Tracing a Master Mariner 6

By the 1860s Captain George Henry Caithness was a well-known local figure in the Eastern Cape.

Street scene: Old Uitenhage

Whether he ever lived in one of the nine cottages he bought in Port Elizabeth in 1867, or whether they were simply a property investment, is not recorded but by 1869 he had evidently been residing in Uitenhage for some time. 

According to the Centenary publication, Uitenhage Past and Present, in that year he was on the Board of Commissioners of the town. Uitenhage had been founded in 1804 on the Swartkops River not far inland from its estuary at Algoa Bay, about 28 kms from what would later be Port Elizabeth, and initially formed part of the district of Graaff-Reinet.*

'The Commissioners then in office were
 ... George Caithness' etc

Did George find time to tear himself away from civic duties to attend the wedding of his niece Emily Mary Ann Caithness to Herbert Lee Carige at Christ Church in the parish of Addington, Durban, on 12 December 1863? If so, he would have seen his nephew James Edward/Ernest Caithness who was present. It’s possible that George’s sister Mary Ann Bell nee Caithness and her husband William Bell, the latter still in office as Port Captain at Durban, were among the guests. 

Captain William and Mary Ann Bell

As already noted, in the late 1860s/early 1870s George made at least two trips to England as a passenger on Union Line steamers Cambrian and Northam and in 1873 presented some stones from the diamond diggings to the Hartley Institution (the modern day Southampton University).** He may have been the Caithness who in August 1870 joined Slater’s party to the fields though it’s more likely this was James Edward/Ernest. Seven years later James would marry Eugenie Westmacott in London and settle in India.

In 1875 George’s daughter Caroline Ann married John Loftus and became 4^th Marchioness of Ely. It’s not known whether George attended the wedding in Chelsea, London. 

During the 1880s George Henry Caithness kept a low profile, no doubt enjoying a peaceful retirement in Uitenhage. When his wife Leopoltina Cornelia Frederika died on 10 August 1894 George survived her by only a few months, dying at the Royal Hotel, Uitenhage on 28 December 1894. His Death Notice gives his ‘condition in life’ as Sea Captain.

A brief line appeared in the Colonies and India edition of 9 February 1895:

‘Captain Caithness, one of the oldest inhabitants of Uitenhage, South Africa, died there recently.’

Note: There is a Caithness Road in Port Elizabeth, about 400 metres south of Bakens River; it seems likely this street was named after James Ramsay Caithness since James's Death Notice describes his residence as being on the south side of Bakens River. There's a Caithness Road in Simonstown which may also owe its name to James. If anyone has further information regarding these two streets it would be most welcome.

* The city of Uitenhage was incorporated in the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Municipality together with Port Elizabeth and the town of Despatch in 2001

** www.southampton.ac.uk/archives/exhibitions/University_images.html

Acknowledgement

Tom Sheldon

Tracing a Master Mariner 4

George Henry Caithness first appears in South Africa in August 1852 when he is sponsor at the baptism in St George’s Cathedral, Cape Town, of Charles Chance Caithness, son of Captain James Ramsay Caithness and the latter’s second wife, Eliza (nee Noyle).

Baptism entry, St George's Cathedral register, 29 August 1852: Charles Chance Caithness son of James Ramsay Caithness, Master Mariner, and Eliza. George Henry Caithness's name at right.

Durham Gaol

 

Diet for Class 2 Prisoners, Durham Gaol

Having weathered the storm of bankruptcy proceedings in 1850 and seen the inside of Durham Gaol* – a particularly gloomy and depressing place where conditions were harsh and the staple prison diet was oatmeal porridge – George undoubtedly needed a change of scene, as well as employment.

It makes sense that he chose the Cape Colony since his elder brother James was established there as a merchant captain. Not that James was having an easy time of it: he had lost his first wife, leaving him with six children to rear, remarried in 1851 and in the same year lost his ship Diadem.**

Still, James would have had good contacts in the colonial maritime community and George had plenty of experience behind him as well as having acquired his official Master’s Certificate. By 1857 he was trading between Port Natal and the island of Mauritius (Isle de France) as master of the 100 ton schooner Pet.

The connection between Natal and Mauritius had been strong since the 1840s. Then with the burgeoning sugar industry in Natal in the 1850s, coupled with a downturn in sugar production on that island, several Mauritians moved to Natal to start plantations on the coast. Among these was James Renault Sanders later a leader in Natal sugar and founder of the well-known Tongaat family.

The earliest mention of George and the Pet occurs in Lloyd's List, 30 September 1857 where the schooner is reported as having 'cleared outwards September 29' from Port Natal.

George's regular sailing schedule can be tracked through the press, for example:

Arrived at Natal 22 June 1858 ‘Pet’ (schooner) 100 t , G Caithness, from Mauritius.

In the following extracts, all referring to the Pet with Caithness as master, the date of publication is shown first:

11 March 1858. At Natal 24 Dec 1857, from London.  Left 13 Jan 1858 for Mauritius.

29 March 1858. At Mauritius 6 Feb 1858 from Natal.

24 June 1858. At Natal 8 April 1858. Put back for Mauritius with loss of chain plates. ***

15 July 1858. At Mauritius 10 May 1858. From Natal. And sailed 19 June on her return.

30 Dec 1858. At Table Bay 10th Nov 1858. For Natal.

George's schedule leaves a convenient gap for his marriage at Durban, Natal, to Leopoltina Jones nee Knapp on 19 July 1858.

Marriage entry St Paul's, Durban: George Caithness and Leopoltina Jones born Knapp
29 July 1858. George's occupation is given as 'Captain Merchant Service'.
A strange signature from George: perhaps he was nervous. He is described as 'widower' so presumably his first wife Caroline had died prior to this date though no record of the event has been found.

Durban in 1857

*  http://community.dur.ac.uk/4schools/Crime/Durhamprison2.htm

** http://molegenealogy.blogspot.com/2013/09/mariners-caithness-ships-and-family.html

*** Chain plates were essential: the shrouds, pieces of standing rigging which hold the mast up from side to side, connect at the top of the mast and terminate at the bottom ends at the chain plates which are tied into the hull. The loss of chain plates would have been good reason for George to put back for Mauritius.

Acknowledgement

Tom Sheldon