Umhlali Preparatory School Founder - Sir Liege Hulett

James Liege Hulett arrived in Durban at the end of May 1857 with 5 pounds and an offer of a position with a chemist, Mr. Burgess, a friend of his father. In 1860 he advertised for a farm in the Nonoti area and successfully leased an area of 600 acres, which he called Kearsney. He experimented with maize, sweet potatoes, chillies, arrowroot and coffee and also established a trading store. Soon he commanded a flourishing business, which enabled him to purchase several farms in the area. It was at Kearsney that he established a thriving tea estate, which was the foundation of the company Sir J.L. Hulett & Sons. This was also the start of his sugar empire.

James Liege Hulett was a local preacher in the Verulam Circuit of the Methodist Church and, as there was no place of worship for miles around, a family altar was erected in his home where friends and neighbours joined the family at their Sunday services. Among the number who attended this gathering were the father and mother of Mary Ann Hulett, Mr and Mrs Benjamin Balcomb, her three brothers Inigo, Horace and Benjamin, together with the Metcalf, Newcombe, Fuller, Peachie and Buckle families.

Sir James Liege Hulett went on to pioneer the country’s sugar industry. He founded the Hulett Company in 1892, which had extensive cane plantations and erected his first sugar mill in 1903. He personally raised money to extend the railway line between Verulam and Stanger, which became the first privately owned line in Natal. He represented Victoria County in the Natal legislative council for twenty-two years. In 1921, Hulett founded Umhlali Preparatory School and Kearsney College, a prestigious boys’ school in Stanger. It later relocated to Botha’s Hill. Today, the Huletts Sugar Company is called Tongaat-Hulett, after it merged with the Tongaat sugar company, and is still one of the major sugar groups in the country.