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Emily Wall met John Smith when she was only 14 and he was a 15 year old drummer boy in an
Irish regiment of this garrison town. The childhood sweethearts were married in the Cathedral
of St Michael and St George on 5th December 1859. They had two daughters, Catherine (born
5.10.1864) and Lilian born about two years later. Sadly, John Smith did not live to see his
daughters grow up as he died very suddenly, 10 years after their marriage, on 27 April 1870, at
the age of 46.
Two years later, on 27th October 1872, Emily Smith was received into the Catholic Church and
the next day she married JOHN PLATT. One can assume that John Platt was Catholic and so the
daughters, after their Mother’s remarriage, would have been brought up in the Catholic Church.
The family moved from Grahamstown to Port Alfred to try to earn a living fishing and running
a boarding house.
This was the family Carl Gustav landed upon.
As the story goes, Emily and John took Carl Gustav in and nursed him back to health and
strength. How long had he been at sea? Had he been injured or ill already before the disaster?
Mysteries all.
When CG was recovered sufficiently and had no doubt picked up enough English to get by he
decided to try his luck a little way inland and make his way to Grahamstown to find a
livelihood. One cannot imagine what the trip on horseback or perhaps transport wagon must
have been like, especially for a sea-faring man who had no notion of the dangers in the wilds of
Africa, nor the climate. There was a wagon trail between the little towns, and stories of the time
are filled with dangerous animals, marauders, thieves and a host of causes for anxiety to a lone
traveller. However, Carl Gustav arrived in Grahamstown relatively unscathed, well at least still
alive! How ‘scathed’ he was we’ll never know!
In the meantime John and Emily were finding it increasingly difficult to make a living in Port
Alfred, and so, after a few years, they decided to return to Grahamstown. They hired an oxwagon, loaded all their belongings and the two girls and set off on their dangerous journey, full
of fears and anxieties. Ruby recalled hearing that much, but unfortunately no details are
known.
It might be worth exploring records of this time. How very brave these pioneers were.
And arriving in Grahamstown, Carl Gustav was there to greet them. According to Ruby, “the
two young girls were thrilled to be in a real town however small it was. As it was a garrison
town they soon were in the ‘in the swim’ with parties and dancing and all the fun that went
with a town full of soldiers. They were very pretty girls and in great demand”.
But none of the soldiers caught the eye of young Catherine as did those blue Swedish ones and
before long she and Carl Gustav were constantly together. Carl Gustav leased a piece of land on
what is now Bathurst Street. Later he built a cottage there and discovered he was a very
competent builder. No doubt his years of ship-building gave him a good grounding for any kind
of building. In a short while he was employing other men and he finished his cottage and
planted it with fruit and vegetables.
And while the garden was growing they were married:

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