Natalia 16 (1986) Complete

THE NATAL SOCIETY OFFICE BEARERS, 1985-1986
President Cr Miss P.A. Reid

Vice-Presidents Dr J. Clark
M.J.C. Daly
H. Lundie
S.N. Roberts
Prof. C. de B. Webb
Trustees M.J.C. Daly

Cr Miss P.A. Reid
S.N. Roberts
Treasurers Messrs Dix, Boyes & Co.

Auditors Messrs Thornton-Dibb, Van der Leeuw
& Partners
Chief Librarian Mrs S.S. Wallis
Secretary P.C.G. McKenzie
COUNCIL
Elected Members Cr Miss P.A. Reid (Chairman)
S.N. Roberts (Vice-Chairman)
Dr F.C. Friedlander
R. Owen
W. G. Anderson
A.D.S. Rose
M.J.C. Daly
Prof. A.M. Barrett
T.B. Frost
J.M. Deane
Associate Members F.J.H. Martin
City Council Representatives Cr N .M. Fuller

Cr W.J.A. Gilson
Cr L. Gillooly
EDITORIAL COMMITTEE OF NATALIA
Editor T.B. Frost

W.H. Bizley
M.H. Comrie
J.M. Deane
Prof. W.R. Guest
Ms M.P. Moberly
Mrs S.P.M. Spencer
Miss J. Farrer (Hon. Sec.)
Natalia 16 (1986) Copyright © Natal Society Foundation 2010

Cover Picture
Natal Colonial Parliament Buildings,
seat of the Natal Provincial Council 1910-86
(Photograph: Natal Provincial Library and Museum Service)
SA ISSN 0085 3674
Printed by Kendall & $trachan (Pty) Ltd., Pietermaritzburg

Contents
Page
EDITORIAL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
REPRINT
The Early African Press in Natal. . . . . . . . . . . . 6
NATAL SOCIETY LECTURE
'Putting the Playhouse Together Again'
Gordon Small . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 12
ARTICLE
The Indigenous Forests of Colonial Natal and
Zululand
Donal P. McCracken . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 19
ARTICLE
Dick King: A Modest Hero
Jacqueline A. Kalley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
ARTICLE
The Natal Provincial Council 1910-1986
A. Bozas 45
ARTICLE
The Oldest Houses in Pietermaritzburg RecoRsidered
J. Andre Labuschagne . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 51
OBITUARIES
George Tatham . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Oliver Davies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 80
NOTES AND QUERIES
Moray Comrie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
BOOK REVIEWS AND NOTICES ................. 103
SELECT LIST OF RECENT NATAL PUBLICATIONS. . . . .. 114
REGISTEP OF RESEARCH ON NATAL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
Notes on Contributors
ACHILLES BOZAS is an accountant by profession, resident in Empangeni.
He has played an active part in public life and was a member of both the
Senate and the Natal Provincial Council at the times of their respective
dissolutions. He takes a particular interest in the history of Zululand.
JACQUELINE KALLEY gained her primary degree and professional

qualifications as both a teacher and a librarian from the University of Natal.
She holds a Master's degree from the University of the Witwatersrand where
she is Librarian of the Institute of International Affairs.
ANDRE LABUSCHAGNE holds a Master's degree from the University of

Natal and is currently working towards his doctorate. He teaches Geography
and Computer Literacy at Alexandra Boys' High School in Pietermaritzburg.
DONAL McCRACKEN, a graduate of the University of Ulster, is Senior

Lecturer in History at the University of Durban-WestviUe. He has
previously taught at Rhodes and both centres of the University of Natal. His
particular research interest is botanical history.
GORDON SMALL studied architecture at the then Natal University

College and today practises in Pietermaritzburg. Among the buildings
designed by him are those on the Golf Road campus of the University of
Natal in Pietermaritzburg.
T.B. FROST
5
Editorial
Past issues of Natalia have often focused on particular anniversaries: the

centenary of the Anglo-Zulu war, the centenary of the death of Bishop
Colenso, the one hundred and twenty-fifth anniversary of the arrival of
Indian settlers in Natal, or the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the
establishment of Durban.
Natalia 16, 1986, however, commemorates no particular event, not even,
despite the presence on the Editorial Board of several railway enthusiasts,
the centenary of the completion of the Natal Government Railways' main
line as far as Ladysmith. The major centennial event, the discovery of gold,
did not take place in Natal. (What might our history have been had it done
so!). We accordingly offer this year a pot-pourri of articles.
We believe that our reprint feature, extracts from Inkanyiso Yase Natal,
the earliest African newspaper in Natal, kindly unearthed and introduced for
us by Ms Sheila Meintjes, constitutes a significant insight into middle-class
African thinking of the 1890s. The past year saw the demise of the Natal
Provincial Council after 76 years, and we are grateful to former M.P.C. Mr
A. Bozas for acceding to our request for an article on it. Our cover picture is
an elegant reminder of the significance of representative institutions,
however limited, in the history of Natal.
While the Provincial Council was closed down in Pietermaritzburg, in
Durban the old Playhouse was given a new lease of life as a centre for the
performing arts. The architect responsible for the transformation, Mr
Gordon Small, delivered the annual Natal Society Lecture, and we are
pleased to be able to print an abbreviated version of his discourse.
Ms J acqueline Kalley, a descendant of Dick King, has provided us with a
short piece on her famous ancestor, while we are pleased to be able to
publish an article by Dr Donal McCracken on the indigenous forests of
colonial Natal and Zululand. Mr Andre Labuschagne makes a further
detailed examination of the oldest houses of Pietermaritzburg, a topic first
broached in Natalia 13 by Messrs Russell Brann and Robert Haswell.
Sadly, few editions of Natalia are without obituaries. This year we pay
tribute to two well-known Natalians, George Tatham, long the Chairman of
the Ladysmith Historical Society, and Oliver Davies, the distinguished
archaeologist, whose appalling murder shocked and saddened all who knew
him.
We have attempted, this year, to widen the Register of Research on
Natal, and are grateful to those Heads of Department from the Universities
of Natal and Durban-Westville who have supplied us with information. We
hope that the fuller list will be of use to the academic community.
Natalia relies for its continued existence on the labours, without pecuniary
reward, of many. To our main authors, to the contributors of shorter items
such as reviews, notes and obituaries, and to the members of the Editorial
Board, our readers owe a debt of gratitude. We are confident that their
efforts have provided another Natalia of abiding interest and value.
T.B. FROST
6
The Early African Press in Natal
Inkanyiso Yase Natal
April 1889 - June 1896
The earliest African newspaper in Natal emanated, not surprisingly, from a mission station.
Supported by the Anglican Church in Pietermaritzburg, Inkanyiso (The Enlightener) was
produced at St Alban's College by a group of African Christians under the editorial guidance of
Revd Francis James Green, son of Dean Green. Billed as 'the first native journal in Natal', it
started as a monthly newspaper, with articles in English and Zulu. In 1889 it became a
fortnightly, then a weekly in 1891 until its demise in 1896. In September 1891 it claimed 2 500
subscribers. In 1891 its name was changed to Inkanyiso yase Natal, the Natal Light.
Although its origins were in a religious institution, its orientation was largely social and
political. From the very beginning it was largely controlled by African journalists. The first
black editor, Solomon Kumalo, came from a prominent mission family from Natal's foremost
mission station at Edendale. Inkanyiso was principally the mouthpiece of a politically aware,
largely Christian, African middle class whose aspirations were for inclusion and acceptance
within colonial civil society. During the 1880s and 1890s, as the racial exclusivism of settlers
came to influence state policies more and more, so the possibilities for such inclusion became
more remote.
Christian, or Kholwa communities had separately petitioned the colonial government during
the 1870s, voicing dissatisfaction with their inferior status in colonial society. In adopting a
Christian life-style, symbolised by their European dress and homes, and by their mission
education, the Kholwa had turned their backs on their communities of origin. In spite of this,
they remained subject to customary law, which in many ways was no longer relevant to the
manner in which they conducted their lives. They had been thrown out of their clans, and been
refused any of the benefits of communal life because of their adoption of Christianity. The
Kholwa participated fully in the economic life of the colony. Many of the Kholwa were, by the
1890s, substantial landowners. They were grieved that their Christian education and
participation in colonial property relations was not recognised by the colonial state.
Government recognition of their separate status had been given by Law 26 of 1865, which
provided for exemption from customary law on individual application to the Governor as
Supreme Chief. The Kholwa were suspicious of the act because of this. They wanted exemption
to be granted to all Christians. By 1880 only 27 men, 23 women and 67 children were
exempted. In the 1881-2 Native Affairs Commission, the evidence of several leading Kholwa
went further than the demand for exemption, and expressed also the desire for direct
representation in the Legislative Assembly.
In the absence of such representation, exempted Africans were prompted to form their own
pressure group. In 1887, two years before Inkanyiso was established, a society for the
protection of the rights of exempted Africans was founded, The Funamalungelo Society. Its aim
was to bring exempted Africans together, in order for them to know and understand one
another, to learn about the position of exempted Africans, and to improve themselves 'to the
highest state of civilisation'.
Inkanyiso was established to express the views of this group. In every edition of lnkanyiso
the position of exempted Africans was discussed in its editorials or its news columns. The
advent of responsible government in 1893 heralded increased control and decreasing
opportunity for the Kholwa population. All discriminatory legislation applicable to the African
population in general, was interpreted as applicable to the exempted Africans. By narrowing
the meaning of exemption in this legalistic manner, the state unintentionally provoked the
The Ea·rly African Press in Natal 7
beginnings of a broader political consciousness which would, in the last year of the century, find
expression in the formation of the Natal Native Congress and ultimately embrace all classes of
African in Natal.
The three extracts below are chosen from the period of independent African control over
Inkanyiso. They provide important insights into the mind of the African middle class of the
mid-1890s, and their experience of discrimination and subordination. The style of journalism is
very similar to that used by the white press of the time, with long articles expressing a
distinctive point of view.
In 1895, as the first extract shows, Inkanyiso yase Natal became wholly African owned and
controlled. Its audience was now explicitly defined as both black and white in the Colony. The
paper's objective was to bring progressive African opinion to the notice of government and
colonist alike, in the hope that their views would lead to a better understanding and sensible
reorientation of policy.
The second extract deals with the position of exempted Africans. It discusses the implications
of exemption and the expectations originally attached to it. The reality is instead a galling
degradation, where educated people are treated as children, while men of inferior caste are
given greater freedom. Tempering their protestations with expressions of loyalty and respect,
the article warns that the result will be discontent, and even 'graver consequences'.
The third extract discusses the necessity for 'civilised' Africans to organise to promote their
social and political objectives. It complains that the efforts of the Kholwa to advance themselves
are misconstrued even by 'otherwise enlightened men' who are blinkered by their racial
prejudice. Rather than wanting to stir discontent, their demands reflect respect for the benefits
of British rule. Participation in government would be the best guarantee 'against disaffection'.
SHEILA MEINTJES
Friday, 4 January, 1895

1nkanyiso Yase Natal
With this issue Inkanyiso Yase Natal passes entirely into the hands of the
Natives. It has long been their organ and has for several years past given
expression, through the En: ish columns set for that purpose, to Native
opinion. But much has occm' '!d to show that one thing has been wanting,
and that has now been supplied by the Natives taking over Inkanyiso as their
own property. This, the only Native paper in the colony, has become
thoroughly established, has a large circulation, and promises to have an
influence for good among our people which we trust will never be
weakened. The Proprietors intend to carry on Inkanyiso not only in the
interests of the Natives but also of the white man - of the colony generally
- for, not only do they wish to 'give publicity to the thoughts and opinions
of our people in order that, as our English friends become more and more
acquainted with the same, a better understanding between us may be
established'; but it will be their aim, while protecting the right of their
countrymen and forwarding their interests, to be strictly on the side of law
and order. They consider it 'desirable to give our people a vent for the loyal
and orderly expression of their views and grievances'; But Inkanyiso will be
'the mouthpiece of those only who approach us in a calm and reasoning
mood, and with due respect to the Government placed over them.' They,
therefore, trust that a readiness in the ruling power to listen, however feebly
they may express their views, will be the means of establishing that
sympathy and confidence in the minds of our people which is so desirable.
'Such being our objects,' concludes the circular from which we quote, 'in
taking over Inkanyiso, we hope to meet with the support of the public that
our paper may have an influence for good.' It will be seen then that the
intentions of the proprietors are good, and we sincerely trust that nothing
will occur to prevent these being carried out. In Inkanyiso our people will
8 The Early African Press in Natal
possess a medium which we trust they will value more and more, and which
will doubtless be' of great service to them. May the blessings of a Prosperous
new year rest upon the new proprietors of Inkanyiso yase Natal and all its
readers.
Friday, 21 June, 1895

The Position of Exempted Natives
The question of the position of the exempted Native is a burning one, and
sooner or later trouble must come should the present condition of things be
persisted in. It used to be understood that exemption from Native law put
the individual obtaining it, in the position of the European, subject to the
laws and practices ruling the latter, but also conferring all the privileges and
freedom which he enjoys. That this was a reasonable view is borne out by
the fact that exemption can not be claimed as a right, but is granted as a
special privilege after due investigation and enquiry. Hence it must be
presumed that the Native obtaining letters of exemption has proved to the
satisfaction of the proper Authorities his fitness to be relieved of the child
like submission to the tribal system, and to take his proper place amongst
the citizens of the Colony, regardless of the vulgar prejudices attaching to
colour and race questions. That such a step is a long one we freely grant,
and because it is so, we admit that the greatest care should be taken in
giving exemption, and that it would be better to err on the side of excessive
caution, than to exercise the power recklessly or carelessly. But we do
maintain that once this is done, the right should be a reality and not a sham,
and that it is nothing less than a disgrace to the British race, and a violation
of all its best traditions, that the latter should be the case.
Under the present system the Native gives up many undoubted
advantages, and in all probability severs friendly and even family ties,
abandoning customs which have been almost part of his nature. He sacrifices
the profit of the Lobola system, and sacrifices also the absolute authority
which the traditions of his race confer on the head of the family. He forfeits
also that care of his social and public interest which our government gives
the unexempted Native to an almost fatherly extent. All this is done because
training and study have revealed to him the greater beauty of the manliness
and freedom of European life, and he wishes to adopt it, and give his
descendants the benefit of being the equals of those for whom their habits
laws and customs have done so much. What, however, does he in reality
receive? He never can take a part in the Government of the Country which
belonged to his race ere the white man ventured across the sea, nor can he
have any reasonable hope of his children ever being allowed to do so. He
has to submit to the degrading Curlew law, under the penalty of being
hunted like a thief, and treated like one if detected in its breach. He sees
Asiatics of the lowest type allowed the free use of liquor, but he, who has
probably the strength of character to be moderate, may not have even a
glass of beer without the risk of being treated like a felon. Teetotallers may
indeed say that this latter restriction is beneficial, but it is not on the abstract
principles of temperance or indulgence that objection is taken to such a
restriction.
It is because it assumes an inferiority in the most galling manner, and
brands the Native as one who can have no freedom of thought or action, but
The Early African Press in Natal 9
must be coaxed or petted like a child, or coerced like a slave. We could

quite understand forbidding the sale of liqu()r to all classes, be the idea right
or wrong. But the exempted Native has cause for complaint when he is
specially dealt with while the low class Asiatic, or low class white, can do as
he likes. The first named naturally says that obtaining exemption proves him
to have power of thought, and of will. Why then, he asks, should his
freedom of action be curtailed?
It is by no means our desire to create or foment discontent by these
remarks of ours, and we can claim that the efforts of this journal have
invariably been directed to promote and strengthen that feeling of loyalty
and respect to the authorities which fortunately is the prevailing
characteristic of the general bulk of our Native population. All the same
there is a plain duty to be performed, and that is to point out clearly that
existing methods of dealing with exempted Natives are certain to provoke at
least discontent, and perhaps afterwards graver consequences. It is not in
human nature to rest content with a system which, promising material
benefit for certain action, deliberately denies these benefits when that action
is adopted. It is not wise, to say the least of it, to educate a man out of
barbarism, and then to show plainly that he must remain an inferior almost
chattel all his life, no matter his personal moral character, or his intellectual
ability. It is neither wise or christian-like to preach the doctrine that all men
are equal before the God of the white man, and then, when the Native has
accepted his faith at the sacrifice of feelings handed down to him from
generations, to treat him as a moral and a social pariah. Yet it is idle to say
all these things are not done, or to deny that these gross inconsistencies do
not disgrace the administration of Native law in Natal. It is because they do,
that we offer a solemn warning to our rulers of the dangers attendant on the
present course. We believe we have many men amongst us who have broad
views, and who can take a view of the position wider than that bounded by
the narrow limits of race and colour prejudices. We would appeal to such to
combat the ideas that retard the true development of the Colony, and work
injustice to a considerable section of its residents. We are aware that the
task is a wearisome and ungrateful one demanding untiring perseverance,
and undaunted resolution. Nevertheless the reward of success would be
immense to right thinking men, and however long right and justice may have
to struggle against ignorance and prejudice, the final end of the contest can
never be in doubt.
Friday, 16 August 1895

Organisation
It should never be forgotten, by those of our race who have had the
advantages of civilisation, that organisation is indispensable to any successful
attempt for the bettering of their condition. This is all the more necessary
because of the disheartening difficulties which surround all who would raise
the Native above the position of the hewer of wood and the drawer of water,
to which many even otherwise enlightened men would keep him. It is
lamentable that those who have a benevolent interest in our race too often
express it with a kind of contemptuous pity, and regard our efforts at
advancement much as they would a trick learned by a favourite animal,
instead of the natural impulse of human beings like themselves. When we
10 The Early African Press in Natal
come to others, the openly expressed contempt, and the avowed intention of
oppression are positive sources of danger, and the worst of it is that such
men exercise a political influence which sometimes dominates the best
intentioned statesmen. The Native, as against all this, has no political status
or privilege wqatsoever, and must be content to take whatever benefits may
be grudgingly flung him by churlish benefactors. The only thing to combat
all this is steady organisation, and, disheartening as the task is, it must be
undertaken by those who have the true welfare of our race at heart. It is
quite true that for those who will now bear the heat and burden of the day
there is little hope of personal advantage, and like Moses they may only
perhaps see the promised land from afar. Still the work must be done, and
the reward must be in consciousness of right doing, which it may be some
consolation to feel that the mental activity of intellectual struggle is better
than the dread sloth, which resigning ourselves to dismal bondage must of
necessity engender.
The greatest of all the objects of those who will take part in such a
movement is the obtaining of the franchise for our race, and such an object
should never be lost sight of for an instant. There are, it is true, other things
that may be sought for as instalments of the full privilege of the franchise,
and the several grievances arising out of the administration of the exemption
law should also receive attention. These however must be regarded as means
to an end, and as so many stepping stones whereby the highest pinnacle of
political freedom may be reached. Without the franchise the Native must
remain a serf no matter to what height of civilisation he may attain. With it
he will stand on a level with the European, and it will be his own fault if the
statute book of the Colony continues to be disgraced with legislation of
which the middle ages would have been ashamed. Of course, as we have
said, all this means hard and ungrateful labour , and it may well be that many
who enter upon it full of enthusiasm and energy will leave the fight disgusted
with the apparent hopelessness of the task. That however only goes to prove
the absolute necessity for organisation if the effort is to be made at all.
Organisation, we hold, means the banding together of all who have a
common interest and object, and the employment of each unit in the
particular work to which he may be best suited. First of all a central body is
needed composed of those in whom the whole community has trust, but with
such provision for changing its composition as the exigencies of the time may
demand. To this body should belong the duty of allotting what each
individual should do and the formation of committees to attend, to particular
matters, and to the general welfare of the cause in each district of the
Colony. There are some who can explain in homely but forcible language
the objects sought for, and their work is not the least important to be done.
Others are gifted with the power of expressing their views clearly and
forcibly in writing, and they should without ceasing put the case before those
who will have in the first instance to hear and decide upon our claims. The
efforts of those would not be confined to the Colony alone, but the great
British public should be made aware of the position so that the influence of
beyond the sea may be enlisted on our side. Others again may have the ear
of our politicians and they should use every chance of impressing them with
our views. But every single section and every single individual should work
upon a settled plan, and must be prepared to sink idiosyncracies and
The Early African Press in Natal 11
prejudices and to obey loyally the will of the majority. If only these
principles be adopted and adhereo to, final success is certain even though
the difficulties be so great as to appear at first sight insurmountable.
We are quite aware that the very broaching of this idea will cause a howl
of indignation from those who are ruled by ignorant predudice rather than
by the calm voices of reason and of logic. It will be charged that the political
and social extinction of the European is threatened, and it will even be said
that seditious rebellion is being preached. We shall hear too these
blasphemous appeals to the so called intentions of the Almighty to mak(
and keep the coloured races subject to the white. That these will have som(
effect we do not doubt, for the battle of right and of reason was never ye
won without reverse, and without the strenuous opposition of the injustice
that saw its extinction in its success. But the very violence of opposition wil
do good, for it will lead thinking men to enquire for themselves, and onct
that process has begun the end is not far off. It may not be in our day, bU1
the time will assuredly come when race prejudice will be a thing of the past,
and men will wonder how it was ever allowed to have an influence in the
administration of affairs. As to the charges which we have indicated, they
would hardly want refutal, were it not that such parrot cries are too often
taken up in the heat of the moment, and spread, doing mischief, almost
before there is time to contradict them. So far from the efforts of the
Natives to take part in the affairs of the country being an indication of
discontent, it is a clear proof of the contrary. It shows that the African
appreciates the benefit of British rule so much that he desires to participate
in it to its fullest extent, and to become an active factor in its administration
and working. His doing so will be the best guarantee for thorough devotion
and loyalty and the best safeguard against disaffection which might endanger
the public safety. It can not be denied that, often with the best intentions,
the European has sadly bungled in his management of Native affairs. At one
time an effusive and mistaken benevolence has sought to thrust habits and
customs upon a people before they were fitted to receive them. At another,
timorous apprehension made oppressive regulations, which irritated almost
to the verge of outbreak. All these things were because those who were
principally concerned had no voice, and those who acted for them had no
true knowledge of their wants or feelings. To-day, although much remains to
be done, there is a strong leaven of advancement amongst the Natives of this
Colony. In this leaven is the best aid to the Government of the State if it
only be treated in a spirit of broad minded consideration and generosity.
That many of our best statesmen wish to do this we freely grant, but they
are hampered by the weight of ignorance and prejudice on the one hand and
of the apathy of our race on the other. If for no other reason than the latter,
therefore, the organisation we have advocated has become imperative, and
we urge it upon all who have the true welfare of South Africa at heart.
12
Natal Society Lecture (abridged)

Friday 21 March, 1986
"Putting the Playhouse
Together Again"
I recall as a child, before the War, being taken to the Theatre Royal to see
the Carl Rosa company, and being terribly impressed when Samson pushed
the temple over, though even at the age of nine I could tell that there were
ropes lowering the fractured pillar to the floor.
These seasons were followed during and after the War by the National
Opera Company under the direction of John Connell at the Criterion, the
Theatre Royal having already fallen prey to the advent of the cinema.
In fact, a few of us from the D.H.S. cadet corps were press-ganged into
performing in Carmen - with Betsy de la Porte.
In the first act we were soldiers of the guard and in the third act by means
of marching across the stage, running round the backcloth and donning
different hats and cloaks for our next entrance, were in quick succession,
matadors, picadors and toreadors.
Edward Dunn and others struggled to present opera, including "The
Consul", at the City Hall and subsequently we had visits from the University
of Cape Town Opera Company, and various visiting Italian opera
companies.
Ballet has been well served in Durban over the years, from the visits of
overseas companies, Dolin and Markova at the Playhouse, the Royal Ballet
at the Alhambra and many presentations of high standard by the Rodney
Sisters, Eileen Keegan, Dorothea McNair, Joy Shearer and others, and
visits by the University of Cape Town Ballet under Dulcie Howes and David
Poole.
All this was before the formation of the Performing Arts Council some
twenty years ago and we have had annual seasons of Opera from NAPAC.
Since then also there have been erratically spaced seasons of ballet at the
Alhambra by the original NAPAC company, and again visits by the CAPAB
and PACT Ballets together with PACOFS short-lived International Ballet
which probably presented the best value for money available anywhere in
the world, and recently by the newly formed NAPAC Dance Company.
Nonetheless, an "Opera House" for Durban is a bit of a misnomer. What
we are actually getting in the Playhouse is a large auditorium suitable for
opera but also suitable for all sorts of entertainment which will keep it
operating throughout the year: ballet, musicals, symphony concerts, pop
groups, spectaculars, visiting superstars and, with the other venues which I
shall list later, drama, chamber music, chamber opera, recitals, experimental
drama - in fact the whole gamut of the performing arts.
"Putting the Playhouse Together Again" 13
The Opera auditorium, The Natal Playhouse

(Photograph : Contract Seating)
In my own case, proposed theatres for Durban, civic or otherwise, have

been legion.
In 1955, in conjunction with Calvert McDonald, I prepared plans for one
on the old Traffic Centre site between Pine Street and Commercial Road.
Then in 1959 on the invitation of the then Mayor, I prepared plans for a
two-auditorium theatre on the site of the Old Police Station or City
Engineer's Building adjacent to Medwood Gardens - it was to have cost
some three hundred thousand pounds and to be ready for the first Republic
Celebrations in 1961.
We then produced a much more modest remodelling of the Kings Cinema
to accommodate the by then flagging Intimate Theatre Company.
My files also contain yellowing plans for a theatre on the old Criterion site
for a financier who unfortunately did a midnight flit, a conversion of the
Theatre Royal from cinema back to theatre, a theatre for Donovan and
Molly Maule in Albany Grove, and a theatre for Brickhill-Burke on yet
another site in Albany Grove.
The idea for the Playhouse was, I think, first proposed by Ivor Kissen to
lames Conrad the NAPAC Opera Director, and when I was first
approached by NAPAC I was not altogether enthusiastic. As I said to lames
14 "Putting the Playhouse Together Again"
\
\'
at the time, I just couldn't visualise a Tudor Opera House - a revamped

Victorian building yes, even a magnificent Art-Deco-interior such as the
tragically lost Metro, yes, but a Tudor one, not really (unless one was going
to confine the repertoire to The Merry Wives of Windsor, Faust, or The
Mastersingers of Nuremberg, which were the only half-timbered operas that
I could think of at the time ..l
However, a meeting was arranged with Butcher Bros and in mid-1977 the
first of what seems now an almost continuous series of visits was paid to the
building.
As we stood in front of the orchestra pit and contemplated the 6-metre
depth of stage. j staTed that there was no way that it could be done without
at least 15 metres of the Alban y PC!rking Garage being available , which was
Out of the question. Walte r Butcher immediately took the wind from my
sails by s3)'ing it was not out of the question.
"Well". 1 said as we walked out of the exit into the alleyway, "it still
doesn't help as we have no side stage , no d ressing room space, no rehearsal
rooms . Now if that were available". gesturing towards the Colosseum
building, '"it would make all the difference ."
Imagine my astonishment when he said he knew it Ivas available although
they didn't own it.
"Well we'!i need this block of flats too", pointing to Medwood Court in
Acutt Street - that they did own.
So the very first scribbles were based on the acquisition of the Playhouse,
the Coiosseum , fifty feet of Albany Garage , and Medwood Court, and so
the final working drawings remain, although much modified over the months
and years.
I shall not dwell on the permutations of on, off, maybe, no, yes;
appointments, terminations of appointments, disappointments, City Council
resolutions, counter resolutions, Exco deliberations and counter
deliberations which occupied some two years. I have two large scrapbooks
of press cuttings recording the trauma of whether to start from scratch or
recycle.
The reasons for recycling are not purely economic, although in the case of
the Playhouse itself this is undoubtedly the case where considerable money
has been saved by adapting the existing structure .: In this case the economics
of recycling must be seen in a much broader context.
Firstly we are in· the centre of Durban's traditional entertainment quarter
which, although deteriorating in the late 70s, is still firmly entrenched in the
minds of both locals and visitors. We therefore begin with a head start.
The Playhouse is the last of the four great atmospheric cinemas built for
Schlesinger and one of the few remaining in the world. Call it nostalgia if
you like, but it is proving to be a very viable form of nostalgia.
Secondly, together with the old Railway Station, Expo '85 Site and the
Revel Fox plans for the CBD, the Playhouse Complex completes an overall
plan of improvements for the central area. In this regard, it is interesting to
The Playhouse and Prince's Theatre (1934)

(Photograph: Local History Museum, Durban)
quote from a prophetic Memorandum prepared by Councillor Donald Smith

for the then Administrator of Natal, the Honourable J.G.C. Botha, in
February, 1980:
That the heart of the city should be vibrant and prosperous is obviously
essential, not only to commercial interests, but to the city as a whole.
One of the most important causes, if not the pnme cause underlying
the CBD's decline generally, is the decentralisation of commercial
activities from the CBD. More specifically, one has noted that
enterprises located in the proximity of the Playhouse have, since this
theatre fell into virtual disuse a few years ago, suffered a grievous
decline. Several have closed, all of which relied heavily on custom
previously generated by the Playhouse . Others are surviving but report
a drastic reduction in their profitability.
The proposed conversion of the Playhouse-Colosseum will not only
revitalise the immediate area through the introduction of a performing
arts industry but will also play an important role in reversing the
deleterious effects of decentralisation on the CBD.
In every regional shopping centre, one will note that like enterprises
group together in the same locality. Durban's CBD is no exception.
This grouping is evident in the location of banks and financial
institutions, of fashion shops, of department stores, of motor dealers.
There are sound reasons for this phenomenon. Most important is this,
that the whole becomes more than the sum of its parts. By offering
comparative shopping, variety and convenience, the enterprises
though competing one with the other - become mutually reinforcing.
The Alhambra room, The Natal Playhouse
(Photograph: Scenaria)
The entertainment business follows the same rules. The Playhouse and
Colosseum are but two of eight entertainment houses closely grouped
together. Surely any proposed performing arts complex belongs in the
traditional entertainment heart of Durban too?
Durban has a unique opportunity of integrating, through imaginative
urban landscape, such landmarks as the City Hall and the Main Post
Officl' , both national monuments, with Francis Farewell Square and
Medwood Gardens, a composite of buildings and spaces, each with its
particular period character, and incorporating the Playhouse
Colosseum conversion, thereby creating a civic centre unequalled
anvwhere.
Supporting facilities required by any performing arts complex exist
already alJ round the Playhouse and Colosseum. The Royal and
Mayfair (now the Albany) Hotels would provide accommodation and
restaurant facilities and entertainment and could hardly be any closer.
The airways term mal is just round the corner in Aiiwal Street. Shops
of every description and all the financial institutions are within very
easy walking distance and public transport is on the doorstep.
Housing the performing arts at the Playhouse-Colosseum would be
to bring the arts to the people. There would be a high level of desirable
exposure to the public, thousands of whom pass the buildings daily.
They would be influenced by exposure to the advertising posters, hy
invitations to 'pop in' and experience the orchestra in rehearsal, or a
play or ballet or opera in production, by art exhibitions, poetry
readings, chamber or folk music, lunch time happenings and by a
variety of restaurants on three levels. The complex could become a
living invitation to the ordinary townspeople to adopt the performing
arts as part of their lives. Patrons intent on seeing a film, may decide
on a play, opera, ballet or concert instead.
This was written by Don Smith early in 1980 in support of the recycling
and he has certainly been proved correct.
Although the scheme has enlarged considerably since then, the basic
layout remains the same. In 1978 a trip to other theatre centres in the
country was made by Chris Lombard of NAPAC and Pat Gordon, the then
Director of Building Services, which firmed up certain requirements and the
brief was further expanded and developed.
Without going into chronological detail, various changes to the brief and
the accommodation had to be made over a period of years to meet changing
circumstances. Because of the restricted site, additional accommodation had
to be provided vertically and not horizontally.
So many things which may appear to be purely administrative decisions
have a profound bearing on the requirements of a building of this nature but
what can be said positively is that NAPAC and the Administration have at
least put the horse firmly in front of the cart in that the building has been
designed in response to the needs of NAPAC and the performing arts and it
will certainly not be some sort of vacuum waiting to be filled.
The complex is not just two re-vamped old cinemas; but provides
everything necessary for a vital performing arts programme to be presented
both by fIlAPAC and visiting companies.
It compares in facilities with the Nico Malan in Cape Town and Sand du
Plessis in Bloemfontein but of course not with the Pretoria State Opera
House and Theatre. (But then why should it? Such a complex can only b\= a
'one-off' in South Africa, and at some ninety million rands perhaps that's
just as well.)
Overall, it provides much better facilities than Covent Garden or any
similar complex in Britain other than the National Theatre or Barbican in
London, and I would suggest it will be adequate for Durban.
I have now become not only reconciled to but downright enthusiastic
about our 'Tudor Opera House'. The restaurants, foyers and auditorium
have been restored to their former splendour and the stars have been
faithfully replaced - though not, I'm afraid, Ha\ley's Comet.
GORDON SMALL
19
The Indigenous Forests of

Colonial Natal and Zululand
South Africa has never been one of the great forest regions of the world in
historic times: only about 8 per cent of the region has a high enough rainfall
to allow forest growth. The distribution of proper indigenous timber forest
in South Africa has been limited to a narrow shelf between the Indian Ocean
and the Outeniqua and Tsitsikamma mountains, and patches along the
south-eastern escarpment of the Drakensberg through East Griqualand,
Natal and up to the eastern Transvaal, and on into eastern Zimbabwe.
Further isolated patches of forest were to be found on the slopes of the
ridges at a tangent to the escarpment, as well as east of the main forest belt
in Zulu land , and in Gaza and Mozambique provinces in Mozambique.!
These forests often faced south or south-east, thus being cool and moist (the
moisture coming in the form of rain or mist). The presence of forest on
mountain escarpment and submontane ridges in Natal, though on a smaller
scale, was not dissimilar to the major forest belt in India at the base of the
Himalayas. 2 Today only 0,25 per cent of South Africa is indigenous forest,
compared with 4 per cent in Zimbabwe and 6 per cent in Australia. 3
Because of Natal's coastal subtropical climate there has been some
confusion concerning what vegetation may be termed forest. 4 Reference may
be found to coastal forest, dune forest, high forest, littoral forest, mimosa
forest, mist forest, ravine forest, savannah forest, subtropical forest,
temperate evergreen forest, upland forest and woodland forest. Thus any
type of clumped woody vegetation has at some time or another been
endowed with the accolade 'forest'. For the purposes of this paper, forest
refers to those areas of extensive indigenous close woodland usually with
two or three species of tree predominating. In 1880 crown forest in Natal
was similarly defined as woodland exceeding 10 acres.
In the period when Natal was a British colony, from 1843 to 1910, there is
little problem in identifying indigenous forests in the Drakensberg and
midland regions of Natal, where the forests are quite distinct from the
savannah grasslands and thornveld vegetation. In the coastal region of Natal
there is more difficulty in discerning forest land. Except for the distinctive
mangrove areas, the stunted forestal growth easily blended into the thick,
impenetrable coastal bush. 5
Distribution and composition

The principal indigenous forests of colonial Natal, in the period before the
annexations of the 1890s and 1900s, were to be found mostly in the west of
20 The Indigenous Forests of Colonial Natal and Zululand
Plat e I
_"'.0 ,
, , "
I
I
L L.:::J T"_B"..t
_ __
Map showing the distribution of the Natal forests

(From the 1889 Forest Report)
the colony. They were divided into three main zones: the broken forests
along the lower slopes of the Drakensberg above 3 500 feet; the more
densely wooded mist belt forests of the Natal midlands, between 1 000 and
3 500 feet; and the forests of Alfred County in the south, which were an
extension of the midlands forests and divided from them by East
The Indigenous Forests of Colonial Natal and Zululand 21
Griqualand. The heavy hardwoods, such as ironwood, sneezewood and

stinkwood, which had been abundant in the Cape's indigenous forests, were
less common in Natal. Here the soft-wooded Podocarpaceae, or yellowwood
species, dominated forest vegetation. In 1890 it was calculated that in
Knysna six yellowwood trees contained 300 cubic feet, whereas in Natal in
Mahutywa forest six yellowwoods contained 603 cubic feet. 6 It should be
noted that due to exploitation the composition of certain indigenous forests
in Natal and Zululand such as Qudeni has changed somewhat over the last
100 years.
The forests along the escarpment of the Drakensberg were to be found in
the districts of Newcastle, Klip River and Weenen. The principal forests
were Nkwelo and Long Krantz, south of Charlestown; the Normandien
forests which ran for 20 miles to the west and south-west of Newcastle;
forest land on the south-facing slopes of the Biggarsberg; 45 miles of broken
forest from Nolens Volens, near Van Reenen's Pass, to the source of the
Tugela; the Lombango forest near Bergville, where there were also remains
of petrified forests; forest land on the lower slopes of Table Mountain,
south-west of Estcourt; and the extensive forest of Hlatikulu (meaning 'great
forest') on the heights of the watershed between the Bushman's and Mooi
Rivers.
The two major species of tree to be found in the Drakensberg forests were
real or upright yellowwood (Podocarpus latifolius) and Outeniqua
yellowwood (P. falcatus). Other species existing in these forests or on their
margins included: African holly (Ilex mitis); assegai (Curtisia dentata);
mountain cedar (Widdringtonia nodiflora); red pear (Scolopia mundii);
sneezewood (Ptaeroxylon obliquum); white ironwood (Vepris undulata);
white stinkwood (Celtis africana); wild peach (Kiggelaria africana).
The forests of the Natal midlands were to be found in a fairly narrow belt,
not exceeding 40 miles, stretching from the East Griqualand border in the
south-west to the source of the Umvoti in the Grey town district in the
north-east. Substantial tracts of forest existed at Spioen Kop, Nottingham
Road, and a belt of forest 20 miles in length existed at Karkloof. This area
was known among early British settlers as the 'forest country'. 7
In the vicinity of Pietermaritzburg, forest land was to be found, induding
an indigenous forest in excess of 8 000 acres at Zwartkop. In addition, an
extensive forest belt extended west and south-west from the capital. In
relative proximity to each other stood the forests at Mpendle, Boston,
Dargle and Van Vuuren's Post which were seen as an extension of the
Karkloof forests.
Further south, the Polela and Ixopo districts contained over 15 forests, the
principal ones being Mahutywa, one mile west of Polela; Nxumeni, a
yellowwood forest west of Donnybrook; and nearby, to the south-west,
Hlabeni forest.
On the border of the colony, with access only from East Griqualand·and
situated at the watershed of the Mzimkulu and the Ngwangwane Rivers was
the great forest of Ngwangwane. This was described in the late 1880s as
being 'the finest (forest) I have yet seen in South Africa and the nearest
approach to a pure forest of yellowwood.'H
The major species of tree to be found in the midlands forests were the
three varieties of Podocarpaceae, real yellowwood (P. latifolius), Outeniqua
Photo. by Aeg. Mueller
Scutia indica Brongn. Lianas in a forest of Natal

(From R . Marloth, Flora of South Africa, Vo\. 2, 1925)
yellowwood (P. falc(:ltus) , and Henkel's yellowwood (P. henkelii). These

yellowwoods, especially the Outeniqua yellowwood, were considerably
higher than those of the species in the Drakensberg forests, reaching
30 metres. Other trees occurring in numbers in or on the margins of these
midland forests included: boekenhout (Faurea saligna); bitter almond
(Prunus afrieana); essenhout (Ekebergia eapensis); ironwood (Olea
eapensis); lemonwood (Xymalos monospora); Natal wild pear (Dombeya
eymosa); sneezewood (Ptaeroxylon obliquum); stinkwood (Oeotea bullata);
white ironwood (Vepris undulata); white stinkwood (Celtis afrieana).
The third region containing forest was Alfred County. In 1865 this region
between the Mtamvuna and Mzimkulu Rivers was annexed to the colony of
Natal. Alfred County had eight forests, the principal ones being Ngeli,
which stretched for five miles along the south-eastern slopes of the
Zuurberg, and Mpetyne, in the upper basin of the Mtamvuna River. These
forests were on a par with the Pole1a forests and contained similar species to
that region. 9
The annexations to Natal in 1897 and 1903 of land beyond the Tugela
gave the colony additional forests in the Paulpietersberg district and at
Ngome and Ceza. Further south, an isolated forest at Msinga, in the vicinity
of Pomeroy, marked the beginning of an outcrop of the mist belt forests,
which extended across the Tugela into Zululand. Here, on a series of
mountain ridges to the north of Eshowe, the extensive forests of Qudeni,
Nkandla and Ngoye were to be found, together with the lesser forests at
Dlinza and Ntumeni. A line of scattered, smaller forests extended north
from the middle reaches of the Black Mfolozi River to the Makowe Hills. A
forest was to be found on the eastern slopes of the Lebombo mountains in
the Ngwavuma district of northern Zululand. These Zululand forests were
not greatly different from those of the Natal midlands, though some of them
tended to have fewer of the stinkwood and yellowwood species and more
varieties like lemonwood (Xymalos monospora). Nonetheless in such forests
as Ngome and Qudeni stinkwood and yellowwood were plentiful.
The forests of coastal Natal were much less spectacular than those of the
interior. Because of the excessive heat and humidity, tree growth was
'stunted, gnarled and crooked'.1O Most of the coastal area was covered with
thick evergreen bush and palm belts with occasional grassy hills. The forest
element predominated in riverine regions, especially at the mouths of rivers
and on the high aeolian ridges or high sand dunes. In the south of the
colony, low forest was found near the coast at Nhlogozi, Mehlomnyama and
Ntimbankulu, and a belt of forest ran along the coast between the
Mtamvuna and Umzumbe Rivers. North of the small but impressive Berea
forest was a fairly solid tract between the Tongaat and Umhloti Rivers, and
another belt existed on the high dunes in the vicinity of St Lucia. A mixture
of forest and bush was to be found at Manguzi near Kosi Bay. But the great
coastal forests were to be found in central Zululand on the high land south
of Lake St Lucia at Dukuduku and nearby Ndhlovu. Some of the species of
tree found in these coastal forests and in their environs were: Cape fig (Ficus
capensis); cola tree (Cola natalensis); essenhout (Ekebergia capensis)
Eugenia spp.; flat crown (Albizia adianthifolia); knobwood (Zanthoxylum
capense); saffron wood (Cassine papillosa); tamboti (Spirostachys africana);
quar (Canthium obovatum); umzimbeet (Millettia grandis); waterberry
(Syzygium cordatum); white milkwood (Sideroxylon inerme); white pear

(Apodytes dimidiata); white stinkwood (Celtis africana); Natal mahogany
(Trichilia dregeana); Natal milkplum (Bequaertiodendron natalense).
Much more distinctive than the coastal forests were the littoral forests of
the mangroves, being more extensive the further north they occurred.
Fringing lagoons and mud swamps, they consisted of the mangroves,
Rhizophora mucronata and Bruguiera gymnorrhiza, and the Verbenaceae
species, A vicennia marina. lI
Extent and exploitation

Contemporary estimates as to the size of Natal's indigenous forests in the
colonial era are conservative, partly because of ignorance as to their actual
extent. Even by 1910 there remained forests which had not been surveyed,
and as late as 1921 a new forest, Mgomoma, was discovered west of False
Bay in Zululand. 12
In 1880 the Drakensberg forests were estimated to be 24 800 acres, the
midland forests 135 100 acres, and those of Alfred County 6 000 acres. For
the coast the statistics were given only for mimosa bush. This estimate of
Natal's forests at a total of 165 900 acres represented approximately 1,3 per
cent of the area of the colony. A decade later one estimate put the
percentage of forest at 1,25 per cent, and another at 1,17 per cent. This
compares favourably with the Cape's 0,25 per cent of indigenous forest at
the time." The new districts added to Natal in the 1890s and early 1900s
gave the colony at least a further 50 000 acres of forest. 14 By 1903 the area of
indigenous forest in Natal may be estimated to have exceeded 200000 acres,
which is approximately the total size that the Cape's indigenous forests had
been in 1846. 15
This is not to deny that there was substantial deforestation in the
precolonial and early colonial period. Descriptions of Natal, dating from the
sixteenth century speak with eloquence of the wooded nature of the region.
These accounts must, however, be regarded with some caution. They are
imprecise about location, they usually concern only the coastal region, and
their use of the term forest appears excessively broad. lA Nevertheless,
reliable evidence can be found for the existence of a coastal forest in the
vicinity of Durban, and of substantial forest growth on the ridges north of
Pietermaritzburg. The existence of sour veld on south-facing slopes may in
some instances denote the earlier presence of forest, but this cannot be
taken for granted without supplementary evidence, such as that provided by
the surveyor of the Natal Land and Colonisation Company concerning the
farm Welton on a tributary of the Umgeni. A receding arboreal flora
produced by climatic variations and human exploitation in the precolonial
period remains a plausible hypothesis. 17
In the colonial era it was commonly believed by settlers that the most
serious forest destruction was committed by the indigenous African
population. That the cattle-owning Nguni relied on large quantities of
sapling wood for fencing, fuel, huts and kraals is indisputable. Nineteenth
century estimates of the number of saplings required for a single hut varied
from 100 to 1 000. In certain regions, such as Nkandla, charcoal was
produced for the smelting of iron. In addition, Nguni settlement was very
often concentrated on the fringes of forests, with many leading a semi
nomadic existence revolving around the cultivation of newly cleared forest

land. Areas cultivated in this way and then abandoned tended to be
colonised by grassland. However, the Nguni practice of wintering cattle in
forests was even more harmful. The use of timber or timber products for
their domestic furniture, utensils, dyes, kilobkerries and medicines was
inconsequential compared to the damage wrought annually by domesticated
animals.
Such destruction was aggravated by settler land policy. Insecure land
tenure for African squatters gave them no incentive to improve their homes
by building in stone rather than in wood. Moreover, the official policy of
establishing African locations on land unclaimed for white farming or on
land adjacent to Khoisan-occupied regions resulted in 12 locations, mostly in
the south or south-west of the colony, containing large tracts of forest. With
increasing population density and inadequate magisterial supervision, many
of the yellowwood forests in these locations disappeared within two
generations.
African attitudes to forests varied from area to area. Forests were often
portected as sacred places where dead chiefs were buried. To the immediate
south of the colony in Pondoland the chief personally had control over the
forests. The Zulus reserved specific species of tree, such as the red ivory
(Berchemia zeyheria), for royal use only. Forests were also often protected
by fear: fear of spectres or of wild animals, and in the northern coastal
regions, fear of malaria.
Forests were useful to both the Nguni and the Khoisan as places of refuge.
Amapunze, Bambatha, Cetshwayo, Shaka and Sikhunyana all used forests
for this purpose during military campaigns. During the mfecane an
estimated 3 000 refugees took shelter in the forest near Port Natal. 18
Early white settlement in Natal in the 1820s and 1830s had only a localised
effect on forest land due to the sparse settler population. Some cutting of
timber was carried on at Karkloof, Nottingham Road and in the immediate
surrounds of Pietermaritzburg and Port Natal. The Voortrekker Volksraad
encouraged the use of local timber by imposing an import duty of 25 per
cent on all wood and woodwork. In common with other Boer republics, it
legislated where necessary on forest matters, and in 1839 it passed measures
to regulate the cutting of tamboti (Spirostachys africana) at Port Natal.
After the British annexation of the republic of Natalia in 1843 many of the
Voortrekkers moved back over the Drakensberg. For the next 50 years
Boers, especially from the Orange Free State, crossed into Natal to cut
timber illegally. This was then smuggled out of the colony along slip roads
and usually sold at Harrismith. 19
It was only with British colonisation that forest exploitation began in
earnest. In spite of the fact that Natal had no large-scale railway sleeper,
shipbuilding, paper making or pit prop industries, and had only small brick,
candle and lime-making industries, the amount of timber consumed annually
by t.he colony was large. By the 1880s the capital alone was using 6 000 tons
of ttmber as fuel, and as early as the 1860s Durban's local supply of timber
was so diminished that the port had to rely on imported timber or timber
brought from the Boston-Karkloof forests. The bulk of forest timber was
consumed in bridge building, carriage, cart and wagon construction, fencing,
furniture making, and house construction. 21
Boston Saw Mills, 40 kms from Pietermaritzburg. C.H. Dickenson, January 1857
(Natal Society Library Collection)
While some farmers indulged in asset-stripping of timber, the clearing of

pure forest for white farms tended to be confined to the coastal region .
However, farmers were very often forced to allow their African workers to
clear forest land for cultivation in order to retain their labour. Land
speculation syndicates, however, were often keen to protect forest land and
encourage settler planting. Some localised damage was done to Dlinza forest
during the Anglo-Zulu war and to the Nottingham Road forest during the
Anglo-Boer war, but generally the military conflicts in colonial Natal left the
forests unscathed. 21
Timber production
The cutting of trees was done with axes or two-man crosscut saws . The
trunks were cut in pits, on makeshift trestles, or in mills which were
constructed at the forests. At first vertical saws were used in these, though
some circular saws were in use by the 1850s.22
The number of sawmills operating annually in the colony in the 1860s was
approximately nine. This number rose to 11 in the 1870s and to over 18 in
the 1880s. In 186044 per cent of sawmills were steam-driven and in 1880, 80
per cent. In the 1860s the greatest concentration of sawpits and sawmills was
to be found in the Karkloof forest. At the beginning of the decade there
were on average 10 pits being operated annually as well as the two principal
mills, CIarendon and Albion, both of which were water-powered. The
annual capacity of these was in excess of one million cubic feet of timber
with a value of some £10000. By the end of the decade 20 pits were
operating, and, in addition to the two older ones, three major new mills
were working, two of which were devoted to the production of wheel rims.
A new mill at Talavera was driven by a 16-horsepower Ransome and May

engine capable of turning a circular saw at 800 revolutions a minute. In
total, these five mills worked a minimum of 50 vertical and two circular
saws. Their annual capacity was over 1,75 million cubic feet with a value of
some £19 000. The value of timber extracted at Karkloof in the 1860s was
around 2IJ2d per cubic foot. It can be estimated that during the decade
approximately 14 million cubic feet of indigenous timber, valued at
£150 000, was extracted from this forest. This figure dwarfs the 1 million
cubic feet of timber imported by the colony in the same period.
Apart from Karkloof, smaller water-powered mills operated in the
Boston-Dargle region. Information concerning their operation is scant, but
in 1862 the Boston mill produced in excess of 300 000 cubic feet of timber
and the Dargle mill 8 000 cubic feet. Three years later the latter was
producing over 100 000 cubic feet. However, in 1867 both mills closed and
only in 1870 did the lumbering firm of W.R. Shaw, which owned three mills
in Karkloof, re-open the Boston mill.
A third timber region to be exploited in the colonial era was in Alfred
County. Because of transport difficulties, returns for sawyers were as low as
Id per cubic foot for timber cut in the Ngeli and Zuurberg forests, and it was
not until the 1890s that a sawmill was erected in the Ngeli forest.
Nonetheless, in the first few years after the annexation of the area to Natal
326000 cubic feet, valued at £2 512 was legally extracted from the region;
this figure does not include timber illegally cut and smuggled into East
Griqualand to be sold in the Kokstad-Franklin area. The poor returns and
inaccessibility combined to make the Alfred forests diminish more slowly
than those nearer the capital.
Although the sawmills produced greater quantities of timber than did the
pits, the sawmill owners, such as Gilbert Fownes and the Shaw brothers,
were far more responsible in their attitude to forest resources and the need
for forest management than were individual sawyers whose destructive
methods of extracting timber were notorious. 23 In the 1850s sawyers often
tendered for bu~iness from those farmers who wished to make a fast return
on timber sales. 24 The coming of sawmills undermined the livelihood of
many sawyers, who moved increasingly to remoter parts of the colony. They
were responsible for the steady destruction of many of the Drakensberg
forests; as in the Cape, sawyers had to pay a licence fee of £1 per saw per
month to cut in crown forests. The sawyers were often former soldiers and
sailors, Boers and Irish, and as in many regions of the world these
woodsmen were looked upon with a mixture of fear and contempt. Partly
because of transport costs and a system of payment for timber in kind, few
sawyers were as fortunate as the Dooleys and McCormicks who were able to
buy farms for themselves. 25
Most of the timber cut by individual sawyers and by mills was for domestic
consumption. Only in the years 1854 to 1859 was indigenous timber
exported through Durban harbour in any quantity. In this period 62534
cubic feet of yellowwood, 34,5 cubic feet of sneezewood, and 7016 staves
were exported, mainly to the Cape. This compares with 50000 cubic feet
imported in this period. The greatest amount of indigenous timber exported
through Durban was in 1856 when £8020 worth, or 14 per cent of total
exports, was shipped out. Greater quantities of timber were, however, taken
over the Drakensberg to the Boer republics, where Natal yellowwood could
fetch up to four times its usual price. One estimate put the annual value of
this trade in the early 1850s at £3 600.26 According to the Natal Witness, it
was this trade which led to the establishment of the Boston sawmill in 1853.21
This overberg trade was spasmodic, and the quantity of timber involved
could in no way have satisfied the colony's increasing demands. T.R. Sim in
his volume Tree planting in Natal noted:
Natal is not, never has been, and never can be an overseas timber
exporting country. The indigenous forests are unable to meet the
domestic requirements of the colony. 28
Limited indigenous forest, local hostility to the use of poorly seasoned,
though cheaper yellowwood, and the growth of the colony resulted in timber
imports rising from 1 million cubic feet for the 1860s to 2,25 million for the
1870s , 8,75 million for the 1880s and 26 million cubic fe et for the 18905.
With the domestic wattle industry growing, and carriage and wagon makers
ceasing to use indigenous wood , by the turn of the century the indigenous
forests of Natal were no longer the backbone of the timber trade. 29
Government legislation and forestry policy

For the first 30 years of British rule the colonial administration of Natal
concerned itself very little with the indigenous forests. Desperate to raise
much needed capital, they did not exclude crown land containing forest from
public sale, nor did they prohibit the leasing and consequent exploitation of
forest on crown land. Though under the supervision of the surveyor-general's
department, there was tardiness in surveying and demarcating forest land
which led to unintentional alienation of forest from the crown. In the 1880s
the area of crown forest dropped by a third, and as late as the 1890s forest
land was being sold for a mere 10 to 15 shillings an acre. 30
Ordinance 4 of 1853 gave the Lieutenant-Governor powers to preserve bush
on crown land and to issue licences for the cutting of timber on crown land.
Further proclamations under this ordinance were issued in 1853, 1863, 1867,
1872, 1874, 1875, 1882 and 1888. Since the early regulations were not
designed to protect forests, but rather to control the destruction of thorn
bush suitable for fuel and to facilitate the collection of licence fees, as far as
forests were concerned they were of little benefit . Worse was the fact that
regulations concerning grass burning, the impounding of cattle, and
squatting did not apply to crown forest. 3 !
Only in the 1870s, when much destruction had already been done to
forests, did the government turn its attention to the question of official
policy on forest preservation and exploitation. There were many reasons for
this new concern and they varied considerably. Many colonists believed the
drought of the mid-1870s had at least in part been caused by deforestation.
Pressure was put on th~ government by resident magistrates who were
becoming increasingly disturbed by the amount of forest destruction done by
Africans. Railway development and an ever-increasing timber import cost
further drew the government's attention to forests. 32 But equally important
was the impact on colonists and administrators of the Victorian 'plant craze' .
Encouraged from abroad by the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew and in the
colony by the Natal Colonist, the last quarter of the nineteenth century
witnessed the phenomenon of prominent citizens enthusiastically flinging
themselves into the study of indigenous flora. 33 These included Messrs.

Curry, Evans, Greenacre, Jameson, Keit, Sanderson, Saunders, Sutherland,
Stainbank and Wood, as well as Mrs Katharine Saunders. The Governors
most closely associated with this development were Sir Henry Bulwer, Sir
Charles Mitchell and Sir WaIter Hely-Hutchinson.
As far as forestry was concerned these individuals were conscious of
developments outside the colony. In Europe there were famous forestry
schools in England, France and Germany. The 1870s and 1880s saw a
dramatic increase in the amount of forestry legislation passed in these and
many other European countries. But Natal was especially influenced by
developments in Cape forestry, which had in turn been influenced by both
French forestry and, especially, the Indian forest service. 34 The appointment
in 1880 of the Comte de Vasselot de Regne as conservator of Cape forests
marked the beginning of a serious forestry policy at the Cape. In 1888 a
Cape forest act, based on the Madras forest act of 1882, gave protection to
all crown forests in the colony and extended the organisation of the
conservancy of forestry to the Transkei and Pondoland. 35 Natal's quest for
an acceptable forestry policy was therefore part of a more general realisation
that forests, though a renewable resource, had to be properly protected and
managed.
Unfortunately the required long-term financial investment in Natal
forestry proved an insuperable problem for the impoverished colony.
Further, the government felt it could only regulate for crown forests which
meant the exclusion from regulations of 80 per cent of Natal's indigenous
forest in private hands. Then there were the practical problems of enforcing
such regulations. In the late 1860s and early 1870s a number of forest
conservators were appointed. These were usually local farmers or
magistrates, though occasionally the police and even sawmill owners and
sawyers acted as conservators. Their duties were to collect sawyers' licence
fees and to supervise cutting in crown forests. They were paid between £1
and £5 a month or received 25 per cent of revenue collected. The system
proved unsatisfactory, neither protecting forests nor raising sufficient funds
to cover expenditure. As late as the mid-1890s licence fees collected rarely
exceeded £400 per annum. 36
Prior to formulating forestry policy, the Indian government had appointed
various commissions to study the subjectY The Natal government followed
suit, and official reports on the forests of Natal were completed in 1880,
1890 and 1902. The first of these forestry commissions was appointed by the
Lieutenant-Governor, Sir Henry Bulwer, in June 1878. It comprised nine
local dignitaries under the chairmanship of Judge Lushington Phillips. The
commission sat for 21 months and reported in March 1880. Though only a
fifth of the 1 000 questionnaires distributed by the commissioners was
returned to them, the 32-page report methodically commented on 14
districts of crown forest. It proposed the establishment of a N alal
department of forestry which would promote state and private afforestation
and would preserve the remaining indigenous crown forest by excluding
sawyers and African squatters from such land. The commissioners warned
that a successful state afforestation policy would require 10 years' subsidy
before any return could be expected. 38
Despite representations to the legislative assembly by George Sutton, who

was himself heavily involved in the Natal wattle industry, and by Bulwer to
the British colonial office , little was done to implement the report's
recommendations. Field cornets and magistrates were increasingly used in
forest protection and the number of African forest guards increased. The
crown forests were not closed to sawyers until January 1884, and were re
opened in May 1888. However, by the late 1880s there was renewed public
concern over the decrease in Natal's indigenous forest. The Bulwer report
was finally published officially in 1889 and a new proclamation prohibited
the sale of crown forests which exceeded 10 acres .39
Modern pit sawing

(Photograph: A. Lambert)
The establishment of a department of forestry

The Natal government finally decided to adopt a comprehensive forestry
policy as a result of this general concern, but rather than act on the 1880
report they seconded H.G., Fourcade from the Cape forestry service to
compile a new report. He commenced his task in March 1889 and concluded
it in February 1890. His report was six times the length of the earlier one
and, while generally ignoring privately owned indigenous forest, it provided
an excellent survey of crown forest. Fourcade emphasised at some length the
necessity of preserving forests in order to regulate rainfall and prevent soil
erosion. His conclusions differed little from the 1880 report, though he
stressed the need for a forest act in the colony and for the establishment of
plantations to produce railway sleepers. 40
Public reaction to Fourcade's report was enthusiastic. The Natal Mercury
stated that anyone who ignored forestry was 'crassly ignorant or densely
stupid'. In .the legislative assembly the appointment of a conservator of
forestry with an annual budget of £2 000 was approved. A proclamation
gave protection to ironwood, stinkwood and yellowwoods in crown forests,
and the forests were closed for 16 months. 41 The colonial engineer began
work on drafting a forest act based on the recent Cape forest act, and
Fourcade was offered the post of conservator of the new department of
forestry. Unfortunately for Natal forestry he refused and returned to
Knysna. A conservator was then recruited abroad, and Friedrich Schopflin
of the Baden forest service in Germany was appointed to this post in April
1891. His salary was a respectable £500 per annum.42
Though still operating as a branch of the surveyor-general's department,
SchOpflin was in charge of his own office in Pietermaritzburg and of a field
staff which by 1893 numbered 36, and included two full-time district forest
officers. With zeal he set about drawing up formal instructions for foresters
and supervisors, setting new timber tariffs, and composing a proclamation to
protect crown forests against leasing. After an arduous trip to the forests in
the south of the colony, some of which he demarcated with beacons,
SchOpflin opened the crown forests of Ngeli and Polela to supervised cutting,
but closed the remaining crown forests in the colony to sawyers. Much to his
regret the forests on native trust land were not placed under his control,
though he did manage to acquire 3 000 acres of forest from them.
Though SchOpflin was responsible only for crown forests, he had
numerous schemes for promoting the general interests of forestry in the
colony. These included establishing a government nursery in the
Pietermaritzburg Botanic Gardens and a government sawmill at Dronk Vlei,
and initiating a policy of afforestation to meet the demand for timber from
the Transvaal gold mines. He was hampered, however, by the failure of the
bill 'to provide for the better protection of forests' to pass into lawY Though
supported by the government and many members of parliament, the clauses
of the bill which extended protection to all crown forest products, gave
forest officers police powers, and imposed harsh penalties for any
infringement, led to the bill being denounced as unduly rigorous. 44 In the
Cape such opposition had been ignored by the authorities, but in Natal,
where responsible government was about to be granted, the colonial office
was not prepared to push matters and the bill was dropped. 4s This severely
undermined Schopflin's position, which was already shaky because of his
propensity for fierce disputes with government officials from the Governor
down. With expenditure on the department of forestry exceeding its revenue
sixfold in 1893, Schopflin was informed that his contract would be renewed
only until May 1894. In consequence he resigned his position and in
September 1893 returned to what proved a successful career in German
forestry.46
After Schopflin's departure the department of forestry was closed and
forest matters once again became the direct responsibility of the surveyor
general. A few of the foresters, including G.H. Davies, retained their
positions. From 1895 to 1903 the Natal police were made responsible for the
issuing of sawyers' licences, patrolling, and regulating the sale of wood in
crown forests. Though there was not a dramatic increase in prosecutions for
illegal cutting, the allocation of a sergeant or trooper to each major forest in
Natal and Zululand resulted in revenue from forests increasing from £333 in
1894 to £1 708 in 1902 while expenditure declined by half. 47
Attention was drawn to the plight of Natal's diminishing indigenous
forests by a leading article on the subject in the influential Kew Bulletin in
1895 which criticised government inertia on the subject. 48 Within the colony
such individuals as G.H. Davies, Maurice S. Evans and Claude Fuller
rekindled public interest in forestry in the late 1890s. Despite the fact that
the second Anglo-Boer war was being fought in northern Natal the
government was still prepared to tackle the problem once again. 49 There
was, however, a shift in emphasis from concern for indigenous forests to the
promotion of exotic afforestation. The new initiative was taken by the Natal
ministry of agriculture which had assumed responsibility for forestry. The
eminent Cape forester, J. Storr Lister, was seconded to Natal in order to
compile yet another report on the colony's indigenous forests. Though his
report, completed in 1902, included the forests of Zululand, it ran to only 13
pages. Lister had for a quarter of a century, since his transfer from the
Indian to the Cape forest service, taken the leading role in establishing
exotic plantations. He was responsible for introducing the major plantation
pine, Pinus radiata, into the Cape. His Natal report reflected this interest.
While noting the prevalent but erroneous supposition that the colony's
indigenous forests were almost 'worked out', Lister stressed the need for a
beginning to state afforestation. He also reminded the authorities that in the
Cape forest expenditure exceeded revenue threefold. Lister recommended
the reappointment of a conservator of forestry for the colony, a decision
which had, however, already been taken by the Natal minister of
agriculture. 50
The new appointee was T.R. Sim of the Cape forestry service and the
former curator of the King William's Town Botanic Gardens. 51 He was a
botanist of some note, who during his career was to publish several famous
books, including The ferns of South Africa, The forests and forest flora of the
Colony of the Cape of Good Hope, and Tree planting in South Africa.
Initially, at least, Sim had the goodwill of his superior, the minister of
agriculture, an advantage which Schopflin had been unable to enjoy.
After being appointed in 1902, Sim set about replacing previous forest
regulations with a new and much more comprehensive proclamation. This
was issued in 1903 and went much of the way to satisfying demands for
protection of indigenous crown forests. It set out a list of 52 species of tree
to be reserved from cutting by licensed sawyers unless individual trees were

stamped by forest officers as available for cutting,52 However, Sim also
reduced the price of crown forest timber as a means of stimulating declining
demand for local indigenous wood.
Sim was given control of the extensive indigenous forests of Zululand; this
region had been acquired by Natal in 1897, having been under imperial
control for 10 years. In 1887 Ordinance 4 of 1853 had been extended to the
region in accordance with proclamation 11 of that year. An official British
parliamentary report on the Zululand forests by the local resident
magistrate, Colonel Cardew, published in 1891, had given a short
description of most of the forests in the region and proposed measures for
their protection. These recommendations were largely ignored by the
colonial office at the time, which refused to give Sch6pflin control of these
forests and placed them under the supervision of magistrates and the
Zululand police. It was not until 1898 that the Natal government appointed
a staff of 14 foresters to watch over the vast expanse of Zululand's
indigenous forest. These foresters included G.H. Davies, who was based at
Qudeni where Swanfield's sawmill had recently been erectedY
As early as 1891 the colonial office had made it clear that forest
regulations should not prove irksome to Africans in Zululand.'4 Both
Africans and white sawyers found Sim's 1903 proclamation objectionable;
much to his anger it was not fully enforced, and in 1904 a government
circular dramatically modified its provisions. 55 The Zululand forests
remained open for exploitation. Although Sim did, however, succeed in
ensuring that most of the forests were reserved for the crown, following the
1904 delimitation commission ,56 both the Manguzi forest and the
Landolphia rubber region in northern Zululand were declared African
reserves. 57
Based at the new agricultural college at Cedara, by 1905 Sim's forestry
department employed 45 men in 22 forest stations as far apart as Weza in
Alfred County and Manguzi in northern Zululand; police and magisterial
supervision of forests was phased out. Foresters' wages varied from £36 to
£144 per annum, except in northern Zululand where, because of the
unhealthy climate, it was felt necessary to pay the forester £250 a year. 50
Sim worked hard to establish forestry in Natal on a permanent basis. By
190665 000 acres of indigenous forest had been demarcated as crown forest,
and the number of prosecutions for forest offences had increased fourfold
over the figure of eight years previously.<9 Sim's policy towards indigenous
forests was to permit regulated cutting in most areas, but if forests were
badly cut into, as were those of Wakkerstroom and Pi et Retief, he tried to
exclude sawyers. 60 In some regions he permitted sectional felling, and on
occasions he granted concessions of whole forest areas to individual
companies. Where possible he had squatters removed from crown fbrests,
but if. this proved difficult he issued licences as a means of controlling their
activities. 61 He also tried to initiate effective legislation for privately owned
indigenous forests. 62 By 1905 annual expenditure on forestry surpassed
£12000 with revenue over £2000; however, much of this expenditure was
devoted to establishing government nurseries for exotic timber and fruit
trees. 63
Sim recognised that the future of Natal forestry lay in afforestation. Black
wattle and eucalyptus had been strongly promoted in Natal since the 1860s:
distribution of exotic seedlings was handled so effectively by the
Pietermaritzburg Botanic Gardens that in 1882 the director ofKew described
that gardens as a 'model for other colonies for ensuring a supply of valuable
timber'.64 By 1904 15 per cent of productive land in Natal and Zululand was
devoted to wattle. 65 Sim initiated the first state plantation schemes in Natal
at Cedara, Empangeni and Weza, 27 years after the Cape had commenced
such a policy.M As with the Tokai school at the Cape, when Cedara opened
in 1906 it offered a two-year course which included one forestry lecture a
week, the teaching being done by Messrs Kelly, Sim and Stayner. 1i7
The disturbances in Natal in 1906 and the spread of east coast fever
temporarily halted forestry operations in the colony. The ensuing economic
depression took its toll, and Sim was accused of excessive spending. In 1907
the civil service commission abolished the post of conservator of forestry and
Sim was made redundant. 68 Responsibility for forestry passed to the head of
Cedara, E.R. Sawyer, and to the new chief afforestation officer, G.H.
Davies. Despite Sim's departure for Pietermaritzburg in February 1907,
where he became a nurseryman and a writer, the fact that he had laid
foundations which were much firmer than those left by Schopflin ensured
the survival of Natal forestry, though on a much reduced budget.
In 1910 the indigenous crown forests of Natal passed into the control of
the new Union government. By then the rate of their destruction had been
slowed and the reduction in their acreage became more gradual. It is
interesting to note that between 1880 and 1961 state indigenous forest in
Natal declined by 20 per cent. The majority of those indigenous forests
which were in private hands were decimated only during the first World War,
after the colonial era. Had Natal developed a shipbuilding, railway sleeper
or even barrel-making industry the destruction of. indigenous forests would
undoubtedly have been swifter. As it was, the destruction was neither as
rapid nor as extensive as in colonial New Zealand, the West Indies, post
colonial India or tropical Africa. 72 Though after 1878 official efforts were
made to formulate a viable forestry policy for Natal, the fault lies with the
colonial authorities for allowing clear felling of crown forest in the early
period and for alienating vast tracts of forest from the crown. The failure to
encourage proper seasoning of timber, especially of yellowwood, also
discouraged any initiative to replant. Finally, tardiness in promoting state
afforestation made forestry the preserve of the amateur. Despite the fact
that many colonists espoused the principle of preserving indigenous forest,
the lack of a concerted government forestry policy tended to lend credence
to such fallacies as that enunciated by R.M. Archibald:
This forestry business is one of those things that few people indulge in
and which is of no practical value to the colony itself.73
REFERENCES
I am grateful to Mr M.M. Swanepoel of the Directorate of Forestry, Pretoria, for allowing me
access to the forestry archives in Eshowe and Pietermaritzburg.
I Mikael Grut, Forestry and j(Jrest industry in South Africa, (Cape Town, ,965); N.L. King,
'Historical sketch of the development of forestry in South Africa', Journal ol the South
African Forestry Association, no. 1, (October 1938), pp. 4-16. J .F. V. Phillips, The for{'sis of
George, Knysna and the Tzitzikama, a hriej' history of 117('[r mllnagement, }77R-!939,
(Pretoria, 1Y(3); LB. Pole-Evans, 'A vegetation map of South Afnca', Botanical survey of
South Africa; no. 5, (1936); and Thomas R. Sim, The forests and forest flora of the Colony
of the €ape of Good Hope, (Aberdeen, 1907), and Forest flora and forest resources of
Portuguese East Africa, (Aberdeen, 1909).
2 See J.L. Stewart, M.D., 'The sub-Siwalik tract with especial reference to the Bijnour
Forest', Journal of the Agricultural and Horticultural Society of India, Calcutta, XIII., Ill,
(1864), p. 269.
3 A short guide of supplementary information on the Sabie cultural historical forestry museum,
(n.d.), p. 17.
4 For a similar problem in north Africa, see Sharon E. Nicholson, 'The methodology of
historical climate reconstruction and its application to Africa', Journal of African History,
20, 1, (1979), p. 35. Technically the term 'forest' is a legal one rather than a botanical or
geographical one: see Cyril E. Hart, Royal Forest, (Oxford, 1966), p. vii.
S For general surveys which make mention of Natal's indigenous forests, see B. Ellis, 'The
impact of white settlers on the natural environment of Natal', in Natal in the colonial period,
(Pietermaritzburg, 1985); N.L. King, op. cit., and 'The exploitation of the indigenous
forests of South Africa', Journal of the South African Forestry Association, no. 6, (April
1941), pp. 26-48; and C.W. Marwick, 'Green Shadows', (forthcoming), and Kwamahlati, the
story of forestry in Zululand, (Pretoria, 1973).
6 H.G. Fourcade, Report on the Natal forests, (Pietermaritzburg, 1889), pp. 6 and 10; and
G.J. Fownes, 'Chips from a Karkloof forest', Natal almanac and register, 1893, (Pieter
maritzburg, 1892), p. 581.
7 John Bird, The annals of Natal, 1495 to 1845, (Cape Town, 1888), 1.151.
8 Fourcade, op. cit., p. 7.
9 For descriptions of Natal's indigenous forests by region, see Agricultural Journal, (Natal),
2 October 1903, pp. 657-663; Forest land in the colony, (Pietermaritzburg 1889), (henceforth
cited: '1880 Report'); Fourcade, op. cit.; Killie Campbell Africana Library, Natal Land and
Colonisation Company, KCM 54223, surveyor's reports, 1861-1880; J. Storr Lister, Report
on forestry in Natal and Zululand, (Pietermaritzburg, 1902); Natal Archives, Moreland
papers, journal, 1853, ff. 254-261; Natal Archives, Legislative Council, select document no.
51, 1872, correspondence respecting crown forests; Natal Mercury, 27 May 1853; reports of
resident magistrates, Natal Blue Books, 1880, 1894-5, 1897, 1898 and 1900; H. Brian
Rycroft, 'The Karkloof Forest, Natal', Journal of the South African Forestry Association,
no. 11, (June 1944), pp. 14-25; John Sanderson, 'Rough notes on the botany of Natal', and
Rev. Edward Armitage, 'Some observations on the botany of Natal', in J. Chapman,
Travels in South Africa, (London, 1868), pp. 443-465; T.R. Sim, Tree planting in Natal,
(Pietermaritzburg, 1905), chapter XX; South African colonies: Natal handbook, (London,
1887), p. 7; and H.C. Taylor, 'The Karkloof Forest', Forestry in South Africa, no. 1, (July
1961), pp. 123-134.
10 Rev. William C. Holden, History of the Colony of Natal, (London, 1855), p. 31.
11 For descriptions of Zululand's indigenous forests and those in coastal Natal by region, see
R.D. Ailken and G.W. Gale, 'Botanical survey of Natal and Zululand', Botanical survey of
South Africa, no. 2, (1921); Bird, op. cit., 1.125; F. Cardew, Report on the forests of
Zululand, (London, 1891); Forestry archive, Eshowe, files L2000/603 and 615, M3100/603,
V2100/615-616; Holden, op. cit., pp. 21 and 32; In the mangroves of southern Africa,
(Durban, Wildlife Society, 1977); Lister, op. cit.; Marwick, Kwamahlati; R.W. Plant,
'Notice of an excursion in the Zulu country', Journal of Botany, (1882), IV.257-265; Colonel
Deneys Reitz, 'The forests of northern Zululand', Journal of the South African Forestry
Association, no. 1, (October 1938), pp. 28-29; Sim, Tree planting in Natal, chapter XX;
South Africa: Military report on Zululand, (London, war office, 1906), pp. 12-16; James
Stuart and D. Mck. Malcolm, The diary of Henry Francis Fynn, (Pietermaritzburg, 1969),
pp. 54-55; and Vincent A. Wager, Dwindling forests of the Natal coast, (Durban, Wildlife
Society, 1976).
12 Marwick, Kwamahlati, p. 25.
13 Fourcade, op. cit., pp. 22, 39 and 75; Natal Archives, Legislative Council, select document
no. 51, 1872, correspondence respecting crown forests; report of the Conservator of Forests
for the year 1891-92, Natal Blue Book, (departmental reports), 1891-92, FlO; report of the
Conservator of Forests for the year ending June 30, 1893, Natal Blue Book, (departmental
reports), 1892-93, F52; Robert Russell, Natal, the land and its story, (Pietermaritzburg,
1891), pp. 3 and 33; and 1880 Report, p. 18.
14 In 1911 Dukuduku, Ngoye, Nkandla and Qudeni were estimated to be 18 000 morgen in
total.
15 Sim, Forests of the Cape, p. 79,
16 Bird, op. cit., 1.24,32,47,57,200,254,257,266,527,653, and 11. 242; Chapman, op. cit.,
1.1; J.C. Chase, The Natal papers, (Grahamstown, 1843; Struik reprint, Cape Town, 1968),
pp. 2 and 8; A.J. Christopher, 'Natal, A study in colonial land settlement', unpublished
doctoral thesis, University of Natal, Durban, 1969, pp. 23-24; and Durban Local History
Museum, King's map of Port Natal, 1R23.
17 See Jeft Guy, 'Ecological factors in the rise of Shaka and the Zulu kingdom', in Shula
Marks and Anthony Atmore, Economy and society in pre-industrial South Africa, (London,
19RO), pp. 109-119, and The destruction of the Zulu kingdom, (London, 1979), pp. 4-5;
Killie Campbell Africana Library, Natal Land and Colonisation Company, KCM 54223,
surveyor's report on the farm Welton, county of Pietermaritzburg, 1R61; and 1880 Report,
pp. 15 and 46. For evidence of forest destruction in pre-colonial Zambia and in the remoter
parts of India, see Leroy Vail, 'Ecology and history: The example of eastern Zambia',
Journal of.South African Studies, 3.2, (April 1977), p. 132; and C. Brownlow, The timber
trees of Cachar', Journal of the Agricultural and Horticultural Society of India, Calcutta,
XIII.IV, (1864) pp. 336-337.
1S For references to African people and forests, see C.c. Ballard, 'The transfrontierman:
The career of John Dunn in Natal and Zululand, 1834-1895', unpublished doctoral thesis,
University of Natal, Durban, 19RO, pp. 330-353; William Beinant, The political economy of
Pondoland, 1860 to 1930 (Johannesburg, 1982), p. 18; Bird, op. cit., 1.47, 125 and 482;
A.T.Bryant, Olden times in Zululand and Natal (London, 1929), pp. 60·61, 159-160,241,
252-256, and 415. and The Zulu people, (Pietermaritzburg, 1949), pp. 407-40R and 720;
curators' reports for the Durban Botanic Gardens, 1884, and the Pietermaritzburg Botanic
Gardens, 1884; Fourcade, op. cit., pp. 11-12; Captain Allan F. Gardiner, Narrative of a
journey to the Zoolu country in South Africa, (London, 1836), p. 229; KilIie Campbell
Africana Library, Dunn papers, KCM 1459, file 2; King, 'Exploitation of forests', p. 39;
E.J. Krige, The social system of the Zulus, (Pietermaritzburg, 1936), pp. 209-210,252 and
398; D. Leslie, Among the Zulus, (Glasgow, 1875), p. 119; Lister, op. cit., p. 12; Shula
Marks, Reluctant rebellion, (Oxford, 1970), pp. 207 and 223; D.C.F. Moodie, (ed.), John
Dunn (Pietermaritzburg, 1886), p. 14; K.c. Palgrave, Trees of southern Africa, (Cape
Town, 1983), p. 553; Reitz, op. cit., pp. 2R-29; David Welsh, The roots of segregation,
(Cape Town, 1971), p. 4; John B. Wright, Bushman raiders of the Drakensberg, 1840-1870,
(Pietermaritzburg, 1971), pp. 96, 145 and 185; and 1880 Report, pp. 11-13 and 16-18.
19 Bird, op. cit., II.100 and 120; Fourcade, op. cit., pp. 17 and 19; and South African archival
records: Natal, no. 1, (Cape Town, n.d.), Natal Volksraad, 29 June 1839. pp. 12-14. Some
residents of the Orange Free State claimed forest land in Natal and held British land
certificates: see reside;;-t magistrate's report for Klip County, Natal Blue Rook, 18R4.
20 For references to white consumption of timber, see Bird, op. cit., 11.242 and 271-272;
Chapman, op. cit., p. 447; E.W. Feilden, My African home, (London, lRR7), p. 39; Fownes,
op. cit., pp. 5RO·585; Dr R.E. Gordon, Dear Louisa, (Durban, 1970), p. 28; Holden, op cit.,
pp, 258-259; Natal Mercury, 22 November and 6 December 1854, 10 January 1855, 22
October 1857, and 26 March 1890; Natal almanac and yearly register, 1863,
(Pietermaritzburg, 1864), p. 33; John Pringle, The conservationists and the killers, (Cape
Town, 1982), p. 46; Report of the industries and tariff revision commission, (Pietermaritz
burg, 19(6) pp. 7, 45, 81-86, 104-105, 108, 483, 490, 493, 50\, 507 and 509; and Sim, Tree
planting in Natal, p. 282.
21 Agricultural Journal, (Natal), 18 May 19(H, IV.141-145; King 'Exploitation of forests',
p. 39; Killie Campbell Africana Library, Natal Land and Colonisation Company, KCM
54223, surveyor's reports, 1861-1880; Natal Archives, Legislative Council, select document
no. 51, 1872; Natal Mercury, 20 December 1854; and 1880 Report, pp. 15 and 18.
22 Alan F. Hattersley, The British settlement of Natal, (C.U.P., 1950), p. 216; and Natal
Mercury, 7 May 1857.
23 Fourcade, op. cit., pp. 9 and 19; Natal Archives, Legislative Council, select document no. 11.
1871, letter respecting the destruction of timber in the Ingeli bush; and 1880 Report, pp. lO
ll, 17 and 60.
24 Natal Mercury, 20 October 1853.
25 Chapman, op. cit., p. 448; R.O. Pearse, Barrier of spears, (Howard Timmins, 1973), pp. 95,
136 and 144; Natal Mercury, 7 May 1857; and Howard St George, O.M.I., Failure and
vindication, The unedited journal of Bishop Allard, O.M'/', (n.d.), pp. 221-223.
26 Natal archives, Moreland papers, journal, 1853, f. 338.

27 Natal Witness, 6 May 1853.
28 Sim, Tree planting in Natal, p. 4.
29 Statistics concerning timber production have been estimated from information contained
in the Natal Blue Books and from those references given in footnotes 10, 12 and 14. For
comments concerning the quality of Natal timber, see Bird, op. cit., 1.63, and Henry
Brooks, (ed. R.J. Mann), Natal: A history and description of the colony, (London, 1876), p.
178.
30 William Peace. Our colony of Natal, (London, c1884), p. 115; Fourcade, op. cit., pp. 19 and
45; report of the conservator of forests, 1891-92, Natal Blue Book, 1891-92, F7; and report
of the conservator of forests, 1893, Natal Blue Book, 1892-93, F5l and 52.
11 Ordinance no. 2, 1855; Law no. 21, 1865; and Law no. 25, 1874. See also Natal Mercury,
21 May 1857.
32 During the period of construction railways required twice as much wood as they did metal.
In the colonial era all attempts at establishing a Natal railway sleeper industry failed: see
Report of the general manager of the Natal Government Railways, 1907, (Pietermaritzburg,
1908), p. 26.
33 For example, see Natal Colonist, 6 April 1880.
34 In Europe between 1870 and 1900 practically every country introduced forestry legislation.
Certain regions, such as Britain, France, Ireland and many of the German states, had
forestry legislation which pre-dated 1800. See Michel Deveze, Histoire des forets, (Paris,
1965), pp. 46-96, and Eilcen and Donal McCracken, A register of trees for County
Londonderry, 1768-1911, (H.M.S.O .. 1984), pp. 1-15.
35 H. Groombridge, The forests and foresters of the Cape', forestry pioneers pamphlet,
(Sabie forcstry museum, 1982); A.H. Heywood, 'Cape woods and forests', Official
handbook: Indian and colonial exhibition, (London, 1886), pp. 139-153; and Sim, Forests of
the Cape, pp. 79-91. The Cape forest act (act no. 28, 1888) was amended by act no. 20,
1902.
36 Fourcade, op. cit., p. 11; and Natal Archives, surveyor-general's office, forestry papers,
V/4/1. The names of some of the conservators of forestry appear in the Natal Blue Books
during the 1870s.
37 See Edward Balfour, The timber trees of India, (Madras, 1858); and Sulprice Kurz,
Preliminary report on the forest and other vegetation of Pegu, (Calcutta, 1875).
38 1880 Report, pp. 32-33; this report is also contained in the Natal almanac and yearly register,
1882, (Pietermaritzburg, 1883), pp. 136-150. Papers relating to the report may be found in
the Natal Archives, government house papers, vols. 1602-1607.
39 Legislative Council debates, (1880), 3 and 16 December 1880, II.262-263 and 410-411,
Natal Government Gazette, 26 October 1886; resident magistrate's report for Newcastle,
Natal Blue Book, 1882; and proclamation no. 49, 1889.
40 Fourcade, op. cit., pp. 50-54.
41 Legislative Council debates, (1890), 1 July 1890, XIV.454-457; Natal Mercury, 29 March
1890 and 27 May 1890; and Proclamation no. 32, 1890.
42 Legislative Council debates, (1891), 20 January 1891, XLIII. 63-64.
43 Bill no. 28, 1891.
44 For debate on the Natal forestry bill, see Legislative Council debates, (1891), 25 June 1891,
XVI.316-323; 3 July 1891, XVI.416;7 July 1891, XVI.434-435; 10 July 1891, XVI.477-482;
and 13 July, XVI.485-489.
45 See Gardeners' Chronicle, 19 January 1889.
46 Papers relating to Schiipflin's tenure as conservator of forests are contained in the Natal
Archives, surveyor-general's office papers, V/4/1-3. See also Schiipflin's annual reports in
the Natal Blue Books for 1891-92 and 1892-93.
47 King, 'Historical sketch of forestry', p. 9; and report of the chief commissioner of police,
Natal Blue Book, 1894-95, F67.
48 Sir Dietrich Brandis, 'Forestry in Natal', Kew Bulletin, no. 97, January 1895, pp. 1-5.
49 See Agricultural Journal (Natal), .22 December 1899, 19 January 1900, 16 March 1900,
2 August 1901, 29 August 1902 and 17 April 1903; and Natal Mercury, 12 December 1898.
50 Lister, op. cit., p. 3. Lister was to become chief conservator of forestry for the Cape
between 1905 and 1910, and chief conservator of forestry for the Union of South Africa
from 1910 to 1913.
51 See Donal and Eileen McCracken, 'The way to Kirstenbosch', (forthcoming).
52 Proclamation no. 58, 1903.
53 Resident magistrates' reports for Nkandla and Zululand, Natal Blue Book, (departmental
reports), 1898; and Marwick, Kwamahlati, p. 17.
54 Cardew, op. cif., p. 25.
55 Interim report of the conservator of forests up to 31 December 1905, Agricultural Journal
(Natal), 26 January 1906, pp. 65-66; and Zululand circular no. 7, 1904.
56 Zululand lands delimitation commission, 1902-1904, (Pietermaritzburg, 1905) pp. 39, 45-46,
100-115,119-121,204,211-213,240,246,268-272 and 277-278.
57 Sim was interested in promoting a Natal rubber industry, but it was only after his period
that an abortive attempt at commercial extraction was undertaken.
OH Papers relating to Sim's tenure as Natal's conservator of forestry are housed in the forestry
archive, Pietermaritzburg and in the Natal Archives (ministry of agriCUlture correspondence).
See also Sim's report in Agricultural Journal (Natal), 28 April 1905 and 26 January 1906.
59 Demarcation of forests was important as crown forest land which was not demarcated was
not subject to the cattle impounding regulations. See forestry archive, Pietermaritzburg,
BlOOO, 3322-1906.
60 ibid., L1100.
61 ibid., L2200, vol. 1.
62 ibid., Y1020.
63 These nurseries were at Cedara (established 1903), Empangeni (1903), Emkazeni (1905),
Marutshwa (1905), Mpetyne (1905), and Zuurberg (1905): see Report of the chief
conservator of forests, 1910, (Cape Town, 1911), p. 11.
64 Correspondence and reports relative to the state of botanical enterprise in Natal, 1882,
(Pietermaritzburg, 1884), p. 1. See also Report of the Pietermaritzburg Botanic Society to the
Botanic Gardens Commission, 1890-91, p. 3.
65 For brief general surveys of the Natal wattle industry, see N. Hurwitz, 'The wattle indusry',
Agriculture in Natal, 1860-1950, (Cape Town, 1957), 12.53-61; S.P. Sherry, 'History of the
wattle industry in Natal', Natalia, no. 3, (September 1973), pp. 40-44; and Sim, Tree
planting in Natal, pp. 125-127.
66 Sim was also the motivating force behind the proper establishment of the Giant's Castle
nature reserve.
67 Prospectus of the School of Agriculture and Forestry (Cedara), (Pietermaritzburg, 1910),
pp. 27-28.
68 Report of the committee appointed to enquire into civil service administration, 1907, (Pieter
maritzburg, 1907), p. 35.
69 For the post-Sim period, see Agricultural Journal (Natal), 29 January, 30 April, and
30 July 1909.
70 This is exCluding the Zululand forests: see Gmt, op cit., p. 4; and 1880 Report, p. 18.
71 King, 'Exploitation of forests', pp. 39 and 41.
72 Report of the Royal Gardens at Kew, 1877, (London , 1878), pp. 43-44.
73 Legislative Council debates, (1892), 15 June 1892, p. 161.
DONAL P. McCRACKEN
39
Dick King: A Modest Hero

A unique family collection of cuttings, recently unearthed, bring Dick King
from the shadows of settler mythology and vividly recall a Natal of
yesterday. Of Kentish yeoman stock, Dick King was born in Chatham in
1813, and brought to South Africa as a boy of eight by his parents. They
travelled from England aboard the Kennersley Castle as members of a group
of 1820 settlers, led by Samuel Bradshaw, settling north-east of Bathurst.
Little is known of Dick King's early childhood prior to his becoming a trader
and big game hunter, and his eventual move to Natal in 1831. The little
British settlement was barely a few years old when the life of Dick King
became inextricably linked with early Natal history.
As early as 1834, he reputedly attempted to visit King Dingane to ask for
land on behalf of a commission, led by Petrus Lafras Uys, seeking land for
farmers of Uitenhage and Grahamstown who wished to move. The
commission apparently did not see Dingane, but they returned with the
impression that he seemed favourably disposed towards them, and was
prepared to discuss the granting of land.
In the following year, he was at the meeting of fifteen men called by
Captain AlIen Gardiner to discuss the formation of the new township of
D'Urban. He was a signatory to the unsuccessful petition requesting Natal's
incorporation as a British colony, and present in Durban when Pi et Retief
led the first wave of the Great Trek over the Drakensberg mountains into
Natal. This Voortrekker leader, whilst seeking a grant of land from
Dingane, was later killed by his impis.
The death of Retief and his followers prompted one of Dick King's little
known deeds of bravery. Alexander Biggar, Commander of the Fort in
Durban, on learning of the massacre, called for a volunteer to warn other
trekkers camped near Weenen. Dick King elected to walk the 120 miles
rather than risk detection on horseback. Four days and nights later, he
arrived, too late, and so walked an additional ten miles to alert Gert
Maritz's camp on the banks of the Bushman's River. He thereupon fought
alongside the trekkers, assisting them in repulsing the Zulu attack. 1
He fought again three weeks later, in the Battle of the Tugela, being one
of the four settlers out of seventeen to escape with their lives. The Zulus
followed up their victory at the Tugela by ransacking D'Urban. Dick King
was amongst those settlers who took refuge on the brig, the Comet, which
lay anchored in the Bay. He did not however, join in the general exodus
from Natal.
A surprise attack by a lion, whilst he was walking in the bush near what
was then known as the Umkomaas Township, nearly cost Dick King his life.
40 Dick King: A Modest Hero
Severely mauled, he managed to draw his small Malay kris with its wavy
blade and struck the animal. A photograph of the dagger, now housed in the
Durban Museum, depicts the original piece of riempie with which Dick King
used to tie it to his bedpost.2
Little is known of these feats, simply because Dick King refused to talk
about them. Appropriately named by the Zulu as Mlamulankunzi, the
peacemaker, the man who separates the fighting bulls, King was similarly
loth to discuss his now historic ten day ride from Durban to Grahamstown.
Assistance was needed by the beleaguered British troops, and in obtaining
help against the Dutch trekkers, Dick King altered the course of Natal's
history, leading to its annexation in 1843. The preponderance of English
speaking Natalians and the Victorian colonial architecture, especially
prevalent in Pietermaritzburg, are but superficial evidence of British
annexation. Attitudes and life styles were irreversibly shaped into an English
colonial pattern. Had the Republic of Natalia flourished, one wonders how
its policies would have affected the Natal of today.
Dick King discounted this epic ride, two days of which were spent
suffering from illness, with the words:
. . . what is there to tell? I did no more than any Englishman would do
for his country. I said I would get the message through, and I did it,
and that's all there is to say. 3
He described the ride in a laconic manner when requesting a farm from
the authorities in 1846:
Memorialist was particularly active for the succour of the troops during
the insurrection, that amongst other acts, it is well-known I stole at the
risk of my life through the enemy's lines and succeeded in rapidly
gaining Grahamstown with Major Smith's demand for assistance ..
Despite Dick King's sentiments, that is not all there is to say. For because
King omitted to chronicle this ride, on which he reputedly avoided hostile
local chiefdoms and traversed between 180 and 200 rivers, often swimming
them from bank to bank, it has provoked endless speculation and
controversy. An unparalleled opportunity of describing prevailing conditions
was lost, and the strategy, route and question as to whether he was
accompanied or not, still appear open to conjecture.
Several popularly held beliefs are refuted by Elizabeth Paris Watt nee
Godderham. 5 According to a letter in the Public Record Office, London
dated 5 July 1842, from the Reverend James Archbell to the Reverend
William Shaw, the escape from Durban was devised by a law agent, Sam
Beningfield. [His] ' ... stratagem and forethought were of great service on
that occasIOn'. In many accounts, planning was attributed to George Cato.
George Cato said he organized King and with his brother, J.C. Cato, rowed
him across the bay - in fact the two Catos in later years were each given
2 000 acres and King 3 000 acres as a reward. Mrs Watt, by studying reports
of low water conditions in Durban Bay, disproves the idea that Dick King
left from Addington Beach. Instead, she confirms the theory that he was
rowed from a schooner, the Mazeppa, via a channel to the beach of an
island connected by a sandbar to the Bluff, with his two horses swimming
behind.
What of his supposed companion, Ndongeni? In his own right, he has
become a well-know!' figure in folk lore and has been immortalized in bas
i
Dick King: A Modest Hero 41
Dick King in later years
(Photograph: Killie Campbell Africana Library)
relief on the plinth of Dick King's statue in Durban. Conflicting reports exist
on his role in the ride, many based on three differing versions of his
statements before a magistrate, R.H. Beachcroft in 1897, to J.J Jackson and
James Stuart in 1905, between fifty-five and sixty-three years after the ride.
He claimed to have accompanied Dick King as far as Buntingville, where
fatigue and severe chafing forced him to abandon the ride.
Mrs Watt however, refutes Ndongeni's tale point by point. 6 She lays
emphasis on the evidence of William Palm er (of the Dick King Memorial
Committee) who wrote to his friend, J.H. Russell, former manager of the
Natal Railway Company, in retirement in England and married to Dick
King's widow, Clara. Clara asserted that Ndongeni's tale was fabrication,
remembering him clearly as a leader of oxen and employee in the cane fields
on their Isipingo farm. Although Mrs Watt discredits Ndongeni's tale, she
excuses Ndongeni as following the black tradition of praise singing. He was
present at the unveiling of the statue in 1915. Dick King's granddaughter,
Doris Camp, noted in her copy of Cyril Eyre's biography of King,
'Ndongeni was there in a bath chair. I spoke to him'. He apparently died
soon after the unveiling.
The route which Dick King followed has been variously described. Ten
granite pylons were erected a century later to commemorate the ride. They
were sited at the following points: Isipingo Beach, Port Shepstone,
Umzimvubu River, Old Bunting Mission, Mancam Store, Butterworth,
Komgha, King William's Town, Peddie and Bathurst. A marble plaque on
the City Hall at Grahamstown records Dick King's arrival there on 4 June
1842. Ethel CampbelF collected much information on King, and
interestingly describes oral evidence from Mrs L.H. Mason, daughter of the
well-known trader George Whitehead of Butterworth. Dick King spent a
night on the sofa in their diningroom, at Butterworth, en route to
Grahamstown and obtained a fresh horse from her father. In repayment of
this hospitality, Dick King gave him his silver watch. Mrs Mason ultimately
presented it to the 'Old Durban Room' from where it was unfortunately
stolen.
Ethel Campbell continues with information obtained from Mrs Mary Ann
McHattie (nee Wade), Dick King's niece, then a child, staying at her
grandfather, Phillip King's house in Grahamstown when Dick King arrived
there:
The next time Uncle Dick came to Grahamstown was in 1842. He
came as 'express' from Captain Smith to tell of the disaster at Port
Natal. The night he entered Grahamstown weary, sleepless, and
covered with mud and dust from the journey, he came straight to his
father's house to brush up hurriedly before he took the dispatch to
Colonel Hare. I was in Grahamstown at my grandfather's at the time.
Uncle Dick then went immediately to Colonel Hare. He would not
even wait to eat anything although in a famished condition. He
delivered the dispatch to Colonel Hare and gave him much verbal
information. But overcome with fatigue and sleeplessness, he went off
to sleep before the Colonel had finished questioning him. When an
attendant was about to awaken him, Colonel Hare said, 'Let the man
sleep'.8
Dick King: A Modest Hero 43
In recognition of his ride, Dick King was rewarded by the Government

with £15, to which the inhabitants of the Port added a further £70.
Ten years later, in 1852, he married Clara Jane Noon, a young girl of
seventeen. She met him after her voyage out from England in a sailin~
vessel and although opposites in many ways, they married. The service was
conducted by Archdeacon L1oyd, the Colonial Chaplain.
An extract from the diary of a well-know Durban lady, Mrs Eliza W.
Feilden describes the wedding:
We have been to a wedding in Durban! We rode in early, dressed at
our house, and rode out again in the evening. The bride was a good
looking girl of seventeen, dressed in white muslin, as were also most of
the ladies. The bridegroom, a powerful dark man, double her age, who
has been long in the colony, and has received a grant of land from
Government in acknowledgement of a special service he rendered once
by riding over the coast to give information of an outbreak.
The wedding breakfast, which was ample, was held under an awning
in the garden. The only carriage in the place was hired for the day, and
after taking the bridal party to and from church, was sent round the
town to bring the guests. It was a light covered van and the white
curtains on this occasion were tied with pink ribbons. 9
Seven lO children were born to Dick and Clara King. Their eldest son,
Richard Philip Henry King, an early Rand figure, was present at the
proclamation of Johannesburg as a township, and at the opening of the first
gold mine on the reef. He was a founder member of the Rand Stock
Exchange, a Justice of the Peace, and vice-president of the Rand Pioneers in
the Transvaal. He described his parents thus:
My mother ... was a gentle woman, artistic and a great reader. My
father's dare-devil ways must have worried her at times, though she
herself was by no means lacking in high physical courage. Well I
remember how she said she used to ride with my father through
Pondoland, swimming rivers on horseback with him, and never
faltering through the most strenuous expeditions. 11
Her obituary describes her:
... though adventurous, Mrs King was always ready with openhearted
sympathy, sound advice, and ready assistance, where it was needed,
and her personal attractions earned for her the title of being the
handsomest woman in NatalY
And of his father, R.P.H. King states:
... I write of Dick King as I remember him, for thirteen years of my
life he was just 'Father' to me; the man who taught me to swim and to
ride, and whose 'follow me' in clear, ringing tones meant a ride
through a river on horseback, a rescrambling on to a horse after a fall,
or a long, arduous walk through thick bush, without any room for the
word fear. We none of us felt fear when we were with Father ...
Farmer, transport rider, big game hunter, trader; a man of action
rather than of learning, my father's dare-devil ways were natural to
him .. Y
In the following years Dick King concerned himself with a butcher shop
and the cultivation of sugar on his Isipingo farm, but his spirit of adventure
was not quelled. In 1868 at the age of 55 and only three years before he died
of dropsy, he was still carrying out deeds of valour. Floods at Reunion

m~rooned the families on Wentworth Hill. Dick King built a raft which he
paddled across the flood waters to bring provisions to the stranded families. 14
His obituary notice perhaps gives an accurate insight into his character:
Well, he is gone; and among them all, already passed away or still
among us, there is not one, a truer, braver, simpler soul than Dick
King. As such, as a pattern of an unassuming genuine man, let his
name and memory be cherished among the worthies of Natal. 15
Based as it is on secondary sources, this article perforce reiterates what
has previously been said. By providing an overview however, one can
attempt to cobble together glimpses of the personality within the legend.
Perhaps one searches too deeply for the man behind the enigma. His deeds
bear testimony to his character. It is ironical that Dick King's supreme
indifference to fame still protects his privacy, but his bravery has ensured
him a niche in South African history.
REFERENCES
1 New light on walk to Weenen. Natal Daily News, 4 May 1955.
2 Dick King fought lion with knife. Natal Witness, 29 November 1963.
3 King, Richard Philip. Memories of my father - Dick King. The Outspan, 5 September 1941.
4 Dick King's ride - a fascinating mystery. Natal Witness, 17 August 1967.
5 Michell. Jon. How a song of praise fooled the fundis. Rand Daily Mail, 26 May 1983.
6 Ibid.
7 Campbell, Ethel. Dick King's famous ride. Natal Mercury, 25 March 1932.
8 Ibid., with acknowledgements to the Killie Campbell Africana Library, Durban.
" Source and date of cutting unknown. Also cited in Eyre, Cyril: Dick King, Saviour of Natal.
Durban: Durban Municipal Library and Durban Publicity Assocaition, 1932. Originally
from E.W. Feilden: My African home . .. London, Sampson Low, 1887, p. 32.
10 The writer of this article is descended through her maternal grandmother, Audrey (King)
Anderson, youngest daughter of Richard Philip Henry King. Other members of the family
were Maria Recordonza; Clara Elvira; Francis Richard; Georgina Adelaide; Catherine
Agnes; Charles Richard. Mrs Joyce Scallan of P.O. Box 15017, Port Elizabeth, 6011, has
recently completed a genealogy of the King family for inclusion in her book.
11 King, R., op cit.
\2 Source unknown, [1908].
\3 King, R., op cit.
14 Dick King. Daily News, 10 November 1971.
15 Natal Colonist, 14 November 187l.
JACQUELINE A. KALLEY
45
The Natal Provincial Council

1910-1986
"Born in Battle" could well have been the motto of the Provincial Councils
of South Africa. At the time of the National Convention (1908-1909) the
two smaller British colonies, Natal and the Orange Free State, were in
favour of federation whilst the Transvaal and the Cape colony wanted one
central Government, a union. A compromise was reached in terms of which
certain powers were to be retained by each of the four provinces in a unitary
state. It seems however, that this represented an uneasy truce, for attempts
were soon made to abolish the Provincial Councils. The following quotation
from The South African Accountant and Auditor of September 1915 shows
the division of opinion which existed at that time:
The question of the abolition of Provincial Councils has again been
mooted, and this has given rise to strong views being expressed in the
local press in favour of their retention. Natal is unanimously opposed
to any proposal either to do away with its Provincial Council or to
interfere with the provincial control of education. It is not surprising,
therefore, that Natal people are inclined to look with suspicion upon
the Commission recently appointed to inquire into the present system
of provincial administration, more especially as one of its terms of
reference is to inquire whether the system 'should be continued,
extended or modified'. At a meeting of the Council, sitting in
Committee, resolutions were passed regarding the evidence to be led
before the Commission, and it was decided to endeavour to show that
it is essential, in the interests of provincial government, that the Act of
Union should be amended in order to make the Provincial Councils a
more effective factor in the government of the country. One of the
most far-reaching amendments to be proposed is that the Executive
Committee should resign and a new Committee be elected in the event
of a vote of no-confidence being carried by a majority of at least two
thirds of the Council.
This attempt to abolish the Provincial Council failed but the opponents of
the status quo did not give up. The Natal Mercury in its editorial published
on Monday January 5, 1948 stated;
If, as has been indicated by General Smuts, there is to be an overhaul
of the Union's Constitution it is a matter of primary importance that
no stone be left unturned to have the Provincial system placed upon a
fair, satisfactory and unassailable basis. Even today the importance
and special significance which Provincial government is destined to
46 The Natal Provincial Council 1910-1986
have in the future of Southern Africa is not properly appreciated.

Thirty-seven years ago the people of this country chose union rather
than federation, but to satisfy those who favoured the latter system of
government the boundaries of the four Colonies were left intact while
the new Provinces of Union were given a substantial measure of
domestic autonomy. Although, therefore, federation was rejected, the
framers of the South Africa Act decided upon a modified version of
the rigid unitary system of government. Unfortunately the precise
character and purpose which the Provincial Councils were to play in
the future development of the nation were never properly defined. In
consequence the opponents of Provincial government were uninten
tionally given ample scope, of which they have seldom been slow to
take advantage, to undermine one of the pillars upon which our
Constitution rests.
But even if the long term view be ignored and the question studied
from a purely South African angle it would be unfair to suggest that
the Provincial Councils, in spite of the many disabilities under which
they have laboured, have been anything but a success. In fact, it is not
too much to question whether the Union would have survived as
successfully as it has done were it not for the measure of domestic
autonomy enjoyed by each of the four partners. Yet there are
influential forces at work doing their utmost to destroy the Provincial
system. These pressure groups would surrender the traditions and
achievements of a lifetime for the deadening and stultifying influence
of an impersonal and unsympathetic centralised state bureaucracy.
Finance is the Achilles heel of the Provincial system. By attacking
this weakness these opponents have undoubtedly succeeded in
diminishing the system's erstwhile popularity. While this is something
of a tragedy, the abolitionists would be prudent if they first asked
themselves whether their experience of Pretoria's dilatory methods is
such that they would willingly suffer an extension of State jurisdiction
for the sake of what will probably turn out to be a purely illusory
saving of a few pounds in taxation. If the electorate of Natal are wise
they will rather demand that the spirit as well as the letter of the South
Africa Act be implemented.
Had such a policy been scrupulously pursued since Union little
criticism would be heard today of the Provincial system. Because so
comparatively little is known or understood about the difficulties
confronting the Natal Provincial Council and the changes that have
taken place in its financial and legislative powers since its functions were
first determined in 1909 . . . . .
In the intervening years, several attempts had been made to do away with
Provincial Councils. All failed, but certain of their powers were taken away.
George Heaton-NichoIls, Administrator of Natal from 1941 to 1943 writes in
his book, South Africa in my Time:
Every Union department was busily at work nipping off the edges of
the Provincial authority as defined in the Act of Union. In all this the
towns of Natal had assisted. In the normal way they had formed
themselves into a Natal Municipal Association for the purpose of by
passing the Provincial authorities to whom, of course, they owed their
The Natal Provincial Council 1910-1986 47
existence. The other Provinces had done the same. The four Provincial
Associations had theIi affniated with each other to form an all-Union
body for the purpose of putting pressure on the Central Government,
instead of applying to the Provincial Councils, thus undermining their
own governing authority. So, as time went on, the Provincial Councils
found themselves by-passed by their children for whom, under the
South Africa Act, they were supposed to be entirely responsible. The
Union Ministers were only too happy, of course, to afford the
Municipal Associations the authority to approach them.
The Nationalist Party policy as enunciated by Dr D.F. Malan at Ceres in
September, 1929 was that South Africa could not become a nation until the
provinces were destroyed and all executive government of the country was
concentrated in a single department in Pretoria. Two years later Mr N .C.
Havenga, then Minister of Finance, asked General Smuts for his support in
abolishing the provinces and creating local bodies appointed by the central
government in their stead. There were to be two councils in the Cape, three
in the Transvaal and one each in Natal and the Free State. The Councils
would not have any legislative power and would fall under the control of a
minister. The Natal members of Parliament objected very strongly, with the
result that General Smuts refused to go along with the suggestion.
In 1939 The Transvaal Land and Trading Act was placed on the Statute
Book to 'peg' the Indian ownership of land in that Province. This was
intended as a temporary measure, but the restrictive Act was extended in
1941. The public of Durban also became apprehensive about the increasing
ownership by Indians of land in White residential areas, so The Trading and
Occupation of Land (Transvaal and Natal) Registration Act was enacted in
1943. Here again this was intended as a temporary measure. The Natal
Administrator, the Hon. G. Heaton-Nicholls, introduced an ordinance into
the Natal Provincial Council to give effect to an agreement which he had
reached with the Indian leaders. Certain amendments were made by a Select
Committee of the Provincial Council, which amendments appeared to be
acceptable to the Indian community. The ordinance as passed by the
Council was forwarded for the approval of the Governor-General-in
Council, who vetoed it on the grounds that it was ultra vires the South Africa
Act, notwithstanding the fact that the Provincial legal adviser and the
legal adviser to the Indian leaders had agreed that the Natal Provincial
Council had the power to pass the relative legislation. The agreement
between the Natal Administrator and the Indian leaders was therefore never
implemented. Instead, Parliament approved the Asiatic Land Tenure and
Indian Representation Act with the result that South Africa was arraigned
by the Indian Government before the United Nations. The failure of the
central government to ratify the actions of the Provincial Council of Natal
thus started an attack on South Africa which has continued to this day .
. Notwithstanding the problems that had been encountered as a result of
the opposition to the Provincial Council system, the Natal Provincial Council
had made progress and was backed by the vast majority of the voters of
Natal. Mr Douglas Mitchell, who had been a member of the Executive
Committee during the period Mr George Heaton-Nicholls was
Administrator, succeeded him in this post. Under his dynamic leadership,
coupled with his intimate knowledge of Natal and the affairs of the Natal
Provincial Council, major changes were instituted which led to far better
administration. The leader of the Provincial Council was Mr E.C. Wilks who
served as a Provincial Councillor for no less than 31 continuous years, of
which he had 25 years' unbroken service as a member of the Natal Executive
Committee. (This is probably a record for Natal and most likely for South
Africa as a whole).
Under their guidance the Provincial Council passed ordinances setting up
such statutory bodies as The Natal Parks, Game and Fish Preservation
Board (1947), The Natal Town and Regional Planning Commission (1951),
The Natal Local Health Commission (1941) later to become the
Development and Services Board, and The Natal Water Advisory Board
(1946).
The Natal Parks, Game and Fish Preservation Board is acclaimed as one
of the finest conservation bodies in the world and is famous for its efforts in
saving the white rhino from extinction, the perfection of techniques for the
capture and relocation of game, and for its turtle and crocodile research
programmes.
The Natal Town and Regional Planning Commission has over the years
ensured orderly development and has given guidance and assistance to many
local authorities in preparing or revising town planning schemes. The
Commission's staff has also done considerable research. The numerous
publications issued by the Commission bear testimony to its excellent
services to the community.
The Local Health Commission was established initially to improve health
standards in small areas which could not justify the formation of local
authorities. The services rendered by the Commission increased and the
name was changed to the Development and Services Board to accord more
with its activities. Almost one hundred smaller villages and areas are at
present served by the Board which renders all the services which one would
expect of a local authority.
In 1964, following shark attacks on bathers in our coastal waters, the
Natal Safety Bathers' Association was set up. As a result of the work of the
late Mr R.B. Archibald M.E.C., the Natal Anti-Shark Measure Ordinance
was enacted by the Natal Provincial Council. Thus the protection of bathers
against attacks by sharks became an important function and over the years
nets were installed in the sea at various beaches along the coast from
Richards Bay in the north to the Transkei border in the south. In addition to
the protection of bathers the Natal Sharks Board is engaged in scientific
research concerning sharks.
The Natal Provincial Council also enacted the Regional Water Services
Ordinance paving the way for regional co-operation in the provision of
water and sewerage schemes. Seven regional water services corporations
have been established and these cover a vast area of Natal.
The Local Authorities Ordinance 1974 enacted by the Provincial Council
extended the powers of local authorities and increased their borrowing
powers considerably with the result that local authorities had far less need to
introduce private draft ordinances to enable them to extend their borrowing
powers. The Local Authorities Ordinance, and its predecessor the Natal
Government Ordinance, provide general powers and duties for certain
categories of local authorities namely, boroughs, townships and health
The Natal Provincial Council 1910-1986 49
Committees. Appreciating, however, that certain local authorities would

experience problems peculiar to themselves and that a large borough such as
Durban would require more powers than the rather smaller boroughs,
provision was made for the introduction of private draft ordinances into the
Provincial Council in terms of which additional powers were conferred on
the particular local authority. Durban has of necessity been obliged to avail
itself of this method of obtaining additional powers almost every year. The
private draft ordinances were referred to Select Committees which heard
evidence from the promoters and the objectors (if any) and studied the
reports of the officials of the Administration. The Select Committees
reported to the full Council which thereafter, ifthe legislation was supported
by the Select Committees, enacted the ordinances. The Select Committee
sometimes amended the draft ordinances removing certain powers which
were considered to be too far-reaching. The original Durban Private
Ordinance providing for differential rating of properties was bitterly
opposed by some of the organisations in and citizens of that city. After a
long Select Committee hearing the Committee's report was considered by
the Council which refused to pass the ordinance.
The watchdog of the Provincial Council was the Select Committee on
Public Accounts. This Select Committee examined the accounts of the
province, of the local authorities and statutory bodies as well as the report of
the Provincial Auditor. Thereafter it put questions to the officials and after
receiving the replies held a hearing at which the officials gave such further
information as might have been required. The questions put by the members
were searching and involved and required detailed replies. Such has been
the quality of the officials of the Province of Natal that they have come
out with an unsullied reputation. In fact, in the 76 years of the existence of
the Natal Provincial Council there has never been even a suggestion or hint
of a scandal. This is a great tribute to the Administrators, members of the
Executive Committee, Provincial Secretaries and other senior officials who
have served this province so loyally.
Since 1910 the majority of the members of the Natal Provincial Council
have been adherents of the South African Party, the United Party or the
New Republic Party: The Councils and the Province's Executive
Committees over the years have done their best to implement enlightened
policies and improve the lot of the less privileged in terms of the policies of
those parties.
The Executive Committee was the Cabinet of the Provincial Council so it
is natural that the successive Natal Provincial Executive Committees had to
bear the brunt of implementing the policies of the majority party of the
Council. Natal took the lead in improving race relations by being the first to
1. Appoint black traffic officers.
2. Appoint a multi-racial advisory committee to advise on matters
pert.ai~ing to recreation.
3. Arrtt!)ge for the formation of Local Affairs Committees and the
formation of fully fledged non-white local authorities.
4. Appoint non-whites as members of statutory bodies.
5. Permit non-whites to obtain racing colours and to become bookmakers.
In the early 1970s a consultative committee consisting of the Executive
Committeee and representatives of the Indian and Coloured communities
was formed. This Committee agreed on a formula for the representation of

non-whites by non-whites on local authorities. The necessary ordinance was
passed by the Natal Provincial Council but the State President could not be
prevailed upon to grant his assent and so the ordinance which would have
paved the way for multi-racial local authorities was never passed into law.
When the KwaZulu Legislative Assembly was formed the powers granted
to the KwaZulu homeland government were far greater than those which
Provincial Councils had. It was clear that the fortunes of Natal and KwaZulu
were interdependent. The two administrations, therefore, co-operated very
closely and the officials were in constant touch with each other. Recently the
two administrations agreed that a joint administrative body should be set up
to control the interests of the parties in matters of common interest.
Legislation to give effect to this is being enacted at the time of writing.
The Natal Provincial Council, in one of its last major initiatives, resolved
that the Natal KwaZulu Indaba should be set up to consider ways and means
of establishing a joint legislative body to deal with matters of common
interest. Notwithstanding the abolition of the Natal Provincial Council the
Indaba discussions continue. There are hopes that the Indaba will formulate
proposals which will be accepted by the Cabinet and be passed into law so as
to enable the setting up of a Natal KwaZulu legislative body.
With the disappearance of the Provincial Councils the direct
accountability of the Executive Committee to the voters is something of the
past. The members of the present Natal Executive Committee are nominees
of the State President and accordingly are accountable to him, but their
decisions will be monitored by a Standing Committee of Parliament.
The light of the old system has been extinguished and we are faced with
something new and untried. No doubt teething troubles will be encountered
but the hope is that the fine traditions set by the Natal Provincial Councils
and the Executive Committees over 76 years will live on.
A. BOZAS
51
The Oldest Houses

in Pietermaritzburg
Reconsidered
INTRODUCTION
Pietermaritzburg, the intended capital of the Republic of Natalia, is
known more for its Victorian architecture than its Voortrekker heritage.
This is largely because of the dearth of information related to the earlier
period, and the fact that most historians who have concerned themselves
with the evolution of Pietermaritzburg have had scant knowledge of the
Dutch language. The result has been poor documentation of a most
significant period in the development of the city. Rising to this challenge,
Brann and HasweIl (1983 and 1984) have attempted to identify the remnants
of a part of this heritage, namely, the oldest houses. Their contribution
graphically illustrates the problems involved in researching this early period.
THE DOMESTIC VERNACULAR

Before examining the evidence, it is necessary to establish exactly what we
are looking for. In this regard we can draw on the seminal work of Walton
who has greatly contributed to our understanding of Voortrekker houses.!
According to him, they evolved from wagons and tents, through the skerm,
rondavel and kapstelhuis stage, to the hardbieshuise, which de Klerk has
described as nie meer als 'n langwerpige vierkant van sooi-mure, met 'n riet
of grasdak daarop (Preller 1920 p 236). It is believed that the latter were
erected in Pietermaritzburg (Hattersley 1951; Hillebrand 1973/74). A
number of writers have left detailed descriptions of their construction
(Spoelstra 1915; Cachet 1883; PreIler 1917; Walton 1952) and Backhouse
(1844) made rough sketches of them. Backhouse traced the origin of the
name to the 'imaginary similarity to a species of buffalo called the
Hartebeest', but the Voortrekkers themselves said that it was derived from
the hard reeds or harde biesies which were used in construction. This wattle
and daub (dab)2 method is probably one of the oldest systems of
construction. 3 As late as 1884 the Natal farmers were still using it as it
provided 'a maximum of comfort at a minimum of cost' (Peace 1884 p. 69).
According to Mann (1859) the houses built by the Boers were at once
recognised by the long raised platform (stoep) which ranged in front of them,
and by the stiff formality of the regular rows of tall windows equally
balanced on either side of the central door. They had generally lofty rooms
52 The Oldest Houses in Pietermaritzburg Reconsidered
with ceilings of planked wood (cf. Greig 1971). Soon after the Boers made
their exit, the British started erecting cottages to their liking. By 1849 most
of the houses standing were considered to be built more or less in the style
of English rural architecture. 4 The walls were either of brick (burnt or
unburnt), or else of stone which was found in the immediate
neighbourhood. With few exceptions they were whitened externally, and the
roofs were either thatched or tiled. 5 In fact, in 1848 one building was
described as follows: 6
... the best stone-built double storied House, the lower storey walls of
which are two and a half feet thick under a double Tiled Roof . . .
Colonial houses were generally of brick or wood, but there were two
other modes of building which, if skilfully constructed, were considered
equal to either for economy, durability and appearance. 7 These were cob
building and pise building. The former consisted of a wall formed of unburnt
clay mixed with chopped straw, gravel, and occasionally with layers of long
straw, in which the straw acted as a bond (Harris 1977; Fleming et aI1974).
One visitor to Natal found it difficult to comprehend how a strong,
substantial house could be formed out of such soft material, and ;magined
that the verandah was designed as much to protect the house from the rain
as to shelter it from the sun (Shooter 1868). According to Harris (1977) pis!?
building can refer to a building whose walls are made of compressed earth
(usually stiff clay formed and rammed in a movable frame or formwork), to
the building material itself (stiff earth or clay rammed until it becomes firm)
used to form walls or floors, or to cob used as a wall material.B While the
method of construction was still largely primitive by the early 1850s, we
must guard against oversimplification, for in some cases, estimates and
specifications indicate more sophisticated houses. 9 Some structures were
even imported, for example, an iron house 'of superior construction' which
had come from Britain on the Henrietta. lO Furthermore, by 1846 dwellings of
the 'Indian style' of 'bungalow building' with a 'commodious Veranda' all
round were being erected in Pietermaritzburg. 11
EARLY DEVELOPMENT
Soon after the establishment of Pietermaritzburg, rules were made to
control the occupancy and management of propertyY In particular, every
proprietor of an erf was bound to sow and plant his erf and surround it with
a turf (sod) wall or with a palisade within two months. Also, dwellings were
to be built at the front of the erf and in a straight line as would be regulated
and pointed out by a qualified person appointed for the purpose. In March
1839 Andries Pretorius wrote that three hundred erven had been given out,
surveyed and partly planted. 13 Another writer says that by March two
hundred houses had been erected (Preller 1940). In contrast, the Frenchman
Delegorgue (1847), who had lived for some time among the Boers,
described Pietermaritzburg in 1839 as 'a rough stockade camp, a mere
cluster of crude shanties made of wood and reeds, and plastered with dung'
(p. 194).14 Carl Behrens, a German who later married a daughter of Gerrit
Maritz, described the settlement in July 1840 as an established laager
bestaande uit 100-150 Strooihutte (Krynauw 1946), with the properties
occupied by goeie, soliede houses.
The Oldest Houses in Pietermaritzburg Reconsidered 53
The British defeated the Boers in a battle at Port Natal and as p<,lrt of the
takeover of Natal set about examining title deeds and registering properties.
A proclamation was issued on 12 May 1843 under the hand of Sir George
Napier and signed by Secretary John Montagu (Bird 1888). Landholders
were to be protected if they had legitimate· claims, that is, if they had been
'bona fide occupiers' for a period of twelve months before the arrival of
Commissioner Henry Cloete in June 1843. 15 In a letter to Montagu, Cloete
expressed concern as the original grants appeared to be quite generous. IQ
The original titles were considered 'perfectly worthless' . 17 In
Pietermaritzburg two hundred and fifty allotments had been occupied in
terms of the proclamation. 18
The instructions given to the Surveyor General of Natal included the
remeasurement of the boundaries of the existing towns. 19 Except in special
cases, no sale of any allotments was to be made until a regular survey of the
town had been effected. Those reverting to the Government were put up for
sale at the upset price of £50 per acre.20 The situation was considered to be
quite serious and it was felt that the British authorities were almost
compelling the trekkers to move north (Christopher 1850; Theal 1887).21
Many were simply 'abandoning the District'.'2 However, a few (e.g. Fick,
Greybe and Rudolph) stood their ground and still flew the Dutch flag from
their homes (Bird 1888).
The Boers were strongly urged by their own people to stay as many
foresaw misery in. the wake of a mass exodus. An analysis of the Cloete
report clearly indicates that many of the Boers were dissatisfied and had
already left. In Pietermaritzburg 30% of the erven were not occupied, 12%
not claimed and only 16% of those who had received original grants in 1839
claimed their properties in 1843. Sixty-one per cent of claimants claimed one
erf, 15% two erven and 24% more than two erven. Twenty-four per cent of
the claimants claimed 56% of all the erven claimed. Brookes and Webb
(1965) correctly state that the colony was in a 'curious state of transition'.
There had been no official communications.23 Many of the erven were
actually granted to British settlers in 1846. In fact, 23% of the erven claimed
in 1843 were, in 1846, granted to people other than the original claimants.
THE EVIDENCE
Introduction
Having established the type of building that most probably represents the
first decade of development in Pietermaritzburg and having glanced at the
early history of land ownership in the settlement, we now turn to the
evidence supporting the contention by Brann and Haswell (1983, 1984) that
certain houses can be traced back to 1843. They compared the Cloete report
and an article in De Natalier and noted a significant correlation between the
houses mentioned. They further argued that the majority of tQe houses
would have been permanent structures, since Pistorius had established a
brick and tile factory that produced roof tiles and burnt brick, from about
1840. On the basis of this research they designated a number of buildings as
the oldest houses in town. In my view this argument is incomplete as it fails
to consider all the factors.
In the first place, they infer that the Cloete report speaks categorically on
structures that stood on the particular erven mentioned. It must be
remembered that Cloete's brief was specifically to grant erven 'bona fide
occupied' during the previous twelve months. He was not primarily
concerned with buildings but with occupation. In a letter to the Secretary of
State (4 July 1843) he indicated a distinction between three modes of
occupation: built upon, cultivated, and other (Bird 1888). The concept 'bona
fide occupied' was at first 'dat niemand destyds begrypen kon'.24 It was
contended that, because of this misunderstanding, many of the Dutch
farmers were unlucky to have left their erven with no buildings or form of
occupation thereon thus deserving the judgement not 'bona fide occupied' or
'niet ter goeder trouw in bezit genomen'. The implications of these statements
are twofold. First, 'bona fide occupied' introduces the concept of 'bebowd'
erven. But many of the erven that Cloete described as 'bona fide occupied'
he does not state had buildings erected on them. Secondly, they suggest that
there must have been a wave of building when it was discovered what would
be considered I 'bona fide occupied'. Thus, in some cases Cloe-te' mentions
that the erf was built upon and there appears to be no building on the erf
soon after. 25 Cloete clearly uses a variety of designations in addition to 'built
upon' (Fig. 3). It is unreasonable to suppose that he was sufficiently aware
of structures, although this would have helped him in his survey of erven
occupied. It is not surprising, therefore, that in some instances later
evidence confirms some of his recording. 26 Yet it is unwise to use the report
as the sole basis for a whole argument. His was not a survey of buildings but
rather a study of occupation through any form of presence, whether,
cultivation, fenced in, built upon, foundation laid, permanent structures,
temporary structures and so on. Thus in some cases the property was
enclosed with a foundation laid and yet considered 'bona fide occupied'.
The Natalier article must also be treated cautiously in the light of the fact
that it was written by an editor obviously in sympathy with Boer feelings and
keen to emphasise their contribution to the settlement. A cursory survey of
this and other newspapers of the nineteenth century will confirm this.
Journalists of this period, perhaps characteristically in Pietermaritzburg or
the colonies (as Anthony Trollope would have it), were quick to exaggerate
their cause through verbal barrages and statistical means. One cannot simply
dismiss the criticism of the statement that buildings were springing up like
mushrooms and withering away almost as quickly due to their temporary
nature. 27 While the analysis by its editor, Boniface, in De Natalier could
possibly be used as supportive evidence, it must be treated with care.
In my view the most reliable evidence must be the government survey
conducted in 1845, and the 1872 and 1906 maps. Firstly, Dr William Stanger
was in charge of the 1845 survey. Although he was a medical doctor by
profession, he had worked as a surveyor in the Cape Colony and was
obviously well educated and thorough. In general, his work in Natal was of
great significance, and quite remarkable when one considers his primitive
instruments and the difficult conditions under which he worked. This newly
appointed Surveyor General, apparently set a high standard for his team.28
Secondly, the very nature of elementary surveying brings one close to reality
as one has actually to measure it. It is likely that buildings of any
permanence or substance would have been recorded by these surveyors,
particularly if they were right on the street or boundary line. Thirdly,
Bergtheil says that in 1843 there were only a few buildings and the only
inhabitants he remembers are Commandant Pretorius, the two Boshoffs,

Zietsma.n, Ripking, Repsold and Landsberg. 29 Fourthly, John Bird, another
old inhabitant says that there were not more than 70 or 80 cottages in 1846. 30
This accords well with the 1845 survey. Lastly, the survey was to form the
basis of the land claims' and the issuing of deeds. That it was seen in a very
serious light is proved by the Colonial Secretary's comments to Stanger
(dated 17 February 1845):
You will give the surveyors clearly to understand that they will be held
liable to rectify any errors detected in their work after they shall have
delivered it to you, or to bear the expense of such rectification if it
shall be found necessary to employ others (Bird 1888, p. 456).
Under him Stanger had Charles Piers and Lawrence Cloete (son of Henry
Cloete). These two surveyors have left us with buildings clearly marked on
some of the erven. Piers was responsible for surveying most of the erven
(52,5~o) (Fig. 1). Cloete surveyed 45,5% of the erven. A few of them are
indicated as having been surveyed by Hughbert Baker, another surveyor,
and E.F. McGill, a draughtsman. An important 'Point is that whenever
McGill surveyed an erf, Stanger's stamp of approval was attached thereto.
Also, Baker and McGill did their surveys at a later date. It seems as though
.the original surveys for these properties were missing and they had to be
resurveyed. Surveying was commenced in July and completed by October.
The general plan is dated November 1845.
A comparison of the general plan and the individual surveys indicates a
general consistency and reliability. The general plan shows the position of 51
buildings. Fifty-five per cent (28) of these are repeated in the individual
surveys, the majority (21) of which were on the street line and were most
probably used to check for accuracy. Two buildings occurred on the
individual plans but were omitted from the general plan. A comparison of
the documents gives one a fairly reliable indication of the more substantial
structures in the settlement at the time. When one compares this with the
Cloete report and the Natalier article, differences become clear. The most
reasonable explanation must lie in the nature of the buildings. The problem
is to decide what each source regarded as a building worthy of inclusion.
Apparently Cloete and Boniface were looking for the bare minimum, but
Stanger demanded something more permanent. It also appears that the
general plan incorporates structures that were not particularly relevant to
the surveying process.
It is important to note that in some cases, there were problems with the
measurement of erven due to the imposition of the British system of
measuremt<nt on the Dutch (Labuschagne 1983). The problem of physically
defining properties reinforces three important facts. Firstly, for the most
part the boundary infringements were subsequent to the initial survey of
1845. Proprietors were simply failing to get the exact delineation of their
erven before erecting buildings, which meant that in some cases they were
building on someone else's property. This was especially the case when the
erf stood in a more remote part of town. Secondly, most of the
encroachments were small (e.g. 11ft. 6in., 2ft. 6in., 6 in.) in terms of the
location of buildings, but extremely important when measured against a
surveyor's set of criteria. It must also be noted that the encroachments were
mostly on the street and not between properties. Thirdly, the surveyors were
highly critical in their delineation and subdivision of properties. It is

surprising that there were so few complaints. In sum, we can say that if we
are talking about the miniscule details with which surveyors are concerned,
then there were many inaccuracies, but if we are looking at the general
pattern of the erven and the position of the buildings, then there is no doubt
that these early surveys were accurate. Judging from the evidence,
Commissioner Cloete would have been far more susceptible to incorrect
recording than later surveyors as he did not actually measure the town and
nor did he have the time to spend on detail - the whole colony was his
brief. Besides, his examining and drawing up of lists was to be by 'accurate
returns' from all the verified landowners. 31 While he claims to have verified
259 lots personally, it must be remembered that, because of insecurity, many
people had come into town and more erven had been built upon than
expectedY Many farmers were occupying their erven in town, which
explains why there were so many 'built upons' mentioned in 1843 in contrast
to the actual survey of 1845. 33 Many of the buildings were clearly not
substantial enough to be included in a survey of the proportions undertaken
in 1845.
INDWIDUAL PROPERTIES
Erf 33 Boom Street (333 Boom Street)
The double-storeyed house standing in Boom Street (11/4/2133) has long
been accepted as the oldest house in Pietermaritzburg, despite the fact that
it does not even remotely resemble the structures the Voortrekkers are
reputed to have erected (Fig. 2). The erf was originally granted to Widow
Gert Nel and claimed by Petrus Gerhardus Pretorius in 1843 to whom it was
granted (Grant No 472, 8 April 1846). In 1843 Commissioner Cloete
described it as enclosed, cultivated and 'bona fide occupied'. It does not
appear on surveyor Cloete's survey of the property on 24 October 1845, but
Fig. 2: 333 Boom Street
(Photograph: Author's collection)

KEY FOR FIGURE 3
cultivated and bona fide I)CC1_lOied during the last 12 months.
The jot facing
fide occupied for the last 12
Proclamation of 23
Source: SGO 11/5 Map 1845, 1872 and 1906 (Natal Archives) .
is clearly marked on the general plan of that year (Fig.3). The building again
appears on the 1872 and 1906 maps. The property was first subdivided in
1899 and in that period it was only sold three times. If the general plan is
accurate, then this house was standing in 1845.
Er! J Burger Street (10 Loop Street)

Erf 1 of Burger Street was originally granted to Servaas van Breda on
14 October 1839. Cloete says that it was claimed and granted to Pieter
Hendrik Kritzinger, but the grant (No. 329) dated 25 March 1846 declares
E.F. Boys to be the successful claimant. 34 This accords with other evidence
that he occupied a house on this erf (Hattersley 1949). A building is not
recorded on this property on the general plan or Piers's survey of 1845.
60 The Oldest Houses in Pietermarit.burg Reconsidered
Fig. 4: 10 Loop Street

(Photograph : Author's collection)
Cloete had described it as built upon and 'bona fide occupied'. The erf
remained intact until 1872. Even though we cannot say with much
confidence that the building dates back to 1843, it (Fig. 4) was certainly in
existence by 1872. It has numerous historical attachments. Firstly, Colonel
E.F. Boys lived here. Then, Prince Alfred has been said to have stayed here
on his visit in 1860. After this it was used as a school called Bishop's College
when it was described as 'lofty, well-lighted and well-ventilated' although
the classrooms adjoining were considered 'quite unsuitable' and the
dormitories seemed rather confined. 3; When Bishop's College closed down
in 1880, a Miss Usherwood bought the property for £2 500 and gave it to the
Diocese of Maritzburg (lex 1977; Vietzen 1979) . In August 1881 St Anne's
school reassembled there.
Erf 56 Burger Street (10 Burger Street)

Originally granted to lohan Hendrik Smit on 15 February 1839, this
property raises an interesting morphological question. It was also claimed by
Smit and granted (No. 384) to him on 16 September 1846. 36 According to
Cloete it was built upon and 'bona fide occupied' in 1843. The problem lies
in the fact that part of the building (Fig. 5) standing on the erf today
conforms to Volksraad regulation though the building is not indicated on
either the general plan of 1845 or Piers's survey of March 1846. However,
Piers does indicate another building positioned on the other side of the erf.37
It stood where the Parkview flats stand today.
When Captain F. Campbell of the Cape Mounted Rifles expected to leave
the Colony, he offered a cottage for sale that stood on this erL's It consisted
of six rooms 'under the same roof', a four-stalled stable with two out rooms
attached, a detached kitchen, and a small garden well enclosed with a brick
Fig. 5: 10 Burger Street

wall and planted with a choice selection of fruit trees. In 1848 it was
subdivided and a portion (cdef) was sold. The property was further
subdivided in 1868 and 1872 by Alex Mair and this group of buildings is
clearly indicated in the exact position of the house presently numbered 10
Burger Street. According to Hattersley (1960) it was occupied by Henry
Cope, Solicitor in Chancery in early Victorian times. It later became the
home of Waiter Thrash, a barrister of the Inner Temple and a member of
the Union Senate.
Ert 81 Burger Street (241 Commercial Road)
The house standing on subdivision 4 of 274 Burger Street (A of Erf 81)
and known as Oxenham's Bakery, is beyond any reasonable doubt one of the
oldest houses in Pietermaritzburg (Fig. 6). Claimed by Schalk Willem van
Fig. 6: 241 Commercial Road
der Merwe and described by Cloete as built upon and 'bona fide occupied' in
1843, the erf was first granted to Widow P.A. Venter on 18 April 1839. The
building is shown on Cloete's survey (undated but probably 1845) as a
'Dwelling House' and appears on the general plan of 1845. 39 Needless to say,
it is on the 1872 plan and the 1906 plans. It is understandable that building
developed first along the main through routes of the small town . Another
building situated on this entrance was on Erf 26 Burger Street (Henry
Cloete's house demolished in 1954). Most of the traffic came in from
Durban on this road . In fact one individual complained about the state of
the cemeteries because wagons occasionally drove over the graves. 40 This
house was actually known to everyone in the area as the residence of Mr van
der Merwe. 41 Also, the house that Boniface referred to is most probably this
one, as none of the other van der Merwes mentioned claimed properties that
showed buildings on them in the 1845 survey. Similarly, none of them
claimed erven that were said to be built upon in 1843. Everything points to
this house dating back to 1843. Unless other evidence is forthcoming, this
we are compelled to accept. The gable was not part of the original building
but added in 1929 to form part of the main entrance to Commercial Road.
The old bakery itself was commenced in 1926 and completed the following
year.
Erf 5 Loop Street (54 Longmarket Street)

There is little reason to believe that the house on Erf 5 Loop Street,
numbered 54 Longmarket Street (1/5), dates back to 1843 (Fig. 7). On the
contrary, there is every reason to believe that it was built in the last quarter
of the nineteenth century. The original grant of 14 August 1839 was made to
Fig. 7: 54 Longmarket Street
..-
Longmarket Street
1843/5 1872 11985
Surveyed by
Piers
Fig. 8: ERF 5 LOOP STREET
Loop Street
Coenraad Scheepers and claimed by Jacobus Viljoen. However, it was

granted to Daniel Hollington on 13 November 1846.42 Cloete described the
property as built upon and 'bona fide occupied'. Neither the survey by
C. Piers (October 1845) or the general plan of 1845 has a building shown on
the site (Figs. 3 and 8). In 1847 there was a slaughter house on Erf 5 Loop
StreetY In particular, there were various substantial stone and brick
dwellings occupied by Ogle and McCabe, government contractors, butchers,
but also carrying on 'a roaring private trade'. 44 Only one building is
mentioned in 1850 and the stand was described as in a 'most excellent'
position for business, both for the 'military and native trade'. 45 The
speculative value of the property is partly corroborated.by the number of
times it changed hands. Hollington sold it to Charles McDonald the day
after receiving the grant, and he sold it to J.W. and J.P. Archbell the same
day. Hypolite Jargal bought the erf in 1847 and the following year sold it to
James O'Brien, who in turn sold it to C.W. Mayne in 1852.
The building referred to in 1850 was apparently used for commercial
purposes. It was probably larger than a normal house, having been used as a
slaughter house. The 1872 plan confirms this view indicating a relatively
large building and the property divided in half. The erf was properly
surveyed and subdivided in March 1880 by government surveyor J .H.
Spence, who clearly indicates the subdivision J upon which 54 Longmarket
Street is presently standing. The 1906 plan shows this house together with
two others on Erf 5 Loop Street. There is little doubt that all three were
built some time between 1880 and 1906 and more than likely soon after the
subdivision in 1880.
Er[ 42 Loop Street (428 Longmarket Street)

The building standing on the remainder of Erf 42 Loop Street and
numbered 428 Longmarket Street is, with 333 Boom Street and Government

House, the oldest double-storeyed house in Pietermaritzburg (Fig. 9) . The

Volksraad had granted this erf to Carel Ohrtmann on 14 October 1839.
Heinrich Anton Ripking claimed the erf in 1843 when Cloete described it as
built upon and 'bona fide occupied'. In 1844 Boniface mentioned Ripking's
house, which he considered substantial. It appears that Ripking was not
living on this erf in 1843. We know that in 1846 he was living on Erf 28 Loop
LONGMARKET STREET
4/ 1
REM
I 3
iREM
Fig. 10: ERVEN 41 AND 42 LOOP STREET

Street. 46 He was granted Erf 42 Loop Street on 23 March 1846 (Grant No.
314). Erf 28 Loop Street, which he was occupying, was granted to 10hanna
Olivier (widow of Petrus Naude) on the same day. Ripking bought this from
her on 18 September 1846 and continued to occupy the erf up to December
of that year when he was reported to be selling his 'home' opposite the
market or 'in front of the market. 47 The general plan of 1845 shows a
building on this erf and Cloete had considered it built upon and 'bona fide
occupied' (Fig. 3).
Ripking may have erected a building on Erf 42 Loop and then claimed it,
but the building indicated on the general plan is in a different position to
that of the house referred to by Brann and Haswell as Ripking's house (Figs.
3 and 10). Sureyor Cloete does not show a building on this erf in his survey
on 11 October 1845 (Fig. 11). It is unreasonable to assume that the general
Longmarket Street
1843/5 1872 1906 1985
Surveyed by
Cloalel
Loop Street
plan of 1845 has the building 10 the wrong position; as in all other instances
where an individual survey shows buildings, the general plan has the correct
erf. If it is supposed that the general plan has the building on the wrong erf,
then the house numbered 412 Loop Street was intended, which is clearly
shown by three different surveyors in exactly the same position. Further
support is supplied by the fact that no buildings are shown between 418 and
428 Longmarket Street in 1872 and 1906. The building on that portion (3 of
42) was erected between 1920, when the property was subdivided, and 1926,
when the building appears on a drainage diagram.
It seems that Ripking waited for certainty before commencing with the
building which we know as 428 Longmarket Street. When Boniface used his
house as an example, he was living on Erf 28 Loop Street. When he was
granted Erf 42 in March of 1846, he probably commenced building and
moved at the end of that year. In the meantinle he had bought Erf 28 in
September 1846, before he left for his new house at 428 Longmarket
Street.4ft
If it be argued that the house on Erf 42 was Ohrtmann's house that

Boniface mentions, as he had been originally granted this erf, a number of
factors are left unexplained. In the first place, Ohrtmann claimed some 34
erven in 1843, four of which were described by Cloete as built upon and
'bona fide occupied' and two of these, namely 26 Church Street and 26
Boom Street, had buildings shown by surveyor Cloete on his diagrams of
22 October 1845 and 29 October 1845 respectively , and the general plan of
that year. If there was a substantial house on this erf in 1843, it is highly
unlikely that Ohrtmann's speculative mind would let that fact go unnoticed.
He would most probably have claimed on the basis of the original grant.
Secondly, according to the available records, Ripking was not the recipient
of an original grant from the Volksraad in 1839. He would have been
occupying someone else's erf anyway, unless there had been a transaction
between himself and the actual owner prior to, or on, Cloete's arrival.
In conclusion we can safely say that 428 Longmarket Street was erected
somewhere between 1846 and 1850. If a building stood on this erf in 1843, it
was in all probability in the position indicated on the general plan and was
removed before 1872 when there was no building in that position .
Erf 6 Loop Street (64 and 66 Longmarket Street)

The buildings numbered 64 and 66 Longmarket Street are unique in that
they are the only surviving couplet that dates back to the earliest period
(Fig. 12). S.W. Hatting was the original grantee awarded on 14 October
1839. 10hannes Janse van Vuuren claimed it in 1843 but it was granted to
W . Thomas on 23 April 1846.49 Cloete described it as built upon and 'bona
fide occupied' in 1843, but the buildings do not appear on the general plan
of 1845 and were not recorded by surveyor Piers in October of that year. On
16 April 1851 the erf was subdivided by government surveyor Hughbert
Fig. 12: 64 and 66 Longmarket Street (1984)
Fig. 13: 205 Berg Street

Baker and an advertisement in the Natal Witness two days later shows the
subdivisions and two houses. 5o So according to the title deeds the erf
remained intact until 1852 when the trustees of the insolvent estate of
Richard Donoghue took transfer from William Thomas and immediately
sold the subdivisions. The houses are shown on the 1872 and 1906 plans.
Erf 20 Berg Street (205 Berg Street)
The building on Erf 20 Berg Street and numbered 205 (Rem/2/2220) has
also been included in the oldest house list of Brann and Haswell (1983) (Fig .
13). The erf was originally granted to H.N. SchoemSlu-on 25 April 1839 and
claimed by Pieter Gerhardus Pretorius in 1843 when Cloete described it as
built upon and 'bona fide occupied'. The property was granted to
A. Williams on 10 January 1849 (Grant No. 71). In his survey of the
property in September 1845 Piers does not indicate any building. The
general plan also shows an erf devoid of any substantial structure (Fig. 3) .
Furthermore, the 1872 plan is silent on the matter. Subdivision of the
property commenced in June 1853 but the portion that the building stands
on was only surveyed in November 1869 by government surveyor G.
Holgate. It was sold to H.E. Harvey on 2 May 1870 who presumably bought
it with the intention of erecting a building thereon. It would seem that the
building was completed somewhere between 1872 and 1906 when it is clearly
shown.

The inclusion of the building number 219 Berg Street (1/2221) as one of
the oldest houses in Pietermaritzburg raises a number of problems (Fig. 14).
Originally granted to H.H. Schoeman, Erf 21 Berg Street was claimed by
Jacob de Klerk and granted to him on 8 April 1864. Cloete had
Fig. 14: 219 Berg Street

described it as built upon and 'bona fide occupied'. Brann and Haswell
(1983) erroneously state that the building numbered 219 Berg Street stands
on Erf 22 Berg Street. It is, in fact, on Erf 21 Berg Street. Piers does not
show a building on Erf 21 Berg Street in his survey in September 1845 (Fig.
15). The general plan is in agreement and the 1872 plan similarly leaves this
Boom Street
1843/5 1872 1906

.: 1985
I •
•
Surveyed by
•
Piersl
Fig. 15: ERF 21 BERG STREET
Berg Street
part of the ert" vacant (Fig. 3). It is only in 1906 that the building is shown.
The 1872 plan shows a building right on the boundary line between erven 21
and 22, half being on one erf and the other half on the other erf. This is not
in the same position as 219 Berg Street. Note that a house was standing on
this erf in 1846 and is probably tl~e house indicated in the 1872 plan and
standing near the boundary between Erf 20 and Erf 21. 51 This building was
demolished before 1906 when a more substantial building is indicated. The
erf was divided and a street laid off. The properties off the new thorough ..
fare, Stranack Street, were surveyed in February 1904 by borough surveyor
W.A. Anderson. The present building in this position (7112), 211 Berg
Street, is of that period and is one of the better examples of the late
Victorian domestic vernacular in Pietermaritzburg.
If it is argued that Brann and Haswell were actually referring to the semi
detached cottages on Erf 22 numbered 223 and 225 Berg Street (Ai7 and
Reml7), the problem is not solved. This erf was originally granted to Marais
Johannes Fourie. It was claimed by M.J. Schoeman in 1843 but was granted
to M.J. Fourie on 25 March 1847. Cloete described it as built upon and
'bona fide occupied' but both Piers's survey of September 1845 and the
general plan of that year do not show a building on this erf (Figs. 3 and 16).
Boom Street
. ,, .
1843/5 1872 1906 1985
,,
,i
_L __
Surveyed by
Piers
Fig. 16: ERF 22 BERG STREET
Berg street
However, when Fourie advertised his erf for sale in May 1844 there was a
house standing on it." The 1872 plan shows a fairly substantial building. The
property was subdivided after this and the 1906 plan shows two separate
buildings on this frontage. This suggests that the house mentioned in 1844
was removed before 1906, maybe even before 1872 or the 1845 survey which
shows no building on this site. It is unlikely that the semi-detached buildings
numbered 221/223 and 227/229 date back to 1844, although they may have
been built sometime around 1872. On the strength of the evidence presently
available it is unlikely that any of these buildings should be on the list of
oldest houses in Pietermaritzburg.

The last property mentioned by Brann and Haswell is Erf 42 Berg Street.
This had been first granted to Hermanus Engelbrecht on 1 March 1839. It
was claimed by Frans Ignatius Maritz and granted (Grant No . 94) to him on
8 April 1846. Cloete described it as built upon and 'bona fide occupied'.
Surveyor Cloete did not indicate a building on this erf in his survey of 4
October 1845, but it is shown on the general plan of that year (Fig. 3). The
erf remained intact until March 1896 when it was subdivided by government
surveyor F. Upton. Again, it is not clear which building Brann and Haswell
are referring to. The building number 417 Berg Street, which they mention,
and standing on 3/2242 of Erf 42 Berg Street, dates back to the 1950s. The
plan had been received in 1933, approved that same year and again in 1948
and 1952. It was erected soon after this for it was added to in 1953 and 1955.
In 1976 business premises plans were submitted for another building. These
were approved in that year, but for some reason it was decided to alter the
original building instead. The work was put in hand and completed in 1982.
The only building on this frontage that dates back to somewhere between
1845 and 1872 is that numbered 413/415 (although some documents simply
refer to it as 415) Berg Street and standing on 4/2242 of Erf 42 Berg Street.
It appears on the 1872 and 1906 plans and is still standing today, albeit
substantially altered (Fig. 17). There were additions in 1959 and extensive
alterations in 1983.
Fig. 17: 413/415 Berg Street

Erf 41 Loop Street (412 Longmarket Street)

Together with Oxenham's Bakery, Government House and the
Voortrekker parsonage, 412 Longmarket Street (6/1/2641) is the other
'oldest house' in Pietermaritzburg (Figs. 10 and 18). The property was
originally granted to Theunis de Klerk on 14 October 18j9. The claimant

was C.F. Botha. The property was granted to him on 23 March 1846. Cloete
had described it as built upon and 'bona fide occupied' and clearly marked it
on his survey on 11 October 1845 (Fig. 19) but it does not appear on the
general plan (Fig. 3). Instead, a building in the same position on the erf was
indicated on the adjacent Erf 42 Loop Street. It is highly likely that, in the
long market Street

c::J
1843/5 1872 1906 1985
Surveyed by
•
Cloete
Loop St reet
light of the discussion on Erf 42 Loop Street, the general plan is incorrect,
and that there was no building of any lasting substance on Erf 42. The
building is shown again in 1850, 1851 and on the separate plan with the
grant. Thus , three different surveyors separated by as much as six years
testify to the existence of the building. It also appears on the 1872 and 1906
plans.
The property was first subdivided in 1850 when the building on the
remainder of Erf 41 and numbered 418 Longmarket Street was most
probably built. It remains possible for the building to have been erected
between 1860 and 1872, for 1. Moreland procured this portion soon after he
had bought Erf 42, suggesting that it was vacant at the time, since he was
evidently living in the double-storeyed house on Erf 41. Perhaps it was
merely a property investment. It certainly was not shown as standing in 1845
but it is indicated on the 1872 and 1906 maps. H . Repsold bought the whole
erf from P.l. de Waal in 1849. When it was subdivided H.A. Repsold
bought the 412 Longmarket Street section and F.S. Berning the 418
Longmarket Street section . The building between these two, 414
Longmarket Street (4/1/2641 and 5/2641) was erected in 1959. The original
shell of the house numbered 412 Longmarket Street fits the basic floor plan
of the Voortrekker house.
Er! 1 Longmarket Street (2 Church Street)
This historic erf was originally granted to Willem H. Neethling on 14
October 1839. It was claimed by lacobus lohannes Burger and lohan
Bernard Rudolph. The former had purchased half of the lot facing
Longmarket Street and the latter the other half facing Church Street in
1842. While Burger had not occupied his subdivision , Rudolph's half had
Fig. 20: 2 Church Street (c. 1867)
been 'bona fide occupied'. First Kritzinger and then Visagie had been
granted a piece of land 60fF at the top of Church Street on condition that
they should maintain thereon a mill for grinding wheat for a fixed fee .
Although Burger and Rudolph claimed the erf, A.J. Fick was granted
it on 16 September 1846. 53 He sold it to Rudolph the following month.
Surveyor General William Stanger purchased Sub ABCD of Erf 1 Long
market Street in 1847. Surveyor Piers had clearly shown a substantial set of
buildings on the erf by 1845. The general plan of that year also indicates
these buildings. The house was single-storeyed, thatch-roofed and consisted
of about five rooms . As the Governor's residence it has architectural as well
as historical importance (Frost 1979; Labuschagne 1983). In the words of
Oberholster (1972) :
It reflects the style of its period and is one of the few surviving
examples of early Natal architecture. Besides this, it is an example of
the effective use that was made of the materials available at the time .
(p. 245).
This building (Fig. 20) is definitely one of the oldest houses in town. It can
be traced back to 1845 with certainty.
Erf 34 Longmarket Street (338 Church Street)

This is the erf on which the first Voortrekker parsonage to be built m
Pietermaritzburg stood (Fig. 21) . Known today as the Voortrekker Museum ,
it was originally built as a house . When in 1947 this fact was established, a
national controversy developed . The acceptance of the building as the
Church of the Vow can be attributed to the fact that the existence of the
Republic of Natalia was short-lived. Had the Voortrekker Republic
Fig. 21: 338 Church Street
developed further, the real church would undoubtedly have been built on
Erf 33 Longmarket Street. Thorn (1949) and Engelbrecht (1948) were
commissioned to research this question independently. They concluded that
the building was indeed the Church of the Vow. I have elsewhere endeavoured
to demonstrate that their view is not supported by the evidence
(Labuschagne 1983). From a cultural geographic perspective, the essence of
its importance does not lie in the fact that It was once used as a church, but
rather that it expresses an essential ingredient of the early Voortrekker
dorp, a concept which was firmly entrenched in the Boer immigrant cultural
baggage, namely, the position of the building on the front of the erf. The
early church documents clearly state that the building would first be used
as a church and then be converted into a parsonage when 'een behoorlijke
kerk' had been erected. 54 It was built on what had always been known as the
'pastorie grond'. 55 Cloete described this erf as claimed by the Consistory of
the Dutch Reformed Church for the erection of a parsonage. Soon after the
consecration of this temporary church, the Volksraad resolved that a new
church be built, but this only took place in 1860. 56
The building was sold in 1873 from which date it was apparently used as a
wagonmaker's shop, mineral water factory, tearoom, chemist, blacksmith's
shop and a wool shed. 57 A movement to preserve it for the descendants of
the Voortrekkers was started in 1908 and a commission was appointed by
the Church Council for this purpose. A nation-wide collection of funds for
the purchasing of the building was undertaken. This was concluded in 1910
and the building was restored at a cost of £505. The specifications were
drawn up by J. Collingwood Tully. The building was opened on
16 December 1912 by General Schalk Burger and in 1938 it was declared a
national monument. In sum we can agree with Haswell that this building
was only intended as a temporary home for the church. It is the oldest house
in town.
CONCLUSION
The interpretation of the earliest period of Pietemaritzburg's evolution is
fraught with innumerable difficulties. This has allowed for varying
approaches some of which have led to questionable conclusions. This is
especially the case when we attempt to establish what national urban culture
is left. The problem has been well illustrated in the research undertaken by
Brann and Haswell. The cultural geographical approach is marked by a
healthy scepticism. It is not satisfied with the popular interpretation of
events. A study of the oldest houses in Pietermaritzburg, when viewed from
this perspective, leads one to the following tentative conclusions. Firstly, our
understanding as to what houses are the oldest can at best be based on the
evidence we have up to date. Further research may unearth other evidence
leading to different conclusions. Secondly, it is unlikely that there are any
genuine Voortrekker houses left in Pietermaritzburg, that is, if there were
any of the sort described by Walton. As we have seen, very early on there
was a brick and tile yard supplying these building materials, s.omewhat
different to that used for the hartbeesthuis. Lastly, the materials used are
not always a reliable indication of the date of erection. In some cases very
primitive structures were built rather late into the nineteenth century
because a number of the more humble inhabitants did not have the financial
means to procure or have more substantial structures erected. In sum, we

can say that there is serious doubt about the validity of some of the oldest
houses in the list supplied by Brann and Haswell. Taking all the available
evidence into consideration, in my view the following houses form a
legitimate part of the oldest house collection in Pietermaritzburg, namely
the Church of the Vow, old Government House, Oxenham's Bakery and
412 Longmarket Street. Of these, 412 Longmarket Street is the most
unaltered and representative of early domestic vernacular in
Pietermaritzburg.
NOTES:
1 Detailed descriptions of these structures may be found in Walton (1951, 1952, 1956, 1961
and 1981) and Van Rooyen (1940).
2 'A very common form of primitive construction, consisting of a sort of coarse basketwork of
twigs woven between upright poles, then plastered with mud; a substitute for brick nagging
in partitions' (Harris 1977, p. 569); 'A method of wall construction consisting of branches of
thin laths (wattles) roughly plastered over with mud or clay (daub), sometimes used as a
filling between the vertical members of timber·framed houses' (Fleming et a! 1971, p. 305).
3 'Wattle and Daub', Encyclopaedia Britannica, Vo\. 23, p. 438 (1984).
4 The Natal Witness, 22 June 1849; see also Methley (1850).
5 Many writers mention the white-washed buildings (e.g. Colenso 1855; Mason 1855; Barter
1852; Methley 1850).

" The Natal Witness, 27 October 1848. It is tempting to suggest that this refers to 333 Boom
Street, but there are problems attached to this interpretation. Firstly, the use of the word
'best" suggests that there were other stone-built double-storeyed houses or at least that there
were other houses built of stone or that were double-storeyed. Secondly, even if the word
'best' had been excluded, we are not told where the house was situated.
7 The Natal Witness, 6 December 1850.
8 Pisedo terre actually means rammed earth (Markus 1964).
9 The Natal Witness. 28 June 1850.
IU The Natal Witness, 19 July 1850.
11 De Natalier, 13 March 1846.
12 South African Archival Records, Natal No. 1, p. 295; see also Bird (1888).
" Het Nederduitsch Zuid-Afrikaan Tydschrift, Deel 16, 1839, p. 239 (Richert, Pike and Co.,
Printers, Cape Town); Nathan (1937) feels that he was being too idealistic; he looked
through 'rose-coloured spectacles' (p. 266).
14 My translation is by A. Gordijn (private correspondence); see also Bird (1888). A number
of scholars have criticised Delegorgue's judgement (e.g. Nathan 1937; Cory 1926).
15 Despatch from Lord Stanley to Sir George T. Napier dated 13 December 1842; Minute of
the Governor to the Legislative Council dated 4 May 1843 (Bird 1888). Cloete sailed for
Port Natal at the end of May 1843 and reached Pietermaritzburg on 8 June.
16 The Volksraad had decided that every man married and of age who had arrived in Natal
before 1839 was entitled to a grant of two farms and one erf. Young men doing burger duty
and aged 15 to 21 were entitled to one farm and one erf and all those who arrived after 1839
to one farm only (De Natalier, 3 May 1845; see also Du Plessis (1942), Bird (1888 p. 19lf,
334f, 404-413,436-439,450-457), South African Archival Records, Natal No. I, p. 372-374).
17 Sir G.T. Napier to Captain Smith dated 23 December 1842 (Bird 1888).
18 Letter from the Colonial Secretary (Cape) to W. Stanger dated February 1845 (Bird 1888).
For some amendments and clarification of Cloete's report see letter Cloete to Stanger
27 May 1846 (SGO HI/I/2); letter Cloete 20 July 1846 (SGO HIIl12); letter C. Scheepers
22 April 1847 (SGO III/1I2); and page 158 and 159 of the report (SGO 1II5).
19 De Natalier, 4 April 1844.
21 The Patriot, 1 January, 2 April and 27 August 1847.
22 The Patriot, 20 August 1847.
25 De Natalier, 4 December 1844, 8 August 1845, 13 December 1846; The Natal Witness,
16 October 1846, 18 December 1846, 16 April and 1 October 1847, 7 April 1848; The Natal
Witness Supplement, 11 December 1846; Title Deed 275 of 1846.
26 Title Deed No. 108 and 165 of 1846; De Natalier, 3 and 10 May 1844, 4 October 1844,
5 May 1846, 16 June 1846, 21 July 1846, 11 August 1846; The Natal Witness, 10 April 1846,
26 March 1847, 11 August 1848, 22 October 1848; The Natal Witness Supplement, 11
December 1846.
27 De Natalier, 7 June 1844.
28 On Stanger see also Merrett (1979), Leverton (1972), The Natal Witness, 15 March 1854,
The Natal Mercury, 15 March 1854, The Natal Independent, 23 March 1854.
29 Bird Papers, Vol. 4. Letter to C. Bird dated 1897.
30 Natal: 1846-1851, a charter in supplement of historical record, by an old inhabitant,
P. Davis and Sons, Pietermartizburg.
31 Proclamation by Sir G.T. Napier dated 12 May 1843 (Bird 1888).
32 Cloete to Montagu, Secretary to the Government, dated 26 December 1843 (Bird 1888).
33 De Natalier, 3 May 1845.
34 SGO 1111114. Letter to Surveyor General dated 30 March 1846.
35 Natal Parliamentary Papers, Document No. 17, Presented 1875, Fourth Session, Seventh
Council.
36 SGO I11/1/2. Page 95. SGO I11/1140. Letter to Surveyor General dated 20 December 1872.
37 See also Title Deed 293 of 1846 and SGO III/lI3.
38 The Natal Witness, 22 October 1847.
39 SGO 11111/4. Letter to the Surveyor General dated 7 March 1846; SG011l40. Letter to the
Surveyor General dated 20 December 1872.
4D The Patriot, 4 December 1846.
41 De Natalier, 7 February 1845.
42 SGO 11111/3. Letter from C. Piers to the Surveyor General dated November 1845;
SGOIII/1I4. Letter to the Surveyor General dated 14 November 1846.
43 The Patriot, 8 and 15 January 1847.
44 The Patriot, 23 July 1847.
45 The Natal Witness, 5 April 1850.
46 De Natalier, 21 July 1846.
47 The Patriot, 25 December 1846; SGO 1I111I4. Letter to the Surveyor General dated 18
September 1846.
48 Note that Ripking was registered as a trader from at least 1855 to 1865 (The Natal Witness,
1 June 1855, 12 August 1864, 8 August 1865).
49 SGO 1111114. Letter to the Surveyor General dated 23 April 1846.
50 The Natal Witness, 18 April 1851.
51 The Natal Witness, 6 March 1846; The Natal Witness Supplement, 11 December 1846.
52 De Natalier, 10 May 1844.
53 SGO 11111/4. Letter to the Surveyor General dated 15 September 1846.
54 Nederduitsch Gereformeerde Kerk, Pietermaritzburg: File No. 3, List 3, 1840 (dated 15
April 1840); Ware Afrikaan, 24 November 1840.
55 Eg. Nederduitsch Gereformeerde Kerk, Pietermaritzburg: File No. 1, Lists 1 and 4.
56 Notes of the Volksraad, 7 January 1842 (South African Archival Records, Natal No. 1,
p. 130).
57 See for example Strydom (1955), van Riet Lowe and Malan (1949), Lugg (1949), Buchanan
(1934), Meintjies (1973), Supplement to the Natal Witness, 21 November 1966, and The
Voortrekker's Museum, 1940, Die Natalse Pers Beperk, Pietermaritzburg.
REFERENCES
BACKHOUSE, J., 1844: A Narrative of a Visit to the Mauritius and South Africa. Hamilton,
Adams, London.
BARTER, C., 1852: The Dorp and Veld or Six Months in Natal, William S. Orr, London.
BIRD, J., 1888: The Annals of Natal 1495 to 1845, 2 v. P. Davis, Pietermaritzburg.
BRANN, R.W. and HASWELL, R.F., 1983: 'The Oldest Houses in Pietermaritzburg',
Natalia, no. 13, pp. 67-75.
BRANN, R. W. and HASWELL, R.F., 1984: 'Voortrekker Pieter Mauritz Burg', Contree,
no. 16, July, pp. 16-19.
BROOKES, E.H. and WEBB, C. de B., 1965: A History of Natal, Uniyersity of Natal Press,
Pietermaritzburg.
CACHET, F.L., 1883: De Worstelstrijd Der Transvalers, 2de druk, Hovekor and Zoon,
Amsterdam.
CHRISTOPHER, 1.S., 1850: Natal. Cape of Good Hope, Effingham Wilson; London.
CLARK, J. 1972: John Moreland. Byrne Agent, Balkema, Cape Town.
COLENSO, J.W., 1855: Ten Weeks in Natal, Macmillan, Cambridge.
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DELEGORGUE, A., 1847: Voyage Dans L'Afrique Australe, A. Rene, vo!. 6, Paris.
DU PLESSIS, AJ., 1942: 'Die Republiek Natalia', Archives Year Rook for South African
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ENGELBRECHT, S.P., 1948: 'Die Geloftekerk', Hervormde Teologiese Studies, 5de jaargang,
afdeling 1 and 2, September, pp. 1-20.
FLEMING, J., HONOUR, H. and PEVSNER, N., 1971: The Penguin Dictionary of
Architecture, Penguin, Harmondsworth.
FROST, T.B., 1979: A Brief History of Government House and Natal Training Col/ege, Natal
Training College, Pietermaritzburg.
GREIG, D., 1971: A Guide to Architecture in South Africa, Howard Timmins, Cape Town.
HARRIS, C.M., 1977: Historic Architecture Sourcebook, McGraw-Hill, New York.
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Restorica, vol. 10, pp. 2-8.
J. ANDRE LABUSCHAGNE
79
Obituaries
George Tatham (1929-1986)
George Tatham, Chairman of the Ladysmith Historical Society, died after a
three-month illness on Monday, 24 March 1986. On 2 November 1985 one
of his greatest ambitions had been fulfilled when the Administrator of
Natal, Mr RadcJyffe Cadman, opened the new Ladysmith Siege Museum.
This museum contains numerous objects collected over many years by
George Tatham and his wife Gill.
Born on 9 January 1929, in Bergville, George Tatham was a grandson of
a siege veteran, Major George Tatham, of the Natal Carbineers. George
Tatham was educated at St Charles College in Pietermaritzburg and at the
University of Natal in the city, where he studied accountancy. Whilst he was
a student he was a member of the first rugby team.
George Tatham's life was characterised by his compassionate nature. This
was manifested in his dedicated community service and by a commitment to
the preservation of Natal's history in general and Ladysmith in particular. In
public life he was a staunch supporter of the United Party. During the 1974
general election he stood unsuccessfully as the United Party's provincial
candidate for the Klip River constituency. He was more successful in local
office and served as a Ladysmith town councillor for six years and as deputy
mayor of the town. He campaigned against the eviction of Indian traders
from the town centre and for improved housing for the underprivileged.
George Tatham's political career was just one way in which he strove to
serve the community. He will be remembered more for founding the
Ladysmith Historical Society than for his political work. The Ladysmith
Historical Society was founded in 1968 and its reputation spread rapidly
beyond the confines of Natal. Almost every book on the Anglo-Boer War
and the Natal Campaign that has been published over the last twenty years
acknowledges its author's debt to George Tatham and the Ladysmith
Historical Society. He guided innumerable tours of the battlefields of
Northern Natal and his vivid recreation of the grim events of the Anglo
Boer War had a tremendous impact on his listeners.
The Ladysmith Historical Society has published an invaluable series of
Siege diaries. George and Gill Tatham were responsible for collecting the
documents for publication and for the laborious editorial work involved in
publishing them. George Tatham was also anxious to extend the activities of
the society beyond the confines of military and settler history. In 1983 the
Ladysmith Historical Society published The Hlubi Chie/dam in Zululand
Natal by Andrew Manson and John Wright, which marked a small
breakthrough in the acceptance of revisionist history by the public.
80 Obituaries
George Tatham (1929-1986)

The Ladysmith historian and the Siege Town.
(Photograph: Die Volksblad)
The Ladysmith Siege Museum is George Tatham's most prominent
monument. For years he campaigned for a proper museum in which to
exhibit the valuable collection. In 1985 the Natal Provincial Museum Service
used the collection laboriously assembled by George and Gill Tatham as the
kernel of the Ladysmith Siege Museum.
George Tatham was a founder member of the Natal Provincial Museum
Service's Advisory Board and used his valuable experience to assist
museums throughout the province. He was deeply concerned about the
quality of the local museums as well as of the Provincial Museum Service
and played a leading role in having the Hosking Committee of Enquiry into
museums appointed by the Administrator in 1985.
The Tatham family has been connected with Ladysmith since 1870 and
George and Gill Tatham brought up their four children on their farm
Hydeswood which contains the site of the Battle of Nicholson's Nek. Not
only has the Tatham family been steeped in the history of Ladysmith, but
George Tatham's life of service will ensure that the name and works of his
family will live in the district for many years to come.
GRAHAM DOMINY
Obituaries 81
Oliver Davies (1905-1986)

Thucydides in his History of the Peloponnesian War included Pericles'
discourse delivered at the first public funeral of those Athenian soldiers who
had died in battle. It began with the following words:
Most of those who have stood in this place before me have
commended the institution of this closing address . . .
In this particular instance 'the closing address' is in the form of an obituary
notice in Natalia, which, as its readers know, is primarily concerned with
'matters of interest pertaining to the Province of Natal'. Thus it is fitting that
the work of an exceptional academic who had devoted so much of his time
and phenomenal intellectual capacity doing pioneer research work on the
very earliest period of the story of Natal should be commemorated in this
journal. It is therefore relevant to note here, for example, that Oliver
Davies was the writer of Part I - 'Archaeology of Natal' - in Volume I of
the Natal Regional Survey (published for the University of Natal by the
Oxford University Press, 1951) entitled Archaeology and Natural Resources
of Natal.
The writer of this obituary has had access to two written sources for the
factual information which it contains. (These have now been added to the
records of the Natal Museum, Loop Street, Pietermaritzburg). The first, and
shorter one, gives several interesting details about his personal life
particularly his outstanding, precocious intellectual ability as a child. The
second, and fuller one, was written by Oliver Davies himself in October,
1984, and gives a detailed account of his academic career. To it is appended
a list of his numerous publications (compiled in September, 1984). This runs
to ten and a half A4 pages of single-spaced typing! Starting with his first
publication entitled 'A New Cretan Inscription', which was published in
1927 in the Annual of the British School of Archaeology at Athens, it also
includes one with the fascinating title of Date of the Golden Gate at Istanbul,
which was published in 1944 in the Journal of Roman studies.
Oliver Davies was born in Chelsea, London, on 7th May, 1905. His father
was Ernest Davies C.B.E., a stockbroker, who was in a position to realise
his ambition of being able to retire at the age of 40! He also wrote novels
which were published under the pseudonym of Oliver Martin. Oliver's
younger brother, Martin, who was a graduate of Cambridge University,
subsequently became Director of the National Gallery, that familiar edifice
in Trafalgar Square. He was knighted for his services to the state, which
included the onerous task, during World War 11, of removing the countless
art treasures at risk in London to Wales where they were housed through
the War. Martin died on 7th March, 1975.
Oliver must have been an exceptional child because he could spell at the
age of two and at the age of three he could read out the numbers on the
doors of houses when he was taken for outings in his perambulator! Even
before he went to school he constructed imaginary timetables and imaginary
omnibus routes. In his first year at .,chool - at the age of nine - he was
made 'head student' when the majority of the pupils were thirteen years old!
His first boarding school was Earlywood where, when he was only twelve,
the headmaster informed his mother that 'he can write Greek like a Greek.'
He won a £100 scholarship to Rugby in September 1918 at the age of
82 Obituaries
thirteen. At this age he could read and write Greek, Latin, French and
German and 'was considered to have attained the education and knowledge
of a nineteen year old'.
He won a scholarship to Exeter College, Oxford, where he read Honours
Classics and received a First Class in both parts. The subjects were Greek
and Latin language, literature, history and philosophy. He received his B.A.
at Oxford in 1927 and M.A. in 1930. In 1927-29 he was Craven Fellow of the
University of Oxford. He was based in Athens and he worked on mining
sites in Greece and the Balkans. He received a further grant in 1929-30 to
enable him to continue this work.
His first academic post was that of lecturer in archaeology and ancient
history at Queen's University, Belfast, in 1930, where he became Reader in
1945. During the 1930s (up to 1937) he worked largely on ancient mines in
the Balkans and in Spain. He also worked on the relevant literature relating
to ancient mines in other parts of Europe, many of which had been re
opened in the 19th century. In the Balkans many old mines were re-opened
in the 1930s.
In 1935 he was appointed secretary of a committee of the British
Association and worked on Roman mines in Wales while during vacations
he visited mining sites in Ireland, Austria and Czechoslovakia. From 1936 he
extended his work on Roman remains and sites in the Balkans but published
little during this period. Ultimately, because of the deteriorating
international situation, he abandoned this study. From 1931 onwards he also
worked systematically on excavations in Northern Ireland - principally
prehistoric sites but also on a few medieval sites. This work led to his
contributing to the Preliminary survey of Ancient Monuments of Northern
Ireland which was published by H.M. Stationery Office in 1940. He was also
a member of the Northern Ireland Monuments Council from 1930-1947.
From 1940-42 he carried out a survey of the archaeological sites in the
border counties of Eire and his reports were deposited in the National
Museum in Dublin, and a few of thes!! were published. From 1946-47 he
resumed his work on the sites in Northern Ireland and contributed to the
publication of the complete surveys of several counties. This project has
subsequently been continued by his successors. In 1937 he re-founded the
Ulster Journal of Archaeology and edited it from 1938-42 and 1946-47. The
33rd volume (1970) of the Journal of the Ulster Archaeological Society was
dedicated as a Festschrift to him and to Professor B.B. Evans.
From 1942 to 1945 he was seconded from Belfast to the British Council in
Istanbul and from 1943-45 he was attached to the University there. During
this period he visited a few ancient mining sites in Anatolia during the
vacations.
In 1948 he took up the Chair of Classics at the University of Natal in
Pietermaritzburg, a post he held until 1951 when he resigned to take up an
appointment as Reader in Archaeology at the University College of the
Gold Coast (which later became the University of Ghana). It was during this
stay in Natal that he was able to carry out an archaeological survey of the
Province, which, until then, had been explored very little. In fact, writing in
1971, Professor Desmond Clark had described it as 'the Cinderella of
African archaeology'. Oliver Davies's archaeological research activities in
Natal involved the study of the coastal systems of the Province and the
Obituaries 83
collection of archaeological remains from within the beach-gravels. He also

attempted to follow the river-gravels inland and investigate the tools in
them. In addition· to this he carried out archaeological investigations in
Northern Natal. He subsequently deposited his field-notes and his collection
of artefacts in the Natal Museum where they have been sorted and
.catalogued.
In order to stimulate further interest in the archaeology of Natal he
established the Natal Branch of the S.A. Archaeological Society, which
provided lectures and local excursions. The Branch subsequently went into
recess after he left Natal but he re-founded it on his return to the Province
in 1967 and he was its Chairman until 1982.
At the University of Ghana he had virtually no teaching duties and he was
therefore able to spend many months of the year in the field. He was made
Associate Professor, and, in 1952, he started to attend international
conferences on archaeology - something that he continued to do fairly
regularly thereafter. These included, for example, the Panafrican Prehistoric
Congress and the International Congress of Prehistoric Sciences. In 1958 he
was appointed representative of Ghana on the Union prehistorique
internationale and held this post until 1966 (the year in which he left Ghana),
when he was transferred to the Comite d' Honneur. In 1963 he was
appointed secretary of the Volta Basin Research Committee and he
organised the archaeological rescue-work in the area of the Volta Basin to
be flooded by the Akosombo Dam. During his sojourn in Ghana he wrote
three books dealing with the archaeology of West Africa, and he also
published a number of journal articles and congress reports.
Professor Oliver Davies (1905-1986) at work in the Natal Museum.

(Photograph: Natal Witness)
84 Obituaries
After his return to Natal in 1966, following on his retirement from his post
in Ghana, he extended the scope of his archaeological research activities to
the study of the Pleistocene shorelines of South Africa, while at the same
time continuing,with a number of research projects in Natal. These included
several excavations on iron-age and earlier sites. He also continued mapping
geological-archaeological sites in the Province. In 1969 he was given an
honorary appointment at the Natal Museum, which he was still holding at
the time of his death.
In the 1970s, as a result of his work as a convener of a working party,
several reports on the Tertiary and Quaternary Periods of South and South
West Africa were prepared by the group, and, ultimately, together with Dr
L.E. Kent, he compiled Chapters 7 and 9 of Handbook 8 of the South
African Geological Survey. During the years 1974-76 he held office as
President of the South African Archaeological Society. From 1973-75 he was
secretary of SASQUA (the South African Society for Quaternary Research),
and President from 1977-79. In this capacity he attended the National
Council of INQUA (Internationale Quatiirvereinigung) Mediterranean
Shorelines Sub-Commission, while he continued to work on the South
African shorelines.
Amongst his final research projects was his work on further excavations
on the Shongweni Caves in 1981. As a result of radio-carbon dating he
found it necessary to modify his earlier conclusions. In addition to this he
was able to define the food plants introduced by the Bantu-speakers in the
earliest centuries A.D.
For Oliver Davies life was the opportunity to experience daily a routine of
meaningful activity, enthusiastic endeavour and solid achievement.
Although he would undoubtedly wince at the use of the word 'monastic'
nevertheless 'monastic' epitomises his single-minded dedication to the
pursuit of his academic goals. It was typical of the man that he should
specifically state in his will that he should have no formal funeral, but the
gathering of his bereaved friends held at the Natal Museum on Tuesday, 9th
September was eloquent tribute to a man of outstanding brilliance yet one
with modest, affectionate charm.
Finally, when one sadly and searchingly reflects (as I'm sure we all do) on
the grim manner in which Oliver Davies met his sudden end in August,
1986, one cannot but be reminded of that Latin phrase from the pen of the
great Roman orator and writer, Marcus Tullius Cicero: 'Cui bono?' - 'Who
stands to gain?'
JOHN M. SELLERS
85
Notes and Queries

Arthur Keppel-lones
In March of this year, Arthur Keppel-Jones, sometime professor of history
at the University of Natal, paid a visit to Pietermaritzburg, and Ms
M. Moberly noted the event: .
Although he was never a historian of Natal, Arthur Keppel-Jones will be
remembered by many as a historian in Natal. He was Professor at the
University in Pietermaritzburg from 1954 to 1959 and taught a number of
the present generation of historians. Several of his former students,
including three members of the Editorial Board of Natalia, entertained him
to lunch when he paid a brief visit to Natal in March.
Although he has retired from teaching at Queen's University, Kingston,
Ontario, Professor Keppel-Jones is still active and writes frequently for
newspapers and journals. His penetrating insights into South African affairs
- startlingly presented in the famous When Smuts Goes (published 1947)
have never been forgotten and he is still often asked to air his opinions on
this country.
Professor Keppel-Jones's last book, Rhodes and Rhodesia: the white
conquest of Zimbabwe, 1884-1902 was published jointly by Queen's McGill
University Press and the University of Natal Press in 1981.
~
Fort Napier
The Pietermaritzburg Society has made a formal proposal that a part of the
buildings and grounds of Fort Napier hospital should be separated from the
hospital and restored and developed as an historical park. The high ground
commanding the town was the base of the British garrison of Natal from
1843 to 1914, and was then divided and passed over to the railways and
public health departments of the Union government. Those parts of the fort
which survive constitute perhaps the most extensive historical military work
in the country outside Cape Town, and a number of the more significant
buildings are so grouped that they could readily be detached as a block from
the present hospital and developed as features of an historical park for
which ample ground, stretching down towards the city and into the valley,
remains open.
The surviving buildings are in various states of repair, but Dr Paul
Thompson, secretary of the Society, estimates them all to be susceptible of
restoration. A careful examination of detailed early maps of the fort
small scale maps of 1897/1899 and 1921 and even earlier large scale maps
(1849, 1883 and 1896) - have enabled the identification and dating of these
buildings with reasonable accuracy. At present only the water tank wall (A)
86 Notes and Queries
Notes and Queries 87
is a national monument. It is one of the bastions of the original rectangular

fortification (B), and traces of much of the rest of the wall, traverse and
bastions are still evident either in the surviving brick buildings or in the
visible foundations of demolished ones. Most of these buildings appear on
the 1883 map, and probably they are older. A shale wall across the
downward slope also survives (C). Below and in front of the original fort is a
complex of brick buildings which formed the military hospital (D). Buildings
of different ground plans appear on the same site in the 1883 map, and one
of these may well be incorporated in the surviving structures. The Officers'
Mess (E), which lay further down the slope towards Government House has
been entirely demolished, though the trees, levelled ground and a short
flight of steps (F) give clues to its siting. Still surviving, however, and in one
case still occupied, well tended and little altered even in the style of its
garden, are examples of married soldiers' quarters on the slope running
down towards the river (G).
Behind the fori lie its working facilities - the chapel and infant schools
and library (now on railway property) (H), stores, barracks and canteens
(I). Many of these seem to have been considerably altered from their
original forms, but the old provost prison (J) resembles somewhat the civil
laagers built in the colony in the late 1870s and 1880s and is a compound
incorporating buildings of brick, shale, and corrugated iron.
Well away from the original fort beyond the main buildings of the present
hospital stands the theatre (K), a remarkably fine and elegantly
proportioned corrugated iron and wood structure standing on brick
foundations. Its origins are a subject of continuing controversy, and since it
appears only on the 1921 map it is probably of late construction. According
to one story, it was brought in pieces from India and reassembled on its
present site. Outside the hospital grounds and still used by the Anglican
community is St George's Garrison Church (L) with its fine windows and
wood carving.
The grounds surrounding the fort are shaded and well grassed, and there
can be no denying the merit of the proposal for their conversion into an
historical park at a time when considerable redevelopment is envisaged for
the present hospital.
The accompanying sketch map has been adapted from one compiled and
kindly supplied to Natalia by Dr Thompson, whose careful researches have
provided the substance for this note.
A Notable Acquisition by the Natal Museum

Mr John Deane has supplied this note on a recent acquisition by the Natal
Museum.
The Portugaliae Monumenta Cartographica is a set of six large volumes
revealing and explaining the history of Portuguese cartography during the
period of the great voyages of exploration from the fifteenth to the
seventeenth centuries. It was published in Lisbon in 1960 to commemorate
the 500th anniversary of the death of Prince Henry the Navigator. The
authors are two distinguished historians, Dr Armando Cortesao and Dr
A velino Teixeira da Mota.
The volumes contain accurate facsimilies (including colour and gold-leaf

work) of all known Portuguese maps of the period, with a commentary on
each map in both Portuguese and English. They are in chronological order,
and show the almost incredible rate and extent of Portuguese exploration
and discovery which effectively brought the mediaeval period to an end and
changed the course of world history.
Although the Portugaliae Monumenta Cartographica is invaluable for
historical research, no copy has been available in South Africa until now. In
recognition of the Natal Museum's work in maritime archaeology connected
with the sites of early Portuguese shipwrecks on or near the South East
African coast, the government of Portugal has donated a set to it. In a
ceremony at the Museum on 8 June 1986, the Portuguese Ambassador to
South Africa, Dr J.M. Villas-Boas, formally handed over this impressive set
of books to the Museum's Director, Dr B.M. Stuckenberg.
Because of their nature and size, the volumes of the Monumenta
Cartographica will not be on view to the public, but will be kept in the
Museum's library, where they will be availabe to students and researchers
on request.
Mines and Industries Museum

Mrs Sheila Henderson, chairman of the Talana Museum Committee, has
provided this note on the progress being made with the Talana Museum:
Phase two of the development of Talana Museum is nearing completion
and the opening by the President of the Chamber of Mines is planned for
May 1987.
The new building has evoked favourable comment. Designed by Mr John
King of Durban, and built of fine face brick, specially made by Corobrik
Natal, the new Museum complex reflects the high style, solidity and
traditional building skills of 'Coalopolis'. Its proportions and detail were
taken from the grand Burnside and Northfield mines, now alas derelict or
demolished. The contract was undertaken by Ivelo Investments and the
meticulous workmanship throughout is a tribute to this pioneer firm.
The complex backs against the blue gum plantations and the old stone
wall to the south of the graveyard. Its spacious foyer with wide glass doors,
(donated by Pilkington S.A.), faces the historic cluster of Peter Smith's
farmsteading and three of· the four halls overlook the beginnings of
Dundee's industries. The coal hall has a view of Talana Hill and the adit
where Peter Smith dug his first anthracite. The brick hall looks down to the
Steenkoolstroom where Tom Smith baked his first bricks, later the site of
the Dundee Brick and Tile Co. The glass hall has a view of old Talana
village and the historic Consol Glass works.
The broken mass of the building and the attractive roof line catch the eye
but do not obtrude. When the Botanic Garden, already in preparation, has
grown up, the complex will have considerable charm. The architect has
carefully preserved several fine old thorn trees, where comfortable benches
will invite the meditative visitor. The Mines and Industries Museum will be
clearly visible from the new Dundee-Vryheid by-pass and will be easy of
access to the traveller.
The builders have moved out and now the gangs of Mrican unemployed
have moved in to prepare the gardens, to restore the historic stone wall and
to clear the parking and picnic sites. The war graves team have repaired the
damaged headstones and re-erected the fallen ones in the cemetery and have
given everything a good scrub. Talana begins to look spick and span.
Agricultural Display
Miss Pam McFadden, the curatrix, with her customary energy, ably
assisted by Mrs Taute, the Secretary, and Mr Wouter, the caretaker, has
spent some months researching, documenting and mounting an agricultural
exhibit in the old stone milking shed. Once concrete platforms behind the
shed have been cast to carry the heavy implements, it will be possible to
house the sponsored displays being prepared by Rumevite, Natalse Landbou
Kooperasie and Stockowners. Agriculture has an enthralling history of its
own.
The Total Talana Concept; National Monuments Galore
The donation of'Thornley' farmhouse and outbuildings, the Boer H.Q.
and Hospital of 1899, by Mr Peter Grant, a descendant of Peter Smith, has
broadened the total Talana concept. Mr Thys Botha, the proprietor of
Talana Anthracite, has kindly agreed to the clearing by Government teams
of weeds and rogue trees on his land below the Museum and on the hillside
behind. He has agreed to the proclamation as a National Monument, of the
triangle of ground as far as the cairn where General Penn-Symons was
mortally wounded. With his co-operation Peter Smith's adit will be cleared
and marked and Boer and British fortifications on the hilltop restored. Miss
McFadden has just received from the Transvaal Archives splendid
photographs that will allow of the detailed rebuilding of these forts, a
project in which Dundee High School will play its part.
The hope is that the Dundee Town Council's planning will allow the
mustering ground of the British infantry on the banks of the Steenkool
stroom and the line of their advance to the farmstead to be kept open as a
park in the Indian area, thereby completing the protection of the entire
battlefield.
It has been suggested that a memorial to the Madras sepoys who did such
sterling work as ambulance corps, would be appropriate on the site of their
dressing station.
Phase Three
Phase three faces two major problems; restoration funds are exhausted and
sponsorship has run out. Three buildings remain derelict, the lovely double
arched coach house, the brick barn and the small workshop. Professional
quotations reach a disheartening R120 000, including a startling R18 000 for
the rough workshop. However, Talanahas as yet had no grant from
National Monuments Council towards its restoration costs and the Dundee
Council has already made a request for funds. It is also felt that local labour
and materials, especially for thatching, could materially reduce the
estimates. Once restored the buildings can quickly and cheaply be brought
into use, as the collections to be housed in them are ready and waiting.
Pollution is the second problem. Talana Anthracite (Pty) Limited must be
working one of the oldest coal mine sites in Natal. Its road and weighbridge
lie behind the Museum and the steady truck traffic is befouling the Museum
and its environment and doing severe damage to valuable and delicate
exhibits. Moreover, the maintenance of the buildings is a constant headache.
The public continually protests about the state of the Museum. Negotiations
between the company and Dundee Town Council are under way to cure this
nuisance.
Research
With the assistance of Mr Nick Ruddiman, the Natal Provincial Museum
Service photographer, and of Mr Harry Lock of the 'Ladysmith Gazette', a
photographic record of historic buildings and sites in the Biggarsberg is
being compiled. It serves to underline the tragic neglect of our heritage and
the wealth of material that is mouldering away. Four expeditions have only
just begun to scratch the surface and have left the small staff at the Museum
in a state of frenzy. 'So much to do - so little time!' One can only hope that
National Monuments and the Province will redouble their efforts in the near
future. For example, Dr Fred Clarke is presently striving to rescue Fort
Pine.
The New Post
Another heavy work load for the staff is the preparation of audio-visual
programmes for visitors. The new complex houses an auditorium,
documentation centre and reading room and it is hoped to have a series of
short films ready for 1987 to entertain schools and tourists. Unfortunately,
the present slump has delayed the filling of the post created last year of
Education Officer for this department. Talana desperately needs an historio
geographer or an archivist/historian before the end of 1986. Otherwise it will
be impossible to open the new complex in 1987.
The work is rewarding. The visitor count is growing and new demands are
always being made - a tearoom, more postcards, souvenirs, brochures. As
I write Talana Museum is celebrating it fourth birthday - a pretty lusty
infant, growing up fast.
A Durban Walk
K.I. Mackenzie of Durban has provided this note about walking tours
through the part of central Durban that has been zoned for Indian trade.
The walks have been organized by the Durban Publicity Association, which
is mindful both of the contribution made to the character and economy of
the city by the Indian people, who are twice as numerous as white people in
the municipal area, in their 125 years there, and of the attraction that this
part of the city could have for tourists.
Starting at the West Street end of the Indian Market you walk into the
fish and meat section and your senses are assailed by the smell, the
cheerful din, and the horrendous sight of a row of sheeps' heads. The
enthusiasm of the sellers extends into the next part, where curios,
spices and household goods are sold, and where curries are labelled
'Atomic', 'Mother-in-Law', and 'Baby's Breath'.
Across the road is the Squatters' Market, where fruit and vegetables
are sold, some of the latter quite unknown to most white people. As
you cross over the railway on the pedestrian bridge you find a constant
two-way movement of hurrying people, even at eleven in the morning.
Here blacks on their way to and from the Berea Road Station
predominate, and it is for them that the informal traders at both ends
ot" the bridge spread out their grass mats and pile them with varied
fruits and highly coloured cakes and sweets.
From the steps of the bridge you see the marvellous Durban mix of
cultures - a small'Muslim cemetery dominated by its white mosque
with vivid green dome, and, immediately next to it, Durban's Roman
Catholic cathedral. Two narrow arcades, one built in 1893, run
between Cathedral Street and Grey Street, and are lined with the
smallest shops in town, some of them barely able to admit three people
at a time, and then it's a crush. Goods are packed from floor to ceiling
and flow outside, where an assistant keeps an eye open for shoplifters
while loudly shouting out what is on offer.
Into Grey Street next, where we find jewellers offering traditional 22
carat gold bridal earrings, necklaces and bracelets; clothing shops with
gorgeous saris; and 'take-aways' serving bunny chow, samoosas, rotis,
and a variety of curries, while at the end of the passageway is the
occasional Indian restaurant. Grey Street is dominated by the two
golden domes of the mosque which is the largest in Southern Africa.
At midday on Fridays cars may be parked three abreast in the middle
of Queen Street by those attending the main service of the week
quite a sight in a busy town. At other times visitors are welcome to
take part in a guided tour of the mosque.
If all this sounds like a soft sell, well, a visit to Grey Street is
certainly cheaper than a fare to Bombay!
Chelsea Houses on the Point

The problems involved in the conservation of Edwardian houses on the
Durban Point were the subject of a study carried out by pupils of the
Westville Girls' High School which reached the final round of the Natal
Education Department's annual symposium on the conservation of the
environment and of natural resources, and was placed first in its category.
The unusual choice of a manmade townscape as the theme of a project on
the conservation of the environment was prompted by the fact that 1986 was
Durban's 'Architectural Heritage Year', and the study does full justice to its
topic.
The Point today has the reputation of a rather sordid and derelict area
that is conventionally attached to the older dockland districts in large ports,
and indeed a number of buildings in the area were found to be abandoned
and decaying, but the row of houses upon which the study focused was
found still used for its original residential purpose, and, though sadly
altered, in tolerably good repair:
The Chelsea Houses are early Edwardian, having been built in 1907.
They were built under engineer J. Crofts by the Natal Harbour
Department for its employees. The outstanding feature of these houses
is their hierarchical pattern, a unique architectural concept. Different
types of houses were built for people of differing social status. At the
head of the hierarchy, at No 3 Escombe Terrace, was the Port Captain
in a single storeyed Natal verandah house; next down the line came the
offiters, occupying the five pairs of double storeyed semi-detached
houses further along the road. Last in line socially and in the position
of row houses were the workers. Theirs were terraced houses on
smaller proportions and wIth a smaller floor plan. Very unusual
double-storeyed outbuildings are to be found.
The houses show many features typical of Edwardian architecture.
The verandah was on the decline, and this can be noticed as one moves
down the hierarchy, the Port Captain being favoured. Cast iron
verandah supports, imported from England, can be seen, and the houses
would have been decorated with cast iron trellised work. Only one
house still sports this today. The houses have bay windows ana stained
glass in and around the front doors. Decorative gables can be seen, but
only one house still has the adorning timber on the roof.
The houses are notable examples of their period and are generally in
a sound state. The Row houses have had their upper verandahs infilled
with clapboard, and the original sash windows, typical of the period,
have been replaced.
The study goes beyond a survey of the houses themselves to an appraisal
of the whole area, its place in the history of the port, and its potential for
rehabilitation, which is, for all the general dereliction of the neighbourhood,
highly promising. The students observe that the residential area is separate
from the more disreputable zones, and a small haven of domestic peace with
ready access to the businesses and entertainment facilities of the city. Apart
from their dislike of the reputation of the Point area, the residents who
participated in the survey expressed themselves satisfied with their homes.
The configuration of the wide streets in the area enables the row of
Edwardian houses to be seen to advantage, while they in turn still enjoy
views of the Bluff, the sea, and the harbour entrance. There is, the study
observes, 'a highly unusual interrelationship of natural and man-made
elements' which cvuld easily be destroyed if sensitive consideration is not
given to this remarkable set of buildings in the future development of the
Point area.
Cathcart William Methven (1849-1925)

Mr Angus Rose has supplied the following Note.
We live in an age where specialisation rates higher than versatility, so
perhaps we might profit from the recollection of a man so wide in his
interests, so varied and so talented that he deserves to be remembered and
honoured. That man was Cathcart Methven, and my sincere hope is that this
brief recital of his amazingly productive life will spark off the enthusiasm
and drive of a local scholar sufficiently interested to consider undertaking a
full, up to date biography.
Methven was born in Edinburgh in 1849 - just two years before the
Great Exhibition - trained as a marine engineer and artist and worked,
eventually becoming engineer-in-chief, at Greenock on Clydebank. At the
age of 39 he was appointed to a similar post in Durban, a city which still
bears his stamp in the form of wharves, buildings and the fruits of various
schemes. His knowledge of harbours became widely known throughout

South Africa to the extent that his report to the Cape Government resulted
in huge extensions to Table Bay docks. Methven was also the first to realise
- and state publicly - the enormous potential of Richards Bay as a major
port.
Melanie Hillebrand has written:
Natalians of the 1880s were almost exclusively concerned with
obtaining the bare necessities - i.e. making money and spending it.
The poor concentrated on survival, and the well-to-do on building a
nest-egg that would enable them to retire comfortably to their country
of origin.
Methven appreciated the lack of cultural and social amenities of the time
but, running contrary to type, remained here to do whathe could to provide
what was needed. One of his most significant actions was to found the
Durban Art Gallery, in 1892.
While evidence of his architectural skills is still apparent in Durban, it
may not be commonly recognised that he was a founder member - and
President for many years - of the Natal Institute of Architects. He was also
President of the S.A. Association for the Advancement of Science, and a
member of the planning team which launched what is now the Durban
Technikon.
As an artist, he stands high in Natal's annals, for his water colours and oils
splendidly recapture not only glimpses of Natal's interior and the majesty of
the Drakensberg, but also facets of an era we are only beginning to
appreciate. He founded - and needless to say, presided over for several
years - the Natal Society of Arts.
If further proof of his versatility is required, it surely lies in his
accomplishments as a musician. Methven it was who designed and laid down
the specifications for the organs in the city halls of Durban and
Pietermaritzburg, and gave the first performance ('presided at the keyboard'
is the contemporary idiom) on both. The Pietermaritzburg organ he played
on was, of course, destroyed in the disastrous fire in 1898.
Methven was a fine shot and a keen angler, his interests in the latter sport
prompting him to ensure that several Drakensberg streams were amply
stocked with fingerling trout.
Such versatility and all-round talent, almost unknown in these days
because of its rarity, deserves to be better chronicled and shared. Is anyone
interested enough to honour and further record the life and work of this
astonishing man?
Narrow Gauge Closure

On Saturday 12th July the closure of the narrow gauge railway line between
Ixopo and Donnybrook was marked by the running of a return trip between
those two towns by a 'Last Train', and a commemorative brochure compiled
for the occasion by Mrs Marie-Anne Mingay of Donnybrook provides an
interesting record of both the event and the line itself. The decision to link
Donnybrook on the Natal-Cape line with Kelso on the South Coast line was
taken in the early years of the century, with the voters opting for the narrow
gauge (2 feet or 600 mm) which was advocated by both of the concerned
The 'End of the Line' train on its last journey from Donnybrook to Ixopo.
(Photograph: T.B. Frost)
members of the Legislative Assembly - Joseph Baynes and Robert
Archibald - in preference to a broad gauge line which would have been
much slower in the building. Construction began in July 1906 and the first
train carried the Governor of Natal and other luminaries from Kelso to
Ixopo where Sir Matthew Nathan declared the Stuartstown Railway open on
3rd June 1908.
Mixed passenger and goods trains, one up and one down, ran daily
between Ke\so and Ixopo - then known as Stuartstown - and the service
from there to Donnybrook ran four days a week. Motive power first came
from 4-6-2 side tank engines, nicknamed the Tea Kettle , designed by Mr
Hendrie of the N.G.R., with the first narrow gauge Garretts coming into
service in 1920. The selection of narrow gauge for the line permitted tighter
curves than standard gauge would have done, but even so a track length of
97 miles (152 km) was needed to cover the 55 straight miles (88 km) as the
line dropped some 4 500 feet from Donnybrook to the sea . Speeds were
correspondingly leisurely, the Tea Kettle being capable of a mere 15 miles
per hour (21 kph) at full throttle. This slowness probably saved the lives of
those who now and then fell overboard - on one occasion a conductor
swinging from coach to coach; on another a fireman whose seat, which could
swivel out from the cramped cab, gave way under him, - but it almost
certainly doomed the line to extinction when the more flexible road
transport became reliably swifter than the train .
Changes in land-usage and in the economy also contributed to the
eventual redundancy of the line, with timber taking over much of the
farmland and industries moving away from the smaller rural towns. With
traffic declining, the line became unprofitable, and the last train between
Donnybrook and Ixopo ran eighty years to the month after construction
work had first begun.
By the time this issue of Natalia is published, the 'Banana Express' from
Port Shepstone to Harding will also have ceased to run, and Natal will no
longer be graced by either narrow gauge nor steam railways in regular
operation. The activities of conservationists such as the Railway Society, and
the line proposed at the Midmar resort , will be the last links with the lost
majesty of steam.
A Prisoner of War in Pietermaritzburg

Gregorio Fiasconaro, who came to South Africa as a prisoner of war,
m¥ried a Pietermaritzburg girl, and remained in the country to work in
opera and earn an enviable reputation as both a singer and a producer,
devotes a considerable portion of his autobiography to his experiences in
Natal P.O.W. camps during the Second World War:
My arrival in Durban was one of stunned disbelief and intense interest.
We disembarked and marched along the quay towards the cattle trucks
which were waiting to take us to Clairwood. A most extraordinary
thing happened to us on the short march. Many people sidled up to us
and, glancing furtively round, hurriedly shook hands or patted our
shoulders and congratulated us before melting away. Only much later
did we learn that these were Afrikaners and other South Africans who
had been totally opposed to the Union's entering the war on the side of
the Allies.
After a short but jolting journey we were unloaded at Clairwood on
a site overlooking the race course . . . The camp itself was awful,
consisting of tents and red dust. Next door was a camp of Indonesian
soldiers.
After five weeks at Clairwood, where the regular race meetings provided
some consolation, the Italian prisoners were transferred to Oribi Camp in
Pietermaritzburg. This was a transit camp, and a new one - 'all we found
on our arrival were a few enormous huts, which were later used as dining
halls and offices - there was nothing else whatsoever' - but Fiasconaro
refused to be moved on to the work camps elsewhere in the country, where
the conditions for the prisoners were better but where the work being done
was, for him, a form of collaboration.
The train had stopped a short distance before the station, more or less
in a straight line with Oribi, and we marched the four or five
kilometres to the camp. The column of Italians was long with very few
guards, only one for every two hundred or three hundred P.O.W's.
Deliberately, everyone marched very slowly, and in a very ragged
column, so that anyone straying to one side or another would not be
noticed. Somehow we had all decided that this time we would not be
moving on again for a long time, and immediately our thoughts turned
to our comfort. We all possessed knives of various lengths which we
had made in Egypt - mine was very small but very precious to me
and everyone who could, shot out of the column, hacked off a branch
or two, or even uprooted a small tree, and rejoined his fellows, My
knife was too small so I was one of the few who eventually marched
into the gates of the camp with no timber festooning my person. We
were halted and searched, and all knives and other possible weapons
were confiscated, but the wood was ignored. I was desolate - I had
lost my eating tool and I didn't even have a measly piece of wood to
compensate for my loss. My friends took pity on me, and very soon, I
also had a primitive camp bed like theirs.
After this very thorough search we were marched through the
second gate and into the centre of the cage area, where we were made
to drop our aluminum water bottles on an ever-growing pile. This was
a real deprivation, but not for long. The U.D.F. thought that they
would cart this huge pile away in the morning and, after giving us some
food and supervisi~g the pitching of our tents, they left us to go to bed
- a euphemism for dressing up in every available garment before lying
down on the hard earth. The next morning there was not a water bottle
to be seen; they were deeply buried, and only months later did the
prisoners start to dig them up in order to make things out of them, as a
hobby and for sale.
Many South Africans still possess the paper-knives, cigarette cases and
lighters, bracelets and other jewellery which were made out of these
aluminium bottles. Later, as the industry grew, they used to obtain
wood and bauxite from the U.D.F. guards, which they carved into
beautifully inlaid cigarette boxes and other items. These were then
giyen back to the guards who sold them outside the camp, keeping a
percentage for themselves. We never knew what they earned for
themselves, but one thing we did notice about our guards, from the
moment we laid eyes on them, was that they were far kinder, far more
relaxed and more humane than those we had had in Egypt, and the
first meal in Oribi was sheer heaven. It consisted of real thick soup
which was hot - an unbelievable luxury - and butter, jam and white
bread, which we had ceased to believe existed. We all agreed that we
had come to Paradise.
Fiasconaro spent three years in the Oribi camp, shivering through the
winters and thoroughly disliking the Pietermaritzburg heat in summer. The
camp gradually took on a more permanent character:
In the beginning, most of the time was occupied by the building of
various edifices. The first to be completed was an enormous hut cum
hall, about the size of a small hangar. The walls were rock and the roof
consisted of tarpaulins stretched over wooden beams. In this we ate on
trestle tables. I had the idea of putting these tables together to form a
type of stage, and this we did.
We continued building, this time a smaller hut of the same materials,
which we used for rehearsals as the large one was in constant use
during the day, either for meals or recreation.
We also built a post office, an infirmary, a little hospital and later a
church. The U.D.F. built us separate bucket latrines, which gave us
blessed privacy and dignity after our experiences in Egypt.
As Director of Entertainment, Fiasconaro produced plays and organised
concerts, at first in the camp itself but later for t,he benefit of the public in
both Pietermaritzburg and Durban. The Red Cross and the South African
Italian community (the Italians in Durban being particularly helpful)
provided the scripts and scores as well as material for the costumes.
As there were only men, the ladies' parts were taken by some of the
less beefy men and again, through the Red Cross, we received lengths
of cheap cotton and other materials, which we made into dresses for
the 'ladies'. Unbeknown to the U.D.F. we cut up blankets to make
men's suits. We were fortunate because we had in our midst craftsmen
of all kinds - tailors, carpenters, painters, builders, chefs, engravers
- every possible skill. The sets were made of sugar sacks sewn
together and painted with paints and dyes which we made ourselves
out of ground brick, iris flowers, etc.
Later, when the camp became more organised, P.O.W's worked at

various jobs and got paid between one shilling and five shillings per
day. Those who were cooks, waiters or cleaners in the U.D.F. officers'
and N.C.O.s' messes earned the most. I decided that there would be a
'voluntary' entrance fee charged for attending our shows, and levied
this on a percentage basis. The guys who earned five shillings paid
more than those who earned one shilling, but everyone paid, and out
of this we were able to buy water colour paints and some fancy
materials, which was a vast improvement on our early, primitive
beginnings.
For lighting we put ordinary bulbs into large tins, similar to the very
big canned tomato tins, which helped to concentrate the light and
achieve some reflection.
I directed the designs of the sets and costumes, and of course, the
actors. We did about one different play each month, and every two
months a kind of variety show, which included all the usual things like
comic sketches and musical items. There were quite a number of
musicians in the camp who had their instruments and so we formed a
band of about thirty-eight people.
The nucleus was a regimental band which had been taken prisoner,
en bloc, in Eritrea, plus a few other musicians who had been playing in
small orchestras in places like Asmara. The band had all its own
instruments and the others were supplied by members of the Italian
community in Natal, and also through the Red Cross. This camp band
made a very presentable sound and was later to give several concerts in
Pietermaritzburg itself, in aid of Red Cross funds. As we had no music
the conductor transcribed everything himself and they rehearsed for a
month for every concert. Items like a Rossini overture, or Poet and
Peasant by Suppe, or a pot-pourri of operatic numbers, were the staple
fare and proved very popular. As soloists, either I or Economo, or both,
sang, and Martucci played the violin. In the camp everything was fully
scored, but for the outside concerts we interspersed items accompanied
by piano, 'my' accompanist always being a Mr Badenhorst, whom I
think is now organist in the big church in Bethlehem, Orange Free
State. He also played for Martucci and was a wonderful chap, not only
because he was a very good accompanist, but because he always gave
us tea and something to eat when we rehearsed or performed together.
Later he and I did some recitals in the City Hall and once or twice in
the camp, although most of the prisoners preferred something more
noisy.
When his talent as a soloist was recognised by the military authorities
(who, by his account, maintained a reasonably tolerant and humane regime
in the camp, despite the poor facilities and even worse food), Fiasconaro
was introduced to Edward Dunn, then conductor of the Durban Orchestra:
'a pukka English gentleman and a wonderful person who, although by no
means the world's greatest conductor, did an enormous amount to foster the
growth of young talent in Nata!'. This meeting led to the first of many
recitals.
Colonel Louw had invited him up to hear me sing, and I was horror
struck because I was fearfully out of practice and very weak from years
of POW food. I sang an aria and Dunn said he wanted me to sing with
his orchestra in the City Hall in Durban. Naturally I was overjoyed,
but told him that it was one thing to sing one aria in a small room with
only piano accompaniment, and quite another to sing three or four
arias in a large hall with an orchestra. I simply did not have the
strength. Colonel Louw immediately decided that I was to be allowed a
glass of milk and an extra slice of bread every day and a little more
meat than was usual. Dunn told me to start practising and in a month's
time he would return to Pietermaritzburg to listen to me and to see
how I felt.
All went well and so, after five and a half years of not singing, I gave
my first unpaid professional concert in South Africa.
It took place in the middle of a very hot summer and I did not possess
a dinner jacket!! Nothing daunted Colonel Louw, who had set his
heart on my singing. He asked his friend, Captain Van Zyl, nephew of
the Governor-General and later his aide-de-camp, to lend me his.
Captain Van Zyl, who was a very nice chap, agreed immediately, but
unfortunately, he was taller and much broader than I was. The trousers
were useless so I borrowed someone else's, but the jacket had to be
made to fit. All we could think of was for me to wear two pullovers
underneath the shirt, and this I did. I nearly died. Not only does one
generate a lot of heat while singing but, add to this my weakness,
which made me perspire more, and the Durban City Hall on a January
Sunday night, and it will be evident what torture I went through. By
the grace of God I sang well and the evening was a success.
In return for his contributions as a soloist (the money raised by his recitals
was often passed to the Red Cross), Fiasconaro received certain privileges,
including excursions to films, plays and concerts in the town:
Then they told me they were taking me to see Rigoletto. I was almost
beside myself with delight. Either Captain Shearing or Sergeant
Rogers took me, I cannot remember which, and we sat in the best
seats in the house.
Filled with anticipation I looked down and saw the orchestra. I
couldn't believe my eyes. It consisted of three violins, one cello, one
bass and a few wind instruments. Silently I said, 'Oh my God!' When
the curtain went up I was even more appalled. Apart from the Duke,
there were five people on stage, instead of the usual eighty to a
hundred. Both the tenor and the baritone sounded terribly 'English' to
my ears. The conductor was John Connell and the singers Lloyd
Strauss-Smith, Redvers Llewellyn and Rose Alper. I was dreadfully
disappointed, but naturally, could not be rude when everyone had
gone to so much trouble on my behalf, so to all enquiries, including
that of Colonel Louw the next morning, I was warm in my praise and
thanks. Luckily no more operas were performed, because I very much
doubt if I could have sat through another one.
It was on one of these excursions that he first met his future wife, Mabel
Brabant, and, with the helpful connivance of his guard, began the difficult
business of wooing someone with whom he shared no common language,
from the confines of a prisoner-of-war camp. His amatory escapades make
entertaining reading, but there was another labour of love on which he and
his fellow prisoners embarked:
As time passed and we realised that the war would eventually come to
an end - although on one's darker days peace seemed an unattainable
dream - our Italian camp commandant, an elderly naval officer,
decided that we should leave some beautiful, permanent record of our
many years in Pietermaritzburg. We had endless discussions and
arguments but consensus was finally reached when we decided to build
a church. We were determined to make it as beautiful as we possibly
could so that people passing that way in decades to come would know
that Italians had been there and had built there. It was further decided
that it should be of stone and that no cement whatsoever should be
used. Every stone block would be hewn to fit its surrounding fellows
exactly, in the way the Etruscans, Romans and Italians had built for
centuries.
The U.D.F. commander arranged for us to go to a quarry outside
Pietermaritzburg in army lorries to choose and load the properly cut
stones and, on our return to camp, to unload them and carry them to
A really lovely piece of architecture complete in every detail, even to a campanile with
a bell.
This photograph of the Italian P.O.W. church was taken in the late 1950s when it
stood in a state of some dereliction beside the Durban road. It has since been
restored and is today surrounded by houses.
(Photograph: T.B. Frost)
the chosen site in the camp. Among us we had several true master
builders who had no need of architects or quantity surveyors, and the
project got under way.
It was a long, laborious labour of love, but everyone helped and put
their particular skill to use to make it a fitting memorial. It took over a
year to complete and stands there still in all its elegant simplicity. It is
a beautiful design, a really lovely piece of architecture complete in
every detail, even to a campanile with a bell. On the inside, the walls
were plastered, and one of our number painted an excellent copy of a
Raphael Madonna above the altar. There were no pews; we stood and
knelt during services, but there was a little harmonium which was my
special baby. Every Sunday I used to sing and play the Mass, usually
Gregorian chant. When the church was finished the U.D.F. arranged a
very special inauguration ceremony which included an invitation to the
Apostolic Delegate in South Africa, to celebrate the first Mass.
Soon after leaving Pietermaritzburg on the national road to Durban,
our little church can be seen still standing serenely as we left it so many
years ago.
Dr Fiasconaro's autobiography, I'd do it again, is published by Books of
Africa (Pty) Ltd of Cape Town.
The Natal College of Education

Colonial Natal did not embark on the training of its own teachers until 1874,
when a four-year 'pupil-teacher' system - essentially one of apprenticeship
supplemented by instruction in teaching methods - was introduced. In 1906
a Pupil Teacher's Entrance Examination was instituted, with successful
candidates posted to the Model Schools in Durban or Pietermaritzburg for a
two-year training programme, but three years later the Government
Training College was established in the capital to offer full time pre-service
training to prospective teachers. The first classes were conducted in the old
Y.M.C.A. building in Longmarket Street, and the College was moved to the
Legislative Council buildings before it came, two years after the formation
of the Union in 1910, to its present campus on the premises vacated by the
colonial governor. The sense of being custodians of Government House and
of Natal's colonial heritage became indeed a significant element in the ethos
of the college, now known as the Natal Training College. N.T.C. continued
as the only teacher training institution in Natal, serving both language
groups, until 1956 when a branch of the college was opened in Durban
which, in time, bore as fruits the Durban Teachers' Training College (now
the Afrikaans-medium Durbanse Onderwyserskollege) and the Edgewood
College of Education.
In time the pre-service education of professional teachers became more
sophisticated and elaborate, and when (in the late 1970s) the South African
Teachers' Council for Whites demanded a three year diploma as a basic
requirement for registration, a number of serving teachers found themselves
under-qualified. In 1977, therefore, the Natal Education Department
established the College of Education for Further Training to offer
correspondence courses to enable these people, and, later, teachers of the
so-called Coloured group, to up-grade their qualifications. The college was

housed in the buildings of the old Harward School in Pietermaritzburg, but
in 1986 the Education Department took the considered decision to move it
onto the N.T.e. campus and to amalgamate the two institutions. The
combination of pre-service residential courses and in-service correspondence
courses in the curriculum of a single bilingual institution was a novel
development in teacher education in Natal, and the opportunity was taken
to eliminate the archaic term 'training' from the name of the older college
and to give what was in effect a new institution the title 'Natal College of
Education' .
A Lost Post
On the corner of Musgrave Road and Grants Grove in Durban there stands
an old, unpainted cast-iron pole, solitary amongst its contemporary
companions and carrying neither streetiamp nor wires. It is marked with its
maker's name
HAM BAKER & CO. LIMITED
ENGINEERS
WESTMINSTER
but bears no date of manufacture.

Is this perhaps a relic of Durban's tramway system, forlorn in its
redundancy but happily overlooked by the pole-fellers of progress?
National Monuments in Natal

The following sites and buildings have been proclaimed national monuments
during the past year:
1. The so-called G.A. Riches Printer Building at 423 Smith Street, Durban:
This building, which is an excellent example of the Classical Revivalist
style at the turn of the century, forms an integral part of the
architecture of Smith Street, one of the most historic streets in Durban.
2. The property with the Victorian double-storeyed house thereon, at
73 Musgrave Road, Berea, Durban:
This double-storeyed house, which was designed by the architect
P. Piekes and erected in 1904-1905, is an excellent example of a Natal
verandah house erected at the beginning of the century. The fine
detailing to the timber verandahs is also noteworthy.
3. The Narainsamy Temple, in the Newlands Township, near Durban:
The Narainsamy Temple was founded by one Narainsamy in 1895. It is
controlled by a family trust created by him. The designer and builder
of the temple was Kristappa Reddy, whose main contribution to
temple architecture was this temple with its finely decorated spire and
prominent pyramid-shaped dome, which was built from 1906 to 1908.
The chief deities of the temple are Vishnu, Siva, Ganesh,
Soobramaniar and the Nauw Graha.
4. The property with the Victorian double-storeyed house thereon, at 151

Pietermaritz Street, Pietermaritzburg:
This late-nineteenth century house with its elaborate cast-iron
verandahs forms an integral part of the architectural character of
Pietermaritz Street, which has remained predominantly Victorian.
5. The Main Building (1925), the so-called North Floor Building (1927),
the Gymnasium (1934), the Norma Burns Hall (1960) and the fountain
at the entrance, all forming part of the Girls' High School in Alexandra
Road, Pietermaritzburg:
This group of buildings, erected in the neo-classical style, forms the
nucleus of the Girls' High School that was opened on this site in the
old house, Morningside on 4 August 1920. This latter building,
although altered, still forms part of the complex. (The fountain was
demolished in 1985 as it was considered beyond repair. Ed.)
6. The Old Commandant's House and the Old Doctors' Quarters at the
Weston Agricultural College, near Mooi River:
These two wood-and-iron houses, which were erected in 1900, are
relics of the British Military Remount Depot that was established at
Weston near Mooi River shortly before the outbreak of the Anglo
Boer War (1899-1902).
7. The Lutheran Church Building with 20 metres of surrounding land, at
New Hanover:
This cruciform church was erected in 1867 by German settlers who
moved to New Hanover from Bergtheil's settlement at New Germany.
The tall steeple was added in 1885.
8. The Upper Umgeni Presbyterian Church (St John's), at Nottingham
Road:
This wood-and-iron church, which was erected in 1884-1885 on land
donated by the Byrne Settler John King, was the first church to be
built in the Upper Umgeni area.
9. The Property with the Library Building (also known as the Kruger
Church) thereon, at 27 Smit Street, Paulpietersburg:
This church building, the corner-stone of which was laid on 20 May
1899 by Ds. P.S. Snyman and which was used as a store-house by
British soldiers during the Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902), was only
taken into use on 20 May 1904. According to tradition President Paul
Kruger donated ten gold pounds towards the building fund. Owing to
the lack of membership the church was disbanded in 1951 and was later
used by the Evangelisch-Lutherische Gemeinde Paulpietersburg, which
sold it to the Municipality in 1969. The building has since been restored
and converted into a library.
10. The Kambula Battlefield site on the farm Kambula 381, Vryheid district:
During the Battle of Kambula a British force of approximately 2 000
men under the command of Colonel Evelyn Wood (later Field Marshal
Sir Evelyn Wood, V.C., C.B.) successfully defended themselves
against a Zulu impi of 20 000 men under Mnyamana Buthelezi.
Approximately 2 000 Zulus perished here.
Compiled by MORAY COMRIE
103
Book Reviews and Notices
THE AMBIGUITIES OF DEPENDENCE IN SOUTH AFRICA:

Class, Nationalism, and the State in Twentieth Century Natal
by SHULA MARKS
Johannesburg, Ravan Press, 1985. 171 pp. RlO,85
Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi, Solomon the great-grandson of King Dingane,
John Dube first president of the African National Congress, and early trade
unionist George Champion: what do they have in common? Each, a Natal
leader, trod a precarious tightrope between subservience and resistance,
says historian Shula Marks. This ambiguous situation arose from the mask of
deference donned because of political and economic dependence. In
'ambiguity of dependence' Marks has coined a phrase which aptly sums up
the relationship of the state to the leaders she discusses, and in turn, the
leaders' relationship to the state, nationalism, class and class consciousness.
Marks, one of South Africa's leading historians and head of the Institute
of Commonwealth Studies at the University of London, has published
several works on Natal. In this book, much of which she researched in the
Natal Archives, she again turns to this province. The themes and subjects
she chooses, however, speak vividly not only about their period but about
contemporary South Africa.
Marks' technique is simple but effective. She examines in turn three
ostensibly very different, carefully chosen, early twentieth century figures.
She highlights a key episode in each life, then subtly but brilliantly discusses
the episode as symptomatic of the ambiguity of each figure's position, an
ambiguity which plagues black leaders still.
On July 24, 1930, the Earl of Athlone, Governor-General of South
Africa, visited Eshowe, and all chiefs and their headmen were ordered to
attend his address. Solomon ka Dinuzulu, son of Zulu king Dinuzulu, arrived
late. Throughout the address he· turned around and conversed with his
chiefs; he remarked loudly to a local official: 'What do you mean by turning
the king of this country into a dog?' He then left the meeting before the
Governor-General. After this display of 'insolence' Solomon changed his
tone, writing to the resident magistrate at Nongoma that he 'was drunk' at
the time, and 'for my part I do not remember any offence'. The government
withheld half Solomon's annual stipend of 500 pounds to show, in the Chief
Native Commissioner's words, that it (the government) 'is not angry but
grieved.'
The Eshowe incident and its aftermath pertinently illustrates Marks'
thesis. Solomon, son of a king but forced to don the mask of deference to
remain on the South African government's payroll, was in an ambiguous
104 Book Reviews and Notices
position. The government on the other hand, seemed prepared to tolerate

offences from Solomon for which any other official, black or white, would
have been dismissed. But, says Marks, the ambiguity did not start nor end
with Solomon.
In Natal 'the contrasts between (white) theory and practice . . . were
particularly marked' and 'patterns of African responses have matched these
ambiguities to the present day'.
Starting in the 19th century, colonial authorities followed the policy of
indirect rule, and thereby propped up the powers of the chiefs (which were
slipping as young men left the homesteads to become migrant labourers), by
using them as labour recruiters, tax-collectors and administrators of
customary law.
The Zulu king posed a more difficult problem, for he provided an
alternative focus of power. On the other hand, his co-operation was useful
to 'manufacture consent' for government 'native policy'. The Zulu king was
also a counter to the forces of 'bolshevism' stirring with increasing black
urbanization, whites such as the veteran MP for Zululand George Heaton
Nicholls felt.
The dependence was mutual. Solomon's financial affairs were usually
chaotic. Inkatha ka Zulu was formed in the early 1920s as 'an attempt to
collect funds for the Zulu royal family under the guise of a general fund',
but at least once, Solomon's debts were paid by the South African
government who then imposed an additional levy on his people.
The government's backing perhaps. even helped Solomon retain his
position. One of his elders warned in 1930: 'The king (is) subject to the will
of the people . . . In ancient times an unworthy king lost his throne at
times'.
The relationship between king and state, then as now, was uneasy,
dependent and ambiguous, and even when the Zulu monarchy was finally
recognised by the state in the 1950s, these ambiguities were not resolved.
John Dube, who has often been compared to Booker T. Washington the
legendary American campaigner for negro rights, is Marks' next subject. An
early middle-class black nationalist, he, like the king, was in an ambiguous
position. The Ihlambo ceremony (the cleansing ceremony which followed
the year of mourning declared on Solomon's death in 1933) is the key
episode which highlights this ambiguity.
Dube was the son of a parson, educated both in South Africa and
America. He founded the newspaper Ilanga, and was founding president of
the South African Native Congress (later to become the African National
Congress). Yet Dube was a chief speaker advocating the recognition of the
monarchy at the Ihlambo ceremony where 8 000 Zulu warriors dipped their
spears in 'white medicine'!
As in her discussion of Solomon, Marks explains this paradoxical
individual action by looking at its wider setting. Dube was a kholwa, one of
the new generation of middle-class Christian blacks. Most kholwas despised
their tribal background and aspired to the status of white settlers. They
espoused the mid-Victorian code-words, 'progress' and 'improvement', the
importance of individual rights and individual land tenure.
Yet as the middle-class black community grew, the Victorian belief in
'civilization' waned. In the late 19th century monopoly capital demanded
Book Reviews and Notices 105
cheap labour, not a competitive black middle-class. The result, comments

Marks, was that 'the contrast between the mid-Victorian vision of progress
and improvement on the one hand and subordination on the other, led to
profound tensions and ambiguities'.
Dube helped establish the middle-class black nationalist South African
Native Congress. But as the Congress became more radicalised and whites
remained unreceptive to black middle-class aspirations, Dube and his
conservative Natal faction turned inceasingly to Zulu nationalism for
support. Dube envisaged the Royal family as a unifying constitutional
monarchy and a barrier against radical change, the pinnacle of an ethnic
nationalism which included all classes.
It was because of the ambiguous attitude of white South Africans to the
black middle-class, Marks concludes, that men like John Dube walked a
tightrope between, on the one hand, their frustrated need to espouse white
Christian liberal norms and their middle-class fear of the black masses, and
on the other hand, their need to call on these very masses for support in the
fight against white discrimination.
Trade unionist George Champion was affected by similar problems to
Dube. Also the son of a kholwa, Champion owned a small sugar plantation
and tailoring business and was educated at what was later known as Adams
College. Yet middle-class Champion was leader of the Industrial and
Commercial Workers' Union in Natal. In Champion, Marks has found an
appropriate subject for her discussion of the ambiguities of class and class
consciousness.
The ICU, formed in 1919, was the first union which aimed to be all
inclusive. By 1927 it claimed 50000 members in the province. Throughout
the 1920s the ICU caused a flutter in the white establishment, particularly in
Durban. Champion's achievements in Natal were considerable: the abolition
of the nightly curfew for blacks, the removal of the pass system, the
abolition of 'bodily dipping of natives' (an anti-typhus measure) are
examples.
In 1929 Champion instigated a beer boycott. Beer in Natal was an
inflammable issue. The Durban Corporation had pioneered the municipal
monopoly of the manufacture and distribution of African beer (utshwala),
and in terms of the 1928 Liquor Act possession and brewing of this beer in
the reserves also become illegal. This robbed many an impoverished family
of their livelihood, and also caused migrants to spend much of their meagre
wages on beer.
In beer, Champion had struck an issue which roused both workers and
rural blacks. In June 1929 boycotting dockworkers clashed with police.
Durban whites then surrounded the ICU headquarters and seven people
were killed. The unrest also spread to the mainly female-populated country
side.
The pass system and the nightly curfew which Champion had fought were
issues which humiliated all blacks. But once workers began to express their
own class interests, Champion changed tactics. In 1930, the Durban City
Council established a Native Administration Commission advised by a
Native Advisory Board to improve 'native affairs'. Champion became a
member of the Board.
Champion also cast around for allies in the black ruling classes, and in
August 1926 met with Solomon. He wrote in 1930 that he was paying
'certain attention to organising the Native Chiefs in Natal and Zululand'.
Paradoxically, it was Champion's 'search for respectability and a more
conservative constituency that seemed to carry the most revolutionary
potential for the state'. In August 1930, ignoring the 'appalled' protestations
of Durban's mayor, the government banned Champion from Natal.
The answer to the riddle of why the state waited until 1930 to ban
Champion lies in his relationship with the Zulu royal family, says Marks. It
was this meeting of trade unionists and traditionalists which the state found
most threatening. 'The thought that Champion himself might use the same
network (the Zulu royal family which the state used in controlling the black
popUlation) and perhaps radicalise it, was clearly disconcerting', Marks
observes.
Today, the Zulu royal family exerts an influence which is not paralleled by
any traditional black leader in South Africa.
Chief Buthelezi, cousin of King Goodwill Zwelithini and present chief
miriist~r of KwaZulu, is, like Solomon, both a potential threat to the South
African state and indispensable to it. Particularly in the present unrest,
Buthelezi is an important enforcer of law, and is increasingly seen as a
buttress against radicalism.
Like Dube, Buthelezi tries to court both national black support (through
his refusal to accept independence for KwaZulu), and his own Zulu
constituency (through Inkatha). Like Dube, he is both a Christian and an
ethnic nationalist. Buthelezi can also be compared to Champion. The recent
launching of the Inkatha-backed trade union UWUSA by predominantly
middle-class leaders, shows the continuing complexities of class and class
consciousness in the province. As Champion tried to gain support for black
nationalism from the workers in the 1920s, so Buthelezi is making a similar
attempt today.
Marks' awareness of the relevance of her subjects to present-day Natal is
inherent throughout her chapters on the ambiguities of state, nationalism
and class. In her final chapter, she makes this relevance explicit: Buthelezi,
she says, 'embodies in his contradictory position all the ambiguities of a
Solomon, a Dube, a Champion'.
Buthelezi walks a tightrope but, Marks concludes, times have changed
since Solomon, Dube and Champion balanced upon their tightropes. Today
'it would be unwise to underrate the force' of Buthelezi's revived ethnic
nationalism, she warns, 'or his capacity to manipulate the elements of
ambiguity in the current and coming struggles'.
Marks says in her introduction that she hopes, through her discussion of
specific individuals, to make 'twentieth century South Africa . . . better
understood'. Her pertinent and thoroughly readable book can only aid such
an understanding.
For the historian, Marks' 125 page offering is one of the most valuable if
not the most valuable contribution to the still exploratory sphere of Natal's
post-union history.
Her work is also one of the best examples of the blending of the liberal
and radical historiographical traditions, with their respective concentration
on the individual and on groups and structures. Marks herself expresses 'a
Book R8views and Notices 107
certain dissatisfaction' with the fact that much of the present literature on
South Africa falls into one or other camp, and she consciously tries to rectify
this by presenting a 'total' picture. With her concept of 'ambiguity' she
indeed succeeds in showing the complexities of the situation.
But one need not be a historian to appreciate Marks' subtle but masterly
grasp of the intricacies of our province of the past and of today.
CLAIRE FROST
ENTERPRISE AND EXPLOITATION IN A VICTORIAN COLONY

edited by BILL GUEST and JOHN SELLERS
Pietermaritzburg, University of Natal Press, 1985. 362 pp. illus. R25,50.
The Editors of this volume of essays have spread a rich harvest before us.
Their aim seems to have been to bring to the general reader the fruits of
some of the latest research into the economic and social history of pre
Union NataL The essays cover a wide field - from harbours to railways to
coal; from game to sheep to sugar; from Indians to Zulus. Given the title of
the collection, it may not be too churlish to suggest that the field could have
been even wider.
'Enterprise' has been comprehensively dealt with. The role of all
population groups has been set out in balanced detaiL The white engineers
and mining experts and sugar pioneers (and barons) are all here. So are the
Indian labourers and market gardeners and 'Arab' traders. So, too, the Zulu
peasants and 'Kholwa' and labourers. The 'Coloured' contribution to Natal
development is absent, because, as the Editors justly point out, no serious
research has yet been done on this small but important group. The white
farmers are also given the benefit of two articles.
What, however, about the 'Exploitation' part of the title? In regard to the
exploitation of the material resources of the colony, again these essays cover
a wide field, and do so fairly and fully. It is in the exploitation of fellow
creatures that there is something of a lacuna. A common thread through
most of these essays points to the white settler as not only the Deus-ex
Machina but also its Diabolus. He was the exploiter, not only of natural
resources (including game), but also of people, mainly of other races and
groups. Yet in these essays he is invariably back-stage. We see him 'through
a glass, darkly' - if at all. The reader needs to know much more about him.
There is surely by now quite enough evidence, beginning with Hattersley's
pioneering work, for an article on the white settler, comparable with those
of Bhana and Brain on the Indian?
As contributor after contributor points out, the white settler was
immensely important, because of the political clout he wielded, first
indirectly, and then, from 1893, directly. For anyone who wants to know
and teach about Natal politics in pre-Union days (indeed why white
Natalians embraced Union) this book is indispensable reading. Natal's
politics sprang primarily from attempts to make its white community
consistently prosperous and safe. This book explains why - and why pre
Union attempts were not always successful.
This book also highlights the remarkable development in Economic
History studies in recent years, and tribute is due to those who pioneered
the discipline here in Natal. J.W. HORTON
TREES AND SHRUBS OF THE NATAL DRAKENSBERG

by O.M. HILLIARD. Illustrated by L.S. DAVIS.
Ukhahlamba Series No. 1. Pietermaritzburg, University of Natal Press, 1985.
40 pp. illus. R4,70.
Visitors to the Natal Drakensberg are always fascinated by the magnificent

forests that clothe the deep valleys of the Little BeFg. They would like to
know more about them, especially the names of the trees, but people who
might be able to help are few and far between - Government Foresters and
Natal Parks Board officials. The problem is easily solved if only you have
with you this very fine little booklet, Trees and Shrubs of the Natal
Drakensberg, by Dr O.M. Hilliard of the Department of Botany, University
of Natal, Pietermaritzburg.
It is a slim little publication, fitting easily into a large pocket, only 40
pages in length, but it is full of good things. It is aimed at the visitor to the
Drakensberg who would like to know more about its magnificent trees, but
has little, if any, botanical training. Its aim is to make it easy for the casual
visitor to find out the names of the various shrubs and trees he encounters in
his wanderings, and it succeeds admirably in this purpose.
The trees and shrubs are first of all divided into eight main groups,
depending on their foliation. Their i~entification is easily achieved: there are
pairs or trios of contrasting statements, together with diagrams to show
exactly what is meant. The use of botanical terms is kept to a minimum, and
the few that have to be used are clearly defined in a one-page Glossary.
Your choice between these contrasting statements will lead you easily to one
of the eight groups.
Having chosen your group, you then proceed to the main Key, again a
series of contrasting statements which gradually narrow the field until you
arrive at the name of the genus.
Each genus is clearly, but briefly, described, and again is accompanied by
a line drawing of the leaf structure to simplify and clarify identification.
Each drawing is provided with a single scale line representing 10 mm,
making estimation of the size of the leaf an easy matter.
No attempt is made to go still further and give a Key to the species. This
would serve little purpose and tend to complexity in a book whose main
object is to make things as easy as possible. In any case the great majority of
Drakensberg trees have only one species (which of course is given) and in
the few cases where there are two or three species these are described and
illustrated, again making identification easy.
The descriptions of the various genera are clear and concise, any
particularly helpful identifying feature being emphasised. E.g. for Philippia
evanssi: 'The twigs feel sticky when grasped'.
Wherever applicable, common names are given, but not (I think
unfortunately) the Zulu name, except in one case, Leucosidea sericea (Zulu
Mchichi). Most people are interested in the Zulu names of plants and trees,
and any specific uses they have in Zulu customs or medicine.
The general habitat of each tree or shrub is given, but I would have liked
to see a reference to the average altitude at which the specific tree or shrub
grows. Summit vegetation (3 000 m) differs markedly from that of the Little
Berg (1 500 to 2 000 m) and a reference to altitude would have been an aid
to identification.
This booklet has been sponsored by the Ukhahlamba Field Centre at

Cathedral Peak, and is the first of a series designed to increase public
awareness of the natural resources of the Drakensberg, and their
management, in a word to stimulate greater appreciation of what the
Drakensberg has to offer. It is a first class production, and a 'must' for all
visitors to the Drakensberg, and to all hikers and climbers who would like to
know a little more of the country into which they venture.
R.O. PEARSE
A HISTORY OF THE DISTRICT AND SUPREME COURTS OF NATAL

1846·1910
by PETER SPILLER
Durban, Butterworth, 1986. 155 pp. illus. R30 plus GST.
In the footsteps of the explorers and the traders generally came the settlers
and with their families, their ploughshares and their livestock they brought
the law, canon and common, the one to tend men's souls, the other to order
their quarrelsome affairs.
Natal after 1824 was little different in this respect. A good deal has been
written of the clerics who served their colonial flocks but surprisingly absent
from the public gaze has been an authoritative account of the Colony's early
judicial system and the men who forged their jurisprudence under the heat
of the African sun.
Peter Spill er has provided just such an account in his History of the
District and Supreme Courts of Natal 1846-1910. While he may particularly
have had in mind the need of the legal profession to become acquainted with
its colonial antecedents, his work must surely engage the wider attention of
those others whose general interest tends towards Natal's history.
For reflected by any legal system, whether Roman, Rumanian or Russian,
may be observed the mores of men and their social discipline, the many
aspects of their livelihood, their triumphs and disappointments, the means
by which the general good was advanced or impeded, men's jealousies, their
preferences and prejudices. The Law is, indeed, both the warp and the weft
of any social fabric and its study yields a wider catch than common crime
and the acrimony of civil litigants.
Natal's judicial history from 1846 to 1910 is of particular interest to
historians, lawyers and laymen alike because it represents the confluence of
three very distinct legal philosophies. At the start, Roman Dutch Law was
imported from the Cape Colony to be the common law of Natal; it was
administered by and large thereafter by jurists schooled in the Laws of
England and was imposed summarily, save for the colonial settlers who were
accustomed to the latter, on the majority of the population, itself
traditionally subject to what was and remains called 'native law and custom',
and to whom both the Roman Dutch and English systems of law were
entirely alien and, ~.. ,,~, bewildering.
Dr SpilIer, who is the Senior Lecturer in, and Head of the Department of
Public Law at the University of Natal (Durban), takes his reader through
the turbulent legal waters occasioned by the admixture of these systems in a
society comprising white settler and indigenous black inhabitant. For this,
posterity must be grateful. He has researched his subject in great detail and
with admirable regard to the changing complexities of the law and to the
many facets of its administration in the Colony. He deals objectively with
the capabilities and shortcomings of the Bench and Bar who, nonetheless,
together established a commendable body of law and practice which were to
take their places at the time of Union alongside other South African
jurisdictions which had evolved in the Orange Free State, the Transvaal and
in the Cape.
While not of the genre of Agatha Christie fireside reading, Dr Spiller's
book, written in comfortable style, is, notwithstanding its legal bias,
rewarding. It sheds much light on personalities and events hitherto in
shadow.
MICHAEL DALY
GENEALOGIEE VAN DIE AFRIKANER FAMILIES IN NATAL

by B. CILLIERS
Pietermaritzburg, the Author, 1986. 717 pp. R46,50 including GST, packing
and postage.
This recent publication by Dr Ben Cilliers is a most valuable addition to all
genealogical libraries in Natal, and indeed in South Africa.
It follows the format of the well-known 'Geslags-registers van ou Kaapse
Families' - 'Genealogies of old S.A. Families', by De VillierslPama, which
records the members of various South African families and the relationships
between them, detailing each member of the original family, and the
descendants of that member as far as can be ascertained. This carries the
story into Natal, where this publication continues the record to a later date,
principally by the researching of baptismal and marriage registers, and of
estate death notices of the colony and province.
The registers consulted include the baptismal records of Erasmus Smit and
James Archbell, and the baptismal and marriage registers of Daniel Lindley,
from the early days of Natal, and subsequent registers, including those of
Utrecht and Vryheid (not a part of Natal until 1903). The volume is
extremely useful to genealogical researchers from the point at which De
VillierslPama leaves the story, down to the beginning of this century.
Readers should not miss the additional list of Small Families on Pages 664
to 701, dealing with families with few references in the baptismal and
marriage registers. Many a link with English-speaking South Africans are
provided here - as well, of course, as in the main volume.
There is a detailed index, an essential in such a work.
This is a private publication, and can be purchased from Dr Cilliers at
P.O. Box 10535, Scottsville 3290 (Telephone 0331-64071). It is well worth
the outlay.
C.O. HOLNESS
RECORDS OF NATAL
Volume one. 1823 - August 1828
edited by B.J.T. LEVERTON
Pretoria, Government printer, 1984. xxxiv, 291 pp. maps. (South African
archival records: Important Cape documents, vol. 4) R6,00 plus GST.
This series will include those documents in the Cape Archives relating to
Natal. As is pointed out in the introduction the pre-colonial history of Natal
has been much neglected by researchers and historians alike (the most
recent work being Mackeurtan's The cradle days of Natal, 1497-1845
published in 1948), largely because the documents are in the Cape and not
in Natal.
The series is intended to cover the period 1820 to 1845. However, the first
document in the Cape Archives relating to Natal is dated 1823, hence the
dating of this volume.
Because of the chronological arrangement of the documents, the subject
matter is not easily apparent. In the introduction, therefore, the editor has
provided a brief resume of the main themes of each year.
Obtainable from the Government Printer, Private Bag X85, Pretoria,
0001.
DEAR OLD DURBAN

by YVONNE MILLER and BARBARA STONE
Pietermaritzburg, the Author, 1986. 80 pp. illus. R19.95 plus GST.
With text by Mrs Miller, and well illustrated with examples of Mrs Stone's
collection of historical postcards of Durban, this book provides a vivid
picture of the leisurely life at the port between 1910 and 1933, a period, as
Mrs Miller rightly observes, about which little has so far been written.
TWO FAMILIES OF ILE DE FRANCE:

a story of the Rouillards and de Chazals, Book I
by VIRGINIA TAYLOR
Durban, the Author, 1985. 180 pp. illus., facsims., maps. R36,OO.
Although this work deals mainly with the family's history in Mauritius,
whence the first Roiiillard emigrated from France in 1783, it has relevance in
that a number of Rouillards and related families, such as the Hourquebies,
Couve de Murvilles, Reys and Boulles emigrated to South Africa, and
particularly Natal. Mrs Taylor points out that there are now more French
Mauritians in Natal than on this island itself. There, the 'Grand Blanes', as
they are called, account for less than 10 000 of the total popUlation of about
one million.
Book I, devoted to the ROiiillards, is the first of a projected three-part
work, to be produced in two volumes. Book 11 will deal with the de Chazals,
and Book III with the couple whose marriage united these two families,
John Rouillard and Edmee de Chazal.
Obtainable from Mrs Taylor at 24 Somme Road, Durban.
OX-WAGON TO SPACE TRAVEL

by WALTER A. SPEIRS
Drumfork, Eastwolds, Typescript, 1985. 135 pp. illus.
Here one has the history of the first Speirs family to come to Natal in 1850,
Robert and Agnes, and their children. In addition details are provided of
every descendant to the present day - some bearing well-known Natal
surnames such as McArthur, McKenzie, Mitchell, Warren, Richards,
Stainbank, Hampson, Hill, Shaw, Lund and Phipson.
LOYAL LITTLE NATAL

by GRANT CHRISTISON
Pietermaritzburg, the Author, 1986. 73 pp. illus., maps. R20,00.
Threaded through with the experiences of the Gold family - the brothers
Robert, William and John - this book provides insights into 19th and
early 20th century life in the Highflats, Ixopo and Underberg areas. It is
profusely illustrated with drawings by the author and with photographs.
Obtainable from Mr Christison at 5 Clarendon Croft, 140 Roberts Road,
Pietermaritzburg.
THE NATAL COLENBRANDERS (ADDENDUM TO THE PIGEAUD
PAPERS)
complied by A.B. COLENBRANDER
Typescript, 1986. 66 pp.
This slim volume forms an addition and correction to the chapter of the
Natal Colenbranders in the book published in Holland, My grandparents,
Colenbrander - Sybouts and their immediate family, by Jacoba Antonia
Pigeaud (born Colenbrander) of which a few photostatted copies of the
English translation exist in South Africa. Mrs Pigeaud's Natal chapter is
based on information she gathered from family members between 1924 and
1930 while teaching in the Transvaal. Mr Colenbrander has compiled this
book in order to update the original and eliminate inaccuracies.
THE BUILDINGS OF PIETERMARITZBURG volume one
edited by BRIAN BASSETT
Pietermaritzburg, Pietermaritzburg City Council, 1986. 1159 p.p. illus" maps.
R25,OO (which includes the price of volume two when published).
This long-awaited catalogue embraces the entire central city area between
the Dorp Spruit and the Umsindusi river. Volume two will cover the
remainder of the magisterial district of Pietermaritzburg, but will be
selective, not all-inclusive as is the present volume, this area being under
less pressure for development.
The production of such a catalogue, in which the structural state of the

city at a certain point in its history is documented, is, according to the
Introduction, 'only the first step in the process of managing the built
environment in such a way that its quality and character are not lost'.
The scene is set with an illustrated introductory chapter by R.F. Haswell,

'From Voortrekker dorp to colonial capital to South African city: the
changing face of Pietermaritzburg'. Thereafter the catalogue is arranged by
street, each street being prefaced by a map showing all the subdivisions. For
each building a photograph is provided, the postal address is given, as are
the survey number of the property, the valuation roll number, a brief
description of the building, and a list of the criteria assigned to it by the
city's Technical committee for Conservation and Development.
Available from: Room 504, Municipal Offices, 333 Church Street.
DRAGON'S WRATH: DRAKENSBERG CLIMBS, ACCIDENTS AND

RESCUES
by R.O. PEARSE and JAMES BYROM
Johannesburg, Macmillan, 1986. 232 pp. illus. R39,95 plus GST.
This interesting and well-illustrated book details, as its sub-title suggests, the
story of some epic climbs in the Natal Drakensberg, accidents, disasters and
rescues, both successful and otherwise. It concludes with a chapter of sage
advice on the safety precautions which should always be taken by those
going into the mountains.
114
Select List of Recent Natal
Publications
ALCOCK, P. Rainwater harvesting in the Vulindlela District, Kwazulu.

Pietermaritzburg, University of Natal, 1985.
ALCOCK, P. A survey of the source, utilization and perception of
domestic water in peri-urban/rural district of KwaZulu. Pietern1aritzburg,
University of Natal, 1985.
BEGG, G. The wetlands of Natal (Part I); an overview of their extent, role,
and present status. Pietermaritzburg, Natal Town and Regional
Planning Commission, 1986. .
BREEN, CM. ed. Water quality management in the Mgeni Catchment.
Proceedings of a Workshop held at the Holiday Inn, Durban on 27
February 1985. Pietermaritzburg, Natal Town and Regional Planning
Commission, 1985.
DOMINY, Graham. The Provincial Council of Natal. Pietermaritzburg,
Natal Provincial Administration, 1985.
FRANK, A.P. Analysis of income and expenditure patterns of multiple
Zulu households in Ngwelezana. KwaDlangezwa, University of
Zululand, 1985.
HAINES, Richard and Buijs, Givan. Editors. The struggle for social and
economic space: urbanization in twentieth century South Africa.
Durban, University of Durban Westville, 1985.
LEA, J.D. Water supply and crop improvement in peri-urban KwaZulu: a
community approach. Pietermaritzburg, University of Natal, 1985.
MAPHALALA, S.J. Aspects of Zulu rural life during the nineteenth
century. KwaDlangezwa, University of Zululand, 1985.
MARIE, Shamim. Divide and profit; Indian workers in Natal. Durban,
Worker Resistance and Culture Publications, 1986.
MASHABA, T.G. The health survey of KwaZulu with emphasis on
Ngwelezana. KwaDlangezwa, University of Zululand, 1985.
NATAL in the Colonial period; a collection of papers on developments in
Natal before Union, presented at a workshop at the University of
Natal October 24-25, 1984. Dept of Historical Studies, University of
Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 1985.
NATALlKWAZULU; the political and social environment of the future.
A seminar for senior decision makers. Durban, University of Natal,
1986.
RANKIN, Sheldon. Illegitimacy: a study of a small sample of young
unmarried mothers in the 'coloured' community of Durban. Durban,
University of Durban-Westville, 1986.
115
Register of Research on Natal

This list has been compiled from individual submissions from subscribers to
Natalia, from information supplied by various Departments in the
Universities of Natal and Durban-Westville, and the Natal Archives. Persons
knowing of currel].t research work that has not been listed are asked to
furnish information for inclusion in the next issue. A slip is provided for this
purpose.
AGOY, B.H.
Norwegian missionary activity in South Africa, 1948-1975
ANDERSON, L.R. .
Vice and social problems in Colonial Natal 1860-1893
ANDREWS, M.D.W.
Economic development of the Elandskop farming area
ARGYLE, Prof. W.J.
Faction-fighting amongst Zulu
Zulu chiefship
The influence of Khoisan language and culture on Zulu
BAILEY, D.
Phoenix
BAILEY, R.
A critical evaluation of proto-Kintu lexical reconstructions
BEALL, J.
Research on women in Natal - Colonial period and 1910-1945
BECKER, S.G.
George Heaton-Nicholls and the formulation of Native Policy 1927-1936
BERRY, C.G.
Some economic aspects of fertilizer usage in maize production in Natal
BJORVIG, A.C.
Durban City Council, 1854-1954
BOELHOUWERS, J.
Geomorphological mapping, with a special emphasis on peri-glacial features and
processes, in the Natal Drakensberg
BOSHOFF, J.L.
Utrecht Museum
BRAIN, Dr P., and Prof. J.
Health and disease in 19th century Natal
BRAMDEOW, S.
A re-examination of the career of Henry Francis Fynn on the Natal Frontier in the early
Colonial period and the founding of the Fynn Community in Natal
BROOKES, D.W.
The development of conceptual thinking in the learning of simple direct current circuits
at the Standard 8 level
BROOKS, S.
A history of the Natal Museum 1851-1912
BROOM, D.N.
Methodology for efficiency optimisation on Ixopo dairy farms
116 Register of Research on Natal
BOMANN, Dr D.
Phosphorite occurrences in Natal
BURTON-CLARKE, 1.
Weenen County
CALBOUTIN, A.E.
The foundation of the Durban Children's Hospital, 1920-1930
CAMP, L.
A survey of changes in the agricultural scenario of the Lufafa Road and Eastwolds
Districts
CANONICI, Prof. N.N.
Contribution of the Catholic Missions to the development of Zulu language studies in Natal
The morphology of Zulu folktales
CHERNIS, R.
The teaching of history in Natal Schools; field studies and historical sources
CHETfY, T.D.
A critical assessment of the structure and functioning of South African Trade Unions with
regard to the principles of organizational democracy and oligarchy
CHETfY, V.R.
Employment of Indians by Durban Corporation
COGHLAN, M.S.
Official histories of Natal towns
COHEN, C.
Durban, 1897-1908
COLVIN, P.M.
Cattle production and marketing in KwaZulu
CROUCH, R.
The sub-division of farming land in the Curry's Post area
CUBBIN, A.E.
Battle of Tugela, 1838
DARROCH, M.A.G.
An economic analysis of lending to Natal sugarcane farmers
DAVEY, A.S.
Tone in Zulu
DAVIES, A.B.C.
Structural violence in Zulu society
DE BEER, M.
The Bench and Bar during the Judge-Presidency of Richard Feetham (1930-1939)
DE HAAS, M.
An anthropological study of the role of beer of different types in contemporary urban and
rural black society
DUBE, S.W.D.
Amakholwa
DU BOIS, D.L.
John Robinson and the Indian question in Natal 1863-1897
DUMINY, Prof. A.H.
Preparation, with Professor W.R. Guest, of New History of Natal for University of Natal
Press
DYER, Mrs C.
The establishment of King Edward Hospital, Durban
EDGECOMBE, Dr D.R. and GUEST, Prof. W.R.

A history of coal mining in Natal 1889 to the present
EDLEY,L
The Great Depression in Natal, 1929-1933
EDWARDS, LL.
A history of African life in Cato Manor Farm and KwaMashu 1946-1972
ELLIS, B.
The impact of white settlers on the natural environment of Natal 1845-1870
Register of Research on Natal 117
ESPREY, C.
The protection of fishing resources on the Natal coast from 1867-1916
EVANS, Stanley
The history of the D'Urban family, with particular reference to Sir Benjamin and Lady
Anna D'Urban and descendants
The Second British Military Occupation of Port Natal 1842
FARDON, J.V.V.
Coloureds in Natal, 1824-1948
FORSYTH, P.
The use of the Zulu past as a factor in political mobilization
FRANCIS, M.
Bureaucracy and public opinion: transport issues in the Pietermaritzburg area
FRANCIS, M.
Coloured people in Pietermaritzburg
GASA, E.D.
J.L. Dube, Ilangalase Natal and Native Administration in Natal, 1903-1910
GASCOIGNE, K.
The establishment of the Durban hospital 1861
GEORGE, A.C.
American Zulu Mission
GIRVIN, S. •
The Judge-Presidency of Sir John Dove Wilson (1910-1930)
GORDON, O r R.E.
Notable women of Natal - past and present
HALE, F.
Missions history
HARRIS, V.S.
Poor whites in northern Natal, 1910-1936
HASWELL, R.F.
The making of historic Natal townscapes
HENDERSON, S.
Dundee
HEYDENDRYCH, D.H.
Transport riding
HLENGWA, M.A.
The structure of the novel in Zulu
HODNE, T.E.
Mission history, 1912-1960
HOLNESS, C.O.
Genealogies of Natal families
HOPKINS, S.J.
Compilation of source book for references to individuals involved in the Zulu War 1879,
9th Kaffir War, and Moroisi-Sekekuni campaigns
HOTCHKISS, S.E.
Shipwrecks off north coast
HOWARTH, A.
The cultivation of coffee and arrowroot in Natal, 1850-1880
HOWARTH, D.
Local politics in the Indian community in Pietermaritzburg
HUGHES, H.
Inanda
HUNTER, Prof. D.R., and others
The geology, structure and geochemistry of the Archaean and early Proterozoic terrain in
Northern Natal and Southeastern Transvaal
IRVINE, D.
The South African Liberal Party
KELLY, J.
Industrialisation in Durban, 1930-1950
KHAN;S.
The nature and causes of marital breakdown amongst a selected group of South African
Moslem Indians and its consequences for family life
KOOPMAN, A.
Zulu names
LABAND, J.P.C.
The response of the Zulu polity to the British invasion of 1879
LAWRENCE, R.
Governing Pietermaritzburg. Business and politics in South Africa
LOUW, C.
Agricultural development in selected areas of KwaZulu
LUPTON, M.R.
A case study to evaluate appropriateness of the TOAM system of mathematics intruction
at the Indumiso College of Education as a suitable vehicle for Zulu students' mathematics
teaching method
LYNAS, M.
Agricultural technology in Natal
LYSTER, D.M.
Development of an agricultural marketing system for KwaZulu
McNAUGHT, C.
Investigation of the understanding Black pupils and teachers have of basic chemical
concepts and the implications these levels of understanding have for teacher education
and curriculum development
MAPHALALA, S.J.
Dinuzulu
MATHOPE, D.
The Usuthu cause 1887-1913 with reference to the part played by Mankulumane
MATTHEE, J.c.
Natal Provincial Council
MAYLAM, Dr P.R.
African urbanisation and politics in twentieth century Durban
MEINTJES, S.
A social history of Edendale 1850-1930
MELVIN, C.
Missionaries
MENDONIDIS, P.
Structural, metamorphic and intrusive history of the Late Proterozoic Natal Mobile Belt
along the South Coast between Glenmore and Southbroom
MERRETT, P.
European hunters in the Zululand-Tsongaland region in the mid-19th century
MICHAU, Dr J.M.Z.
The role of the teacher in relation to the law in the Republic of South Africa
MINGAY, M.A.
Polela
MOORE, A.
An examination into Black Education in the Greater Durban Area between 1930-1953
MURUGAN, T.N.
Palmer family
MZOLO, D.M.
Zulu idiomatic expressions
NAICKER, S.A.
A sociological study of the educational and career routes of a group of Indian secondary
school students in the Durban area
NAIDOO, K.
A comparative study of attitudes of urban Black communities in selected areas of Durban
towards evolutionist strategies for social change in South Africa
Register of Research on Natal 119
NAIR, K.
Social problems associated with the care of the Indian aged in the house environment as
evidenced in municipal Durban
NICHOLLS, B.
The Colenso endeavour: the Natal and British reaction 1887-1897
NUTIALL, T.
Social history of black politics in Durban, 1929-1950
PARLE, J.
The impact of the Depression upon Pietermaritzburg and environs during the 1860s
PATEL, R.M.
The social content of the relationship between the South African Indian private medical
practitioner and his patients
PERUMAL, D.
Gender as a mechanism of social control amongst Black workers in selected textile and
catering industries in the Durban metropolitan area
PIPER, B.H.
An investigation into the management of the supervision of candidates for masters degrees
by dissertation in the University of Natal, Durban
PITTENDRICH, A.
An evaluative analysis of the factors influencing the development of Technikons 1967-1981
and an assessment of their role in educational change at tertiary level in the RSA
POSEL, Dr R.
The history of prostitution in Durban at the turn of the century
PRIDAY, A.J.
The influence of altitude and aspect on primary production in Drakensberg grasslands
PRIDMORE, J.
The diary of Henry Frands Fynn Junior, 1883-1884
RAMCHARAN, S.
The effects of alcohol on family life and community participation of a selected group of
Indian alcoholics
RAYBOULD, J.
Colonial capital to Provincial centre of the Union: Pietermaritzburg 1900-1924
REINERTSEN, E.
The history of the ANC in Natal
RICHARDS, D.
Environmental education: an alternative programme for developing environmental
literacy in 12 year old South African school children
ROBERTSON, B.J.
The effects of labour allocation on household wealth. Some policy implications for
KwaZulu
RULE, S.
Newcastle: a study of migration to and from an industrial growth point
SCHOOMBEE, Prof. G.F. and Mantzaris, Dr E.A.
A descriptive study of the sodal system and processes of the family institution of the
Indian community in the DurbanlPietermaritzburg area
SCHREUDER, Prof. D.M.
Interpretations and representations of the Anglo-Zulu War 1879-1881
SCHUTIE, S.A.
Nasionale Christelike Vroue Vereeniging
SIMOES, N.B.
Agriculture in Natal
SINGH, S.
The effectiveness of the social condition of education in an Indian pre-primary class
SPENCER, S.P.M.
Natal settlers
SPILLER, Dr P.R.
Natal Supreme Court
STACEY, B.R.
Zululand sugar
STEWART, D.A.
The effect of labour availability on agricultural development in KwaZulu
STEWART, W.
Natal and the Republican referendum, 1961
TAINTON, N.M.
The effect of stocking rate on veld conditions in Natal
TAPSON, D.R.
Economic constraints on beef production in KwaZulu
TATHAM, K.
The life and times of WilIiam Campbell
TATHAM, N.B.
Zulu verbal extensions
THURLOW, M.H.J.
A comparative study of some aspects of status and professionalism in the occupation of
teaching, with special reference to the Indian community in the Province of Natal, South
Africa
TORINO, C.
The politics of industrialisation in Pietermaritzburg since 1960
VERBEEK, J.
The Natal Society Library: a content analysis and historical contextual study of the records
VERMEULEN, HJ.
Histories-pedagogiese opgawe aan skole vir liggaamgestremdes met verwysing na Ope lug
skool, Durban
VON BRUNN, Prof. V.
Sedimentary processes associated with the deposition of glaciogenic successions related
to the Permo-Carboniferous Dwyka Formation in northern Natal and KwaZulu
WALLACE, S.D.
The design, implementation and evaluation of two forms of school based curriculum
extension in mathematics
WALLACE-ADAMS, B.
An examination of some aspects of the conceptual development of selected groups of
Zulu children with particular regard for the manifestation of modes of excellence
WARHURST, Prof. P.R.
Natal and the far Interior in the nineteenth century
WELLINGTON, N.
Law, labour, and agricultural production in the Pietermaritzburg region 1845-1875
WILLS, T.M.
The evolution of the South African city: an historical geography of Pietermaritzburg
WITTENBERG, M.
The local state in Pietermaritzburg
WRIGHT, J.B.
Politicallransformations in the Thukela-Mzimkhulu region 1750-1850
ZONDI, E.
An investigation of Zulu synonyms.
Compilation of Zulu oral evidence on the Bambatha Rebellion of 1906
ZUNGU, P.J.
The Nhlangwini dialect with special reference to its relationship to Nguni and including the
lexical influence of other Bantu languages

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THE NATAL SOCIETY OFFICE BEARERS, 1985-1986

President Cr Miss P.A. Reid

Trustees M.J.C. Daly

Treasurers Messrs Dix, Boyes & Co.

Chief Librarian Mrs S.S. Wallis

Secretary P.C.G. McKenzie

Associate Members F.J.H. Martin

City Council Representatives Cr N .M. Fuller

EDITORIAL COMMITTEE OF NATALIA

Editor T.B. Frost

Natalia 16 (1986) Copyright © Natal Society Foundation 2010

seat of the Natal Provincial Council 1910-86

(Photograph: Natal Provincial Library and Museum Service)

SA ISSN 0085 3674

Printed by Kendall & $trachan (Pty) Ltd., Pietermaritzburg

The Early African Press in Natal. . . . . . . . . . . . 6

NATAL SOCIETY LECTURE

'Putting the Playhouse Together Again'

The Indigenous Forests of Colonial Natal and

Dick King: A Modest Hero

The Natal Provincial Council 1910-1986

NOTES AND QUERIES

BOOK REVIEWS AND NOTICES ................. 103

SELECT LIST OF RECENT NATAL PUBLICATIONS. . . . .. 114

REGISTEP OF RESEARCH ON NATAL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

JACQUELINE KALLEY gained her primary degree and professional

ANDRE LABUSCHAGNE holds a Master's degree from the University of

DONAL McCRACKEN, a graduate of the University of Ulster, is Senior

GORDON SMALL studied architecture at the then Natal University

Past issues of Natalia have often focused on particular anniversaries: the

The Early African Press in Natal

Inkanyiso Yase Natal

April 1889 - June 1896

Friday, 4 January, 1895

Friday, 21 June, 1895

must be coaxed or petted like a child, or coerced like a slave. We could

Friday, 16 August 1895

Natal Society Lecture (abridged)

"Putting the Playhouse

The Opera auditorium, The Natal Playhouse

In my own case, proposed theatres for Durban, civic or otherwise, have

at the time, I just couldn't visualise a Tudor Opera House - a revamped

The Playhouse and Prince's Theatre (1934)

quote from a prophetic Memorandum prepared by Councillor Donald Smith

The Alhambra room, The Natal Playhouse

"Putting the Playhouse Together Again" 17

The Indigenous Forests of

Distribution and composition

Map showing the distribution of the Natal forests

Griqualand. The heavy hardwoods, such as ironwood, sneezewood and

Photo. by Aeg. Mueller

Scutia indica Brongn. Lianas in a forest of Natal

yellowwood (P. falc(:ltus) , and Henkel's yellowwood (P. henkelii). These

(Syzygium cordatum); white milkwood (Sideroxylon inerme); white pear

Extent and exploitation

nomadic existence revolving around the cultivation of newly cleared forest

While some farmers indulged in asset-stripping of timber, the clearing of

A new mill at Talavera was driven by a 16-horsepower Ransome and May

Government legislation and forestry policy

themselves into the study of indigenous flora. 33 These included Messrs.

Despite representations to the legislative assembly by George Sutton, who

Modern pit sawing

The establishment of a department of forestry