A mystery!

posted in: InfoRequests 32

I wonder if anyone can help out with an question about the location of  a gold mine in Bellair which was  first raised by Graham Brown on this site a couple of years ago. I did forward the question to Durban history buff Donald Davies who is interested in gold mines in the Durban area and he recently got back to me to report that he had made no progress on the location. He asked if there was anyone out there who knew where the mine was; perhaps a former firemen who remembers the cat incident.

Graham wrote:

As a child I recall hearing of a Gold Mine situated in or near Blairmont Avenue in Bellair which had actually produced a few ounces, or maybe a few grams, of gold before it was closed. The hole must have remained for some time because I remember, as a child, my parents discussing a newspaper article about cat that fell into the hole and had to be rescued by the fire brigade!

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32 Responses

  1. derek austin
    | Reply

    Having lived near Coedmore quarries I would suggest that the shaft would be one sunk as a test hole looking at the quality of the rock underground and would be surprised to find any gold being discovered there. I have a number of friends who grew up in that area and will make some enquiries.

  2. Keith Gardiner
    | Reply

    I too recall hearing about the gold mine in that exact Blairmont avenue area when I was a kid, living in Bellair in the late 50’s. In those days, the area was largely bush as was the Dickens road to Coedmore quarry area! I will ask my Mom (who is in her nineties) and lived in the Bellair/Hillary areas as a child as well.

    • Donald Davies
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      Allan San,
      I came across this entry in the Annals of BellAir written by the BellAir Womens Institute, namely a Ms Joyce Roach, … quote
      ‘There is a story about two bros. who lived at the old BellAir Hotel way back in 1880’s, they had a GoldMine which is supposed to have been … behind the Hotel, and they actually produced gold’.

      Donald

    • Gerald Buttigieg
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      Can’t help with this but located the Bellair Hotel (if it still exists) at 956 Sarnia Road. That was in 1938 and still there in 1968.

    • Keith Gardiner
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      I asked my mother about this but she cannot recall any tales about it so I’m not sure who I’d heard about it from. Possibly my aged Aunt who is long gone. She was a regular diner at the Bellair Hotel for their delicious Sunday Roast!

      So, there nevertheless seems to be some evidence that a gold-mine once existed!

    • Rob Turrell
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      Keith, who owned bellair farm? Do you remember Highfield? Who owned it? Rob

  3. Carolyn
    | Reply

    Can anyone give me any information about The history of Bellair Primary school?
    My son has a project to do and we cant find any info on the internet!

    • Donald Davies
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      ROACH, Joyce M. The history of Bellair School, 1872-1981. Durban,
      Knox, 1982.

  4. Hazel Culverwell
    | Reply

    Joyce Roach was a sister to Ken Tebbut. The Federation of Women’s Institutes in Pietermartizburg should have a copy of the Area Annals of Bellair..

    • Khaleel Kazi
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      Hi Hazel Culverwell ,
      How can I access the Annals of Bellair.
      Many thanks
      kind regards
      Khaleel Kazi

  5. Barry C Roper
    | Reply

    There were several Gold mines from Bellair to Paradise Valley. A Pit mine was in the Blairmont Rd area. Another at the base of the cliffs along the Umbilo river. Another one in the Moseley area and the last one near Paradise Valley. This is the info that I got from my eldest Brother Roland Roper. Our Great Grandfather bought himself out of the Army after the Zulu War and built the first Bellair Hotel. When he died our Grandfather took over and proceeded to drink the place into bankruptcy. My Dad sold up and moved to Doonside in 1968 and as a child he would tell us about the mines and that they closed because there was not enough gold to make them profitable. He never gave us the exact location for fear that we would try and enter them. There was a lot of Iron Pyrites (Fools Gold) in the area as well

  6. Malcolm
    | Reply

    interesting conversations

  7. E Chetty
    | Reply

    could someone please tell me what was Bellair first called (2 names) as well as a short history of Bellair, my kids need it for a project

  8. Gerald Buttigieg
    | Reply

    Hi E Chetty
    Quoting from The History of Bellair School 1872-1981 by Joyce M Roach.
    Quote : “in 1820 Alexander Harvey Biggar as leader of a party of 55 persons set sail on board the “Weymouth” for South Africa. On arrival in May 1820 he and his party were settled near Lombard’s Post in the Eastern Cape. Alexander and his second son, George left for Port Natal in May 1836 to join Robert his eldest son who had settled there 2 years earlier.
    Alexander raised a unit caled the Port Natal Volunteers to assist the Voortrekkers in their cause against the Zulu King …Dingane. In 1838 George was accidentally shot during the Zulu attack on the laagers at Bloukrans River and later Robert was killed while leading a force of Englishmen at the Battle of Tugela. Alexander took part in the Battle of Blood River and was present at the destruction of Dingane’s Royal Kraal. (This was the battle to avenge the murder of Piet Retief and his party). On 27th December 1838 during a skirmish against the Zulus at the White Umfolozi River, Alexander H Biggar was killed.
    Robert Newton Dunn had married Ann Biggar and applied for land for himself and his mother in law, the widow of Alexander H Biggar.
    On 1st December 1847 Grant No 823 was made to Robert Newton Dunn for a piece of land containing “5170 acres situated in the district of Natal being the farm Saunder’s Kraal now called Bell Air ” . This proves that the name Bellair ” existed since 1847 and it was changed from Saunder’s Kraal some years previously. Bellair emanates from the French “Belle Aire” meaning “Beautiful Air”. End of quote.

    Bellair lay outside the original D’Urban boundaries being, the Umbilo River, the Umgeni River, Ridge Road and the Indian Ocean and therefore was regarded a Durban District until about 1932 when Durban’s outlying suburbs were incorporated in to the borough of Durban proper. Durban achieved City status in 1935.
    Hope this helps.

    • Rob Turrell
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      Gerald, do you have a copy of the roach book? Rob

    • Gerald Buttigieg
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      Yes I do Rob.

    • Rob Turrell
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      Gerald, does Roach say anything about when Bellair farm 823 was subdivided? Apparently the natal land and colonisation company bought the full 5,000 or so acre farm in 1869. Highfield house was built on a subdivision of Bellair 823 but I would like to know when. I have an ancestor living at Highfield, Malvern in 1905. Rob

    • Gerald Buttigieg
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      Hi Rob here is a copy of the page mentioning Bellair Farm 823 from tye Roach book. Extract from Roach book

    • Rob Turrell
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      Thanks Gerald

  9. les
    | Reply

    Gerald Buttigeg, thank you for your info. I presently live in one of Robert Newton Dunns homes, his son was te famous Great White Zulu, John Dunn.

  10. Ajay Bhoopchand
    | Reply

    My paternal grandfather owned the properties on both sides of Stella Road on the corner of Stella and Sarnia Road, Hillary. He owned a further property on Waverley Road, Bellair. These properties were lost through the Group Areas Act. He owned a fleet of buses which operated from the western part of the Hillary property and a general dealer on the eastern part of that Sarnia Road/Stella Road corner. They traded under the name of Ballaram and Sons and Umhlatuzana Bus Services. I wonder if anyone (like Keith Gardner) has any memories of this family and if they are willing to share them with me. I am trying to compile a history of the paternal side of the family and would welcome any anecdotes about them.

  11. Keith
    | Reply

    So sorry Ajay but I never received any notification of your post.
    Indeed I remember Ballaram and sons, although I was but a child/youth at the time.
    We lived in Dickens road, Bellair and whenever large items were needed to be delivered there, “Ballaram” was called in. At one time, my mom owned a second-hand shop in Umbilo and attended auction-sales where-after “Ballaram” delivered the goods to her shop and to her clients.
    If I remember correctly, they also sold fruit and veggies once a week or so (this would have been in the 50’s/early 60’s) and would drive right up to our house in a long truck with suitably angled wooden shelves, with compartments on the back which, with wooden, drop-down sides, displayed the products on offer. From my infant’s low-attitude height, I can still remember the old drive-shaft of the truck spinning erratically as it climbed up our driveway as well as the evocative smells of fresh produce and herbs. I think that the truck’s cab was an avocado-green colour, with stripes of rust here and there…..it was an oldie!
    I remember the premises of Ballarams and sons on the corner of Stella and Sarnia roads too as it was directly opposite the shop that sold everything, but whose name I’ve forgotten. (Malatzkies?) and next door to the Ballaram General dealers and from there, to a small shop selling sweets and general food products, then a step up to doctors rooms then the Hillary Garage. At Ballarams General Dealers, we bought our billie-cans, pen-knives and assorted stuff that we outdoorsy kids loved so much.
    Anyway, the main premises had a large open truck-bay opening right onto the northern corner which seemed pretty vast to a youngster and it smelled of trucks and rubber tyres, and curry and coriander and on the northern, Sarnia road side were dwellings, double-storied I think, and on the western Stella rd side was perhaps more parking spaces for the trucks.
    I also remember the Umhlatuzana Bus Services which seemed to run from Sarnia rd and then head in the direction of Cato Manor where there was a large Indian community along a smaller road from near Bellair station.
    Please email me if you require more clarification.

  12. Keith
    | Reply

    Rob Turrell. “Keith, who owned bellair farm? Do you remember Highfield? Who owned it? Rob”

    Sorry I don’t know. My great-grandparents (She was Sarah Ann McDonald, and he was John E Williams (his people came from Yorkshire)) then our great aunt and uncle (the Thomas and Annie Bells) lived in what was obviously a very old and rambling house (mainly wood and iron) that was situated along the ridge between Dickens road and Woodlands avenue in Bellair and, judging by the rusty-roof displayed on Google-earth, it still exists. It was called Ovalau back then. Why, I don’t know. All I do know is that there is an island in the Fiji Archipelago so named.
    Our family lived at 60 Dickens road, now 3 plots west of said older house and it was also very old, but was Victorian-esque brick and mortar and I see that it was recently completely re-roofed and that the acres of trees which my grandfather (John Cowden) planted seem to still exist between the house and Angle road. My Scottish-born grandfather bought the house and 25 acres around it and, over the years, he sub-divided it and created the plots for the houses on the eastern side of Woodlands avenue, Angle road, Middleton crescent and western side of Dickens road. I can only guess that he had bought a subdivision of the original Saunders’s Kraal. This would have been around the early nineteen-twenties or so because my Mom, who passed away in 2020 at the grand old age of 99, told me that they had moved there from a house located behind Hillary Primary School when she was eighteen months old. She also wrote: “Father bought twenty five acres of land, plus a ;large house, a small cottage and lots of sheds for fifteen hundred pounds. The land was between Woodlands road and Dickens road. On one side it ran from Sarnia road down Woodlands road, and on the other, there was a gap between Sarnia road and the start of Tinto.. Father had the land facing Woodlands road surveyed, and sold off the plots. The one on the corner of Sarnia and Woodlands was bought by the Goodsells, and there was a fuss about this – the non-Asiatic clause forbade the buying of land by Indians and others of colour. They were coloured, but they were allowed to stay, and never gve any bother, which had been expected.”
    ‘Papa’ John Cowden had named his property Tinto after a hill he knew back in Scotland.
    Also of interest is this: Wilhelmina Dickens ran a dairy after she had married Bert Bydawell and they owned hundreds of acres from the top of Angle road all the way down to the Little Umhlatuzana river. The main house there was a magnificent Victorian/Colonial masterpiece. Always wondered why Dickens road was so-named! I can’t see on GE if the lovely houses still exist, now of course, surrounded by suburbia.

    • Rob Turrell
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      Thanks for this, Keith

    • Glen Collingwood
      |

      Hi Keith, I was fascinated to read the bit about Wilhelmina Dickens as I am researching the Dickens family and had a few minutes earlier been reading Alfred Abbot Dickens death notice and probate. Wilhelmina was his daughter. On his death notice it states that he was a fruit farmer in Bellair and I was wondering what kind of fruit was he growing there. Any suggestions? In his will it states he was a carpenter.

  13. Keith
    | Reply

    Highfield I’m not familiar with, and when I search for it on the Chief Surveyor-general’s website, it only shows a farm north of Kokstad with that name.
    The Chief Surveyor-general’s site is here, and after a bit of orientation, it is fairly easy to use. That said, it won’t tell me the origins of the Parent Farm called Saunder’s Kraal. It has worked for me looking up the parent farms in the Transvaal and Cape in the past. Parcel 823 mentioned a bove, pops up under both Bellair and FT823 but it shows the Coedmore area, all south of the Umhlatuzana river so it seems unlikely to be the Bellair farm.Or at least, it is a portion of the original Bellair farm
    https://csggis.drdlr.gov.za/psv/
    Go to “TO VIEW SPATIAL CADASTRAL DATA – CLICK here” and start browsing under “Property Search”.
    Under the “Layer List” button, choose “Chief Surveyor-General” then enable Parent Farm, and whatever else you need to display.

    • Rob Turrell
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      Wow. I’ve used this for Cape Town but thought there was nothing online for Durban. Thanks a bunch, keith

    • Rob Turrell
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      Wow. Thanks a bunch, keith

  14. Keith
    | Reply

    Glen Collingwood, Sorry, I don’t know what fruit he grew. I do recall there being a few isolated plum-trees growing in the bush that surrounded the Bydawell house, though they were usually badly stung.
    On the Angle road side, an Indian family called the Yellapas had a small-holding and grew veggies, pineapples, tomatoes, ginger, mdumbis and bananas and raised poultry and goats. They occasionally brought us goat-curry which was divine, even to my young and tender mouth. I think they were moved off during the Apartheid regime. Grandpa John had brought them onto his original 25 acres so that he could needed only to pay agricultural rates. South of the Bydawell house, another Indian family had a similar set-up out in the middle of the bush, nearby to the Umhlatazana river and Coedmore Quarry.
    I’ve just taken another look at Google earth and see that the Bydawel/Dickens mansion still exists!

  15. Kerry
    | Reply

    Can anyone help with the history of Louch Place in Bellair. It seems this road has seen some really ugly things.

    • Dirk
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      Hi, Kerry. I am also very interested in the history of Louch Place. I grew up in number 15, which as I understand, was one of the first houses in the street. I know of a couple of things that happened there over the years, including a couple of child drownings and house fires, but what makes you say that it had seen some really ugly things? Growing up in that house, I am also convinced that gruesome events must have occurred there.

  16. Pat Bircher
    | Reply

    Hi there, I am researching my late husband’s maternal family tree.His mother’s grandfather was
    Goodwin, and owned a sugar cane farm in Bellair. The farm (place) where he lived was called ‘The Gables’.
    Does anyone have info/photos for me? The timeline is roughly early 1900’s. Thanks in advance.
    Pat Bircher

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