Port Elizabeth of Yore: Piet Retief as Land Speculator, Farmer & Merchant

In all likelihood, school pupils who take history as a subject are made aware that Piet Retief, a descendant of French Huguenot extraction, was a renowned Voortrekker leader who was ultimately killed by the duplicitous Dingane. 

What the school history books do not teach is that he owned substantial land in well-known parts of what was to become the city of Port Elizabeth. Furthermore he earned the lasting friendship of the 1820 Settlers for ther kindness that he showed them when acting as their transport contractors entrusted with their conveyance to the wilds in the Albany District.

Main picture: The Piet Retief Monument in Summerstrand

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