Dean McCleland, Author at The Casual Observer

Port Elizabeth of Yore: The Legacy of Henry Fancourt White

By Dean McCleland in Port Elizabeth of Yore 26 July 2016 0 Comment

Like all the major roads up from the centre of town to the top of the hill, these roads were originally kloofs with streams, jagged rocks and steep cliffs. So it was with White’s Road. The original steep embankments on either side precluded the construction of buildings except for the Opera House. Except in historical circles is the engineer in charge, Henry Fancourt White, today remembered for his legacy. Even his name has been obliterated, being replaced with the name, John Kani. Despite this iniquity, he will be recalled by golfers in an elite manor house in George, renamed in his honour as Fancourt.

This is the story of this significant road in Port Elizabeth’s history.

Main Picture: This is the earliest extant photograph that I can find of White’s Road. It shows the devastation after the torrential rains of 20th and 21st November 1867.

Port Elizabeth of Yore: The Slipway in Humewood [1903-1939]

By Dean McCleland in Port Elizabeth of Yore 22 July 2016 4 Comments

Most residents of Port Elizabeth are unaware what the purpose of the concrete pillars jutting out of the sand between Hobie and Humewood Beach represent. It was a slipway built in 1903. By the 1850s Algoa Bay was attracting swarms of vessels of all shapes and sizes. Many used the Bay as the location to effect minor repairs before proceeding on their voyage.

It took an entrepreneur by the name of John Centlivres Chase to envisage constructing a slipway in Port Elizabeth to provide this vital service.

Main picture: Humewood 1910 with what appears to be a fishing boat being hauled up for maintenance

Port Elizabeth of Yore: King’s Beach

By Dean McCleland in Port Elizabeth of Yore 21 July 2016 0 Comment

As a child, my family seldom, if ever, went to swim at King’s Beach. My father was a creature of habit and as he was raised at Schoenmakerskop, that is where we swam. Sometime during the 1960’s we were voluntarily taken there. No fights, no fuss. As my father had been the site foreman, the family had been given a special invite to attend. How could my father refuse?

Main picture: Aerial view of the King’s Beach Playground

Port Elizabeth of Yore: Russell Road-Formerly Burial or Hyman’s Kloof

By Dean McCleland in Port Elizabeth of Yore 20 July 2016 3 Comments

The intention of the British government was never to create a town on the coast at Port Elizabeth. Instead it was meant to be a disembarkation point for the Settlers on their travels into the hinterland. The fact that many of the settlers had little, if any, agricultural experience meant that many gravitated back to Port Elizabeth. That is why the town was created at the foot of a hill. That meant that every kloof would ultimately become a major road. So it was with Burial Kloof and later Hymanskloof but now better known as Russell Road.

Main picture: The oldest extant picture of the Stranger’s Location at the top of what was to become Russell Road showing the Chapel of the London Missionary Society in the background.

The Collegiate Church & Parish of St Mary-Scanned Version

By Dean McCleland in Port Elizabeth of Yore 17 July 2016 0 Comment

The Collegiate Church & Parish of St Mary's AAAAPreface iii Snipped

The Collegiate Church & Parish of St Mary’s Preface iii

Port Elizabeth of Yore: Victoria House

By Dean McCleland in Port Elizabeth of Yore 17 July 2016 2 Comments

By all accounts, his house is probably the oldest one in Port Elizabeth. As such I would have thought that it would have been declared a National Monument ages ago. On the contrary, nothing has been done. In fact, Victoria House has been in crisis for a number of years. Apparently it was in a reasonable state up until the late 1990s before being occupied by vagrants and prostitutes. In 2005 it was sealed up by the Health and Safety department. In recent years work has been carried out but local activists are concerned that many of the house’s important features have been lost.

How can such a valuable piece of Port Elizabeth’s heritage be allowed to be destroyed?

Main picture: Victoria House at Number 31 Constitution Hill

Amazing Historical Coincidences

By Dean McCleland in Other Miscellaneous Topics 16 July 2016 0 Comment

I do not believe in luck, I certainly do not rely on providence and, contrary to some narratives, I place no significance on these highly improbable coincidences. Furthermore I scoff at and am extremely sceptical of accepting any correlation between these events. My only reaction is amazement. All of these events bear no significance other than the fact that of the millions of actions occurring throughout the world on a second by second basis, a minute percentage will bear the appearance of serendipity or coincidence.

That is how these examples of coincidence must be viewed; amusing sometimes, interesting certainly but never prophetic.

Main picture: World War I began with the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria. The license plate of the car in which he was riding at the time of his death was AIII 118. WWI officially ended on Armistice Day: 11/11/18.

Kirkcudbright Document: Establishing the McCleland’s Right to Peerage

By Dean McCleland in McClelands 16 July 2016 2 Comments

This document serves as a record of the basis upon which the McCleland’s peerage rights were obtained. From a purely historical aspect, this document serves thus as an important family document. Notwithstanding that fact but more as an interesting point of speculation is the matter of the vacant peerage. For some 200 years, it has been vacant with nobody making a claim to the title of Lord Kircudbright.

The full document with related annexures has been included in this blog for posterity.

Main picture: M’Clellan Castle at Kirkcudbright

Maria Mouton: Defying the Laws & Customs of Society

By Dean McCleland in History 15 July 2016 8 Comments

In South African history, the illiterate Maria Mouton has earned a unique notoriety by being the only white woman to be executed in the Cape Colony during the eighteenth century. Her primary offence was to conspire with one of her husband’s slaves to murder her husband, Frans Jooste. For that she deserved the ultimate sanction at the time, the death penalty. Be that as it may but what was deeply vexing for the unctuous court was that it considered Maria’s actions of willingly consorting with her co-accused, the dark-hued slave Titus of Bengal, beyond the bounds of propriety. For Cape Society, that act was truly beyond the pale.

For no other reason, this story makes for compelling reading. As Nigel Penn eloquently states, “Her lustful and murderous conduct, her intercourse with a dark-skinned bondsman, was betrayal of both her gender and her social group. Colonial society as a whole was threatened by her actions”.

Main picture: Slaves during this era were an integral part of society as is visible in this painting

Port Elizabeth of Yore: Sand dunes, Inhabitants and Animals

By Dean McCleland in Port Elizabeth of Yore 13 July 2016 3 Comments

Imagine if I told you that 250 years ago a Swedish botanist by the name of Thunberg spotted a herd of 500 buffaloes in the area 20 minutes from the centre of Port Elizabeth called Kragga Kamma. First all the large animals were eliminated and then the smaller ones. Today all that remains is a recently opened small game park in the area. Apart from that, originally the area from Cape Recife to Humewood to Bushy Park was one giant field of sand dunes. Sadly this natural wonder has been replaced with Port Jackson Willows. What size was Port Elizabeth before the arrival of the Settlers?

Some of these developments were beneficial but others were disastrous. It depends upon one’s point of view. But such is the cost of progress.

Main picture: Hunting in Bushy Park

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