92/03

MS Shelf: 
WEB
MS Date: 
1879, 19--?
MS Extent: 
4 files
MS File list: 
Online
MS Restriction: 
NOTE: THE ORIGINAL DIARY IS FRAGILE AND MAY NOT BE CONSULTED. CONSULT THE TYPESCRIPT COPY IN FILE 2
MS Historical note: 

James Robert Webster was born in England in 1857 and sailed to Natal in 1879 [aboard the 'Zulu'?]. He worked as a clerk for various firms in Durban. In 1887 he was married in St Cyprian's Church, Durban, to Mary Ann Hammond, whose father had once been Chief Lighthouse Keeper at Port Elizabeth. Three daughters were born of the marriage. Webster bought property in Umbilo Road and the family lived there for about 8 years. He named his house 'Ayott', after his original home at Hatfield in Hertfordshire, England. (There is now an Ayott Road in the area.) The Websters were living at Amersfoort in the Transvaal when the Boer War broke out and they had to leave hurriedly, losing most of their possessions. After another spell in Durban the Websters moved to Pietersburg in the Northern Transvaal where James Webster became a prominent businessman and served as Mayor several times. He died in 1913 of ptomaine poisoning and his widow returned to live in Durban with her daughters.

MS Title: 
James Robert Webster papers
MS Scope and Content: 

The collections comprises 4 files containing an original diary kept by James Robert Webster during a voyage by sailing ship from England to Natal in 1879, papers concerning the Webster family including a family tree, and a collection of 61 photographs mostly of the family.  The photographs include a few of early Durban (one of family at Congella Beach), and scenes in the northern Transvaal (one of Elim Hospital in 1908).

MS Provenance: 
Donation
MS Local system number: 
KCAL351718
MS Physical description: 
manuscript, typescript, photographs

Manuscript Inventory:

INSPIRING GREATNESS