Passengers per Leontine Mary and the Ceres brings sugar cane tops Natal 1852

The Natal Mercury 30 Dec 1852 
SHIPPING INTELLIGENCE

ARRIVED:
Dec 25 - The Gem, schr, J Glendining from the Cape. J Proudfoot, agent. (General Cargo)

Dec 28 - The Ceres, schr, F Ashton, from Algoa Bay Dec 8, with part cargo from Mauritius. E P Lamport, agent.
Manifest: 45 bgs [bags] sugar, 4 cks [casks] molasses, 10 bgs dates: Evans & Churchill. 300 bgs lime, 5 000 cane tops, 1 bg green ginger: Henderson, Smerdon & Co. 5 000 cane tops: G C Cato. 75 bgs sugar: Breede & Co. 149 bgs sugar: McArthur & Hunter. 45 do. W Lister. 52 do. E Snell. 51 do. H E Knight. 250 bgs & 30 000 cane tops: Feilden & Co. 6 000 cane tops, 1 cs [case] sundries, 1 cs statuary, 4 bgs rice, 213 bgs & 16 casks sugar: W de Terrason.

SAILED
Dec 29 - Leontine Mary, schr, Fuller, to East London and Port Elizabeth. E Snell, agent.
Manifest: 30 tons mealies, 59 bags potatoes and 100 yellow wood planks.
Passengers: Mrs Lofthouse and 2 children, Messrs. Baragwanath, Reed & Miles.

IN PORT 
The Gem, schr, J Glendining J Proudfoot agent.
Ceres, schr, 117, F Ashton. E P Lamport, agent.

VESSELS EXPECTED

Wee Tottie, 150 tons, Robarts, sailed Aug 29th from London
Louisa Maria, 114 tons, Thornton, from London
Roscoe, 200 tons, Ritchie, from London
Margaret Gibson, brge [barge], 163 tons, Robinson, from Liverpool. E P Lamport, agent.
Augustus Schnader, bq [barque], London
Treet (Trent?), bq, 230, A Collett, London
Vibilia, schr 150, W J Robarts, London
Wanderer, 200, Glendining, London via Cape, sailed Oct 2nd.

The Ceres was within 30 miles of the Bluff 12 days ago, but being becalmed, was carried back by the current, and further afterwards by an easterly gale. It will be observed from the manifest that she brings, with other cargo, 46 000 cane tops.

Died
Dec 27th 1852 - Mary Anne, wife of Mr Forsyth.

First public auction of sugar at Durban 23 June 1855;
Robert Acutt auctioneer.
 (Illustrated London News)

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

Passengers to Natal: Lapland and African 1880

Lapland arrival 21 Feb 1880, also the African from Delagoa Bay
Natal Witness Feb 21 1880

The D.C.S. Lapland arrived here this morning at daybreak with the mails of the Kinfauns Castle, and a few passengers. The Fox landed these at 8 o'clock. She brought the following Passengers:

For Natal:
Miss Christian
Mr and Mrs Buxton and 4 children

Messrs
J Wilson
Smith
Fraser
Mr and Mrs Adams
Mr Hunter
Mr Cowens
Mr Spencer
Miss Spencer
Mr and Mrs Stanford
Messrs
Hodocks
Macadams
Andrews
G Andrews
Parkhans
Paddon
Ashet
Mr and Mrs Holdernep
Messrs
Brendney
Morby
Main
Hampton
Misses Grenfell
James
Sharland
Mr Collyer
Mr and Mrs Brokenshaw, 2 children and native boy
Messrs
J Thompson
Whitelaw
Vinan
Peacock

For Mauritius:
Lieut. Hollings, 91st Regiment
Mr and Mrs Edwards

Lapland sailed for Mauritius yesterday.

The African arrived yesterday from Delagoa Bay and the East Coast with the following Passengers. She goes on to the Cape at once.

For Natal:
Two Fugitive Slaves
Mr R Cora
Mrs SC Gutteling and two Indians

For East London:
Mr W Royi
Mr M Tintals

For Algoa Bay:
Abdor Pandie, Brother and servant, and 9 pilgrims.

For Cape Town:
Mr JS de Compas and 27 emigrants*

For England:
Mr McGregor
Mr Henderson

*regrettably not named; the 9 pilgrims are similarly anonymous

http://molegenealogy.blogspot.com/2010/02/more-on-natal-immigration.html

Durban harbour entrance channel late 19th c: a tug tows in
a sailing ship; the Point can be seen at right.

Plantation labour in Natal and elsewhere.

Drawing of A Noon's sugar mill Isipingo 1863 showing
Indian migrant labourers, hoes over their shoulders, returning
from the fields; a turbanned sirdar can be seen at right; other workers
load bags of sugar into a wagon; a white overseer - or perhaps Mr Noon
himself - is on horseback in the centre of the picture.

In the first half of the 19th century, Natal struggled to find suitable labour, primarily for the growing sugar industry. Australia had brought in white workers; the tropical plantation colonies such as Mauritius and the West Indies had imported black labour under white overlords. 

As early as 1848, Secretary for the Colonies Gladstone proposed that British convicts might be used to clear Natal's lush vegetation but the scheme did not get underway: in fact, various attempts to bring in convict labour to South Africa were unsuccessful, meeting with strong resistance from the general population. In 1854 the Cape Governor proposed bringing in Indians but the government of India argued there was already a great demand for Asian labour in Mauritius and the Caribbean. The Mauritian plantocracy, unable to acquire the requisite number of liberated slaves to work its fields, had started bringing in Asian labour in 1834. So, there were previous models in place by the time the 1860 Act was passed which allowed for Indian migrants to be brought to Natal; this Act met the legal conditions stipulated in India.

Though the demand in Natal was initially for labour for the sugar estates, not all migrants worked in the agricultural sector. Hundreds were employed by the Natal Government Railways (many had had previous experience on the railways in India) and on the coal mines. Some were in a category known as Special Servants, brought to Natal mostly from Madras to employment as carriage drivers or coachmen, grooms, waiters, dhobis (laundrymen) and gardeners.

My own search for a man named Lutchman who worked as a coachman in the Umzinto district (Alexandra County) turned up a few thousand names of that spelling and other variants on the Migrants Index, but his occupation made it possible to identify him correctly.

See archived posts (menu at right) or use the search facility to find more on the topic of indentured migrants.

Passengers to Natal: 1865

Newspaper shipping columns can be unusually informative: this one, from the Natal Mercury of 25 April 1865, shows the arrival of R.M.S. Anglian at Natal. Names of First and Second Class passengers (regrettably omitting most initials) are given, including those who were continuing onward to Mauritius.

There's also a brief account of the voyage from Table Bay, arrival and departure times at the intermediate ports and comments on wind and weather. Interesting details to add to a family narrative.

The Anglian mentioned in this report was a coaster which had been built especially for the conveyance of mails between Natal and the Cape, a contract awarded to the Union Line in 1865. She was of a light draught so that whatever the tide she could cross the bar at the entrance channel to Durban's harbour. Also employed on the Mauritius run, she left the Union fleet in 1869 when she was bought by a Dublin company and her name changed to City of Lisbon. She sank in November 1903 after a collision during a voyage from Malaga to Liverpool; salvage being impossible, the remains of the wreck were blown up.

This Anglian is not to be confused with the later ship of the same name built in 1873, which made her maiden voyage with Barney Barnato on board, then an obscure passenger but later to emerge as one of the most successful of those who made their fortunes in the South African diamond fields.