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In November 1858 the Nederlandsche Landbouw-emigratie Maatschappij (Netherlands Agricultural and Immigration Company) was founded with the aim of sending settlers from the Netherlands to Natal. This emigration scheme arose largely through the efforts of Theodorus Christiaan Colenbrander, who had been resident in Natal since 1854
TC COLENBRANDER 1811-1881
Colenbrander was born at Doesburg in the Netherlands, on 18 September 1811, the 6th son and 7th child of Adrianus and Tonia (née Heydeman). He later settled near Djakarta, Java in the Dutch East Indies where he married Geraldina Nicolina van Groll. In Java, Colenbrander became interested in the production and manufacture of jute and indigo. It may be that he decided to emigrate to Natal having heard that indigo grew wild in the Colony, though the plant had not been cultivated commercially. Colenbrander set sail for Natal (possibly on the Kaap-de-Goede-Hoop), accompanied by his wife and their first five children, another Dutch planter Wilhelm van Prehn, and a group of Javanese plantation labourers. They landed at Natal in September 1854 and Colenbrander settled on land near Pinetown, cultivating indigo with van Prehn and Archibald Keir Murray. A steam mill was built to process the indigo, and storage vats were also constructed.
The venture was beset by various difficulties: a legal wrangle between van Prehn and Murray, as well as labour problems which threatened to close down the indigo operation. Colenbrander approached the Natal Government on the matter of bringing out settlers from the Netherlands, and it was agreed that land would be granted between the Nonoti and Sinkwazi Rivers on the North Coast, to be farmed by 20 Dutch families if these emigrants could arrive in Natal prior to 26 July 1857. Meanwhile, Colenbrander's brother, Rev Herman Colenbrander, and two of Theodorus Christiaan's nephews, Johannes Arnoldus and Adriaan Benjamin Colenbrander, began to take an active role in finding suitable emigrants in Holland.
To obtain first-hand knowledge of conditions in the Colony, the two nephews sailed for Natal in August 1856 on the Zaltbommel. Johannes Colenbrander returned to Holland where in March 1858 he published a brochure publicising the scheme. The founding of the Nederlandsche Landbouw-emigratie Maatschappij in Doesburg followed in November 1858. Johannes continued to recruit settlers and organize matters in Holland, his uncle Theodorus Christiaan took charge of the Natal end of the scheme, and MC Lapidoth, a shipowner of Amsterdam, would look after the emigrants while on board ship.
ARRIVALS IN NATAL
The Dutch barque Estafette, 424 tons, commanded by Captain Reitveld, lay at Oosterdok (Eastern Dock) Amsterdam from 26 March-19 April 1858, where she took on board crew, passengers and cargo. From 20-22 April she was lying at het Nieuwediep (New Deep) off Den Helder at the tip of north Holland. She sailed for South Africa on 22 April and was at anchor at Simon's Bay between 9 July and 1 August, when she departed for the Cape of Good Hope. On 20 August 1858 the vessel reached Port Natal.1 The landing of her passengers was announced in the Natal Mercury 26 August 1858.
Passengers on the Estafette included - Cabin:
- Rev D Postma
- Rev PAC Van Heyningen & Mrs B Van Heyningen
- Mr Adriaan (Benjamin) Colenbrander
- Miss Sophia Alida Colenbrander Second cabin (or steerage):
- Miss G Loopwijk
- Miss MC Meyer
- Mr & Mrs AJ Van der Veen & 3 children
- Mr & Mrs JH Gielink & 4 children
- Mr & Mrs JV Van Wyhe (elsewhere spelled Wijhe) & 4 children
- Mr & Mrs GIC Sein (?) & 2 children
- Mr JM Gielink
- Mr AJ Reevoort
- Messrs Haetinck [sic; HW Hoetink] Haenert, Arnoldt, Friecke, Vogel, Zevenhuysen2
The Mercury reported that among the 'goods entered inwards' per Estafette from Amsterdam were 200 cases gin (for JF Kahts, the shipping agent in Natal); 5 packages, 1 case furniture, 2 boxes, 1 chest, 1 waggon, 1 plough, 1 harrow, 9 casks (for T Colenbrander); 2 chests boots, 73 packages, 442 iron pots (for JC Van der Wyhe) and 3 cases wine (for AB Colenbrander).
Following in the wake of the Estafette came the three-masted brigantine (elsewhere described as a schooner) Hermanus Isaak (or Izaak), 169 tons, under Captain AH Braunstahl, which left Holland on 9 December 1858, and departed Table Bay on 28 March 1859, arriving at Natal 17 April 1859 (according to the local press, 15 April). Not unusually, there are discrepancies between the names of the passengers as listed in the Port Captain's register and those shown in the shipping column of the Natal Mercury 21 April 18593. According to the latter, there were 19 passengers in all: 5 members of the Scheuer family, 4 of the Rasch family, 6 of the Fischer family, as well as Messrs Scheffer, Ananarius, Hartinck, and Hut. How many of these were destined for the settlement at New Gelderland is uncertain. The ship also carried 185 boxes of cheese, 23 cases of herrings, 5 boxes of anchovies, 8 boxes of liqueurs, 76 boxes of cigars and a case of tobacco - a few home comforts for the Dutch immigrants.
In the same column of the Natal Mercury, under 'Vessels Expected', is the first mention of the 'Jan Van Brakel, barque, from Amsterdam, to sail in December' (1858). However, there was evidently some delay as this 327 ton ship, commanded by Captain De Reever (Der Oever in some sources), only left Amsterdam on 15 March 1859. The Natal Mercury of 23 June 1859 announced that the Jan Van Brakel had arrived at Simon's Bay on 2 June 'with 74 immigrants'. The vessel sailed from Simon's Bay on 25 June and was eventually reported to be 'standing off' Natal by 14 July:
'The Jan Van Brakel: a barque, supposed to be this vessel, has been off the port since Tuesday morning, standing off and on, though from some cause or other she had not last night come to the anchorage. A barque, with a large number of passengers on board, probably the same vessel, stood in for the mouth of the Umlazi on Tuesday, and anchored just outside the breakers, about 300 yards from shore. Mr Stafford, with others, went down and telegraphed to her that the port was 12 miles off and she must go to sea, which she did yesterday morning. Had there been any swell, or had the wind set in from the east, her danger would have been imminent. Several residents remained on the beach all night, fearing the possibility of a catastrophe'.4
The Jan Van Brakel reached Port Natal safely, but having lost both her anchors, others were supplied from shore. The Natal Mercury of 21 July 1859 reported: 'This vessel brings nearly fifty Dutch immigrants, who seem likely to turn out hardworking industrious settlers' and listed the passengers as follows:
- Mr G Freislich
- Mr & Mrs Freriks [sic; Freriksen] & child
- Mr & Mrs Gielink & 5 children
- Mr & Mrs Warsink [sic; Wassink] & 4 children
- Mr & Mrs Weber & 4 children
- Mr & Mrs Reuterink & 4 children
- Mr & Mrs Bouwmeister
- Mr & Mrs Kusteroff
- Messrs. Velthuizen, ... (illegible), Bank(?), Wantink, Hanning, Bendink, Bakking (Makkink?), Van Hasteroff & Theunissen.
Goods carried included 100 boxes of pipes, a case of cigars, 36 cases of cheese, 1 anvil, 2 vices, 4 iron rasps, 1 grindstone, a wagon, a cart and 10 pieces of 'machinery'.
The Hermanus Isaak made a second voyage from Amsterdam to Natal in 1860, arriving on 8 July with 43 passengers. It was reported that 'the continued shoal state of the Bar' had resulted in the Hermanus Isaak touching on the Bar as she entered the inner anchorage, 'though drawing only eight feet of water'.
Port Captain William Bell's handwritten list of her passengers, compiled 11 July 1860, includes: Cabin:
- Mr & Mrs Canisius (?), 3 children & servant (latter travelled steerage)
- 5 children of the Rev M Postma Steerage:
- Mr & Mrs Schoon & 8 children
- Mr & Mrs Hoogvorst & 7 children (JJ Hoogvorst)
- Mr & Mrs L. Kroep & 3 children, & Mrs Kroep snr.
- Mr H Bussenraker
- Mr Karel van Vollenhoven
- Mr Jan de Waal
- Mr J Hagenins
- Mr H Meerdonk
- Mr BH Albers
- Mr A Bier
Approximately ninety Dutch emigrants had settled at New Gelderland between the Nonoti and Sinkwazi Rivers by 1860. TC Colenbrander had already put a large area of land under sugar, and a 20 horse-power steam mill was in operation, manufacturing sugar for export. George Stewart, a Scottish engineer, was employed at the mill from 1862.
In the same year, William Karel Ente, who arrived in Natal on the Prins Frederick der Nederlanden in 1857, published a 40-page booklet (written in Dutch) describing New Gelderland in glowing terms. He mentions its crystal clear rivers, rich soil and its suitability for the cultivation of sugar cane.