Port Elizabeth is another of the host cities for the Fifa Soccer World Cup. It is situated on the East Coast of Southern Africa and its first inhabitants were the indigenous groups known as the San and KhoiKhoi people. Later it is thought that the Xhosa people moved down from more northern regions to live in the area. The first Europeans to settle in the area were Portuguese explorers in 1488. It was only in 1799 that the British formed a settlement there and it was named after the founder's wife, Lady Elizabeth Donkin (pictured below).
Rufane Donkin was from a well-respected family that served in the Queens Army for a number of generations. A man of his caliber would normally have been married off to a woman of an equal class but, as sometimes happens, he fell in love with a woman for who she was and not for privilege or prestige. She came from a clerical family, and her grandfather had been an Archbishop which was most definitely not of the same social class as Rufane, so who knows whether his family ever approved of the marriage in 1815. What we do know is that the two adored each other and she followed him to his assigned post in India. By 1817 they were expecting a child and their lives seemed like they couldn't be more perfect. Their baby boy was born on Christmas Eve but the birth had been difficult on poor Elizabeth and it was then that their lives took a turn they could never have expected. Instead of enjoying their young family, Elizabeth never fully recovered and her ill-health continued to be a problem. Perhaps it was the heat of India that made her struggle, but eventually in August of 1818 life slipped from her body during a fever.Rufane was overwhelmed by the death of his soul mate and being left as the only parent for their baby son. So deep was his loss, and so desperate was he to not be parted from his wife that he had her heart removed from her body and embalmed so that he could carry it with him for the rest of his days. The memories of Elizabeth were so painful that he could no longer bear to stay in India and so he packed up everything and moved back to England with his son.
In England he was asked to go to Cape Town to run the colony in the absence of the Lord Somerset. During his time in South Africa he helped establish a small tented town on the east coast of Africa and arranged the sale of land to British Settlers. In 1820 he named this small but growing town Port Elizabeth, in memory of his beloved wife whom he missed so dearly. He never remarried.
These days Port Elizabeth is home to over 1 million people and is considered to be the water sports capitol of South Africa. There is also the Addo National Park where many tourists visit each year to see The Big Five - Elephant, Rhino, Buffalo and Leopard. There is also the added bonus of being able to see Whales and Great White Sharks in the Indian Ocean which runs along the East Coast of Africa.
The Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium will be the location of the World Cup matches and this 48,000 seater is situated in the city center. The stadium itself also carries the nickname "The Sunflower" as this is what many people feel the structure seems to look like.
this is a very interesting article. However I believe there is a misprint, in the dates. Date of marriage should be 1815, and the date of expected child should be 1817.
ReplyDeleteThanks Anon! Well spotted!
ReplyDeleteAs you correctly point out:
"Date of marriage should be 1815, and the date of expected child should be 1817."