Dean McCleland, Author at The Casual Observer

Port Elizabeth of Yore: The Wild and Cantankerous Seaview

By Dean McCleland in Port Elizabeth of Yore 10 November 2019 2 Comments

For me, Seaview has always been the embodiment of a wild, eccentric and cantankerous old man. One moment it could be placid and charming and yet the next moment it displayed its obstreperous wilful nature. To make peace with such a character, one had to make peace with its mood swings

The focal point of Seaview has always been the hotel which sadly has recently been demolished. Naturally Seaview is much more than its hotel. It is a township located on a rugged stretch of coastline unsuited for swimming but with its own wild beguiling charm.

Main picture: The interesting thing about this picture is that it is pre-1934. They started construction on the hotel in 1934 from the right of the hotel as you looked at it with the ocean behind you. The giant Norfolk pines are not yet even visible, the two structures that are visible are on what would become hotel land.

Port Elizabeth of Yore: John Parkin – from Humble Beginnings to Property Magnet

By Dean McCleland in Port Elizabeth of Yore 8 November 2019 7 Comments

John Parkin was the leader of an 1820 Settler Party which arrived aboard the Weymouth on the 15^th May 1820. A carpenter and wheelwright by training, John Parkin resided at Lower North Street, Exeter, Devon.

Shortly after settling at the area designated for the Devon party at Kariega, John Parkin relocated his family to Port Elizabeth where he acquired a huge farm, eponymously known as the Baaken’s River Farm. By the time of his death in 1856, the Parkins were one of the wealthiest families in town.

Main picture: John Parkin of Baakens River Farm

Port Elizabeth of Yore: Destruction of St. Mary’s Church by Fire in 1895

By Dean McCleland in Port Elizabeth of Yore 7 November 2019 0 Comment

The destruction of the St. Mary’s Church was devastating for the community in Port Elizabeth. Not only was it the first church to be erected in the town but it was also the focal point of many activities in the town as well as being the mother church for all the sibling Anglican churches.

If there was any beneficial effect of its destruction is that it afforded the congregants an opportunity to transform a non-ecclesiastical oblong building devoid of architectural merit into a building befitting its status and not just a building fit for purpose.

Main picture: St Mary’s church the morning after the fire

Port Elizabeth of Yore: What Happened to the Bell of the Chapman?

By Dean McCleland in Port Elizabeth of Yore 6 November 2019 3 Comments

One of the seminal events in the history of the Eastern Cape and ultimately South Africa, was the arrival of the British Settlers in 1820. Notwithstanding their importance and impact upon the trajectory of South Africa, no artifact of that landing is extant.

If an artifact were still surviving, should it not have pride of place at the Bayworld Museum or the proposed maritime museum? If such an artifact is indeed extant, where is it located?

Main picture: The Chapman’s Bell is housed at the Centurion Bowling Club, Lyttleton Manor Centurion [Photo taken by D.F. McCleland]

Port Elizabeth of Yore: Expeditions by Carl Thunberg in the 1770s

By Dean McCleland in Port Elizabeth of Yore 3 November 2019 0 Comment

Preceding the arrival of the Dutch farmers in Algoa Bay, intrepid adventurers and naturalists were exploring the area. Amongst this band of hardy individuals was a Swedish naturalist, Carl Peter Thunberg, an apostle of Carl Linnaeus, a Swedish botanist, zoologist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming organisms. Due to Thunberg’s discoveries in the Cape Colony, he has been awarded the sobriquet of “the father of South African botany”.

Of all the observations made by Thunberg during his three-year stay at the Cape Colony, two of them resonate with me but for vastly divergent reasons. This is the story of Thunberg’s brief sojourn in the wilderness that was Port Elizabeth in the 1770s.

Main picture: Carl Peter Thunberg in later life

Port Elizabeth of Yore: The McArthur Baths

By Dean McCleland in Port Elizabeth of Yore 31 October 2019 2 Comments

In the case of a City now 200 years old, an artefact only built 60 years ago must surely be classified as recent, but a title of Port Elizabeth of Recent Times – The McArthur Baths – does not possess the same cachet as PE of Yore. So I will stick with my accepted nomenclature.

Main picture: The McArthur Baths shortly after its construction with the original Elizabeth Hotel in the background

Port Elizabeth of Yore: State of Medical Services in the 1800s

By Dean McCleland in Port Elizabeth of Yore 30 October 2019 0 Comment

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 10^th September 1856 with Dunsterville and Rubidge serving as doctors.

Main picture: Entrance to the Richmond Hill provincial hospital in 1856

Hans Wilhelm Münch: The Nazi who said No

By Dean McCleland in Military History 16 October 2019 0 Comment

Only one SS soldier believed that what Mengele and Auschwitz represented was inhumane. That was Hans Wilhelm Münch, the only physician whose commitment to the Hippocratic Oath proved stronger than the Reichswehreid [German Army Oath] and his commitment to the SS. In terms of this Oath, obedience to the Führer, the supreme commander, was unconditional, yet Münch survived.

Main picture: Hans Wilhelm Münch

Unexpected photos of the Wehrmacht during WW2

By Dean McCleland in Military History 8 October 2019 0 Comment

The most widely used photographs of German troops during WW2 reflect a martial disposition from the menacing Tiger tank to steely eyed troops firing MG42 machine guns. None of the photographs used below would ever appear in official histories of the war.

Even though they might reflect the humanity of the ordinary German soldier, this blog does not in any way endorse the behaviour of the Nazi regime or the German military forces.

Main picture: German soldier sharing water with a baby

Port Elizabeth of Yore: The Discovery of the Sacramento

By Dean McCleland in Port Elizabeth of Yore 27 August 2019 7 Comments

Of all the ships which were wrecked along the Port Elizabeth and adjacent coastline, only two were noteworthy but for different reasons. Of the two, the saga of the Sacramento’s sinking on 30 June 1647 culminated in two stirring tales. One involved the dramatic 1400km trek by the survivors to the Portuguese Port at Delagoa Bay. The second and equally dramatic saga is that of the subsequent discovery and recovery of the numerous cannons by a local diver, David Allen.

Both make for compelling stories but as this is a potted history of Port Elizabeth, the focus will be squarely fixed on the latter escapade.

Main picture: David Allen-left-with Gerry van Niekerk making notes of the most perfectly presevered of the 40 guns lifted from the wreck site.

The Opinion Pieces are an eclectic bunch on current affairs & history often with a human interest aspect. The Movie/DVDs reviews are mainly on documentaries with a smattering of movie reviews.

Author: Dean McCleland