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Their Past
and Future
  he first Settlers to Algoa Bay
were met with an intimidating array of hills, streams, rivers
and kloofs, making habitation a problem. Donkin Street as it
stands today was originally a "kloof" (steep valley)
that separated Donkin Hill and Constitution Hill. The water it
carried was channelled into the then Main Street, today Govan
Mbeki Avenue. This kloof was eventually filled using convict
labour and the end result was a piece of saleable land. It was
named Donkin Steet in 1851 and raised to a higher level to join
with Cape Road aptly, named as it was the road to Cape Town.
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Prospective buyers of the land
in Donkin Street were wary of the land as it was situated on the
face of a steep hill and made the laying of foundations somewhat
dangerous.  A number of the lots were bought by speculators, and
the land was developed slowly. As development of the land was
staggered certain plots lost inches on either side due to the
encroachment of the early builders. In some instances, a corner
stick demarcating the end of the plot, has been built into the
existing structure.
As is the case today the houses
in the 1800’s were a combination of private and business
dwellings. Then used as carpenters’ shops and today used
mainly for service oriented business. The majority of the early
owners of the Donkin Street Houses were part of the influx of
British settlers in 1820. Some of the owners also featured
prominently in the development of Port Elizabeth.  Mr H. Pearson,
an owner in 1866, was the mayor of Port Elizabeth on and off for
16 years and a Mr Alex Wares served as a commissioner for the
city and was often used as an arbitrator. However, over the 144
years most owners or occupiers were artisans or business people.
Due to the practice of owning
land but not the structure on it in the 1800’s, it is
difficult to trace all the owners or occupants of the Donkin
Houses over the past century. In earlier years, it was possible
to buy land, hire it out, and let someone else build a wood or
iron structure on the land. This house on the let land, could
then also be rented out to a third person. |
