| Notes |
- PRIVATE
- Thomas Burchmore was married to Mary Walton in Caddington, Bedfordshire on May 23, 1841. His profession was listed as "Grocer", residence Market Street (possibly "Markyate Street" the 19th century name for the present day town of Markyate). Mary's father was a carpenter.
Thomas Burchmore emigrated to South Africa as a Byrne Settler - part of the scheme set up by Byrne to bring settlers to Natal. He had the misfortune to travel to Natal on the «i»Minerva«/i» which was wrecked on the bluff on arrival at Port Natal. All the passengers were saved, but lost their possessions.
He died in Ladysmith in 1890 cause of death Enlarged Prostate and Uremic Poisoning
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In Nov 11 1873, after the death of his sister-in-law Anne, the Court ordered her seven children be placed in the guardianship of their cousin Charles Norton. It was stated that Thomas (who would rightfully have been next of kin) had not been heard from for seven years.
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MINERVA from "Natal Settler-Agent" by John Clark.
This ship, the largest of the Byrne emigrant vessels, (987 tons) is perhaps the best-remembered because of her spectacular wreck on a reef below the Bluff. She had also the largest number of emigrants, 267 souls. There was a valuable cargo aboard..... Most valuable of all was a new surf boat...carried as deck cargo. Moreland wrote "The boat by the Minerva was the means of saving the majority of lives, and it cannot be considered otherwise than a most providential circumstance that the boat came with her, as all that were landed by her must have been lost...". The ship, master Captain Moir, sailed from London on 26 April 1850, taking...67 days to reach Port Natal where she anchored in the roadstead on 3 July, near the «i»Conquering Hero«/i», itself newly arrived on 28 June. Moreland went out to the ship to meet his wife Ann, his daughter Isabella (aged 15) and his son Edgar (aged 10), whom he had not seen for 15 months. ... The next day , 4 July, he off-loaded a number of passengers and sat up
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Extracts from the entry for Burchmore in "British Settlers in Natal 1824-1857" by Shelagh O'Byrne Spencer:
His allotments were at Byrne, viz. Lot 65 «i»Dunbar«/i» (55 acres) and 8 Block F in Byrne village. Burchmore did not settle on this land and as late as Sep 1873 had not claimed it. In that month under Law 4, 1872, it became liable to forfeiture to the Government.
Initially the Burchmores remained in Durban and their two children were at the Durban Government School in the period July - December 1850. Their names do not appear on any later list of pupils, so possibly the Burchmores then left Durban.
It is not known what trade Burchmore followed while at the port. He had been entered in the Minerva passenger lists as a carpenter, but does not appear to have worked in this line once in Natal. [«i»IVZ: Elsewehere in the book it says that professions were often misrepresented, because the Government supplied quotas of certain occupations to J.C. Byrne that he had to fill as part of his agreement«/i»]
By the end of 1852 Burchmore was employed as a constable in Pietermaritzburg. His address at this time was erf 1 Greyling Street. In April 1853 the Pietermaritzburg police force was reduced, six constables being retrenched. Burchmore was one of the five retained.
The last reference to him as a police constable dates to June 1853 when the five constables appealed to the Lt.-Governor for an increase in their 3 pounds per month salary. Any action in this matter was beyond the powers of the Lt.-Governor however, as the town's police came under the authority of the Municipal Commissioners.
Burchmore was a foundation member of the Natal Carbineers in 1855.
He is next encountered in May 1856 when P.B. Shortt ceded to him the lease of part of erf 5 Longmarket Street which he had subleased from W.T. Kershaw. James O'Brien was the owner of this property. Burchmore was by this time a butcher. In this year, 1857, he applied for a grant farm in the Lower Umkomanzi region.
By March 1858 he had gone insolvent. In June his creditors agreed that he retain his household furniture, the tools of his trade, and his wearing apparel. In October 1859 his farm «i»Hartwell«/i» (615 acres) was disposed of in his insolvent estate, and in the following April, three erfs in Richmond were similarly dealt with. «i»Hartwell«/i» was the coastal grant he had applied for in 1857. In November 1860 his liquidation and distribution account was confirmed by the Supreme Court.
Burchmore continued working as a butcher during his insolvency and afterwards. The 1863 «i»Natal Almanac«/i» carries his advertisement as a butcher - his address was still 5 Longmarket Street. By this time the premises occupied belonged to C.W. Mayne. In August of this year Burchmore's house on this property was destroyed by fire.
In July 1866 he was still a butcher in Pietermaritzburg but owned property in Greytown leased by the auctioneer David Adamson. Burchmore was renting part of Pietermaritzburg's Townlands in the Zwartkop valley by July 1867.
By March 1871 he was in Ladysmith. In this month he was appointed Poundmaster for the town, a post he was to hold until about June 1881. At the same time he continued his occupation as a butcher. He appears in the 1888 «i»Natal Almanac«/i» as a butcher of Ladysmith, but in a protocol executed in July 1888 he describes himself as a contractor (?supplying meat to the Government)
The 1872-73 Klip River jury list lists him as a renter of property, whereas the voters' rolls for 1874-75 and 1876-77 list him as an owner. It is known he possessed erf 1 Block V in Ladysmith, but this became his property only in July 1888.
He made his will on 14 August 1890 and died 6 days later. His executors were his daughter Mary Ann and Edward Clayton St. John Kneller.
Burchmore's wife was Mary Walton (c. 1813 - 16 September 1889, Ladysmith). Was she related to the Rev. James Walton? The Burchmores and the Waltons both emigrated on the «i»Minerva«/i», and two of the Walton sons, J.C. and J.W. also lived in Ladysmith. Burchmore's son Thomas Walton was in Ladysmith as early as July 1870, in which month he witnessed the will of J.C. Walton.
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In an adendum, Shelagh Spencer notes that in 1882 he was the owner of the Crown Hotel in Ladysmith.
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Reference is made to Thomas Burchmore's bankruptcy in 1858. In his book "Natal Settler-Agent", Dr. John Clark remarks on the fact that bankruptcy was not uncommon at the time. "Refereence has been made to the significant number of bankruptcies which took place in Natal. They are a significant indication of the difficulties of making a living in an underdeveloped settlement where ready money was scarce"
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There is an interesting description of Durban in 1858. One wonders what the first impression of the Burchmores would have been, when they arrived from their orderly English village of Flamstead:
(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 sand hills 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."
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Thomas Burchmore is occasionally mentioned in the Natal Witness.
July 11, 1851: Due to uncertainty as to where he resides, he is asked to contact the Post Office in Durban about mail waiting for him (along with several other settlers)
March 27, 1863: His horse "Tom Bowling" took part in a race and came first
April 3, 1863: His horse "Ruby" ran a race against Mr Marshall's "Chance"
Sept 25, 1863: His horse "Tom Tit" entered in the Farmers Handicap
March 1, 1882: Attended a meeting to decide whether Ladismith should be subject to the provisions of the "Small Towns" act. Also present were Mr Alexander Macpherson and Mr Thomas Walton Burchmore.
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1818 - 1890 (72 years)
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