Willem Schalk van der Merwe

Abt 1643 - 1716  (73 years)

• Name	Willem Schalk van der Merwe
  Born	Abt 1643
  Gender	Male
  Died	12 Jul 1716
  Person ID	I351	JA_Vorster1961
  Last Modified	17 Mar 2001

  
  

  Family	Elsje Cloete
  Married	9 Sep 1668	the Cape
  Children	1. Schalk van der Merwe,   b. 14 Jan 1673
  Family ID	F164	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Notes

  Willem Schalkszoon van der MERWE, arrived in April 1661 from Oud-Beyerland, Netherlands on the Dordrecht and became a burgher in 1661. Received permission to work the farm Kronendal with Pieter van der Westhuizen but became sole owner in 1681. Willem is accused three weeks before his marriage that he is buying cattle from the locals and is sentenced to corporal punishment. The sentence is dropped but he had to pay fifty ryksdaalers. In 1672 all his sheep is stolen by the Hottentote. They caught five of them and took them to the Fort. In 1677 the area around Houtbaai are rented to Willem and the stamvader Pieter van der Westhuizen. The contract was cancelled four years later and given to to them. Willem en Elsie possibly raised their children on this farm named Kronendal. Kronendal is thus the first farm of the van der Merwe family. Daughter from a slave. Willem had a daughter from a female slave whom Simon van der Stel gave him as a present. The childs name was Maria. This female slave was released in 1686 (Attestasie 1664 in C 326 pp 478-9, p 6 and 27). Maria became the stammoeder of the Heyns family,she married Paulus Heyns in 1696. Elsie father Jacob Cloete was murdered in 1693 near the castle . Die Govenour described the incident as follows: "Deesen avon tusschen 8 a 9 uren is niet verre van casteel en bij't vleeschhuis vermoort Jacob Cloeten, corporaal in dienst der der E. Compagnie" Children: b1 Sophia baptised Capetown 1 Nov 1670, X Roelof Pasman, XX 25 Jan 1696 Pieter Robberts b2 Schalk Willem born 14 Jul 1673, baptised Capetown 13 Aug 1673, died 1740, X Anna Prevot b3 Marritje (Maria) baptised Capetown 29 Dec 1675, X Barend Burger b4 Jacoba Jacomina baptised 22 May 1678, X Johann Schöpping, XX Jost Heinrich Frisch b5 Jacob baptised 11 Feb 1680 died young b6 Petronella baptised 1 March 1682, X Johannes Cloete b7 Aletta baptised Capetown 23 Apr 1684, X Marthinus van Staden, XX Claas Jansz van Rensburg b8 Helena (Lena) baptised 7 Apr 1686, X Jacobus van As wew, XX Christiaan Maasdorp b9 Pieter baptised Capetown 16 May 1688 b10 Magteld baptised c 1691, X18 Sep 1708 Pieter Willem van Heerden b11 Elsie baptised 15 Jul 1697, X Albert Lambertz Myburgh b12 Ilya (Ulya of Eula) baptised Drakenstein 28 May 1696 b 13 Hendrik Willem baptised 17 Aug 1698, X 25 Jun 1717 Catharina Cloete, XX Paarl 26 Nov 1747 Aletta Keyser, XXX Paarl 6 Des 1750 Maria Fick, The oldest child Sophia van der Merwe also known as `Fytjie Schalk'. According to an article in the SA medical journal she had the illness known as Huntingtons Chorea which is common among some Afrikaans speaking people descendants from Sophia van der Merwe. References: Jan van der Merwe, "Willem Schlkszoon van der Merwe - 'n Biografiese Ekskursie" Familia XVI 1979 no 1 Heese en Lombard Hoge, Personalia of Germans at the Cape