This historical account of the parish was prepared at the request of Fr D. Boardman. It is based on the recollections of Mr. and Mrs. Michael Gallwey, as recorded during two interviews in September and October 1982 at their home in Camp Road, Gillitts. The history was compiled by J.B. Brain.
The early history of the Catholic Church in Kloof can be divided into three distinct sections or periods, which also mirror the residential development of the area.
Period 1: Before 1920 (Early Residents & Holiday Homes)
Before 1920, there were very few permanent residents in the Kloof area, and most of them were farmers. However, well-to-do Durban families kept holiday homes or cottages both in Kloof and in Gillitts, which they used during the long summer holidays. Among these were the Greenacres and Paynes (both prominent Methodist families) and the well-known Catholic businessman Vernon Hooper.
The Hooper family consisted of Vernon Hooper, his wife, three boys, and four girls. Their holiday house, Marianview, was situated at the top of Stockville Road, near Millar’s nursery.
The First Recorded Mass
In about 1909, little Josephine Hooper (later Mrs. Michael Gallwey) remembers meeting Bishop Henri Delalle at Gillitts station and accompanying him to the house where he was to be their guest. Bishop Delalle said Mass for the Hooper family on this occasion, marking the first time such an event was recorded in Kloof.
Period 2: 1920–1939 (Strained Years & Traveling Priests)
The second period included the years between 1920 and 1939. These were difficult years for the Church in Natal, with priests in short supply and the economic situation strained both before and after the Great Depression of 1929–1933.
The priests who were available were concentrated in the more populous parishes. In Pinetown, Father Pierre Vernhet, who had only a handful of White Catholics in his parish, said Mass there once a fortnight, visiting other centres on alternate Sundays. Kloof Catholics could attend Mass in Pinetown, and on the other Sundays, they could walk or drive to Mariannhill.
The Arrival of New Missionaries
Towards the end of the 1930s, a number of young priests arrived from Europe and North America to work in the Natal vicariate. Most of them were allocated to the Zulu missions, while others, like Father Theodore Wiest, were required to serve both the Africans and the Whites in the outlying districts.
- Early 1930s: Father Wiest initially worked with Father Raoul Maingot (the famous missionary to the Indian community) at St. Therese of Lisieux mission at Shallcross, succeeding him upon his death in 1931.
- 1935: Father Wiest was stationed at Malvern. After acquiring a horse, he made regular visits to five centres, including Clermont, Kloof, and Hillcrest.
During this time, the Gallweys and their young family were living in Abelia Road. Father Wiest was able to leave a “Mass box” at their house and was always assured of a bed and a hot meal when he arrived unexpectedly—while his good-natured host had to turn out to cut grass for the horse!
An Anecdote of Father Wiest
Mr. Gallwey tells the following story about Father Wiest, who was from Alsace and spoke English with a strong accent:
One day Father Wiest arrived at the Gallwey house and asked his host to accompany him “in the valley down” to visit a sick Zulu parishioner and to give him Communion. The two men walked several miles down the winding path looking for the sick man’s dwelling when they saw a man climbing up the hill towards them. On hearing that they had come to visit the sick man, he willingly agreed to guide them to the patient, and together they continued some distance down a steep track.
Eventually, their guide stopped under a large shady tree and pointed to the earth beneath it. It transpired that the sick man had died a week previously and had been buried under the tree.
Father Wiest was now left with the host in the pyx he was carrying and was considering what to do with it, since both he and Gallwey had breakfasted, when he saw a Zulu woman, whom he recognized as one of his flock, approaching. After greeting her, Father Wiest abruptly enquired if she had eaten that day, and when she replied that she had not, she was instructed to kneel down and make her confession. This done, she was given Communion and told to make her thanksgiving. Such was the way of the mission priest before Vatican II and the relaxation of the fasting regulations!
On each of his visits to Kloof, a message was sent to the scattered Catholic families living there so that all could take advantage of the infrequent opportunities to hear Mass and receive the Sacraments.
St. Louis’ School & The Emolweni Feeding Scheme
Father Wiest was also responsible for opening a school for African children.
- 1927: St. Louis’ school, consisting of one room, was erected near the present Kloof High School. Sometimes Mass was said for the White Catholics in this building.
- 1942: The school was moved to Krantzview Road, where land had been bought from a Coloured family. This school remained in use until the end of 1970.
A school committee—consisting of Mesdames Byrne, Waugh, Hopewell, Hotchkiss, Haysom, Curry-Wood, and Gallwey—ran the school, employing one teacher who also did the cooking of a midday meal for the pupils. Committee members took it in turns to go to the Durban market to buy vegetables to make the soup. For some years, the government provided milk under its school feeding scheme, but after this was terminated, the school committee continued its efforts, from which the highly successful Emolweni Feeding Scheme developed.
Period 3: The Second World War and Beyond
The third period began with the Second World War. Kloof had become a Health Committee in 1937, and in 1942, it was elevated to the status of a Town Board, despite strong opposition from inhabitants and the fact that facilities, including roads, were almost non-existent.
The population, however, was considerably increased by the arrival of refugees from Egypt, East Africa, and other places where hostilities had broken out. There were now as many as 26 Catholic families. The Gallweys remember several of them: the Waugh, Wood, Hourquebie, Copeland, Landers, McInenaman, Nicols, and Berne families.
The Urgency for a Local Church
Not only were there more Catholics, but strict wartime petrol rationing provided the impetus needed to form a committee to raise funds for a church in Kloof. With an allowance of only twelve gallons or less per month, Sunday trips to Pinetown had to stop, and the need for a church of their own became urgent.
The fund-raising committee consisted of Mesdames Gallwey, Waugh, Hourquebie, and Byrne. The predominance of women on the committee was due to the absence of many local men on active wartime service.
The Hourquebie family, who owned about six acres of land stretching from the Old Main Road towards Haygarth Road (the national road had not yet been built), donated one acre for a church, and fund-raising officially began.
Community Fund-Raising
Numerous cake sales, morning markets, and sales of needlework were held by the Catholic ladies, assisted by many willing non-Catholic friends, showcasing a remarkable community spirit. A most successful method of raising money was the jumble sale. These were held throughout the year, usually on the veranda of the Springbok Store (which was situated in what is now the parking area next to the post office) or in the grounds of the Pinetown church.
Building the Church
About this time, Fr. Joseph Kelly, who had become the parish priest at Pinetown, began to visit Kloof. As the funds for the new church accumulated, he arranged for an architect named Woodrowe to draw up plans.
Woodrowe designed a spacious five-bedroomed house, complete with a housekeeper’s room and outbuildings. This plan threw the committee into confusion; most families were convinced that the parish could not afford such an elaborate building, but they also had no desire to upset the good priest.
Overcoming Wartime Restrictions
Ultimately, strict wartime building regulations decided the nature of the building. Permits could only be obtained for simple houses; no churches or halls could be erected, and five-bedroomed houses for a single man were rejected outright.
New plans were drawn up for a simple three-bedroomed house with a front veranda and a garage. This permit was issued, and work began in August 1942.
The builder was instructed to leave out the dividing walls between the three front rooms. As a result, the finished church consisted of:
- One fairly spacious room (the worship area)
- A bedroom
- A bathroom
- A kitchen
The floors were covered with red quarry tiles in the front and parquet blocks at the rear. The total cost of the structure was about £1,200, and a bond was raised for a portion of this. Mr. Gallwey recalls that building society interest on bonds at the time was £1 for every £100 borrowed.
Furniture, Fittings, and Early Setbacks
The committee raised money for furniture and fittings through donations of cash or kind. Fr. Leo Byrne, who took over the Pinetown parish in 1942, obtained gifts from well-wishers in Ireland, including the door of the tabernacle.
- The Altar: The Wood family provided the timber for the altar—which was still in use at the time of writing—and the carpentry was undertaken by their son-in-law, Bob Burns.
- Sacristan Duties: Mrs. Gallwey acted as sacristan, providing much of the altar linen, while the Hourquebie and Gallwey families donated a vestment press.
- Maintenance: Members of the committee took turns looking after the garden, supervising the cleaning of the church, and arranging flowers.
- The Caretaker: A Zulu caretaker was appointed since the building was very isolated, and he lived in the garage with his family. One of the first caretakers was Herman Joseph, who was well known in the Pinetown parish.
Despite the presence of a caretaker, the church was burgled and the tabernacle door forced soon after completion. Another early setback was the discovery that the church benches had been attacked by wood-borer and had to be replaced. An old harmonium was donated soon afterwards.
For many years after the completion of the church, Fr. Byrne visited Kloof to say Mass on Sundays and on Tuesday and Friday mornings, or when there was a sick call relayed to him by the Gallwey family, who acted as message-takers.
Official Opening and Later Developments
On January 2, 1944, Bishop Delalle paid his first official visit to the new parish of Our Lady of Mercy, where he blessed the new building and opened it for worship.
By this time, the parish had grown to about 40 families. Among them were the following families, who shared the financial responsibilities and parish chores:
- Walsham
- de Gersigny
- Macginnes
- O’Connor
- York
- Guise-Brown
- Ross-Elliott
- Hughes
- Whittaker
- Walker
- Nicol
- Gallwey
- Waugh (…along with several others whose names have unfortunately been forgotten).
The parish remained small enough for all members to know each other well, fostering a deeply developed spirit of sharing. The debt on the church building was finally cleared by February 1946. The first mission was preached by the American Oblate, Fr. Francis Hill, in October 1945.
Property Changes
In about 1955, it was believed that the new national road to Pietermaritzburg would pass through the church grounds, resulting in expropriation. Mrs. Gallwey and a few other parishioners arranged to buy the land on the corner of Abelia and Emolweni Roads (opposite the present civic centre) as a prospective new site for the church. This land remained in church hands until it was taken over by the Borough of Kloof in the 1970s.
Priests Associated with the Early History of the Parish
| Priest | Years of Service |
| Bishop Henri Delalle | 1904–1946 |
| Fr. Theodore Wiest | 1935–1939 |
| Fr. Joseph Kelly | 1939–1942 |
| Fr. Leo Byrne | 1942–1959 |
| Fr. Tom Hannon | 1959–1960 |
| Fr. D. Cavanagh | (Dates unrecorded) |
| Fr. J. McDade | 1960–1967 |
| Fr. J. McGrath | 1967–1973 |