Bluff Lighthouse, Durban

                          

This photo, showing the signal station and staff quarters, was taken prior to the addition of the ugly concrete casing supposedly meant to 'strengthen' the lighthouse, added in 1935.

The citizens of Durban had long pleaded for a lighthouse on the promontory known as The Bluff but due to various delays they had to wait until the structure was finally opened, with suitable fanfare, in January 1867. 

My great grandfather, Thomas Gadsden, was keeper of the Bluff Light from the late 1860s to early 1880s. He married one of the Port Captain's daughters, Eliza Ann Bell. At one stage Thomas's brother-in-law, Douglas Bell, was Assistant Lightkeeper. It wasn't unusual for a lighthouse to be a family affair.  

Senior Lightkeepers

1867 - 1880              T A Gadsden (Assisted by D Bell in the 1870s)
1885                          Moffat
1898                          J Stephenson
1.7.1898                    B Shortt
1918                          G Johnson
1922                          L R P Daly
1927 - 1933              T F Addison
1938                          G A Orchard
20.1.1941 - 1.4.1942 A Gray

Lightkeepers

27.7.1889 - 30.6.1898 F B Shortt
1.7.1898                     John Murphy
18.8.1931 - 16.7.1934 A Spring
16.7.1934 - 1.3.1941   E L Andreason                   

See Also https://molegenealogy.blogspot.com/2015/08/bluff-lighthouse-1867.html