Special Settlement

[Leiper48]

I have a family of 4 Leiper brothers and sisters arriving in Durban in 1880 on the ship Nyanza from Southampton. On the record from the Pietermaritzburg Archives there is a note against each of them saying "Special Settlement" They were farmers from Scotland and stayed in the area and are buried in Pietermaritzburg. Can anyone tell me what Special Settlement was or give me any other information about any of the family?

[3sillydogs]

Hi

It seems from the archive records that I can find Leiper farmed in the Wilge Fontein area in Natal.  This is a small town outside Pietermaritzburg and he had indentured Indian Labour.  It seems settlers were brought out on the Nyanza in 1880 to settle on the farm Willowfountain (Wilge Fontein)

There also seem to be two Leiper bros who fought in the Anglo Boer War with the Imperial Light Horse.

Also interesting article on here:

http://molegenealogy.blogspot.com/2010/04/natal-immigration-in-1870s.html

Seems they were part of an assisted scheme to bring farmers to the area. J E Methley, an agent was sent to England to recruit farmers for the government and managed to get about 40 to come to Willowfountain,

Hope this helps.

Good luck

[Leiper48]

Thats great, 3sillydogs! The name Wilge Fontein ties up with something else I found. It seems they ended up at a farm called Drumclog in the same area according to gravestones. (Drumclog is very close to where they were born in Scotland, so maybe they called the farm after it.)
The article from Mole's Blog was fascinating and fills out the picture well.
The family were brothers Robert and John with sisters Helen and Jane. The only record for the Boer war I can find seems to give two Leipers in the Imperial Light Horse with initial P so presumably not my ones.
Their widowed mother Helen Leiper (b 1821 in scotland) seems to have come out to join them some time between 1881 when she appears in the Scottish census and her death in 1899 in Drumclog in Pietermaritzburg. Maybe also their illegitimate nephew William Leiper Archer(b 1883) also came out in 1908 on the SS Galicean. Finding out about him would be fascinating.
 I'm really struggling to find where to dig for South African records so your help is brilliant!.

Thanks
John

[ed_sue]

Hi Leiper48

I know this is an old post but when doing a search for William Leiper Archer, a Pharmacist/Druggist, in South Africa, I thought would just add a bit of information which could, or could not, be useful.  He married my great aunt Emily Louisa Blanchard on 8th October 1938 in Pietermaritzburg.  I, unfortunately, don't have any more information as this stage.

Maybe it could help you,
Sue

[3sillydogs]

There are a few mentions of Robert in the archives, including one about cattle on the farm Dunncloq.

There are estate notices as well for Robert, John and Helen. There are usually Death Notices attached to the file which can give information on family etc.  If you don't have them I could have a look for them.

[Leiper48]

Hi ed_sue
 
 That is almost certainly my William Leiper Archer. He was a druggist's assistant in Glasgow in Scotland in the 1901 census. He emigrated to South Africa in 1908.
 Id be very happy to share more details with you.

  Cheers John

[ed_sue]

Hi John

Thanks for your reply.  Do you perhaps know what happened to them?  The last concrete information I have on them is when they marry in 1938, in Pietermaritzburg.  As a child I would get confused with my father's elderly aunts but I do know that Aunty Vi and Aunty Louie moved in together when they got older and were on their own. I have a photo, dated 1974, of our family with them outside the house they lived in (42 Victoria Road, Pietermaritzburg).  I don't know much more, like whether Aunty Louie had children, or when her husband, William Leiper Archer, died, etc.  Are you able to answer any of these questions?  I actually don't know when Aunty Louie died either.  My father would've know, I'm sure.

I've attached the only photo I have of the two of them together.

Would greatly appreciate it if you are able to help in any way.

Many thanks,
Sue

[3sillydogs]

William Leiper Archer died in Natal in 1961.  This is his estate notice on our archives. 

DEPOT     NAB                                                                   
SOURCE    MSCE                                                                 
TYPE      LEER                                                                 
SYSTEM    01                                                                   
REFERENCE 235/1961                                                             
PART      1                                                                     
DESCRIPTION          ARCHER, WILLIAM LEIPER. BORN IN SCOTLAND. S SP ARCHER, EMILY LOUISA. 
           (BORN BLANCHARD). DECEASED ESTATE.                                   
STARTING  19610000                                                             
ENDING    19630000

Unfortunately the online records are only available to 1950 at the moment. 

[ed_sue]

Thank you, I've made a not of that record for future reference.