Caithness Ridges marriage 1838

St Mary's, Southampton, where James Ramsay Caithness

 married Elizabeth Watson Ridges in 1838.

In St Mary’s Cemetery, Port Elizabeth, lies Captain James Ramsey Caithness: his gravestone, despite much weathering, reminds us that he died in August 1860* ‘after a painful illness’. He is not the only mariner buried in this cemetery, nor is his the only Caithness grave. Another is to Douglas Sturgess Caithness (1855-1883), a son of James Ramsey's second marriage.

http://www.eggsa.org/library/main.php?g2_itemId=1060012

Although J R Caithness did not die at sea, the seafaring life eventually took its toll and he had had his share of misfortune particularly during the 1840s.

Note there is some variance in spelling of James Ramsay.
 However, I prefer the Ramsay version.

Caithness and the schooner Prairie in Tasmania 1856

References to local Cape mariners like James Ramsay Caithness can frequently be picked up in newspapers from much further afield. In this instance, the topic is Caithness's schooner (or brigantine), the Prairie, stranded near Rocky Cape, Tasmania.

The American built 150 ton schooner had been bound from Cape Town to Melbourne,

laden with wine, oats and raisins. She went on shore on the coast between Rocky Cape and Emu Bay. The schooner lost her foremast off Cape Otway and went on shore at high water. The master of the wrecked vessel was at Circular Head. The vessel is said to be but little injured and might be got off after discharging the cargo.  The crew were encamped on the coast.

Launceston Examiner Tasmania
 Tues 10 June 1856
..................

Loss of the Brigantine Prairie— This vessel, James

Ramsay Caithness master, sailed from the Cape of Good Hope

for Melbourne, on the 23 March last. There were on

board nine passengers and a crew of eleven. The lading

consisted of wine, oats, flour, and raisins, and other Cape produce.

During the voyage she encountered extremely stormy weather,

during which the boats were staved, the bulwarks much

damaged, the water-casks staved and displaced, and the head

rail on one side entirely carried away. After repairing damages

as efficiently as possible, she proceeded on her voyage, but

again encountered a violent gale off Cape Otway, on tbe night

of the 20th May, when she was dismasted, and in imminent

danger. The weather still continuing contrary, and the dis

mantled state of the vessel rendering navigation perilous in

the extrcme, it was necessary in order to save life and property

to run her on shore at Sisters' Creek, which was successfully

effected on the 2nd June. She now lies on the beach where she ran on shore.

The owner, captain and some of the crew, arrived here on Saturday night.

Rocky Cape, Tasmania

More on the Caithness family and this incident at:

molegenealogy.blogspot.co.za/2013/07/coastal-ships-mariners-visitors-cape.html

molegenealogy.blogspot.co.za/2013/09/mariners-caithness-and-prairie.html

Rare Boer War photos online

British officers are shown here with annotations featuring their names and whether they died or were wounded in the war
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3719664/Fascinating-rare-photographs-showing-brave-British-soldiers-Boer-War.html#ixzz4GFMqPm6U

The Bay and Settlement of Natal in the 1850s settler era

This engraving from the Illustrated London News shows The Bay and Entrance to Port Natal during the 1850s, the era of the arrival of the Byrne and other settler groups. Note, no lighthouse on the Bluff - that would not be built until the 1860s. There are sailing ships anchored at the Point, having managed to cross the Bar at the entrance. Some buildings and the military camp are visible in the distance but Durban was as yet largely undeveloped, there were no roads only sandy tracks, no wharves for arriving passengers to disembark at, and the Berea was still 'a pleasant wooded hill about a mile from the town', where elephants roamed.

West St Durban 1895

West St Durban, looking west, on Christmas Eve 1895

Souvenir Saturday: Gadsden Swires Natal marriage 1909

Maud Alice Swires (1890-1969)
 daughter of James Dudley Swires
and Alice Mary King

Maud Alice Swires married Sydney Bartle Gadsden on 3 November 1909 at St Peter's Church, Pietermaritzburg. Witness were Frank W King and Winifred Emily Swires. 

The couple shown on the marriage record are my grandparents. You may find your own Natal ancestors' marriages if you access the Civil Marriage records 1845-1955 on Family Search. See link at foot of this page*.

Sydney Bartle Gadsden (1880-1953)
 son of Thomas Alfred Gadsden
(Lighthousekeeper at the Bluff Lighthouse)
and Eliza Ann Bell.(daughter of Capt William Bell)

* familysearch.org/search/collection/2063749

Waratah disappears into history 26/27 July 107 years ago

Some links for Waratah anniversary:

waratahrevisited.blogspot.co.za/2016/07/waratah-and-her-souls-remembered.html

waratahrevisited.blogspot.co.za/2016/07/waratah-departed-durban-107-years-ago.html

waratahrevisited.blogspot.co.za/2016/07/never-say-die.html

Waratah's crew

Port workers ca 1860s Durban

Note the turbaned Indians. This photograph would have been taken after the initial arrival of Indian migrant labour and reminds us that not all of these immigrants worked on sugar or other plantations. Many were employed at the harbour or, later, on the railways.

Below, African port workers manning a boat: a rare photograph. Listed in the Natal Almanac
of 1875 (see final photo below) are 'Native Boatmen and freed slaves at different rates per agreement'.

Souvenir Saturday: Landing by basket at Durban

Basket used for landing passengers at Durban

before the wharf was built. This original basket can

be seen at the Maritime Museum in Durban (Victoria Embankment).

Passenger emerging from (or entering?) the basket
at Durban

Archdeacon Lloyd, Durban, Natal

Archdeacon Lloyd who married my great grandparents,
Thomas Alfred Gadsden and Eliza Ann Bell at Conch Villa, the Bell family home on the Bluff, Durban, on 6 August 1873.

William Henry Cymric Lloyd, Anglican, Archdeacon of Durban (13 January 1802-3 January 1881). He was well-connected. Lloyd was the son of Bell Lloyd, brother to Edward Lloyd, 1st Baron Mostyn, and Anne Anson, sister of Thomas Anson, 1st Viscount Anson and niece of Edward Venables-Vernon-Harcourt, Archbishop of York. He was brought up at the Anson seat, Shugborough Hall and at Lord Mostyn's castle in Flintshire.

Accompanied by his family Lloyd arrived in Durban, South Africa in 1849 as the first Colonial Chaplain appointed by Earl Grey. Lloyd was involved in the Colenso Controversy. He was rector of St. Paul's Church, Durban and subsequently Archdeacon of Durban. As military chaplain at the Fort during the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879 he played an important role.

He married firstly Lucy Jeffreys (died 1843) the daughter of the Rev. John Jeffreys, and secondly married Ellen Norman (died 1903). Archdeacon Lloyd's children remained in Natal and gained various distinctions

• Jemima Charlotte Lloyd (1837–1909) married philologist and librarian Wilhelm Bleek.
• Lucy Lloyd (1834–1914) renowned traveller and African linguist.
• William Llewelyn Lloyd married Baroness Maria von Gross-Zauche, daughter of the German consul to Namibia.
• Alfred Norman Mostyn Lloyd (1868–1941), registrar of deeds, Pietermaritzburg, and father of Anson Lloyd (b. 1914), chairman of the Board of Governors of Michaelhouse, a school the men of the family traditionally have attended.