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Research in Other Countries => South Africa => Topic started by: Geordie daughter on Friday 03 April 20 09:56 BST (UK)
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I'm hoping that someone with an interest in railways will be able to tell me when exactly Esperanza Station came into being. From the research I have done so far, it already appears to have been in existence in 1903, before the building of the Stuartstown Line. I have reason to believe that my father's maternal grandfather may have been stationed here some time between 1902 and 1910, when he was a railway clerk with what was then the Natal Government Railways.
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Hi
Had you seen this?
https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/grahamlesliemccallum.wordpress.com/2014/05/16/durbans-railway-stations/amp/
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Yes, I have, Mvann, thank you, and a very interesting site it is too. There are a couple of photos of Esperanza Station on it, but no specifics of when it was built, unfortunately. The Reynolds brothers had a sugar mill and a distillery in the area around Umzinto and Esperanza from at least 1882, as far as I can tell, so presumably the station handled the distribution of the finished goods.
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Have you tried this site https://railways.haarhoff.co.za/ and entered Esperanza or your grandfather's name as a search term as it is a collection of old South African railway magazines.
Dave
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You could try XX , he is a researcher with Durban museums but probably working from home as we are all on lockdown here in SA. He seems to have great knowledge of the area and hope he can help.
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Baddy, thank you for that link. I'll give it a shot, as it may turn up something useful.
Gingerbit, if you don't mind sending me a personal message with the researcher's email in, I'll contact him and see if he's willing to help.
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Dave, the NGR and SAR Magazines proved helpful, though it's a shame the NGR collection only spans a couple of years. The "Staff Changes" pages were the most useful: the SAR's August 1907 issue mentions J. McGregor, timekeeper in the Maintenance Department of the NGR, being transferred from Newcastle to the District Engineer's Office at Ladysmith. The March 1908 issue states that he has resigned from his job which helped to pinpoint exactly when he left the NGR to join Rhodesian Railways - I didn't previously have more than a rough time frame for this.
John seems to have spent quite a lot of time at Ladysmith one way and another: my grandmother believed that he and her mother had actually been present at Ladysmith during the siege, but I am not so sure of that as their first-born child was born in PMB just days after the siege was broken. Presumably, if he was based at Esperanza at any point, it would have been between 1902 and the move to Newcastle.