John Owen SMITH (1804- )

Name:	John Owen SMITH
Sex:	Male
Father:	unk SMITH ( - )
Mother:	-

Individual Events and Attributes

Birth

1804

Scarborough

Marriage

Spouse	Elizabeth GILBERT (1809?- )
Children	Sarah Elizabeth OWEN-SMITH (1839-1903)
Marriage	3 Aug 1826	Grahamstown, Albany, Cape Colony

Individual Note 2

This is the forth and final part of the follow-up material on the Breakwater Project extracted from Looking Back, Sept 1992 Vol. 31 No. 2.

 

The Early Development of the Port Elizabeth Harbour

Avinash Govindjee and Darshan Daya

Grey High 1992

 

SIGNIFICANT WORKS (1871-1899)

 

A new jetty at the bottom of Jetty Street was approved. Stone from the old breakwater was used for the masonry approach to the new jetty. The ironwood piles from the breakwater were not able to be used as they were badly worm-eaten. Therefore the resident engineer at that time, James BISSET had to obtain sneezewood from the Alexandria forest. In January 1870 the construction of the timber jetty began and it was eventually completed in April 1872. Sir John COODE who had been appointed Consulting Engineer to the Harbour Board in February 1868, submitted his report on the Harbour in which he agreed with the steps that had been taken. In the report he recommended that a 1600 feet long retaining wall be constructed from the new jetty to the Baakens River to induce a scour and thereby remove sand. The widening of the jetty commenced in May 1874. The construction of a second jetty at the bottom of Fleming Street also commenced. During the same year sand began to accumulate at the b!

ottom of both the jetties and it decided that the second jetty, which was still under construction at that time, was to be discontinued. The Cape St. Francis Lighthouse was commissioned on 4 July 1878.

 

In December 1876 Sir John COODE arrived in Port Elizabeth to make a personal inspection over a period of five weeks. The Number One timber jetty was replaced by an iron-piled jetty which became known as the North Jetty. COODE also authorized the building of an 800 foot iron-piled jetty in December 1879. This was to be known as the South Jetty and it was completed in July 1884. The retaining wall which COODE had recommended in his report in 1870 was built in the same period from the North Jetty to the Baakens River and it extended to beyond the South Jetty. The North and the South jetties were of COODE's design. By 1884 the South Jetty had been completed. The North Jetty was lengthened and widened and it was completed in July 1894. The five old steam cranes on both jetties were also replaced by modern hydraulic cranes.

 

THE DOM PEDRO JETTY

 

The story of how the Dom Pedro Jetty got its name is a very interesting one. In 1839 the Queen passed the Slave Suppression Act. This meant that the trading of slaves was forbidden. In the Mozambique Channel, Her Majesty's brig the CURLEW, was hunting down the salve traders who were violating the recently passed act. The commander of the brig. Lieut. ROSS had seized the ship YARUGA when he came upon another suspicious-looking vessel. He sent a party over to question the Arab skipper as to his cargo and destination. The vessel in question was the DOM PEDRO. On board 19 slaves were discovered. She was taken over by the British brig and together with the YARUGA set sail for the South African station.

 

It was soon discovered that the YARUGA was unseaworthy and she could never have made the voyage. The crew and cargo were transported to the DOM PEDRO. The second officer in charge of the CURLEW, Mr H.C. LEW, was promoted to captain of the DOM PEDRO. The next day, the YARUGA was sent to the bottom of the sea.

 

As they were travelling, the DOM PEDRO lost sight of the CURLEW which was a superior ship. It eventually took 49 days to make it to Algoa Bay. The reason for this was that she struck a severe storm and lost all her masts and sails. She drifted into Algoa Bay on May 20th, 1840. There she lay for three months at anchor awaiting the decision of the Prize Court at Simonstown as to her ultimate fate. News came through that the slaver was not worth repairing for passage to Simonstown. Orders were given that all it carried was to be sold by public auction. Her motley cargo was disposed of by John Owen SMITH on 10 Aug 1840. The ship did not fetch a bid so it was decided to beach her near some protruding rocks near the mouth of the Baakens River. Her timbers must have been strong for she lay there over 40 years. The outline could still be seen when the jetty due to bear her name was being designed in 1898. On the site of the remains the Dom Pedro Jetty was erected.

 

In 1899 works began on the 840 by 60 feet Dom Pedro Jetty. It was originally intended to be completed in 1902, but a further extension of 620 feet was decided on. This by 1902 sailing vessels were being berthed alongside the jetties. At long last a modest sailing port had been provided.

 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Sources used:

Literature

1. Leigh, Ramon Lewis: The City of Port Elizabeth, 448-453, 1966. 2. Redgrave, J.J.: P.E. in Bygone Fays, 33, 233-250, 1947.

 

Literary Sources:

1. Inggs, E.J.: Early P.E. Harbour Development, Wits. Dept. of Economic History. 1983. (Unpublished thesis)

2. Huisman, H.: Port Elizabeth: Harbour Engineers. Port Elizabeth, 1985

 

Best wishes

Becky

Port Elizabeth, South Africa

 

Researching: HENWICK; HILL; HORN(E); MEREDITH; DEYZEL; LARSEN; WILLSON; LYNAR; HENNING; STERLEY; THECK; BEST; BRAUN, GREENER; GLANVILLE; VAN ZYL

Individual Note 3

British Residents at the Cape 1795-1819 by Peter Philip published by David Philip, Cape Town. p.391

 

"SMITH, John Owen. 23.7.19 arr. SB [Simons Bay] 'for the Cape' in 'Sarah' ex Bristol (104/25). 20.10.20 PR 3057 [Permission to remain in the Colony 'Colonial Pass'.] securities RJ Johnson / Isaac Lasar (79). He was born in Scarborough, where his father and uncle were shipowners; he died on 10.8.71 in London. He bacame one of the leading merchants of Port Elizabeth. For biographical details see Africana N&N, XIV, no 8; Theal (4); Theal's History (19); Tabler (179)."

 

The ship 'Sarah' was presumably a merchant ship. It is not listed as a naval vessal. Presumably it was the property of JO Smith's father and uncle. Detail in square brackets [PR] have been inserted by me.

 

The long entry for RJJ gives insight into nineteenth century life in Cape Town.

 

p.210 "JOHNSON, Richard Joseph. 1798 list of English persons: 'Mr J, at Mr Emslie(shopkeeper)' (27) 5.1.1799 signed loyal address to Gen. Dundas (2). 1800 RJJ from London, 26 Longmarket Street (23). 3.11.01 PR issued to RJJ from England (67). ... [etc.] ... 27.7.17 bapt. (Eng. Church - private) of Louisa Sophia, illegitimate d.o. RJJ & Anna Maria of the Cape, born 14.8.15, and of Sara Johanna, ditto, born 18.6.17 (30). ..."

 

The expression "of the Cape" (van die Kaap) signifies that Anna Maria was of slave origin. Slaves did not have surnames. The fact that her children were baptised suggests that she had been emancipated, possibly by RJJ. It was not permitted by the Dutch Reformed Church ethic for a Christian to be a slave (unlike the Americans who christianised their slaves). Dutch slaves were mostly Moslems from Benagal, Indonesia and Malaya. Moslem slave traders were at the same time activly taking kufurs or "kaffirs", i.e. or non-Moslems from East Africa. The British did not own slaves at the Cape and were instrumental in the abolition of slavery, a major grievance cited by the Boers for their "Great Trek" out of the Colony to establish the republics of Orange free State and Transvaal. There is no entry for Isaac Lazar. My surmise is that he was probably of European Jewish origin.

 

References: 104, Cape Archives CO 6086. 25, Cape Town Gazette and African Advertiser. Africana Notes & News. Theal, George McCall: History of South Africa 1652-1872, in 5 volumes, published 1891-1897, London. Theal, George McCall: Records of the Cape Colony 1793-1828, in 36 volumes, published 1897-1905, London. Tabler, Edward C: Pioneers of Natal 1552-1878, published 1977 by AA Balkema, Cape Town. Most of this (other than the Cape archives) should be available in libraries in London.

 

An Irishman, John Montgomery, who accompanied an Anglo Irish ancestral couple (Folliott/Fullard) of mine to the Cape in 1820, was acquainted with John Owen Smith in Port Elizabeth. Incidently, John Montgomery is the forefather of the Springbok Rugby player, Percy Montgomery. Here is an extract from John Montgomery's colourful reminiscences:

 

"I arrived in Algoa Bay in due course. Captain Evatt was stll there; and John Owen Smith (154) had a very small store supplied with a scanty stock of merchandise. I think I could have carried the pots, kettles, tin buckets, and all the stock-in-trade that I could see on my back. John Owen Smith was very kind to me, and although our dealings with each other were small, they were extremely satisfactory. His uncle from the Cape anchored in the Bay in a small trading vessel and soon came ashore. He bought all my biltong, and everything else I had to dispose of. Mrs Montgomery and myself spent two days in the Bay, rambling along the beach, picking up shells and gathering seaweed." Giffard p.93)

 

Note 154: "John Owen Smith, born in Yorkshire in 1804, came to the Cape as a youth of 15. At 17 he moved to the frontier and began trading. By the 1830s he was established in Port Elizabeth as a merchant, speculator and auctioneer. Montgoery's youngest daughter, Johanna, married a John Owen Smith - presumably the trader's son." (Giffard pp.10-191)

 

Reference: Anthony Giffard, ed. The Reminiscences of John Montgomery. Rhodes University, Grahamstown. Balkema, Cape Town 1981. At the time of writing, I assisted Tony Giffard in Grahamstown by prividing him with maps of Ireland that I had recently brought back from a visit to the UK and Ireland.

 

The expression "from the Cape" here signified from Cape Town or the western Cape as distict from the eastern Cape where Port Elizabeth is situatet at Algoa Bay.

 

I look forward to taking up your offer to reciprocate with reseach, when you have more time at your disposal. I have only typed out this information because my "hp psc 2510 photosmart all-in-one printer * fax * scanner * copier" has gone on the blink. Let me know if you need any South African local knowledge. I spent most of my life there.