John Bisseker

DEATH NOTICE: see Master's Office, Cape Town, No 67813. OBITUARY: see the Daily Dispatch, 19.2.1940.

John Bisseker was born in England in March 1858 and emigrated to the Cape in April 1881, staying first at Port Elizabeth and then East London.

He established himself at East London as a wool merchant and was the owner of a produce store on the Market Square. He was also a stevedore, as well as the agent for the South British Fire and Marine Insurance Company. In 1907 he became a Justice of the Peace for East London.

Bisseker was deeply involved in education and was a guiding force in the establishment of the East London Technical College, serving as Chairman of its Council for many years. He also held the chair of the Social Welfare Association and was a member of the East London Hospital Board.

He became interested in the Town Council and was elected for Ward 4 in February 1901 but resigned in August 1903 because of ill health. He was re-elected in February 1905, this time in Ward 3. He did not seek re-election after his retirement on rotation in 1908.

Bisseker was elected Mayor in March 1907 but at a time when three seats were vacant. Since he had gained only a single vote majority, he resigned in May at a meeting of the full Council and called for a new election. He was not re-elected.

He died at East London on 17 February 1940, at the age of 81. John Bisseker High School is named after him.

See also: Knowledge4Africa.com Encyclopaedia East London The Really Useful East London Page

If you were to hunt for information on one of your ancestors who died at East London in the 19th or 20th century, where would you look?

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The best place to start your research would be at the Cape Archives where all birth and death certificates are housed through to about 1928. Thereafter, you would need to go to the Master's Office in Cape Town where documents later than 1928 are to be found. The death certificates usually present interesting facts like surviving spouse, children, and information on the estate. Of course, once one knows the precise date of death, one should look in the local newspapers where an obituary might have been published. These obituaries present an interesting synopsis of the person's life and career. If, on the other hand, you need information on the history of East London itself, then you will have to hunt far and wide, but mostly within the archives as well. But the best place to start, of course, would be on Knowledge4Africa.com.