Railway workers to Natal 1880s

Inchanga Viaduct

During the 1880s, the extension of the railways was a matter of life and death to the commercial interests of Natal. The first railway, from the Point to the Umgeni, was incorporated into the new Natal Government Railways. The line to Pietermaritzburg was opened officially on 1 December 1880. The Inchanga Viaduct had been completed in July of that year.

Construction commenced on the section beyond Pietermaritzburg in 1883, Howick being reached in 1884, then Estcourt 1885, Ladysmith 1886 and Charlestown (the Transvaal border) opened 7 April 1891.

For more details, see The Birth & Development of the Natal Railways by E D Campbell, (Shuter & Shooter PMB 1951).

The Colony of Natal: An Official Illustrated Handbook & Railway Guide by J Forsyth Ingram (Sir Joseph Causton & Sons London 1895) has a good map of the Natal railway system at that date including details of agricultural production in each area.

Railway workers of varying levels of skill were imported from Britain specifically for the development of the Natal rail network. The selected lists below show contingents of platelayers* ‘engaged by the Crown Agents for service on Natal Government Railways’ and brought out, most with their families, in 1885 on these and other vessels. The date shown is that of arrival at Natal and where not otherwise stated all were accompanied by wives and in some cases, children.

Some of the passengers' names shown here appear in the Natal Civil Service Lists, giving clues as to their later careers. It’s evident that many of them settled permanently in Natal.

*A platelayer fastens or repairs fastenings on railway lines. The term derives from the rectangular metal plates that bolt or rivet the ends of the lines to each other so joining the expansion gap that causes the familiar clickety-click as the train wheels pass over them. The plate is known as a fish-plate.

SS NORHAM CASTLE 12 February 1885
Hollister Robert
Forster George
Hawkwood H
Hazell H
Pearce J
(Sailed 22 souls, Landed 22, 14 adults)

MEXICAN 25 February 1885
Massey W
Sellors S
Palmer T
Rich A
(Embarked 10 souls, Landed 10, 7 1/16 adults)

TROJAN 13 March 1885
Huggins J H & wife
Brusby (?) M single
Ridley W
Double (sic - perhaps Doubell) J
(Embarked 12 souls, Landed 12 souls, 7 11/16 adults)

SPARTAN 24 May 1885
Lake H C
Coxhill G
(Embarked 9 souls, Arrived 9 souls, 4 12/16 adults)

ATHENIAN 10 April 1885
Coppin J
(Sailed 3 souls Landed 3, 2 9/16 adults)
More railway workers subsequently arrived on the Roslin Castle.

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.