Page 59 - Bulletin 7 2003
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the soft ground at the mouth of the vlei; this obstacle will, however, be overcome
with a syphon arrangement. The bulk of the stones requisite for completing the
work are on the spot, so that an early commencement is expected.
The Wynberg Times, 17 September 1904
He was a “hail-fellow-well-met” and his love of parties and celebrations led to
his downfall. This was confirmed by his grandson, the late Mr. Peter Humphries.
Scowen’s Hotel was liquidated in 1908 Harry Scowen died aged 66 on 26
September 1926 leaving a wife, Mary, with two sons and two daughters.
Mayor J. H. Wood 1902 - 1903 (Fig. 2.6)
John Henry Wood was Mayor from August 1902 - August 1903. He arrived
from England with his wife, three daughters and two sons in 1884. They were on
their way to Natal, where Wood’s brother, George, was already farming. While
his ship was in Cape Town, Wood heard that the Letterstedt’s were running their
milling activities at a loss, and he either leased the mill and adjoining house
(now “Mill House”), or he was hired by them to manage the concern. He was a
master-miller, and he landed at the Cape with only £20 in his pocket and a set of
silk screens for sifting the flour. This was possibly the reason why Letterstedt
and Company could advertise “superfine flour” for sale. Wood was the last
miller of the Josephine Mill, which ceased to function after it was purchased by
Ohlosson’s Cape Breweries in 1896. In 1889-1890 Wood was described as “corn
and coal merchant, Claremont”, but how long he continued to operate the mill
has not been determined.
He moved down to Muizenberg in 1900 and took up the proprietorship of the
Park Hotel, which opened in 1901. (Muizenberg Junior School, built in 1948,
stands on the site today). He was elected for only one year as Mayor as the
running of the Park Hotel was a fulltime business. Whether or not it was badly
sited (too far from the beach), is unknown, but Wood did not make a success of
this venture and the hotel was placed under curatorship in 1904.
