Willem Schalksz(oon) van der Merwe^[1]

Abt 1640 - 1716  (76 years)

• Name	Willem Schalksz(oon) van der Merwe
  Birth	Abt 1640	Broeck,,,Netherlands   [2]
  Gender	Male
  Death	12 Jul 1716  [2, 3]
  Person ID	I8230	My Genealogy
  Last Modified	30 Apr 2026

  
  

  Father	Schalk van der Merwe
  Family ID	F302712705	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family 1	Koddo van Guinea
  Marriage	_HTITL: Husband _WTITL: Wife
  Children	1. Maria Schalks
  Family ID	F830	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	25 Feb 2022

  
  

  Family 2	Elsje Cloete,   c. 28 Feb 1655, Oedt,,,Rheinland,Preussen,Germany
  Marriage	9 Sep 1668  [1, 4]
  Children	1. Aletta van der Merwe,   c. 30 Mar 1684   d. 30 Sep 1729, Drakenstein,Cape,South Africa., (Age ~ 45 years)   2. Elsie van der Merwe   3. Eula van der Merwe   4. Helena van der Merwe,   c. 7 Apr 1686   5. Hendrik van der Merwe,   c. 17 Aug 1698, Drakenstein,Cape,South Africa.,   6. Jacob van der Merwe,   c. 11 Feb 1680   7. Jacoba van der Merwe,   c. 22 May 1678   8. Magdalena van der Merwe   9. Maria van der Merwe,   c. 29 Dec 1675   10. Petronella van der Merwe,   c. 1 Mar 1682   11. Pieter van der Merwe,   c. 16 May 1688   12. Schalk Willemse van der Merwe,   c. 13 Aug 1673   d. Abt 1740 (Age ~ 66 years)   13. Sophia van der Merwe,   c. 2 Nov 1670
  Family ID	F302712698	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	25 Mar 2022

  
  

• Notes

  According to the register of the Cape community, he was from Oud-Beyerland (between Dordrecht and Rotterdam, Nederland), and according to the resolutions of the Political Council he was from Broek. He was a son of Schalk van de Merwe, farmer in Oud-Beyerland, and a grandson of Willem van de(r) Merwe, from whom present-day van der Merwes in the Netherlands also descended. Arrived in the Cape as "haakbusskutter" on the ship "Dordrecht"; burger in 1661. In 1663 he again entered service in the VOC as midshipman; was afterwards a "vrykneg" (free servant). Three weeks before his marriage, he was charged with trading cattle with the Khoi, and sentenced to corporal punishment. The sentence was commuted, and he had to pay a fine of 50 Rixdollars. On 23.3.1677 got permission from the V.O.C. together with Pieter van der Westhuizen to farm land in Houtbaai (the farm «i»Kronendal«/i», the Cape Dutch gable of which still stands today). This arrangement was cancelled in 1681 and the farm was granted to Willem in free ownership. Willem fathered a daughter by a female slave presented to him by Simon van der Stel, the child's name was Maria. She was freed in 1686 (Attestasie 1664 in C 326 pp 478-9, p 6 en 27) and became the "stammoeder" of the Heyns family when in 1696 she married Paulus Heyns. Karel Schoeman in "Armosyn van die Kaap" p.535 quotes the following: "'n sekere slavin by wie hy teenswoordig 'n kind verkry het, en wat hy, Schalcq, met haar bevalling in hierdie kombuisie (by die Skuur) ondergebring het; hy het haar ook ten alle tye versorg deur kos te berei en water en brandhout te haal, ja, wat meer is toe sy moes beval, het Schalq my Kruijthoff, opgeklop en gevra dat ek hom tog sy brandewyn (rantsoen) sou gee, waarop ek hom twee mutsjes verstrek het, wat hy vir hierdie slavin gebring het, en (hulle?) het dit as hartversterking genuttig." In 1678 Elsje Cloete provided food and tobacco to the Khoikhoi Quisa and his fellow prisoners after their escape. The entry in the marriage register of the Cape church for Sept 9, 1668 reads "«i»den 9 September An' 1668 Willem Schalcq met Elsjen Jacobs Dochter van Jacob Cloeten«/i» " Stamvader: Willem Schalksz(oon) van der Merwe. Volgens die register van die Kaapse gemeente was hy van Oud-Beyerland (tussen Dordrecht en Rotterdam, Nederland), en volgens die resolusies van die Politieke Raad was hy van Broek. Hy was 'n seun van Schalk van de Merwe, boer in Oud-Beyerland, en 'n kleinseun van Willem van de(r) Merwe, van wie die tans nog bestaande familie Van de Merwe in Nederland ook afstam. Kom hier aan as haakbusskutter op die skip Dordrecht; burger in 1661. In 1663 het hy weer in diens van die V.O.C. getree as adelbors belas met landbon; was daarna 'n vrykneg en het op 23.3.1677 van die V.O.C. verlof gekry om saam met Pieter van der Westhuizen grond in Houtbaai te bewerk (d.i. die plaas "Kronendal", waarvan die Kaaps-Hollandse opstal vandag nog bestaan). Hierdie ooreenkoms is in 1681 gekanselleer en dié plaas is toe in vrye eiendom aan Willem toegeken. Die plaas "De Hoop" in Klein Drakenstein, wat in 1692 aan Willem se seun Schalk Willemsz van der Merwe toegeken is, was dus die tw

  
  

• Sources

  [S57] de Villiers, C.C., revised by Pama, C., Genealogies of Old South African Families, (Published A.A Balkema, Cape Town, 1981 ISBN 0-86961-136-4), Entry for van der Merwe (Reliability: 2). [S64] Robertson, Delia, First Fifty Years, (http://www.e-family.co.za/ffy/). [S1394] Parish registers for the Dutch Reformed Church at Paarl, Cape Province, (familysearch.org (Unindexed 2021)), Death of Willem Schalksz van der Merwe recorded in membership list (Reliability: 3). [S1401] South Africa, Cape Province, Cape Town, Church Records, (familysearch.org), 1668 Marriage Willem Schalksz van der Merwe and Elsje Cloete (unindexed) (Reliability: 3).