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Posted: Wed Jan 06, 2010 11:37 am

Hi,

Does anyone know the names of the native 'headmen' of Lt Roberts and Lt Vause's troops of the Natal Native Mounted Contingent?

Also does anyone know the christian name of Captain Ayliff of Jantje's troop?

Cheers

Simon

Posted: Wed Jan 06, 2010 8:24 pm

Simon

I thought I could lay my hands on something which would provide an idea of the names of the headmen in those Zikhali troops, but haven't turned anything up in a brief trawl. The search is made a bit longer because the most likely works are frustratingly unindexed, even Paul Thompson's excellent Black Soldiers of the Queen, which really does surprise me. Perhaps someone else here knows the answer, although I feel I should be able to locate the names somewhere, if they are recorded.

Ayliffe's christian name is elusive (as you know) but his initial was G (which you may also already know!) according to Keith Smith's LGOs Relating to the AZW 1879 (Additional Information Supplement) 2005, p205.

Peter

Posted: Wed Jan 06, 2010 10:41 pm

I think, but cannot be certain, that the commander of Jantje's sixth troop of the NNMC, left behind by Durnford at Kranzkop, was George[?] Ayliff. Perhaps Julian might be able to confirm his given name.

The only African NCO in the five NNMC troops led by Durnford to Isandlwana of which I am aware was Nyanda of Roberts' troop.

KIS

Posted: Wed Jan 06, 2010 10:56 pm

Hi Keith/Peter

Thanks for the replies.

I had struggled even to find Ayliff's initial.

I thought that Nyanda was in Raw's Troop, Hlubi kaMota in Hendersons and obviously Simeon Khambula in Davies's Edendale Troop, but I'm probably wrong (as usual.....)

Jantje himself was (I believe) Ayliff's headman.

Cheers

Simon

Posted: Wed Jan 06, 2010 11:02 pm

ps

An 'Ayliff' family lived in Kingwilliamstown at the time of the AZW.

One of its members was -

George Ayliff was born 24 Aug 1856 and was christened 30 Oct 1856 in King Williams Town, Eastern Cape Colony, South Africa.

I wonder, was it him?

Simon

Posted: Thu Jan 07, 2010 1:10 pm

Simon

You are quite correct about the Eastern Cape Ayliffs, one of whom whom was a prominent magistrate in the Xhosa locations prior to and during the Ninth Frontier War of 1877/78. It is, perhaps, possible that Ayliff was brought to Natal by Chelmsford (as he did with the two Lonsdales, and failed to do with von Linsingen) or he might have come for other reasons. He might well also not be the same man, since your Ayliff was quite a young man in 1879 and the magistrate was, I believe, rather older - perhaps his father?

KIS

Posted: Thu Jan 07, 2010 10:04 pm

Simon

A good friend who is very knowledeable on South African matters tells me that he was George Ayliff, the younger son of John Ayliff, the Younger (1821-1878). John was appointed Treasurer of Natal in 1862 and later he was appointed judge of the newly constituted Native Court in 1876. George's father started life as an interpreter and it would follow that George must have been fluent in isiZulu as well.

KIS

Posted: Fri Jan 08, 2010 4:45 pm

Just seen the thread. I can confirm Nyanda-Raw NNH (1), Simeon Kambule-Davies NNH (4), Hlubi Lefitlha kaMote Molife-Henderson NNH (5), Jantje's eldest son (I'll have to check the name)-GEORGE Ayliff NNH (6).
Roberts and Vause's troops I don't have indunas for.
I also have a Capt. Dreiberg taking over from Ayliff from mid- to late January. Any more about him I don't know. Does anyone else?

Posted: Sat Jan 09, 2010 10:37 pm

I found some information in the SA archives a while back concerning John Zulu Mtinkulu. He was claiming he was Native 'Officer' in charge of the Edendale troop, With Kambule as seargeant under him..

Justin

Posted: Sat Jan 09, 2010 11:29 pm

Justin

Good point. I think Paul Thompson - who is likely, I suppose, to be considered the oracle on this particular matter - clarifies the issue:

Timothy Gule appointed John Zulu Mtimkulu the head man of the unit. He was an older man, not one of the larger landowners as were Gule and Msimang. Evidently he was chosen to be the leader in the spiritual sense. In a military sense the leader was Simeon Kambule, the son of the late Elijah Kambule, the second largest landowner in the community. [Then mentions EK, Durnford, 1873, etc, etc].

Describing the departure of the troop, Thompson continues:

A service was held in the church and they were commended to the care of Almighty God. Farewells followed, and were made in silence. In silence, too, the men departed from the village. The Reverend Allsopp and the senior members of the church's Leaders Meeting went at the head of the troop. About three miles down the road they all halted. They uncovered their heads and listened while the Rev Allsopp prayed. The Leaders moved to a side of the road, and Simeon Kambule took charge of the troop. The young troopers saluted the older men, and road on without them to Pietermaritzburg.

I suppose, given the background of the community from which the troops were raised, it was perfectly natural to select both a spiritual leader as well as a military leader, the latter being the man who would lead them at the front. Thompson again:

"A young settler, with some experience in warfare at the Cape, Henry Davies, was assigned to be their officer. Col Durnford appointed Simeon Kambule Sergeant Major, though John Zulu Mtimkulu retained nominal headship of the unit."

"Black Soldiers of the Queen", p12.

Peter

P.S. Apologies for lack of italics in the last quote, and in Thompson's title - can't do it.

Posted: Sun Jan 10, 2010 2:15 am

Peter E

Paul Thompson, if I'm right, appears to be, to you, 'in the know' about the native units, who is author of 'Black Soldiers Of The Queen' (which I've got - excellent book by-the-way ) but, with regret, I have to tell you, he has been (more-or-less) recently demolished in another forum, suggesting that he is an academic, who, (again) more-or-less, doesn't know what he is talking about - not like having a military view of things.

Sadly, I can't point you towards this particular posting, as it was deleted, along with a few others, that appeared then disappeared.

Apparently, his review of a certain book wasn't approved of.

Coll

Posted: Sun Jan 10, 2010 2:16 am

Peter E

Paul Thompson, if I'm right, appears to be, to you, 'in the know' about the native units, who is author of 'Black Soldiers Of The Queen' (which I've got - excellent book by-the-way ) but, with regret, I have to tell you, he has been (more-or-less) recently demolished in another forum, suggesting that he is an academic, who, (again) more-or-less, doesn't know what he is talking about - not like having a military view of things.

Sadly, I can't point you towards this particular posting, as it was deleted, along with a few others, that appeared then disappeared.

Apparently, his review of a certain book wasn't approved of.

Coll

Posted: Sun Jan 10, 2010 3:04 pm

Coll

I am aware that all historians and other scholars attract adverse as well as complimentary comment regarding their work from critics, via reviews, etc. It "goes with the territory", as they say.

I have only a few books by - and/or co-authored by - Paul Thompson, but have learnt much from them. I also have a number of articles published by him in journals and scholarly works. As far as I can judge as a mere reader, all are of sufficient scholarship to convince me that these published works are genuine contributions to our understanding of the history of Natal & Zululand in the 19th century. Again, as a mere reader, I could be wrong here - he might have misinterpreted his sources and therefore come to erroneous conclusions, or (worse) he could even have tried to fit his findings to a pre-conceived agenda. Unless I trawl through the same archives as the author, and others he hasn't consulted, I'll never know.

However, the evidence strongly suggests otherwise. In his numerous published works, the bibliographies, the cited primary sources in his endnotes and the secondary sources referred to, all back up this assumption. The very fact that Prof Laband collaborated with him on quite a few research & publishing projects over a number of years also supports this idea. As far as the quotations in the above post are concerned, the author cites several primary sources among various Natal archive collections, as well as secondary published sources, to support his findings in just these brief paragraphs. I have little doubt that his findings coincide also with Justin's findings above. As a reader, I'm not qualified to assess his scholarship by any other method.

I have read book reviews by him, but only one which was very highly critical of the work being reviewed, so I can guess which one you refer to. PT seemed to be particularly perturbed by claims made in the book by the author and/or his publisher. The author had approached the project from an unusual angle - a welcome development in itself - but the reviewer was not satisfied by his findings or claims, and said so in unequivocal terms. If the author has since defended his work publicly, than that's his prerogative. I haven't seen it, but I would not be in a position to comment materially because I simply don't have the detailed military knowledge, nor have I "examined the ground" as closely as the author did and only a comparatively few others have. Either way, it must have been a difficult work for an academic (or any scholar) to review, whether they had the requisite military knowledge or not, as it is a popular work rather than an academic one and is almost entirely devoid of footnotes and of cited sources.

I think it would be quite difficult for anyone to "demolish" Paul Thompson or his work.

Peter

Posted: Sun Jan 10, 2010 11:46 pm

Peter, I think you've hit the nail on the head when you mention it being natural to appoint both a spiritual and military leader. From the letters JZM felt he was in charge but the likes of Henderson was saying it was Kambule. The conclusion was not clear.

All was written some time after the War when JZM wished a uniform and for his campaign medal to reflect his status within the NNH.

On Paul Thompson, I've found his work fantastically useful, especially the one concerning the NNC - I am presuming that ' Black Soldiers of the Queen' is a reissue of 'The Natal Native Contingent in the Anglo Zulu War' ?

Justin

Posted: Mon Jan 11, 2010 12:34 pm

Justin

Yes, the former title remains the sub-title of the more recent work. That's interesting, Mtimkulu's claim for a medal, etc. Many "loyal" African units who took part in campaigns against the Zulu between 1879 & 1906 didn't receive the awards they'd been promised when they formed up.

These Edendale leaders such as Msimang and Gule, in fact the whole contingent, were remarkable men, not just because the members of their community owned or leased their own large parcels of land, but they had lived all over the place during the previous 30/40 years (Swaziland, OFS, Basutoland, northern Natal) and had very mixed origins - Swazi, Sotho, Hlubi, Tswana, Xhosa etc., etc. - and many of them had followed Allison to Edendale from both Mpharane and Swaziland. Their inter-marriages at Edendale - and presumably before - created such an ethnic mixture that it is difficult to work out exactly what they were by 1879, other than (obviously) Wesleyan kholwa!

Yes, I've also found all Thompson's work that I've read very helpful.

Peter