Hi again, Alec Had a look at your site and very interesting, though I realise that, as you say, it is a work in progress. In my view, family history research never ends! There will always be more to discover. I should mention that I have a particular interest in the Indian Immigrants who came in as indentured labour, mostly destined for the sugar plantations but also for the railways and other industries. One of the problems associated with finding information on these immigrants is the spelling of names as recorded on arrival as well as changes to names after arrival in Natal. Naturally, in the process of handwriting details of each immigrant at the port into the registers, the clerks often misspelt the names, not understanding - and perhaps, in what must have been chaotic conditions, making no effort to understand - the various dialects. The original registers (most of them have survived though there are some gaps) are held at Durban Archives, but because these were in fragile condition a volunteer project undertook the huge task of transcribing the data, eventually producing an index on CD. The CD is available from the Genealogical Society of SA (it is CD 811 entitled 'Indian Migrants to Natal'). Using this index I have had some success in tracing the origins of descendants in several cases. Looking briefly at the index this morning I don't find the name SEEKOLA at all as you spell it, but there is a couple, man and wife probably, whose name is spelled SEEKOLU. What is intriguing is that the employer to whom they were allotted was the Natal Government Railways. These two people arrived in Durban in September 1907 on the ship 'Umkuzi'; port of departure was Madras. I would say it was almost certain that they would have been located at the Railway Barracks in Somtseu Road. The index is helpful, but not necessarily a magic solution because of the number of variables - the names are only one area of difficulty. Generally if the indentured or so-called 'colonial number' is known, it is easy to identify the correct immigrant. Without that, we have to use details such as father's name, district of origin in India etc etc to come up with probable contenders. This index should be used in conjunction with other sources such as deceased estate files held at archives. You or your family may already have made use of such sources, but I mention them in case not. I don't know if you have read the recent book entitled 'Injustice' by Vijay Maharaj - I worked closely with Vijay on his family history. The book is currently in the bookstores - ISBN 978 1 4196 7877 6 Another fairly recent publication is 'Inside Indenture' by Ashwin Desai and Goolam Vahed. ISBN 1 874945 23 3 I would say that Vijay's book is an intensely personal journey, while the Desai book is more academic in approach. Both are recommended reading for anyone with an interest in the Indentured Immigrants. best, Rosemary www.genealogyworld.net
These MAY be our original ancestors that set foot in South Africa.
I am still researching by interviewing the remaining older people from Railway Barracks.
Register No: 134528 (aka 'colonial number')
Name/s: SEEKOLU APPIAH
Father: S APPIAH
Age: 36
Sex: Male
Caste: Mala
Zillah: GODAVARI
Thanna: PEDDAPURAM
Village: KANDRAKOTA
Arrived: Sep 1907
Ship: Umkuzi XXVI (i.e. 26th voyage of this ship)
Port of Departure: Madras
Employer: Natal Government Railways
NOTE : Zillah = Province of origin in India, Thanna = nearest big town
Register No: 134529
Name/s: SEEKOLU GONTHI
Father: VENKETASADU
Age: 28
Sex: Female
Caste: Mala
Zillah: GODAVARI
Thanna: PEDDAPURAM
Village: KANDRAKOTA
Arrived: Sep 1907
Ship: Umkuzi XXVI
Port of Departure: Madras
Employer: Natal Government Railways
Register No: 134528 (aka 'colonial number')
https://malasinformation.wordpress.com/2011/10/28/malas-history/
http://indculture0.tripod.com/mala.htm