Burchmore family in Ladysmith
Thomas Burchmore was born in Flamstead, Herts., England on April 26, 1818 and was the son of George Burchmore and Ann Norton, of Roe End Farm. Thomas married Mary Walton in Caddington, Bedfordshire on May 23, 1841, his profession at the time was listed as “Grocer”, residence Market Street. Mary’s father was a carpenter.
Thomas and Mary Burchmore emigrated to South Africa as a Byrne Settlers together with their three children, Mary Anne, Thomas Walton and Bessie. Mary was pregnant and would give birth to Louisa at sea. They sailed from London on the Minerva (987 tons) on April 26, 1850, taking 67 days to reach Port Natal where she anchored in the roadstead on July 3, near the Conquering Hero, herself newly arrived from Glasgow on June 28.
Several passengers were disembarked immediately but family lore has it that the Burchmores remained on board. At about 11:30 pm on July 4, the Minerva lost her main anchor and was driven onto the bluff. All the passengers were saved and again, family lore has it, they were able to rescue baby clothes, but most of their possessions were lost.
Newly arrived on the Conquering Hero was the young Alexander Jamieson Macpherson whose son Frederick was destined to marry Bessie’s daughter Bessie Helen. On the Minerva was the young Mary Ann Richards who was the future wife of Alexander Macpherson. All would end up in Ladysmith.
Thomas Burchmore’s allotments were at Byrne but he did not settle on this land and as late as September 1873 had not claimed it. By the end of 1852, Burchmore was employed as a constable in Pietermaritzburg, living at 1 Greyling Street and in June 1853, was still a constable. In 1855, he was a founder member of the Natal Carbineers but by May 1856 he was a butcher in Pietermaritzburg.
By March 1858 he was insolvent, though he continued working as a butcher during his insolvency and afterwards. The 1863 Natal Almanac carries his advertisement as a butcher still at 5 Longmarket Street and in July 1866 he was still a butcher in Pietermaritzburg.
By April 1870 he was in Ladysmith and applied, to the Resident magistrate, for permission to erect a gallows for the slaughter of oxen in Ladysmith’s Townlands near the river. Permission was granted, provided ”no nuisance” was created and no blood or offal was deposited into the river. He was employed as a clerk, afterwards working as a law agent and conveyancer and in July 1874 he was appointed to act as Officer for the Sale of Gunpowder, Ladysmith. From 1877 to 1878 he lived for a while in Harrismith, but by the time of the Anglo-Zulu War he was back in Natal and, in January 1879, was commissioned as Quartermaster of Carbutt’s Border Rangers. By 1888 he was one of three trustees of the Ladysmith Building, Investment and Loan Society. He appears in the 1888 Natal Almanac as a butcher of Ladysmith and by 1882 was the proprietor of the Crown Hotel.
On November 11, 1873, after the death in England of his sister-in-law Anne, the Court ordered her seven children be placed in the guardianship of their cousin Charles Norton. It was stated that Thomas (who would rightfully have been next of kin) had not been heard from for seven years. So he apparently lost contact with his family in England, although this must have been re-established, because in 1883 his nephew, John Coulson Burchmore one of the seven children alluded to, emigrated to Natal and stayed with his cousin Helen in Ladysmith. It is also known that Bessie Burchmore visited the old family home in Flamstead in 1913 together with her husband William Bamber and her daughter Norah.
Thomas Burchmore made his will on 14 August 1890 and died 6 days later.
Thomas Burchmore’s wife was Mary Walton who may have been related to the Rev. James Walton who also emigrated on the Minerva and two of the Walton sons, J.C. and J.W. also lived in Ladysmith. Thomas’s son, Thomas Walton, was in Ladysmith as early as July 1870, in which month he witnessed the will of J.C. Walton
Mary Ann Burchmore married William Glendinning Cox and after his death she moved to Ladysmith, where in October 1888 she was making a living as a boarding house keeper.
John Coulson Burchmore was Thomas Burchmore’s nephew, the son of his younger brother, John Norton Burchmore. He emigrated to Natal in 1883 where he stayed with his cousin Helen (Nell) Clark (born Cox) in Ladysmith. He was married to Ida Fanny Tandy at All Saints Church, Ladysmith, by Archdeacon Barker, and then moved to Johannesburg, where he became an Auctioneer