A different view on current affairs & history
Surprisingly roller skating was introduced to Port Elizabeth in 1878, the first venue of this novel pastime in South Africa. Popular for a while, it then faded into obscurity before making a resurgence and briefly blooming once again.
This is the story of that roller coaster ride.
Main picture: Roller skating at the Humewood Beach Hotel
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Of all the jetties in Port Elizabeth, only the North Jetty possessed any cachet. Probably a reason for this situation was that the North Jetty was close to the central part of town being at the foot of Jetty Street. It was also the jetty used by embarking and disembarking passengers.
For this reason hundreds of photographs of this jetty are still extant today whereas only a dozen are available of the South Jetty and perhaps half that number of the Dom Pedro Jetty.
This blog serves to highlight what is known about this jetty
Main picture: South Jetty
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The last of the jetties to be built in Port Elizabeth, before the construction of the harbour in the 1930s, was this jetty. The story of how this jetty obtained its non-English name is fascinating as it conjures up images of an era when the scourge of slavery prevailed and the endeavours to eradicate it were in progress.
Port Elizabeth played its part in its elimination in the person of Captain Francis Evatt, commander of Fort Frederick. But that is another story.
Main picture: Dom Pedro Jetty being used to build the breakwater in 1923
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In the 1800s, before New Brighton was transformed into a “Model Native Settlement” by relocating blacks from the inner city locations to this area, this stretch of land between the mouth of the Papenkuils River and the Fishwater Flats abutting the Swartkops River, was known for the New Brighton Hotel and the Outspan, both owned by Matthew Berry.
The awarding of shooting rights to this flat vacant expanse of land and the mystery of the missing game birds would have to be settled in court.
Main picture: A duck hunter in 1890
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At the risk of stating the obvious, most residents of Port Elizabeth regard Uitenhage as a dirty unpleasant industrial town, the like of which one never needs to visit unless it is on official company business. Yet 200 years ago, when the hamlet of Port Elizabeth was established, Uitenhage was the district administration centre with Port Elizabeth forming part of Uitenhage. Today the converse is true. In short order, Port Elizabeth surpassed Uitenhage and is now the driving force in the region.
In Port Elizabeth’s hubris, it should never dismiss Uitenhage out of hand but should rather acknowledge it as having an equally interesting history and that it now boasts the largest industrial plant in the Eastern Cape in the form of VW.
Main picture: Trekboers in the Karroo
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At 1768 m, the Cockscomb is one of the highest peaks in the Eastern Cape. Apart from that, its claim to fame during the age of sail was that the mountain acted as a mariners’ landmark as it was visible from the sea. As the local burghers and khoikhoi never showed any inclination to climb it, it fell to an outsiders, usually adventurers, with time on their hands to become the first to do so. This is the account of Lieut. Walter Stanhope Sherwill who, during 1840 whilst on a visit to Port Elizabeth, would attempt to do so but would be succeed.
Main picture: The Cockscomb peak
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Call it what you like, but this crude fort had the distinction of being not merely the first military fortification in Algoa Bay – as Port Elizabeth was then called – but also the only fort in Port Elizabeth to experience military action. What would the future hold for this extemporised military fortification? Certainly, it should have been recognised much more than the Johnny-come-lately, Fort Frederick, which was unbloodied in war. Star Fort did not survive long which is quite understandable given the fact that it was hastily constructed earth fort which was just as hastily abandoned.
Main picture: There are no extant sketches of this fort other than this reference to Star Fort on the map of Cradock Place on which it is situated
Continue readingThe hallmark of the half century prior to the arrival of the British Settlers in 1820 was the steady encroachment of the Dutch farmers commonly from the west. In spite of every effort on the part of the Cape Governors to prevent the Trekboers from spreading eastwards, this ineluctable movement did not abate.
This blog covers the settling of this peripatetic people in the Zwartkops Valley and especially around the Zwartkopswagendrift which was the principal crossing point on the road east or north.
Main picture: Trekboers crossing the Karoo by Charles Davidson Bell
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Today the elegant Victorian mansion ‘Knockfierna’ in Park Drive now masquerades as a school. It ushered in the 20th century as the home of a wealthy wool merchant and farmer, John Daverin. Much more than that he was also a Member of Parliament and philanthropist. Now largely forgotten, his legacy endures in the form of the St Georges Preparatory School.
Detailed information on the house and the three occupants who resided there prior to its conversion into a school are covered in a separate blog. This blog is merely a copy of the school’s history from its website.
Main picture: St George’s Preparatory School in Park Drive
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In the age of radio, it is highly unusual for a vessel to just disappear at sea without a trace. But that is precisely what happened to a Harbour Patrol Vessel, a Namacurra pennant number Y1506, based at SAS Donkin, in Port Elizabeth.
What role did these Namacurra class patrol vessels play in the defence of the harbours but more pertinently how and why did this vessel just disappear into thin air? Was its disappearance similar to the modus operandi of flight MH370, the Malaysian Airlines Boeing 777 which simply vanished? On purpose.
Main picture: Namacurra Harbour Patrol Boat
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