Port Elizabeth of Yore: Business acumen of Frederick Korsten assessed

By Dean McCleland in Port Elizabeth of Yore 0 Comment

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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Port Elizabeth of Yore: Thomas Ferreira – The First White Inhabitant

By Dean McCleland in Port Elizabeth of Yore 3 Comments

Historically the arrival of the 1820 Settlers obscures the fact that Algoa Bay, as the outpost was then called, had already been settled; by not many, however. In total there were no more than a dozen farms, but they covered the whole area from Cape Recife to the Gamtoos River and they were occupied by Dutch speaking Afrikaners. Amongst this hardy band of Trek Boers was Thomas Ignatius Ferreira. Of Portuguese extraction, his father is the progenitor of the vast Ferreira family in South Africa.

Ferreira settled in Algoa Bay 44 years prior to the arrival of the 1820 settlers and was banished from the area 17 years before the settlers arrival.

Main picture: 1803 Gesigt van Fort Frederick en Algoa Baai by Willem Bartolome Eduard Paravicini Di Cappelli

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Port Elizabeth of Yore: Frederick Korsten: Founder of Eastern Province Commerce

By Dean McCleland in Port Elizabeth of Yore 3 Comments

Of all the early inhabitants of the nascent Port Elizabeth, Frederick Korsten, probably more than anyone else, deserves to be recognised and remembered. Yet there is no real tribute to him. The most fitting monument would have been the preservation of his former magnificent home, Cradock Place. But even that now lies in ruins. 

A comprehensive biography would have sufficed. But that also failed to materialise. John Centlivres Chase did make an attempt in 1868, yet in length it is little more than a eulogy. What he fails to mention or even allude to is that Frederick Korsten was his father-in-law. Nor does he provide any insights into what exactly made Korsten tick. 

Such disdain for history reflects poorly on the denizens of Algoa Bay.

Main picture: Frederick Korsten

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