:: Archives Repository ::

ARCHIVES REPOSITORIES, LIBRARIES & MUSEUMS IN NATAL : ROSEMARY'S GUIDE

Pietermaritzburg Archives Repository
231 Pietermaritz Street
PIETERMARITZBURG
pmbarchives@kznedu.kzntl.gov.za
Tel: (033) 342 4712
Fax: (033) 394 4353
Hours: 8 a.m. - 4 p.m. weekdays (Tuesdays from 8.15 a.m.)
Every 2nd Saturday of the month: 9 a.m. - 12 p.m.

This is the main Provincial Archives Repository in Natal. Its easy to find, turning left from Commercial Road into Pietermaritz Street, the Archives building is on the right hand side of the road. No secure parking, but there are car guards in attendance outside.

Going in the entrance door, you will be asked to fill in a form with details of your name, address, telephone and ID numbers and the reason for your visit e.g. Family History Research. This form must be presented on arrival at the Reading Room. You will also be given a Visitors tag to clip on to your person. When the locked door to the inner sanctum is opened, put your belongings in one of the lockers provided and keep the key somewhere safe while you are researching. No cell phones are allowed in the Reading Room. Digital cameras and accoutrements and hand-held scanners are allowed. Take pencils with you - no pens may be used - and a notepad. Blank Death Notice forms are available in the Reading Room should you wish to transcribe such documents. You will be allocated a desk and if you haven't ordered your files in advance (always a good idea to do so as it saves time, so collect your references from the online index before your visit), order them now by filling in a slip, giving full file source details. Place the form on the table where it will be collected by employees who bring the files from the vaults, and ring the bell to let them know you are waiting for files. Meanwhile, browse through the open shelves of the Reading Room Library, where volumes in regular use are kept - such as the Natal Almanac, Braby's Directories, Civil Service Directories, Natal Who's Who, Natal Volunteer Record and a variety of published history and genealogy sources. There is a card index to other books not kept on the open shelves. Another thing you can check while waiting for your files is the European Immigration index, also on cards, to see if your ancestor is listed. (See article: European Immigration Index and Registers on this site for further information.)

Other card indexes available include the CSO Marriage Declarations - a valuable source for early Natal marriages by special licence, indexed by surname; the Bird papers; photographs of people and places; Natal Mercury Pictorial (this was a magazine edition of the newspaper and crammed with interesting material and photographs) etc. Browse through the card indexes to see what might be relevant to your search.

On the main table in the Reading Room is a collection of useful items: printed indexes to estate files, indexes to Home Affairs registers which are held by Archives, Spencer's volumes of British Settlers in Natal, contact details of local Genealogical Societies and lists of professional researchers in the area.

Your files will be brought to your desk and you can make a start on your research. Check first to make sure that the files are the ones you've ordered - there are occasional glitches, though the staff is generally very good, and it saves you time going through a volume looking for the expected name and then finding it isn't the correct volume number.

Assistants are at hand in the Reading Room to assist with queries. They will also look up references on computer if necessary. You can borrow a calculator (if your arithmetic is as bad as mine and you need to work out ages and dates) or a magnifying glass if text is small.

Although there is a notice prominently displayed to the effect that only 3 volumes may be ordered at a time, I frequently order many more than that and they don't appear to mind. During staff tea-breaks, no files can be brought from the vaults. The Reading Room does not close at lunchtime but files cannot be ordered then. So make sure you have enough material to continue with during that period. Orders cannot be placed after 3.15 p.m. and the Reading Room closes at 4 p.m.

There is a photocopy machine, but no copying is allowed in deceased estate files and also in some fragile material, for preservation reasons. There is no objection to the use of digital cameras - the Archives Repository has recently acquired its own digital camera, incidentally. This should facilitate requests from distant enquirers for copies, though there is a limit of 3 Death Notices per query. Blanket searches cannot be undertaken by the Reading Room staff. Photographic prints can be ordered.

While the Deceased Estate files (up to 1974-anything after that year will still be at the Master's Office) are the most popular target for family historians, Pietermaritzburg Archives has an enormous amount of other material among its holdings - too much to do justice to here - among its holdings, which date mainly from 1838 to 1910.

Note: on the table in the Reading Room there is an alphabetical index 1/1/1974 to 31/12/1974 of estate files not yet computerised, something worth remembering if searching for a deceased estate falling in that year.

If you're looking for Births, Marriages and Deaths, go to the printed index to the Home Affairs Dept registers - on the main table in the Reading Room. The extent of these holdings varies, depending on what has been given to Archives by the Department. For example, those for Durban include:
Birth Index 1868-1930
Birth Registers 1868-1930
Marriage Index 1895-1984 (though I have found some entries from 1890)
Marriage Registers 1887-1972
Death Index 1910-1949
Death Registers 1868-1949
Finger Print Records Book 1909-1912
Description of Persons Prohibited at Durban 1912-1931
Not all of the registers have an accompanying index. Some registers for the Natal area have not been handed over to Archives, including e.g. Umzinto Births and Deaths, Verulam Deaths. These are at the Dept of Home Affairs, Pretoria.

Adjacent to the main table is a cupboard containing other printed indexes e.g.military records such as the archives of the Natal Mounted Police with a fund of information on personnel There is a list of source codes on the cupboard door. Ask the assistant for help if you aren't familiar with these.

Remember that because Natal was originally part of the Cape colony under British Rule, certain early Natal documents are held by the Cape Archives.

The Natal Government Gazette (1849-1910) is available. Other material of interest to Natal family historians includes the Byrne Immigration Papers (1848-1856). The Magisterial Archives contain a huge variety of information - electoral rolls, marriage registers, court cases etc. Under NDR (Defence) will be found Muster Rolls for the volunteer regiments (1884-1912) and a number of Medal Rolls. There is a vast collection of maps and plans, to which an index can be found on the main table in the Reading Room.

Webb's "Guide to the Official Sources of the Colony of Natal" is worthy of some minutes of your time.

Other places of interest for the researcher: a short walk away from Pietermaritzburg Archives, and in the same street, is the Land Department, where searches for deeds of property can be undertaken. If you have the name of the farm or legal description of a property, this can be looked up in their indexes. A print-out of transactions relating to a property's history can be obtained. A few blocks up Commercial Road, and near the City Hall, is the Natal Society Library (Tel: 0333 452383) where there is a large collection of original newspapers in the basement. The Master of Supreme Court office, if you're looking for more recent estates, is in Commercial Road not far from the City Hall. The registers are grouped by year. Anything pre-1974 will have been transferred to Pietermaritzburg Archives. Another short walk brings you to the Anglican Archives, housed in the top of the Cathedral, and manned by helpful and knowledgeable volunteers (they will also assist with telephone or e-mail enquiries); here you can see original registers and obtain a certificated copy of an entry for a nominal sum. There is secure parking in the Cathedral grounds. (dioarchives@mweb.co.za Tel: 033-3941567)

Durban Archives
Nashua House
14 De Mazenod Lane
GREYVILLE Durban
dbnarchives@kznedu.kzntl.gov.za
Te: (031) 309 5682
Fax: (031) 309 5685
Hours: 8 a.m.- 4 p.m. weekdays.

De Mazenod Street is off 1st Avenue after the corner of Argyle Road, where stands the well-known Durban landmark of Mozzies Butchery. Turn first left after Argyle intersection into De Mazenod and make for Nashua House where Durban Archives is housed a couple of flights upstairs.

The procedure on entering is the same as that at Pietermaritzburg Archives - fill in a form with your details and reason for visit, and then you will be able to access the small Reading Room. No lockers here, and no tags for visitors.

Wall displays remind us of several important points: that a 100 year closed period applies in the case of Birth Registers of the Dept of Home Affairs, and in the case of Marriages and Deaths, the closed period is 20 years; that Birth Marriage and Death Certificates are obtainable only from the Dept of Home Affairs and that application can be made at any local office of the Department. There are also on display copies of the types of documents available at Archives, Death Notice in both the old horizontal and more recent vertical format, Will, Inventory, First & Final Liquidation Account, Mortgage Bond, and pages from Death registers and Indian Immigration Birth registers.

If you have arrived unprepared with file references, the assistant will look these up for you on the computer in the Reading Room. Again, it is more sensible to check the references online first and order the files before your visit.

Whenever I'm at Durban Archives I seem to be looking at divorce files - not my favourite search, but its worth remembering that a copy of the marriage certificate often crops up among the divorce papers and that does avoid the lengthy process of ordering one from the Department of Home Affairs.

The most important archival group at this repository is the Indian Immigration registers, pertaining to Indentured Indian labour brought into Natal from 1860 until the early 20th century. Fascinating material, these handwritten registers are not easy to read, but give Registration No, Name, Father's name, Caste, Age, Height, Zillah (Province of origin in India), Thanna (nearest big town), Village and name of Employer to whom the labourer was to be indentured. Ship arrival date is given and also included are descriptions of physical marks - scars, tattoos etc. Due to variety in name-spellings it may be difficult to identify a correct individual from these lists. In my search for a "LUTCHMAN" a lengthy list was extracted with a huge number of spelling variants; any of them could have been the person sought. There was one clue that helped: "my" Lutchman had been a coachman. This type of Indentured labourer would be classed as a Special Servant and as such is easier to trace. In most cases, the arrival of the Indentured Immigrant is the only recorded event of his time in Natal - that is unless he was involved in some form of public process such as a court case, or subjected to brutality by his employer etc, when a reference to his name may be found on the online index. If an Indentured labourer moved from his original employer to another (usually on the sugar plantations) there is seldom any record of this. The best case scenario is where the Indentured Number for the individual is known. Other clues can be the religion and caste.

Recently, an index was compiled for these registers and is now available on CD. (Contact André Heydenrych aheydenr@mweb.co.za at GSSA).

Durban Archives files carry the code TBD on the online Archives index. I frequently come across instances where this and the TAB code for Pretoria Archives have been confused by people taking references from the index, so watch out for that.

Killie Campbell Library
Cnr. Marriott and Essenwood Roads
Berea DURBAN
Tel: 031-2601710
somers@ukzn.ac.za
dlaminih@ukzn.ac.za
Hours: Mon-Fri 8.30 a.m. - 4.30 p.m. (occasionally closing between 1-2 p.m. depending on available staff)
Saturday: 9.30 a.m. - 12 p.m.

Few libraries can be situated as pleasantly as the Killie Campbell, part of the Campbell Collections in Marriott Road. The old Cape Dutch-styled Campbell home Muckleneuk stands looking out over spacious gardens with indigenous shrubs and trees, high on Durban's Berea. A new wing completed in 1973 accommodates the library and Reading Room. Parking is perfect.

Its impossible to cover the awesome collection here. The history of its founder can be read in "Killie's Africa" by Norman Herd (pub Blue Crane Books PMB 1982). A Guide to the Manuscripts Collection is available, and the photograph albums are a delight.

Again, prepare for your visit by looking at the online catalogue at http://khozi2.nu.ac.za/kcafricana.htm

Scroll down the main page to the word "URICA" from which you can access and search the catalogue. Digital images of the Historic Photograph Collection can be browsed online and photographic prints can be ordered in the Reading Room. Cameras are not allowed. There are photocopying facilities, but only at the discretion of the research assistants. Researchers with laptops are often seen working at the library, some from as far afield as America and UK, testament to the worldwide renown of the collection which is now under the auspices of the University of Natal.

If you're really lucky (as I was) you may happen to gatecrash unintentionally a luncheon for the Zulu King and his retinue - I didn't know who the honoured guest was until I met his burly bodyguard, bulging muscles constrained in a dark suit. Family history research is never boring.

Old Court House Museum
Aliwal Street
DURBAN
Tel: 031-3112224/5
Hours: 8.30 a.m. - 4 p.m. weekdays Museum open & Research facilities available
Sat: 8.30 a.m. - 4 p.m. }Museum on Sat & Sun
Sun: 11.30 a.m. - 4 p.m. }No Research facilities over weekends

In 1953 the Old House Museum in St Andrew's Street Durban was established to house articles of historical value connected with Natal. At that time, this small museum was a satellite of the Durban Museum (in the City Hall). When the collections grew beyond the scope of the space at the Old House, they were moved to the renovated Old Court House (fortunately saved from threatened demolition largely through the efforts of Daphne Strutt, who was to be Curator of the museum- close friend and colleague of Dr Killie Campbell) to form the nucleus of what was then called the Local History Museum, opened in 1966. The Old House was preserved as a typical Natal Settler homestead and is still open to the public. It is not the original building, but a reconstruction, and its interior provides a window on the lives of settler ancestors.

The Old Court House, now the Old Court House Museum, was Durban's first public building, opened in 1866. To the original central portion, a north wing was added in 1891 and a south wing in 1897. The position of loopholes in the walls of the structure, made at the time of the Anglo-Zulu War 1879, can still be seen on the front of the building.

There is an extensive document and photograph resource which shouldn't be neglected by any family historian researching Natal ancestry. Take the lift to the Reading Room upstairs and don't forget to look up into the beautiful colonial lantern ceiling which adorns the roof. Photographic prints and photocopies can be arranged by the assistants. Visit the museum shop on the ground floor where books and postcards are on sale.

Don Africana Library
BP Centre
Smith Street
DURBAN
Tel: 031-3320586/7
Hours: weekdays 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Sat: 8.30 a.m. - 4 p.m.

A stone's throw away from the Old Court House Museum, in Smith Street, is the BP Centre, on the 10th floor of which is preserved the Don Africana collection. Originally donated to the City by collector David Don, with on-going accessions since that date, this jewel of a resource is well worth a visit - or several visits - to track down that elusive volume you can't find anywhere else. Helpful assistants will search the computer catalogue at your request, or you can ring first to find out if your needs can be met. The approach via secure basement parking, stairs then lift may not be inspiring, but an opportunity to explore the vast and valuable treasure awaiting you at the top, is the reward. Don Africana Library holds an entire run of the Natal Almanac & Yearly Directories among many other indispensable aids to the family history researcher.

Happy hunting!