Hartley Estate in Overport, Durban

By Marimuthu Subramoney A group of descendants of indentured sugar cane labourers who worked for a sugar farmer in the Overport area of Durban have applied for the burial site of their forefathers and mothers to be declared a historical monument. The descendants are members of the Hartley Estate Tamil and Telugu Cemetery Committee, which was established in the early 1990s to honour the memory of their forbears. The cemetery is situated in the Sheringham Road-Lodge Grove area in the heart of Overport. "The burial site was donated in the 1870s by the owner of the sugar estate, William Hartley, who owned about 450 acres in the area," said Mr Kenny Padaychee, chairman of the committee and great-grand-son of Ramalinga Padaychee, who was one of 40 indentured labourers who worked for Mr Hartley. The sugar estate was bounded by Ridge Road and Brickfield Road and extended to Springfield Road. A sugar mill was also built in the area. The sugar mill building is now known as Grayson Building. Some of the first families who worked for Mr Hartley were Viraragulu Coopoosamy,Vellu Elleppen, Ramalinga Padaychee, Muthusamy Pillay, the Ramans, the Perumals, Govindhus, and Maistrys. Most of the indentured labourers were from the Nellore, Vellore and Kanchipurman districts of Tamil Nadu. After the indentured labourers completed their five-year indentures, they became market gardeners, selling their produce at the Early Morning Market in Warwick Avenue and to white families in the Durban area. The former indentured labourers had purchased land from Mr Hartley and from other farmers in the Durban area. A number of others had entered the laundary business and one family, T G Govender, started the first firm of undertakers. Mr Padaychee, whose great-grand-mother is buried at the Hartley Estate cemetery, said the last burials at the cemetery had taken place some 50 years ago. "Over the past few decades the cemetery had been neglected because senior members of the families passed on," he said. "Now we have established a committee and want to develop it into a monument in memory of our forefathers . We want to officially launch the site to coincide with the 150th commemmoration of the arrival of our forefathers and mothers," he said. "We strongly believe that this cemetery should be a heritage site because it contains the remains of early indentured labourers. There are 172 burial sites." The Hartley Estate Tamil and Telugu Cemetery Committee held an elaborate cultural event at the Saiva Sithantha Sungum Hall in Derby Street last week to highlight its move to declare the site a historical heritage monument. ends - ptsa@global.co.za