Abraham de Villiers Stamvader/Progenator 2

Variations of the name –

Origin of the name* – Derived from a villaris or villare [French] village. The surname literally means ‘from the village’. Articles of twenty-five individuals with the surname De Villiers appear in the first four volumes of the South Africa Bibliographical Dictionary. Places derived from the surname are Villeria, Villiers, Villiersdorp.

• Source - http://members.optusnet.com.au/gredhouse/surnames.htm

'* Birth date – ca. 1659

• Birth Place – Bar-sur-Seine/ Aunis òf Bourgonge, Frankryk, La Rochelle
• Date of Death – 31 March 1720
• Place of Death – Lekkerwyn Farm, Franschoek, South Africa
• Arrival at the Cape – 6 May 1689 from France on Frigate Zion

Jacques was the youngest of the three De Villiers brothers to first arrive in South Africa on the 120-foot long Dutch East Indiaman, the Zion. He boarded the Zion in Texel, Holland on 16 December 1688, and departed for Cape Town, South Africa on 8 January 1689. Jacques and his brothers Pierre and Abraham were the only passengers on the Zion.

• Parents – Pierre de Villiers and Elisabeth Secault
• Marriage 5 October 1689 – Cape, South Africa – Susanna Gardiol from La Costé, Province, France, daughter of Antoine Gardiol and Marguerite Perrotette. (She married xx Claude Marais 13 Oct 1721)

Children

• b1. Elisabeth/Isabeau * 05/11/1690 † 20/03/1765 x 04/03/1708 Hermanus Bosman
• b2. Rachel * 08/07/1694 † 02/09/1773 x 1714 Antoine Alexabdré Faure
• b3. Marguerite *c 1720 † 06/06/2764 x Paarl 13 or 31/10/1717 Jean le Sage
• b4. Susanna * c 1697 ≈24/11/1697 † March 1730 x 01/05/1718 Pierre Joubert
• b5. Jean * c 1699 ≈ 20/09/1699 † young
• b6. Maria * c 1702 ≈ 07/05/1702 † c 1744 x c 1724 Johann Chtistoph Schabort
• b7. Jacob/Jacques *c 1705 † c 1736 unmarried

Occupation – a farmer ‎(working with his brothers) at the Cape after arriving in 1689

See First Fifty Years Project - http://www.e-family.co.za/ffy/g7/p7428.htm ________

http://www.olivetreegenealogy.com/ships/sahug18.shtml Ships Carrying Huguenots to South Africa Ships Passenger List for Huguenot Ship Zion to South Africa 1689 Belonged to the Chamber of Delft. Left the Netherlands on 8 January, 1689 and arrived on 6 May 1689.

• Pierre de Villiers (1657-1720)
• Abraham de Villiers (1659-1720)
• Jacques de Villiers (1661-1735)

Sources: mostly Appendix 2 of "Hugenotebloed in ons are" by J.G. le Roux (1992; ISBN 0-7969-0566-5) and "French speakers at the Cape" by M. Boucher (1981, ISBN 0-86981-222-X) Contributor Lesley Robertson

Abraham came to South Africa with his two brothers, Pierre and Jacques (Jacob) on 6 May 1689 from France. He died on his farm, Lekkerwyn". He farmed on the farm "La Rochelle" with his two brothers. He also owned "Champagne" which he sold to A Nortier in 1717 and "Meerrust" close to "Lekkerwyn". He had 7 children.

"Groot Afrikaanse Familie Naamboek" by C Pama Geslagregister van Vroeë Kaapse families C C de Villiers

Abraham de Villiers

• 1659, † Lekkerwyn 31.3.1720, broer van die stamvader Pierre de Villiers; boer la Rochelle (gemeenskaplik met sy broers), Champagne (verkoop aan A. Nortier), Bosch-en-Dal (1717 verkoop aan sy broer), Meerrust, naby Lekkerwyn, x Susanna Gardiol; sy hertrou met Claude Marais. Hugenote gedenkalbum 1688-1988 - Pieter Coertzen. P159 (a1.) Naam:de Villiers Abraham (1659-31.3.1720) Plek v herkoms: La Rochelle (Aunis) òf Bourgogne. Datum v Aankoms 1689;Skip:Zion;Gevestig te Champagne(Franschoek) later Boschendal Getroud met Suzanne Gardiol Kinder 2 seun, 5 dogters. P171 (a2) Champagne Ligging: Franschoek - Suid-Oos van dorp;Eienaar: Abraham de Villiers. Toekenning: Toegesê in 1694 en toegeken in 1711 (OSF II, 16)

P171(5) Drakenstein: Bossendaal(Boschendal) A en B: Liggings:Drakenstein (Suid-Oos van Simonsberg;EIenaar Jean le Long; Bossendaal B gaan na Nicholas se Lanoy. Abraham de Villiers verkry later albei dele, Bossendaal A en B. Nà hom verkry (1717), sy broer Jaques de Villiers die plaas. ToekenninG: Toegesê in 1687 en toegeken in 1713 (OSF I, 274 en OSF II, 66) P172(12)Drakenstein. Lekkerwyn(Lecrevent): Ligging: Drakenstein (Suid-Oos van Simonsberg, oos van die Bergrivier). Eienaar: Ary Lecrèvent. Hy was eers 'n voorman by Le Long van Bossendaal. Toegesê in in 1687 en toegeken in 1690(OSF I, 266) Judi Marais-Meyer register.

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Notes from Richard Ball - http://www.ballfamilyrecords.co.uk/bosmandevriesbuys/I135.html According to the inventory drawn up after his death they also had a house in Cape Town (bought from Jan Hop) and another farm in Drakenstein called 'Lekkerwyn' A letter from the Chamber of Delft, dated 16 December 1688, stated:

With this ship we have again permitted the following French Refugees to sail to the Cape and earn their living as freemen, Pierre de Villiers, Abraham de Villiers and Jacob de Villiers, all three brothers born near la Rochelle. We are informed that these persons have a good knowledge of laying out vineyards and managing the same, and thus we hope that the Company will acquire their good service.

The Zion, left Holland on the 8th January, 1689, and arrived on the 6th May following. (C.G.Botha, French Refugees at the Cape, page 89)

Will - Bosman, Hermanus & Elisabeth de Villiers - 1719, Cape Archives, CJ 2599,54

citation page de testatrice ... haare ouders gent' abraham de Villiers en Susanna gardiol

Inventory - De Villiers, Abraham - 11 September 1721, In: Die Boedelinventarisse van Erflaters in die Distrik Stellenbosch 1679-1806, transcribed by Annemarie Krzesinski-De Windt, published by Stellenbosch Museum 2002, page 232, 1 STB 18/32 1/3 de wed. wijlen Abraham Villiers, Susanna Gardiol ... Een hofsteede onder drakensteijn genaamt meerust op f.4000

Will - De Villiers, Abraham and Susanne Gardiol - 1720, dated 23 May 1715 and filed 8th May 1720, Cape Archives, MOOC 7/1/2, 119 Aldus gedaan en gepasseert ten huijse van de testateuren aen Drakesteijn ter presentie van Claude Marais en Pieter Jubert als getuijgen van gelove hiertoe versogt ... Church Registers - Drakenstein Congregation, photocopy of the original registers in the Nederduits Gereformeerde Argief, Cape Archives, VC 644-647, 654 Abraham De Villers overleden den 31ste Maart 1720

Sundry Internet Links of Interest

http://ancestry24.com/de-villiers-indiepte-benadering/

Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=95346805035

The First Fifty years Project - http://www.e-family.co.za/ffy/p10709.htm
Huguenots who arrived in South Africa between 1683 and 1756

http://www.sa-passenger-list.za.net/huguenotsettlers.php

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boschendal Boschendal is one of the oldest wine estates in South Africa and is located between Franschhoek and Stellenbosch in South Africa's Western Cape.

The farm's title deeds are dated 1685, but this is likely to be a clerical mistake. The estate's first owner, Jean le Long, was one of the party of 200 French Huguenot refugees who were fleeing religious persecution in Europe. He was granted land in the Cape of Good Hope by the Dutch East India Company in 1688 and the title deed was written in 1713. In 1715 the farm was acquired by another Huguenot, Abraham de Villiers who sold it to his brother Jacques in 1717. The de Villiers family farmed Boschendal until 1879. In 1812 Paul de Villiers and his wife, Anna Susanna Louw, completed a new house at Boschendal on the site of his father's home. This is the homestead as restored today.[1] Among the guests in the later years of the de Villiers era was the British Governor at the Cape, Sir George Grey, who stayed at Boschendal whenever he visited the region.

De Villiers Coat of Arms http://ancestry24.com/de-villiers-johan-hendrik/

The de Villiers family coat of arms dates from the Middle Ages, possibly from the late 12th century. It is believed that a knight of the de Villiers family was awarded a coat of arms for exceptional services rendered to the French royal family during the Crusades, which took place between the 11th century and late 13th century.
The nobility of Europe emblazoned their shields with their own colourful identification marks as early as the 9th century. These marks, which varied according to the customs of the different regions, were initially confined to shields, but later it was common to decorate also the helmets with coloured identification crests of feathers, especially for jousting tournaments.

It would seem that by the middle of the 12th century it had become customary to combine the emblazoned shields and the feathered crests, resulting in coats of arms as we know them to-day. The use of coats of arms was no longer limited to the nobility, but gradually spread to the knights and the emerging middle classes in the flourishing cities of Western Europe. A number of countries, including France, began keeping heraldic records during the second half of the 12th century. Up to that time, it had been acceptable for a family to alter the design of its coat of arms from time to time, according to changed circumstances. When record-keeping was introduced, details of coats of arms remained unaltered unless there were compelling reasons for change.

The complete coat of arms is called an Achievement. The Achievement consists of five parts. The first is the crest on top of the helmet, which consisted of items that characterised a particular family, in this case a short sword (seax), held in a mailed fist.

The second is the coronet or wreath which holds the crest and helmet together. The third is the mantling, representing the folds of the cloak of a knight. In the de Villiers family coat of arms the fourth part, the helmet, is an “esquire helmet”, indicating knighthood. The helmet is silver in colour and closed.

The charges of the fifth part, the shield, are: (i) A red band on a silver background (upper part) and (ii) Agnus Dei or Lamb of God, sometimes referred to as the Paschal lamb, on a blue background (lower part). The lamb bears a standard. In France the shape of the heraldic shield was, from the 12th century onwards, always as depicted here.

Publications

A Walk Through Time
http://www.scribd.com/doc/15507310/A-Walk-Through-Time

Page 43 “At the Cape, at least two children were probably crippled at birth. These were Stephen, son of Martha Rousseau and Francois du Toit, and Jacob, the son of Susanne Gardiol and Abraham de Villiers.” ______________________________________________________________________________ AN ARCHAEOLOGY OF COLONIAL IDENTITY Contributions To Global Historical Archaeology, 2006, 67-118, DOI: 10.1007/0-306-48539-7_3Status and Settlement in the Cape Colony Subscriber download available at http://www.springerlink.com/content/k9n43n4451825102/ ______________________________________________________________________________ Extracts from

Full History of South Africa Under the Administration of the Dutch East India Company, 1652 to 1795" http://www.archive.org/stream/historysouthafr01theagoog/historysout... Page 336 “A few months after the first party of Huguenots left the Netherlands a number of others were engaged to come out as colonists. They embarked in the ships Wapen van Alkmaar and Zion. The first of these vessels left Texel on the 27th of July 1688, and arrived in Table Bay on the 27th of January 1689. She brought out about forty immigrants, young and old. The Zion arrived on the 6th of May 1689, and in her came three brothers named Abraham, Pierre, and Jacob de Villiers, who were vinedressers from the neighbourhood of La Eochelle. “

page 337

“Shortly after the refugees arrived in South Africa, the consistory of Batavia sent a sum of money equal to twelve hundred and fifty English sovereigns to be distributed among them according to their needs. This money had constituted the poor funds of a church at Formosa which was destroyed by an enemy, but the guardians managed to save their trust, and deposited it with the deacons at Batavia to be used for charitable purposes. Nowadays 1,250/. may not seem a very large amount, but if its purchasing power at that time be considered it will be found to have been a generous and noble gift, and it was appreciated as such by those whose wants it was intended to relieve. It was decided that all the Huguenots should share in this present, except a very few who were othervnse provided for.

The money was distributed on the 18th and 19th of April 1690, by commissioners who had taken every indi- vidual's needs into consideration. A copy of the list of distribution is in the archives at the Hague, and it is given here, as it contains the names of those who arrived in the Borssevburg, Zuid Beveland, and Wapen van Alkmaar, and shows further what havoc death had made in the little band of refugees previous to this date, with some other particulars. With a few names added from another docmnent, it forms a complete list of the Huguenots who settled in South Africa at this period.

Pierre Lombard, a sick man, with wife and one child

Isaac Taillefer, with wife and four children

Pierre Jacob, with wife and three children .

Widow of Charles Marais, with four children

Philippe Fouché, with wife and two children

Abraham de Villiers, with wife and two brothers

Matthieu Amiel, with wife and two children

Hercnle da Pré with wife and five children

Lonis Cordier, with wife and four children

Jean le Long, with wife and two children

Widow of Charles Préyot (remarried to Hendrik Eekhof), with four children by her deceased husband “

Page 344

“the request of the Huguenots to be located together was refused, and the government of the Cape was instructed, when granting ground, to mix the nationalities together so that they might speedily amalgamate.

The despatch in which these resolutions were embodied reached the Cape in June 1691, and on the 80th of the following December the people of Drakenstein were formed into a separate congregation by the appointment of elders and deacons from among themselves. The elders chosen by the council were Claude Marais, Louis de Berout, and Louis Cordier, and the deacons were Abraham de Villiers, Pierre Meyer, Pierre Beneset, and Pierre Bousseau. “

360 History of South Africa. [1691

“According to the census returns of 1691, corrected by entries in the church registers, the most notable burghers in the Cape district were: —“ page 691 “
de Villiers, Abraham, with wife and two children, de Villiers, Jacob, with wife and two children, de Villiers, Pierre, “ _____________________________________________________________________________

Full text of "Old Cape Colony; a chronicle of her men and houses from 1652-1806" http://www.archive.org/stream/oldcapecolonychr00trot/oldcapecolonyc... These are extracts from this publication – you are encouraged to consult the full writing for extended context – a wonderful source! page 78

“When a deputation, consisting of the minister Simond, Jacques de Savoy e, Abraham de Villiers, and two others, bearded (sic - ? ,meaning CJB) the

Page 79 OLD CAPE COLONY

Governor at the Castle, in 1689, and asked permision for their countrymen to have a church of their own, he flew into a passion and accused them of ingratitude and impertinence. "It is evident," he wrote, " that they not only want their own church, but their own magistrate and their own prince." They pretended to have left France, said Simon bitterly, because of their religious convictions, but in reality they wanted opportunities of leading a lazy and indolent life ; were people of the wrong stamp, he declared, entirely unacquainted with and unfit for the hard life which was the lot of the farmer.”

Page 199 “The present houses are charming, but the shelters of the first settlers were hastily built and poor. They cut their way through the bushes, and chose indeed one superb site after another ;

Page 200 POMEGRANATES AT FRENCHHOEK. DRAKENSTEIN AND FRENCHHOEK

it would have been difficult to do otherwise, but there was little time and money to spend on the adornment of the sheltering walls. Hence you will find near most of these graceful little houses the remains of an earlier ruder erection. Three of the finest houses are on sites granted to the three brothers de Villiers. Abraham de Villiers owned the farm of Laborie (commonly called L'Abri), surrounded by great oaks, with teak ceilings and floors to the dwelling rooms, teak china cupboards let into the walls. Alas ! the thatch is gone, as it will soon go everywhere, on account of the heavy insurance asked for it ; and with the thatch down in most cases, for want of a little care and a little knowledge of how to do things, comes the old gable. “

Abraham de Villiers (Viellers) van La Rochelle het in Mei 1689 na die Kaap gekom. Later in die jaar is hy met Suzanne Gardiol van La Costé getroud. In November 1689 was hy lid van die deputasie wat aansoek gedoen het om 'n aparte kerkraad vir die Hugenote. Hy het een van die eerste diakens van die kerkraad van Drakenstein geword, verder heemraad en kaptein van die burgerkompanjie van Drakenstein. In 1711 is die plaas ‘Champagne’ in Olifantshoek aan hom toegeken. Hy het ook op ‘La Rochelle’, ‘Bosch-en-Dal’ en ‘Meerrust’ naby ‘Lekkerwyn’ geboer. In 1720 is hy op ‘Lekkerwyn’ oorlede. Vgl. Resolusies III, bl. 215, 247, 400, 446; C. Graham Botha, The French Refugees at the Cape, bl. 89, 121.