Port Elizabeth of Yore: Captain Jacob Glen Cuyler – A Man of Many Parts

By Dean McCleland in Port Elizabeth of Yore 0 Comment

Spare a thought for explorers, adventurers and soldiers of the nineteenth century. Nothing today comes close to their sense of isolation from their family and friends as these intrepid souls departed from their hometowns. It is reasonable to assume that the departing spouse was virtually non-contactable from the moment that they sailed away. One such character was Jacob Glen Cuyler who would arrive in South Africa via an extremely circuitous route. He become an important character and play a prominent role in the settlement of the British Settlers in the Eastern Cape. His assistance to the arriving settlers is commemorated in a street adjacent to Fort  Frederick, known as Cuyler Crescent and which becomes Cuyler Street as it heads inland.  

Main picture: Captain Jacob Glen Cuyler

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South Africa: Can we dare to dream again?

By Dean McCleland in Current Affairs 0 Comment

Like a sketch artist’s first lines on a blank piece of paper, at first the object is unclear and undefined. Yet as each additional line is applied to the sketch, the subject gains focus & the confused canvas gains clarity. So it is with the unfolding Zuma / Gupta / State Capture / dirty tricks /trumped up charges saga. Thuli Madonsela in her noble endeavour applied multiple illuminating strokes with the release of her much anticipated State Capture report.

 Yet, once again, there is insufficient granularity of detail in the sketch for a formal criminal charge to be laid. Instead, South Africa will have to wait again with bated breath for the final strokes to be applied: This time in the form of a commission of enquiry.

 Thoughts and comments on the imperfect sketch so far and prognostications about possible future events

Main picture: President Jacob Zuma, Atul Gupta and the Eastern Cape Premier Noxolo Kieviet at a New Age breakfast in Port Elizabeth

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Will this week be South Africa’s Berlin Wall Moment?

By Dean McCleland in Current Affairs 0 Comment

In hindsight, will the first week of November 2016 represent such a critical moment in South Africa’s fractious history? From a noble ideal to remove the shackles of apartheid from the majority of South African citizens, the ANC has descended into a cesspit of venality, corruption and the abuse of the organs of state for nefarious purposes. 

Yet this week has already witnessed the unravelling of implicit and unwavering support for the ANC by even its most ardent stalwarts.

 As such, could this month, which commenced so auspiciously for democracy in South Africa, be the advent of a new dawn? 

 Main picture: South Africa is burning, a metaphor for corruption, malefeasance and the capture of the organ of state

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Port Elizabeth of Yore: The Growth of the Population

By Dean McCleland in Port Elizabeth of Yore 0 Comment

Prior to the arrival of the 1820 Settlers, it would have been an exaggeration to claim that Port Elizabeth was sparsely populated as that was an overstatement of the facts. Indeed, it was mostly depopulated. Apart from a dozen farmers in the whole area from the Sunday’s River to the Gamtoos River, there was an understrength company of soldiers based at Fort Frederick and thirty-five inhabitants mainly residing along the coast at the foot the Hill. 

In addition there were bands of Khoikhoi but as they were peripatetic, evidence of their existence was seldom seen.

Main picture: Port Elizabeth in 1833

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Port Elizabeth of Yore: Crimes that Gripped the Imagination

By Dean McCleland in Port Elizabeth of Yore 0 Comment

In an era when leisure activities were sparse to non-existent, gossiping about crime was one of the few pastimes which was available. And it was free. This chapter will briefly cover the establishment of a Court House and then deal with a number of cases which gripped the imagination of the towns’ folks during the nineteenth century.

Main picture: Clockwise from the top left, these buildings have served as the Court House over the years. 1. The building between Evatt’s house on the left and the Post Office on the right from circa 1825 to 1856. 2. Commercial Hall from 1856 to 1884. 3. Magistrates Courts from 1884 to 1934 in South Union Street. 4. North End Law Courts from 1934 onwards

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Port Elizabeth of Yore: The Phoenix Hotel

By Dean McCleland in Port Elizabeth of Yore 3 Comments

Everybody who has grown up in Port Elizabeth must have been to the Stage Door at some point during their misspent youth. What is fascinating is that the Phoenix Hotel has been in operation since the early 1840s, first in Market Square, and since 1941 at 5 Chapel Street, making it the oldest operating hotel in Port Elizabeth.

Main picture: The original Phoenix Hotel located in Market Square

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Elizabeth Daisy McCleland and Mr Thomas Henry Clemence

By Dean McCleland in McClelands 0 Comment

Among the multitude of interesting facts that I have uncovered in my investigation of the family history, is that my Granny Mac – Elizabeth Daisy McCleland – was involved in another relationship after the death of her husband, Harry William McCleland on 13th June 1925.

This blog covers that discovery and the sparse facts that I have been able to unearth about him and their relationship.

Main picture: Mr Thomas Henry Clemence

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