Maritime postal history of Port Natal

by Ken A Baker

SA Philatelist - March 1980

THE HISTORIANS inform us that Port Natal became colonised in 1824 by a group of about 60 persons, led by H F Fynn and G F Farewell, the members of this party trading mainly in ivory, skins and gums. But not until 1835 was the settlement named Durban.

Port Natal grew slowly during the years following 1824 and no attempt was made to introduce any basic services; no post office was built or postmaster appointed, the settlers having to depend on passing ships to bring in their mail.

There is some evidence that the small vessels "Juba" and "Antelope" traded in 1834 between Port Natal and Port Elizabeth, and letters would no doubt have been brought in by these ships, but "Juba" was wrecked in December of that year. A small ship, the "Anne", is recorded as bringing in mail for the settlers in October 1826, and a naval vessel, "Helicon", made two or three visits to the community that year, and probably, as was often the practice of H M S vessels, carried the inhabitants' mail. The settlers also built their own little ship the "Tshaka", later renamed "Elizabeth and Susan", and in 1828 she made one or two voyages between Port Natal, Port Elizabeth and Cape Town.

As the settlement grew, more ships visited the port, but only a few have been recorded between 1835 and 1838, namely "Circe" - vanishing with all hands in 1835 - "Dove", "Mary II" and "Comet". Another small vessel can be mentioned that traded for a number of years between Port Natal and Port Elizabeth - the "Conch" - under the command of Captain Bell. Bulpin remarks that he knew Durban Lagoon well, as he often traded there.

By 1830 some form of postal activity must have been organised. Rosenthal mentions that mail from Cape Town by sea to Durban was delivered in Pietermaritzburg by native runners in September and December of that year: by this time overland mail services from Grahamstown were in operation, but believed to be intermittent.

BOERS AND BRITISH

The Voortrekkers established the Republic of Natal at Pietermaritzburg in 1839 and a number of settlers from Durban joined; others left the Colony. A few remained at the Port, which for about a year was occupied by the British. It was evacuated in December 1839, one of the few vessels recorded there during this period being the "Mazeppa" whose home port was evidently Cape Town. The Boers_then organised the port, appointing a harbour master and promulgating harbour and customs dues.

In 1840 a notice was issued that all letters arriving by ship should be delivered to the harbour master who would send them to the landrost, who in turn would make the necessary arrangements for delivery. The monthly overland mail service, across the route taken by Dick King, by this time appeared to have been improved, although it took at least 20 days. In October 1841 ship postage rates were introduced. Ships recorded during this period calling at the port were "Eleanor", "Mary", "Levant" (American) and "Brazilia" (Dutch). Rosenthal confirms that both "Eleanor" and "Mary" carried mail.

In 1842 the British Army was instructed to re-occupy the Port of Natal. This was accomplished in May 1842, and held very precariously during the succeeding months. Throughout this period ships entering the lagoon were mostly concerned with military affairs, although army and some civilian mail could have been delivered. "Mazeppa" is again recorded at the port in 1842. Natal was officially annexed by Britain in 1845 and in that year a port captain was appointed, the very same Captain Bell previously mentioned.

He collected all mail from ships' captains and handed itto the Collector of Customs for delivery. New ship postage rates were also enforced. "Mazeppa" again called at Port Natal in both 1843 and 1845, and in February 1846 the "Sarah Bell" brought a cargo from England exclusively for Natal, and mail would certainly have landed under "ship letter" rates.

In 1845 while mail was still being sent monthly from Durban and Pietermaritzburg to Grahamstown and vice versa by native runners, the service was frequently interrupted by frontier disturbances. Mail sometimes took nearly a month to arrive at its destination. In November 1846 the service was routed via Colesberg to the Cape, but this did not last long. In 1848 mail was again sent to King William's Town. By the end of 1849 it was despatched via Harrisburg and Colesberg. All these changes, with resultant delays, meant that whenever possible mail was despatched by the first available vessel.

NEXT STOP CAPE TOWN

By 1848 ships bound for Mauritius (so Hart, Kantey and Leon inform us) were taking mail via this Colony to Cape Town. This caused endless delays and lead to official com- plaints. This state of affairs did not last long. By 1852 the postal situation appeared to have improved. Durban was growing, and in a newly-built double-storey building in Market Square, occupied by Middleton & Co, the post office was given one of the rooms on the ground floor. During the four years between 1848 to 1852, 5000 immi- grants entered Natal, leading to greatly increased trade. More ships called at the port, from England, India and Mauritius. Holden notes that I I immigrant ships entered the port in 1849, 24 in 1850 and 22 in 1851. Some like "Devonian" and "Sarah Bell" made more than one visit.

One solid piece of evidence on the despatch of ships' mail is found in an advertisement in the Natal Witness. In its issue of 27 March 1846, it advertised the start of a weekly private postal service from Pietermaritzburg to Durban, stating that "Parties desirous of writing per "Louisa" for Cape Town, may secure an opportunity". It is understood that this private service re- mained in operation until 1850, but we don't know whether the proprietors of the newspaper managed to persuade the captains of other ships at the port to carry the mail weekly or periodically to Cape Town.

Two small coastal vessels, the "Albion" cutter and the "Herald", traded between Port Natal, the Umtata River mouth and the Buffalo River during 1852, and no doubt mail could simultaneously have been carried between Durban and East London.

POSTAGE RATES

The early settlers at Port Natal would probably have had to make some form ofpayment in cash or kind to ships' captains for the delivery and despatch oftheirletters as no postal services were in operation. Possibly some of these letters still exist, but whether the route they travelled or the ships which brought them can be identified is another matter. One source noted that in 1834 from Cape Town to Natal, letters were charged at the rate of 4d for a single sheet, 8d for two or I/- per oz. Under the Republic of Natal, the Volksraad, in 1841 - according to Rosenthal - "approved the payment of 3d for every letter arriving by ship, oi which ld went to the Captain and 2d to Government". There is no mention of the cost outwards for letters.

Rosenthal also mentions that in 1845, 8d was charged for overseas letters from Natal. Holden quotes from a notice, dated 1852, that the ship letter rate to England from Durban was 6d for a letter not exceeding '/2 oz, with every additional oz an extra 6d, all letters being prepaid.

From Maritzburg the rate overseas was 8d prepaid - evidently 2d from Maritzburg to Durban.

Hart, Kantey and Leon note the ship letter rate from 1842- l 850, Durban to Cape Town, was a basic 4d, plus an additional charge of 8d from the Cape to the U-K- Nothing is mentioned from 1845 on inward rates by sea. Further information is needed.

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THE GENERAL SCREW STEAMSHIP NAVIGATION CO 1852

From as early as 1829 the Commercial Exchange of Cape Town had concerned itself about the improvement of trade between the Cape Colony and Natal. During succeeding years on various occasions it made overtures to the Cape government on this issue.

The exchange therefore reacted favourably to the news that the General Screw Co had secured a contract with the Cape and Natal governments to carry mail to and from Cape Town and Port Natal, on the arrival and departure of the Company's mail boats from England.

The minutes of the Exhange noted that the agreement called for two ships of 300 tons each to be provided. Holden mentions that apart from the "Sir Robert Peel", the second vessel earmarked for the service was the "City of Rotterdam". In the event only the "Sir Robert Peel" was put into service and the failure by the Company to provide the second vessel led to a memorandum being sent to the governor of the Cape from the Commercial Exchange.

When the "Queen of the South" arrived at Table Bay on 29 July 1852, the "Sir Robert Peel" was waiting to collect the mail for England. She left shortly afterwards, no doubt calling at Port Elizabeth and East London. She arrived off Durban on 12 August, but was unable to enter port owing to bad weather. Three days later she made shipping history by being the first steamer to cross the bar at Durban.

GOLD?

Minutes of the Commercial Exchange (28.5.1853) note that when gold was discovered in Australia, the Cape Natal mail contract was cancelled, but this was evidently incorrect. Murray stated that the "Peel" continued her regular sailings along the coast until the England to Cape mail service was discontinued in 1854. In the meantime the General Screw Co had ordered two more vessels of 500 tons each for the coastal service. The first of these, the "Natal" arrived at the Cape in March 1854; the other, the "Cape of Good Hope", arrived later that year.

Murray says that the three coastal vessels, "Sir Robert Peel", "Natal" and the "Cape of Good Hope", returned to England in 1854, but gives no more specific dates. I have been unable to find, as yet, the last sailing date of the "Peel" on this route, neither have I been able to ascertain whether the other two vessels were used on the Cape - Natal mail run.

POSTAGE RATES AND COVERS

Covers carried by " Sir Robert Peel" appear very.scarce. Hart, Kantey and Leon illustrate and detail one cover carried by this mailship on the route. Emanating from Pietermaritzburg, it is handstamped with the boxed "PREPAID" in red, addressed to Cape Town and carries a manuscript endorsement of '£d. If the rate from Maritzburg to Durban was 2d, then the ship rate from Durban to Cape Town would have been 6d. The letter evidently being double weight, postage therefore cost '£d.

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1854 TO 1857 - COASTAL ROUTE

With the failure of the General Screw Steamship Navigation Co's mail service from England to the Cipe in 1854, and the subsequent withdrawal of the Cape-Natal supplementary mail service, no regular coastal mail services were started between 1854 and 1857. Murray records, in his list of Cape coasters, not a single vessel operating in this field for these years. Obviously some ships traded along the coast at that time. Denfield notes an "East London Packet" launched from that port in 1854 and wrecked in 1855, but her routes were not given. He also mentions an "L B Packet", whose first voyage from the Buffalo started on 21 July 1857, but again no details are given. These two packets must hpve at times carried mail to Durban, Port Elizabeth and Cape Town during the unsettling periods on the Eastern frontier. When the Lindsay mail contract kicked off in September 1857 from Dartmouth, England, to the Cape, Mauritius and India, no mail contract for the Cape to Natal route appears to have been sought or offered.

VIP VISITOR

The_one important event in the postal world at this time was the visit in 1855 of the postmaster general of the Cape on a tour of inspection of country post offices. Whilehe was most . intirested in the services in the rural areas, particularly the Eastern Province, Mr Le Seur's visit to Port Elizabeth improved the handling of ships' mails. Two important requests were made by the Commercial Association of the Town - (a) that a special clerk be engaged to receive and deliver ships' mails, and (b) that the local postmaster be authorised to open all mail packets whether addressed to the P M G;Cape Town, or otherwise. The latter request was made because at times letters for Port Elizabeth were contained in the packet addressed to Cape Town, thereby delaying the delivery of mail, particularly that t'rom,-ships. ' Concerning the first request, the government agreed that Port Elizibeth, beingan important seaport, should be placed on a different footing-from other post offices. It was placed under the authority of an official provided by government at a salary of £150 a year, plus a messenger and an allowance of£2 per month for contingencies. The second request was not granted. But the postmaster general in England and the postmasters ofNatal and Mauritius were requested to forward via any vessel proceeding direct to Port Elizabeth packets containing letters for persons living in that town plus such other items as were found expedient.

COMPLAINT

A complaint was lodged that irregularity prevailed respecting public mail and loose letters arriving with vessels at Port Elizabeth, and the despatch of letters by such vessels. The postmaster of Port Elizabeth was notified that "when he shall have obtained the latest time fixed for the sailing of any vessel to notify in writing, outside his office, the time when any -mail will be closed by him for such vessel". Finally the postmaster at Port Elizabeth was advised in a letter, dated 13 March 1850, on the arrival and departure of ships' mails, that no delivery of letters or any other duty was required of him on Sundays. The exception was the placing in safety until Monday of any mail which arrived on the Sabbath. The postmaster general did not visit East London or any of the other towns in British Kaffraria.

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