SEA VIEW GOVERNMENT SCHOOL (1940 -1947)
CLASS / STANDARD - YEAR - PRINCIPAL - CLASS TEACHER
1 - 1940 - Mr T A Blakeley - Miss PE Turrell married a Mr Batterson
2 - 1941 - Mr T A Blakeley - Miss EH Jubber - Ms JM Jackson
1 - 1942 - Mr L Llewellyn Gibborn - Ms J N M Anderson
2 - 1943 - Miss Olive Fitzgerald - Ms R Downes - Ms VB Suter
3 - 1944 - Mr Nilsen Palmer - Miss JM Sutherland
4 - 1945 - Mr C Selwyn-Smith - Ms I L Miller
5 - 1946 - Mr C Selwyn-Smith - Ms DB Stocks
6 - 1947 - Mr C Selwyn-Smith - Ms G S Neve
Afrikaans Teacher - Mr Wolmerans
Woodwork Teacher - Mr
Note: Circa 1918 Mr C Selwyn-Smith taught David Larsen's mother Ivy Jones at Addington Primary School. The school was near the Durban South Beach close to Point Road.
SEA VIEW SCHOOL - ROYAL VISIT
During the Royal Visit to South Africa two trees were planted in the upper playground of the Sea View (Seaview) Government School. Planting the "Boys Tree" are David Larsen (with spade) and Richard Askham. Mr Wolmerans (kneeling) supervises. The school Headmaster Mr C Selwyn-Smith is standing in the background. (Kneeling behind the left hand blackboard is one of two pupils planting the "Girls Tree")
Sea View, Natal: circa 1836
(Excerpt from DUNLOP pages 174-177)
Robert Newton Dunn (1796-1847) arrived in Natal circa 1836 and purchased the deceased James Collis' farm Sea View in 1838. Where he built a magnificent house and premises at South Coast Junction (now Rossburgh). One of Dunn's properties was Saunder's Kraal, renamed Bellair (5170 acres) After Dunn's death at age 51 his wife continued to live at Sea View. She laid claim to five 3000 acres farms between the Umlazi and Umbilo rivers. (see 1842 Map)
John Dunn, son of Robert Newton Dunn, was granted 10 000 acres of land by Zulu king Cetshwayo after the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879. John Dunn, a white Scottish trader, had married into a leading Zulu family. John Dunn died in 1885.
Durban, Natal: 1858
(Excerpt from Reminiscences of Old times in P. M. Burg by William James (in the Natal Archives) as printed in More Annals of Natal by A.F. Hattersley.)
"On the 25th March 1858, I arrived in Natal by the sailing ship Quathlamba of 400 tons burthen, in command of Captain Harrison, leaving London docks on the 12th December 1857.
Vessels arriving in those days had to anchor in the outer anchorage, as there was never more than four or five feet of water on the Bar. Passengers were towed into port in a lighter, and carried to shore on the back of a native, as no landing stages or wharves then existed. This operation had its amusing side, especially to the lady passengers.
The Point at this time looked anything but inviting to newcomers, with only one permanent building, the Custom House; and some ramshackle wooden buildings in the occupation of a couple of landing agents. Huge sandhills abounded almost to the water's edge. As no hardening had yet been done, the ground was a deep loose sand. A narrow causeway, about 12 feet wide, had been cut through the natural bush to enable loaded ox-waggons and carts to reach Durban. Not more than two or three sailing vessels arrived at the Port per month.
In order to give a true picture of what Durban was like in 1858, I can best describe it just as a sandy flat. The Town gardens were an open piece of waste ground, the wind having full play on the fine sand, creating sand drifts. An open drain extended extended from vacant land, then called "the Flat", across central West Street and emptying itself into the Bay. This was Milne's drain. The "back beach," as it was then called, was almost blocked by a high mound of sand, which was added to on every occasion of a strong wind. The beach facing the outer anchorage was seldom, if ever, free from wrecks.
Grey Street was the boundary of Durban, and beyond was a fairly dense bush. The large trees harboured a number of small monkeys. The whole of the Berea was covered with thick bush in which grew very large indigenous trees which were the source of supplies of firewood to the residents of Durban."
History of Durban by Peter Johnston
Durban lies in the Province of KwaZulu-Natal which is the ancestral home of the Nguni people. Probably the first European to have sight of the bay around which Durban was to develop was Vasco De Gama on his pioneering sea voyage to India in 1497. There were other brief visits to Durban, mainly by shipwrecked sailors, but nothing of real importance happened for centuries. The European settlement of South Africa began in Cape Town in 1652 with the arrival of Jan Van Riebeeck to provide a half way halt for ships of the Dutch East Indian Company. It subsequently fell under British rule and it was from Cape Town in 1823 that Captain Owen of the Royal Navy sailed, being charged with a survey of the southeast coastline. A favourable report was made of the Bay as being the best site to establish a port to trade with the local Nguni. A trading company was floated in Cape Town which received the blessing of the Governor of the Cape, and in 1824 about 30 Europeans settled in Durban with the purpose of trading in skins and ivory.
At this time all the Nguni tribes had been united under Shaka who was the King of the Zulus. Shaka had great powers of leadership, was a brilliant military tactician but was ruthless to his enemy. When the White traders arrived there were very few black tribes between the Tugela River to the north and the Umzimvubu River to the south. In the Durban area there were about 200 refugees from the Luthuli clan who lived on the headland to the south of the Bay referred to as the Bluff.
The party of Europeans made immediate contact with Shaka who granted them a section of land of about 35 kilometres along the coast and 160 kilometres inland. The small settlement barely survived and by the end of 1824 only six were left. This number gradually increased over the years until in 1835 seventeen men gathered at the home of F. Berkel for a meeting under the chairmanship of Captain Alan Gardiner who had established a mission which he named Berea. At this meeting it was decided to name the small settlement DOUrban after Sir Benjamin DOUrban who was Governor of the Cape Colony at that time. In 1838 Dingane, who had succeeded Shaka in 1828 gave all the territory between the Tugela River and the Umzimkulu River to Boers who were people mainly of Dutch descent who had trekked overland from the Cape to escape British rule and were looking for land to farm. They established their capital in Pietermaritzburg, about 90 kilometres inland from Durban. The Boer Republic of Natalia was founded and Durban was considered part of it.
Tension between Boer and Brit reached a head when Captain Smith was sent to Durban with a small force of soldiers with instructions to keep the peace between the Zulus and the Boers. This was resisted by the Boers and the small British force was defeated by them at the Battle of Congella and besieged in their camp. There followed an epic ride by Dick King who undertook the journey on horseback to Grahamstown, in the Cape Colony nearly one thousand kilometres to the south to call for reinforcements. In little over a month the siege was lifted, by 1844 the Boer Republic of Natalia was annexed to the Cape and named the Colony of Natal. Most of the Boers left to settle further into the interior of South Africa.
From 1849 to 1851 over 4 000 British settlers came to Natal under a scheme which was devised by Joseph Byrne. There were many businessmen amongst them and from this time onwards the small village of Durban began to progress. Shortly after this event it was found that sugar was a suitable and profitable crop to grow and the development was rapid. It was this development which prompted the Province to import labourers from India and these in turn were followed by traders. Today their descendents form a very important part of the Durban citizenry. In 1854 the settlement was granted borough status and the first Mayor and Council were elected. By the end of the century Durban had electric lighting, water borne sewerage, water reticulation and hardened roads. The harbour which had caused problems because of the low clearance on entry was finally dredged to sufficient depth to allow large ships entry and from this time onwards Durban progressed to become AfricaOs largest port.
Although Durban was originally founded as a port to trade with the people of KwaZulu-Natal it was fortuitous that gold was discovered in Gauteng (previously known as the Transvaal) in 1886 and it served as a port for the ever increasing population of the hinterland. The first railway line in South Africa was laid out in Durban in 1860 linking the port with the town. During the remainder of the century the railway system was extended and by 1895 the line had reached Johannesburg which was the centre of the gold mining industry. There were also lines to the Free State and to the north and south of Durban. Not only were these lines important for the movement of goods but they also served many passengers and Durban became important as a holiday resort, a position it has retained ever since.
Towards the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century many industries came to Durban. There were industries that were port related such as marine engineering works and stevedoring companies. It was found at that time that Durban was advantageously situated for the manufacture of paint. The long sea haul from England was economical for the importation of many paint components and the shortest route to the major market at Johannesburg was another advantage.
The discovery of coal in the Dundee area of KwaZulu-Natal was a boost to the railway service and enabled Durban to become a major port for the bunkering of ships. The construction of the Maydon Wharf in 1905 increased the capacity of the port still further and the dry dock which was installed shortly thereafter added a further dimension to the port. Today Durban is a very well equipped harbour and the main container port for South Africa.
The population of Durban has always been augmented by the arrival of military personnel during times of war who elect to stay on thereafter. This happened after the Zulu War of 1879, the War of Independence in 1881, the Boer War of 1899-1902 and the two World Wars. Some of these soldiers turned out to be prominent citizens in subsequent years.
Mainly with the advent of the railways, a number of villages sprang up around Durban. Some of them on higher ground or in attractive coastal areas became fashionable residential suburbs and by 1932 the density of the population around DurbanOs boundaries made it logical to incorporate these areas. With this incorporation the surface area of Durban increased almost sixfold and in 1935, one hundred years after the name of Durban was decided on, the town was granted City status.
During the 20th century, the City has witnessed a large increase in industry and a corresponding addition in the unskilled and semi-skilled labour force. From about 1930 onwards this led to an unplanned development of shacks and other dwellings in open spaces around the periphery of Durban. From about 1960 onwards the city responded with a vigorous housing programme which has resettled many of these workers in formal homes in townships around Durban. The apartheid policy of resettlement and the impact it had on city form cannot be ignored. An electric train service is provied to the townships.
From 1996 Durban has once again been enlarged to form a Durban Metropolitan Area which contains over 2.3 million people and which is divided into a series of sub-structures that have independent status.