Bru-de-Wold: not a Marburg Settler

Hilmar Theodor Bru-de-Wold is sometimes mistakenly referred to as a Marburg settler, but in fact he had arrived in Natal much earlier, in 1862, when he was in his twenties. Born in Trondheim he grew up on a farm in Orsta, but had been aboard a Norwegian naval training ship as a cadet when, after an argument with the commander, Bru-de-Wold deserted the vessel when it was about to leave Durban. He decided to stay in Natal.

He found employment as a labourer on an Isipingo sugar estate and later married his employer John Bazley's daughter, Sarah, in 1871 (they had three children); he was at that date manager of a coffee estate.

By the time the Norwegian immigrants arrived to settle on the Umzimkulu in 1882, Bru-de-Wold owned his own farm, Eidswold, in the Umzimkulu area and he was able to be of help and guidance to the Marburg settlers.

In 1865, Bru-de-Wold joined the Alexandra Mounted Rifles and at the time of the Anglo-Zulu War 1879 he was Sergeant-Major, getting a mention in dispatches for his services. He received a commission in 1880.

When the Umzimkulu Mounted Rifles was formed in 1884, largely as a measure of protection for the new Norwegian population in Alfred County, Bru-de-Wold, by that time holding the rank of Captain, became the unit's first (and only) commanding officer.

In 1888, all the volunteer coastal units amalgamated to form the Natal Mounted Rifles, and Bru-de-Wold was appointed second-in-command, as Major. In 1894, the NMR was divided into two corps - NMR and Border Mounted Rifles - and Bru-de-Wold became first commanding officer of the BMR.

His first wife Sarah died in 1892, and he married a daughter of J D Shuter.

When he became District Adjutant for Southern Natal in 1895, he had to resign from the Regiment, but during the Anglo-Boer War served on Col W Royston's staff during the Siege of Ladysmith. Bru-de-Wold was badly wounded in the jaw by shrapnel and reportedly replied to enquiries from his men 'Thanks, boys, I feel damned sick but I would feel much better if I could just speak one good swear, instead of only thinking one or two, at that swine who fired that shell at me'.

For his service during 1899-1902 he was commended by General Sir George White and awarded the C.M.G.

In 1902 after the war he was promoted to Colonel and became Commandant of Natal Volunteers, in which post he served during the 1906 Rebellion. He was awarded the D.S.O. for his part in this campaign.

He retired in 1907, died at Port Shepstone in 1912 and was buried at St Patrick's Church, Umzinto. His only son was KIA at Delville Wood, 1916.

Bru-de-Wold's Zulu name was uWolo.

Group of Umzimkulu Mounted Rifles and Alexandra Mounted Rifles officers July 1887.

Front Row: Lt Fitzjames Arbuthnot (AMR), Capt H T Bru-de-Wold (UMR), Lt H Lugg (UMR), Lt R Vause (AMR) Back Row: Lt F Rethman (UMR), Lt V W L Blake (AMR), Lt W Sangmeister (UMR) Lt Barnes (UMR)

Names of Norwegians to Marburg Natal 1882

Families who arrived on Lapland 29 August 1882

Numbers refer to the Lots allocated to each group
w= wife
c= child
Where occupations of leaders of groups are known, these are shown in brackets.

1
SANDANGER Rasmus (builder) w Helene
KNOTTEN Peter w Maren c Anders

2
HOLTE Matias (blacksmith) w Karen c Konrad
MYKLEBUST Johan
MUREN Ane

3
ISGESUND Isak (farmer) w Dortea c Anna
RIBBESTAD Jakob and Olava

4
NERO Johan w Karen c Anna and Dorthea
AMUNDSEN Martin
SANDE Ane

6
VALDAL Ole (tailor) w Beate c Marie, Lina, Olaf
JOHNSON Regine
LOKEN Severin

7
RODSETH Kristian (goldsmith) w Kristine c Aage, Anna, Marie, Elisabet
OIE Johanne
ERTESVAAG Peter 
8
KIPPERBERG John (seaman and fisherman) w Gurine
EMBLEM w Marit c Trine, Lauritz

9
PAHR Elling (teacher) w Ane c Olava, Kristina, Pernille, Peder, Anna, Eilert and Ole
HANSEN A

10
LILLEBO John (builder) w Kanutte c Peder, Anna, Pernille, Andreas
MYKLEBUST Knut
ERNSTI Jorgine

11
STANDAL K O (painter) w Johanne
STANDAL K E w Oline

12
MARTINSEN K (merchant) w Elisabet c Margrete, Klara, Elise, Martin
ROGNE Kaia and Gudve
BRUDEVIK E

13
HAAJEM Ole (shipbuilder) w Hendrikke c Edvard, Anna, Laura, Karl, Ole, Nora
HAAJEM Petrine, Hans and Nille

14
BERG Emil (Reverend) w Kornelia, c Johan, Gusta, Marie, Magda, Alfa, Harald, Arthur
BRUNGOT Anna
MELSETER J

15
LUND C D w Marie c Sverre, Einar Raghnhild Astrid
LUND Tank

16
ANDERSEN A (bookseller) w Gertrud c Johanne, Hilma, Andreas, Karen
RODSETH Elias
INGEBRIGT
BYE Edvard
JOGENSEN Marie
VAERNES

17
Church and School

18
BRUNE Peter, son Ole
MOE Marie
NEDERHUS R

19
VINJEVOLD O (farmer) w Oline c Oline, Peder, Oluffa, Anna, Josefine, Andreas
STIGEN Anders

20
HUFFT F (weaver) w Kristine c Sofie, Inga
VOLD Jorgen
FRISVOLD Gurine

23
GIDSKE Martinus w Anna c Anna, Petter, Bernt, Berte
PETERSEN Johan
LÖNDAHL Nikoline

25
KVALSVIG Gjert w Marie c Gustav
JOHANNESEN J
PAULSEN Sevrine

29
OIE Nils w Malene c John, Guttorm, Kannutte, Ingeborg, Komelia
BRAUTESETH J O
HAAJEM Karoline

30
DAHLE T O (mechanic & shoemaker) w? c Anna, Gusta, Thea, Ludwig, Oluff, Kornelius
DYB Ingeborg
ANDERSEN W
DAHLE Marie

31
BIRKELUND (or Bjorkelund) A (farmer) w Marta c Lars and Larsina
VATNE Ane
DAHLE Peder

32
HARAM P (farmer) w Cecilia, 6 children
33
OIE John (farmer) w Karen
VATNE Olai
EIDSETH Malene

35
BORGENSEN (bookbinder) w Marie c Elvind
LONDAHL w Ragnhild c Martha, Devold, Dorthea

36
PETTERSEN (farmer)
ANDERSEN J

37
HAGGESELLE Knut (farmer) w Johanne c Sofie and Ida
With mother Maren, brother Anders & KARLSEN Anna

41
BÖDTKER F (carpenter) w Cecelie c Fritz, Paul, Marie, Rebekka
BERNSTEN L

43
TRANDAL P (baker)
HJELLE Haakon
EKORNES Elen

44
KJONSTAD J (farmer) c Dina
VALUM Ingeborg
SKJERVE Olaus

45
KJONSTAD G (teacher) w Elise
HOLTE Dagna and Emil
OLSEN Zefanias
GRIMSTAD
MEEG Karl
PETTERSEN Lina

46
ANDREASEN H
OLSEN Kristian

50
BJORSETH Endre (cabinet maker) w Anne c Anna, Peder, Alfred, Olivia
VERNES Johan

Note: this list is taken from 'The Norwegian Settlers in Natal 1882' compiled by Andrew and Anna Halland and Ingeborg Kjonstad published by Norwegian Lutheran Church, Marburg, 1967.

There are spelling variations which occur in the Centenary Supplement 'The Norwegian Settlers : Marburg Natal, 1882-1982' ed Aagot Gulbrandsen, Borhild Cawdry, Merle Kjonstad published by Norwegian Church Marburg 1982 [e.g. Dorethea instead of Dortea in IGESUND Lot 3]. This supplement offers descendants of the original families as at 1982.

Norwegian Settlers to Marburg Natal 1882

Until about 1880, America was the prime destination for Norwegian emigrants. Attention was turned to South Africa when Norwegian missionaries to this area sent back favourable reports of climate and other conditions. The farming community around Aalesund showed particular interest in Natal and a letter was sent to Mr Emil Berg at the Seaman's Mission, London, requesting more information. Berg duly contacted Walter Peace, the Natal Government Agent, who drew up a scheme for assisted immigration, initially offered to fifty families.

Each family would be given a free passage from London, as well as an allotment of 100 acres for which they would pay ninepence an acre over a period of 10 years, commencing after the 2nd year of taking up their properties. A further 2 000 acres would also be allotted to the community as a whole, for which no payment would be exacted.

Each family had to possess at least £50 in cash to tide them over the uncertain settling-in period in their new home. They had to produce a certificate of health, signed by a doctor, and a testimonial to good character - only hard-working, honest, Christian individuals of sober habits qualified, and those who would be willing to help one another in the new endeavour. Any family was allowed to bring with them two unmarried persons and most took advantage of this additional facility.

A committee was formed in Aalesund and about 300 applications were received. Though farmers were favoured, a variety of professions and occupations were included among the would-be settlers. Walter Peace himself visited Aalesund on 9 July 1882 to speed the party on their way with an encouraging account of the bright prospects which lay ahead.

When the time came, on 14 July 1882 a group of 34 families, 233 persons in all, left Aalesund on the west coast of Norway on the ship Tasso (Wilson Line) for Hull, England. It was the first leg of their much longer journey to Natal.

The passengers were welcomed on board the C.H.M.S. Lapland by Captain POTTS and the ship's doctor, STUART, and the ship departed the East India Dock, London on 20 July 1882, bound for South Africa.

The voyage took 39 days and was fairly uneventful, though three children died. On reaching Table Bay, it was found that an outbreak of smallpox was raging in Cape Town, preventing the passengers disembarking, but fresh provisions and coal were taken on and the ship continued up the coast, arriving at the mouth of the Umzimkulu River on 27 August. Here, weather conditions militated against a landing, and it was decided to go on to Port Natal (Durban). Once there, however, the question was how to transport the settlers and their possessions southwards to the Umzimkulu area, where their allotments were situated. If attempted by wagon, there would be numerous rivers to cross on the journey along the coast and the distance was about 100 miles from Durban.

After some earnest deliberations between captain, crew and settlers, the Lapland did an about-turn and headed back for the Umzimkulu mouth, accompanied by a lighter which would ferry the passengers from ship to shore. Their baggage would follow by land later.

On the evening of Monday 28 August the Lapland anchored 1½ miles off shore to the north of the Umzimkulu mouth and the Captain gave instructions for the burning of blue lights and the firing of rockets, which were answered by similar lights from the land, as well as the explosion of five dynamite charges. The immigrants gave three hearty cheers, and, gathered together on the deck, gave a fine rendition of several hymns.

Early on Tuesday morning the settlers prepared to disembark in relays on the lighter, which had to batten her hatches against the rough seas. The heat, lack of fresh air and pitching of the vessel made the landing an unpleasant experience for those crowded below; some were violently seasick and others fainted. The small steamer Somtseu drew the lighter over the river mouth.

Several prominent colonists were on hand to welcome the new arrivals, among them David Aiken, Brickhill, Pearce, Bazley, General Bissett, Reid and Sinclair. H T Bru-de-Wold * had been assigned by the government to meet his fellow Norwegians and assist them with transport and guides. Another sort of welcome was arranged by Duka Fynn, son of Henry Fynn - a war dance by 400 Africans was perhaps not best calculated to relax the settlers, some of whom hid in the bush when the entertainment began.

There was still a trek to the allotments to be accomplished. The sight that met the immigrants' eyes was scarcely welcoming: two grass huts, boasting a single door and no windows, were provided for each family. It was some time since the huts had been constructed, and the interiors had been taken over by weeds, frogs and insect life. To the Norwegians, accustomed to a particularly clean and ordered way of living, these dwellings must have been a severe shock.

Some salt and two bags of mealie meal were supplied to each household, supposedly to ease the first difficult weeks. Edward Haajem recorded: 'None of us knew anything about this kind of meal, and it became a great puzzle how to make bread of it.' Their possessions took several days to arrive by wagon and more shocks were in store: all the Norwegian housewives' careful packing of boxes and trunks for the sea voyage hadn't been proof against the jolting of the wagons on stony terrain. Many of the precious items were found to be irreparably damaged.

And there they were, attempting to make the best of things, with leaking thatched roofs, and no sugar or milk to eat with their mealie porridge. Potatoes were planted and became their staple food. Quoting Haajem again: 'It was really a hard time ... the first year before we got together a few Zulu cows and a few hens to lay eggs, and the kitchen garden going. After we got in our first crop of mealies and sweet potatoes we had plenty of food ... and fed our pigs and cured bacon.'

Possibly the greatest disappointment was that the promised harbour hadn't materialized. They had hoped for something similar to the one at home in Aalesund, where fishing boats could tie up alongside a wharf. The one at the Umzimkulu mouth was in fact never to be built, for the Government procrastinated endlessly (the project was completely abandoned in 1906). Fish was 'imported' by wagon from Durban for the settlers' consumption - adding insult to injury.

'After a year or two our clothes and shoes began to be the worse for wear, and the little money we had was also nearly gone, and here was no market for our produce.'

The consequence of all these hardships was that some of the settlers remained only a short while before departing for Norway on two sailing ships which they built themselves - such was their enthusiasm to get back home. Some settlers moved to different areas of South Africa or to Australia or New Zealand, but others persevered and in due course a thriving community developed, with a church and a school - the original Lutheran church at Marburg is in use to this day. The settlement covered an area between the Umzimkulu and Izotsha Rivers.

Famous names such as Björseth, Brauteseth, Halland, Kjönstad, Rödseth and others were among this group of Norwegians. See list of families.

Norwegian names familiar in this area such as Titlestad and Leisegang, were not immigrant families per se, but descended from missionaries in Natal - and that is another story.

Further reading:

Hale, Frederick: The history of Norwegian missionaries and immigrants in South Africa (Pretoria 1986) Thesis (PH.D History; University of South Africa 1986)

Frederick Hale: The 1881 Norwegian Emigration to Natal

published in 'Natalia' (journal of the Natal Society) Vol 12, December 1982 pp35-44

Settler Ancestors from Europe to Natal in the 1880s

While the majority of settlers to Natal continued to be of British origin, other countries also explored the prospect of Natal as a destination for emigrants. In 1880 the Natal Government was petitioned on the topic of Danish emigration. A couple of years earlier, Otto Witt and a business partner, Fristedt, intended introducing immigrants from Sweden into Natal, and requested land on which to locate them.

However, the next major group of immigrants from Europe were Norwegians and they arrived in 1882, founding a settlement at Marburg on the south coast of Natal between the Umzimkulu and Izotsha Rivers. UPDATE: see further posts on this topic in 2014

For passenger lists of Germans travelling from Hamburg from 1858 to 1883 see Joachim Schubert's exceptionally useful site at www.safrika.org/schiff_en.html  These passengers disembarked at various South African ports.

By 1880, Walter Peace had taken over as Natal Immigration Agent based in London. The Natal Mercury, 19 May 1880 reported the arrival of the URMS African from England after a very good voyage.

She had on board 60 immigrants - 20 men and 10 women and children. The men are carpenters, blacksmiths, farm labourers, engineers, gardeners and joiners, and the women, housekeepers and domestic servants.  We have little doubt that we have to thank Mr Walter Peace ... for such a large and respectable class of immigrants as landed at the Point yesterday. Mr Peace has this year been instrumental in sending out a total  of 200 immigrants. Early yesterday Mr Reid of the Immigration Depot went out in the Union [tug] and boarded the African for the purpose of looking after those who were arriving here under the Immigration Act and in a short time the Union landed them safely on to the wharf. Some friends of the immigrants were present, but there were some more who found themselves on a foreign land without those who required their services being there to receive them.  For such parties Mr Reid had made preparations by having tents erected on the Market Square for their reception, and it speaks well for the friendship formed by this large body when we mention that in no instance was a poor stranger allowed to enter the tents; those who had found friends kindly looked after their less fortunate fellow passengers, and in a short time they were all distributed throughout the town in boarding-houses. They spoke highly of the treatment they received while coming out. An infant, aged a little over a year, died on the 18th of April. The names of the passengers will be found in our shipping column.

The above passenger list is online at: http://web.archive.org/web/20100405235250/http://www.genealogyworld.net/rose/maritime/african.html

URMS African

.

Norwegian Emigration to SA

Immigrants from countries other than Britain also chose South Africa as their destination.

In 1879, the year of the Anglo-Zulu War, a group of 47 Norwegians left Bergen to establish a colony on an atoll in the Indian Ocean, Aldabra. The Debora Expedition, as the venture is known, didn’t work out as planned; some of its members remained in Madagascar and others decided to settle in the British Colony of Natal. They were the first Norwegian immigrants to settle at Port Natal (later called Durban).

You can read everything there is to know about the fascinating Debora Expedition at
http://salbu.co.za/debora/ Also visit companion pages at http://salbu.co.za/

Until about 1880, America had been the favoured destination of Norwegian emigrants, but reports sent back by Norwegian missionaries in South Africa encouraged interest, particularly in the Colony of Natal. The farming community around Aalesund, Norway, made contact with the Natal Immigration Agent, Walter Peace, in London and a scheme for government-assisted immigration was set in place.

This resulted in 32 families sailing first to England from Norway in July 1880, then continuing on to Natal on C.H.M.S. Lapland. They were settled on land between the Umzimkulu and Izotsha rivers on the south coast of Natal.

Although some of these immigrants found conditions in Natal disappointing, later returning to Norway, many remained to form the nucleus of a thriving community. Descendants of the Marburg settlers, as they are generally called, still live in Natal. So do descendants of early Norwegian missionaries to the Colony.


www.norsettler.co.za/history.htm Norwegian Settlers Association of Marburg