Monday, April 28, 2014

Isipingo Mounted Rifles 1878-1879

Early Natal Volunteers

This corps, the Isipingo Mounted Rifles, was formed under the command of Captain Dering Stainbank in 1878 primarily for local defence when the various Natal volunteer units departed for service in the Zulu War.

However, after a brief training period the unit was sent to the Zululand border in March 1879 where, together with the Alexandra Mounted Rifles, Durban Mounted Rifles and the Natal Hussars, the Isipingo Mounted Rifles was involved in guard duties. The I.M.R. did not cross the Tugela into Zululand, but half its members volunteered to serve in the composite unit the Natal Volunteer Guides. Captain Stainbank was among those who volunteered and was appointed second in command to Captain Friend Addison in the N.V.G.

At the end of the Zulu War most of the I.M.R. members transferred to the Alexandra Mounted Rifles, and the unit ceased to exist.*

On formation the following men were in the I.M.R.:

Stainbank, Captain D
Quested, Lieut. W.
Bower, Quarter-Master
Murray, Sgt-Major
Rockey, Quarter-Master-Sgt.
Chapman, Sgt.
Birkett, Corporal
Ramsay, Corporal
Haines, Trumpeter
Buckston, Trooper
Clarkson, Trooper
Chapman, Trooper
Cass, Trooper
Daddy, Trooper
Fayers, Trooper Q. R.
Fayers, Trooper W. F.
Gilbert, Trooper
Hillary, Trooper
Hogart, Trooper
Ingle, Trooper
Kenton, Trooper
McDonald, Trooper
Madore, Trooper
Munn, Trooper
Prince, Trooper
Pugh, Trooper
Robinson, Trooper
Royston, Trooper **
Sinart, Trooper
Smith, Trooper W
Platt, Trooper
Platt, Trooper
Stewart, Trooper
Stainbank, Trooper
Steel, Trooper
Westley, Trooper 
Westley, Trooper A.C.
Skinner, Trooper

The uniform of the I.M.R. was blue cloth, with scarlet facings and white metal buttons; a helmet was worn. No badge or motto is recorded. The members were armed with the Swinburn-Henry .450 carbine and the officers carried swords.

*'The Armed Forces of South Africa' by Major G Tylden.

** J.R. (John Robinson) Royston had not yet turned sixteen when he joined the Isipingo Mounted Rifles. He was ordered to confine his services to defence duties on the Zululand border, but he defied authority, crossed the border into Zululand and reported to Captain Addison of the Natal Volunteer Guides, who enrolled Royston as a special scout. In this capacity Royston took part in the battles of Inyezane, Gingindhlovu and the Relief of Eshowe and remained with the Guides until the end of the Anglo-Zulu War.
During the Anglo-Boer War he served as Sgt-Major in the Highflats Squadron of the Border Mounted Rifles. After the Relief of Ladysmith he joined the Volunteer Composite Regiment as Captain and later commanded the West Australian Mounted Infantry operating in the Transvaal and Orange Free State. He was awarded the D.S.O. In 1906 he raised and commanded Royston's Horse and was appointed Honorary Lieutenant-Colonel in the British Army. In 1910 he commanded the 2 000 troops of various units which attended the coronation of King Edward VII, to whom he was presented. The King conferred on him the C.M.G. At the outbreak of World War I he was authorized to recruit a Regiment to be called the Natal Light Horse. In 1915 he was on the Staff of General McKenzie in the German SWA campaign, and later appointed OC 9th Mounted Brigade. Subsequently he commanded Australian 12th Light Horse Regiment and then the 3rd Australian Light Horse Brigade in the Palestine Campaign, 1916-1917. The name Galloping Jack was given to him at the Battle of Romani, when he rode up and down the lines calling: 'No surrender, Men'. In 1935 at the age of 75, Brigadier-General Royston announced his intention to offer his services to the Emperor of Abyssinia to raise a brigade and 'take part in the struggle of this unjust war.'

['Rough But Ready': An Official History of the Natal Mounted Rifles and its Antecedent and Associated Units 1854-1969' by Eric Goetzsche]




Muster Roll of Alexandra Mounted Rifles 1892.
Members of the Isipingo Mounted Rifles transferred to the AMR
when the IMR was disbanded.

Thursday, April 10, 2014

Australians in Natal 1933


Armstrong, George Shearer
Barbour, Theophilus Henry
Bull, Henry Walter
Butler, Richard Henry
Carrick, Alfred Ernest Henry
Duncan, Lyndhurst Marshall
Eaton, John Kyer
Fairbridge, Henry
Fellows-Smith, Herbert
Henderson, George Dunnett
Hewlett, Claude Stephen
Hockaday, Percy Holland
Lovell, Rev. Ormond Esh
Paton, William Thomas
Rosselloty, Gerald Arthur Crampern
Schwarer, Harold J
Shepherd, Capt. P H (Mariner)
Stephens, John Moyle
Terry, George
Welsford, Norman

All were born in Australia.

Source: Natal Who's Who 1933

Sunday, April 6, 2014

Passengers to Natal per Phantom, 13 July 1858

From the Port Captain's original list:

Cabin 
Dr Wright

Steerage 
Mr and Mrs Bartholomew and 3 children 
Mr and Mrs Butterfield and 1 child 
Mr and Mrs Denel and 5 children 
Mr and Mrs Ford and 5 children 
Mr and Mrs Fowle and 1 child 
Mr and Mrs Horsley and 5 children 
Mr and Mrs Hulett 
Mr and Mrs Holliday and 4 children 
Mr and Mrs Jardine and 6 children 
Mr and Mrs Lindsay and 3 children 
Mr and Mrs Mack and 4 children 
Mr and Mrs McCullock and 4 children 
Mr and Mrs Redshaw and 4 children 
Mr and Mrs Tedder and 3 children 
Mr and Mrs Wilshire and 2 children 
Mr and Mrs Wray and 4 children 
Mr and Mrs Wray and 3 children 
Ann Douglas 
Ann Dolphin 
Sarah Ford 
Lucy Ford 
Ellen Ford 
Esther Holliday 
Mary Hulett 
Sarah Hulett 
Harriot (sic) Hulett 
Margaret McDonald 
Richard and Edmond Dolphin 
John Dyer 
John Holliday 
John Horsley 
June McNamara 
M Regan 
William Sweeny 
George Taylor 
William Whitlock 
Alfred Webb 
George Wray 
Mary Wray 
John Caffen/r

Port Office 
July 13 1858 
William Bell 
Port Captain


Note: over 50 children travelled on this voyage.



Friday, April 4, 2014

Passengers per Leontine Mary and the Ceres brings sugar cane tops Natal 1852

The Natal Mercury 30 Dec 1852 
SHIPPING INTELLIGENCE

ARRIVED:
Dec 25 - The Gem, schr, J Glendining from the Cape. J Proudfoot, agent. (General Cargo)

Dec 28 - The Ceres, schr, F Ashton, from Algoa Bay Dec 8, with part cargo from Mauritius. E P Lamport, agent.
Manifest: 45 bgs [bags] sugar, 4 cks [casks] molasses, 10 bgs dates: Evans & Churchill. 300 bgs lime, 5 000 cane tops, 1 bg green ginger: Henderson, Smerdon & Co. 5 000 cane tops: G C Cato. 75 bgs sugar: Breede & Co. 149 bgs sugar: McArthur & Hunter. 45 do. W Lister. 52 do. E Snell. 51 do. H E Knight. 250 bgs & 30 000 cane tops: Feilden & Co. 6 000 cane tops, 1 cs [case] sundries, 1 cs statuary, 4 bgs rice, 213 bgs & 16 casks sugar: W de Terrason.

SAILED
Dec 29 - Leontine Mary, schr, Fuller, to East London and Port Elizabeth. E Snell, agent.
Manifest: 30 tons mealies, 59 bags potatoes and 100 yellow wood planks.
Passengers: Mrs Lofthouse and 2 children, Messrs. Baragwanath, Reed & Miles.

IN PORT 
The Gem, schr, J Glendining J Proudfoot agent.
Ceres, schr, 117, F Ashton. E P Lamport, agent.

VESSELS EXPECTED

Wee Tottie, 150 tons, Robarts, sailed Aug 29th from London
Louisa Maria, 114 tons, Thornton, from London
Roscoe, 200 tons, Ritchie, from London
Margaret Gibson, brge [barge], 163 tons, Robinson, from Liverpool. E P Lamport, agent.
Augustus Schnader, bq [barque], London
Treet (Trent?), bq, 230, A Collett, London
Vibilia, schr 150, W J Robarts, London
Wanderer, 200, Glendining, London via Cape, sailed Oct 2nd.

The Ceres was within 30 miles of the Bluff 12 days ago, but being becalmed, was carried back by the current, and further afterwards by an easterly gale. It will be observed from the manifest that she brings, with other cargo, 46 000 cane tops.

Died
Dec 27th 1852 - Mary Anne, wife of Mr Forsyth.





First public auction of sugar at Durban 23 June 1855;
Robert Acutt auctioneer.
 (Illustrated London News)

Thursday, April 3, 2014

Passenger arrivals and departures at Natal in 1852

The Natal Witness 23 January 1852 reported:

ARRIVED
The Duo, brig, Captain Eneroth, from Cape Town.
Passengers
Messrs.
Cloete
Meurant (45th Regt.)
Marru
Phipson (and 2 children)
Fairbridge
Fenton
Mrs. Searle and four children
Miss Scott
One servant
One soldier (45th Regt.)

INSIDE
Devonian, E. P. Lamport, agent
Iris, J. Millar and Co. Agent

OUTSIDE
Typhena (sic - error for Tryphena)

Natal Witness 20 February 1852

Arrived
Feb. 11 - Elizabeth Jane, from Mauritius, and sailed the 13th inst. for Port Elizabeth and Cape Town
Feb. 15 - Mayflower, Captain Langmair from London

INSIDE
Devonian, E.P. Lamport, agent
Iris, J. Millar and Co. agent
Rosebud, H. Jargal, agent

OUTSIDE
Trent, J. Brown, agent
Mayflower, J. Millar and Co. agents

Natal Witness 15 March 1852

Sailed
Mayflower, J. Millar and Co. agents

Arrived
March 11 - Wanderer, N. Glendining, from Algoa Bay.
Passengers
Mrs. Adendorff (sic) and two children
Mrs. Jones, five children and servant.  J. Proudfoot, agent.

March 15 - Larne, schooner, from London, Mr. F. Simmons, master, for Comoro Islands, put in for water.

March 15 - Gem, J. Glendining, from Table Bay.
Passengers
Mr. A. J. De Kock and family and J. De Kock and family
Rev. Mr. Appleyard and Mrs. Appleyard
Mrs. Snell
Mr. and Mrs. Field and family
Misses Bresler
S. De Kock
Revs. Dunn, Sabor, Logegary, and Allard
Messrs. Bompain, Herbert, Moore, and Long.
J. Proudfoot, agent.

INSIDE
Wanderer, Gem and Larne.

Natal Witness 20 August 1852

Arrived
August 14th - Sir Robert Peel, Royal Mail Steamer, 233 tons, Captain J. Boxer from Table Bay and Algoa Bay 11 August, to this port. Cargo sundries.
Passengers
Mr. and Miss Fairbridge and servant
Mr. Thompson and son
Mr. Symons
Lieut. Inglis, R.E.

Brings a Cape Mail. Crossed the bar on the 16th inst. E. Snell, agent. Reports the Ceres having sailed on the 30th July with the English mail for May and June.

INSIDE
Sir Robert Peel, steamer, J. Boxer, for Algoa Bay and Table Bay To sail on Saturday. E. Snell, Agent.

OUTSIDE
Bydal, (sic, Rydal?) for Mauritius, E. P. Lamport, Agent

VESSELS EXPECTED
From London - Narcissus and Hannah From the Cape - Ceres, Rosebud and City of Rotterdam

NATAL WITNESS OCT 1852

ARRIVED
October 7th - Sir Robert Peel, Royal Mail Steamer, 234 tons, John Boxer, from Table Bay. Cargo - sundries.
Passengers
Captain Smales and family
Messrs:
Kuhr
Brown
Stratton
Amyot
Goodricke
Gain
Buck
and another

STEERAGE:
Mr. Stretch

VESSELS EXPECTED:
From the Cape: Lord Auckland, steamer, Sanspareil and Sarah Bell
From London: President and Wee Tottie

NATAL WITNESS OCT 12

SAILED
Sir Robert Peel, steamer, to Port Elizabeth and the Cape
Passengers for Port Elizabeth (in the Cabin)
Capt. Messum
Mrs Appleyard
Rev. Mr. Appleyard, wife and child

STEERAGE
Messrs.
Stretch
Hirst
Caldwell
Bruton
Hernes, wife and four children
For the Cape (in the Cabin) -
The Lieutenant Governor
Mr Christopher
Mrs. Christopher, child and servant
Messrs
Burge
Taats

STEERAGE
Messrs
Heys
Crowder
Williams
and five shipwrecked seamen

VESSELS EXPECTED
From the Cape - Lord Auckland, steamer, Sanspareil, Sarah Bell and Rosebud
From the Mauritius (sic) - Ceres
From London - President and Wee Tottie


Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Commemorating St Helena Event: 3 April 2014

St Helena Connections?

Attend a commemorative event ...

Where? Woodburn Stadium, Pietermaritzburg.
When? 10h00  3 April 2014

For more information contact:
Lee du Preez 

072 739 3519

.......

THE SENTINEL
Free to download: The Sentinel newspaper published on St Helena every Thursday.

See p14 of 20 March 2014 edition of The Sentinel for more on tracing St Helena forebears and the KZN Natal Friends of St Helena Society Group who recently visited the island.

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Passengers to Natal: 1850s

A reminder of other ships arriving at Natal during the 1850s: the John Line, John Bright and Jane Morice. These vessels were not part of the Byrne emigration scheme.

See passenger lists at







Natal Witness 11 July 1851