Saturday, March 31, 2018

Souvenir Saturday: an unusual procession in Durban 1869



Colenso, Bishop of Natal, after writing material which was considered shocking by his ecclesiastical peers, was found guilty of heresy and in 1865 was deposed as Bishop. Civil law however supported him and enabled him to keep properties vested in his name (though the missionary societies such as the SPG withdrew their financial support of Colenso), and he continued as Bishop of Natal until his death in 1883. This created a schism in the Anglican Church in Natal and in 1867 William Kenneth Macrorie was appointed Bishop of Maritzburg.

Bishop Macrorie came to Natal after the controversial excommunication of Colenso, who had written in criticism of the literal word of the Bible e.g. he found he could not believe in the Flood and his missionary approach to the native population was brought into question as well. This all brought him into conflict with the Anglican Church authorities in the Colony. The resulting schism
caused some Anglicans to remain loyal to Colenso and others went over to Macrorie. It was a huge ecclesiastical scandal in the Colony.


Thomas Arnold, quite an influential colonist, supported Macrorie and Arnold's hotel billiard room was used by the 'Arnoldites' to hold services where Macrorie officiated - presumably the building on the left as seen in the drawing above. Arnold's Trafalgar Hotel appears on the right.

Two little African boys at left are exclaiming 'otini na' (what's going on?) and 'weh mameh' (colloquial Zulu expression denoting amazement). The clerical contingent is followed by further supporters passing the Trafalgar Hotel, which has a sign saying 'Licensed to sell Beer, Spirits, Tobacco'.

2 Feb 1869 was the date the newly-arrived Macrorie first worshipped in Natal and this procession may have been intended to portray this first visit to Durban for that purpose. 


Artist unknown. For more on the controversy see Colenso Letters from Natal (ed Wyn Rees) and entries under Macrorie and Colenso on Wikipedia.


Acknowledgements to Peter Hare and Dale Schultz

Friday, March 30, 2018

Passengers to Natal per Athenian and Melrose 1889

ATHENIAN arrival 2 November 1889 reported in Natal Witness 6 November 1889

Arrived: 
Nov 2, Athenian, U.S.S., of Southampton, 3877 tons, Bainbridge, from England (Oct 4), and Cape ports. Cargo, general.

PASSENGERS: 
From England: 
Miss Roger 
Messrs 
McDonald 
Walker 
Ross 
Herbert 
Falkenburg 
Whyte 
Mr, Mrs, Miss, and
 Masters (2) Taylor and maid 
Miss Powell 
Mr Hahn 
Mr and Mrs Flack 
Messrs HJ Stephenson 
Hallow 
Brummer 
Pike 
Murray 
Bingham 
Purcell 
Walker 
Wall 
Anderson 
Perotti

From Cape Town: 
Mrs McMillan and child 
Messrs 
(3) Harvey 
Colonel Sir F de Winton and valet 
Capt B. Powell and valet 
Messrs 
Iver 
HA Young 
Mr and Mrs Wiggett 
Mr Parry 
Brigade Surgeon Catherwood 
Messrs 
Howard 
Struck 
Sander 
Mrs and Miss Jones 
Miss Matthews 
Mrs Gavey 
Mrs Mattes

From Algoa Bay: 
Messrs 
Wood 
Quin 
Reid 
Bulhrine 
TW Wood 
Selby 
Towse 
Gibbs 
Miss McQueen 
Miss Nicolai 
Messrs 
Pitcher 
Maploo 
Paulin

From East London: 
Mr and Mrs Thenance 
Mrs BB Reid 
Master W Punslow 
Master F Punslow 
Mr, Mrs and Master Deuranat

- HJ Watts, agent.

Nov 4, Melrose, C.S.S. of London, 840 tons, Rose, from Cape ports. Cargo, general

PASSENGERS: 
From London: 
Messrs 
Churchill 
English 
Williams 
Hindson (4) and Brown 
Miss G Elliott 
Messrs 
Croome and Osborne

From Algoa Bay: 
Mrs Hodgkins 
Messrs 
Adv. Schriener 
J and C Hodgkins, and Clarke 
Mr Ferreira and eight Zulus

- WF Allan, agent.

Nov 4, Mount Lebanon, S.S., from England (Sept 27), and Cape ports. Cargo, general 
- HJ Watts, agent.

Nov 4, Fingal, from Gottenborg (July 22).



Wednesday, March 28, 2018

A Gadsden marriage at St John Hackney and a home at Upton House


St John Hackney in late 18th c


My great great grandparents, John Gadsden (1794-1853) and Mary Ann Bone, were married at St John Hackney on 27 March, 1821. However, by that year there was a 'New Church'.* At the time the couple were living at Upton House, West Ham [see watercolour below, partly after a photograph, partly after a sketch by Mary Lister; source Wellcome Library]. Their eldest son, Moreton Champness Nevins Gadsden was born at Upton House

'Upton House.  Situated on the opposite side of Upton Lane to Ham House, which was also, confusingly, known as Upton House for a short time in the eighteenth-century.  It was typical of a number of fine seventeenth- and eighteenth-century houses built in West Ham as country retreats for City merchants and businessmen.  Upton House (that is, the one the Gadsdens lived in) was rebuilt in 1731 and was the birthplace of (Lord) Joseph Lister (1827-1912), the founder of antiseptic surgery.  It was demolished in 1968.' [Source: From  'Britain in Old Photographs: Stratford West Ham & The Royal Docks' by Stephen Pewsey  pub: Sutton Publishing Ltd 1996]

Clearly, if Joseph Lister was born at Upton House in 1827 it is reasonable to suppose that the Gadsdens had moved elsewhere by that date. John and Mary Ann re-emerge in the City of Waterford, Ireland, where John was a provision merchant. He and his brothers Charles Edward Gadsden and James Eyre Gadsden apparently left England and went to live in Waterford where all three produced children as baptismal records show. It is possible that John at least commuted between Waterford and London, as ties with West Ham and Hackney continue until 1828 when John and Mary Ann's daughter, Mary Rochenda, aged only 4 months, was buried at St John Hackney on 13 November of that year.







Map of West Ham, left, shows Upton also Ham House, Plastow [sic, usually Plaistow], West Ham Abbey; note Woolwich across the river. 

Location of East Ham helps to explain why West Ham is so-named i.e. though in the east of London, West Ham lies to the west of East Ham! Devil's House, on East Ham Level, invites further exploration.






















The old parish church of St Augustine had been largely demolished in 1797 when the new parish church of St John, Hackney was built.  Only the tower and the tomb of the Rowe family...remained.  At first the tower was kept to hang the peal of bells, as the parishioners had little faith in the strength of the new church tower and later local sentiment saved the tower from demolition. [Source: Old Ordnance Survey Maps Hackney 1870 Godfrey Edition London sheet 41]. Originally dedicated to St Augustine it was known as St John from circa 1660.  [Info from London Collage website (Guildhall Library Collection)]. 


John Gadsden was in partnership with Joseph Nash in the provision business in Bridge Street Waterford from at least as early as 1824, according to Pigot's Directory.  





Saturday, March 24, 2018

Rickshaw and passenger Durban circa 1912-13




This photograph, a snapshot in time, was taken circa 1912-13 in Durban. The date is revealed by family history information as well as details of the costume worn by the people in the photo. The rickshaw, once a familiar mode of transport in Durban, is drawn by an African 'puller' who was in all likelihood not the owner of the vehicle but paying a syndicate rent by the week. Rickshas, also spelled rickshaws, were imported into Natal by Natal Sugar Baron, Sir Marshall Campbell, from Japan in 1892. By 1899, 11 445 men were registered as pullers; 740 rickshaws were in daily use at this stage. 

His passenger is Victor Charles Lymbery, maternal grandfather of Sally Leventis. He was b
19 August 1887 and d 8 February 1952. He married Katheen Luntley on 24 April 1913. Victor was the youngest of six boys. The eldest brother, Harold, married one of Kathleen's sisters, Phyllis. Victor's father was Walter Roe Lymbery, dubbed The Grand Old Man of Nottingham Sport because he founded the Nottingham Forest Cricket Club in 1861, was one of the pioneers of the Nottingham Golf Club as well as being closely involved in the Nottinghamshire Football Association. 

The Lymbery and Luntley families were prominent Nottinghamshire people. Ancestors John Lymbery and his sister Susannah founded a dynasty of Lace Manufacturers circa 1806.

All six sons of Walter Lymbery were sent on 'world tours', Victor's taking place shortly prior to his marriage in 1913. After that he served in France during World War I. His father had agents around the world for their lace business. A young man like Victor, travelling on his own, would probably be put in contact with trusted family friends and business contacts. Victor's father Walter in his younger days spent 80 - 100 days a year travelling the world's markets, promoting Nottingham lace. He then established further businesses in the Nottingham Lace Market. Two of his sons continued the lace business, but not Victor. However, the latter was put in contact with people known to his father through trade links with other countries.

The two children in the photo with their demure minder perhaps belonged to family friends where Victor may have been staying whilst in Durban. The children are wearing outfits trimmed with broderie anglaise, popular for children's garments during the 19th and early 20th centuries. The nanny wears a long skirt with tucks at the hem, also typical of the 1900-1914 era.

Victor is nattily attired in a three-piece suit, with a wing-collared shirt, and his trousers have the turnups and knife-edge crease trendy from 1902. His hair is parted in the middle and owes something of its shine and neatness to a gentleman's pomade.

The rickshaw driver or puller usually wore a two-piece garment known as a 'kitchen boy's suit'. The white paint on his lower legs is said to be in imitation of girls' school socks. In pictures of rickshaws with British soldiers in 1902, the headdress is formed using the smaller female cow horns. Later, about 1914 -18, the male bull horns appear. 

It's not certain where the photo was taken, though it may have been in one of Durban's parks, on the Victoria Embankment or even the beachfront. We might think of the photo as a 'selfie' of its day - a set piece showing certain obvious elements of colonial style.

For more on the history of the rickshaw see Dr. Rowan Gatfield's remarkable presentation at
http://www.mile.org.za/symposium/Presentations/Theme%206%20%20%20Enhancing%20Social%20Equity/Rowan%20Gatfield.pdf

Acknowledgements to Rowan Gatfield for his help and information on rickshaws, and also to Sally Leventis, descendant of the rickshaw passenger, Victor Charles Lymbery, for sharing this photograph and family details.









Friday, March 23, 2018

Scapegoat of Empire: Breaker Morant

Bryan Brown as Peter Handcock,  
Edward Woodward as Breaker Morant at right.


I watched the iconic film Breaker Morant some years ago and have recently been enjoying Breaker Morant: the Retrial, a documentary telling the Breaker's story from his youthful days to action in South Africa and finally to his execution during the Anglo-Boer War. Military lawyer Jim Unkles pursues the case in Australia and the UK on behalf of descendants of Morant and the other convicted soldiers involved. A controversial case, its retrial in a moot court eventually brings in a verdict of miscarriage of justice, offering closure, though belatedly, to those concerned. 


In the original film, based on true events, three Australian soldiers are court-martialled for shooting Boer prisoners while fighting in colonial South Africa. The argument is that the men were simply following orders and the rules of war. 

Lieutenants Harry Morant, Peter Handcock and George Witton were convicted of killing prisoners. Morant and Handcock were shot, with no chance to appeal their sentence. Witton had his sentence changed to life imprisonment, subsequently commuted as a result of actions by Australian judge Sir Isaac Isaacs in 1902. Witton was released.

The Retrial was made in 2013. It includes an intriguing account of Harry 'the Breaker's' elusive origins. 







"Shoot straight, you bastards": Folklore legend, Harry "Breaker" Morant.



Thursday, March 22, 2018

Passengers per RMS Zulu to Natal Aug 1873


ARRIVAL OF THE ZULU Natal Mercury August 9 1873

SHIPPING GAZETTE

ARRIVED
August 8 - Zulu, RMS, 678 tons, Valler, from Table Bay, August 1; Mossel Bay, Aug 4; Algoa Bay, Aug 5; and East London, Aug 6. Cargo general

PASSENGERS
Mrs Feltham
Mrs Ellis
Mrs WH Piers
Mr and Mrs Lloyd and two servants
Miss Bennett
Mrs Tritton
Mr Cowley
Mr Compton
Mr Grady
Mr D'Montillo
Mr W Collier
Left Cape Town, 1st August at 6 p.m. Light, moderate head wind and foggy.
Arrived at Mossel Bay on the 2nd August, at 11.10 p.m.; on the 4th August, at 1.35, left Mossel Bay; light westerly wind, and hazy, to Algoa Bay, where she arrived on the 5th August, at 1.40 p.m.; left again the same day, at 5.30 p.m.; had moderate head wind to East London, where she anchored at 1.15 p.m., on the 6th August; very heavy southerly swell; left same day at 6.10 p.m.
Escombe and Co., agents.


RMS Zulu passenger list Natal Mercury August 9 1873



This report indicates the time it took a ship to sail from Table Bay to Natal, stopping at small ports in-between and encountering adverse winds and other delaying weather conditions.



Tuesday, March 20, 2018

West Street Durban 1900: horse-drawn trams and rickshaws


Central West Street Durban in 1900: double-decker horse-drawn
trams and rickshaws - the latter without decorative tourist trappings. How much more peaceful West Street seems before the invention of the infernal internal combustion engine.
The clock tower of the first City Hall, later the Post Office, can be seen in the left background.

Monday, March 19, 2018

Arnold family: boy in cadet uniform ca 1899 Natal




Cabinet photograph circa 1899 by J Wallace Bradley who operated a studio at 15 Smith Street, Durban from 1894 -1899. The boy could be the eldest son of William Marshall Arnold, George Wilfred.

For more on School Cadets see 
www.fad.co.za/2014/02/21/hool-cadets-the-polliack-silver-bugle-and-polliacks/

For a group photo of Umzinto School Cadets 1897 Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee Celebrations see
molegenealogy.blogspot.co.za/2016/09/souvenir-saturday-umzinto-school-cadets.html

Acknowledgement: Peter Hare and Dale Schultz




Friday, March 16, 2018

A wedding ... and a drowning: Arnold family 1899 Natal



This delightful wedding photograph (with a glorious collection of hats) taken in Durban by W B Sherwood in 1899 shows members of the Arnold family. The gentleman standing, left, could be William Marshall Arnold and the lady standing far right his wife, Julia nee Irvine, parents of the two little girls. The names of the bride and groom await further research, but the elderly lady seated left is the grandmother of the girls sitting on the floor at front. Her resemblance to the child next to her is very clear.

A tragedy hangs over the happy picture as the two young girls, Eunice and Kathleen Arnold, drowned at Durban on 8 March 1900. The story is that one girl lost her bracelet and they both drowned looking for it. The family had come from Ladysmith to see the arrival in Durban of an unnamed dignitary.


Acknowledgements to Peter Hare and Dale Schultz.





Tuesday, March 13, 2018

Royal Hotel, Ladysmith, Natal 1912: William Marshall Arnold




The Royal Hotel, Murchison Street, Ladysmith, Natal, photographed in 1912 by F Atkinson, of whom no details are currently known. The owner of the hotel was William Marshall Arnold of Ladysmith, who got into hot water in 1898 when he was summoned in the Magistrate's Court for the Klip River Division as follows:


To CH Hendley Sergt NP Acting Messenger of the Court Summon Willam

Marshall Arnold of Ladysmith Hotel and Bar Keeper that he personally
appear before this Court at Ladysmith on the 21st October 1898 at 10
o'clock in the forenoon then to answer and abide the judgment of this
Court upon the complaint and information of the Local Board of the
township of Ladysmith that the said WM Arnold is guilty of the crime
or offence of contravening Section 65 Act 38 1896 In that on or about
the 15th October 1898 and at the Royal Hotel premises in Murchison
Street Ladysmith he being then the holder of a Hotel Bar License for
the said premises for the sale of intoxicating liquor did wrongfully
and unlawfully sell or keep his Bar or Buffet premises open for the
sale of intoxicating liquors and did supply persons namely James
Cairns of Ladysmith and Sergeant Lloyd of the Royal Irish Rifles with
certain intoxicating liquors to be drunk on the aforesaid licensed
premises between the hours of 11 'o clock at night and 6 'o clock in
the morning the aforesaid persons not being sleeping or boarding on
his hotel premises and to produce his liquor license and deliver the
same to the Magistrate on the day of hearing.
Serve on the said defendant a copy of this summons and then return to
this Court on that day what you have done thereon.
Given under my hand at Ladysmith this 17th day of October 1898
(Signed) HJ Colenbrander
Clerk of the Court

He was found guilty, appealed and had his appeals denied.




Acknowledgements to Dale Schultz

Saturday, March 10, 2018

The Hello Girls: telephone operators in Durban





Telephone Operators at the Durban Corporation Telephone Exchange,
opened in 1905. Known as the Hello Girls, they included my Great Aunt Dorothy Moffat,
nee Swires (b 1900 - d 1995).

The Durban Telephone Exchange was the only municipally run exchange in South Africa until March 1969 when the Department of Posts and Telecommunications took over the service.



Friday, March 9, 2018

John Brand Martin and a Missing Dredger 1906




John Brand Martin was born in Fife, Scotland in 1857, and died in Durban in 1926. He was sent to Australia in 1910 to give evidence at a court hearing regarding a little-known event of a dredger that disappeared without trace between Durban and Australia. This is how it was reported in Lloyd's List 27 Dec 1906:


A MISSING DREDGER

Sydney Nov 30

All hope for the safety of the [steam] suction dredger Walrus has been
abandoned.  She is now nearly 100 days out from Durban and even should
she still be afloat, her crew must long since have been starved and her
coal supplies completely exhausted.  Having been bought in South Africa
for the Geelong Harbour Trust, the vessel sailed from Durban on Aug 13
for Geelong via Western Australia with 653 [? indistinct] tons of coal
and a stock of provisions sufficient to maintain her crew of 23 hands
for 60 days.  Just before commencing this voyage the master [Capt
McDonald] intimated his intention of following the course of latitude
29S and to make for Fremantle or Albany to replenish supplies of coal
and food.

Since leaving Durban, however, the Walrus has not been spoken or
reported.  Under ordinary conditions the little vessel should have
reached Western Australia within 50 days.  This period expired several
weeks ago.  Taken in connexion with the loss of the dredger Octopus,
which was also bought from the Natal Government by the Geelong Harbour
Trust, and which sprang a leak a few hours after leaving Durban on Oct
13, and was abandoned, three lives being sacrificed, an opinion is
expressed in shipping circles generally that dredgers of the Walrus and
Octopus class were never intended for a long sea voyage, and that they
should have been prevented from sailing from South Africa for Australia.

The wreck was never found. 


More about J B Martin:

Martin J B: Port Captain's Dept. Assistant Superintendent of Machinery.
Started Oct 16 1889. £350 pa.
Martin, John Brand - First engineer of dredger "Otter", 16th October, 1889;
tug, "Richard King," 1st April 1900; assistant superintendent of machinery,
port department, 1st July, 1902; admitted to civil service 30th November,
1895.

Acknowledgements: Jill Martin


Additional information from Trove:
THE MISSING DREDGER
WALRUS.
LIST OF THE CREW.
Melbourne, October 29 1906

The chairman of the Geelong Harbor
Trust to-day received a cablegram stating
that the following persons were on board
the dredger Walrus, which left Durban on
August 13 and has not been sighted since:
Alexander McDonald, Lewis Jones,
George Mitchell, J. Webb, F. Watkins, A.
Buckingham, Alexander Gilmore, Alex-
ander Allan, William Hosking, A. Fullar-
ton, G. Keally, George Watt, R. Middle-
ton, John Dunn, Robert McCallum, H.




Wednesday, March 7, 2018

Passengers to Natal per SS Elizabeth Martin Aug 1873


ARRIVAL OF THE ELIZABETH MARTIN: Natal Mercury 5 August 1873
On 5 August 1873 the local press announced in eulogistic terms the arrival on the 3rd of the Currie Line steamer Elizabeth Martin (her tonnage varies in the reports) from East London from which she had sailed on the 2nd under Captain DEACON. She carried a general cargo and only 8 passengers viz:
Mr W PALMER
Mr FULLER
Mr and Mrs GARBUT
Mr N GARBUT
Mr STEEL
Mr MACKENZIE
Mr DEARE
Black, Baxter & Co were the agents.

NM 5 August 1873
ARRIVAL OF THE SS ELIZABETH MARTIN
At three o'clock last Sunday afternoon (3rd August) a large steamer was sighted to the westward. She steamed round the Bluff at 3.40 p.m., anchored in the roadstead, and was made out to be the Elizabeth Martin, 906 tons, Captain DEACON (late of the Gothland), of Messrs. Donald Currie & Co's line. The tug went out to her about half past four o'clock, towing a cargo boat. The bar was rough, and the sea outside ran so high that the mails could not be put on board the tug. They were trans-shipped into the lighter, which arrived back in the bay very soon after the tug. There were 33 bags of mails, and our packet of extras, containing the latest European news, to the 25th June.
The Elizabeth Martin is a very fine, handsome, smart, and comfortable steamer. The passengers who have come up in her speak in the highest terms of her steaming capabilities, and of the courtesy and ability of her commander and his officers. She had a head wind all the way up from East London, and yet she made the run in about 24 hours. She was off the Umkomaas about 1 o'clock on Sunday afternoon. We are glad to hear that she is to be kept on the coast until the Florence arrives out, about the end of September.
She has brought up eight passengers, whose names will be found in our shipping column. Amongst them we are glad to welcome back our much-respected fellow-townsman, Mr W PALMER, who has had a pleasant trip through the Transvaal, Diamond Fields, and Cape Colony; whose health, we are glad to say, is thoroughly re-established; and who has many an interesting tale to tell of absent Natalians with whom he met and conversed during his wanderings.
The steamer's mail bags arrived at the post-office in town about six o'clock in the evening, and were delivered about nine o'clock. The steamer has only a small quantity of cargo for Natal, the manifest of which, together with that per Teuton, will be found in our extra. She discharged a great deal of cargo at Algoa Bay and East London. She is to come inside to-day, and all who can should pay her a visit. She is the largest steamer that will have crossed our bar, her gross tonnage being 1260.

Natal Mercury 7 August 1873
The entrance of the Elizabeth Martin into our inner harbour is an event worthy of special notice in the records of our port. This fine steamer is much the largest vessel that has yet crossed the bar. Her burthen is over 1200 tons, her register shows upwards of 800 tons. She is 250 feet long. Nevertheless she entered the harbour safely and easily at dead neap tides. We congratulate both her commander and our Port Captain upon this interesting fact. Some months ago, when referring to the trade of the River Plate, we pointed out that there was no reason why vessels of large tonnage should not be built so as to come inside, and the present incident is proof of the fact. If a permanent depth of 18 feet could be secured on the bar steamers of 2000 tons might ply direct between England and Natal without the drawback of detention at the outer anchorage. It is of the utmost importance however, that the condition of the inner harbour should be improved, and the present channels, which are ever shifting and shoaling, be permanently straightened and deepened. We are glad to hear that Sir Benjamin PINE intends to visit Durban next week, with the especial purpose of inspecting both the harbour and the works.

Natal Mercury 12 August 1873
THE DONALD CURRIE LINE:
LUNCHEON ON BOARD THE ELIZABETH MARTIN
On Thursday last a party of nearly fifty gentlemen including most of the leading merchants of the place, together with several public functionaries, was invited to luncheon on board the Elizabeth Martin, by her Commander, Captain DUNCAN (sic: error for DEACON). The 12 o'clock train took the bulk of the guests to the Point, from whence they were soon aboard. Some was spent in a careful and admiring inspection of the fine vessel, which is much the largest that has yet come across the bar. She lies moored in the Bluff channel, and her lines are so well proportioned that she looks smaller than she really is. The Elizabeth Martin is three-masted, and has a hurricane deck from stem to stern. In the centre, over the offices, the ordinary bridge takes the dimensions of yet another small deck, which affords a commanding outlook over the vessel and the sea. The fittings of the steamer are all in brass and teak, and everything about her gives evidence of first class workmanship. The huge depths of the hold, with a floor as dry as a parlour's, gave proof of large carrying capacity, and we were glad to see 250 tons of sugar being stowed away there. The saloon, though small, is beautifully paneled in polished maple, rose and satinwoods, surmounted by solid and massive gilt cornices. The internal fittings of the staterooms, and all other parts of the ship, are as comfortable as modern ingenuity can secure. We observed that the table crockery, too, was designed with a special view to the exigencies of bad weather.

Note:

The Elizabeth Martin, named after Sir Donald Currie's mother, was built in 1872 in Glasgow and was a sister ship of the Courland. She ran for a few years in the Cape mail service (making the trip from London to Table Bay in 30 days 16 hours & 15 minutes in October 1872) before being transferred to the coast where the 'Betty Martin' soon became a familiar sight.
The itineraries of such coasters as the Elizabeth Martin varied, some running in conjunction with the mail steamers from England, which the coasters met at Cape Town, passengers and freight being transshipped for coastal ports.
During the Ashantee war of 1874 the Elizabeth Martin acted as a transport, subsequently returning to the coastal trade and in September 1875 she inaugurated Currie's service to Port Alfred. The bar there was so rough that she had to continue on to East London with 50 tons of Port Alfred cargo on board. In July 1879 she took the first sailing in a newly established service between Durban and Mauritius. In 1882 she was bought by a Greek company and renamed Athenai. Some ten years later she was renamed Samos, in which guise she remained afloat until 6 October 1916 when she was sunk by a submarine in the Mediterranean.