David Dale Buchanan

GEDCOM Note

category = Buchanan_Name_Study

Biography

"A strong proponent of public education he became secretary of the Book Society and within three years had persuaded his fellow committee members to convert it into Pietermaritzburg's first Public Library in 1849. ... In May 1851 the Natal and East African Society was launched, later shortened to the Natal Society, with a mission "to tell the truth" about conditions in the colonies. ... In 1851 the Society also organized the first in a series of annual agricultural shows and the Agricultural Society was born, becoming the Royal Agricultural Society in 1905. ... By 1865 the Natal Society had absorbed the Book Society and had decided on a new purpose - the "acquisition and preservation of information of local value and interest". These activities are pursued to this day with the annual publication of the Journal Natalia. Source: http://natalia.org.za/nsf_history.html
See more below

Name ===: Name: David Dale /Buchanan/ <ref>Source: #S2333 Page: RUNCIMAN mailing list resources, (http://www.guernsey.net/~sgibbs/runciman/) pdf file on brothers John and William RUNCIMAN in Sth Africa, written by Mrs Mary RUNCIMAN, extracted Sep 2005</ref>

Birth ===Date: The best confirmation of his birthdate is from his death notice. However no birth record is found in Scottish records. There is some discrepancy on his birth year of 2 years in Christening records and the age he arrived in the Cape. Most likely case is the birth record islost.

Arrival ===Date: Dec 1829, arrived in Cape Town with "With his eldest brother Uncle David landed in Cape Town in December, 1829." Source ~ Pioneer days in Natal. Page 128 by Barbara Buchanan niece daughter of Ebenezer Buchanan

Death ===Death details are confirmed by the Cape Town Archive Death Notice as well as the gravestone detail.

Date: 04 SEP 1874Place: Cape Town at the house of William Bell which is the house of William Buchanan, his nephew or half-brother or both. Cause of death is a fever which was probably picked up in Kimberley.

Parents

His death notice lists Parents as James and Isabella Buchanan. There is notice birth record in Scotland of a David Buchanan to James Buchanan and Isabella in Ancestry.com or Scotlandspeople.org.

No record - Any Buchanan son to Isabella Anderson 1800-1821

No record of david - Buchanan son to Isabella Buchanan 1800-1821
best match = Buchanan David son to James Buchanan mother Moncreif Burnet in Glasgow 31 May 1819

1819 Thomas Drysdale Buchanan to father Simpson

Marriage

: Husband: David Dale Buchanan : Wife: Mary Amm
: Marriage:
:: Date: 29 Aug BEF 1839
:: Place: Cape Town, South Africa

Career

David Dale Buchanan founded the Natal Witness newspaper in Feb 1846. The masthead of the paper read "THE TRUTH, THE WHOLE TRUTH AND NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH" He was the Editor for 14 years. He was an Advocate of the Supreme Court of Natal. He had also been a member of the Legislative Council and for a short time acted as Attorney-General.
He also was Council for the Basuto people and made himself very unpopular with the Colony Government. See -->History of South Africa Since September 1795.
David Dale Buchanan was one of the wealthiest men of his time in Pietermaritzburg. His wealth came from his founding of the Natal Witness Newspaper and his successful legal practice. He did not shy away from criticizing and confronting injustice as he saw it and in particular the Politicians and rulers. These same people worked hard to engineer his downfall. In 1865 he suffered large financial losses in various investments that were suffering in the general economic woes of the 1860's. In 1869 he went on a mission on behalf of Chief Moshoesh to London to appeal the terms of a British treaty with the Basuto people. The mission was a failure and to his misfortune the Chief died at the same time. His poltical enemies worked hard to ensure he was not paid for the mission and his work and he found himself in financial ruin. Soon thereafter he joined his 2 sons in the Kimberley diamond fields. He rebuilt his legal practice over 4 years till he succumbed to a fever blamed on the legendary unsanitary condition [perhaps TB] of the mining town and died in the house of his half brother in Cape Town.

Sources

<references />

• WikiTree profile Buchanan-432 created through the import of RUNCIMANDavidBROWNMargaretLineage1a4MyHeritageWikiTree.ged on Oct 22, 2011 by L Henderson. See the Changes page for the details of edits by L and others.
• Source: S2333 Title: Rootsweb Msge Board, Url: http://boards.rootsweb.com Abbreviation: Rootsweb Msge Board * Source: S2446 Title: RUNCIMAN/AITHCESON Corres., Recipient: Lorna Henderson , Address: Cape Schanck, VIC, AUS, Author E-mail: Abbreviation: RUNCIMAN/AITHCESON Corres. ex Sally H Author: Sally HAW