Port Grosvenor was a harbour on the Wild Coast in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

, near the spot where the

Indiaman East Indiaman was a general name for any sailing ship operating under charter or licence to any of the East India Company (disambiguation), East India trading companies of the major European trading powers of the 17th through the 19th centuries ...

''Grosvenor'' was wrecked in 1782. It was only in use in 1885 and 1886.

History

The construction of Port Grosvenor was initiated by Captain Sidney Turner, who in 1867, with his father-in-law Walter Compton, had bought of undeveloped

Crown Land Crown land (sometimes spelled crownland), also known as royal domain, is a territorial area belonging to the monarch, who personifies the Crown. It is the equivalent of an entailed estate and passes with the monarchy, being inseparable from it. ...

on the

Natal South Coast NATAL or Natal may refer to: Places * Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, a city in Brazil * Natal, South Africa (disambiguation), a region in South Africa ** Natalia Republic, a former country (1839–1843) ** Colony of Natal, a former British colony ...

between

Umkomaas Umkomaas, a small coastal village on the subtropical south coast of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa was formed when a harbour was built in 1861 to export sugar. The village rests beside the mouth of the navigable uMkhomazi River, also known as the Mk ...

and the present village of Clansthal. Turner had launched the first salvage attempt of the ''Grosvenor'' as reported on 20 May 1880 by the paper ''Natal Mercury''. Turner and a friend, Lieut Beddoes, of the Durban Volunteer Artillery, had set off for Port St Johns in the vessel ''Adonis'', had proceeded to the wreck and commenced blasting the rocks with dynamite. By the beginning of 1885 a local chief Mqikela, who had grown disaffected with the British government and wanted to develop his own harbour, concluded an agreement with Turner, in which Turner was granted 20,000 acres of land, including the coastline on which the ''Grosvenor'' had foundered. In return for this Turner was to select a suitable site for a harbour and undertake the necessary construction work. The site chosen for this new venture was at the mouth of the Mkweni River, close to the site of the ''Grosvenor'' wreck. Turner named it Port Grosvenor. As port captain and harbourmaster, Turner collected customs dues and managed the harbour and pilotage. Turner was obliged by his financial circumstances to resign himself to this situation as he, by 1884, had a family of seven children and a wife to support. Despite objections from the Cape Government the port was officially opened. The Cape Government, despite having no jurisdiction in the area, later declared Turner's concession illegal under tribal law, and he forfeited the land, his home and his position. The family moved to Port St Johns and Port Grosvenor faded into obscurity, the last ship calling there in January 1886 being the coaster ''SS Somtseu'', named for

Theophilus Shepstone Theophilus Shepstone Sir Theophilus Shepstone (8 January 181723 June 1893) was a British South African statesman who was responsible for the annexation of the Transvaal to Britain in 1877. Early life Theophilus Shepstone was born at Westbury-o ...

. The ''Somtseu'' (#77075 1878–1897) had been built in London in 1878 and specially designed to cope with the shallow harbours of the Natal coastline; it had also been the first boat to call in 1880 at the newly deepened South Shepstone harbour, later to be named

Port Shepstone Port Shepstone is a large town situated on the mouth of the Mzimkhulu River, the largest river on the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast of South Africa. It is located halfway between Hibberdene and Margate and is positioned 120 km south of Durban. ...

.KwaZulu-Natal Heritage Sites - Sue Derwent
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References

Ports and harbours of South Africa {{EasternCape-geo-stub