Listing Purchasers of Ammunition at Natal 1864.

My Gadsden ancestor arrived in Natal on the Priscilla, a barque of the Bullard King line, on 21 June 1863. (Priscilla was a speedy sailer: in Nov 1863 she made the fastest passage on record from Natal to England i.e. 52 days.)

One of the first references to Thomas Gadsden, other than his name on the passenger register (spelled Gadsom), shows that he bought ammunition, ‘250 Percussion Caps and 7 Cartridges’ from ‘the Officer in Charge at Durban’ on 13 October 1863.  Thomas’s surname is given as Gedsden in this reference, another of the imaginative variant spellings I’ve found during research into Gadsden family history.

Interestingly, only two days afterwards, Captain Bell (William Bell, the Port Captain) purchased ‘3 Gunpowder, 250 Caps and 7 Cartridges’ on the 15 October 1863 from the same Officer. Thomas Gadsden was later to marry William Bell’s daughter, Eliza Ann. These gentlemen were not arming themselves against attack, simply hoping to enjoy some sport: the hunting was still good at Port Natal, particularly in the wooded areas such as the Bluff and the Berea hills or further afield across the Umgeni River.

Lists of Purchasers of Ammunition appeared in the Natal Government Gazette. Here is the list published in the edition of 19 April, 1864. It includes prominent citizens and those less well-known. A few names are mis-spelled. Is your ancestor among them?

DATE/NAME OF PURCHASER
Feb 1864
06 - Antonio (Native Police)
06 - Boyne, R

   View ca 1860s from the Berea towards the Bluff,
showing ships outside and within the harbour,
and the town clustered on the shores of the bay. An ox-wagon
trundles along in the foreground.

08 - Bralse, M
08 - Witer, C
08 - Jacques, Thos B
10 - Waller, E
10 - Norris, Richard
11 - Durban Corporation
13 - Surtees, R
13 - Edwards, G F
13 - Jorson, J E
15 - Deighton, W H
15 - Oppel, Herman
16 - Christon, J
16 - Norris, Richard
16 - Wiltshire, Frank
16 - Seager, Geo
16 - Pierson, Jno
16 - Baker, Charles
17 - Deighton, W H
17 - Priestley, J
17 - Dickinson, Capt F
18 - Willy, R B
18 - Thorpe, Fredk
18 - Pennington, Richard
19 - Edie, Robert
22 - Logan, Robert
23 - Durban Corporation
23 - Harrison, C S
23 - Williams, Henry James
23 - Reed, Jno, VRC
23 - Fowle, James
23 - Polkinghorn, John P (Probably John T. Sugar Planter, Victoria County)
23 - Wright, A
23 - Roberts, Wm C
March
01 - Milner, Henry (Managing Director of the Cotton Plantations Co.)
01 - Murray, Jno
01 - Symgani
02 - Evans, A W
02 - Lloyd, J
03 - Mumford, J J
03 - Morris, J
03 - Barron, Edward
03 - Watson, Wm Geo
03 - Steel, P
03 - Town Council
03 - Smith, Geo
03 - Symgani
03 - Blundell, T
03 - Seager, R
05 - Peel, T
05 - Walton, Walter
08 - Phillips, Jno
09 - Acutt, W H
09 - Town Council
09 - Collinge, A
09 - Umgabozi
09 - Dulgety, J
10 - George, Jno
11 - Gifford, James
11 - Fayers, James
12 - Grainger, Wm
12 - Edwards, Rev W
12 - Ballenden, J M
12 - Walpole, Capt
14 - Cox, Jno
14 - Shooter, Wm
15 - Reynolds, Lewis (Sugar planter, Victoria County)
15 - Brown, Harry Wylde
15 - Broadstreet, Robert
15 - Francis, Henry
15 - Tennison, A
16 - Holland, Edward, jun
16 - Thourne, R J
16 - Anderson, Henry
16 - Gifford, Samuel
16 - Mayor of Durban
17 - Willy, Wm B
17 - Dickins, J C
17 - Dickinson, Capt
17 - Jackson, W J
17 - Struthers, R B
18 - Deek, W E
19 - Young, ?
19 - Rich, C H
19 - Crowder, T, jun
19 - Leech, C E
21 - Field, Jno
21 - Steel, Jno S
21 - Gillett, Wm
21 - Fuller, Fred A
22 - Tyler, Rev J
22 - Chadwick, Howard
22 - Lloyd, Revd C H
22 - Pickering, Edward
22 - Crozier, N H  (of Clairmont Estate)
22 - Konkromer (sic – Konigkramer)
22 - Horboralo, Daniel
24 - Godden, Richd (Byrne settler on the King William; landowner of  Durban and Victoria County)
24 - Jones, J T
24 - Cowley, Wm
24 - Green, G
30 - Mack, Jno G (Sugar planter of Isipingo)
30 - Norris, Richard
30 - Edwards, F G
30 - Mayor of Durban (Hugh Gillespie was Mayor from 1863-65)