Meaning Archaic derivative of leathering - Made of, or covered with, or resembling leather. [Middle English lethern, from Old English.] Colloq or dialect To thrash. A severe beating. The Quakers used it meaning a Convenience or a Coach. Leathern family dates back to the 14 -15th century, Etymology Anglo-Saxon lether. In 1881 a name mostly commonly found in the county Devon, Great Britian

• James LEATHERN born abt 1740 married 30 Aug 1763 Saint George, Exeter, Devon to Susanna HOOPER

           CHILD:

• John Leathern christened 15 Mar 1767 St Mary’s Major, Exeter, Devon. Married 5 May 1793 at St David’s Exeter, Devon, England to Betty CLARK (Elizabeth)

CHILDREN

1 Elizabeth christened 17 Aug 1796 St David’s Exeter, Devon, England

2 George christened 3 Nov 1799 St David’s Exeter, Devon, England. Probably died before Sep 1803

3 William christened 13 Sept 1801 St David’s Exeter, Devon, England. Probably died before Oct 1804

4 George christened 18 Sept 1803 St Mary’s Arches, Exeter, Devon, England.

5 William born Oct 1804 christened 28 Oct 1804 St Mary’s Arches, Exeter, Devon, England. Immigrated to South Africa 7 Jan 1820 aboard the HM Store Ship Weymouth. (More below….a.)

6 Mary Ann christened 25 Dec 1806 St Mary’s Arches, Exeter, Devon, England – died 8 Apr 1879 Church Str., Pietermaritzburg

7 Eliza christened 9 July 1809 St Mary’s Arches, Exeter, Devon, England

8 Harriot christened 20 Oct 1811 St Mary’s Major, Exeter, Devon, England

The 1820 Settlers were approximately 4,000 government - assisted settlers who arrived in the Cape in 61 different parties on 17 ships between April and June 1820. The Settlers were encouraged to settle in an attempt by the Cape government to close, consolidate and defend the eastern frontier against the neighbouring Xhosa peoples, and to provide a boost to the English-speaking population. It was one of the largest stages of British settlement in Africa, forming the Anglo-African cultural hotspot Settler Country, and thus a milestone in the forming of the Anglo-African people.

The Settlers were granted farms near the village of Bathurst and given equipment, but their lack of agricultural experience led many of them to abandon agriculture and withdraw to Bathurst and other settlements like Grahamstown, East London and Port Elizabeth, where they typically became tradesmen.

William is the founding father, Progenitor of the LEATHERN’s in South Africa.

a     William born Oct 1804 christened 28 Oct 1804 St Mary’s Arches, Exeter, Devon, England – died 28 Sept 1858 Pietermaritzburg, Natal. William the fifth child of John LEATHERN and Betty CLARK was only 16 years old when he sailed from England on the ‘Weymouth.’ Leaving Portsmouth on January 7th 1820 and arriving at Algoa Bay four long months later on 15th May 1820 as part of the Parkin party of what is known as the 1820 British settlers.  When the muster was taken in Dec 1819 William was absent arriving only on 2 Jan 1820. Many settler applicants changed their minds deciding to stay with what was familiar as the excitement of the initial application began to wear and the enormity of what lay before them actually began to take shape in their minds.  Perhaps he hesitated to join the party timeously for this reason. William was apprenticed as a cooper to Robert Newcombe and arrived in the Cape as a ward of Robert. He later became a mason in Grahamstown. As the Parkin party were from Devon the area they settled in the Cape was called Devonshire farm. William was issued Village lot 7  10½ morgan of land which he exchanged  with John Niland. William was part of the small joint-stock party of John Parkin who where settled on the Kariega River. (See Albany Settlement map no 36 - included)

On 21 Sept 1826 William married in St. George’s Anglican Church, Grahamstown to Mary Poulton (POTTON) born 10 Apr 1809 in Wendover, Buckinghamshire, England – Mary died 9 Apr 1879 Pietermaritzburg, Natal. 

Mary was the second daughter of 1820 settlers John POULTON and Ann HEATH of Wendover, Buckinghamshire, England. They arrived with the Howard party aboard the ‘Ocean.’

“There was one wedding, that of seventeen-year old Mary Poulton to William Leathern, 23 at St George’s on 3rd October, Mary, who was unable to write signed her name with a cross.  Her husband had come out in Parkin’s party on the ship Weymouth in the care of Robert Newcombe, a cooper by trade.  They were from Devonshire, thus the party had called its location Devonshire Farm, and here William was apprenticed for a time as a cooper, but he later moved to Grahamstown to learn masonry work and carpentry.” (Page 58 "Through the Chequered Path” by Pamela. M. Barnes.) 

In 1836 William was tried for rape and incest and found guilty. He was sentenced to transportation to Australia or other such penal colony for life. He was jailed in Grahamstown until the transportation. Mary lodged an appeal which was granted him on the condition that he leave the colony. The Leathern (Willam, Mary and children) family sailed to Natal by ship in July 1842 where they settled and farmed at Fort Nottingham but there was no market for their produce. William went into partnership with a Mr. van der Plank in a butcher’s shop in Durban. In 1848 the family moved to Pietermaritzburg and opened a hotel. In 1857 William was elected mayor of Pietermaritzburg. (See CD.)

CHILDREN:

b1: William born 3 Oct 1827 [Page 61 "Through the Chequered Path” by Pamela. M. Barnes…. ‘Howards Party added  to their number this year, (1827) with the births of William, Son of William and Mary Leathern (nee Poulton), on 3rd October’] Christened 29 Nov 1827 in Grahamstown - died 25 June 1913 Pietermaritzburg at home ‘Sandringham House’ Town Lands, Pietermaritzburg. He married 23 Feb 1852 in Pietermaritzburg, Natal to Hannah Watson born abt 1830 - died 27 July 1898 Pietermaritzburg, Natal. William was a transport rider, adventurer and explorer… by B. J. T. LEVERTON “He was known as ‘Wild Bill’.

CHILDREN:

c1: Charlotte Mary born 24 March 1853 Pietermaritzburg, Natal - died 25 Jan 1924 205 Silver St, Pretoria, Transvaal Unmarried

c2:.Sarah Anne born 18 Apr 1855 Durban, Natal, christened 12 July 1855 Wesleyan Methodist Church - died 20 Nov 1944 at the Charlotte Cilliers Sanatorium, Johannesburg, Transvaal. Married in Pietermaritzburg 19 February 1883 to Joseph HUNEBERG born abt May 1854 Volksmarsen, Cassel, Germany – died 23 Feb 1927at home 205 Silver St, Pretoria, Transvaal

        CHILDREN:

        d1: Ernstine Dorothea HUNEBERG married to Nn WATTS
        d2: Heinstik William Norman HUNEBERG died before 1918. Married Beatrice Dorothy LOFTHOUSE. Beatrice remarried after Norman  died  to John Charles TRELOAR  died 1958 Tvl.

c3: William born Feb 1857 Durban, Natal – died 26 Mar 1946 at home at 12 Felixtowe Ave, Hillary, Durban, Natal. Married 13 March 1926 Arnut Hill Ladysmith to Christine NEWTON  born abt 1862 in KlipRiver district, Natal. – died 13 March 1927 at Park Lane Nursing Home, Johannesburg, Tvl. Christina is a daughter of David and Mary Newton of Scotland [William and Christine had issue 9 or 10 children (Quote: Andrew Love)]

CHILDREN:

d1: William Guy Wainman Watson Leathern born 13 Apr 1883 Ladysmith – died 15 Apr 1959 at ‘the factory’ Consolidated Lancashire Cotton Mills, Klip River, Natal  First married 3 April 1912 Ladysmith, Natal to Elsie WHITEHEAD born 1891 Great Britain  - daughter of John Whitehead of Yorkshire. Second married in Pinetown, Natal to the widow FOSTER - Hilda Amelia Fanny HORSLEY born 21 Jan 1888. 1 child

d2: Isabella Annie Maude Leathern born 25 May 1886 - died 19 July 1970 and is buried in Hillary Cemetery, Durban, Natal. Married 21 April 1910 in Ladysmith to Alfred Charles MARSH born 1884 Pietermaritzburg – died 4 March 1963 at home at 12 Felixtowe Ave, Durban, Natal and buried Hillary Cemetery, Durban, Natal. Alfred was the son of Alfred MARSH and NN LEONARD: 1 Child

d3: John Victor Bertie LEATHERN b 1888 - died 28 May 1889 Klip River

d4: Ivy Margaret Leathern born March 1891 Ladysmith, Natal – died 29 Aug 1945 Peter Pan Nursing Home, Durban, Natal. Married 17 Fen 1942 Pietermaritzburg, Natal to Geoffrey Albert WINGROVE born 1920 England. (Her father’s death notice has her 10 years younger) Had no children.  Marriage cert has her born 1904.

d5:  Walter Francis Ernest LEATHERN born 27 July 1894(?)Klip River, Natal - died 1 Dec 1941 Berea Nursing home, Durban. Married May 1925 Eshowe, Natal to Maud Ethel FRY daughter of John FRY of Fort Yolland. Walter and Maude had one child:

d6: Evelyn Alfred Reginald Leathern born 15 Jan 1894 Klipriver, Natal – died 10 Sept 1959 Provincial Hospital, Ladysmith, Natal. Evelyn married in Ladysmith, Natal to Annie Sophia MURRAY born 1893 Koffiefontein, Orange Free State – died 29 Jan 1938 Grey’s Hospital, Pietermaritzburg, Natal. His second marriage 8 May 1943 in Ladysmith to Gladys Emily PORRILL born abt 1914 Natal. 

d7: David Arthur Raymond LEATHERN born 27 Feb 1896 Ladysmith, Natal - died 1974 Pretoria, Transvaal. Married 9 Dec 1924 in Ladysmith, Natal to Edith Caroline Hilda West-Austin born 1903 Great Britian - died 1974 David and Edith had issue: 3 Children

d8: Natalie Audrey White LEATHERN born 1900 Klipriver, Natal. Married 24 Nov 1934 Ladysmith to Archibald Joseph BENNETT born 1903 Durban – died 1935 Natal.

d9: Francis Christina Leathern born 1898 Married at Dewdrop, near Ladysmith, Natal on 23 March 1922 to Horace James Wood born 3 Jan 1885, Verulam, Natal - died 8 March 1948 Durban, Natal. Second son of Robert Weaver WOOD:2 Children

d10: Elizabeth Harriet Ruby LEATHERN

d11: William Thomas Newton LEATHERN (His death notice has him as Thomas Wilfred.. His mother, Christina’s death notice has him as WQN) born 2 Nov 1884 Ladysmith, Natal – died 28 Nov 1964 Addington Hospital, Durban. Married 18 Aug 1917 Ladysmith Natal to Muriel Iris Gladys HORSLEY born 1893 Ladysmith, Natal – died 16 Mar 1950 Port Shepstone, Natal. Daughter of Richard and Fanny HORSLEY.Thomas and Muriel had no children

 b2:  Mary Ann born Feb 1830 baptized on 17 April 1830 at St George’s Anglican Church in Grahamstown - died 18 Sept 1910 at home at 11 Temple St, Pietermaritzburg, Natal. She married 3 Oct 1846 Durban to John Wheatland EDWARDS - died 2 April 1893.

CHILDREN:

c1: Susannah Mary EDWARDS Never married. She died 1923 in Natal

c2: William Wheatland EDWARDS was living in Bulawayo, Southern Rhodesia

c3: Elizabeth Ellen EDWARDS – died 1932 Natal. Married Thomas WATSON

c4: Thomas Charles EDWARDS born Aug 1857 Pietermaritzburg, Natal– died 7 June 1912 Witwatersrand, Tvl. Married in Uitenhage to Ellen Harriet TOWNLEY.

c5: John William Wheatland EDWARDS born 7 Sept 1858 - died 28 Sept 1938, Pietermaritzburg, Natal  Married in Pietermaritzburg, Natal to Georgina GRIX born LENNOX – she died 16 Sept 1919 Natal. No children of this union.

c6: Percy Arthur EDWARDS was living at Potgieter’s Drift, Winterton, Natal..

c7: Emma EDWARDS  - died 1941 Natal. First married Alfred Wellington LOW – he died 1908 Natal. Second marriage Nn WATSON

c8: Henry Spencer EDWARDS died abt 1904 married Caroline Margaret NN 3 children 

 
Sources with many thanks to:

Andrew Love
IGI
South African Archives (NAAIRS)
Familytree.co.za
Genealogy World
Free BDM UK
Rootsweb Archives: South Africa and British immigrants –Tessa King, Ellen Stanton, Bernie Cramer
Natal Marriages - Ellen Stanton
The Natal Witness
British Settlers in South Africa 1824 – 1857 by Shelagh Spencer
Tessa King
Rosemay Dixon-Smith
Nolene Lossau
Pam Barnes