THE BERGTHEIL SETTLERS: 1848

A group of German settlers came to Natal in March 1848 on the ship Beta, under a private scheme arranged by Jonas Bergtheil. This was the first organized initiative to bring settlers to Natal, pre-dating the Byrne scheme.

Bergtheil himself was born in Bavaria in 1819 and had travelled at the youthful age of 15 to the Cape, where members of his family were then living. In 1843, he arrived in Natal during an unsettled period in the area's history. The conflict of 1842 between the Boers and British was in the recent past, many Voortrekkers had left for pastures new, the population was depleted and there was no guarantee that Britain would establish control of Natal. Matters hung in the balance until 1845, when Natal was declared a Colony and its future became more assured. Bergtheil bought a large acreage of land (Wandsbeck) from Edmund Morewood, and decided to put this under cotton. A man of vision, Bergtheil, as director of the Natal Cotton Company, saw Natal's potential as an area for immigrant settlement. He visited England with some sample bales of cotton, and received a high price for them in Manchester, but failed in his attempts to interest Scottish and English immigrants to come to Natal.

He then turned to his own country of birth, Germany, where at that time not much was known about Natal except that it was a remote and savage place peopled by indigenous tribes and wild animals. Bergtheil, in what would now be called a marketing exercise, tried to disperse such notions, and even took a Zulu with him to Germany as evidence that the dangers of living in Natal were widely exaggerated.

Eventually, his persistence paid off and he was able to put together a group of settlers who would travel on the Beta, under Captain Georg Poppe, leaving Bremen on 19 November 1847 (some sources give 21 November as embarkation date) and arriving at Port Natal on 23 March 1848. All the expenses were borne out of Bergtheil's private funds, which is indicative of his faith in the venture. So confident was he that he didn't travel out personally with the settlers and this was a mistake because he wasn't on hand to make sure initial arrangements in Natal went smoothly.

The settlers' contract provided 210 acres for each of them, ten acres for growing vegetables and the rest to be put under cotton. Seed and other necessities were supplied free, though the settlers had to buy farming implements and oxen. They were at the start accommodated in tents or huts, and had to make their own bricks in order to build more permanent homesteads - e.g. the Konigkramer family home constructed in 1871 stands to this day, in Barn Place, Westville. Bergtheil changed the name of the area previously known as Wandsbeck to Westville in honour of Martin West, first Lieutenant-Governor of Natal.

The first year was a struggle for the settlers: the harvest was poor, and imported seed had been damaged in transit, but gradually, with hard work, conditions improved. After about 10 years most had prospered and had been able to take ownership of their lands.

Jonas Bergtheil became a prominent figure in the business life of the Colony, and was elected to the first Legislative Assembly in 1857. In 1866 he and his family left Natal. Bergtheil died in 1901 and lies buried in the Bayswater cemetery, London. The many successful and well-known descendants of his German settlers who still reside in Natal are a living memorial to the man who was the forerunner in organized immigration to this province.

THE BERGTHEIL SETTLER FAMILIES

• AHMANNS (or AMANS)

Catherine Elisabeth married Friedrich W KÖNIGKRAMER at New Germany 18 Dec 1856

• AULFES Friedrich Heinrich, clothmaker of Bramsche, and wife Johanna Adelheid LOND
• BÖHMER Bernhard Heinrich, clothmaker born Rheine, Hanover, and wife Katharine Margarete SCHWEGMANN from Bramsche
• BROCKMANN Rudolph
• BIERBAUM Friedrich Wilhelm, carpenter of Westerkappeln, and wife Catherine Margarete BARLAG. Married 2nd Catherine Wilhelmine NASEKE at New Germany 12 Aug 1856.
• BOSSE Bernhard Heinrich and wife Catherine Engel BUNTE
• BOSSE Gerhard and wife Elisabeth SCHALLENBERG
• BOSSE Johann Heinrich and wife Margarethe Mathilde Charlotte BEYER married at Pietermaritzburg 30 January 1866
• BOSSE Johannes Friederich married Karoline Johanna Catharine WEHAUS 25 April 1872
• BÜHRMANN Johann Christian married Maria DUNKELMANN (or DINKELMANN) at New Germany 17 January 1856
• DINKELMANN Franz Heinrich and wife Anna Maria ENGEL
• DINKELMANN Gerhard Friedrich (senior) married Catharine Wilhelmine BIERBAUM at New Germany 3 March 1870
• DRIEMEYER Rudolf Friedrich and wife Elise BOSSE
• ERFMANN Johannes Heinrich and wife Maria SCHRODER
• FORTMANN Heinrich Ernst Wilhelm married Anna Maria Amalia MEYER at New Germany, 10 December 1849
• FREESE Friederich Wilhelm and wife Sophie Lisette KÖNIGKRAMER
• FREESE Jörg
• FREESE Catharine Elsabein, serving maid
• HANDELMANN Catherina Maria of Westerkappeln married Friedrich Adolf WESTERMEYER at New Germany on 5 May 1848
• HILMER Friedrich Wilhelm and wife Louise Dorothea FRANKE
• KLÜSENER Heinrich Wilhelm, clothmaker, and wife Elise BOSSE
• KLÜSENER Louise, serving maid
• KÖNIGKRAMER Friedrich Wilhelm and 2nd wife Elisabeth SCHEMME
• LAATZ Hermann Heinrich and wife Catharine Margarethe LADBERG, both of Westerkappeln
• LAATZ Friedrich Wilhelm of Westerkappeln
• LANGE Hermann Heinrich and wife Catharine Wilhelmine MEYER
• MEYER Nicolaus and wife Anna Maria EGGERMANN
• NIPPER Franz, labourer, and wife Anna Karoline RETHMANN
• OBERREUTER Andreas, gardener, and wife Anna HÖSCH
• OELLERMANN Christian Friedrich and wife Regina Maria STERTEFELT
• OELLERMANN Rudolf Franz and wife Carolina Amalia AULFES. 2nd wife Augusta Schroon AULFES.
• ORTMANN Friedrich and wife Katherine FREESE
• PAUL Johann Heinrich, cobbler, and wife Louise Charlotte
• PIENEMANN No further details
• RABE Johann Heinrich married Anna Karoline SCHWEGMANN at New Germany 4 May 1849
• RACHMANN Heinrich Friedrich Wilhelm married Dorothea Adelheid AULFES at New Germany 12 August 1854
• RETHMANN Georg Friedrich, blacksmith, and wife Johanna Caroline W. Married 2nd wife Barbara FIELD at New Germany on 13 March 1851.
• RETHMANN Rudolph Heinrich, carpenter, and wife Anna Caroline
• SANDER Friedrich Wilhelm and wife Dorothea Louise SANDROCK
• SCHÄFER Friedrich Rudolph married Bernhardina Sophie KÖNIGKRAMER at New Germany, 10 January 1850
• SCHAFER Friedrich Heinrich Wilhelm married Dorothea EVERS at New Germany on 30 May 1848.
• SCHEFERMANN Hermann Heinrich and wife Anna Regina KELLNERS
• SIEKSMEYER Johann Heinrich and wife Margarethe MULLER
• SCHALLENBERG Jörgen Heinrich and wife Anna Catharine FREESE
• SCHWEGMANN Hermann Diedrich, labourer, and wife Katharine
• SCHWEGMANN Christian Rudolf and wife Anna Maria Elise PIENEMANN
• SCHMIDT Johann Christian and wife Wilhelmine ERDMUTE
• TORLAGE Hermann Heinrich and wife Catharina Maria Elisabeth KETH
• THÖLE Ernst Heinrich and wife Catharine Elise TORLAGE married at New Germany 15 August 1858. Married 2nd Margaretha Maria WEHAUS at New Germany 14 March 1859.
• WEHAUS Bernhard Heinrich, weaver of Bramsche, and wife Josephine Katharine.
• WEHRMANN Heinrich of Westerkappeln.
• WINTER Johann Ernst Friedrich and wife Christine
• WESTERMEYER Friedrich married Catharine Maria HANDELMANN at New Germany 4 May 1849
• WIEMANN Johann Heinrich Georg, clothmaker of Bramsche.

Source: by Rosemary Dixon-Smith, off defunct website www.genealogyworld.net

The "Cotton Germans" Of Natal FROM BRAMSCHE TO NEW GERMANY: THE STORY OF THE BERGTHEIL COLONISTS AND THEIR DESCENDANTS 1848 - 2006 by Walter Volker Recently published by Just Done Productions

This book is the result of Walter Volker's enormous amount of research into the Bergtheil Settler group, German immigrants who came out on the Beta in 1848, and gives plenty of background as well as genealogical information. It is nearly 800 pages, jam-packed with detail. There are comprehensive lists of descendants and more on Jonas Bergtheil himself than you will read in any other source.