Sally Schramm

"Willie and I look forward to our first born towards the end of April/beginning of May and we both pray it will be a lover of all that is beautiful in nature. Willie wants it to be a botanist — I want it to be a lover of birds and animals." Eric Latimer’s diary, 25th November 1906

Marjorie Eileen Doris Courtenay-Latimer (1907-2004) is ubiquitously remembered and celebrated for her part in recognising that the large fish trawled by Capt. Hendrik Goosen and the crew of the Nerine in December 1938 was an astonishing find. This was to be identified as the first live coelacanth known to Western science. JLB Smith, the ichthyologist who first described it, named it Latimeria chalumnae after Marjorie, and the Eastern Cape river mouth near which it was found.

Commemorative postcard on the “re-discovery” of the coelacanth (Sally Schramm)

Reading the Border Historical Society’s The Coelacanth journal Commemorative edition in honour of Dr Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer (2004) we find a life dedicated to a great deal more than that single event. Her contributions to the Eastern Cape town of East London, and to the Museum in particular, were immense.

Born two months prematurely, surviving practically every childhood disease known — and the Flu Pandemic (1918-1920) — the apparently frail Marjorie’s interest in “all...

The Rhodes Post Office and Magistrates Court, a favourite with photographers, is a landmark within the Rhodes Heritage Area. Here is an early history of the building.

When Rhodes was established as a township on the farm Tintern in 1891, there was little need for a separate administrative centre. Barkly East was initially thought to be close enough. However, the village grew, especially after the erection of the Dutch Reformed Church in 1892, and the establishment of their Rossville Congregation in 1893. With several new businesses and an increased population, it became apparent that the five or six hour horse and cart drive to Barkly East, over a sometimes treacherous road, necessitated an administrative centre in Rhodes itself.

Rhodes became a municipality in 1897.

By 1896 the Cape Colonial Government had already envisaged a “Rhodes Court Room, Lock-up and Post Office” building.

The site in Rhodes, Erf 223, on the corner of Church and Naude Streets was purchased in 1897. The Lot is 535 m2.

Tender notices were invited for ” … the creation and completion of New Public Buildings at Rhodes, including Lock up, Post and Telegraph Office, Court Room and Special Justice Office”.

The tender notice clearly indicated: “The lowest or any Tender [will] not necessarily [be] accepted”.

In the end, only two tenders were submitted. Both were rejected as being too high, with the Report of the Chief Inspector of Public Works of 1901 noting that ” … the buildings were in consequence commenced departmentally in August 1898″...