About Port Alfred

Port Alfred was established in the early 1820s by Rachel West and Nicky Reid with their adopted daughter, Lindsay Purdon. They had been moved into the area by Lord Charles Somerset as a buffer between the Western Cape and the Ama Xhosa. Originally it was two separate towns, 1820 Settlers arriving on the West bank named it Port Kowie and those arriving on the East Bank named it Port Frances. In 1839, William Cock started to block the natural river mouth to the East and canalise the present opening to the sea. This allowed high-masted sailing ships with their heavy cargo to dock at the Wharf. Later, in 1860, when Queen Victoria’s son Prince Alfred visited the name was changed to honour him.