Dugald MacPhail (1840 - 1941)

Born 26 Apr 1840 in Inveraray, Argyllshire, Scotland, United Kingdom

Husband of Isabella Petrie (Smith) MacPhail — married 1873 in Dundee, Natal, South Africa

Husband of Annie Susannah (Leary) MacPhail — married 1877 in Newcastle, Natal, South Africa

Descendants

Died 4 May 1941 at age 101 in Craigside, Dundee, Natal, South Africa

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Biography

Dugald born in 1840. He was the son of Duncan MacPhail and Mary McPherson.

He immigrated to Natal, South Africa in 1864.

Dugald married Isabella Petrie Smith (daughter of Peter Smith) on 24 February 1873 at Newcastle, Natal, South Africa. ^[1]

He was one of the original three founders of the town of Dundee, KwaZulu-Natal. Dugald, Peter Smith and Charles Wilson began a mining company, Dundee Coal and Estate Company in the area on the farms Dundee and Coalfields.

He served as a Quartermaster for the Buffalo Border Guard during the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879. He was one of the few British survivors from the Battle of Isandhlwana.[1]

He later fought for the British in the Anglo Boer War of 1899 - 1902.

The township of “Dundee Proper” was established by his father in law Peter Smith in 1882, from 1,000 acres of his farm “Dundee”. This township was supplemented by land contributed by Dugald, Peter’s son William Craighead Smith, and Charles Wilson. In the same year George Sutton laid out a township called “Dundee” on part of his farm “Coalfields", adjoining "Dundee Proper." The township of “Dundee Extension” was added later. In 1896 all three townships were consolidated into the Borough of Dundee.

Following its founding, Dundee affairs were for many years dominated by the triumvirate of Smith, MacPhail and Wilson.

The town of Dundee prospered in the early 1900's, attracting industries such as Union Glass Works at Talana and Dundee Brick & Tile, and seeing an expansion of mining activity and commerce generally. The Holy Rosary Convent was established, the high school expanded, and attractions were established such as "Atwell's Premier Bio" and the Municipal Swimming Bath. By the years between World Wars One and Two, Dundee was boasting that it was the centre of the coal mining industry in Northern Natal, and it become an attractive country town with a sound economy, and pleasant residential areas and amenities.

Dundee's centenary is commemorated in the publication "Where the Thunder Rolls - A Centenary History of Dundee, Natal."

Dugald and Isabella had two daughters. Tragically Isabella passed away soon after giving birth to their second daughter.

Dugald married, secondly, Annie Susannah Leary on 19 November 1877 in Newcastle, Natal, South Africa . He was 37, she was 26. ^[2]

They had four children.

Dugald passed away aged 101 in 1941.

Probate:

Event Date: 1941

Event Place: Natal, South Africa^[3]

In the 1950’s and 1960’s there were still many descendants of the founding families – mainly Smith descendants, but also one family of McPhail descendants – still living in and around Dundee. Most of these families lived on farms west of the town along the foot of the Mpati mountain and around Talana hill, but some Smith descendants lived in the town itself.

Burial

Talana Cemetery, Dundee, uMzinyathi District Municipality, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa^[4]

Inscription:

IN LOVING MEMORY

OF

DUGALD

MACPHAIL

WHO DIED 4th MAY 1941

AGED 101 YEAR & 8 DAYS

THOU HAS COME TO THY

REST IN A FULL AGE AS

A SHOCK OF CORN COME-

TH IN HIS SEASON

Sources

1. ↑ "South Africa, Natal Province, Civil Marriages, 1845-1955," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KDCL-DX1 : 10 March 2018), Dugald Mcphail and Isabella Petrie Smith, 24 Feb 1873; citing Newcastle, Natal, South Africa; 00695; National Archives and Records Service of South Africa, Pretoria; 1,259,328.
2. ↑ "South Africa, Natal Province, Civil Marriages, 1845-1955," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KDCK-K8C : accessed 20 October 2015), Dugald Macphail and Annie Susannah Leary, 19 Nov 1877; citing Newcastle, Natal, South Africa; 00142; National Archives and Records Service of South Africa, Pretoria; 1,259,168.
3. ↑ "South Africa, Pietermaritzburg Estate Files 1846-1950," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QPWH-D9RT : 3 July 2018), Dugald MacPhail, 1941; citing Probate, Pietermaritzburg Archives (Formerly Natal State Archives), South Africa.
4. ↑ http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=101327415

• http://www.dundeenatal.com/2.html

• http://www.geni.com/people/Dugald-McPhail/6000000022362326960

• http://www.gravestonephotos.com/public/gravedetails.php?grave=218699&personid=460421&scrwidth=1120