Several years prior to retiring, I cast about for a hobbie or activity to maintain my mental acuity. My son introduced me to WordPress, a program to record whatever fascinated one. After recording all the interesting activities and events in my life more as a record for my children when I had long since passed on, I decided to record the history of Port Elizabeth but with a difference. Instead of a merely being a recounting facts, I envisaged that it should uncover the world as it existed . By that I mean the human element. Every now and again a reader will draft a missive to unburden themselves of what they experienced in the Port Ellizabeth of yore.

This blog arrived yesterday from a Glen Williams-Jonosky of Bangkok Thailand in which he shares that part of his life spent at Seaview. This is a verbatim copy of that email.

Dear Dean,

I recently came across your fascinating blog post about the history of the Seaview Hotel in Port Elizabeth—the hotel I knew during my childhood as Hotel Minhetti. I was delighted to discover that someone had taken the time to research and preserve the history of a place that occupies such a vivid and treasured corner of my earliest memories.

I was surprised, however, that the owner and members of staff whom I knew during the 1970s were not mentioned. I hope the information and photographs I am sending may help to fill in part of that missing history.

The owner during the period I remember was Mr. Herculaas David van der Walt, whom we knew simply as Oupa David. My parents were very close to him, and I was so fond of him that I called him “Oupa David”—Grandfather David—even though we were not related. I believe his wife’s name was Linda. I also remember that his birthday was on 5 November, just two days before my own. Years later, we visited their beautiful home, and I can still remember how deeply impressed I was by it.

My parents, Johannes Hendrik “Hans” Williams and Maria Magdalena Williams, both worked at Hotel Minhetti. I was born in November 1973, so my memories of the hotel date principally from the mid- to late 1970s, when I was still a very young child.

I recently found an old Afrikaans newspaper clipping that provides contemporary evidence of their connection to the hotel. It identifies Herculaas David van der Walt, then aged 58, as the owner of Hotel Minhetti at Seaview. It also identifies my father, Johannes H. Williams, aged 31, as the hotel manager.

A handwritten date on the clipping appears to read 5 October 1978. As the report states that the court proceedings took place “yesterday,” the hearing itself was presumably held on 4 October. The age given for my father is also entirely consistent: he was born on 15 May 1947 and would indeed have been 31 at the time. I would have been nearly five.

Although the subject of the clipping—a court case concerning the prices charged for bottles sold through the hotel’s liquor store—is rather less romantic than my childhood recollections, it nevertheless provides valuable documentary evidence of both Oupa David’s ownership and my father’s position at the hotel.

My memories of Hotel Minhetti are remarkably clear. To me, it seemed like an entire world of its own, and I wandered around it with the confidence of a child who felt that he belonged everywhere.

On one occasion, I went searching for beautiful seashells with a boy whom I believe was Oupa David’s son. We proudly brought our collection back to our room at the hotel. The following morning, however, the shells were scattered all over the room. We had not realised that some of them still contained small crabs, which had emerged during the night and gone exploring.

I also remember at least one lavish Christmas lunch at the hotel. It was my first introduction to a shrimp cocktail, served in a wide-rimmed champagne glass with lettuce arranged around it. I remember the waiters in their beautiful uniforms, the sense of grandeur, and dining at an exceptionally long table—presumably in the hotel’s banquet hall.

Another especially precious memory involves the rounded section in the centre of the hotel, with its glass windows above. I am almost certain that this was where my mother once found me sitting and chatting to hotel guests in English. We were an Afrikaans-speaking family, and she had been looking everywhere for me. Instead of finding me frightened or lost, she discovered me quite happily holding a conversation with English-speaking guests. She was immensely impressed and proud of my English.

My father later became the manager of the liquor store associated with the hotel. It was not physically attached to the hotel, but it operated under the same ownership. The store was situated on Buffelsfontein Road in Mount Pleasant, and my mother also worked there. We lived nearby in Charlo.

Because my parents worked such long hours, the liquor store became an unusual but important part of my childhood. I even celebrated several birthdays there. I have photographs of at least two of those celebrations, taken when I was approximately five, six or possibly seven years old, with shelves of beer and other bottles clearly visible behind me. My parents divorced when I was seven, so the photographs must predate that.

I am also sending several family photographs from the same general period. One shows my father with me when I was around six years old. The woman beside us is his sister, not my mother; the photograph was taken while we were visiting Natal. It nevertheless shows quite clearly what my father would have looked like during the years when he worked at the hotel and liquor store. I am also including a photograph of my mother from approximately the same period, as well as one of my childhood birthday celebrations inside the liquor store.

I understand that personal memories must be treated carefully when compiling a historical account. The newspaper clipping directly verifies Oupa David’s ownership and my father’s position as hotel manager. My mother is not named in the clipping, so her work at the hotel and liquor store would need to be identified as a family recollection unless further records can be found.

If you are able to verify this information, I would be profoundly grateful if you would consider adding this chapter to your blog post. Even a brief acknowledgment of Oupa David’s ownership and of my parents’ work at the hotel would mean more to me than I can adequately express.

I do not have any children of my own, and I sometimes worry that, with the passing of time, my parents’ names and this part of their lives will simply disappear from the historical record. Your blog has created an opportunity for at least a small part of their story—and of the people who helped make Hotel Minhetti what it was—to be remembered.

Thank you very much for taking the time to read my rather lengthy message and for the work you have already done to preserve the history of this remarkable old hotel. If you have any questions or would like further information or photographs, you are very welcome to contact me. You are very welcome to contact me on WhatsApp using my number in my email signature.

Kind regards,

Glen “Gee” Williams-Jonosky