Then and Now – Cradock Place – Featured Blog

Frederick Korsten, a Dutch entrepreneur, came to Algoa Bay in 1810 and over the following years established himself as a merchant, farmer and owner of a whale fishery.  In 1812 Korsten purchased a farm called Papenkuilsfontein from Thomas Ignatius Ferreira and named it Cradock Place after Sir John Cradock who was the Governor of the Cape Colony from 1811 until 1814.  The farm changed the commercial landscape and economic future of Algoa Bay dramatically during the 1800’s.  It also became the social centre for well-to-do visitors to Algoa Bay with some of the guests including Cape Governors of the day, French scientists, a Zulu delegation sent by Shaka, as well as the well-known traveler-artist Thomas Baines.

Frederick Korsten passed away on 16 June 1839 at the age of 66 years and bequeathed the farm to his daughter who was married to John Centlivres Chase.  Chase wrote a book called “Old Times and Odd Corners” that documented the history of the estate.  Korsten was buried on the farm and it is said that the cemetery and family mausoleum were at some considerable distance north-west from the house, roughly where Stanford Road and the Papenkuils River run closet to each other today.

I’m not a fisherman not an angler.  I just don’t have the patience for it.  What with a spot of ADD in the middle age now that I’ve been called middle aged on a public platform.  But do you know the difference between an angler and a fisherman?  Apparently fishermen actually catch fish while anglers are the type of guy who just likes to sit next to the water with a rod in his one hand, a beer in the other and enjoy being there.  Or something like that.  I’m not sure if the guys on the rocks below Something Good last Sunday were the former or latter, but they did choose a nice warm winters day to be out there.