The Port Captain's Residence at the Point, Durban

It's evident from George Russell's 'History of Old Durban' that Captain William Bell's residence was at the Point. In discussing John Milne's work for the Natal Harbour Board, Russell mentions: 

'His (i.e. John Milne's) main project was to carry out a North Pier to the Bar with a short South Pier opposite, gradually narrowing the entrance and facilitating scour. He employed the fragments of labour and funds doled out to him in wattling the sandhills from Captain Bell's house to the Point, with a series of rough fences divided into sheepfold-like paddocks, to divert and retain the drifting sands from entering the Bay. These sands were then secured by planting the Hottentot Fig or any green thing that would grow there.' 

This is important: Bell's residence was near to or part of the Signal Station at the Point – we're not speaking of Conch Villa on the Bluff. Obviously the Port Captain had to be constantly in touch with goings-on at the harbour and the area adjacent to the Entrance Channel. His house and office at the Point was also not far from the Time Ball where Thomas Alfred Gadsden worked after leaving the lighthouse.

Port Office, the Point Beach, Durban ca 1870. It doesn't look a hive of activity but the Port Office was central to all Harbour activities, reports being kept of all vessels entering or departing, or using the slipway; shipping agents and masters of ships came to see the Port Captain here.

Maritime Natal: John Milne and the Harbour Works

'In 1856 the Harbour Works were progressing under the patient application of John Milne, C. E., who in the existing state of the Colonial Revenue was expected to make bricks without straw', says George Russell in his History of Old Durban.

First Milne had to construct a wooden tram-line round the Bluff to the Cave Rock to obtain the necessary stone and afterwards boat it across for his works. This was done by two contractors, William Campbell and Richard Godden, with African labour and they did it well for their skilled handiwork was later recognisable in the root of the North Pier, every stone hand-dressed and packed. 

Milne was constantly about the Bay with flags, buoys and labour, and gave plenty of exercise to the Port Captain, his boat and crew, in soundings

'The crests of the sea at high tides would break over in streamlets from the Back Beach ... to the Custom House Channel, and it was his aim ... to compel the forces of Nature to the success of his design. His main project was to carry out a North Pier to the Bar with a short South Pier opposite, gradually narrowing the entrance and facilitating scour. He employed the fragments of labour and funds doled out to him in wattling the sandhills from Captain Bell's house to the Point, with a series of rough fences divided into sheepfold-like paddocks, to divert and retain the drifting sands from entering the Bay. These sands were then secured by planting the Hottentot Fig or any green thing that would grow there.' 

Milne's heart was in his work and he was always on duty. He would be seen wearing a long Nankeen coat and broad Manila hat, walking-staff in hand.

The Bluff with the remains of Milne's North Pier in
foreground. There was no lighthouse until 1867.

John Milne was born in 1802 Kincardine, Scotland, a civil engineer who had worked on harbours such as Leith and Inverkeithing in his home country before emigrating to Natal on the Dreadnought in 1849. A widower, he was accompanied by his daughter Jessie. Jessie married a soldier, Captain Robertson, who was later wounded in India in 1857 and died in 1861. Subsequently, Jessie married Captain William Michael Tollner. Her 2nd husband Tollner’s Death Notice gives her maiden name as Robertson, which is misleading and emphasises the necessity for checking sources. 

Milne had his critics (including the influential George Cato) and by 1858 he was no longer harbour engineer at Durban. He died in 1877.


Acknowledgements: George Russell: History of Old Durban;
Delyse Brown, family information.

Maritime Adventures at Natal 5: more shipwrecks in Capt Bell's time

Records show that no less than 66 large ships were lost on Back Beach between December 1845 and December 1885 with the loss of thirty lives. One result of the number of wrecks up to 1863 was public anger over the lack of a lighthouse on the Bluff. This was fuelled by the loss of the Sebastian and the Earl of Hardwicke in a gale on 26 September 1863.

Among other shipwrecks during Bell’s tenure as Port Captain were:

Fusilier – British ship wrecked on the Bluff Rocks at the south entrance to the harbour on 25 May 1865 in a north-east wind while on a voyage from Calcutta to Demerara (British Guiana) with Indian workers. Loss of 20 souls.

Annabella – British barque wrecked on what became known as the Annabella Bank at Durban on 21 January 1856, carrying cargo. There was no loss of life, but a public enquiry was demanded. It was this wreck which, perhaps unfairly, led to the dismissal of harbour engineer John Milne.

Ariosto – American barque wrecked on Back Beach on 31 July 1854 while on a voyage from Sumatra to Boston with a cargo of pepper. No loss of life.

British Tar – only three months after the Minerva disaster another Byrne ship (282 tons)  wrecked on Back Beach on 29 September 1850 during an east-north-east gale with a general cargo. No loss of life but the settlers lost everything, like those on the Minerva.

Pioneer – wrecked on Back Beach near Annabella Bank on 23 Oct 1862 when her cables parted after a voyage from London with a cargo of timber for the harbour works. No loss of life. [Natal Mercury 24, 28 Oct, 1862]

Queen - British brig wrecked near Vetch’s Pier on 16 August 1863 when her cables parted in a north-east wind after voyage from London. No loss of life. She lies close to the Lord Geo Bentinck (wrecked 1861). [Natal Mercury 18 Aug 1863]

Sebastian - British wooden barque of 364 tons wrecked on Back Beach on 26 Sept 1863 during north-east gale after voyage from London with immigrants and general cargo. No lives lost.

When the American barque Ariosto 361 tons was wrecked on the Back Beach, Durban, on 31 July 1854 while on her way to Boston from Sumatra, carrying a cargo of pepper, a local Byrne settler, William Hartley, saw an opportunity. He knew that pepper did not deteriorate when wet and he dried out the peppercorns then sold them at a satisfactory profit.

The Captain (Balch) had mistakenly kept the ship on course believing their position to be some miles from the Bluff. The sound of breakers alerted the deck watch but it was too late. The vessel struck, bumping over the Bar, and ended up on the beach. The crew of 17 landed in their boat. The ship became a total wreck but no lives were lost. Durban's inhabitants rushed to the scene and William Hartley began to have ideas about the cargo.

Ariosto wreck 1854

Shipping and Passengers Port Natal 1859

This snippet from the Natal Mercury 21 July 1859 emphasises that once the ancestor's ship reached its destination, Natal, there could still be any number of complications before he actually set foot ashore. The Reliance dragged her anchors and nearly came to grief, but was eventually hauled to safety.  The Jan Van Brakel lost both her anchors, spares being supplied from the shore. Apparently this incident led to a lawsuit. On board the Van Brakel were nearly fifty Dutch immigrants destined for New Guelderland on the Natal North Coast, part of Colenbrander's scheme. Note that they are merely given as a group, no individual names being supplied. These are however available in other contemporary sources. 

See molegenealogy.blogspot.co.za/2012/06/dutch-immigrants-on-jan-van-brakel.html

The Princeza, incidentally, nearly brought about the end of Captain Bell who with other men went out to this vessel in the port boat which capsized in the surf on its return nearly drowning all those on board.