South Africa
Byrne settlers landed in Natal between 1849 to 1851.
They were offered passage and land in Natal, now known as South Africa. Over 4,000 people, among them were many Yorkshire
roses, impacted the area and there are numerous records available on ships lists and passengers kept in the Cape Archives
and the Public Records Office, London.
Airey
Henry Parke AIREY (1842-1911) a soldier, was born in Kingsthorpe, Yorkshire, son of Henry Cookson Airey (1811-1866),
Indian Army officer and his wife, Emily Parke, they lived at Kingsthorpe House. Henry Parke Airey went to India in 1859
after graduating from military college. He served in the north west frontier for 6 years and was promoted to Lt.
in 1863. He retired in 1866 from the army and went to Australia. By 1868 he was a sugar planter at Cleveland,
Queensland. That year he married, Florence Ada McCulloch at Darling Point, New South Wales. In 1885 he went to the
Sudan with the New South Wales contingent and served as aide-de-camp to Gen. Sir Arthur Freemantle. Henry became Captain
then Lt. Col. in 1895. He was at the relief of Mafeking. he retired from the army in 1902 with the rank of honorary
colonel. He and his family moved to South Africa where he became a stock and grain farmer. After a long illness he died
in Panplaats, Transvaal in 1911. He was survived by his wife, 2 sons and 4 daughters.
Clark
John CLARK born in
Kirklington went to Natal
as a Byrne settler in 1850. He initially settled in
Durban but
soon moved to York, Natal, continuing his trade as a coach and waggon builder. He died in 1852.
His younger brother, William CLARK born in 1822, moved to Durban with his wife in 1863. He must have received good
reports from his brother. William and wife Jane had 6 children. He was also a waggon builder and he lived in Durban until
his death in 1903.
Their father, Leonard CLARK had 9 children. Four of them emigrated - John and William to Natal and two of their sisters,
Sarah and Ann emigrated to the US with their husbands.
Maleham
Thomas MALEHAM, blacksmith (son of Isaac Maleham, b. 1819 Thorpe Salvin,
Rotherham, Yorkshire) was born 1853 in Birstall, Yorkshire. He married Martha Ann Lord. They had 6 children. With eldest, Charles, born 1878 in Birstall, Thomas went to Botswana to work in the gold mines. Martha and the 5 remaining sons emigrated in 1900 to join Thomas and Charles in Rhodesia now Zimbabwe. Their life was hard and they were short of building supplies to build a decent home at first. Martha and son, Charles visited Wakefield, Yorkshire in early 1914, where Charles married Gladys Stone. In 1916, Charles died of pneumonia. His brother Fred had gone to England, joined the army and fought in WW1. He visited Wakefield, met and married Glady's sister, Edith Stone. They joined the rest of the family in Rhodesia in 1919. Martha died in 1958 aged 101.
Mouncey
Charles MOUNCEY, born 1780, a wholesale merchant of WainGate,
Sheffield, Yorkshire led a group of settlers to South Africa. He paid for his own family and 5 servants. The deposits
for Samuel Shillito, his son Thomas and son-in-law George Carlisle were paid by the
Earl Fitzwilliam.
They sailed on the
John from Liverpool
in 1820. By 1824 several of the men decided to return to England, including Samuel
Shillito and George Carlisle. Charles became a farmer, and at age 40 had taken his wife, Sarah and two sons to begin a
new life. There are no records of the names of the servants.
Richardson
James RICHARDSON, born 1795, a corn dealer from Sheffield, Yorkshire also sailed to Natal with his family and servants on
the Stenton from Liverpool in 1820. With him were wife Sarah and their children John (4) and Emma (2), also stepchildren,
Elizabeth (12), James (8) and Martha (8) Senior from Sarah's first marriage.
Wainwright
Jonathan WAINWRIGHT, cloth manufacturer of Little Woodhouse,
Leeds led a party to
Natal. Leeds had been hard hit by the collapse of the cotton trade and most of the men in the group were unemployed.
They sailed on the John with Charles Mouncey's group. Jonathan took his wife, Sarah and their two children, Ellen (17) and
Edward (14).
White
Henry Fancourt WHITE (1811-1866) born in Yorkshire and emigrated with his parents to South Africa in 1820. As a young man,
in 1836, he went to Australia as a surveyor. There was a conflict between White and wealthy landowners as to where a new
highway should go, so he returned to South Africa. In 1844, using 250 convicts, he supervised the construction of a
highway over the Outeniqua Mountains. They worked on the demanding project for 4 years. It was opened to the public
in 1847. White died in 1866. His son restored the family home and named it 'Fancourt' after his mother's family, it
is now a National Monument.
