Dugald MacPhail
Born on 26 April 1840 in Inveraray, Argyllshire, Scotland, Dugald MacPhail arrived in Natal in 1864. He lived the life of an adventurous bachelor in Pietermaritzburg, Newcastle, the Orange Free State and on the Kimberley diamond diggings.
In 1870 he visited the Dundee district and stayed with Peter Smith and his family on the farm “Dundee.”
Two years later he returned to this district and bought the farm “Craigside” at ten shillings an acre. He married Isabella Petrie Smith, daughter of Peter Smith. Isabella died in childbirth 3 years later, leaving him with 2 young daughters. She was 22 years old and is buried in the cemetery at Talana Museum. Two years later Dugald married Annie Susanah O’Leary from Oudtshoorn.
He joined the Buffalo Border Guard in 1873.- a local militia force that patrolled the Natal/Zululand border collecting information and passing this to the British military authorities. In December 1878 he was present at Helpmekaar when the Buffalo Border Guard was called up for duty and in January 1879 was present at the battle of Isandlwana serving as the Quartermaster for the Buffalo Border Guard. He was amongst a handful of survivors, and was the last man to escape the Zulu ‘Horns” as they closed around the men fleeing from the battlefield along the Fugitives Trail to the Buffalo river. He carried word of the massacre to Dundee, then returned to Fort Pine to resume his military duties for the duration of the war.
In 1882 he, together with Peter Smith (his father-in-law), William Smith (his brother-in-law) and Charles Willson, was instrumental in founding the town of Dundee.
In 1896 he sold the first plots of land to Indian immigrants to the town. By 1898 twenty Indian families had settled here.
His military career continued as a member of the Dundee Town Guard – a local militia force raised to protect the town-taking part in the Battle of Talana the first battle of the Anglo Boer War 1899-1902, abandoning his farm which was looted by the Boers.
After the war he returned to the farm, where he farmed and mined coal successfully. He lived in great style in his fine home on “Craigside”, after having reclaimed some of his furniture and dug up valuables from under a hydrangea bush where they had been hidden for the duration of the war.
In 1906 he served in the Bambatha Rebellion as a member of the Dundee Borough Reserves.
He served in the First World War.
In 1937 Dugald MacPhail was granted the Freedom of the Borough of Dundee and he lived to celebrate his 100th birthday with great ceremony in the town and on his farm, when he was presented with a magnificent set of gates at the entrance to his farm by the town of Dundee.
In 1940 he volunteered for military service but was turned down as “being too old” and so he enrolled as a member of the Police Reserve – the oldest reservist in the Empire and also the oldest ex-serviceman.
Dugald died in 1941 and was buried in the Smith Family graveyard at Talana museum, respected and revered as “Dundee’s Grand Old Man”.
