The man who started it all

The Herald

07-05-2025

And just three years later he was still teaching when he and friend John Philip set the wheels in motion in a joint newspaper venture, with Paterson as publisher and Philip as printer.
It would be almost 100 years though ( 92 years to be exact) before The Herald started publishing news on its front page.
'On behalf of John Paterson's descendants I would like to congratulate the Eastern Province Herald newspaper on its 180th birthday,' his great-great grandson Gordon Paterson, who lives in New Zealand, said on the occasion of the newspaper's 180th anniversary.
He said Paterson and Philip had established the newspaper on May 7 1845 to contribute to the development of the fledgling city.
'Paterson, having the heart of an educator, knew the newspaper was a medium through which city service entities and infrastructure could be promoted and established.
'Productive citizenship and service to the community could be encouraged, as could entrepreneurship and enterprise which would develop the economic welfare and standard of living within the city.'
Paterson said the book, One Titan at a Time (published in 1960), which documents the life and times of John Paterson, was a source of pride for the Paterson family and a 'challenge for us all to live productive lives as our forefather did'.
He said: 'Speaking on the occasion of the 150th birthday of this remarkable newspaper, president Nelson Mandela stated: ' The moral of its story is that The Herald was founded on the rock of civic duty by a citizen, as committed to imparting academic knowledge to pupils as he was to uniting a community to take responsibility for its wellbeing.
'In that sense, John Paterson was a trailblazer whose message is as relevant today as it was one-and-half centuries ago ... Indeed, 150 years ago, Paterson could have chosen to focus on the wealthy among the new settlers, who lived in comfort amid the chaos in the settlement which he so vividly described.
'But he was concerned with the interests of that community as a whole'.'
Paterson said this reinforced the notion that his great-great grandfather was a visionary who saw the broader picture of The Herald's mission.
'We wish The Herald family all the very best for its continued contribution to Gqeberha as the city charts its course during challenging times.
'Ultimately the city's success will be dependent upon the 'civic duty' of all its citizens as was the case back in 1845.
'May The Herald continue to inform and unite its citizens, thus continuing its contribution to a city which provides a future of peace and prosperity for all,' he said.
John Paterson also founded Grey High School in 1856 — in his own words 'to be a fortune to one and all of the succeeding generations of youth in Port Elizabeth' — and six years later, started one of SA's most prominent and largest financial institutions, Standard Bank.
Gordon Paterson has often spoken with great pride of his great-great grandfather's legacy.