Passengers to Natal: the Elizabeth Martin 1873

On 5 August 1873 the Natal Mercury announced in eulogistic terms the arrival on the 3rd of the Currie Line steamer Elizabeth Martin from East London from which she had sailed on the 2 August under Captain Deacon. She carried a general cargo and only 8 passengers were named, viz:

Mr W Palmer
Mr Fuller
Mr and Mrs Garbut
Mr N Garbut
Mr Steel
Mr MacKenzie
Mr Deare

Black, Baxter & Co were the agents.

At three o'clock last Sunday afternoon (3rd August) a large steamer was sighted to the westward. She steamed round the Bluff at 3.40 p.m., anchored in the roadstead, and was made out to be the Elizabeth Martin, 906 tons, Captain Deacon (late of the Gothland), of Messrs. Donald Currie & Co's line. The tug went out to her about half past four o'clock, towing a cargo boat. The bar was rough, and the sea outside ran so high that the mails could not be put on board the tug. They were trans-shipped into the lighter, which arrived back in the bay very soon after the tug. There were 33 bags of mails, and our packet of extras, containing the latest European news, to the 25th June.
The Elizabeth Martin is a very fine, handsome, smart, and comfortable steamer. The passengers who have come up in her speak in the highest terms of her steaming capabilities, and of the courtesy and ability of her commander and his officers. She had a head wind all the way up from East London, and yet she made the run in about 24 hours. She was off the Umkomaas about 1 o'clock on Sunday afternoon. We are glad to hear that she is to be kept on the coast until the Florence arrives out, about the end of September.
She has brought up eight passengers, whose names will be found in our shipping column. Amongst them we are glad to welcome back our much-respected fellow-townsman, Mr W Palmer, who has had a pleasant trip through the Transvaal, Diamond Fields, and Cape Colony; whose health, we are glad to say, is thoroughly re-established; and who has many an interesting tale to tell of absent Natalians with whom he met and conversed during his wanderings.
The steamer's mail bags arrived at the post-office in town about six o'clock in the evening, and were delivered about nine o'clock. The steamer has only a small quantity of cargo for Natal, the manifest of which, together with that per Teuton, will be found in our extra. She discharged a great deal of cargo at Algoa Bay and East London. She is to come inside to-day, and all who can should pay her a visit. She is the largest steamer that will have crossed our bar, her gross tonnage being 1260.  

Natal Mercury 7 August 1873:

The entrance of the Elizabeth Martin into our inner harbour is an event worthy of special notice in the records of our port. This fine steamer is much the largest vessel that has yet crossed the bar. Her burthen is over 1200 tons, her register shows upwards of 800 tons. She is 250 feet long. Nevertheless she entered the harbour safely and easily at dead neap tides. We congratulate both her commander and our Port Captain upon this interesting fact. Some months ago, when referring to the trade of the River Plate, we pointed out that there was no reason why vessels of large tonnage should not be built so as to come inside, and the present incident is proof of the fact. If a permanent depth of 18 feet could be secured on the bar steamers of 2000 tons might ply direct between England and Natal without the drawback of detention at the outer anchorage. It is of the utmost importance however, that the condition of the inner harbour should be improved, and the present channels, which are ever shifting and shoaling, be permanently straightened and deepened. We are glad to hear that Sir Benjamin Pine intends to visit Durban next week, with the especial purpose of inspecting both the harbour and the works. 

Births, Deaths and Marriages at Sea on FamilySearch

It’s impossible to count the number of queries received on this topic so the following should be good news for many family historians

The new FamilySearch  https://familysearch.org/  has added UK Maritime Births, Marriages and Deaths 1787-1933. For anyone who believes an ancestor may have died (or been born or married) while at sea between UK and South Africa - travelling in either direction – this is a search worth doing and it is free.

On the main page, scroll down to Browse by Location, then click on United Kingdom and Ireland. Up comes the list of available Historical Record Collections. Scroll down to UK Maritime Births, Marriages and Deaths 1787-1933. Click on that and fill in the resulting search form as best you can depending on how much you know: surname is obviously a must, and if you can include two forenames that could be helpful in identifying a specific person with a commonly-found surname. Choose the type of event – birth, marriage or death – and give a reasonable date parameter.

Testing this facility, I instantly found a relevant record for a death at sea: the ship was on a voyage from SA to UK in the mid-1880s. The first name of the deceased was given as Ellen, though family information gave her name as Helen. Since this person was of Scottish origin, and Ellen and Helen are virtually interchangeable in Scotland, this slight variation is acceptable. The middle initial given on the death record is as it should be and provides confirmation that this is the right person. The year of death, 1885, also fits.

I clicked on the name of the deceased: FamilySearch directed me to an image of the record viewable on a partner site www.findmypast.co.uk stating that ‘By clicking here you will be leaving FamilySearch.org. (fees and other terms may apply)’. Having a subscription to findmypast I followed the instruction and obtained an image file showing the death listed in the relevant register: as well as age (again confirming identity), cause of death was given, precise day, month and year of death, and name of ship.

'... when we go back to the sea,
we are going back from whence we came ...'

Natal Militia 1910

Under the Natal Militia Act of 1903, the Colony converted its old Volunteer units to Militia Regiments, although enlistment in them continued to be voluntary. For those who did not volunteer the Militia Reserves were designed. This group photograph shows those who attended the Natal Militia General Training Camp in 1910. The photographer was William Watson-Robertson who had a studio in Pietermaritzburg at that time.

Among the notable persons in the group are:
Col Sir Duncan McKenzie, KCMG, Commandant General and on his left, Lieut-Col H Lugg, Intelligence Officer.
On Lugg's left is Lieut-Col J R Royston, DSO, of the Border Mounted Rifles.
Lieut-Col H Watkins-Pitchford, Principal Veterinary Officer, remembered for his book Besieged in Ladysmith, is seated next to Lieut-Col C Henwood of the Natal Mounted Rifles.
Capt 'WAC' Campbell of the Natal Mounted Rifles, Canon G Pennington, Senior Chaplain,
Lieut J G Fannin of the Natal Carbineers, Capt R L Goulding of the Durban Light Infantry,
Capt and Quartermaster Alexander Lyle of the Natal Carbineers ...

The names read like a roll of Natal's colonial families.
Look closely - perhaps YOUR ancestor is among them.
Many of the people shown would have served in the Natal Rebellion of 1906 (Bhambatha Rebellion)
and some also during the Anglo-Boer War 1899-1902.
The photograph, with its diagrammatic key and identification of almost every person in the group, is an unusual survival.

Click to zoom each pic

Boer War: Ladysmith index

Was your ancestor among the approximately 21 000 people besieged in Ladysmith during the Anglo-Boer War?

At the start of the Siege, troops under Sir George White numbered 572 officers and 12,924 men. In this total there were about 10 000 efficient combatants of the cavalry, artillery, irregulars, Natal volunteers and Naval Brigade. Over and above this were 2 000 civilians, 2 440 blacks, 750 people of mixed race, and 2 470 Indians. The total number of mouths to feed thus numbered over 21 000 - of whom no more than half were fighting men. (These statistics appear in With the Flag to Pretoria; there may be slight variations in other sources.)

Brian Kaighin, a specialist in this phase of the Anglo-Boer War in Natal, has compiled two indexes which are an invaluable aid to anyone researching ancestors (residents) who were among the besieged in Ladysmith, or among the casualties, civilian or military. His databases consist of:

1. An index to those resident in Ladysmith up to 1900: over 16 000 names. Note that this also includes certain people from Dundee and Newcastle, since many of these names have Ladysmith connections. The database is an on-going project and Brian would welcome any additional information on the families mentioned.

2. An index to British Military deaths: over 24000 names covering the whole of the Boer War i.e. those Killed in Action, Died of Wounds, Died of Disease, or natural causes. This list is in addition to the list of residents.

Brian mentions that 'information is taken from the births, death, marriages, deceased estates, regimental museums, War Office releases at the time and a register compiled by a local Ladysmith resident, Wally Hyde, of all Natal Casualties.'

If your ancestor was among the besieged, or died during the Boer War, Brian generously offers look-ups in his indexes, currently at no charge. He is also prepared to do further in-depth research for a small fee.  www.ladysmithhistory.com 

UPDATE: Brian's new site is at www.boerwardeaths.com

Murchison Street, Ladysmith 1899

Boer War: Winston Churchill capture site

15 November 1899

A detachment of Free Staters demonstrated against the British forces at Colenso on 1 November 1899. From Grobler's Heights they shelled the Colenso garrison at Fort Wylie keeping up the bombardment until the evening of 2 November. On the morning of 3 November the British garrison retired on Estcourt.

On 15 November an armoured train was sent from Estcourt to Frere and beyond to establish how far the line could be used for transporting troops. On the train was Winston Spencer Churchill, war correspondent of the Morning Post. The train reached Frere safely and was proceeding towards Chieveley when an advance party of Boers under Adjutant B van der Merwe heard the train approaching and made preparations for an ambush. Three guns and a pom-pom were placed in position and the Boers lay in wait in pouring rain. About one and a half miles from Frere the Boers were sighted and the train stopped, then began to reverse but on rounding the bend the last truck was derailed, toppling out members of the reconnaissance party and platelayers (some of the latter were badly injured or killed in the derailment). The Boers attacked and fierce fighting ensued. Those of the British who had not been killed were taken prisoner, including Winston Churchill.

On 6 December 1899, a small graveyard was consecrated to those who fell at Chieveley. Over 2 000 troops were present and the Dublin Fusiliers, who with the Durban Light Infantry had borne the brunt of the fight, were the last to march past in honour of their comrades.

The monument shown commemorating the wreck of the armoured train and the capture of Churchill was originally erected in 1917.



Churchill tells the story in his book My Early Life 1874-1908:

...two figures in plain clothes appeared on the line ...'Boers!' My mind retains its impression of these tall figures, full of energy, clad in dark, flapping clothes with slouch, storm-driven hats, poising on their levelled rifles hardly a hundred yards away. I turned again and ran back towards the engine, the two Boers firing as I ran between the metals. Their bullets, sucking to right and left, seemed to miss only by inches. We were in a small cutting with banks about six feet high on either side. I flung myself against the bank of the cutting. It gave no cover. Another glance at the two figures; one was now kneeling to aim. Movement seemed the only chance. Again I darted forward: again two soft kisses sucked in the air; but nothing struck me. This could not endure. I must get out of the cutting ... I jigged to the left and scrambled up the bank ...I got through the wire fence unhurt. Outside the cutting was a tiny depression. I crouched in this, struggling to get my breath again. Fifty yards away was a small platelayer's cabin of masonry: there was cover there. About 200 yards away was the rocky gorge of the Blue Krantz River; there was plenty of cover there. I determined to make a dash for the river. I rose to my feet. Suddenly on the other side of the railway ... I saw a horseman galloping furiously, a tall, dark figure, holding his rifle in his right hand. He pulled up his horse almost in its own length and shaking the rifle at me shouted a loud command. We were forty yards apart. That morning I had taken with me, Correspondent-status notwithstanding, my Mauser pistol. I thought I could kill this man, and after the treatment I had received I earnestly desired to do so. I put my hand to my belt, the pistol was not there. When engaged in clearing the line, getting in and out of the engine etc, I had taken it off ... I was quite unarmed. Meanwhile ...the Boer horseman still seated on his horse and covered me with his rifle. The animal stood stock still, so did he. I looked towards the river, I looked towards the platelayer's hut. The Boer continued to look along his sights, if he fired he would surely hit me, so I held up my hands and surrendered myself a prisoner of war. 

'When one is alone and unarmed,' said the great Napoleon ...'a surrender may be pardoned.' ... my captor lowered his rifle and beckoned to me to come across to him. I obeyed. I walked through the wire fences and across the line and stood by his side. He sprang off his horse and began firing in the direction of the bridge upon the retreating engine and a few straggling British figures. ... when the last had disappeared he re-mounted and at his side I tramped back towards the spot where I had left Captain Haldane and his company ... They were already prisoners ... We continued to plod on until we reached the general gang of prisoners and found ourselves speedily in the midst of many hundreds of mounted Boers who streamed into view, in long columns of twos and threes, many holding umbrellas over their heads in the pouring rain. 

It was not until three years later, when the Boer Generals visited England to ask for some loan or assistance on behalf of their devastated country, that I was introduced at a private luncheon to their leader, General Botha. We talked of the war and I briefly told the story of my capture. Botha listened in silence; then he said, 'Don't you recognise me? I was that man. It was I who took you prisoner. I, myself,' and his bright eyes twinkled with pleasure. Botha in white shirt and frock-coat looked very different in all save size and darkness of complexion from the wild war-time figure I had seen that rough day in Natal. But about the extraordinary fact there can be no doubt. He had entered upon the invasion of Natal as a burgher; his own disapproval of the war had excluded him from any high command at its outset. This was his first action. But as a simple private burgher serving in the ranks he had galloped on ahead and in front of the whole Boer forces in the ardour of pursuit. Thus we met.  

Boer War: Medical Corps

The Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) and the Natal Volunteer Medical Corps (NVMC) were the two main units in charge of the wounded in the Natal field.

Indian stretcher bearers

The Natal Volunteer Ambulance Corps was supplemented by the Natal Indian Volunteer Ambulance Corps performing essential duties in retrieving the wounded from the field. The Indian unit (about 1100 strong) was one of two raised and commanded by Mohandas K Gandhi - the Volunteer Ambulance Corps in 1899 followed by in 1906 the Indian Stretcher Bearer Corps.

The British Red Cross Society and St John's Ambulance also played a part in the treatment of British military and civilian casualties.

For further detail on all the above see
http://www.ladysmithhistory.com/a-to-z/british-regiments/royal-army-medical-corps/

Royal Army Medical Corps:
http://www.angloboerwar.com/unit-information/imperial-units/585-royal-army-medical-corps

Natal Volunteer Medical Corps:
http://www.angloboerwar.com/unit-information/south-african-units/448-natal-volunteer-medical-corps

RAMC memorial, Intombi, Ladysmith

RAMC memorial, Intombi, Ladysmith

Boer War Nurses

K.M. Champion

This cabinet print taken by Duffus Bros, Johannesburg, in the late 1890s, shows Kate Champion, a trained nurse who was to serve, a few years after this photograph was taken, during the Siege of Ladysmith.

Descended from the Hillary family of Hampshire, who emigrated to South Africa in the 1850s, Kate was born to Charles and Emma Champion ca 1870 and grew up in the Free State.

She survived the rigours of the Siege and was able to be in Ladysmith for the 1950 anniversary celebrations.

If your ancestor was a nurse during the Anglo-Boer War, visit Keiron Spires' fascinating and useful site at http://www.boerwarnurses.com

Boer War: A Doctor during the Siege of Ladysmith

Oswald James Currie was born in 1860 in Greenwich, London, into a life of middle class prosperity and conformity. His parents, Alexander and Jessie, were of Scottish descent but long settled into London suburbia, able to pay for Oswald's education fees at Guy's College from the income of Alexander's career as an insurance underwriter.

At some point Oswald must have decided to reject the idea of medical practice in Britain and perhaps he was inspired by tales of his father's seven brothers who had variously emigrated, enlisted and travelled all over the world. Certainly, after qualifying as a doctor at the University of London with a first class degree in forensic medicine, he did not waste much time before leaving his comfortable life and 4 stay-at-home younger siblings to pursue his love of travel and adventure. After a year in Ceylon and a spell as a ship's doctor, he finally came to South Africa which was to become his home.

Oswald worked as a physician in Pietermaritzburg from 1892 and was also a surgeon at Gray's Hospital there. In 1896 he married Sara Gough Gubbins, born in Limerick in Ireland and a cousin to Sir Charles O'Grady Gubbins*, and they had their first of 4 children in 1898.

By this time, Oswald had become very involved in the Natal Medical Corps and by the outbreak of the Second Anglo-Boer War he was a Captain with the Natal Carbineers. Realising he was living through history, he wrote 3 letters to his sister Rose's 5 year-old daughter back in England, telling her about the Ladysmith Siege where he worked in Intombi Camp with the other medical staff. Little Winifred went on to keep her 'Uncle Oswald' letters all her life and they were often brought out of their little leather case as treasures for her children and later her grandchildren and great grandchildren to see.

Oswald himself went on to survive both the Boer War and the First World War. After 1908, the family left Natal and made their home in the Cape where Oswald became a well-respected GP, kept up his interest in hospital work at the Wynberg Hospital and contributed much to the South African Medical Corps. He died at the age of 72 in 1932.

Dr Currie is among the group of Natal Carbineers shown on this blog at http://molegenealogy.blogspot.com/2012/09/boer-war-natal-carbineers.html

O J Currie, his wife Sara,
with John Alexander (Jack) b 1898
and Jessie b 1900 (d in infancy)

*Sir Charles O'Grady Gubbins, M.B., J.P.
for Natal, M.L.A. Natal 1901-10, Colonial
Secretary and Minister of Education 1906-10,
Acting Prime Minister and Minister for Native
Affairs 1907, Senator and MinisterWithout
Portfolio in Union of South Africa 1910-11,
Knt 1911, d 1911.




[With thanks to Currie descendant Jo King.]














Note: O J Currie served Sept 1899-31 May 1902 in the Natal Volunteer Medical Corps.
He received the QSA with 3 clasps.
During the Siege of Ladysmith he was in charge of the Natal First Field Hospital
(Volunteers). Later Major commanding the C Battery Natal Royal Artillery;
Surgeon of Grey's Hospital, Maritzburg, and Medical Officer of Health, Maritzburg.

Boer War: Intombi Camp, Siege of Ladysmith

Intombi, sometimes referred to as Ndomba (the Zulu word for a small stream), was a neutral camp established four miles to the south-east of Ladysmith, after negotiations between the British and the Boers. The Ladysmith Town Hall, which had been converted into a hospital and contained numerous casualties, was unsafe as exposed to enemy fire - a shell had landed on the clock tower of the Town Hall.

An armistice was granted until midnight on 5 November 1899 for sick and wounded, as well as some non-combatants, women and children, to be transferred to Intombi. Hospital tents were erected and the Boers gave permission for a daily ration train to run from Ladysmith to Intombi, by night.

Early on the morning of 5 November 'a long, long train made up of trucks, carriages etc, filled with patients and townsfolk, the sick and wounded lying on stretchers, in trucks, and in beds in the luggage van', left Ladysmith station for Intombi ... A few tents were up and more were being put up. After much difficulty and trouble we got the beds right and the wounded fixed up in tents ... It was late at night before this was finished and very dark.'

There were less than 30 qualified doctors, 120 trained medical personnel and 56 Indian bearers at any one time in Intombi camp. They had a total of 300 beds to start with. The 'vast sea of tentage' comprised No. 12 Field Hospital under Major Love, RAMC, No 1 Stationary Hospital of the Natal Field Force and No 1 Natal Volunteer Field Force Hospital, commanded by Captain Currie of the Natal Carbineers. From Convent Hill, Mother Marie des Anges took her nuns out to Intombi: 'after the initial shock at the crudities of tent life, where six of them shared three mattresses - sometimes with nightly visitations from scorpions, snakes and frogs - the nuns joined in with the nursing until, one by one, they too fell sick'.

By January, the death-toll from diseases such as enteric fever (typhoid) and dysentery at Intombi reached a rate of 10 to 20 per day. A Natal volunteer reported: 'They sent me into a tent in the field hospital where there were 40 soldiers and nearly killed me outright. The hospital had been intended for 300 at first and there were 1400 in it when I was there and 15 nurses to look after them. Food and medicine were both very short and the sun came through the tent like a ball of fire. The place was a perfect hell on earth ... What it must be like now [15 January] with 2 000 out there I dread to think.'

During January and February the typhoid epidemic raged, doing the Boers' work for them. Every day, the hospital trains carrying white flags steamed out of the town with new carriage-loads of victims and steamed back empty. All typhoid patients were supposed to be sent to Intombi but many sick men elected to stay in one of the hospitals within the town - though conditions were little better there.

'We just lie here', said one of the starving patients at Intombi, 'and think of all the good tuck ahead' - but many of them would not survive to enjoy better times.

Nurse Kate Driver wrote: 'Yesterday a Gordon Highlander who had seemed almost out of danger, gave a kind of long sigh against too great odds. "I've nothing to gie ye, Nurse. Will ye tak a bit o' ma kilt? The bit wi' the bullet holes - for ye nursed me better o' that wound - if it hadna been for the fever ...." I thought of his kilt now - that would never swing again, that so jauntily had swung over the kopjes and under the scream of shells. I thought of how it had been when it was new and his mother looked at him with pride and love. And now I thought of her, so far away, still - weeks in the future - to be numbed by the news of his death ... I ached for all mothers and wives and sisters and sweethearts of men dying because of war, and for all the sad eyes of dying men.'

Intombi Camp Graveyard after the Siege

Further reading:
Experience of a Siege: A Nurse looks back on Ladysmith by Nurse Kate Driver
(published by Ladysmith Historical Society 1978, No 6 in series 'Diary of the Siege of Ladysmith)

A Diary of the Siege of Ladysmith by Bella Craw
(first published 1970, No 2 in Ladysmith Historical Society's series 'Diary of the Siege of Ladysmith')

Ladysmith by Ruari Chisholm (published 1979, Osprey Publishing Ltd, London)

Boer War: Steinaecker's Horse et al

Various blog visitors want information on regiments - Imperial and Colonial - which participated in the Anglo-Boer War. One of these requests was for Steinaecker's Horse: have a look at

http://angloboerwar.com/unit-information/south-african-units/473-steinaeckers-horse

For details of other units go to the Main Menu at angloboerwar.com and select Unit Information.

Ludwig von Steinaecker
from  http://www.archaetnos.co.za/our-passion/
A fascinating story.