Carl Gierke

Very little is known about Carl Gierke except that he was born at Fort Jackson in 1861 and later moved to East London -- possibly sometime in the 1890s.

He became a building contractor and, as such, was involved in the construction of the East London Town Hall which was completed in 1900.

He was elected to the Town Council for Ward 3 in March 1904 but retired on rotation in February 1906 and did not seek re-election.

The era in which he was known to have lived in East London was a time of dramatic growth. Indeed, it was the town's golden age which witnessed a dramatic boom in trade, the introduction of electricity, a tramway system and, of course, the construction of the Town Hall.

It is not known when Carl Gierke died.