A different view on current affairs & history
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
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South End, as we know it, was a farm, Papenbiesjesfontein, extending from the Baaken’s River to about the S-bend at Humewood. According to J.J. Redgrave in Port Elizabeth in Bygone Days, it was granted by Lord Charles Somerset in 1820 to Gerhardus Oosthuizen. His widow bought the farm from the joint heirs for £135 sterling and subsequently married a tall, bearded Hollander named J.A. Rudolph. When he died, she married William Gardner and only after her death in 1859, was the estate sub divided into building allotments.
Main photo: Baakens Valley. C1881. In the background are three cottages (now Harris Street). Below them the old homestead of the Board family. To the right the steam laundry, opened May 1877. In the centre the property of John McWilliams (at one time a hotel). In the foreground the property of John Harrison Clark
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The photo above shows what type of stadium a DA run municipality versus an ANC run municipality could erect at approximately the same cost. On the left is a R13m stadium provided by the Saldanha Municipality whereas on the right is what the ANC run municipality of Enoch Mgijima was able to construct with R15m. At a guess, the ANC stadium actually cost less than a tenth of the R15m and maybe even as low as a hundredth.
Probably NO on all four counts
As racing horses is as old as riding these hoofed herbivorous mammals, the exact origins of horse racing are lost in the mists of time. Uitenhage preceded Port Elizabeth in establishing a Turf Club in 1815. However the first authentic records of organised racing give results of racing held in 1817 and include reports of a racing meeting held in the grounds of Cradock Place, the palatial home of Frederick Korsten on the Papenkuils River. Korsten matched his horses with those of the garrison officers from Fort Frederick. The current Governor, Sir John Cradock, was also a keen racing man and with his support racing naturally flourished.
Main picture: Fairview Race Course
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On Saturday 1886 a group of Collegiate girls were taken to the beach adjacent to the mouth of the Baakens River and South End. In all likelihood these pupils were boarders and not day students. As no public transport was available, the girls must have walked from their accommodation down to the beach with their teachers in tow. What exacerbated the situation was that age, very few people were able to swim so when what one presumes was a rip tide occurred, none of the girls were able to swim. Even if they could, they would not have been able to deal with it successfully
Main picture: Bathing house at the mouth of the Baakens
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The first flights offered to Cape Town by Union Airways commenced in November 1929. The aircraft used was a De Havilland DH60 with a two-person passenger cabin. The facilities were rudimentary at best but in all likelihood non-existent. In this blog, a Mr. Dowdle, recounts his flight to Cape Town on Christmas Day 1931.
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By the 1850s, there was heightened concern about the lack of a hospital in Port Elizabeth. Discussions amongst the town’s folk increasingly revolved around this requirement. Whenever citizens congregated, it was a topic of discussion. Even though the population had risen by 1855 to about 3,500 and disease and sickness was increasing, Port Elizabeth still did not have a hospital. Plans for a hospital were discussed over several years.
It was not until Act 5 of 1856 established the Port Elizabeth Provincial Hospital that planning for a hospital could commence. As an interim measure, a house in Rodney Street was hired to serve as a hospital. This was opened on the 10th September 1856 with Dunsterville and Rubidge serving as doctors.
Main picture: Entrance to the Richmond Hill provincial hospital in 1856
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For the purposes of this chapter, the architectural styles from the Late Georgian, in which No 7 Castle Hill was constructed, to the Edwardian Style which predominated from 1890 to 1914, will be covered. Unfortunately, many of these structures are being demolished, altered or “renovated” in such a way that their original character is lost. Perhaps, in a small measure, one’s understanding of the various styles will culminate in their appreciation and hence a desire to preserve them.
Also briefly discussed is the step-change in the architectural elegance of the second generation of commercial buildings constructed in Main Street.
Main picture: Fleming House at 20 Bird Street is an excellent example of architecture in the Regency Style
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Port Elizabeth got off to a slow start with towns such as Grahamstown stealing a march on their coastal sibling. This chapter deals with the state of medical services during the first thirty years after 1820, which I used as this town’s conception, maybe illegitimate, but nonetheless, a vital, vibrant child never to be considered as the runt of the litter.
Above: Temporary Provincial Hospital in Rodney Street, 1856
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This blog covers the developments at the main Port Elizabeth airport over the past 50 years. Passenger numbers have continued to swell apace in spite of the sluggish economic growth especially subsequent to the 1970s. What would highlight this trend are passenger numbers and aircraft landings per annum. However, except for the passenger numbers from 2006, nothing else is available.
Main picture: The Chief Dawid Stuurman airport
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