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Spring flowers in Kokstad |
Mount Currie revealed |
Barry Elliot and the title deed |
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The extremely rare title deed and |
Griqua seal | The deed in Barry's office |
Perth : Johannesburg :
Pretoria : Pietersburg :
Pilgrim's Rest : Ladysmith :
Champagne Castle : Estcourt :
Durban : Ixopo |
Today I had to travel over 600km - starting at Kokstad and ending at my destination - Port Elizabeth. The route I travelled was along the N2 which took me through Mt Frere to Umtata; then a sharp left at Komga just after the Kei River (bypassing East London), travelling through King Williamstown, Grahamstown and then finally arriving at Port Elizabeth. That night I had dinner with Judge Tom Mullins (see below).
What struck me along the entire journey was the number of sprawling African townships that were now scattered across the countryside. I did not see one other white person in a town until I arrived at Grahamstown - the others like Umtata were just teeming with blacks and, I am told, very dangerous even during the day.
The day started in perfect fashion with Milner Snell taking me to meet Barry Elliot the local lawyer before heading off to work and we said our sad goodbyes. Barry had an original copy of a title deed signed by Adam Kok and had found a spare copy which was somewhat moth eaten - as you can see below but as the Kokstad Museum only had four copies of deeds signed by Kok and Barry the other two - I was absolutely delighted when he gave me the damaged copy.
While half of Kok's signature is eaten away the date (1869) and the Griqua Seal are in perfect condition - the seal in itself is an extreme rarity.
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Spring flowers in Kokstad |
Mount Currie revealed |
Barry Elliot and the title deed |
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The extremely rare title deed and |
Griqua seal | The deed in Barry's office |
I started my nine hour drive at 7.30am - getting into Port Elizabeth shortly after 4pm - the road between Kokstad and Umtata was terrible - slow trucks, bad roads and lots of maniacle black taxi drivers!
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On the road from Kokstad |
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Black shanties - wall to wall |
This is Mt Frere today |
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Umtata |
today | Black shanties - wall to wall |
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The bridge over the Kei River |
The shortcut to Port Elizabeth |
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King Williamstown today |
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King Williamstown today |
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The road to Grahamstown |
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Grahamstown today |
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Grahamstown today |
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The 1820 settler |
monument | Road to Port Elizabeth |
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Port |
Elizabeth | |
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My room for the night |
When I arrived at Brookes Hill Hotel
which overlooks the sea I found that Judge Tom Mullins had already left
directions for finding his apartment. At 6pm I drove around to his house
and had dinner with Tom and his wife.
Image right: Tom Mullins and his wife Pat
While there Tom showed me a very, very rare book which cannot be found today "Uit die Geskiedenis van Griekwaland-Oos" by E C Coetser and when we could not find a copy on the Internet presented me with his copy.
I was delighted!
 Tom Mullins died at home,
peacefully in his sleep, on 11 March 2007. He will be remembered as the gentleman
he was, a very special man of integrity, love, caring for his family and
those around him and beloved husband to his wife Pat. Our condolences to his family. Tom Mullins was the undisputed expert on the Mt Currie Express stamp - issued in the 1870s for use in East Griqualand. This very, very rare stamp (seen right) has a fascinating history. His book "The Mount Currie Express, the stamp of East Griqualand" is almost as rare as the stamp itself and an invaluable source of information. More on Tom and the the Mt Currie Express stamp at this link |
