The Kennaway Girls at the Cape

In 1855, Sir George GREY, High Commissioner in South Africa, tried to get British military pensioners to immigrate to South Africa and settle in British Kaffraria. The scheme failed to draw enough immigrants and was replaced with a plan to bring out soldiers of the British German Legion, which was being disbanded at the time. This scheme brought out 2 362 men in January and February 1857, disembarking in East London. When the Indian Mutiny broke out, more than half enlisted for further service in the British Army, and only 981 settlers were left in British Kaffraria in 1858.

The number of married men was relatively low. The British considered sending young Irish women as prospective brides. They selected about 100 women between the ages of 18 and 35 who were living in the Union Workhouses. They also recruited a few English artisans and their families to help care for the single women during the voyage. A few Irish agricultural families and about 20 more Irish single women from the ordinary population were also recruited. They were to sail on the Lady Kennaway, but just before sailing, some of the Irish women realised that there might be no Catholic priest where they were to be settled, so they withdrew from the scheme. The vacant places were filled with immigrants from the general population. The Lady Kennaway sailed from Plymouth Sound on Saturday, 05 September 1857, with 231 immigrants. Of these, 153 were single women, while 42 were artisans, their wives and children. A baby was born during the voyage. The ship arrived in East London on Friday, 20 November 1857.

A committee of clergymen and businessmen had been formed in King William’s Town in September 1857 to distribute the immigrant women as soon as possible after they had landed. At the same time, subcommittees of ladies were formed in East London and King William’s Town to meet the immigrants on arrival, arrange accommodation, and assist them with advice. King William’s Town extended an invitation to interested parties to submit their applications for servants. They also established a committee in Grahamstown to receive and arrange employment. The King William’s Town committee arranged for accommodation in the Pensioner Village for the women. The committee arranged further accommodation in East London to house the immigrants during their stay at the port. A Catholic priest met them in East London as they disembarked. The immigrants waited until the last of the party had disembarked on 23 November before they set out on the next leg of their journey.

East London immediately offered employment to four women. Two women found husbands and were married at once, one being Fredericka SCHULLE, the only German girl in the party, who had been recruited from Middlesex. The other woman married the local police constable. None of the artisans chose to remain in East London at that time. On 24 November, ox-wagons set out for King William’s Town, carrying the married people. On 26 November, the single women left by ox-wagon and stopped at Fort Pato for breakfast. The soldiers of the 73rd Regiment had prepared two rooms for them and a breakfast. They arrived in King William’s Town that same evening. The hiring process began the following day and persisted for a week, resulting in the employment of 79 individuals in King William’s Town. Another 22 were employed or married at Line Drift, Peddie, Alice or Wooldridge, and about 61 artisans and labourers, including their families, also found work in these places. Fifteen women who had not found employment by December 12th, along with the other remaining immigrants, set out for Grahamstown and arrived two days later. In the meantime, four women had returned to the committee in King William’s Town because of misunderstandings about their employment. The committee in King William’s Town closed on 4 January 1858 after sending another seven women to Grahamstown. The exact figure of immigrants who found employment in British Kaffraria and Grahamstown is impossible to ascertain, as the statistics given in various documents contradict one another, but 6 women eventually settled in East London, between 78 and 93 discovered employment in King William’s Town, and between 70 and 84 were sent to Grahamstown. Of the artisans and their families, none remained in East London, between 46 and 68 settled in King William’s Town, and about 16 went to Grahamstown.

The 153 unmarried women did not all marry the German soldiers, nor did they all find employment. The German soldiers had barely established themselves, typically struggled as farmers, and were primarily focused on enlisting for military action. The women are also known as the Kennaway Girls. The scheme was not a successful one, and eventually Sir George GREY brought out 1600 Germans to British Kaffraria in a more successful scheme in 1858.

LADY KENNAWAY PASSENGER LIST
The Lady Kennaway brought a group of single women to East London, South Africa, on November 20, 1857.

SURNAME	FIRST NAME	FROM	AGE
ANDERSON	Sarah	Armagh	20
ARMSTRONG	Eliza	Dublin	30
BARRETT	Maura	Dublin	19
BARRY	Bridget	Meath	20
BLAKENEY	Deborah	Dublin	18
BLAKENEY	Mary Ann	Dublin	21
BLYKES	Mary	Armagh	23
BORBIDGE	Ann	Dublin	18
BOULGER	Jane	Dublin	28
BRADLEY	Susan	Donegal	24
BRADNER	Margaret	Dublin	28
BRANAGAN	Eliza	Dublin	22
BREEN	Margaret	Dublin	18
BRIGHT	Margaret	Kildare	24
BROPHY	Catherine	Tipperary	20
BULLIN	Ellen	Cork	18
BURKE	Bridget	Dublin	25
BYRNE	Ann	Dublin	23
BYRNE	Catherine	Kilkenny	20
BYRNE	Johanna	Dublin	19
CAMPBELL	Mary	Armagh	19
CAUGHLIN	Margaret	Armagh	19
CHAPMAN	Harriett	Cork	20
CLARK	Jane	Dublin	25
CLARKE	Anne	Donegal	26
CLARKEN	Ellen	Fermanagh	18
COLLINS	Mary	Dublin	20
COLLIS	Kate	Dublin	32
CONNOR	Catherine	Clonmel	18
CORCORAN	Jane	Dublin	18
CORRIN	Susan	Dublin	21
COX	Catherine	Fermanagh	21
CAFFREY	Eliza	Kildare	19
CULLEN	Jane	Dublin	23
CUMMINS	Bridget	Kildare	19
CURRY	Margaret	Dublin	18
DALTON	Mary	Dublin	21
DANIEL	Margaret	Clonmel	20
DAY	Mary	Dublin	23
DEMSEY	Sarah	Dublin	17
DONALDSON	Jane	Monaghan	20
DONALDSON	Prudence	Monaghan	19
DONOHUE	Margaret	Clonmel	28
DOOL	Jemima	Derry	19
DORAN	Bridget	Clonmel	18
DOYLE	Margaret	Dublin	24
DOYLE	Maria	Dublin	26
DOYLE	Mary	Dublin	21
DUNN	Eleanor	Dublin	24
FINLAY	Maria	Dublin	18
FITZROY	Johanna	Dublin	23
FLANAGAN	Anne	Tipperary	20
FLANAGAN	Mary	Tipperary	18
FLORA	Bridget	Dublin	25
FULHAM	Harriet	Dublin	19
GAFFNEY	Jane	Meath	20
GALLAGHER	Catherine	Tyrone	21
GALLAGHER	Margaret	Dublin	24
GARRY	Anne	Meath	21
GLASCOTT	Judy	Clonmel	18
COGEN	Mary	Dublin	30
GOODWIN	Ellen	Dublin	20
GRACE	Kate	Dublin	21
GRAHAM	Ellen	Dublin	25
HALL	Maria	Dublin	20
HANRAHAN	Catherine	Kilkenny	23
HANRAHAN	Johanna	Kilkenny	21
HEFFERTY	Mary	Donegal	21
HENDERSON	Jane	Derry	27
HENRY	Selina	Dublin	23
HINDS	Sarah	Armagh	23
HUGHES	Charlotte	Dublin	19
HUNTER	Mary	Antrim	23
HYLAND	Honor	Clonmel	18
JONES	Mary	Dublin	30
KANE	Matilda	Tyrone	18
KEANE	Esther	Dublin	25
KEATING	Mary	Kilkenny	25
KEEGAN	Susan	Dublin	20
KEHSE	Mary	Dublin	20
KELLY	Charlotte	Dublin	19
KERR	Rose	Armagh	31
LACY	Elizabeth	Dublin	18
LAVENNY	Judy	Galway	19
LAWRENCE	Jane	Cork	20
LEE	Catherine	Dublin	20
LEE	Nora	Dublin	20
LEEKEY	Elizabeth	Antrim	21
LODGE	Dora	Dublin	27
MAHER	Anne	Kildare	20
MANN	Mary	Clare	21
MANNSELL	Anna	Tipperary	18
MANNSETT	Mary	Dublin	21
MCALENDON	Anne	Dublin	19
MCALISTER	Margaret	Armagh	20
MCBRIDE	Jane	Fermanagh	27
MCCAFFERTY	Bridget	Donegal	22
MCCAFFERTY	Margaret	Donegal	20
MCDONNELL	Mary	Donegal	27
MCEVITT	Isabella	Dublin	19
MCGUIGAN	Jane	Tyrone	18
MCGUIRE	Johanna	Dublin	18
MCILEEN	Margaret	Dublin	17
MCITEE	Ann	Dublin	19
MCNAMARA	Fanny	Dublin	18
MCNAMARA	Isabella	Armagh	31
MERRIGAN	Anne	Dublin	22
MERRIGAN	Eliza	Dublin	20
MILTON	Anne	Wicklow	24
MOORE	Mary	Dublin	18
MULLIN	Olivia	Dublin	26
MURPHY	Anne	Dublin	23
MURPHY	Bridget	Limerick	19
MURPHY	Mary	Limerick	26
MYLES	Isabella	Donegal	21
NEALE	Honor	Kilkenny	27
NEARY	Mary	Kilkenny	30
NEILL	Margaret	Tipperary	19
NORTON	Anne	Dublin	23
NORTON	Ellen	Dublin	25
O’NEAL	Catherine	Kildare	26
O’NEILL	Anne	Dublin	26
PHILLIPS	Mary	Antrim	26
POWER	Susan	Dublin	27
PURSS	Harriet	Middlesex	15
READ	Jane	Dublin	18
ROBINSON	Sarah	Dublin	19
RYAN	Judith	Tipperary	18
SCHULLE	Fredericka	Middlesex	29
SHEA	Mary	Clonmel	18
SHEERAN	Mary	Fermanagh	18
SINGLETON	Eliza	Dublin	21
SLAVIN	Sarah	Fermanagh	20
SMITH	Mary	Dublin	18
SULLIVAN	Margaret	Dublin	26
TAGO (TAYS / TEYS)	Catherine	Donegal	24
TALBOT	Anne	Dublin	28
TAYLOR	Elizabeth	Armagh	21
TOBIN	Mary	Clonmel	18
TOOLE	Mary	Dublin	28
WALSH	Elizabeth	Kilkenny	23
WARREN	Mary	Dublin	18
WATERS	Maria	Dublin	19
WEIR	Ellen	Antrim	19
WEIR	Mary	Antrim	24
WELCH	Sarah	Clonmel	24
WHELAN	Anne	Dublin	27
WHITE	Margaret	Clonmel	18
WHITE	Mary	Kildare	21
WHITE	Mary	Donegal	20
WINSTAN	Maria	Cork	20

The following artisans and their families were also on board:

SURNAME	FIRST NAME	OCCUPATION	FROM	AGE	WIFE & AGE	CHILDREN & AGES
APPS	George	Carpenter	Surrey	31	Mary (28)	Sarah (7) Jane (6)
BERRY	John	Labourer	Galway	30	Catherine (24)	Mary (2) John (1)
CARRALL	Patrick	Farm Servant	Monaghan	22	Catherine (24)	Owen (infant)
CHRISTMAS	Frederick	Carpenter	Middlesex	32	Eliza (31)	Samuel (8) Harry (5) George (3)
CLARKSON	Charles	Carpenter	Middlesex	28	Emma (24)	Eliza (infant)
CLARKSON	William	Carpenter	Middlesex	35	Charlotte (25)	William (3) Louisa (3) Mary (1)
COBURN	James	Farm Servant	Tyrone	22	Ann (18)
COOPER	William	Carpenter	Essex	23	Sarah (23)	Eliza (2) Ruth (infant)
HICKEY	Richard	Labourer	Middlesex	21	Margaret (23)
HOVENDON	John	Farm Servant	Dublin	42	Bridget (35)
KNOWLES	William	Labourer	Antrim	25	Eliza (22)	Lilly (2)
LEEKEY	Peter	Labourer	Middlesex	26	Elizabeth (23)
LOCKHART	John	Bricklayer	Middlesex	36	Mary (36)	John (18) Edward (2)
PHILPOT	Edgar	Carpenter	Middlesex	26	Susan (23)	Susan (5) Anne (1)
PURSS	Charles	Bricklayer	Middlesex	40	Harriet (44)
RAWLINSON	Charles	Carpenter	Middlesex	24	Catherine (20)	Samuel (1)
REED	Thomas	Carpenter	Middlesex	31	Mary (28)	Thomas (9) Elizabeth (7) William (5) Emma (3) Emma? (infant)
REID	John	Carpenter	Middlesex	27	Harriet (25)	Martha (4) Eliza (2)
SMYTH	Gerald	Labourer	Antrim	20	Mary (26)
SYMONS	William	Carpenter	Middlesex	42	Anne (26)	William (17, carpenter) John (15, carpenter) Harry (13, carpenter) Mary (11) James (7) Rebecca (5) Robert (3) Samuel (infant)
WOODHOUSE	William	Farm Servant	Armagh	23	Eliza (24)	Robert (infant)

Sources:
Nominal List of Emigrants on Board the Lady Kennaway, Plymouth, 05 September 1857, Cape Archives
List of Immigrants forwarded to Grahamstown Immigration Commission, 05 January 1858, Cape Archives

Note: this article was originally written in August 2011