Harriette Colenso to Carl Faye: The Scholar of the "Native Affairs" Department (c.1924)
These two items offer a captivating window into early 20th-century historical preservation in KwaZulu-Natal. They bring together a displaced Zulu prince, a fierce political activist family, and one of Natal's most dedicated colonial linguists.
The Displaced Prince: Mkhungo ka Mpande
The handwritten note references "Umkhungo ka Mpande." Prince Mkhungo was a son of the Zulu King Mpande and a half-brother to Cetshwayo.
During the bloody 1856 Zulu succession civil war (the Battle of Ndondakusuka), Mkhungo was forced to flee for his life to escape Cetshwayo's rival faction. He was taken in, protected, and educated by the pioneering and controversial Anglican Bishop of Natal, John William Colenso, at his Ekukhanyeni mission station. This created a profound, lifelong bond between the prince and the Colenso family.
The Legacy of "Miss Colenso" of Sweetwaters
The signature on the note reads "Miss Colenso, Sweetwaters." This refers to Harriette Colenso (or potentially her sister Frances), who carried on her father’s radical legacy. Operating from the Pietermaritzburg area (including Sweetwaters), Harriette spent decades acting as a fierce advocate and legal defender of the Zulu Royal House—most notably defending Cetshwayo’s son, King Dinuzulu, during his trials.
The note reveals her continuing this lifelong devotion by actively retrieving a historical document or portrait of Prince Mkhungo from the British Museum, having it enlarged, and managing it as a precious piece of family and national history.
Carl Faye: The Scholar of the "Native Affairs" Department
The lower luggage/shipping tag is addressed to "Carl Faye Esq, Colonial Offices, Department of Native Affairs."
Carl Faye was a prominent Zulu linguist, interpreter, and author of the landmark 1923 book Zulu References for Interpreters and Students. Faye used his position within the colonial bureaucracy to actively "salvage" and preserve fast-disappearing 19th-century oral histories, royal treaties, and historical records.
Summary of the Exchange
The text on the envelope neatly ties these fragments together, detailing a loan of historical material:
"lent to Carl Faye 1924, & returned by him."
It captures a precise moment in 1924 when Harriette Colenso collaborated with Carl Faye, sharing a meticulously recovered piece of Zulu royal history so that Faye could utilize it for his extensive linguistic and historical research.
Contents sadly missing.
132mm x 106mm
General wear.
R750
