1688 – 1948……………………………………………4

The Eedes/Cloete Connection……………………  .16

The Seventh Generation…………………….……….18

Melt van der Spuy (a1), the eighth child of the van der Spuy family of Rotterdam, The Netherlands, was the only Van der Spuy to immigrate to South Africa . He was christened at Rotterdam on 04 April 1688, and was named after his uncle Melt Janse van Leewen.

In 1707 the young Melt accepted employment as a soldier with the Oost Indische Compagne. Prior to his departure from Holland he named his mother as the only beneficiary to his estate – his father being deceased. The Will and Last Testament was lodged and registered by Notaris Waarts on 12 December 1707.

On 29 December 1707 he sailed from Rotterdam on board De Schellenberg and arrived at Kaap De Goede Hoop on 26 May 1708. After 5 years he returned to Holland on board the Donauw. Upon his arrival on 19 September 1713 he received 354 Gulden and 17 Stuivers for services rendered to the Compagne during the five years spent in their employ at The Cape.

Barely four months later, on 16 January 1714, he sailed from Rotterdam on board the De Kiefhoeck, this time as an Adelborst, or Petty Officer. He left the ship upon their arrival at the Cape of Good Hope and assumed local citizenship on 09 April 1715.

On 14 June 1716 he married a local girl, Maria van der Poel in Cape Town. She was born on 07 February 1694, and later died on 23 August 1770. From this marriage eight children were born, two daughters and six sons.

Like most of the young Netherlands immigrants to the Cape, the Oost Indische Compagne employed Melt. Although he became a Vryburgher after six years, he remained a member of the Burgher-Cavallery and at the time of his death he held the rank of Lieutenant.

Within a few years of his arrival at the Cape Melt acquired his first property, and thereafter, until his death he purchased and sold three more properties. His main source of income was from his involvement with the liquor trade. It appears that by 1722 and until his death in 1734, he held one of four liquor licenses issued by the Compagne.

Although no inventory of his assets at time of death could be traced, it would be safe to assume that he was a man of means. This assumption is based upon the fact that he was in a position to send his 9-year-old son Petrus to Holland for his education.

Maria was the eldest daughter of Vryburgher Pieter van der Poel from Leiden and Johanna Viant from Amsterdam. Unlike Melt, Maria was born at the Cape in 1694. Her father was a respected and wealthy man with a farm on the Liesbeeck River and the owner of six houses in Cape Town. After his death the considerable Estate of Pieter van der Poel was inherited by his four children, with the name of Melt recorded with that of his wife Maria.

Stamvader (Ancestor) Melt (a1) died on 28 October 1734, and according to custom at that time, was laid to rest in the kelder (vault) in the Groote Kerk in Cape Town. Maria, who died in 1770 at age 76, survived Melt by 36 years.

In 1740, six years after the death of Melt, Maria again married. The second time to Sy Edele Carel George Wieser, a member of the Burgher Raad. Wieser owned extensive land at the Cape, amongst which the valuable 224 morgen Groot Constantia farm which he acquired from Olof Bergh for 2888 Riksdaalders on 09 August 1734. Thus Maria van der Spuy-Wieser became the housewife of Simon van der Stel’s beautiful farm.

After the death of Wieser in 1758, Jacobus van der Spuy, the eldest son of Melt and Maria, inherited Groot Constantia. Jacobus remained the owner until his death on 15 January 1778, when the farm was sold to Jan Serrurier.

Marthinus (b6), the sixth child of Melt and Maria, was born in 1727, and was christened on 18 May 1727. Marthinus was 13 years old when his mother remarried Wieser in 1740. He died on 10 January 1790.

On 11 June 1750 Marthinus (b6) purchased De Klipheuvel aan de Mosselbank Rivier, a 60 morgen farm which after 34 years, he sold to his son Melt (c2).

Three years after he acquired his farm, Marthinus married Petronella Steen on 10 March 1753. She died on 21 January 1770 and was survived by her husband for twenty years. Marthinus left two Wills, one dated 20 October 1759, and another dated 19 March 1779. In the first Will he is referred to as den Landbouwer.

A further indication of Marthinus’s farming activities, and his lifestyle, is recorded in Alys F. Trotter’s book “ Old Cape Colony”, in which she refers to a 1772 journey by the Swedish naturalist Spaarman, én Route to Paarl. Spaarman records: “October 1772. At three o’clock in the afternoon I arrived at the house of a farmer named van der Spuy. He was a widower and born in Africa, and a brother of Jacobus van der Spuy, the owner of Groot Constantia. Without appearing to see me, he remained motionless in the passage that leads into the house. When I was near to him he did not take even one step towards me, but took my hand and greeted me with the words

‘Good day, you are welcome, how are you? Would you like some wine, or a pipe of tobacco, or would you like anything to eat?’ His daughter, young, well made, and with a pleasing manner, put on the table a magnificent breast of lamb stew, garnished with carrots. After the meal she offered me tea in such an attractive manner that I hardly knew which was preferable, the dinner or my young hostess. Consideration and goodness of heart was plain to see on the father and in the bearing of both father and daughter”

Marthinus van der Spuy’s second child, a son Melt (c2), was born in Cape Town on 03 July 1756. He died on 06 November 1825. He was the first van der Spuy to own the farm Klein Olifantskop, which was acquired from Jacob Eksteen on 11 January 1787. Olifantskop was (is) situated about 50 Km north of Cape Town in an area known as Koeberg.

On 10 June 1781 Melt (c2) was married to Aletta Barendina van der Westhuijse. She was christened in 1762 and died on 31 December 1834, nine years after her husband. They had seven children, two daughters and five sons, amongst whom Sybrand Johannes, their fourth child.

Sybrand Johannes (d4) was born on 12 June 1790 and christened on 01 August 1790 at Philadelphia, a small village about 10 Km from the family farm. During 1816 he married Angelique Maria Kolver who was born on 20 July 1797 and later died on 01 March 1872.

On 03 March 1824 the farm Oliphantskop was transferred to Sybrand Johannes (d4) from his father Melt (c2). Seven years before the death of Sybrand Johannes on 07 February 1864, Oliphantskop, by then extended after acquisitions of adjoining lands, was subdivided and transferred to the two sons. One portion being renamed Kalkfontein, became the property of Hendrik Jacobus (e8). The remaining portion – Oliphantskop – being transferred to Andreas Lutherus the other brother.

Hendrik Jacobus van der Spuy (e8), my Great Grandfather, and the new owner of Kalkfontein, was born on 27 August 1826 and died at age 52 on 11 January 1879 at Kalkfontein. The date of his marriage to Engela Frederika Dreyer is not known. She was born in 1829 and died in her 87^th year at Kalkfontein on 21 August 1916. On 09 August 1892 the farm Kalkfontein was transferred to Hendrik Jacobus (f5), my Grandpa, who was then 33 years old. He was the third owner of Kalkfontein.

Hendrik Jacobus van der Spuy (f5) was born at Kalkfontein on Saturday 29 October 1859, and died at Durbanville at age 76 on Sunday 17 February 1935. At the time of his death, my Grandparents were living in Durbanville in a house on the corner of Gladstone and Church Streets, close to the Synagogue. He was interned in the Kalkfontein family vault in the Philadelphia cemetery, as was his wife when she passed away in 1957. Thereafter the vault was sealed and no further burials were done therein.

Around 1883 he married Harriette Eedes Cloete, daughter of Sebastian Valentine Cloete and Harriette Eedes. S.V. Cloete was a Magistrate at Somerset West and later at Paarl. This marriage produced fourteen children. The third child, a boy, was stillborn. The fourth child, Sebastian Valentine (Bas) died in 1906 as a result of an accident involving a firearm, whilst out hunting on the family farm, Kalkfontein.

(The historic farms Groot Constantia and Kirstenbosch were at one-time owned by the Cloete family.)

The farm Kalkfontein, in the Philadelphia district, changed hands on 16 May 1932, when the Vink Brothers acquired ownership. Subsequent owners were Michael Dinken, Solomon Daeson, and on 11 June 1945, W. Davies. On 07 May 1948 Kalkfontein was sold to the Imperial Cold Storage Company (I. C. S.)  One of the I. C. S. Directors at that time, Ivan Wentzel, was a cousin of Llewellyn Wentzel who had married one of the van der Spuy daughters, Baby.

On 02 July 1948 the family farm once more reverted to van der Spuy ownership when Andries Christoffel van der Spuy, a nephew of H. J. van der Spuy (f5), became the new owner. He in turn transferred the farm to his son Albertus Johannes van der Spuy on 11 March 1969. His son Andries Christoffel, born on 06 October 1969 will no doubt continue the family tradition.

Hendrik Jacobus van der Spuy (f5) and Harriette Eedes Cloete, Grandpa and Grandma.

Three generations Hendrik Jacobus van der Spuy circa 1920.

Standing: H.J. (Klein Hennie /g1) 1884/1968 and his wife Martha Johanna (le Roux) 1887/1951.

Seated: Harriette Eedes (Cloete), and her husband H. J. (Hennie /f5) 1859/1935.

Front: H. J. (Harry /h1) 1909/1993 and Eedes Loubser 1910/1993.

Hennie (f5) and Harriette van der Spuy at Kalkfontein, in January 1925,

probably on their way to Church at Philadelphia.

Kalkfontein, 1924

Kalkfontein 1924

The Blue gum avenue east of the manor house, leading to the main road, 1924.

Harriette Eedes Cloete, wife of Hendrik Jacobus van der Spuy (f5) was born at Paarl on 29 April 1865.Only eight days after her birth her mother died on 6 May 1865.

                    It is not known for how long the five Cloete children, Sebastian Valentyne, Maria, Henry, Albert and baby Harriette were left without the day-to-day care of a mother before their father remarried Sara Nel. This marriage produced two children, Boy and Sarah.

The deceased Harriette Cloete was a daughter of Harriette Joanna Rowe who married John Charles Eedes on 12 October 1829.

The Rowes’ were an illustrious family with direct ties to Nathaniel Rowe who sailed around the world with Lord Carson. His son, Rev. Henry Rowe, L.L.B., was the father of Captain Henry Nathaniel Rowe R.N. who served under Lord Nelson at the Battle of Trafalgar.

Charles Eedes, with his wife Harriette Joanna Rowe and their five children came out from England as the first Chaplain of the Anglican Church at the Royal Naval base, Simonstown A plaque in memory of this occasion can still be seen in the Anglican Church in Simonstown.

Thus the family tree of Harriette Eedes (Cloete) van der Spuy: 

         Nathaniel Rowe

         Rev Henry Rowe

         Capt. Henry Nathaniel Rowe

         Harriette Joanna Rowe; Married to John Charles

         Eedes, 1829.10.12.

         Harriette Eedes; Born 1831, Married to Sebastian

         Valentine Cloete, Died 1865.05.06.

         Harriette Eedes Cloete, born 1865.04.29, married

         Hendrik Jacobus van der Spuy1883. She died

         1957.05.19.

(g1) Hendrik Jacobus van der Spuy (Klein Hennie), born on 18 November 1884, the eldest of the Kalkfontein children, married Martha Johanna le Roux (Martjie) on 21 October, 1887, at Caledon. They lived and farmed at Kaaimanskloof in the Koeberg district, near Klipheuwel, W.C. They had seven children:

  h1 Hendrik Jacobus (Harry)

  h2 Johannes Jacobus (Johnny)

  h3 Albert John

  h4 Helena Magdalena (Eileen)

  h5 Christoffel Le Roux                                

  h6 Sebastian Valentine (Bas)

  h7 Harriette Carolina     

In accordance with traditions of that age, the family farm, Kalkfontein, would revert to the youngest son, resulting in the need for another farm to be acquired for the eldest son, Klein Hennie, thus his move to the nearby Kaaimanskloof.

After the death of his first wife, Martjie, Hennie re-married, this time to a widow Maria Louisa van Niekerk (Mimi – born du Toit). The date of this second marriage is not known. They bought a house in Ross Street Bellville and lived there until Hennie died on 19 August 1968. Mimi died on 11 October, 1975

Both Hennie and Martjie were buried in Philadelphia, Western Cape.

The family farm, Kaaimanskloof, was subsequently owned by the third son, Albert and then to his eldest son Hendrik Jacobus van der Spuy, who sold it during the 1980’s.

(g2) Harriette Eedes van der Spuy (Hettie), born on 14 January 1886, was the eldest daughter. She married Mike Loubser on 09 January 1910. For many years they lived in the Hardwiche Estate, Newlands, one of Cape Town’s southern suburbs. Mike Loubser was an employee of the South African Railways & Harbours, and worked in the offices of the System Manager for the Western Cape System.

The marriage produced four children:

  h1 Eedes

  h2 Anna Susanna (Anita)                        

  h3 Michael Hendrik Jacobus Van Der Spuy (Sonny)

  h4 Engela Leonie Fredericka

Mike Loubser was a very talented singer and the couple was very enthusiastic and active members of the choir of the Dutch Reformed congregation of the Groote Kerk in Adderley Street Cape Town. After his death on 25 June 1964, the then State President of the Republic of South Africa, C.R. Swart, enquired after Mike when his absence from Sunday service was noted.

After his death Hettie went to live in a flat at the corner of Lincoln Street and Voortrekker Road, Bellville. After her death on 11 June 1977, she was buried alongside Mike in the Woltemade cemetery, in Maitland near Cape Town.

Hettie (van der Spuy) Loubser, circa 1970

Mike Loubser (RH) with Sonny and Barry; Darryl and Garth Vine

(g3) Sebastian Valentine van der Spuy (Bas). The following is an account of the tragic death of Bas, as written by Annie van der Spuy during the 1980’s):

“Our brother Bas, 16 years old went to school at Paarl Boys’ High in Paarl. He was a very good looking boy and he could play the violin well. During Easter in 1906, he and a friend, De Kock, came to our farm for the holidays. On Easter Monday, 6^th April, our (eldest) brother Hennie and Bas and his friend took guns and went into the veld to shoot buck etc. Our mother, who was pregnant, recalled that Bas said to her ‘ek sal ‘n bokkie huistoe bring’.

As they were walking in the veld, Kockie (the friend) climbed through a wire fence when his gun went off. The bullet went through brother Hennie’s jacket and into Bas’ stomach. He collapsed and said ‘Kockie, wat het jy gedoen? Hennie Help!’ Then he died.

Kockie then wanted to shoot himself, but Hennie grabbed all the guns and hid them behind some bushes, and ran home, about three miles (5km). My father and our overseer (Manager) accompanied Hennie in the open cart and went to fetch the boys.

In the meantime my poor mother prepared bandages for she was told that there had been an accident. She at first thought that the youngest child (Annie) had fallen from the steps of the stoep. When the cart arrived, she was relieved to see her two sons. She had mistakenly identified Kockie as being Bas, as he was wearing Bas’ hat. When she realized that it was Bas’ body which was being carried from the cart to my father’s study, she fainted and fell on the stoep.

The death of his favourite son hit my father very badly. There was a big funeral. Kockie’s parents came from the Transvaal.

Kockie finished his schooling at Paarl and became an attorney. He later committed suicide”

(Annie was only two years old when Bas died, and her recollections would have been the result of the details being told and retold during her childhood years.)

(g4) Engela Dreyer van der Spuy (Ellen), born on 02 October 1889, was the artist of the family. She was married to Daan van Schoor, who was blind from birth. They initially lived in a cottage in Durbanville, north of Bellville in the Western Cape. During the 1950’s they acquired their own home in a new residential development in De Villiers Road, Durbanville.

Ellen was a very talented poet and writer who published two volumes of verse and poetry, as well as a number of childrens’ story books. Her book of verses, “Buds and Blossoms”, published by Maskew Miller Limited, Cape Town, was prefaced by Prof. J du Plessis Litt.D., who hailed her as the possessor of real poetic insight.

The following report appeared in a Cape Town newspaper early in 1924:

“Miss Ellen van der Spuy.

A South African Writer.

Among the striking pictures at the Society of Artists’ Exhibition now being held in the Drill Hall, is a portrait study by Mr. Crosland Robinson. It represents a fair-haired girl in classic draperies and graceful pose, looking out of the picture with dreamy gaze. In the background is a scene typical of the farms of our fertile South-western districts, while in the foreground a full-fruited orange tree throws into relief the central figure and strikes a rich note of colour with its glossy leaves and golden fruit.

Few people recognize the original of the picture; Miss Ellen van der Spuy, for the simple reason that she is a very retiring little lady, living a quiet life on a farm in the Malmesbury district; and though she has accomplished a good deal about which others may have made much ado, she hitherto has been content to remain “unhonoured and unsung”

Miss Ellen van der Spuy is a true daughter of South Africa, having lived all her life on the farm “Kalkfontein” near the little village of Philadelphia. One of a large family, she was the dreamy – and to those around her, the unpractical “duckling” of the robust and normal brood. So, while they were sent to various centres to acquire knowledge, the school in Philadelphia was the only one to which she went, leaving it at a very early age on account of delicate health. What she learnt there she has supplemented by wide and judicious reading, but much of her education has come from Mother Nature. “I have grown up in the fields and veld” she says “amongst the flowers and birds and animals, and have always just had to find my own way”.

After all, to a poetic temperament there is no better school than the great school of Nature, where one has time to absorb lessons of beauty and truth which are too often pushed aside by the more sophisticated studies of an examination curriculum.

Miss van der Spuy is both a writer and an artist. Even as a small child she used to try and record her impressions of the scenery and life around her. When anything moved her, it was natural to put it down in words. She has never gone afield for her inspiration, for she has found it at her very doors – “My little world” as she call it, which is shut in by the towering peaks of the Drakenstein range and the curve of the Hottentots Holland Mountains.

Reticent and sensitive, as many young writers are who live a secluded life, Miss van der Spuy let few know of her efforts and aspirations, but these found an outlet in a volume of verse entitled “Musings” published by Mr. Maskew Miller some time ago. They show a deep love and understanding of Nature and appreciation of our lovely land. Some of them enshrine a delicate fancy as “Last Year’s Roses”, from which we quote the first and last verses:

                             I wonder if ever the roses

                             Last year’s dear, dead roses –

                             Remember the joy and laughter,

                             And the song of the birds, echoing

                             after!

                             Sadly the night wind is so chill

                             Sweeps o’er the world, and is still.

                             But hush! – these are not dead

                             roses,

                             ‘Tis Love, dear Love, that here

                             reposes!

Miss van der Spuy has just had a small prose volume published overseas, entitled “Harvest Time”, which is expected by the next mail. She is also collecting poems for another volume of verse, and is writing children’s stories for an English magazine. These she will illustrate herself in black and white. She further shows her versatility by her paintings in oil. Altogether a promising young South African and one who may look forward to a happy and successful future as her gifts mature.”

Cynthia Loubser recalls as follows: “I can recall visiting Lala (Ellen) and Daan in their little home in Durbanville with the garden pathways edged with little white stones and hearing about Daan going into the village shops all on his own, for he knew exactly where to go – it was only a very small village in those days – about 1942. I also recall when Lala died, all the family were at the house mourning her death, and the open coffin in the middle of the lounge”.

Ellen died in Durbanville during the early 1950’s. After her death Daan moved to Worcester where he took residence at the School for the Blind. After his death he was buried at Worcester. They did not have any children.

Ellen van der Spuy ― by G. Crosland Robinson.

Canvas: 88 x 152 cm. Frame: 123x 185 cm.

(g5) Sarah Isabella van der Spuy (Baby) was born on 26 March 1892. On 09 January 1917 she married Llewellyn Durand Wentzel in the Dutch Reformed Church at Philadelphia, Western Cape. After their wedding the couple settled at Carnarvon in the Karroo where Llewellyn was a school teacher.

In 1921 they moved to Glamorgan Villa in Kildare Road Newlands, when Llewellyn was appointed a Master at Rondebosch Boys High School where he taught various subjects, including Afrikaans and Bookkeeping/Arithmetic (now called Accountancy). He was also involved in their extra curricular activities as sports Master (co-coach 1^st Rugby team) and held the rank of Lieutenant in the Cadet Corps.

The family subsequently moved to Camp Ground Road, Newlands. Llewellyn died on 10 December 1942, after which Baby sold the house and relocated to a flat (Leighwoods) in Kenilworth. In1974 she moved to Huis Luckhoff in Rosebank where she lived out the last five years of her life. She died on 3 November 1979 and was buried next to Llewellyn in the family plot, no.19277 a/b, in the Dutch Reformed allotment, at Woltemade, Maitland, near Cape Town.

Llewellyn Durand Wentzel studied at Victoria College, Stellenbosch, later to become Stellenbosch University.

Baby and Llewellyn had two sons:

  h1 Carl Vincent

  h2 Hendrik Jacobus (Jack)

The Wentzel family, ca.1937.

Jack, Llewellyn, Baby and Carl.

(g6) Grace van der Spuy was born in 1892 and she died five years later in 1897.

(g7) Albert John Cloete van der Spuy (Boy) was born on 09 March 1895. He married Olga Joan Bertram (the date is not known), and they had two sons:

  h1 John Robert (Jack)

  h2 Bertram Francis (Frank)

Boy was employed by the Cape Provincial Administration. He and Olga were subsequently divorced.

He married again, this time to Urith Galvin from Simons Town. The second marriage produced one child:

  h3 Brenda Cathleen

Boy died on 25 April 1948 and he was buried at Simons Town.

(g8) Angelique Maria van der Spuy (Angelique), born on 27 February 1897, married August Theodore (Justus) Rehbein on 11 April 1922, and died on 27 December 1993.

Justus was employed by the South African Railways and Harbours, and they lived at Hermanus, Bellville and Port Elizabeth. At the time of his retirement, he was Asst. Port Goods Superintendent at Culemborg in Cape Town. 

Like some of her sisters, Angelique was a gifted painter in oils.

The eldest child, from a previous marriage of Justus, was Anna, who later married Francis Kuffner.

Angelique and Justus had two daughters:

  h1 Caroline Henriette (Rona)

  h2 Audrey Angelique

(g9) Maria Johanna van der Spuy (Marie) was born on 09 March 1899, and she died on 29 June 1973. Marie married Jacob Nicolaas Loubser Heyns (Japie) on 24 March 1931.

Marie and Japie had three children:

  h1 Harriette Stella

  h2 Hendrik Nicolaas (Hennie)

  h3 Jacobus Van Der Spuy (Jack)

(g10) Christina Johanna van der Spuy (Kitty). Kitty was born on 02 February 1902 and passed away on 30 November 1994. After completing her schooling, Kitty entered the Nursing profession at the Woodstock Hospital where she did her training. After graduation she went to Kimberley where she nursed during the war years, 1940 to 1945.

After World War 2 she moved to Pretoria where she was employed by the South African Mint. After the death of her lifelong friend and consort, Walter Hinkel, and after reaching retirement age, she relocated to Bellville to be near to her sisters. It was in Bellville that she met Craig Peter Westwood, and where they were married on 08 May 1971. After his death she moved to the George and Annie Starcke Homes in Bellville where she lived until her death.

(g11) Anna Johanna van der Spuy (Annie), born at Kalkfontein on 26 January 1904, died in Bellville on 06 January 1998. She married Jacobus Stephanus (Koos) Burger, a farmer from Voorstevlei, Piketberg, on 02 April 1929.

At the end of 1919 she completed Junior Certificate, the equivalent of the old Std 8 or the current Grade 10, at the Philadelphia Primary School. From 1920 to the end of 1922 Annie attended the Paarl Teachers Training College where she gained her Matriculation Diploma and graduated as a Primary School Teacher.

In 1923 she accepted a Teaching post at the Swartvlei Farm School in the Citrusdal district where she remained until the end of 1924.

In early 1925 she transferred to the Kalabaskraal Primary School. This small village is situated south of Malmesbury, and is about 10/12 kilometres north of Kalkfontein, the family farm.

Some time during 1927/28 she accepted a teaching post at Sunnybrook, a farm School on the Piketberg Mountains. The school was situated on a small farm owned by George and Ethel Brooke. Ethel was a member of the Versfeld family who owned a number of farms in the Piketberg District. Annie took up residence with the Brookes with whom she remained life long friends until the death of the Brookes in the 1950’s.

It was at Sunnybrook that Annie was to meet her future husband, Jacobus Stephanus Burger.

During the 1980’s she wrote the following accounts of their courtship and wedding day:

The Phantom of the Opera: When I was teaching at Sunnybrook as Miss. Van der Spuy, Mr. Frank Versfeld asked Koos to ask ‘miss van der Spuy’ to go along with the two of them to the bioscope in Piketberg. The film ‘Phantom of the Opera’ was showing in a shed at the village. When Koos asked me to go along, I said “yes I’ll go along on condition that I pay my own ticket”, but he said that Mr. Versfeld would pay our tickets. Koos fetched me from Sunnybrook that evening on horseback (Knight and Ruby) and we joined the Versfelds’ at Moutonsvlei. After the show we returned to Sunnybrook in the early hours of the morning.

Although he was very tired. Koos still accompanied the Versfelds to Cape Town that morning. I had picked a lovely box of roses and wrote to my mother, saying in the letter that Koos was the man that I was going to marry, and would she have a good look at him, because his heart was just as golden as his hair. On their way to Cape Town they called at Kalkfontein and Koos gave my mother the flowers and letter. On their return journey they had tea at Kalkfontein again and there all the sisters and my parents had a good look at Koos, who was by this time very tired and not looking too good! The family’s verdict: “Wat oped Annie, ons probeer om die rooi hare uit die families te kry!” Some time afterwards Koos asked me to marry him. My mother had said she liked his looks.

Our Courtship and Wedding Day:

Koos Burger and I, Annie van der Spuy, became engaged on 13^th November, 1928. I had been teaching at Sunnybrook, Piketberg, and he often came down to the farm, riding on his big black horse. As I grew to like and trust him, we often went to Banghoek and other farms for weekends. He rode ‘Knight’ and I rode ‘Ruby’. We used to go after school on Friday afternoons. It was a very steep and stony path, so steep at some places that we had to walk and lead our horses. Many times I slipped and rolled, but clung to the horse’s reins. Koos was always very gallant and never took advantage and never made passes at me, but treated me with great respect.

At the foot of the mountain was Boskloof where the Huysamers lived. They received us with great kindness and treated us to tea and orange marmalade pieces with hot bread and butter. After a rest we continued on our way to Banghoek.

Koos’s Oompie Barend and Aunt Ciellie lived at Banghoek with their two sons, Tolletjie and Bosman. Tolletjie was courting Hannah Basson and later married her. Hannah lived at Bo-kloof with her twin brother Hendrik. Bosman had a young wife, Lottie. We young folk had lots of fun and enjoyed these week-ends together.

At Bo-kloof there was an old house in which Hendrik and Hannah lived. Anna Louw kept house for them. Hendrik farmed while Hanna taught at Keurbosch. One evening we decided to take off our shoes and hide, while all the lamps were put out. The men were told to look for us on the understanding that they kiss the girl they found. We hid in cupboards and windowsills, even under the piano. Hendrik found a girl and started kissing her amid screams and struggles! When the lights were lit, he discovered he had been kissing and struggling with his twin sister! On Sunday afternoons Koos took me back to Sunnybrook. I was usually very tired after the hectic week-end and also on account of the long three hours on horseback.

Later I became aware of Koos’ love for me. One evening Mr. and Mrs. Brooke left us alone in the lounge. Koos got up and said “Miss van der Spuy, sal jy baie kwaad wees as ek vir jou sê dat ek vir jou lief het?” I just shook my head, he kissed me lightly, said goodnight and saddled his horse and rode home.

Twice a week, usually on a Wednesday and week-ends, he used to come down to Sunnybrook in his riding suit .When he returned home in the evenings, and when he reached the top of the plateau, he flashed his torch to me, saying “goodnight, I love you”, and I would in return flash my torch from my upper storey window, saying the same. We hardly ever had time to be together alone.

During the December holidays he came to Kalkfontein to ask my parents’ permission to marry me. Mrs. Brooke sent a beautiful letter along as an introduction, but my father wasn’t satisfied. On learning that Koos knew Ds. Smuts of Philadelhpia, he and Koos went to the parsonage the next morning. Ds. Smuts gave Koos a great welcome, saying,” Wat maak jy hier in dié part van die wêreld? O!, nou weet ek alles. Dit is oor die bruin oog nooientjie wat daar onderwys gee”. My father was quite satisfied after getting a good recommendation from Ds. Smuts. So we got engaged, but without a ring and a party.

Our wedding date was set for 02 April 1929. I still had to teach till the end of March. My parents took me to Fletcher & Cartwright’s in Cape Town where I ordered my beautiful wedding gown of white georgette, a small tucked bodice with a wide oped skirt and little pink roses in between. We also bought my going-away suit of soft powder-blue jersey cloth. My sister Baby’s husband, Llewellyn Wentzel presented the wedding ring and the bouquet. My sister Marie baked all the cakes and I had the cards printed and posted.

It rained on the day of our wedding. Mr. and Mrs. Frank Versfeld brought Koos to the wedding. Koos’ parents and family all arrived in the morning. My parents had two big tables of food for all the guests who came from afar. Oom Christiaan Liebenberg and his wife, from Piketberg, also attended the wedding. My brother Freddie drove my father’s Buick and took us to the church at Philadelphia. The daughter of my sister Angelique, Rona Rehbein, a little one of three, was the only attendant. Mike Loubser stayed with Koos in the vestry. During the ceremony Mike Loubser sang “My Prayer” to us.

After the wedding we returned to Kalkfontein where a crowd gathered for champagne, tea and coffee, and speeches. I changed into my powder blue suit and we left with the Versfeld’s in their car in pouring rain. The pass at Piketberg was so slippery that we had to put chains on the wheels. It was quite late when we arrived at Voorstevlei. Koos lit a lantern in the kitchen, and made coffee on the Primus stove. We sat in the dining room and ate sandwiches and cold chicken that my mother had put in for us.

When we had finished eating, I asked Koos for his Bible and said we must begin our married life with God. I asked Koos to read a bit, and I said a short prayer, asking God to Bless our marriage. 

The newly weds leaving the Church at Philadelphia, 02 April, 1929.

The wedding invitation.

Annie was aged 25 and Koos was 32 at the time of their wedding.

The couple had four children:

  h1 Jacobus Stephanus (Roy)

  h2 Hilary Hendrik

  h3 Sheila Harriette

  h4 Sebastian Valentine

Mum, 2^nd from left, with the van Zyl family at Middelpost, Citrusdal,

December 1924,

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Annie van der Spuy at Kalabaskraal Primary School, September 1926.

Left: Annie with George and Ethel Brooke, 1928.

 Right: Annie in the rose garden at Sunnybrook, 1929.

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The following letter was written by Anna Johanna (Annie) van der Spuy, to her elder sister, Sarah Isabella Johanna (Baby) in December 1914. (See following pages.)

 

 

 

 

A 10 year old Annie at Blaauwberg Strand in 1914, far left,

and her youngest brother Freddie in the back row, far right.

Annie recalls some of her childhood days with the following account written during her 80’s:

Recollections of my childhood days at Kalkfontein.

I was born on January 26^th 1904 to a big family. My parents already had six daughters and they were looking forward to the arrival of a boy. My elder sisters looked after me and I can remember my sister Baby bathing me in the zinc bath and carrying me to the nursery, wrapped in blankets. When we were small, we were bathed at 6pm (18.00) and in our nightclothes received our supper at the nursery table – mostly bread soaked in hot milk with sugar or jam on top.

My mother had two little boys after me, S.V. and Freddie. S.V. was a sickly child and very sensitive and beautiful. He was my mother’s favourite, and Freddie, the youngest, was my father’s favourite. S. V. and Freddie and I played together, and I, being the elder had to look after the boys. One day Freddie climbed on to the ‘ganshokkie’ and fell off. I remember how my mother turned up my dress and spanked me for not taking care of the two year old baby.

We had a tame pony called Harry, on which we all learned to ride. When Freddie was about 4years old, my father put him on a horse and made him canter up the avenue. We all stood watching. My father was very proud of him. Then the horse shied and Freddie fell off. He got up and walked towards us, weeping and holding his arm. My father saw that Freddie’s arm was broken, so he sent a man, with a cart and horses, to Durbanville to get our nearest Doctor. It wasn’t long before Freddie was running about the farm with his arm in splints.

S.V. made a raft at the ‘klein dammetjie’ and we three spent hours sailing on it. Once I fell off and got soaking wet. S.V. went home and fetched dry clothes for me from my wardrobe.

My sister Hettie was married and lived at Sea Point. One day S.V. got on his tricycle, with Freddie standing on the back with his arms clinging to S.V. They both had on red aprons and started off on the road to Sea Point “to visit Tittie”. Their absence caused quite a stir when it was found that they, and the tricycle, were missing. When their spoors were found, my father took me onto the his horse “Hamlet”, and we followed the tracks all the way to the neighbouring farm, Olifantskop, where we found them, very tired and crying. They had gone to Olifantskop for a drink of water! My father made them cycle home in front of the horse.

I can remember when we saw a motor car for the first time. We children all ran to the gate where the motor car was expected to pass the farm. I can still recall the smell of the petrol. After it passed, we ran as fast as we could to the other side of the farm to watch it again, as it went on its way towards Philadelphia. S.V. had dreams of becoming an Engine Driver when he grew up, and I promised to be his Stoker!

We had a Farm School on Olifantskop. Boy, Angelique, Marie and Kitty went to school there. They sometimes took me along with them, and Boy used to carry me most of the way, and across the style.

In the cool evenings, after Mammie had fed the fowls, we all went for a walk, big and small. A favourite game was ‘wegkruipertjie’ (hide-and-seek) around the house. He dogs usually joined in the fun and we screamed and laughed to our hearts content. Sometimes Mammie would also join in the fun. Uncle Arnold was very disgusted at the noise we made. Sometimes in the Winter evenings we would play catch-catch in the dining room, with Pappie and Mammie watching. Ellen would get so excited and grab hold of the clothes of the nearest child.

My father used to conduct his ‘godsdiens’ after supper every evening. We sang hymns, read from the Bible and prayed. After Mammie prayed we children had our turn. As my brother Boy was in the War (World War 1), we all prayed for him. I would Pray ‘Dear Jesus, be with Boy in the war and bring him safely back’. S.V. and Freddie then followed with the same prayer. When suitors came on Saturday evenings, my mother did not want Pappie to ask the girls to pray, but she would then pray instead.

At home we all helped with the house work. The bigger girls each had a room to keep tidy. On Saturdays the rooms were spring-cleaned and there a great deal of scrubbing and polishing. My work was gathering all the chamber pots of the house, emptying them into a bucket and them washed and dried them in another bucket with clean water. May times I was fetched from school – ‘Annie moet haar werk kom doen’. On Saturdays I had to scrub the floor and box of the outside toilet.

On Sunday evenings we all gathered around the Organ and sang hymns. There we learnt all the English hymns. Llewellyn and Mike had good voices and we all sang so beautifully.

Sometimes my father would order the ‘mol waentjie’ to be got in readiness, with bags of straw fastened on it, to act as seats. We would all climb in and with ‘mondfluitjie’ and violin, sang as we drove to the picnic place in ‘Burn’s Bush’. There were sand dunes down which we rolled, and there were lots of trees to explore. Mammie and Pappie used to drive to the picnic spot in a cart and bring lovely eats, ‘pampoenkoekies’ etc.

At breakfast we usually had porridge and lovely homemade bread. Sometimes Mammie would make ‘as seetjie’ with mutton and onions and vinegar, a great treat. We had lunch at 12.00 punctually. We children were taught to stand behind our chairs until Pappie and Mammie were seated. We were never allowed to leave the table without permission. There were always two meat dishes and vegetables.

Christmas day was always something to look forward to. Mammie used to make ginger beer, days before the time. When it was time to bottle it, we children loved to help. We each received a lemonade bottle full as reward. We usually had a big Christmas tree in the dining room, at which we all received a gift from father Christmas, (Mike Loubser), who arrived up the hill, blowing a trumpet. We also hung up our Christmas stockings and went to sleep full of anticipation. We received small gifts, like chocolate coins, whistles and sweets. Our Christmas dinner was simply delicious. Glasses with Jelly and Custard, as well as bowls of flowers, decorated the middle of the table. A ‘speenvarkie’, grilled to golden brown perfection, with a potato in its mouth, was the main meat dish. Then we had a Christmas goose with stuffing, and also a chicken pie. The Christmas pudding with coins, rings and buttons, was great fun for us children. There were other cold puddings too. The plum pudding was set alight before being served.

My mother always had a good Cook and another Maid for doing the inside house work. The washer-woman came on Mondays and took the big bundle of laundry to be hand washed. The ironing Maid came at the end of the week and did all the ironing in the ironing room.

Butter was churned in a big barrel churn by a Maid. The buttermilk was put in a big white enamel bucket in the breakfast room with a cloth over it. The two sons-in-law, Mike and Llewellyn often competed to see who could drink the most glasses of buttermilk.

In the evenings the farm workers would come for their ‘dop’ of wine, and each would receive a portion of bread, dripping and a ‘maasbanker’ fish. Periodically a vendor’s cart with Snoek would call at the farm. Pappie would buy the whole load at 3d (2.5c) per Snoek, and hang them out to dry. Mammie use to make delicious ‘smoorsnoek’ with onions and potatoes.

A big sack of coarse (unsifted) flour was used to make the bread. The flour was poured into a ‘bakkis’ and a farm worker was asked to knead it with homemade yeast and salt. When the dough had risen my mother would roll the loaves and Ai Lena would place them into the oven with the aid of a six foot (1,8m) ‘spaan’. The oven was heated beforehand with a wood fire. When all the loaves – about 30 – were in the oven, the iron door was shut. About an hour later the oven door was opened and beautiful brown loaves were taken out. We children helped to carry the bread into the pantry.       

When either of our parents had birthdays, our elder sisters would wake us up early in the morning and we stood in our nightclothes and sang a hymn to them outside their bedroom door. We would then enter and wish them a happy birthday. We three little ones would then get into their bed and snuggle up with them.

When the fruit was ripe in late summer, we used to have a fruit feast on the farm. My father would send a wagon to fetch all the young folk from Philadelphia to join us on Kalkfontein. A variety of fresh fruit were placed on tables outside, for all to enjoy. After eating watermelons the fun would start with ‘washing’ one another’s faces with the skins. The there was music and dancing and afterwards the wagon would take our guests home again.

When harvesting was finished, and the last wagons with the final sheaves of wheat came in from the lands, we children would trot alongside. After it was unloaded and stacked, the workmen were all treated to cakes and ‘lemoenstroop’. It was great fun and we children sang with the workmen.

(g12) Sebastian Valentine van der Spuy (S.V.) was born on 12 November 1905 and died on 30 January 2001. SV married Eleanor Jordan who passed away in 2000.The couple did not have any children. SV was employed by The Old Mutual and lived in Port Elizabeth for many years until his retirement in 1968 when they moved to Kenridge, in Durbanville, near Cape Town. Some time during the 1970’s they decided to relocate to Robertson, where they lived out their respective lives.

S.V. was a talented artist who painted in oils and water colours. He was also an accomplished violinist.

S. V. van der Spuy, 1926

(g13) Johan Frederik van der Spuy (Freddie) the last of the Kalkfontein children, was born on 16 March 1907, and died on 18 December 1978. He married Rykie Catharina van Reenen in May 1930. Freddie inherited the farm Kalkfontein, which was sold in 1932.

Freddie and Rykie had three children:

  h1 Anna Mathilda (Millie)

  h2 Hendrik Jacobus (Hennie)

  h3 Johan Daniel Dirk (Johan)

Adderley Street, Cape Town in the early 1900’s ― some time before the 10 year old Annie wrote to her sister about her visit to see the movie “Quo Vadis ”

Paarl Teachers Training College, circa 1922.

Annie van der Spuy, Front Row, fourth from left, 18 years old.

Christmas at Kalkfontein, 1930.

Standing, Back Row: Ellen, Marie, Freddie, Koos Burger, Annie, and Grandpa. Hettie and Mike Loubser.

Boys in background: Carl and Jack Wentzel

Seated, Middle Row: Baby, Llewellyn Wentzel, Rona Rehbein with doll, Leonie Loubser, Granny.

Front Row: Boy, S.V., Angelique, Justus Rehbein (?).

Grandpa and Granny van der Spuy with their seven daughters, Christmas 1929:

Back Row: Baby, Annie, Grandpa, Ellen and Hettie.

Seated: Angelique and Granny.

Front row: Kitty and Marie.

Back Row: Kitty, Ellen, SV, Marie,

Seated: Harriette and Hennie van der Spuy

Front:Annie, Baby

Taken in Darling Street, Cape Town by the ever popular ‘Street Photographer’, ca 1950

From left to right:

Angelique (v/d Spuy) Rehbein 53 years old.

Annie (v/d Spuy) Burger 46 years old.

Baby (v/d Spuy) Wentzel 58 years old.

Granny and six of her eight daughters. Photograph taken in 1955.

Standing:

Angelique Maria Rehbein 1897/1993,

Maria Johanna (Marie) Heyns 1899/1973.

Sarah Isabella Johanna (Baby) Wentzel, 1892/1978

Christina Johanna (Kitty) Westwood, 1902/1994

Harriette Eedes (Hettie) Loubser, 1886/1977

Seated:

Anna Johanna (Annie) Burger, 1904/1998

Harriette Eedes (Cloete) van der Spuy, 1865/1957.

Harriette Eedes (Cloete) Van Der Spuy. Bellville, 1956

March 1965: the survivors of the Van Der Spuy children, The Kalkfontein Clan:

Standing: Sarah Isabella (Baby) Wentzel 1892/1978

Sebastian Valentine (S.V.) van der Spuy 1906/2001

Angelique Maria Rehbein 1897/1993

Christina Johanna (Kitty) Westwood 1902/1994

Johan Frederick (Freddie) van der Spuy 1907/1978

Seated: Harriette Eedes (Hettie) Loubser 1886/1977

Anna Johanna (Annie) Burger 1904/1998

Hendrik Jacobus (Hennie) van der Spuy 1884/1968

Front: Maria Johanna (Marie) Heyns 1899/1973

Brothers, Sisters, Brothers-in-law and Sisters-in-law, Malmesbury, March 1965.

Back: Rykie Catherina (van Reenen) van der Spuy 1900/1969

August Theodore Eduard (Justus) Rehbein 1888/1965

Angelique Maria Rehbein 1897/1993

Christina Johanna (Kitty) van der Spuy 1902/1994

Maria Louisa (Van Niekerk-du Toit) van der Spuy

Jacobus Stephanus (Koos) Burger 1896/1973

Middle: Sarah Isabella (Baby) Wentzel 1892/1978

Harriette Eedes (Hettie) Loubser 1886/1977

Anna Johanna (Annie) Burger 1904/1998

Hendrik Jacobus (Hennie) van der Spuy 1884/1968

Johan Frederick (Freddie) van der Spuy 1907/1978

Front: Sebastian Valentine (S.V.) van der Spuy 1906/2001

Eleanor ( Jordan ) van der Spuy 1911/2000

Maria Johanna (Marie) Heyns 1899/1973

Bellville, circa 1980.

The last surviving sisters:

Angelique Rehbein 1897/1993

Annie Burger 1904/1998

Kitty Westwood 1902/1994

Oil on board Painting by A.J. van der Spuy, c1922

(Owned by Hilary Burger)

Oil on board painting by A. J.van der Spuy, c1922.

(Owned by Val Burger)

Oil on board painting by A. J. van der Spuy, c1922.

(Owned by Roy Burger)