A different view on current affairs & history
Is the surprising Trump victory going to be like a James Bond martini where the world ends up being shaken but not stirred? Will the ‘Despicable Me 2’ Gru and his Minions lead the post-truth world across an event horizon into a black hole? For SMAC’s look at this conundrum, read on.
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Korsten possessed the temperament to succeed as an entrepreneur in spades, yet as will be shown, he was not necessarily successful in every venture which he tackled. In comparison with his friend Samuel Hudson, he was less dogmatic and more disciplined, but ultimately only marginally more successful.
Samuel Eusebius Hudson was a friend Korsten of long standing who was also an entrepreneur at heart. From his diary one is able compare their management and business styles and divine the flaws in each’s business character.
Main picture: Cradock Place painted by Walford Arbouin Harries in 1870
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TRIGGER WARNING: The excessive and egregious use of outrageous puns might lead to vomiting, induced or involuntary particularly amongst bulimics.
The best thing that can be said about the US presidential election is that the farce is over and what a farce it proved to be. Between the dominating issues of Ukraine, the Middle East, the US Elections and that trusty old standby, the corrupt and incompetent ANC, SMAC has become about as much fun as treating piles. It’s time to put the p (not a typo) back into fun as we move from weighty world issues to weighty personal issues. It’s time to take a weight off our shoulders and lighten the mood as we look into the world of weight loss. For SMAC’s take on that 3-ring circus (Ozempic, Weygovy, Rybelsus) comprising the Ozempic Games, read on.
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Well, the egregious grifter did it. He won the 2024 US Presidential election by a landslide. How he did it will have the pundits pondering and pointlessly pontificating for years. In fact, it’s likely to become a university course – you’ll be able to study Political Science majoring in Blowing Your Own Trumpet and the Art of the Steal amongst many other fawning indigestible courses. The question now is what is he going to do with his victory? We know that he likes to do things on a whim but we can be sure that his presidency will be anything but whimsical.
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Just over a century ago, the name Bunton was well known in Port Elizabeth as John’s father and grandfather in their day were both owners of the Grand Hotel in Belmont Terrace. When John’s father, Henry, changed careers in 1927 and went farming in the Selbourne district near Kirkwood, the name Bunton would never again resonate with the residents of Port Elizabeth.
John would attest to serve in the artillery. Later his younger brother, Peter, would join him in the same unit. It was during the opening stages of the battle of El Alamein on the 13th July 1942 that John would be mortally wounded, and Peter, who served in the same unit, would see his brother for the last time as he was stretchered away never to be seen again by him.
Such is the madness and futility of war.
Main picture: John Bunton in North Africa
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Henry Arthur Bunton was the son of Walter Bunton and Marie Louise Pfeiffer. Their son, Henry Arthur Bunton, was born in July 1883 making him only 17 years old when the Anglo Boer War erupted in October 1899 yet at the age of 19 he joined Gorringe’s Flying Column. This force was raised by Lt Col G F Gorringe in 1901 and served in Cape Colony against numerous Boer Commandos.
In 1916 Henry would again participate in a war but this time it would be during WW1 fighting not in the trenches in France but would serve in the South African Heavy Artillery Regiment.
Main picture: Henry aka Harry Bunton with his wife Grace on honeymoon
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Over the past 159 years, the Herald has occupied a number of premises and has been owned by a number of shareholders. This blog attempts to record these events
Main picture: C1864. Building built 1862 by J. Paterson, later used by Herald, then Cleghorns. Burnt down in 1896.jpg
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Hammelberg was a Dutch lawyer who emigrated to South Africa in 1851 and lived here until 1871 taking a leading part in the affairs of the Orange Free State. This blog covers the 10 days during December 1861 when he visited Port Elizabeth.
Main picture:
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Recollections of the town by visitors especially in its early days, provides an indelible record of how they viewed the town but more importantly, how it operated. Some of the descriptors relate to the residents’ industriousness and the consequential hustle and bustle whereas others refer to the stark bareness of the hill especially prior to the planting of trees.
These recollections of John Campbell, a surveyor, and passenger aboard the Eastern Province who visited the town from the 25th February 1862 to the 17th March 1862, adds a fresh layer of depth to the understanding of this bustling town.
Main picture: The first breakwater around 1866
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Having unexpectantly and unwanted achieved old age, dating is not a pursuit that features greatly in my life. I prefer more leisurely diversions such as the subject of this blog – dating the oldest photograph (not something that I ever thought I would aspire to). I am also an armchair historian of popular topics and do not submerge myself in the dusty bowels of archives. My tools are limited to my inquisitive mind and interpretive skills and reviewing easily accessible books not to mention leaning on my older brother, Dean, for backup as younger siblings tend to do.
[Disclaimer: I must make absolutely clear that it is with no sense of superiority do I dismiss some of the dates given by Redgrave, Lorimer and Harradine. It is rather a case that I stand on the shoulders of giants, particularly in the case of the latter. Also in the days that their books were written, they did not have sophisticated word processors and the ability to print drafts at their desks or perform computer searches.]
What triggered this blog was rereading my brother’s blog (ref 1) on the earliest photograph and photographers. In it he presents an early morning photograph looking over Market Square and down Main Street, probably referred to as High Street in those days, and he states that it is the oldest photograph (below) and taken in c1858.