A different view on current affairs & history
Normally the Baakens River is a placid stream but is extremely deadly when provoked by flood waters abusing its avuncular nature. It might be endearing when untroubled by raging water but caution always needs to be taken.
On the last Tuesday of January 1834, the Baakens River showed that even a seemingly placid stream can be deadly.
Main picture: Bridge over untroubed waters
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The entrance to Algoa Bay from the west was treacherous with Thunderbolt Reef being especially hazardous. In spite of the authorities being cognisant of these dangers, for decades no progress could be made in convincing the Cape Government to erect a lighthouse at Cape Recife.
However, the struggle was finally successful, and that saga is covered by this blog.
Main picture: Cape Recife Lighthouse
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At best the Irish 1820 Settlers in Clanwilliam eked out a precarious existence. The settlement could not have been called a resounding success either by the settlers generally or the McCleland household in particular. After a number of unseemly quarrels, Francis was granted a transfer to the newly created hamlet of Port Elizabeth which was meant to have been their original disembarkation point.
It was here that Francis and Elizabeth would spend the rest of their lives. This chronicles the lives of my great-great-grandparents in Port Elizabeth.
Main picture: Castle Hill in 1851 painted by engineer Henry Fancourt White of White’s Road fame. Number 7 Castle Hill is the commodious double storey house on the right on top of the hill
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