In unravelling the history of Port Elizabeth, very little is revealed about the history of black inhabitants of the area, with most problematic being that of the origins of the amaMfengu. For this purpose,  it is assumed that the amaMfengu were those who had broken their allegiance with the amaXhosa chiefly families and decided to enter the Cape Colony and accept the laws and governance of the colonists.

Main picture:   Beach labourers loading a surfboat with wool bales for onward transport to a ship at anchor in the roadstead

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Thomas Handfield arrived at Port Elizabeth as a 22-year-old settler from Ulcomb, Kent as part of Richard Daniell’s party. He later acquired land in the Baaken’s Valley on what is today Settler’s Park. In 1898 when the property was for sale, it was stated that the first colonial woolwashery had been located on this estate.

Main picture:   Handfield’s Valley looking towards the sea

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In a town’s layout, topography matters and, in Port Elizabeth’s case, hugely important. Two geographical features guided the direction and type of development. These were the Baakens River valley and the steep hill immediately southwest of Main Street. Both factors impinged upon the direction and type of development.

Main picture: The Royal Engineer’s Map of 1810 shows the main roads of the pre-820 Settler era

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Historically Piet Retief’s connection with Port Elizabeth and importance as a resident has been wholly misstated. Perhaps due to English dominance of the town, a vision of Retief arose to counterbalance the contemporary narrative. Apart from owning the farm Strandfontein in Summerstrand and several plots in the centre of the hamlet, Retief never actually took up residence in the area.

As Prof. Terblanche concludes in his article entitled “Die feite oor the omstrede Piet Retief” dated 10 March 2009, “Die idilliese prentjie wat mense dus het van Retief wat op sy plaaswoning se stoep gesit en oor Algoabaai getuur het, is eenvodig nie waar nie.”

Main picture:

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On the 4th of August 1914 the world was at war. The Allied powers which included Great Britain were ranged against the Central Powers and South Africa was called upon to assist in the effort by invading the territory adjacent to her borders, German South West Africa.

Unlike WW2 when citizen force units were activated and war service was performed in them, during WW1 men served directly in the Union Defence Force. One such unit was the 7^th Dismounted Rifles known as the Southern Rifles in which a Walmer resident Louis John Poulter would serve.

Main picture: The Southern Rifles

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Fragility defines any process of change. And so it was in the process of restoring No. 7 Castle Hill and saving it from being demolished instead of restoration. It was certain key players whose strong beliefs and convictions which determined the positive outcome of this process. Why was this change fraught with pitfalls that could have snared the process and trapped it until its lifeblood was drained?

1967 was that crucial year.

Main picture: Castle Hill painted by H Fancourt White in 1850

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The Impalas based in Port Elizabeth after 1975 formed part of 6^th Squadron which over its operational life had been disbanded several times. On 5 July 1952 the squadron was reformed as a citizen force unit, flying Harvards from Port Elizabeth but was again disbanded in 1959. It was resurrected in May 1961, again flying Harvards; from 1973 to 1976 the squadron flew a single Cessna 185. In March 1975 it began receiving Impala Mk Is which remained as the operational aircraft until the unit’s final disbandment in October 1990.

Prior to the crash of Impala Mark 1 serial number 550 in 1982, Port Elizabeth had only experienced two crashes by SAAF aircraft subsequent to WW2; being a Ventura Bomber on the 4^th December 1959 and a Sabre on the 15^th July 1960.

Main picture: Impala Mk 1

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