About Ferndene
They eventually arrived in the beautiful KwaZulu Natal Midlands and set up a homestead called ‘The Dargle’ after the Dargle stream they had left behind in Dublin. Later Kilgobbin (situated above Ferndene) was built and resold. Ferndene was acquired and rebuilt as a farm school during the 2nd World War, before becoming a ladies agricultural college – hence its very spacious passages, bedrooms and living area.
Thomas’ great-great-great-great grandchildren still walk in the Dargle forest.
We’d love you to share and enjoy it with us. Peace and quiet; space and privacy; comfort and a home. That’s what we are about.
Our History
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In 1845, Thomas Fannin, an Irishman from Dublin who had a successful business in Liverpool, liquidated his assets and optimistically decided to charter a sailing vessel to South Africa with his wife Ellen and their nine children.
After three months at sea they landed in Cape Town where he purchased “a shipload of merchandise” which was sold profitably and contributed towards a mining venture in Namaqualand. In search of copper, he hoped to establish a mine for the South African Mining Company but the odds were stacked against him and he was forced to return to Cape Town.
The opportunity arose for him to purchase 6000 acres of land in Natal for £150. The seller described the land as having a ‘running stream and large indigenous forest’. This was a tempting contrast indeed to the dry Namaqualand and it revived Thomas’ incurable optimism. In 1847 the family set sail once more for the shores of Natal to seek their fortune.