Down Memory Lane In a Rickshaw

Two uniformed passengers take a rickshaw ride at Durban, Natal, South Africa, during World War I. One of the Australian soldiers depicted - he is seated on the right hand side of the rickshaw - is George Stephen GADSDON (aka George Stephen LEADER, 1882-1933).

Born in Islington, London, in 1882, George Stephen Gadsdon lied about his age to get into the Royal Warwickshire Regiment: he was 15 at the time but stated he was 18. This circumstance led to his being discharged from the Regiment a month after he enlisted. He then joined the 6th Dragoon Guards, saw action in the Anglo-Boer War in South Africa and later went to Australia where he changed his surname to LEADER.

He survived several major battles of World War I including Ypres: his battalion (2nd Australian) lost 90% of their number at Gallipoli. George was wounded twice during his military career and also suffered the effects of mustard gas in France from which he never fully recovered. When George was reported Missing in Action at one stage of the Great War, his wife was asked if he had any distinguishing marks: she replied, 'A Union Jack tattooed across his chest.'

Aussie soldiers World War I with rickshaw, Durban.

                                Unidentified lady and child in rickshaw at Durban, ca first decade 1900s.

The word rickshaw (sometimes spelled ricksha) stems from the Japanese jinrikisha meaning literally 'man strength vehicle'. It was introduced in Japan ca 1870; by the 1880s the word was anglicised and shortened. Rickshaws became a popular tourist attraction in Durban from the 1890s. Today their numbers have dwindled but it is still possible to take a rickshaw ride along Durban's Golden Mile (the beachfront).

A Whale of a Time in Natal

In 1907, two Norwegians (Jacob Egeland and Johan Bryde) started whaling off the coast of Natal, with a factory sited below the Bluff in Durban. It was to become the largest land-based whaling operation in the world.

Two steam whale catchers were brought out from Sandjefjord in Norway and whaling began on 3 July 1908 when the first whale, a 40 foot Humpback, was brought in to the port. The company was named the South African Whaling Company.

Objections were soon raised about the site of the whaling station, which was then moved to the sea side of the Bluff near Cave Rock, but the penetrating smell of the operations at the factory remained a problem for residents on the Bluff. The station was moved again, towards the South West, where the winds carried the smell in a different direction.

Egeland and Bryde's partnership came to an end in 1909. With a cousin, Abraham Larsen, Egeland then formed the Union Whaling and Fishing Company in 1910. By 1912 thirteen whaling companies were registered in Durban.

Union Whaling Company came into being in July 1920, formed by Larsen and Egeland who had started the Union Whaling and Fishing Company, and was to last to the end of the whaling era, merging with the Premier Whaling Company in 1954 and operating the largest shore whaling station in the world. By 1960 850 people were employed in the Company. Coastal whaling ended in 1975.

Thanks to the efforts of David Asgeir-Nilsen it’s now possible to take a Whaling History Tour, visiting what remains of the factory and viewing a large collection of photographs, newspaper articles, whaling artefacts and memorabilia. For more information see:

www.whtd.co.za/

Further reading: African Keyport by Capt Tony Pearson, pub Accucut Books 1995