The Rorke/Myeni link
The task of trying to identify the particular Myeni Chief, whose daughtere was given in marriage to James Michael Rorke could only be tackled once we were back in South Africa in 2007.
Late in 2007 I was introduced to the "Killie Campbell Museum" in Marriott Road, Durban.
The museum is set in one of the old stately Durban homes, high on the Berea, and forms part of the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal.
It was here that I obtained the lead on Charles Edmund Andrew Green, and once again, purely by chance I was given a lead that would set me on the trail of the Myeni Tribes history.
Siyabonga Mkhize, a researcher employed at the museum, hearing about my quest for information on the Myeni, gave me a map he had been researching on the various tribes of South Africa that pinpointed the Myeni as being settled in the District of Ubombo around 1820.
He also gave me an introduction to Ms. Sbongile Mhhlongo at the Dept. of Local Government and Traditional Affairs in Pietermaritzburg.
A visit to her office in October 2008 produced a wealth of information on the Myeni tribe from the early 1700`s to the present day.
I am indebted to Sbongile for this information, and to Siyabonga for the introduction.
Some of the information is contradictory, but you must remember that the Zulu`s, like many African tribes, had no written language at that time, and information was kept by "story tellers" who would recount the complete history of their tribe from memory, (Often embellished with their own interpretation).
Depending upon which story teller English or Afrikaans officials were listening to could determine the nature of the records made.
