Notes |
- Landed at the Cape with van Riebeck on 6th April 1652. His name heads the list of the first 17 free burghers of the Cape (10/8/1657), and was the first registered land owner in the Cape in Liesbeck 10/10/1657. Murdered 23/5/1693.
The Cloete family in South Africa date back to 1652, when the progenitor, Jacob Cloete (Kloete, Kloet, Kloote, Kloeten) arrived in Cabo de Goede Hoop from Keulen (Cologne) in what is now Germany.
He became a free-burgher in the spring of 1657, on the 10th of August, and received a farm two months later (10th October) from the Dutch East Indian Company (Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compange, VOC), situated on the Liesbeeck river. By 1671 Jacob was not eager to remain at the Cape of Good Hope and repatriated to the Netherlands. However he was soon back again, this time as a soldier, with the rank of Corporal. He was mysteriously murdered on the 23rd May, 1693.
The “stammoeder” of the Cloetes was Fytje (Sophia) Raderootjes "van Uts in 't land van Keulen" who arrived at the Cape of Good Hope in 1658, together with her brother, Peter, on the”Arnhem”.
- Landed at the Cape with van Riebeck on 6th April 1652. His name heads the list of the first 17 free burghers of the Cape (10/8/1657), and was the first registered land owner in the Cape in Liesbeck 10/10/1657. Murdered 23/5/1693.
The Cloete family in South Africa date back to 1652, when the progenitor, Jacob Cloete (Kloete, Kloet, Kloote, Kloeten) arrived in Cabo de Goede Hoop from Keulen (Cologne) in what is now Germany.
He became a free-burgher in the spring of 1657, on the 10th of August, and received a farm two months later (10th October) from the Dutch East Indian Company (Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compange, VOC), situated on the Liesbeeck river. By 1671 Jacob was not eager to remain at the Cape of Good Hope and repatriated to the Netherlands. However he was soon back again, this time as a soldier, with the rank of Corporal. He was mysteriously murdered on the 23rd May, 1693.
The “stammoeder” of the Cloetes was Fytje (Sophia) Raderootjes "van Uts in 't land van Keulen" who arrived at the Cape of Good Hope in 1658, together with her brother, Peter, on the”Arnhem”.
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Rare glimpse of CLOETE stammoeder ...
28 May 1665
Sophia (Feigen / Fytje / Vytgen) Radergenties / Radegorts / Radergoertgens / Ra(e)dergorts / Raderootjes (from Cologne) dies [likely in childbirth] at the Cape
Des achternoens hoorden van onse oppermeester berichten als dat soo even de huijsvrouw van de vrijborger Jacob Cloeten in den Heeren was ontslapen, daer die arme man met sijn vier kinderen veel aen verloren hebben …
Wife to CLOETE stamvader, she arrived (16 March 1659) on the "Arnhem" together with daughter, Elsje Jacobs: Cloete & her brother (as a freeman) Pieter Raderotjes ...
Pieter Raderotjes van Ut in 't lant van Ceulen, hier te lande gecoomen voor vrijman met 't schip Aernhem den 16en Meert ao. 1659 met sijn suster Fijtje Raderotjes, huijsvrouwe van den vrijborger Jacob Cloeten
In that same year (1665) we have a fascinating description of the CLOETE home at their farm on the Liesbeeck which was originally the southern portion of the farm later known as "Ecklenburg" ["Eijklenberg"] & its amicable "half-naked & pregnant" mistress by Wouter Schouten (1638-1704) when writing about his visit (11 March-21 April 1665) to the Cape of Good Hope when sailing ex Batavia in the Return Fleet on the "Rysende Son":
... Here we saw also the life of the Dutch farmers, who around here (& even for a good distance inland) have established themselves & settled down, well knowing how to look after their cattle, by taking them in the morning out into a grassy pasture, or where it may be, & in the evening bringing them into the stables again, which is necessary because of the multitude of wild beasts, although otherwise these folk live in considerable poverty, at least most of those who dwell far inland.
I still remember how once the 3 of us wanderers had gone inland on a certain occasion, & were suddenly overtaken by dusk when we found ourselves near the most distant of the farm-houses, right behind the Table Mountain.
Because of the wild beasts we did not dare to go back in the dark of night so long a way as we had come in our wanderings; so we resolved to beg the poor farmer for shelter (but for good payment) & set our course for the solitary farm-house.
On coming there we were amicably greeted by the half-naked pregnant wife (from Cologne by birth), since her man was out, & invited into the little glassless house, & brought into the best room, which in this cold night was airy & chilly enough since there was no glass nor any shutters there.
And there, when the man [Jacob Cloete] came home we ate a truly frugal evening meal, the best the folk could provide.
Then (at our request) they made our bed or sleeping-place in the cowshed, where our diligent hostess threw some straw on the floor, & to make all as fine as might be spread over it a little piece of sailcloth.
This stable was full of oxen & cows, so that the cold, which was by now pretty overpowering, was made the more tolerable by these 4-footed companions.
Nevertheless we could sleep little for the first part of the night, because of a wanton calf that came into the stable (which was pretty long) & because of the strange visitors began to run about & make gay capers in the darkness, & over and over again was to be hard making for us at full gallop.
Thus we had enough to do to turn the calf away in his mad career, by our loud laughter & by all of us stretching out our legs, so as not to be overrun by his helter-skelter leaps.
But the diligent stableman was merrily on the go in this night-attack, & called to us reassuringly "Be of good cheer, Messieurs, I will manage to turn the crafty yearling away".
Meanwhile he defended himself with great bravery as a bold soldier in this calf-war, assuring us that a calf can see by night & would know how to avoid us in his scampering calf-leaps, which we also found to be true; yet all the efforts of the stableman were in vain.
So we let the calf scamper until it was tired, & in the morning found our bed-place sown with cow-dirt along the foot-end, with which it seemed to have honoured us in the night by way of welcome.
Rising, we paid our poor host, & set off again, & so came aboard, where we often reminded each other of our adventure with the scampering calf in the cowshed …
Note:
The stableman referred to above would have been one of the 3 knechts on record (1665) as being employed by Jacob Cloete
* Albert Barends: Gildenhausen - progenitor of the Geldenhuys family in SA] (from Burgsteinfurt in Westphalia)
* Willem Jansen (from Amsterdam) - later biological father to the illegitimate child of the Snyman stamvader / Cape-born mestiço Christoffel Snijman`s half-sister Petronella ...
* Jacob Hendricqsen (from Campen) ...
http://www.e-family.co.za/ffy/g5/p5324.htm
Illustration: Wouter Schouten (1638-1704), - author of "Oost-Indische-Voyagie; vervattende veel voorname voorvallen en ongemeene vreemde geschiedenissen, bloedige zee- en landtgevechten tegen de Portugeesen en Makassaren ...’ (Amsterdam 1676)
[Mansell Upham]
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