The Casual Observer

Port Elizabeth of Yore: The First-Recorded Shark Attack

By Dean McCleland in Port Elizabeth of Yore 4 September 2023 0 Comment

Perhaps the reason why so few shark attacks occurred during the 1800s was due to the fact that most people were unable to swim. Hence when they attempted to swim, it was in the shallow water. On the other hand drownings were commonplace as they were unaware of dangerous conditions such as rip tides and life savers were unknown.

This blog covers the shark attack on the 28^th January 1886 off the South Jetty in which young William Rodwell lost his leg.

Main picture: Bathing House at the mouth of the Baakens River

Port Elizabeth of Yore: Emerald Hill

By Dean McCleland in Port Elizabeth of Yore 3 September 2023 0 Comment

Unlike other picturesque parts of Port Elizabeth, this area despite its beauty, is relatively unknown to residents of the town. This farm originated in 1815 when the Governor of the Cape Colony, Lord Charles Somerset, granted the farm to John O’Neal, its first owner. Many other pioneers from Ireland, or the Emerald Isle, settled in the area, hence its name.

An hotel, the Emerald Hill hotel, was established o Emerald Hill “surrounded on the west and southwest by miles of forest and bush.”

Main picture: Emerald Hill Hotel

Port Elizabeth of Yore: Dreyfus’ Revolutionary Credit Policy

By Dean McCleland in Port Elizabeth of Yore 31 August 2023 0 Comment

A prominant business in Market Square in the late 1800s located in front of St. Mary’s Church on the site where the UBS Building would be built in the early 1930s was a one storey building with the name prominently displayed as L. Dreyfuss Merchant.

What was so unusual about its business practices that made it successful?

Main picture: L. Dreyfuss’ shop in front of St. Mary’s Church

Port Elizabeth of Yore: Biography of HB Smith of No7 Castle Hill

By Dean McCleland in Port Elizabeth of Yore 30 August 2023 5 Comments

Amongst the numerous prominent residents of Port Elizabeth over the past two centuries such as Chase, Paterson and Korsten who deserve to be recognised for their deeds and works is one who is virtually unknown to all but a handful of people in Port Elizabeth, and that is Harold Bayldon Smith. Who you may ask is Harold and why does he deserve that recognition?

In writing the biography on the Rev. Francis McCleland, I came across the name HB Smith who owned No. 7 Castle Hill for a period of 24 years from 1938 to 1962. In doing so, he was unremarkable yet within the past month I have pealed away the layers of his life to reveal a civic minded man whose mission it became to save the oldest existing house in Port Elizabeth.

In that quest he was successful, but it was a close-run thing as HB Smith would pass away two months after the final jigsaw pieces were in place. Both as a member of the McCleland clan and an ex-resident of Port Elizabeth, I decided to honour this remarkable man who rightly should be placed in the pantheon of honourable citizens whose foresight and actions deserve to be recalled.

Main picture: Harold Balydon Smith

Port Elizabeth of Yore: HB Smith – The Saviour of No 7 Castle Hill

By Dean McCleland in Port Elizabeth of Yore 29 August 2023 0 Comment

Perched on the brow of the hill overlooking the activity on the jetty and town below and the ships bobbing in the roadstead, was Number 7 Castle Hill. Sunday 10^th July 1853, like all Sundays, was a sombre day, with no shops or amenities open with the only “entertainment” being the obligatory attendance at a church service. As is usual in Port Elizabeth, the swirling clouds of sea sand were channelled down the untarred Main Street tormenting the pedestrians while chubby clouds flickered past overhead.

Being weak and unwell over the past several months, the clergyman, the Rev Francis McCleland, had been unable to perform the Sunday service at St Mary’s Church that day. Apart from Castle Hill being one of the steepest hills in the town, Francis was too frail to even attempt the climb after the service. While the congregation below prayed for his speedy recovery and good health, Francis McCleland passed from this world.

The least of anybody’s concerns that day was the future of No. 7 Castle Hill. Yet by 1938 it was uninhabitable. It was at this point that the rare exception of a man would appear. This blog will accord Harold Bayldon Smith his rightful place in the history of this remnant of a bygone age.

Main picture: No.7 Castle Hill

Port Elizabeth of Yore: The Unbelievable Secret of Dr James Barry

By Dean McCleland in Port Elizabeth of Yore 26 August 2023 0 Comment

Amongst the parade of dignitaries making the pilgrimage to Frederick Korsten’s country estate 5 miles from Port Elizabeth, was Dr James Barry, one of the most highly respected surgeons of his day. He had risen from hospital assistant to become the top-ranking doctor in the British Army and was known as a zealous reformer who had served in garrisons from South Africa to Jamaica. Accompanying him on his visit to Frederick Korsten at Cradock Place was the governor Lord Charles Somerset.

Barry’s secret life would almost certainly have been taken to his grave if the hospital staff had obeyed his last wish that he be buried in his night clothes. This would have hidden the fact that Dr. James Barry was in fact a female.

How had this been possible?

Main picture: Dr James Barry

Port Elizabeth of Yore: Klaas and Dawid Stuurman

By Dean McCleland in Port Elizabeth of Yore 23 August 2023 0 Comment

From being an unknown entity some half a decade ago, the Stuurmans have been catapulted from obscurity into controversy and fame. The notoriety did not relate to his anti-colonial activities in the 1700s but rather due to the fact that the Port Elizabeth airport was renamed after Dawid,. Many felt that it should have been called Alister Miller Airport after the fact that he established Union Airways in Port Elizabeth which ultimately became SAA.

Main picture: Klaas Stuurman

Port Elizabeth of Yore: William Higgins & Elizabeth Higgins nee McCleland

By Dean McCleland in Port Elizabeth of Yore 20 August 2023 0 Comment

Like her sisters, Anna D’Urban and Adelaide, Elizabeth Boland McCleland, the eldest daughter of the Rev. Francis McCleland, married well. Elizabeth’s “catch” was William Higgins, a successful merchant. One sister, Anna, had married Hugh Maynard Scrivenor, an attorney, whereas Adelaide had married William Fleming junior who had inherited his wealth from his father William Fleming senior.

Main picture: Painting by George Properjohn [From Ralph Properjohn]. The date on the face of the photograph at 1830 is wildly inaccurate as the dwarf jetty was constructed in 1844 and Coleman’s Steam Mill was erected in 1847.

Port Elizabeth of Yore: William John Huggins

By Dean McCleland in Port Elizabeth of Yore 19 August 2023 0 Comment

William John Huggins was a well-known painter of maritime scenes of which three owned by the Nelson Mandela Art Museum are probably the only ones in his extensive portfolio which relate to Port Elizabeth. Like all paintings of the nascent recently conceived new town of Port Elizabeth, all paintings of whatever nature whether by a skilled craftsman or a dabbler are invaluable as they provide the sparse record of those early days.

Main picture: Painting of whaling off the coast in Algoa Bay during 1832 by William John Huggins with No 7 Castle Hill visible on the brow of the hill

Port Elizabeth of Yore: Campbell – A Virtuous Magistrate and Civil Commissioner

By Dean McCleland in Port Elizabeth of Yore 17 July 2023 0 Comment

Apart from a handful of famous residents of yore, the history of the majority of the most outstanding people of 160 years ago have been lost in the mists of time. One such person was a worthy Scotsman, John Campbell, the Resident Magistrate from 1^st September 1857 and then the Civil Commissioner until July 1870. The only legacy that remains of him is a series of four semis that he built comprising Alfred Terrace.

Main picture: Campbell’s semis in Alfred Terrace