Dundee, South Africa

History

• The Boers reported surface coal here and named one of the streams Steenkoolspruit (Dutch for Coal Stream).
• Peter Smith, a Scottish settler started sending wagonloads of coal which was discover close to the surface to be sold in Pietermaritzburg. This actually started the coal industry in Natal.
• The first geological survey of the Natal coalfields was made in 1880 and proved that there were workable coal deposits.
• In 1882 a town was laid out and named after Smiths Scottish hometown Dundee.
• Smith with partners Dugald MacPhail and Charles Wilson floated the Dundee Coal and Estate Company on the London Stock Exchange in 1899.
• The British start massing troops at Dundee and was given an ultimatum by the Boers to remove the troops. On 20 October 1899, the first shots of the Boer War were fired. The news of this battle hit the headlines in Britain, the "Battle of Glencoe", which was corrected the following day to the "Battle of Dundee" and on the third day to the "Battle of Talana." It was on the slopes of Talana Hill that the British army troops wore khaki uniforms for the first time in battle. After the battle, the British troops retired to Ladysmith and Boer forces occupied the town, renaming it Meyersdorp. This occupation lasted seven months. Dundee was relieved after the battle of Helpmekaar in May 1900.
• The town's folk who had left before or shortly after the battle returned and the town began to flourish again. Dundee soon emerged as a boomtown graced with stately homes and the first theatre north of Port Natal (Durban).
• Pioneer traders from the Indian sub-continent settled here during the following decade, when Dundee became the meeting place of seven roads into the hinterland and coast of Africa.

Triva

• The battles of Isandlwana, Blood River and Rorke's Drift are near the town.
• The site where the last heir to the Bonaparte dynasty died is also nearby.
• The last pre-Boer War theatre extant in KwaZulu-Natal, the Boswells can be found here.

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