu labourers. But beggars cannot be choosers.
In his excellent thesis on the Port Elizabeth harbour and its development, he reveals the existence of a previously unknown Customs office in Appendix 9 in which he states that “Fifteen years later Port Elizabeth still did not have a customs house specifically designed as one. Early in 1846 the Customs Department moved into a wing of the recently completed Commercial Hall which it rented for £45 per annum. The other wing was occupied by the Reading Club for £30 per annum. However the centre room, one of the largest in the eastern Cape, had never been put to the use for which it was intended and designed. During August 1846, tenders were called for it and the south wing’s hire.
According to a map of 1849, there were two sets of buildings on the seashore which could be Port Captain’s likely abode. Option 1 is circled in red and option 2 in yellow. One building would have been utilised by the Port Captain, Wallace and the other by the Customs Officer, Francis.
In all probability, this explains why the road in front of these buildings was ultimately named Customs Street in this 1885 map.
Lost years
Information regarding these premises is sparse. Harradine does not refer to this substantial upgrade in accommodation in any manner in her book The Social Chronicle of PE until 1945. Notwithstanding that two photographs in her book Hills covered with Cottages reveal the existence of yet another Customs House. Bedevilling the investigation of Customs localities is the fact that this building is also located in Fleming Street but in the case of the “mysterious Custom House” on the corner of Customs Road.
My best assumption is that this building, the so-called Red Building, used prior to the construction of the building on the corner of Fleming and North Union Street.
Posher premises
The “Red” Customs House on the beach whilst possessing an excellent sea view probably lacked for all manner of conveniences such as a plush office befitting the highest paid civil servant in the town and the major money generator for the colony. Such an organisation required a building with style, panache and cachet. To this end, the relevant authorities acquired land from William Fleming, my second great uncle. On the 22nd March 1865, the foundation stone of the new custom-house was laid. Designed by Alfred Warren in the “Italian style”, the two-storeyed building was built by (Charles) Inggs and Ablett. Objections from the government had resulted in the initial design with three floors being reduced to two floors. The building was handed over to the Customs Department on 18th June 1866 “replete with every convenience and a credit to its designer, Mr. A. Warren. This building was located on the corner of Fleming Street and North Union Street. A third storey as per the original plans was eventually added to the Fleming Street building in 1922.
The crème de la crème or je ne sais quoi
As the volume of sea traffic steadily incremented, so did the demand for larger office accommodation. The need for larger offices was self-evident. From this ultimately arose one of the most magnificent buildings in Port Elizabeth. Its positioning at the harbour entrance would radiate wealth, prosperity and je ne sais quoi.
It was on the 2nd October 1889 at a Town Council meeting that the process was set in motion. At this meeting, after a letter from H.S. Greaves, the Colonial Architect working for the Public Works Department in Cape Town, was read. It was agreed that the Government could have reclaimed land at the bottom of Jetty Street on which to build a permanent Customs House. Originally the sea used to almost wash onto its walls but due to reclamation over the years, the sea has been pushed back about 137.16 metres. The site had originally housed a restaurant called “The Captain’s Rest Rooms” which was patronised by the seafaring folks. The excavation of the foundations was begun on 20 November 1889 and Capt. Young moved into his office in March 1891. The Harbour Board advertised its move into the new building in 1893. The customs house created a most imposing entrance to Port Elizabeth.
In what can be termed the emasculation of the imposing building occurred after the flood in 1908 when the majestic tower was thought to be unstable, and it was demolished. This evisceration of the building was to become the first of a litany of such events. The final travesty occurred when the Customs House, badly damaged by fire in 1978, in spite of failed attempts to save the building, was demolished in 1982. The Coat of Arms, which had been brought from the Fleming Street Custom House, was removed in 1961 and destroyed.
Destruction of history
The final nail in the coffin of this stretch of historical Port Elizabeth would be the construction of the Settlers’ Highway through this part of the town. Abetting it would be the destruction of historic buildings for use as parking facilities in Fleming Street. From my perspective, the destruction of the most historic portion of the town was bookended by the demolition of the majestic Customs House and construction of the freeway.
Lateral thinking might have saved this historic quarter. As an alternative such as building a vast parking garage under the Donkin Reserve and building the freeway over the railway lines, more than valuable artefacts would have been conserved; the settler ethos itself would have been saved. Instead the Collegiate School in Bird Street, the buildings in Jetty and Fleming Street were sacrificed on the altar of expediency never to be used or underused in the proposed role. The City Hall almost endured the same fate except that the residents rose to support this most intimate symbol of colonial Port Elizabeth. The Town Council was compelled to change tack and rebuild the façade of the building.
Now Port Elizabeth is bereft of a portion of its majestic history. The sequence of Customs Houses is symbolic of the progress of Port Elizabeth from an insignificant hamlet to a progressive town. The Custom House’s demolition instead of reconstruction was emblematic of the turn of the tide of industrial progress in the town. Arguably the 1960s represented the zenith or apogee of Port Elizabeth’s development. The attraction of the industrial magnet resident north of the Vaal was ineluctable, its power was money, jobs and progress. Even the formidable motor industry was not immune to its attraction powers. With its markets far to the north and disinvestment and the Sullivan Codes demanding a redress, the proverbial dyke broke and most producers relocated in dribs and drabs to the north.
It was at this stage that I saw no future in Port Elizabeth and would leave forever to greener pastures in the north.
Addendums
Sources
Port Elizabeth: A Social Chronicle to the end of 1945 by Margaret Harradine (1996, E H Walton (Packaging (Pty) Ltd, Port Elizabeth, on behalf of the Historical Society of Port Elizabeth).
The Red Lion and Phoenix Hotels by Margaret Harradine [Looking Back, July 1985]
Thesis of Jon Inggs, “Liverpool of the Cape: Port Elizabeth Harbour Development 1820-70“, MA thesis, Rhodes University, 1986
Blaine McCleland