Celebrating 175 years of Verulam: a historical journey

THIS year marks the 175th anniversary of the founding of Verulam, a town located some 30km to the north of Durban.

- JAYSINGH SURUJBULLEE SINGH

It was the third settlement, after Durban and Pietermaritzburg, to be established in the former British Colony of Natal.

In the same way that indentured workers left in search of new opportunities to grow colonial empires, European Settlers spurred on by the potato famine and poverty in the United Kingdom drove several settlers to colonial Natal in 1820.

By 1849, William Josiah Irons initiated the Wesleyan Settler Movement in Verulam, with the leader of the Wesleyan Settlers, Thomas Champeon, from the market town St Albans with the Roman name of Verulamium in Hertfordshire, England, officially raising the flag of Verulam. The flag bore the name “Verulam” in bold letters of gold emblazoned on a dark blue background.