Most visitors to this tea garden / B&B / function venue do not appreciate that fact that portion of the buildings could represent the oldest building in the Port Elizabeth district. This is the untold story of its origin and its future owners.

Main picture: Chelsea Cottage painted by Waldon Arbouin Harries in 1855

Origin
The Chelsea Estate with its cottage located on what is now known as the Old Seaview Road, was surveyed in 1815 by Johann Knobel and granted for the use of the officers of the Royal Garrison Company formed in 1813 and stationed at Fort Frederick. Some claim that this land was granted to the military for use as a vegetable garden. I am skeptical of this justification as they were simultaneously granted land around Trinder Square for use as a vegetable garden. However what I can concur with is the suggestion that it was used as a hunting lodge as well as weekend retreat for the use of the officers.  

The only extant vignette about this estate during this era is provided by Sophie Pigot who was an 1820 Settler. She recounts that while the Settlers were awaiting ox wagons to ferry them to their new homes in the Albany district, Evatt arranged two-day trips to his country cottage at Chelsea. Their hostess was Mrs Evatt. Sophie Pigot reported that Mrs Evatt possessed “two pet bluebucks – a now extinct species of antelope – scarcely taller than a hare, with small horns, that leapt onto the sofa, and lay there, perfectly tame, and each had a coloured ribbon around its neck.”

In her diary dated 26 May 1820, Sophie Pigot, then aged fifteen, wrote about a two-day picnic to Chelsea by wagon during which she and little Frederick Phillips “walked round the shore of the lake and saw the garden and waterfall, all very beautiful indeed”. They walked two-and-a half miles in twenty-five minutes, and she got her “feet wet a little”. Sophie’s father, Major George Pigot, was a retired officer of the Dragoons and while his party of settlers was waiting to be taken inland, they were entertained by the officers at the Fort.

Disposal
In the Cape Town Gazette of 1 July 1820 there was a notice of a property sale, this time announcing the sale of an attractive property, that of the government farm at Chelsea. In reality this Notice was merely an announcement of the intention to sell the property but with no date specified. During his visit to Algoa Bay in May and June, the Acting Governor Sir Rufane Donkin had concluded from what he had heard, and no doubt seen, that Captain Francis Evatt was devoting too much of his time to farming and too little to his duties as Garrison Commander. The moment that Donkin returned to Cape Town, the Acting Governor ordered the Colonial Secretary to initiate action to have the farm sold. It would seem to have been a harsh judgement, giving scant recognition of Captain Evatt’s efforts on behalf of the incoming settlers, and ignoring the use other officers made of it for rest and recreation; perhaps that too was considered to be excessive.

Coincidently Henry Lovemore had arrived aboard the settler ship, The Sir George Osborn which made landfall in Algoa Bay on the 17th June 1820. As Henry had paid for his own passage, he would not be following the earlier Settler Parties to Albany. Instead he was dead set upon purchasing a piece of land in the vicinity of the recently proclaimed town of Port Elizabeth. As the Dutch farmers had long since purchased the majority of the land in the 1770s, only four plots were available for immediate purchase, one being Chelsea Farm and in the vicinity, Klaas Kraal. Chelsea, it seemed, would not be put on the market for a month or two and so again there was the problem for Henry of vacant possession. It was a pity as Chelsea, with its 1,543 morgen, though considerably smaller than Klaas Kraal, [later renamed Bushy Park] offered better grazing and altogether better prospects.

In the Cape Town Gazette of October 28 1820, Captain Evatt advertised a sale on 30 November of “most of the whole of the best breed of European cows in South Africa … also Oxen, Wagons, Ploughs, &c &c.” The sale was postponed to the following 15 December, conveniently set for new arrivals such as Henry Lovemore looking for good livestock and farm implements to build up a profitable farming business.

Official Queries regarding the sale
Some years after he had left the Cape and returned to England, Sir Rufane Donkin was called upon by the Office of the Colonial Audit to explain a number of financial matters authorised by him during his Acting Governorship. Among these was his decision to sell Chelsea Farm following his visit to Port Elizabeth in May 1820 and the directions he gave for the distribution of the proceeds of Rxd 18,000.

In a letter dated 30 November 1827 to the Colonial Office Donkin wrote: “I found that the Commandant, whose presence was constantly necessary on the spot, was often absent at Chelsea Farm, looking after his personal concerns there instead of attending to his pubic business; … Chelsea Farm was accordingly sold to the highest bidder for the sum of 18,000 rixdollars, which sum was at once carried to the public accounts, I directed the proceeds to be at once carried to the credit of two District Treasuries, namely of Uitenhage to the amount of 10,000 rixdollars, and of Bathurst to the amount of 8,000 rixdollars”.

Subsequent sale
In July 1821, the Estate was sold by auction to J.D. Ward. To recompense Evatt, Donkin raised Evatt’s salary and the proceeds were used for administration and development in Uitenhage and Bathurst. Ward would only own the property for 11 years due to the fact that the property was sold in the insolvent estate of TE (sic) Ward. In 1846, Chelsea again appeared as part of an insolvent estate, that of Gerhardus Lourens van Niekerk, when it was again put up for sale.

The current house, double-storeyed and octagonal, is still the original one built before 1820.

Subsequent developments
In 1903, D. Johnson is listed as farming the property but is presumably not the owner. According to Harradine’s Gazetteer dated 2014, the first record of when George Whitehead owned the farm is 1921 but she notes that various other Whiteheads were involved with the property but possibly only as farmers. They were Mr IB, JB, WR and Ivan Whitehead.

From George’s biographical information, one ascertains that he was a talented entrepreneur involved in various businesses often in conjunction with his brother Tebbutt. One of their first business ventures was in 1891 when the Whitehead brothers, who were “provision” merchants, opened their new building at the corner of Russell Road and Main Street on the 8th August. Earlier this site had housed Rishworth’s livery stables, then Kolnick’s store and finally it was demolished to make way for the construction of the Russell Road interchange in the 1960s.

 

In 1895 George Whitehead was involved in yet another construction project when Whitehead Chambers on the corner of Titterton Lane – long since defunct – and Main Street was built.

During 1910-1911, George Whitehead was appointed Mayor of Port Elizabeth. During August of that year the touring All Britain Rugby Team paid a visit to Port Elizabeth. The visitors were entertained and given a luncheon at the Humewood Hotel by the Mayor, George Whitehead, a grand ball in the Feather Market Hall on the 25th, and a highly successful picnic at Redhouse. The team played Eastern Province and South Africa at the Crusader Ground. At the latter game there were some 6000 spectators.

After a distinguished career as a prominent citizen in Port Elizabeth, George Stephen Whitehead passed away on 19th September 1945.

The era of the Johnsons

Extensions were made to the building. Claude and Hilary Johnson, together with their children, Peter Maxwell Johnson, Gail Butcher (nee Johnson), Val Hansen (nee Johnson) Claude Mzamo Johnson and William ‘Billy’ Johnson also lived there. Apparently the reason for the property being converted from a dairy farm into a tea garden was that on Claude’s death, Hilary found the delivery of milk to Walmer exhausting. Her solution was to build an adjacent hall which became the Chelsea Tea Garden. It was here that Hilary served her delicious scones and chocolate cake. They offered pony rides to the children and catered for weddings one of which was my sister’s 46 years ago.

Chelsea Tea Garden is now known as the Estate Deo Volente and is visible from the Old Seaview Road. Bill Johnson still owns Chelsea Farm which borders Kragga Kamma Game Park and Hamilton’s next door to Deo Volente. The original hexagonal central house is structurally largely unchanged.

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