British Settlers in Natal, 1824-1857, by Shelagh O'Byrne Spencer.

Expert Research on the First Wave of British Immigration to Natal, South Africa

WOODHEAD, Henry

WOODHEAD, Henry
Born c. 1820, Salford, Manchester. Died 26.03.1857, Pietermaritzburg, Natal.
Farmer, trader, carrier/waggoner.
1820.00.00c. Born. (Date calculated from age at death. [MSC 3/21 No. W4]). Parents were Alfred and Ann Woodhead of Salford, Manchester. (Ibid)

1851.05.09 Came on the John Line which was lying outside the bar on this date. MasterCapt. Palmer, 598 tons, 144 passengers. (NW 09.05.51)

1853.04.01 Henry Woodhead, 30, of Pietermaritzburg and Regina, 18, of Germany, dau. of Hermann Heinrich Lange, took out licence to marry. Licence taken out in Durban. (CSO 2282)

1853.04.02 Henry Woodhead, 30, farmer of German House and Regina Lange, 18, of German House, married at German House, Durban. (R. St P. Dbn). Woodhead – Lange married. He a farmer, both of the German House.** (R. St J., PT)

1854.04.00 Dau. Ann Wilhelmina bapt. Father a trader. (R. St P. Pmb.)
1854.04.03 Engaged as a carrier. Bought Sub C of Lot 29 Burger St, Pmb., from James Taylor [Taylor, James Alfred*] (CSO 2243 No. 870 dated 02.11.1854)

1854.05.30 Henry Woodhead, 29 Burger St, carrier, proprietor. (NGG 30.05.54)

1854.08.08 Henry Woodhead,, carrier, 29 Burger St, owner.(NGG 08.08.54)

1855.04.05 Brother [Joseph] Robert died aged 28 at the residence of his brother in Henrietta St***. He was late of Woodlands, Upper Umgeni. NW 06.04.55)

1855.09.00 Dau. Eliza Jane bapt. Father a waggoner. (R. St P., Pmb.)
1856.07.25 Of Henrietta St, Pmb., – selling his, ‘snug little cottage’, being about to leave the city. (NW 25.07.56)

1857.03.00 Woodhead, Henry – a carrier, died after a few minutes illness at or near the German House. (NS 28.03.57). Woodhead, Henry – carrier, died at or near the German House early on Friday morning after a few minutes illness. (NSEAT 08.04.57)

1857.03.26 Woodhead, Henry – died on 26 March at his own residence (Sic) after a few minutes illness aged 37. Late of Manchester. (NM Supp. 04.04.57). Died at age of 37 in c. Jan. 1857 (Sic) at the German House, was a waggoner. Was of Wandsbeck, son of Alfred and Ann Woodhead of Salford, Manchester. He left
property in England. Children – Annie 6, Eliza 4 and Wilhelmina 2. Widow m. Charles H. Schwegmann. Regina Eliza in Oct. 1872 aged 17 m. a Schmidt.
By 1877 the [Schmidt] family had moved to Harrismith. Eldest dau. came of age c. May1875 and by July 1878 Wilhelmina was of age. (MSC 3/21 No. W4)

1857.08.00 Wilhelmina Margarethe Dorothea born. Dau. of William (Sic) and Regina Woodhead. (RNG)

1857.12.00 Widow Regina Woodhead m. Karl Heinrich Schwegmann b. 1836. He was a Beta colonist. (Ibid)

1879.04.00 Regina Schwegmann, formerly Woodhead. b. Lange m. Johan Neesman (Sic) b. 1843, labourer. Regina was b. in 1834. (RNG)

1899.00.00 Regina still alive. (MSC 9/297)

1909.02.18 Regina Näsemann d. at Westville, Natal, aged 74 yrs 6 mths. Born in Germany she was the dau. of Mr & Mrs Lange and widow of Woodhead and H.W. (Sic) Schwegmann (who d. about 30 yrs ago). Children of first m. Annie and Eliza Woodhead (Sic) and of second m. Wilhelmina (Sic), Louisa, Mary, Jane, Agnes, Charles Henry and Hermann William Schwegmann. No children of third marriage. Son C.H. Schwegmann, a farmer of Westville, filled in the Death Notice. (MSCE 35/11)

CHILDREN
Ann (Annie) Wilhelmina (c.00.05.1854, ? Pietermaritzburg – ————)
1854.05.00c. Born ? Pietermaritzburg. (Date taken from when she came of age as noted on father’s Death Notice. (MSC 3/21 No. W4)

1855.09.00 Ann Wilhelmina bapt. Father a trader. (R. St P., Pmb.)
1875.05.00 Came of age. (MSC 3/21 No. W4)
1909.02.18 Still alive when mother d. (MSCE 35/11)
Eliza Jane (00.00.1855, Pietermaritzburg – 11.07.1899, Swiss Valley, Dundee)
1855.00.00. Born Pietermaritzburg. (Date calculated from age as given on m. certificate. (RNG)

1855.09.00 Eliza Jane bapt. Father a waggoner. (R. St P., Pmb.)
1872.10.00 Regina (Sic) Eliza aged 17 m. Carl Ernst Bernhard Schmidt aged 23, and settled at the Illovo. (MSC 3/21 No. W4). Regina (Sic) Elise (Sic) Woodhead who was b. 1855 m. Karl Ernst Bernhard Schmidt b. July 1849. (RNG)
1880.01.16c. A man named Ernest Schmidt who lived in the Richmond District came to the Umlaas Hotel and stayed there. (AGO 1/4/23 Pp 971-990)

1880.01.19 The proprietor found him dying of poisoning, and within a few hours he died on his way to Greys Hospital. His brother claimed his body. Was a man of about 40 years of age, an empty bottle of laudanum was found in his room. (Ibid)

1881.12.00 Eliza Jane, widow Schmidt, m. Nicolas Glutz, clerk, Telegraph Dept. Both of Pinetown. ( R. St J., PT)

1895c. Elise (Sic) Regina’s (Sic) d. at Kempshoek near Dundee. Her second husband was Nicholas Glitz (Sic). (J.V.)

1899.07.11 Glutz, Eliza (b. Woodhead) of Swiss Valley, Dundee, b. in Pmb., dau of Henry (deceased) and Regina (still living), d. at Swiss Valley, aged 42yrs 10mths and 26 days, m. at Westville near Durban.
Children by first m. were – Heinrich John Schmidt (27.04.74), Wilhelmina Regina Schmidt (26.04.76, now Mrs J[ulius] Verbeek) and Rosi A.M. Schmidt (09.03.78, now Mrs J.L. Taylor).
Children by second m. were – Oswald Johan (20.06.82), Harold William (07.06.86), Albert Nicholas (20.08.88), Johan William (30.10.90), Anna Maria (09.05.94), Nicolas Julius (31.03.1896) and Winifred (09.11.98). Husband Nicholas filled in the Death Notice. (MSCE 9/297).

1903.09.00 Nicholas Glutz, widower, m. Matilda Green, spinster, dau. of James Green, both of Dundee.. (DGR)

1939.11.00 Nicholas Glutz d. aged 86. (Tomb PAC)
Wilhelmina Margarethe Dorothea (00.08.1857, ?New Germany – 25.08.1921 Stanger)
1857.08.00 Born. ?New Germany (RNG)
1878.08.00 Margarethe Dorothea Woodnead, b. Aug. 1857, dau. of William (Sic) and Regina Woodhead m. Frederic August Brooks, farmer, b. 1855. Married at New Germany. (RNG)

1921.08.25 Wilhelmina Margaret (Sic) Dorothea Brooks d. aged 64. (STGR)

NOTES
*After a name indicates that person as the head of a family and therefore qualified for an entry in Shelagh O’Byrne Spencer’s British Settlers in Natal 1824–1857, a biographical register.
**The German House was in the area north of Durban known as New Germany, an area settled by German immigrants. New Germany adjoins Pinetown and in the early days the records of St John’s, Pinetown, were copied into the registers of the larger St Paul’s. Durban.
***The Erfs in Maritzburg, which is laid out on a grid system, run from South to North. In this case from Burger St in the South to Loop St in the North. Early on an access street was opened from Burger St to Loop St and named Henrietta St. Hence the reference to
Woodhead’s residence being in Henrietta St.
.
SOURCES
Cemeteries
Tomb PAC – Gravestone Pinetown Anglican cemetery.
Church Registers
RNG – Register New Germany. Lutheran.
R. St J., PT – Register St John’s, Pinetown. Anglican.
R. St P., Dbn – Register St Paul’s, Dbn. Anglican.
R. St P., Pmb. – Register St Peter’s, Pietermaritzburg. Anglican.
Newspapers
NM Supp. – Natal Mercury Supplement.
NS – Natal Star.
NSEAT – Natal and South East African Times.
NW – Natal Witness.
Personal Communication
J.V. – Verbeek, Mrs Jennifer (deceased)
Unpublished Official Papers
AGO – Attorney General’s Office.
CSO – Colonial Secretary’s Office.
DGR – Dundee Government Register.
MSC – Master of the Supreme Court. Wills.
MSCE – Master of the Supreme Court. Estates.

NGG – Natal Government Gazette.
STGR – Stanger Government Register
Compiled from the research of Shelagh O’Byrne Spencer into the British Settlers in Natal
1824–1857.

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