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

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