Van der Veen story telling: Arriving in South African from Holland

How I love the moment when something clicks into place, I had one of these moments recently while visiting a dear school friend, Benedikte. 

Her husband Peter showed me his glorious, hand-drawn and hand-painted map of the Colony of Natal dated 1893. The map hangs with pride in his bar at home and it was drawn by his ancestor Mr W. H. Nott, his great-uncle. Peter has a remarkable collection of memorabilia about this interesting man.

I immediately went looking up close at the map to see if I could find a place called New Gelderland, just north of Stanger. This Dutch settlement, according to the reading and research I had been doing, was established some 30 years before the map was drawn. 

And there it was - spelt, New Guelderland, close to Stanger, a little north-east and near the railway line. 

A section of the historic 1893 map drawn by W.H. Nott in the home of Peter Nott.

This name has real historical significance, it represented home to a small group of Dutch Settlers to South Africa who arrived between 1858 and 1860. And even more so, it is historically significant to me, on board the Estafette which reached Port Natal on the 26th August 1858 was a 'Mr and Mrs AJ van der Veen and 3 children', my mother's ancestors had arrived from Holland! She was Daphne Estelle van der Veen and I have been attempting to trace her fathers family.

Arend Johannes was born on the 14 January 1809 within the community of Brummen, a town near Arnhem in the Province of Gelderland. The Reformed Church records that his mother was Berendina van der Veen (born 1770) and that he was illegitimate. She had further illegitimate children and apparently this was not unusual in this era in Europe.

Arend Johannes born Brummen, Gelderland 14.1.1809 and baptised Brummen 9.4.1809.

I received this scanned image of the Reformed Church record from a fellow van der Veen researcher that I have made contact with. Alta Bekker has been invaluable in helping me piece together the van der Veen story here in South Africa. Alta, who is also related to this van der Veen family through Arend's daughter Barendina, provided me with the following about Arend's life in Holland before his sailing to South Africa.

Nothing further is known about Arend until his marriage to Janna Bierhof. Both lived in Brummen, and the marriage was confirmed in the town hall on the 10 Oct 1829 in the presence of witnesses. Arendt was a minor, aged 20, a bricklayers helper, and had not been required to undertake military training. Janna was 26, born in Brummen, the daughter of Harmen Bierhof and Geertruij Schoemaker, labourer and housewife respectively. At the time of the marriage, Janna was a maid-servant, and heavily pregnant.

Arend's second marriage to Catrina, our line.

Married Life:

Arendt and Janna had two children in Brummen, Maria and Geertje. Arend’s wife, Jana, died on 23-04-1834 in Brummen.

Arend married again, registered in Brummen on Saturday 2 Aug 1834. As a widower age 25, he married Catrina Johanna Liefferink, age 25. She was a maid-servant, born in Steenderen, a community three km from Brummen and a short ferry ride across the Ijssel River. Her parents were Barend Liefferink and Barendina Johanna Aberson, a shopkeeper and a housewife respectively.

By this time, Arend’s occupation is recorded as a bricklayer. 

•    My comment: So amazing how Arend now starts this trade as a bricklayer which dominates the family and its fortunes all the way through to both my great grandfather and grandfather who were both bricklayers in Pretoria.

Arend and Catrina were living in Almelo, a town in Overijssel, the province on the northeastern border of Gelderland. They had nine children, all born in Almelo.

Widespread political unrest reached a peak in Europe around the year 1848, though this likely had little to do directly with the disaster which overtook Arendt’s second family. Catharina died on 20 Nov 1849 at the age of 41 in Almelo Stad (Source: Burgerlijke stand - Overlijden Historisch Centrum Overijssel Toegangnr: 123 Inventarisnr: 223 Gemeente: Almelo, Stad Soort akte: overlijdensakte Aktenummer: 91 Aangiftedatum: 21-11-1849), and the twins in 1850.  Of the mother and her 9 children, only Willem, Bernardus, Sarah, Barendina Johanna and Hendrik Jan remained.

•    My comment: One of these van der Veen son's must be my ancestor and it seems that Willem in the most likely option. 

Arend Johannes van der Veen at age 41 (Geboorteplaats: Brummen and beroep metselaar) got married again on 1 Feb 1851, to Kaatje Vonke, who was 47 years old on their wedding day.

But Kaatje died on 28 Sept 1861 at age 57 in Almelo, Stad. (Source: Burgerlijke stand - Overlijden Historisch Centrum Overijssel Toegangnr: 123 Inventarisnr: 224 Gemeente: Almelo, Stad Soort akte: overlijdensakte Aktenummer: 64 Aangiftedatum: 30-09-1861). 

Alta's information also seems to indicate a fourth marriage for Arend in Durban , to a Sarah Grimett on the 19 May 1863, but there are question marks about this fact.

•    My comment: Not sure who the Mrs AJ van der Veen is noted on the Estafette passenger listing, did Kaatje come out with Arend and then go back to Almelo where she dies in 1861? 

Postscript:

NEW GELDERLAND: DUTCH SETTLERS TO NATAL 1858-1860

In November 1858 the Nederlandsche Landbouw-emigratie Maatschappij (Netherlands Agricultural and Immigration Company) was founded with the aim of sending settlers from the Netherlands to Natal. This emigration scheme arose largely through the efforts of Theodorus Christiaan Colenbrander, who had been resident in Natal since 1854.

COLENBRANDER 1811-1881, landed at Natal in September 1854 and settled on land near Pinetown, cultivating indigo with van Prehn and Archibald Keir Murray. The venture was beset by various difficulties: a legal wrangle between van Prehn and Murray, as well as labour problems which threatened to close down the indigo operation. 

Colenbrander approached the Natal Government on the matter of bringing out settlers from the Netherlands, and it was agreed that land would be granted between the Nonoti and Sinkwazi Rivers on the North Coast, to be farmed by 20 Dutch families if these emigrants could arrive in Natal prior to 26 July 1857. Meanwhile, Colenbrander's brother, Rev Herman Colenbrander, and two of Theodorus Christiaan's nephews, Johannes Arnoldus and Adriaan Benjamin Colenbrander, began to take an active role in finding suitable emigrants in Holland.

 The founding of the Nederlandsche Landbouw-emigratie Maatschappij in Doesburg followed in November 1858. Johannes continued to recruit settlers and organize matters in Holland, his uncle Theodorus Christiaan took charge of the Natal end of the scheme, and MC Lapidoth, a shipowner of Amsterdam, would look after the emigrants while on board ship.




ARRIVALS IN NATAL

The Dutch barque Estafette, 424 tons, commanded by Captain Reitveld, lay at Oosterdok (Eastern Dock) Amsterdam from 26 March-19 April 1858, where she took on board crew, passengers and cargo. From 20-22 April she was lying at het Nieuwediep (New Deep) off Den Helder at the tip of north Holland.

She sailed for South Africa on 22 April and was at anchor at Simon's Bay between 9 July and 1 August, when she departed for the Cape of Good Hope.

On 20 August 1858 the vessel reached Port Natal. The landing of her passengers was announced in the Natal Mercury 26 August 1858.

Passengers on the Estafette included -

Cabin:

Rev D Postma

Rev PAC Van Heyningen & Mrs B Van Heyningen

Mr Adriaan (Benjamin) Colenbrander

Miss Sophia Alida Colenbrander

Second cabin (or steerage):

Miss G Loopwijk

Miss MC Meyer

Mr & Mrs AJ Van der Veen & 3 children

Mr & Mrs JH Gielink & 4 children

Mr & Mrs JV Van Wyhe (elsewhere spelled Wijhe) & 4 children

Mr & Mrs GIC Sein (?) & 2 children

Mr JM Gielink

Mr AJ ReevoortMessrs Haetinck [sic; HW Hoetink] Haenert, Arnoldt, Friecke, Vogel, Zevenhuysen

The Mercury reported that among the 'goods entered inwards' per Estafette from Amsterdam were 200 cases gin (for JF Kahts, the shipping agent in Natal); 5 packages, 1 case furniture, 2 boxes, 1 chest, 1 waggon, 1 plough, 1 harrow, 9 casks (for T Colenbrander); 2 chests boots, 73 packages, 442 iron pots (for JC Van der Wyhe) and 3 cases wine (for AB Colenbrander).

Source:http://www.tokencoins.com/book/natal

Exploring the old cemeteries in Pretoria

Great grandparent's grave in the Holland C section of Rebecca Street Cemetery, Pretoria

I convinced Fred to take me to the old cemeteries to the west of the Pretoria city centre on Friday, the historic Old Church Street Cemetery which was first used in 1867, as well as the Rebecca Street Cemetery which has been in use from 1905. I paged through the old journals at the Rebecca Street office and found both my great grandparents information; Suzara Petronella in 1938 and Arend Johannes in 1946 on plots 4017 and 4018 in the Holland C section. We wandered around and it was Fred who found the van der Veen gravestone. It is remarkable to stumble across a grave and to know how you are connected to these long dead people. There are other van der Veen's buried here at Rebecca Street but I wanted to go across to the Old Church Street cemetery as I have been given information that the original Arend Johannes van der Veen, who came to South Africa in 1859 from Brummen in Holland, had bought 8 plots here at the Old Church Street Cemetery.

Journal from the late 1800's showing the van der Veen family plot.

We found the site easily, the plots are right next to the fence along the busy Church Street.

The oldest grave is Geertjen Meyer, the daughter of AJ van der Veen, she died in 1870, only 3 years after the setting up of this cemetery. I am slowly piecing together this family and their history, the research has certainly been intriguing and just a little bit shocking too.

Seeing this family plot and walking among the graves is making the research come alive.

Arend Johannes van der Veen, the original Dutch settler, died in 1882 and if he was buried here at the Old Church Street cemetery, there is no trace of his headstone. I found two of his three sons here though, Bernadus Johannes and William with their wives, as well as some of the next generation.

More about this family soon...

Sime rhymes with Time, and maybe Siam

Zoom into the small photo I have of Great grandfather Arend Johannes van der Veen, with his sister Sara Anna
and in the foreground her daughter Amy, my mother as a little girl with her Aunt Sissie.

The same little black and white photo I have keeps opening up the past just that little bit more.

I have been researching the van der Veen 'dynasty' from Pretoria.

It started when one Arend Johannes van der Veen (1809 - 1882) and family came from the Netherlands in 1859, landed in Port Natal and then at some point moved to Pretoria.

The names all fit with those of my grandfather's family, they were builders and bricklayers too, but I have not connected 'my' Arend Johannes' to this family line as yet.

I have however found his sister, Sara Anna and her daughter, Amy.

The clue came from my Nan's jotting down the names on the back of the little photo. She writes 'Amy Siam' and 'Aunt Annie, Oupa's sister'.

Sara Anna van der Veen married a William Victor Sime, which rhymes with time and Nan spelt it Siam.

I found Sara Anna's Death Notice at the Archives last week, which confirmed her having one daughter called Amy.

She and Great Grandfather Arend both died in 1946 aged 71 and 65 respectively, which could not have been too many years after the little photo was taken, as my mother was born in 1939 and she looks about 4 or so in the photo.

I have also noticed that zooming in on Arend's mouth in the photo, the evidence of his cancer of the lips which was given as his cause of death.