Jan Engelbrecht,
from Zaandam (Netherlands) arrived 1717 in the ship ‘Linschoten’, became a
burger in 1729. Cooper. Married Johanna Guillaumet (French) Four children
Some time in 1717
there arrived in Table Bay, South Africa from Amsterdam, the ship ‘Linschiten’,
named after an early Dutch navigator to the East. On board was Jan
Engelbrecht, or as it was spelt then, Engelbregt. His home was Zaandam,
where the Czar, Peter the Great of Russia, had come only a short while
previously to learn the craft of shipbuilding.
Though Jan
Engelbrecht enlisted as a soldier he was really a cooper and, discovering
that the Cape of Good Hope was a wine-growing country, he set about finding
employment at his trade when, twelve years after he landed , having married
a girl of Huguenot decent, Johanna Guillaumet, he sufficiently established
to ask for his Burger papers.
Later in the same
century another bearer of the name arrived from East Friesland, Gerrit
Engelbrecht, who on October 17, 1745, married Katrina Elizabeth de Jongh.
Finally Johan Bernard Engelbrecht, of unknown origin, made his appearance,
espoused Maria Katinka Bonk and produced a daughter Wilhelmina Elizabeth
Diederica, who was baptized on August 13, 1809.
Most South
African Engelbrecht’s have come from the first two stamvaders. Descendants
of Jan Engelbrecht are particularly numerous around Stellenbosch, while
those of Gerrit Engelbrecht congregate near Swellendam and Graaf-Reinet.
Hermanus
Engelbrecht makes his appearance in 1788 when, as a burger, he informed the
authorities of his intention to set free his slave, Klaas, his female slave
Griet, and the latter’s two children, named Trijn and Koetje.
One of the groups
of Voortrekkers attacked by the Zulus after the massacre of Piet Retief, was
Engelbrecht’s Party, between the Groot and Klein Moordspruit.
The name of
Johannes Engelbregt figuring among those recommending the grant of a farm to
Chief Commandant Andries Pretorius, proves that his was a voice that carried
weight. Again we find reference to Gert Engelbrecht as receiving two head of
cattle captured in February 1840, while other Voortrekkers were Anton
Engelbrecht, Cornelius Engelbregt, H.Engelbregt, and J.Engelbrecht.
The name of
Welverdien is traditional for an Engelbrecht farm. Wellem Petrus Engelbrecht
trekked from Zuurberg to Adelaide, the Cape Province, where his farm was so
called. Another pioneer of the latter district was Johannes C. Engelbrecht
of Tamboekiesfontein. Andriaan Jacobus Johannes Engelbrecht was a pioneer of
the Waterberg in the Republican days.
One place on the
map that commemorates the family – Engelbrecht’s Drift on the Vaal River
where the first emigrants crossed. It saw heavy fighting during the South
African war.
Today, among our
leading men of learning is Professor S.P. Engelbrecht of Pretoria
University, perhaps the greatest authority on early Transvaal history, and
the creator of a famous library. In a very different field sportsmen will
recall the name of Wellem Gerhardus Engelbrecht of Zwartruggens, who was for
ten years one of our professional boxers.
In 1888 the
Voters’ Roll for the South African Republic (containing 11, 294 entries)
there were 120 Engelbrecht’s.
Engelbrecht (engelbregt)
‘Shining Angel’ in Old Dutch.
dfurber@familyforum.com.au
Copyright © 2005 - Desiree Furber. All rights reserved.
Revised:
10/21/08.
