Richmond is a town situated on the banks of the upper

Illovo River The Illovo River is in KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa. It rises in the upper Illovo area in the Richmond vicinity near the Drakensberg, and empties into the Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five ocean ...

in the midlands of

KwaZulu-Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN and known as "the garden province") is a province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu) and Natal Province were merged. It is loca ...

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 coun ...

Geography

The town is located within the

Richmond Local Municipality Richmond Local Municipality is an administrative area in the UMgungundlovu District of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. Richmond was named after the Earl of Richmond, father in law of Sir Peregrine Maitland, Governor of the Cape from 1844 to 184 ...

, forming part of the Umgungundlovu District Municipality and incorporates the former township of Ndaleni on the opposite bank of the Illovo River.

Timber Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, w ...

sugarcane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of (often hybrid) tall, perennial grass (in the genus '' Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fibrous stalk ...

poultry Poultry () are domesticated birds kept by humans for their eggs, their meat or their feathers. These birds are most typically members of the superorder Galloanserae (fowl), especially the order Galliformes (which includes chickens, qu ...

citrus fruit ''Citrus'' is a genus of flowering trees and shrubs in the rue family, Rutaceae. Plants in the genus produce citrus fruits, including important crops such as oranges, lemons, grapefruits, pomelos, and limes. The genus ''Citrus'' is native to ...

and

dairy A dairy is a business enterprise established for the harvesting or processing (or both) of animal milk – mostly from cows or buffaloes, but also from goats, sheep, horses, or camels – for human consumption. A dairy is typically located on ...

goods are produced here. It is approximately 38 km south-west of

Pietermaritzburg Pietermaritzburg (; Zulu: umGungundlovu) is the capital and second-largest city in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It was founded in 1838 and is currently governed by the Msunduzi Local Municipality. Its Zulu name umGungundlovu ...

History

Richmond was established in 1850 as Beaulieu-on-Illovo by British Byrne Settlers who were originally from New Forest/Beaulieu, in Hampshire. Passages were obtained on J.C. Byrne and Co.’s Lady Bruce, and ‘the Duke’s people’, as they came to be known, were located on the Illovo river, not far from the Wesleyans’ Indaleni Mission Station This year The expenses for wagon-hire to their allotments and survey fees were charges to the Duke's account by Moreland, and the Duke also met the costs of flour, tents, and seed. He even donated L100 to Pietermaritzburg's Anglican minister, the Revd James Green, to be used towards the construction of a church in their new settlement. Their rural allotments were on land which was given the name Beaulieu Estate, and Beaulieu was the name given to the village. Because of the similarity of the names of the two entities, confusion arose with land titles, and before 1850 was out, the nearby village had been renamed Richmond, after the Duke's seat in Richmond, Surrey. The arrival of the settlers brought about a slow return of various remnants of African people who fled the raiding Zulu armies. The Zulus called these refugees "amaBhaca", ''(people who hide)''. Although composed of elements of many different groups, the Bhaca have developed their own identity. In February 1906 two British officers were killed at Byrne, near Richmond while involved in enforcing the collection of the hated

Poll Tax A poll tax, also known as head tax or capitation, is a tax levied as a fixed sum on every liable individual (typically every adult), without reference to income or resources. Head taxes were important sources of revenue for many governments f ...

from "recalcitrant districts". This incident, known as the Trewirgie Incident, precipitated the imposition of martial law and set off the Bambatha Rebellion. One of Natal's greatest tycoons,

Joseph Baynes Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...

, a

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

man by birth, was a pioneer of the

industry. His Baynesfield Estate was bequeathed in his will to the nation of South Africa. A good history of Richmond has been written by Coulson 1986. The town is controlled by the Dlamini family which have enormous wealth followed by the Mckenzies.

Notable people

* Ebrahim Desai *

Harold Kitson Harry Austin Kitson (17 June 1874 – 30 November 1951) was a male tennis player from South Africa who won a gold medal at the men's doubles event at the 1912 Summer Olympics. Tennis career Kitson competed in the singles and doubles ...

* Mhleli Dlamini

References

Populated places in the Richmond Local Municipality Populated places established in 1850 {{KwaZuluNatal-geo-stub