Sir James Liege Hulett (17 May 1838 – 5 June 1928) was a British sugar magnate, politician and philanthropist in Colony of Natal, South Africa. Hulett founded what would become Tongaat Hulett Sugar in 1892. The JSE Securities Exchange-listed company is today a multi-billion rand corporation. Career James Liege Hulett was originally from Kent, and arrived in Durban at the end of May 1857, aboard the Lady Shelbourne with an offer of a position with a chemist, William Henry Burgess, a friend of his father. He was lent £25 by his uncle, George Flashman. 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 Liege Hulett 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. Liege Hulett took the name of his estate from an old village and medieval manor not far from Dover in Kent. The name Kearsney derives from the French Cressoniere meaning a place where watercress is grown. The double-storied Kearsney house with a small turret projecting above the roof level was erected on the highest point of the estate and built on the farm. He created at Kearsney a place of peace and harmony which inspired others to improve and beautify their own estates. Kearsney House was a well made and designed mansion with large, furnished reception rooms and 22 bedrooms. When tea production ceased on Kearsney, the ornamental trees protecting the tea gardens were replaced with sugar cane. Sir Liege imported many varieties of seeds and plants of a wide range of fruits – guavas, cloves, mangoes, apples etc., citrus of all kinds and planted orchards near Kearsney House. He has been criticised for growing his sugar empire using the indentured labour of Indian migrants. He was also dependent on "cheap black labour" and protested against the proposed native labour contingent to be sent to France during the First World War, arguing that Natal could not "spare any native labour". Governor General Sydney Buxton remarked that the capitalist class in Natal "want the labour and they are afraid