Port Elizabeth of Yore: Disappearance of Seven-year-old on Christmas Day 1859

By Dean McCleland in Port Elizabeth of Yore 4 Comments

Instead of Christmas Day 1859 being a day of wonder and joy, presents and over-stuffed bellies, in the Haywood household, it would be a day of tragedy, heart break, sorrow and despair, a day that would be indelibly etched in their minds. They would forever recount every minute of their movements that day for that was the day when the innocent seven-year-old Augusta Ann Hayward would inexplicably disappear.

Most of the records have vanished along with Augusta. What has survived, highlights both grief-stricken parents contrasted with an indifferent uncaring officialdom. This blog has been based upon the excellent blog of Mansell George Upham entitled, “Whatever happened to Augusta Anne…?

Main picture: Watercolour entitled ‘View of Port Elizabeth from upper Russell Road’ by Lester Oliver in 1854 [NMM AM]

Continue reading

Port Elizabeth of Yore: George Pemba and his Art

By Dean McCleland in Port Elizabeth of Yore 0 Comment

George Milwa Mnyaluza Pemba [1912-2001] is amongst the best-known artists produced by Port Elizabeth. Born at Hill’s Kraal in Korsten in 1912, like aspirant artists of his era, his hobby could not be converted into a full-time occupation especially due to his race as his target market was indigent at best. His style is referred to Urban or Social Realism of which he was a pioneer as he specialised in painting gatherings of people in everyday settings. In the 1940s after encouragement by fellow black painter Sekoto, Pemba took the courageous and plucky step of resigning from his day job to concentrate on painting.

Main picture: The achievement of Pemba is celebrated by a series of ten stamps posthumously produce by the Post Office on 2nd April 2012. Mother’s child, 1972, Oil; Township granny, 1950, Watercolour; The Minister’s new convert, 1945, Watercolour; Portrait of Mr Gluck, 1947, Oil; Xhosa woman, 1947, Watercolour; Portrait, 1948, Oil; Ting-Ting, 1945, Watercolour; Mr Pemba’s mother, 1993, Watercolour; Family life, 1977, Oil; Portrait of Xolile Ndongeni, 1987, Oil

Continue reading

Port Elizabeth of Yore: The Fire of 1903 which Almost Immolated Pyott’s Ambitions

By Dean McCleland in Port Elizabeth of Yore 0 Comment

To a younger generation of Port Elizabethans, the name Pyotts Biscuits is largely unknown but to a century of residents it resonated as the biscuit of choice. Personally, for me, the Pyotts business has a stronger connection. As an articled clerk with Price Waterhouse in the 1970s, I was allocated to the Pyott’s audit. By then the business had been sold to an American company and later on the name of the business severed its link with the Pyott’s name.   

The details of this fire are wholly derived from a report in the subsequent edition of the Eastern Province Herald.

Main picture: Pyott’s original factory in Port Elizabeth

Continue reading

Port Elizabeth of Yore: The Leper Institute in the Baakens Valley

By Dean McCleland in Port Elizabeth of Yore 0 Comment

Prior to 1839 there was no proper accommodation in the Eastern Cape for lepers or destitute persons. Lepers were confined, often in jails in appalling conditions, pending their transfer by ox wagon to the leper institution at “Hemel en Aarde” which was some distance away in the Caledon district.

This blog covers the creation, operation and closure of the Leper Institute over the period 1839 to 1846.

Main picture:  Map of the Leper Institute, Gubb’s farm and the Baakens River

Continue reading

Port Elizabeth of Yore: The First Toll in Queen Street

By Dean McCleland in Port Elizabeth of Yore 0 Comment

By its very nature, charging toll fees for the use of a facility, or in fact the “user pays principle” is an elegant method for authorities to recover the cost of maintaining roads and bridges yet worldwide it sometimes invokes the worst of human nature. In Port Elizabeth’s case, it was just over four years after its founding in 1820, that the first toll was installed.

To ensure that only out-of-town traffic would be tolled, the toll was setup outside the limits of the town which in 1824 was Donkin Street. The position selected was about 500 metres from Russell Road as it was in the country.  

Main picture: The Baptist Church in Queen Street

Continue reading

Port Elizabeth of Yore: Special Justices Appointed to Oversee Slavery

By Dean McCleland in Port Elizabeth of Yore 0 Comment

In 1806, when the second British occupation of the Cape occurred, the English humanitarianism movement which had been stirring the crusade against the slave trade for decades, achieved their greatest victory. 1806 coincided with the passing in the House of Commons of a Bill for the abolition of the slave trade. As a slave-owning colony, the Cape was soon to feel the impulse of the incipient human rights legislation.

Main picture: A certificate from the Slave Registry Office, 1827

Continue reading

Lost Artefacts of Port Elizabeth: The Bathing House at Humewood

By Dean McCleland in Port Elizabeth of Yore 0 Comment

Of all the artefacts along the southern beaches, the Bathing House at the mouth of the Shark River was the most prominent landmark. Opened in 1913, it was demolished shortly before the great flood of 1968. Controversially its demolition has been conflated with the flood and has even been stated in publications that the flood was its downfall yet in fact it was demolished in 1966.

Main picture: The unusual design of the Bathing House is highlighted in this night time shot

Continue reading

Port Elizabeth of Yore: Hotel in Cape Road, Newton Park

By Dean McCleland in Port Elizabeth of Yore 0 Comment

A hotel, now long forgotten, operated in Newton Park on Cape Road from 1861 until July 1902 when it was burnt down. No extant photographs of the hotel survived, nor can the exact location be determined. According to Margaret Harradine, it was probably situated on the spit of land on which Pelo’s Café and Wimpy’s restaurants currently operate. Notwithstanding that, Margery Lochhead claims that it was located near St. Hugh’s Church.  

Main picture: PE Hunt Club on Willowby Farm, now Glen Hurd,  owned by George Parkin

Continue reading

Port Elizabeth of Yore: Loton Tipper of Amsterdam Hoek

By Dean McCleland in Port Elizabeth of Yore 0 Comment

Loton Tipper junior will forever be associated with Amsterdam Hoek. With no bridge close to the river mouth, Amsterdam Hoek was effectively isolated from Port Elizabeth. Notwithstanding that impediment, Loton must have betted on the area becoming a weekend retreat away from the hustle and bustle of Port Elizabeth by purchasing a significant number of stands. In sporting circles, his contribution to its development in the early is recognised, ranking second only in significance after that of Howard Sherman.

What was most disconcerting, is that father and son were both called Loton Tipper, both perhaps equally well known. Unless an author identified the Loton Tipper as Junior or Senior, one is never 100% sure who is being referred to.

Thanks to Jenny Rump for providing me with all the articles and other information enabling me to write this blog.

Main picture: Weekend and holiday cottages along the Swartkops River

Continue reading

Port Elizabeth of Yore: Legal Status and Governance

By Dean McCleland in Port Elizabeth of Yore 0 Comment

By any measure, in 1804, when Uitenhage was established, its future outlook was more sanguine than that of Port Elizabeth as the scene that greeted visitors to Uitenhage was the plenitude of fresh water and verdant countryside as opposed to decrepit shacks on the coast. Being cognisant of realties, in 1804 Port Elizabeth automatically became part of the Uitenhage District.

The blog covers the status and governance of this seaside hamlet as it grew first into a town and finally into a city.

Main picture: Watercolour entitled ‘View of Port Elizabeth from upper Russell Road’ by Lester Oliver in 1854

Continue reading