Verulam Natal Wesleyan Chapel Baptisms 1859-1866

VERULAM   Victoria   Natal
Wesleyan-Methodist Chapel BAPTISMS  1859 - 1866

 Date of Baptism Name Parents Abode Date of Birth

13 Feb 1859 Eliza Groom Thomas and Elizabeth Verulam 24 Nov 1858
16 Mar 1859 - Hill Samuel and Mary Verulam -
17 Mar 1859 Samuel Natal Robins James and Frances Mary Umhlali 24 Feb 1858
20 Mar 1859 Ellen Groom Richard and Elizabeth Verulam 25 Jan 1859
10 Apr 1859 Arthur Francis Harvey Richard and Emma Verulam 26 Feb 1859
15 May 1859 Charlotte Miller James and Amelia Verulam -
8 Jun 1859 Ellen Jane Garland Thomas William and Henrietta Verulam 23 Apr 1859
28 Jun 1859 Arthur Joseph Gaskin Joseph and Henrietta Verulam 3 Apr 1859
17 Jul 1859 Lilly Campbell William and Agnes Muckle Neuk nr Mt Moreland 25 Jun 1859
13 Nov 1859 Dorcas Usihashi Thomas and Mary Verulam Mission Station -
15 Dec 1859 Frederick Edmund Markham James Frederick and Elizabeth Verulam 25 Sep 1859
25 Dec 1859 Rebecca Manyonyo Abraham and Maria Verulam Mission Station 12 Oct 1859
27 May 1860 John Pierce Gee Stephen and Mary Grace Umhlanga 16 Apr 1860
3 Jul 1860 Henry Polkinghorne John Trevenen and Mary Verulam 1 Apr 1860
5 Aug 1860 Emma Jane Fowle James and Mary Verulam 9 (?19) May 1860
19 Aug 1860 Isaiah Umdongazi Jacobus and Maria Verulam 13 Jun 1860
19 Aug 1860 Jacob Ulungoi John and Mary Verulam -
12 Sep 1860 Mary Emma Putterill George and Eleanor Verulam 23 Jun 1860
23 Sep 1860 Charles Henry Shaw Charles and Ann Elizabeth Verulam 1 Aug 1860
7 Nov 1860 William James Hill Samuel and Mary Verulam 26 Sep 1860
29 Apr 1860 Mary Hannah Fayle Thomas and Sarah Umhlali 29 Mar 1860
25 Dec 1860 Emma Henrietta Gaskin Joseph and Henrietta Verulam 25 Sep 1860
3 Jan 1861 Thomas Noyazi Moses and Susannah Umsunduzi 5 months
8 Jan 1861 John Groom Richard and Elizabeth Inanda 15 Sep 1860
8 Jan 1861 Louis Adolphe Isabel Leon and Edith Little Umhlanga 5 Oct 1860
10 Dec 1860 Hannah Maria Reed John and Ellen Mary Verulam 5¼ years
23 Jan 1861 Frederick Stranack Garland Thomas William and Henrietta Verulam 24 Nov 1860
23 Jan 1861 Ann Groom Thomas and Elizabeth Verulam 3 Dec 1860
23 Jan 1861 George Albert Spencer Starr William and Ruth Elizabeth Verulam 30 Oct 1860
27 Jan 1861 Miriam Nozuvawa Cornelius and Sarah Verulam 20 Nov 1860
27 Jan 1861 Eliza Makengane Petrus and Hannah Verulam 3 months
27 Jan 1861 Eliza Benzo Luke and Sophia Verulam 3 months
31 Mar 1861 Mary Duff Thomas and Anna Maria Little Umhlanga 23 Feb 1861
11 Sep 1861 Walter Harvey Richard and Emma Verulam 8 Jul 1861
11 Sep 1861 Grace Elizabeth Harvey Josiah and Elizabeth Mary Verulam 18 Jul 1861
11 Sep 1861 Anne Elizabeth Markham James Frederick and Elizabeth Verulam 7 Mar 1861
6 Oct 1861 Amon Faku Matthew and Lydia Verulam -
10 May 1861 John William Wood James Weaver and Eliza Priscilla Tongati Estate 23 Nov 1860
10 Nov 1861 Frederick Miller James and Amelia Verulam -
13 Nov 1861 Sydney Herbert Gee Stephen and Mary Grace Umhlanga 27 Sep 1861
2 Mar 1862 William Foster Peter and Eliza Jane Verulam 1 Feb 1862
4 Mar 1862 Edwin Polkinghorne John Trevenen and Mary Verulam 21 Jan 1862
4 Mar 1862 Herbert Polkinghorne John Trevenen and Mary Verulam 21 Jan 1862
29 Jan 1862 Annie Morgan Putterill George and Eleanor Verulam 22 Jun 1861
12 Jan 1862 Frederick Arthur Field Edwin and Elizabeth Umdhloti nr Verulam 10 Sep 1861
16 Mar 1862 Harriet Sihashi Thomas and Mary Verulam Mission Station -
9 Apr 1862 - Thompson - Verulam -
4 May 1862 Joshua Majuyana James and Emma Verulam Mission Station 26 Mar 1862
14 Jul 1862 James William Parnaby Matthew and Mary Nonoti 9 Oct 1861
20 Jul 1862 William Osborne Lean Joel and Mary D'Urban 23 May 1862
21 Sep 1862 Kate Lucy Shaw Charles and Ann Elizabeth Verulam 17 Jul 1862
21 Sep 1862 John James Fowle James and Mary Verulam 12 Jul 1862
24 Sep 1862 Miriam Evans Garland Thomas William and Henrietta Verulam 19 Aug 1862
28 Sep 1862 John Duff Thomas and Anna Maria Little Umhlanga 1 Jul 1862
5 Oct 1862 Emily Jane Thring Henry and Catherine Victoria 28 May 1862
12 Nov 1862 Alice Mary Hill Samuel and Mary Verulam 10 Sep 1862
4 Jan 1863 Joshua Umjadu Peter and Eliza Verulam Mission Station -
11 Jan 1863 Herbert Ernest Povall Charles and Mary Great Umhlanga 17 Aug 1862
11 Jan 1863 Jane Fowler Webster James Swan and Robina Great Umhlanga 26 Oct 1862
18 Feb 1863 James Sydney Ronald Markham James Frederick and Elizabeth Verulam 1 Nov 1862
22 Feb 1863 Frederick Groom Richard and Elizabeth Inanda 15 Apr 1862
8 Mar 1863 Leah Beji James and Hannah Verulam Mission Station -
5 Apr 1863 Elias Fahijana Alpheus Verulam Mission Station 4 Jan 1863
8 Apr 1863 Blanche Margaret Isabel Leon and Edith Little Umhlanga 5 Sep 1862
8 Apr 1863 Annie Jane James Peter and Eliza Verulam 22 Feb 1863
19 Apr 1863 Herbert Joel Harvey Richard and Emma Verulam 7 Feb 1863
19 Apr 1863 Albert John Harvey Josiah and Elizabeth Mary Verulam 28 Feb 1863
26 Apr 1863 Michal Noziwawa Cornelius and Sarah Verulam Mission Station 4 Mar 1863
26 Apr 1863 Joseph Lunjoya John and Mary Verulam Mission Station -
24 May 1863 Margaret Duguza Isaac and Elizabeth Verulam Mission Station 7 Feb 1863
8 Sep 1863 Elias Faku Matthew and Lydia Verulam Mission Station Apr 1863
27 Sep 1863 Jabez Maguyana James and Emma Verulam Mission Station 24 Aug 1863
26 Jul 1863 Calvert Spensley Groom Thomas and Elizabeth Verulam 7 May 1863
26 Jul 1863 Albert Frederick Gee Stephen and Mary Grace Saccharine Hill 7 Jul 1863
4 Oct 1863 George Ambrose Foss John and Emma Verulam 15 Jul 1863
3 Jan 1864 Ellen Wright Alfred and Sarah Ann Verulam 10 Dec 1863
3 Jan 1864 James Henry Foster Peter and Eliza Jane Verulam 17 Nov 1863
18 Sep 1861 Mary Annie Agnes Hulett James Liege and Mary Ann Nonoti 14 Jul 1861
24 Jan 1864 Albert Saxe Liege Hulett James Liege and Mary Ann Nonoti 17 Mar 1863
20 Mar 1864 Jessie(?s) Alder Charles and Ann Verulam 26 May 1861
20 Mar 1864 Emily Alder Charles and Ann Verulam Aug 1863
20 Mar 1864 Thomas Duff Thomas and Anna Maria Woodlands Umhlanga 2 Dec 1863
15 May 1864 John Henry Hussey Henry and Sophia Great Umhlanga 2 Jan 1864
15 May 1864 Clara Edith Winson John and Emma Great Umhlanga 1 Feb 1864
5 Jun 1864 George Murray Burne John and Isabella Umhlali 5 Feb 1864
8 Jun 1864 Gertrude Alice Shaw Charles and Ann Elizabeth Verulam Mar 1864
19 Jun 1864 Theodore William Garland Thomas William and Henrietta Verulam 1 May 1864
7 Aug 1864 William Akerman Polkinghorne John Trevenen and Mary Verulam 4 Jun 1864
7 Aug 1864 William Henry Fowle James and Mary Verulam 16 May 1864
7 Aug 1864 Sarah Mabel Puttrill George and Eleanor Verulam 23 May 1864
7 Aug 1864 George Herbert Hulett James Liege and Mary Ann Nonoti 19 Jul 1864
6 Nov 1864 Albert Edward Barr Matthew and Ann Verulam 23 May 1864
(d. 6 Nov)
26 Feb 1865 Martha Groom Richard and Elizabeth Inanda 28 Sep 1864
26 Feb 1865 Frances Alice Harvey Josiah and Elizabeth Mary Verulam 11 Jan 1865
26 Feb 1865 Walter Edward Hill Samuel and Mary Verulam 2 Jan 1865
5 Mar 1865 Ella Jane Priestley Samuel and Sarah Ann Red Hill Victoria 11 Jan 1865
5 Mar 1865 Anthony Henry Duff Thomas and Hanna Maria Woodlands Victoria 15 Jan 1865
5 Mar 1865 Edith Caroline Court Hobday Richard and Harriet Caroline Smerdons Flat Victoria 18 Apr 1864
26 Mar 1865 Clarissa Mary Markham James Frederick Elizabeth Victoria Tongaat Victoria 26 Feb 1865
26 Mar 1865 Henry Thring Henry and Catherine Victoria Tongaat Victoria 1 Jan 1865
28 Mar 1865 Mary Ann Mubi Zecharian and Rosa Verulam Mission Station 2 Jan 1865
28 Mar 1865 Peter Musalem Barnabas and Eliza Verulam Mission Station Jan 1865
30 Mar 1865 Fanny Eliza Stevens John Alfred and Sarah Ann Verulam 12 Dec 1864
23 Apr 1865 Eliza Jane Harris Peter and Ellen (or Eliza) Jane Ottoway Verulam 3 Feb 1865
25 Apr 1865 Mary Uatiwane Jacobus and Maria Verulam Mission Station 11 Feb 1865
20 June 1865 Lydia Uncikwa Daniela and Phoebe Verulam Mission Station 4 Mar 1865
20 Aug 1865 Alfred Groom Thomas and Elizabeth Verulam 9 May 1865
27 Aug 1865 John Henry Nunn Thomas and Jessie Umhlanga 30 Dec 1864
17 Sep 1865 - Dagusa Isaac and Elizabeth Verulam Mission Station 11 days
17 Sep 1865 Clara Mahlemka Shadrack and Ruth Verulam Mission Station 17 May 1865
8 Oct 1865 Charles Williams Alder Charles and Ann Verulam 29 Jul 1865
8 Oct 1865 George Herbert Foster Peter and Eliza Jane Verulam 28 Jul 1865
5 Nov 1865 Aaron Nyati Tom and Agnes Noushlavu 17 Jul 1865
15 Nov 1865 Mary Henrietta (?)Symmons Charles Edwin and Jessie Maria Verulam 7 Sep 1865
19 Nov 1865 Lameck Magwiyana James and Emma Mission Station 27 Sep 1865
26 Nov 1865 John William Barton Henry Sumpter and Julia Verulam Mission Station 18 Aug 1865
3 Dec 1865 Amelia Mary Ann Watson James and Amelia Milkwood Kraal 8 months and 8 days
24 Dec 1865 George James Tyson Guardians: William and Catherine Umhlali 8 Dec 1856
24 Dec 1865 Mary Ann Burns John and Isabella Umhlali 26 Oct 1865
25 Mar 1866 Isaiah Biji James and Hannan Verulam Mission Station a few weeks
25 Mar 1866 - Lungoya John Verulam Mission Station a few weeks
22 Apr 1866 Mary Isabella Oliver Isaac and Sarah Umhlali 4 Jun 1865
22 Apr 1866 William Arthur Hulett James Liege and Mary Ann Kearsney Nonoti 16 Feb 1866
23 Apr 1866 Masterman Fred Jacobs Frederick and Isabella Maria Umhlali 4 Aug 1853
23 Apr 1866 Eliza Masterman Jacobs Frederick and Isabella Maria Umhlali 21 Jul 1855
23 Apr 1866 Eva Masterman Jacobs Frederick and Isabella Maria Umhlali 15 Feb 1850
23 Apr 1866 Harry Augustus Jacobs Frederick and Isabella Maria Umhlali 8 Sep 1861
23 Apr 1866 George Edward Fayle Thomas and Sarah Umhlali 5 Apr 1865
23 Apr 1866 Henry Tyson Fayle Thomas and Sarah Umhlali 7 Sep 1864
29 Apr 1866 - Lean Joel Cornubia -
2 Jun 1866 - Polkinghorne John T and Mary Verulam 23 May 1866
1 Jul 1866 Arthur Joseph Fowle  James and Mary Verulam 12 Apr 1866
10 Jul 1866 Wilmore Frederick Putterill George and Eleanor Verulam 29 Apr 1866
29 Jul 1866 Mary Edith Winson John and Emma Nr ?Kahts Hill Verulam 27 Apr 1866
19 Aug 1866 William Emery Robarts Mother dead Verulam Adult baptism
9 Oct 1866 Catherine Reed George and Ann Elizabeth Verulam 6 Mar 1858
15 Oct 1866 Henrietta Newbery James and Margaret Cornubia 21 Feb 1866
30 Oct 1866 Louisa Usihashi Thomas and Mary Verulam Mission Station 24 Oct 1866
4 Nov 1866 Alice Omoya Alpheus and Mary Anne Verulam Mission Station 20 Jun 1866

Wesleyan Chapel, Verulam

Stellawood Cemetery, Durban

For family historians seeking Memorial Inscriptions at Stellawood Cemetery, Durban, go to

http://www.eggsa.org/library/main.php?g2_itemId=156220

The mammoth task of photographing all the headstones is not yet complete, but is continuing.

Gadsden family memorial,
 Stellawood Cemetery, Durban

Ships named Natal

In 1852 the General Screw Steamship Company, which already ran a mail service between England and South Africa, obtained the contract for carrying mails between Cape Town and Natal, with coastal stops. Two years later, in March 1854, the Natal, of 680 tons burthen, put in her first appearance on this route. The Natal Mercury 12 April 1854 described her as ‘a remarkably fine vessel, and besides having capacity for a large cargo … she possesses ample and elegant accommodation for passengers’. Her commander was Captain LOWEN.

She was not long seen in South African waters, however, as the General Screw Company withdrew from the Cape, and disappeared altogether in 1857. The Natal and her sister ship, the Cape of Good Hope, returned to England. Later, the Natal was chartered to the French Government, and finally wrecked on the Spanish coast in March 1855 on her way to the Crimea.

Ship arrivals and departures at Natal for year
ending October 1866. Several of the ships mentioned in
this post appear listed.

The Union-Castle Line coaster, also named Natal, was built in 1866, ten years after her namesake’s demise. This new ship, of 618 tons, was designed so as to be able to cross the notorious Bar at Durban’s harbour entrance, no matter what tide was running. Her career began inauspiciously when her captain, RIDSDALE, fell overboard and drowned during a voyage to Cape Town.  Transferred to the Zanzibar Line in 1873, the Natal was first overhauled and painted yellow, after which she went on a cruise to Saldanha Bay carrying some distinguished passengers among whom was Sir John MOLTENO, the Cape Premier.

This Natal had a varied career, including some years in the Australian coastal trade; subsequently she had Siamese owners, before being sold to a Dutch East Indian company, who renamed her Srie Bandjar.  A ship with an identity crisis, she later became the Libertas and then the Alava, under Spanish ownership.  In 1905 she was wrecked in the Philippine Islands.

Natal Star was among Rennie's Aberdeen Clippers.
Advertisement 1867.

There was yet another Natal: not to be confused with either of the above, this was a sailing vessel, one of Scottish shipowner John T Rennie’s ‘Aberdeen Direct’ clippers. The first of this line to sail the direct route from England to Natal was L’Imperatrice Eugenie, departing November 1858 and arriving at Durban on January 21 1859. It was such a successful venture that Rennie had further ships built specifically for the Natal direct route; they were barques of under 500 tons, of beautiful proportions, and included the Prince Alfred, Tugela, Transvaal, Natal, Quathlamba and Maritzburg.  One of Rennie’s clippers on the same route was named Natal Star.

A three-masted schooner of 216 tons, also named Natal, was reported in The Natal Mercury as arriving from London on October 5 1862, under Captain SPENCE, with about 15 passengers; her agent was J BROWN. This may have been a private charter.

The Cape and Merchants’ Line had a steamer called the Natal Merchant, about 1300 tons, in the 1880s. And, in 1865 there was a coaster called Natalian operating between the Cape and Natal as part of the Diamond Line – a company whose light flickered briefly and was extinguished in 1867.

Passengers on the Drummond Castle 1896

As reported in The Cape Times, the following were the passengers who sailed on the Drummond Castle from Cape Town and the coast ports on 28 May, 1896:

Misses Olive
Messrs F W and WW Whipp
Mr and Mrs Rudd (Reed?) and child
Mr Aspinall
Mr and Mrs. Harris
Mr Donaldson
Lieutenant v Geise
Miss Berrick
Mr E W Rich
Mr Drury
Mr and Mrs Ea(r)les and child
Mrs Hughes and child
Mr Bennett
Mr and Mrs Stevens
Messrs
G Almond
J Richardson
J Dalziel
English
A Ryan
Mrs. Lucas and two children
Mr and Mrs Van Mundle
Mr and Mrs Gateman and child
Messrs
Allen
Jacobez
Sago
Schlesinger
H S Cohen
Mrs McLean and four children
Messrs
Hastings
Tulfsen
Ugland
Norris
Graham
Kingstand
Mr and Mrs Kingler
Mr and Mrs Brochein and child
Mrs Hugo and four children
Mrs Mercer and four children
Mrs F Mack
Miss McGee

Messrs

N Tayleur 

Hughes 

T Knight 

A D Buxton 

Mr  Mrs and Miss Rae 

Mr Mrs and Miss Stevens

Mrs H Morris

Mrs Miss and Master Morton

Mrs and Miss Barnett

Mr W Roberts

Mr Mrs Master and Misses (two) Peachey

Mr and Mrs T. Peachey and three children and maid 

Misses (two) Mercer 

Messrs

J Platt 

Morissay

Browning

Schornacheim

Mrs and Miss Willis

Mr and Mrs Powdrell

Mrs and Misses (two) Gethin

Miss Peace and nurse

Mrs McClelland

Mrs Taylor and two children

Mr J Goldman

Mrs Brown-Constable and maid

Mr C Marquardt

As always with such reported lists there are unreliable spellings, errors and omissions. For example, a passenger named John Wallis BLINKHORN (‘late of Adderley Street’) does not appear above because his decision to sail on the Drummond Castle was taken at the last minute, too late for his name to be added to the passenger list. His wife and child had departed for England three months earlier on another steamer but business had detained Mr Blinkhorn at the Cape. 

Several would-be passengers had for various reasons changed their minds about embarking on the Drummond Castle, including a Councillor COX who had booked his passage but did not sail.

There were a number of children on board the ship. Among them were Geraldine and Beatrice OLIVE, aged 15 and 13, daughters of the City Engineer for Cape Town, W T Olive. The girls were being sent to school in England.  Mrs LUCAS, wife of W B Lucas, formerly third officer on the S.S. Warwick Castle, was travelling with her two children, one of them an infant and the other about seven years old.

Charles MARQUARDT, according to some sources, sailed from Natal. He was one of three survivors of the wreck. He spent the night and part of the following day keeping afloat by clinging to a piece of wood, not a scenario he had envisaged when booking his first class ticket. Later he sent a cable from Ushant alerting the Currie Company to the disaster. Joseph Berthele, the retired Breton fisherman who saved Mr. Marquardt, was awarded a silver medal. Various other awards were made to the inhabitants of Molene and Ouessant (Ushant) in connection with the wreck. The Committee of Lloyds of London bestowed the bronze medal of the Society of Lloyds upon the fishermen Francois and Mathieu Masson (who rescued crew members WOOD and GODBOLT) and Berthele as an honorary acknowledgment of their extraordinary exertions in saving life. 

NORRIS and GRAHAM, described in contemporary reports as ‘firework men’, were assistants to the ‘pyrotechnist’ Mr Pain, and were returning to England after a stay of almost a year in South Africa. Both had wives and families who were left without a breadwinner after the wreck.

DALZIEL, ALMOND and RICHARDSON were operators of the Cape Telegraph Department travelling together. J Dalziel was to have been married on his arrival in England. 

CAPTAIN W W PIERCE had for many years been the master of the steamer Courland, trading between Cape Town and Natal. Pierce went down with his ship, the Drummond Castle. Most of his crew were lost, among them First Officer J WAYMAN and Second Officer T W HICKS. Fourth Officer P S ELLIS was buried at Ushant.

LIEUTENANT VON GIESE (or Geise) was an officer in the German army stationed in Damaraland but had been ordered home on sick leave. Unfortunately he was booked on the Drummond Castle. 

TULFSEN and UGLAND were passengers returning to Norway, after a long and perilous journey. They had been wrecked on a Norwegian ship and eventually reached Delagoa Bay in a destitute condition. Afterwards they embarked on the Drummond Castle, and were, therefore, in two wrecks within a few weeks, eventually meeting an apparently inescapable fate.

The PEACHEY family (Cornish settlers to S.A.) - the South Africa Magazine reported as follows:

In Durban … Messrs. Donald Currie and Co.’s offices were besieged by people asking for news of the disaster and the names of the missing. Well-known people belonging to Natal among the passengers are Mr. Peachey and family, of Tongaat, ten in all. They had decided to go by direct liner, but at the last moment changed their minds and booked by the Drummond (an intermediate steamer). Mrs. Peachey, senior, was paying a visit to England after an absence of forty-six years.
All the flags in town and on shipping at the Point were half-masted on receipt of the news. The Prime Minister of Natal cabled to Sir Donald Currie expressing sympathy with those bereaved by the foundering of the Drummond Castle. The Mayor of Pietermaritzburg has invited subscriptions to a relief fund.

[above extract transcribed from South Africa Magazine by Ellen Stanton]

The extent of the tragedy is difficult to comprehend even 117 years later. Some passengers drowned in their cabins. Those who managed to reach the deck perhaps fared worse. Of the bodies washed up on the beaches of Ushant and Molene, many were still wearing pyjamas. The islanders dressed them in their own ceremonial costumes kept for solemn rituals, and hundreds of people attended services and burials by the parish priest. Queen Victoria was moved by the care taken in recovering the bodies and the reverence with which the dead were treated.

Memorial Inscription at Goudhurst to Herbert Hinds, lost in the wreck of the
Drummond Castle off Ushant France 16 June 1896 and buried on the island of Molene.
His name does not appear on the passenger list given above:
Hinds may have been a crew member.

Has anyone sourced a crew list for the final voyage of the Drummond Castle? 

If so, please alert Mole via the Comments facility on this blog.

Wreck of the Drummond Castle June 1896

On 28 May 1896 Donald Currie’s Company’s intermediate steamer Drummond Castle, on her way home from Delagoa Bay to England, left Cape Town on what was to be her final journey. A fortnight later she called at Teneriffe. A concert was held in the saloon on the evening of 16 June, most of the passengers going to their cabins afterwards as the deck wasn’t inviting – the sea was calm, but there was a drizzle and poor visibility in the hazy weather.

The ship was approaching Ushant, a locality known to mariners as among the most dangerous in the world, due to strong currents. Nevertheless, the Captain (Pierce) had not reduced speed and neither had soundings been taken. As a result, nobody realised the ship was caught in the treacherous currents and was being pulled in eastward. She struck the reef known as the Pierres Vertes between Ushant and an island to the south. Within a few minutes she had gone to the bottom.

Her sinking was so speedy that accounts of the disaster give little information. A passenger (the only passenger to survive) stated that the Captain believed the ship to be wedged on the rocks and had hesitated about lowering the boats. The Chief Engineer, however, in a heroic decision, raced below to prevent the boilers bursting. Horrified passengers rushed on deck but there was no hope for them or for the stricken ship. Four minutes after the vessel struck she was a mass of floating wreckage.

The following morning, fishermen saw two men clinging to some flotsam – Quartermaster Wood and a seaman, Godbolt – and these were taken on board the fishing vessel and landed on the island of Molene. A passenger, Charles Marquardt, also picked up by fishermen in the vicinity, was landed at Ushant.

These three people were the only survivors of the 243 souls on board the Drummond Castle. Those lost included Captain Pierce and his officers and crew numbering 101 and 142 passengers.

For several days, bodies continued to be washed up on the islands near the scene of the wreck. Many of the victims were buried at once in common graves as there wasn’t enough wood available for so many coffins.

Marquardt had cabled the Currie Company and as soon as the news broke, crowds flocked to the Castle offices in Fenchurch Street, London. Relatives of some of those on board travelled out to the islands near Ushant but all hope of finding further survivors was quickly abandoned.

The South African public was stunned by the news, which impacted directly on almost every town in the country. At the Cape, Parliament adjourned as a mark of respect to those lost in the calamity. Few wrecks have been as appallingly sudden as that of the Drummond Castle.

Unsuccessful attempts were made in 1929 to salvage part of the ship’s cargo. A huge rent in the hull was found where the Pierres Verte had ripped open the vessel’s side.

To be continued …passengers on the Drummond Castle 

Aliwal Shoal

This submerged reef off the southern Natal coast has caused the wreck of many ships, but, contrary to popular misconception, not that of the barque Aliwal, after which it was named.

The reason for the shoal bearing the name Aliwal is that it was from this vessel that the mass of rock was first sighted.

The Aliwal was a Byrne settler ship of 425 tons, commanded by Captain Anderson, which carried 117 emigrants from London to Natal, arriving safely on 14 December 1849 (some sources give 10 December). While at anchor at Port Natal, the Aliwal survived two easterly gales without sustaining any damage.

A letter to the editor of the Natal Witness, 14 January 1850, quotes a letter written by Anderson as follows:

'I think you would like to know that about 30 miles to the S.W. from Natal, and distant from the land about 2 miles, I observed a very large and dangerous reef, or shoal, with heavy breakers.'

Prior to Anderson's sighting of the shoal, it had not been alluded to in any shipping directories.

In response to the above letter in the Natal Witness the missionary, JC Bryant, then living at the Ifumi mission station, commented in February 1850:

'To the Editor of the Natal Witness
Sir,
In the Natal Witness of Jan 18th is an extract of a letter from Captain Anderson of the Barque Aliwal, giving information of a shoal or rock near the coast about 30 miles SW of Natal. From my own observations I can testify to the correctness of Capt. A's statement, as I have often seen from my residence at Ifumi, a line of heavy breakers apparently a mile in length, and about two miles from the shore. I cannot give the locality of the rock or shoal better than by saying it appears from the land to be 3 or 4 miles SW of the Umkomazi River. The breakers, however, are not always seen, in nine days out of ten, or perhaps in nineteen out of twenty, the sea appears smooth, and a vessel might pass near the place and no one on board suspect the danger. The breakers commonly appear after a strong southerly wind, and perhaps they may also be affected more of less by the state of the tide.
Yours truly,
JC Bryant.
Feb 12th, 1850.

In his book 'Southern Lights', Harold Williams mentions that the shoal is approximately 4 kilometres long and 1 kilometre wide.

'The sharp northern peak is barely covered by water and, on the rare occasion, the sea breaks over it. When this occurs the white foam is clearly seen from the shore. The centre of the Aliwal Shoal is approximately 5 kilometres from the coast and Admiralty charts indicate that a natural current of about 3 knots flows from south to north between shore and shoal. Some ships' masters set courses, when travelling up the coast to Durban, which take them through this narrow channel, but the slightest miscalculation or drift can result in disaster.'

Among relatively recent ships lost on the Aliwal Shoal were the Aimee Lykes and the SA Pioneer. The British steamer SS Nebo, while on a voyage from Sunderland to Natal, struck the shoal on 20 May 1884 and sank immediately; she still lies there intact.

The reef is today a mecca for divers.

Aliwal was a place in the Punjab in India, where Sir Harry Smith (Governor of the Cape) gained a decisive victory over the Sikhs on 28 January 1846. Aliwal Street, Durban, may commemorate this battle and the visit to Natal by Sir Harry Smith in 1847, or alternatively may be another memorial to the ship the Aliwal.

Finding passengers UK-SA after 1890

If you believe your ancestor travelled to South Africa by ship during or after 1890, your best bet for further information is to search findmypast.co.uk Passenger Lists under the Travel and Migration section of the site.

Not only can you search by surname, but also browse by name of ship. This may be the answer to a recent blog visitor’s query re the Grantully Castle’s movements in 1896. The Grantully Castle made three voyages between England and SA in that year, departing from Southampton in March, May and October. Further exploration – under passengers’ names - on findmypast should prove rewarding.

This ship was the first Grantully Castle, 3454 tons, built in 1880 and a sister ship to the first Kinfauns Castle. In December 1896 Grantully Castle ceased her work in the Cape service and was taken over by the Booth Line, with her name changed to Augustine, which doesn’t have quite the same ring to it. However, she traded between Liverpool and South America until 1912 before ending up in the breakers’ yard. Grantully Castle (2), 7617 tons, was built in 1910 – by Barclay Curle, Glasgow, as was the case with Grantully Castle (1).

Passengers travelling from England to South Africa in the early days of the Union and Castle Lines had various options as to port of departure. Union HQ was at Southampton, from where the steamer would leave for the Cape, with a stop at Plymouth for the mails. The Plymouth call ended in September 1888, ships then calling at Lisbon instead where late mails, sent overland via Paris, were taken on. A sleeping-car service was arranged between Paris and Lisbon. The arrangement for the mails at Lisbon came to end in 1891.

Currie Liners, based on London, made a stop for some hours at Dartmouth after leaving the Thames. This route was more popular than that of the Union Line because it provided a pleasant visit to the beautiful estuary of the River Dart. The fortnightly departure of the Donald Currie Steamer from Dartmouth was an event, bringing business to the small port – shore-visiting passengers from London as well as arrivals by rail who were to join the ship at the river.

By June 1891 the Currie steamers changed their route, departing from Southampton instead of Dartmouth, thus ending the latter port's golden era.  It was only after the amalgamation of the Union and Castle Lines in 1900 that all mail steamers were finally based on Southampton.

Award for Cape Family Research Forum

The Cape Family Research Forum (CFRF) on Monday evening received the Western Cape Cultural Affairs' Award for their Contribution to Marketing Archival Services and Resources in 2012 at a ceremony that took place at the Cape Town City Hall.


The CFRF was part of the St Helena Island Heritage exhibition in 2012, resulting in the forum being nominated by Merle Martin , the heritage activist for St Helena Island Roots. "Thus the archival heritage fraternity bestowed this public recognition on the CFRF for its 10 years of endeavours of community outreach and transfer of archival research skills," said the forum's PRO, Mogamat Kamedien.

Read more at:

http://www.vocfm.co.za:80/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=8281:cfrf-efforts-awarded&Itemid=131

Passengers to Natal: Dunkeld July 1880

The Dunkeld's arrival on July 23 1880 was reported in the Natal Witness July 27 1880 as follows:

Arrived
July 23, Dunkeld, C.R.M.S. of London, 1157 tons, Broadfoot, from Cape Town and intermediate ports. Cargo general.

PASSENGERS

From England:
Messrs
Kehrmann and Saddy
Mrs Gilded and maid
Mr Shortrade
Lieut. Bailey
Lieut Peel
Messrs
Faircell
Michaelson
Isaacs
Mackinnon
Charlesworth
Mrs James and son
Mrs Goldberge
Wolfenden
Ericson and family
Mr and Mrs Mathieson
Messrs
Mellwrich and McKenzie
Mrs Lemon
Mrs Cleighorn
Mrs Field
Mrs Kirkness
Mr Dunningham

From Cape Town:
Mr Short
Col. Gildes
Master Lamport
Sergt. Wall
Mr Dahigg
Mr Jones
Mr Lilo

From Algoa Bay:
Mrs Kettle
Mr Baxter
Mr Ebbage
Mr Gerr

- DC Andrew, agent.

Crossing the Bar at Natal

The Bluff and entrance channel at Durban.
In the foreground the remains of Milne's North Pier.

‘What is this bar you keep talking about?’ asks a perplexed blog visitor.
Well, it’s not the Three Anchors pub down by the docks, me hearty.

If I’ve been less than clear in previous posts about Durban harbour, the Bar refers to the sandbank across the entrance channel to the port. Someone of more technical ability than myself describes this phenomenon (by no means limited to Durban, see below) as follows:

A harbour bar is a sedimentary deposit formed at a harbour entrance by the deposition of sediment or the action of waves on the sea floor or adjacent beaches. A bar can form a dangerous obstacle to shipping, preventing access to the harbour in unfavourable weather conditions or at some states of the tide.

The mouth of the Buffalo River, which forms the harbour of East London, also had a bar across the entrance. Retaining walls were constructed to narrow the channel and increase the tidal scour. A breakwater was run out in the form of an arm to prevent the sea checking the river's flow and driving the sand back upon the bar. Also, the use of dredgers enabled clearance of the river channel so that vessels of large draught would be able to enter.

Much the same procedure was followed at Durban, over many years, to try and solve the problem of the bar. For more on the history of this aspect of the port, read Allan Jackson’s article, the Battle of the Bar, at http://www.fad.co.za/Resources/dhew/bar.htm

From the family historian’s point of view, the difficulties posed by the bar had a direct impact on ancestors arriving by ship. At Port Natal, the settler ships of the Byrne era (late 1840s and 1850s), though of shallow draught in comparison with later giants of the steam age, usually had to anchor out in the roadstead several miles from shore. This in turn led to several shipwrecks – including that of the Minerva, during which all the immigrants’ possessions were lost. A more bleak start to life in the new Colony can scarcely be imagined. Such events inevitably affected the fortunes and futures of our ancestors.

Read more at http://molegenealogy.blogspot.com/search?q=minerva+wreck

Even in later years, shipping columns repeatedly show that at the end of a voyage passengers had to resign themselves to delays, waiting outside the port until wind and weather made it possible for them to be transferred (by basket) to a tug or other harbour craft to carry them to land. We may find that an ancestor arrived at Natal on 26 February – but that he actually set foot on shore on 1 March: which do we choose as his date of arrival?

At Durban, by 1904 as a result of continued dredging operations 33 million tons of sand had been shifted. On 26 June 1904 the Armadale Castle was the first mailship to cross the Bar and enter the harbour. She was the flagship of the Union Castle Line (Union Line and Castle Line having amalgamated in 1900) weighing in at nearly 13 000 tons and with a draught of 7, 6 metres.

This historic crossing marked the end of the basket-landing era. Passengers would be able to disembark by gangplank directly from ship to shore.

And now, a moment of self-indulgence: Tennyson’s poem ‘Crossing the Bar’, extracts of which appear on numerous mariners’ headstones:

Sunset and evening star,

  And one clear call for me!

And may there be no moaning of the bar,

  When I put out to sea,

But such a tide as moving seems asleep,

    Too full for sound and foam,

When that which drew from out the boundless deep

    Turns again home.

Twilight and evening bell,

And after that the dark!

And may there be no sadness of farewell,

    When I embark;

For tho' from out our bourne of Time and Place

    The flood may bear me far,

I hope to see my Pilot face to face

    When I have crost the bar.

Passengers to Natal: arrival of the Norman Feb 1863

Travelling on the R.M.S. Norman was A Noon - Noon's Sugar Estate, owned by Messrs A H and A N Noon, was a 300 acre estate on the Isipingo River, in existence from about 1860 to at least 1863.

PASSENGERS

Mr and Mrs Walford
Mr Newton
Mrs Hellett
Mrs Becker and children and servant
Miss (? Meney) (?King)
Mrs Kennedy
Mr (?SG or ST) Hope
Mr Telford Smith
Mr Osborne
Lieut Malcolm
Messrs Glynn (2)
Mr A Noon
Rev FT Biccard
Mr Blackburn
Mr Lister
Mr AW Murray
Rev M Meering
Second Class
Mrs James and infant
Mrs Walker
From Port Elizabeth
Cabin
Mr and Mrs Cook
Mr and Mrs Scheepers
Mr Galt
Mr Wrench
Second Class
Mr L Dixon
Mr and Mrs Francis
Miss Francis
Mr J Appel
Mr and Mrs Breens
Mr and Mrs Shuttleworth and seven in family
Mr, Mrs and Miss Shuter

Passenger arrivals: the Arab Oct 1880

The Natal Witness Oct 16 1880 reports on the arrival at the Cape of Union R.M.S. Arab*

The "Times" on Basutoland
A Land-slip at Bengal.
Death of Grace, The Cricketer
(Per Webster's Agency)

Cape Town, Oct 15, 11.13 a.m.
The Arab arrived this morning.

The London Times considers the position in Basutoland very grave, and adds: - "It is of course morally impossible that were Cape forces unable to quell a serious rising we could tolerate the serious blow to our prestige of allowing any sort of victory to the Basutos, and were the war protracted and expensive a burden would be imposed on the English Treasury. No pressure that can properly be put upon the Cape Government in the cause of moderation will be deemed unduly strong."

A land-slip has occurred at Nainatal, Bengal, carrying away several houses, and killing and injuring a large number of Europeans.

Nothing important from Afghanistan, General Roberts is at Quetta.

Mr G.F. Grace, the cricketer, is dead.

PASSENGERS for Natal per Arab:
Messrs
Hall
Griffin
Crossley
Cottam
Beningfield
Jester
Driver
Moffat
Simpson
Dean
Leyland
Sink
Pratt
Wotherspoon (error for Witherspoon?)
Wotherspoon junior
Miles
Lloyd
Fitz-Harris
Bijdawell
Diehl
Samtam
Peck
Rossier
Nedley
Jurnan
Aitken
Mistresses
Griffin and family
Brierley
Beningfield
Driver
Moffat and family
Pratt
Bijdawell
Master Bijdawell
the Misses
Brierley
Pratt
Lloyd

Conway Castle expected to-morrow.
PASSENGERS for Natal:
Messrs
Sewell
Iken
Dilner
Glover
Colonel Winsloe
Messrs
Williamson
White
Wotherspoon
Laing
Kynock
Phillips
Alexander
Hackland
Wylie
Flett
Clark
Spence
Potts
King
Harlow
Fluckell
Price
Robinson
Lewis
Kensman
Campbell
Mistresses
Cerets
Broome
Flete
Clark
Robinson and family
Lewis and family
Kensman and family
the Misses
Leathern (2)
Risely
Yorke
Flower

*The Arab, built 1879 by J and G Thompson, Glasgow, 3192 t, had only three years in the mail service; in 1882 she became a troop carrier for campaign against Arabi Pasha; in 1885 after General Gordon's death she went on the expedition to Suakin, and became HQ ship for the Naval Transport Staff. At the conclusion of the Sudanese War, the Arab returned to Sydney Australia troops of the volunteer expeditionary force. In December 1891 she inaugurated the Union Company's service from the Cape to Mauritius, continuing to run as an intermediate steamer until the end of the century. Early in 1900 she went to the shipbreakers.