CLAAS JANSZ: VAN RENSBURG
1661-December 1728
Author: A.M. van Rensburg (b4 c2 d1 e6 f5 g5 h3 i2)
Webmaster: M.A. van Rensburg (b4 c2 d1 e6 f5 g5 h3 i2 j1)

Claas Jansz b4 Willem c2 Nicolaas d1 Willem e6 Willem f5 Nicolaas Jacobus

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This article on the Stamvader is an expansion on my original article in Familia XXV which I presented in 1988 to the Genealogical Society of South Africa. There has been very limited published and documented research done on the Stamvader of the van Rensburg's. Hopefully, this situation is rectified with this research.

Mystery of Claas’s Arrival at the Cape

Claas Jansz was the 'stamvader' of the Van Rensburg’s in South Africa. Mystery surrounds his first 47 years, nothing is known of his life until his wedding entry, in 1708. The arrival of Claas at the Cape is not known. Leaving Europe (he may even have come via Asia) and making his way to the southern part of Africa was a major relocation. Brujns supplies the following information regarding VOC shipping for 1708. Only three people who arrived as passengers for the year, on the Generale Vrede, arrived at Cape 24 Jan 1708. The rest of the people who got disembarked the ships at the Cape were either soldiers or seamen. Their arrived 22 ships from Europe and 16 VOC ships from Asia for 1708. On arrival he would have seen this view of Cape, with Table mountain(30k), painting is from early 1700's. Here is another drawing of the Cape (33k) at that time Research into early documents does not reveal his presence earlier at the Cape.(1)

Married 14 August 1708 to Aletta van der Merwe
The earliest record of his presence at the Cape is his marriage, in the year 1708. The Cape was filled with great political changes at this time at this time. The previous few years there were major confrontation between the burghers (some of the key burghers Husing, Tas(2)) and Governor W.A. van der Stel. Van der Stel was feathering his own nest and denying the burghers opportunities with contracts to supply the Company with wine and meat. It is presumed that Claas must have arrived in 1708, one year earlier Governor van der Stel was removed due to corruption. The Marriage entry at Stellenbosch church, 14th August 1708 (8k) and full page entry (80k) has recorded Claas marrying Aletta van der Merwe(3), the minister H. Beck officiated (this was a Tuesday, some have suggested that the date reads 18th August, this would have been a Saturday). We have a very good idea what the village and church would have looked like since there is a drawing made less than two years later. Here is the drawing by van Stade from 1710 of the village Stellenbosch with the church(23k).(4) One must admire a 47 year old man being able to persuade a 24 year old widow to marry him, and/or did she need some security, being just widowed and having two little children. On the other hand Aletta had a freehold farm from her first marriage and thus whoever married her was to gain the farm.. It is likely that Claas had been previously married since the title "jonge man" or abbreviation j.m. (meaning bachelor), is not attributed to him with his wedding entry. Claas Jansz (which means Claas the son of Jan) was born in 1661. Since Nicolaas is the family name, it is most likely his full name as well. His year of birth is determined from Claas's will (31k) (5) which states that he was 66 years old at the time of making the will on the 21st March 1727.

They First Lived on farm Vrymansfontein

With their marriage the couple lived on the farm Vrymansfontein, located in the area known as Agterpaarl. Aletta's first husband Marthinus van Staden possesed this farm. Van Staden passed away in 1707, we do not know the cause of his death. When Claas married Aletta, this farm came with the bride. There were many indicators that Claas lived in this vicinity soon after his marriage, this is dealt with further below. (Ultimately it was Dr Jean le Roux who supplied me with the information regarding the farm Vrymansfontein)

The Naming says it All:

The custom, prior to surnames usage, was based upon patronymical naming pattern. A person was known as: "Given name and then Father's name plus son". Applying this to Claas Jansz: His given name is - Claas. His father's name was 'Jan' and 'sz' represents 'se zoon' which means son (or son belonging to him). Each next generation, the last name changes to who their father was. The full name of Jan was most likely Johannes since the eldest son was named such. Claas's mother’s name was most probably Cecilia, since it was customary(6) to name the second daughter after the father’s mother. Claas's child Hendrik could have been named after Claas's eldest brother if they followed the naming pattern in this footnote, refer also to table under Naming Custom and Claas's children further below. Thus we can presume that Claas's eldest brother was called Hendrik. If we apply the naming custom now to these two brothers we get the following possibilities:

1. If Claas was the eldest son and Hendrik the second eldest. This would mean that Claas was named after his father's father and Hendrik was named after his mother's father. The ancestral chart would look like -

2. If Hendrik was the eldest son and Claas was the second eldest son then Hendrik was named after his father's father and Claas was named after his mother's father. The following would then portray their ancestral chart -

3. Claas could not have been a third eldest son since he did not receive his father's name, refer to footnote 5.

4. If Claas was the fourth eldest son. Then Hendrik was the eldest son and named after his father's father. We would not know the name of the second eldest son who was named after the mother's father. The third eldest son would have been named Jan after the father and Claas the fourth son would have been named after the father's eldest brother. Their ancestral chart would then look like this -

Furthermore with Claas we have a major change in usage of names and surnames. Dr C. Pama wrote in a letter to me 18 August 1988 (28k) "In the Low Countries and north of it one usually finds that fixed surnames start in the south and the further one goes to the North, the later the adoption of surnames. In Flanders they are quite common already in the 13th and 14th century but in Amsterdam they appear not earlier than the 16th Century. In Frisia(Friesland) it appeared that when in 1811 Napoleon compelled everyone in Holland to adopt a fixed surname, most of the Frisians did not have one yet." Claas was then still using the old naming customs, this may indicate him coming from somewhere North (like Rendsburg). During his life time we have the introduction of surname usage in our ancestors. With his descendants many wanted to maintain both the old custom that was in use up and until Claas. In practice time freezing the patronym which Claas received from his father, thus using "Janse" in perpetuity, at the same time also using the introduced surname 'van Rensburg'.

Rijnsburg versus Rendsburg

Where Claas originated from is not a settled issue. Some feel that he came from Rijnsburg, 5 km Northwest of Leiden in the Netherlands. Research into baptismal records conducted at Rijnsburg was fruitless according to Heese(7). Baptism records for the church which are held at the Algemeen Rijksargief of Den Haag go back to 1675 and Claas was born prior to that. Research that was done into the ‘regterlike’ and ‘notariele’ archives at Den Haag found no mention made of a Rijnsburger who moved or traveled to the Cape. Others feel that he came from Rendsburg in Schleiswig-Holstein, Germany. This town was a disputed town for centuries between Denmark and Germany. Research done into the baptismal records there have not substantiated this theory either.

The evidence for Rijnsburg, Dutch origin-

  1. Some official documents spelt Claas's place of origin as Rijnsburg
  2. Claas’s son Johannes (b1) spelt his surname as Rinsburg (2k) (8)
  3. Claas married Aletta whose family was of Dutch origin
  4. This theory is supported by E. Rosenthal, Dr W.H.J. Punt and Dr C. Pama(9)

The evidence for Rendsburg,(10) German origin-

  1. Some official documents spell Claas's place of origin Rensburg and Rensborg (the latter supports Rendsburg since this town was a disputed town with Denmark and they sometimes spelled the town with the "borg" ending)
  2. The Cape was Dutch, thus it is more plausible to have a German/Danish name being Dutchified at the Cape, than have a Dutch name being altered to a German/Danish way of spelling at the Cape
  3. In the document of request(11) for Land ownership, the measurement is given as "Rijnsland roeden". Yet place of origin for Claas in the same document is given as Rensburg. A clear distinction between 'Rens' and 'Rijns' thus not from the same root origin
  4. The Dutch version has the prefix "Rijn" which was very commonly known, the river Rhine is spelt 'Rijn'
  5. Claas does not appear as a Member of the Drakenstein Church (61k) (12) compiled by minister Petrus van Aken, even though Aletta is on it. A possible reason could be that he was Lutheran thus from German origin and not Calvinistic which would mean he was from Dutch origin
  6. His son Hendrik (b6) spells the surname as Rensenbur (2k) , could this variation indicate the missing "d"
  7. The Boer president W.C.J. van Renseburg of the ZAR 1863, spelt his surname (3k) (13)as such, yet conversely claims that he was from Dutch descent
  8. If Claas served as a soldier, it should be noted that Germans tended to serve in the army and Dutch in the navy
  9. The name Cecilia which may have been Claas's mother name is more common in northern Germany
  10. This theory is supported by Dr J Hoge and H.T. Colenbrander(14)

What was the real surname: van Rensburg, Janse van Rensburg, Jansen van Rensburg?

Are they all from the same ancestor? and which is the authentic one? There was only one stamvader and the facts are that he signed his name as Claas Jansz. Which means Claas the son of Jan. In order to distinguish between all the people who were Jansz (In other words their fathers had the same name as our stamvader, there were scores of Jansz at the Cape: Claas Jansz: van Hofland; Claas Jansz: van Alkmaar; Claas Jansz: van Amsterdam; Claas Jansz: van Reeuwijk) the authorities added where they were from in order to distinguish them from one another. Thus some people eventually received a double surname. Based on Patronym and Toponym, who they were descendant from and where they originated from. My grandfather (Nicolaas Jacobus Janse van Rensburg) in our case decided to do away with one part of this double surname. To contend that one specific surname is the authentic one is absurd, since our stamvader only signed himself as Claas Jansz, and never included van Rensburg, note how he signs in a partnership contract and the authorities adds the explantory:"dit heeft Claas Jansz v: Rensburg geschrewen"(72k), meaning this is written by Claas Jansz: from/of Rensburg. We have six documented signature's, enclosed you may view them and some comments (14k) (15) of him. Some family members insist on using 'Janse' and others vehemently insist on 'Jansen'. Two of Claas's sons' signatures already adopts both these positions. Janse used by b1 Johannes (2k) and Jansen used by b6 Hendrik (2k) .

In Afrikaans the "van" has two meanings: it means "surname", and also "from". Some in the family use three words as our surname "Janse van Rensburg". When it comes to spelling one finds all kinds of variations, it should be kept in mind that it was Ecclesiastical figures and Company officials who recorded the names and they spelled it whichever way it sounded. Thus even in the original documents you will have differences. Other surnames were "Dutchified". All this further complicates the search for his place of origin. R.T.J. Lombard(16) sheds a different view on people such as Claas, whose place of origin his descendants took as their surname. According to him, the place of origin does not necessarily indicate the place of birth, it could just indicate the place of last dwelling. If this is the case with Claas Jansz, which Lombard specifically uses as an example, then it makes it so much more difficult to get a connection to a European country or place of birth. There have been numerous variation in usage and spelling of our surname.

Seven children born to Claas and Aletta

b1 Johannes baptised 7 July 1709, (17) and married 27 August 1730 Anna Margaretha Botha

b2 Elsie baptised 31 July 1712 Reference VC 632 which is the Verbatum Copy of the Stellenbosch baptismal register G2 4/1 It reads:Elsje, father Klaus Janse (sic), mother Aultie Schalk, witnesses Jacobus van As met Helena Schalk. Died 15 October 1776 and married 12 August 1731 Pieter van der Merwe, died 2 May 1763

b3 Cecilia born 1 March 1715, baptised(18) 21 April 1715, died 25 July 1774 (should it read 1 Dec 1774)and married 19 April 1732 Izaak van der Merwe, ~ 27 Sep 1711, died(19) 26 April 1774 ( check or should it read 1 Jun 1777)

b4 Willem baptised(20) 21 November 1717, died 21 July 1746 and married 2 July 1740 Anna Sophia Burger

b5 Nicolaas baptised(21) 31 March 1720, and married 31 March 1743 Maria Marais

b6 Hendrik baptised(22) 12 September 1723, and married 1747 Anna Maria van der Merwe

b7 Sophia born 25 Nov 1725, baptised(23) 23 December 1725, died dist Waveren 30 Dec 1800, and married 30 November 1745 David van der Merwe ~ 2 Oct 1707, died Tulbagh 1 Apr 1784

Claas and Aletta's offspring multiplied rapidly with 16 grandsons as offspring (4), ensuring the multiplication of van Rensburg descendants.

Naming Custom: Claas & Aletta followed the custom
 

CHILD NAMED AFTER  CLAAS'S CHILDREN
First Son Father's father  Johannes
First Daughter Mother's mother  Elsie
Second Son Mother's father  Willem
Second Daughter Father's mother Cecilia
Third Son  Father Nicolaas
Third daughter Mother ???
Fourth Son Father's eldest brother Hendrik
Fourth Daughter Mother's eldest sister Sophia

b1 Johannes named after Claas's father,

b2 Elsie named after Aletta's mother

b3 Cecilia named most likely after Claas's mother

b4 Willem named after Aletta's father

b5 Nicolaas named after Claas

Very likely another child Alleta was born and died young see next paragraph

b6 Hendrik named most likely after the eldest brother of Claas

b7 Sophia named after Aletta's eldest sister

Did they have a child named Aletta?

The naming method used and speculation follows the naming custom. The naming is consistent with custom, apart from Sophia. She should have been named Aletta after the mother, with the next daughter according to custom receiving the name Sophia. They either deviated from custom or I would suggest they had another infant girl after Cecilia and before Sophia, who would have died young, named Aletta after the mother. There seems to be enough time between child b5 Nicolaas who was baptised March 1720 and child b6 Hendrik who was baptised September 1723 for such a possibility. Is it a coincidence that the Stellenbosch 'Krygsraadsvergadering' Militia Meeting on 21 September 1721 gave Claas time off from attending the militia practice in Stellenbosch for the end of September and October of that year. The minutes states that Claas Jansz: 'van die krijsbootens g'excuseert' (quoted in J.H. van Rensburg Die Rietvleiers p 16). Maybe Aletta was close to having this child, who would have also been called Aletta or did she already have this child and something have gone wrong and thus Claas was excused ? This is speculation but fairly plausible. Research into the incoming and outgoing letters to the Stellenbosch Krygsraad at this time would be worthwhile.

Intermarriages with van der Merwe family

It is amazing to notice the numerous connections to the van der Merwe’s. The early Cape can be described as a Colony of cousinary tangled marriages.

van Rensburg and van der Merwe intermarital tree

The Key to this Tree

The right branch consist of van Rensburg children who got married to a van der Merwe. The corresponding number with "X" is the family member they got married to. Note 3X and 4X are listed twice, but it is the same person. Note the numbers were created only to explain the intermarital relationship.

VAN RENSBURG CHILDREN:-

1= Elsie, 2= Cecilia, 3= Willem, 4 = Hendrik, 5= Sophia

1,2 and 5 - the three sisters married three brothers (they were the children of Aletta's brother Schalk Willem van der Merwe and his wife Anna Prevot) who were their cousins.

3 - Willem married the daughter of two of his cousins (she was the daughter of Elsie van der Merwe and Willem Burger)

5 - Hendrik married one of his sister’s (Sophia) stepchildren (Anna Maria was the daughter of David van der Merwe and his first wife Hendrina Horsel) and Hendrik and David was also cousins. Please note Anna Maria was only a stepdaughter of Sophia.

 Witnesses at Baptism

Claas and Aletta were witnesses to the baptism of Maria the child of Gerrit and Agnietie van der Swaan on 19 May 1709 at the Stellenbosch church see baptism entry (37). The van der Swaan's lived at Stellenbosch. Gerrit does not seem to have been around long enough to obtain a land grant. His widow Agnita Camfer married Arij Willemse van Wyk who owned the farms Bontevlei and Kuiken Vallei. Apparently in 1709 Van der Swaan is no more, strange that no mention to this effect is made in the baptism records. The interaction between those early settlers, helps to give one a picture of the persons character, who was included into their inner circle. There were some restrictions on who were allowed to be witnesses at a baptism.

Appointment to Serve in Commando, Key to Past?

On the 27 May 1709 Claas was appointed to the position of Corporal in the Drakenstein Infantry Commando (1STB 13/1) see entry (46k), this was a quick appointment since he would have been just a short time in the Cape. At the same time Steven TerBlans and Matthys Jasias were also appointed as Corporals to the Drakenstein infantry. Whereas Hendrik Loots, Lourens Swerensz and Jan Frederik Pons were appointed as Corporals to the Stellenbosch infantry

Within months on 10 February 1710 Claas was promoted to be Drakenstein infantry Sergeant (1STB 13/1) see entry (40k). This latter appointment uses a couple of words with reference to Claas, it looks like "sturman", was Claas a ship pilot previously? or could the wording be "storman"? We await further clarification. Claas does not appear under a list of the Krygsraad commando dated February 1708, thus he most likely arrived at the Cape after that date. At the same time Pieter Guber was appointed as Corporal of the draghoners, and both Guilliam Louret and Arij van Jaarsveld was appointed to serve as Corporals in the infantry under Claas.

Indicators which pointed to living closer to Paarl

Their first son was baptised at Stellenbosch 7 July 1709 that could have been due to them living closer to Stellenbosch or the little church at Drakenstein was in bad shape and still very much French. In the 1708-1710 ‘Paden and Weggenrol,(24) the road maintenance list, Claas had to work on the road between Drakenstein and the West side of Paarl. This road maintenance lists was a strong indicator that this would have been the vicinity of his first place of dwelling after his marriage. Van Stade made a drawing of Paarl mountain in 1710 (11k). Claas's name was removed from the list in 1710. In the Opgaafrol for 1709 Claas indicates that he had 500 vines. This would have been rather a short time to have cultivate after his marriage to Aletta and indicated a more established farm, and more likely closer to the vine growing areas for that time.

Loan farm Hottentotsfontein

Claas obtained a loan farm Hottentotsfontein on 17 October 1708 at Riebeecks Casteel(25) it was renewed on 10 May 1709(26). A Map from 1720 (107k) indicates Hottentotsfontein farm. Today there is a farm called Hottentotsvallei in this area which could be the same farm, see map (90k). However a partnership that Claas entered, which refers to a loan farm of van Rensburg but does not give its name, states that this farm is situated between Riebeeck Kasteel and Paarde Berg. This may be the one and same farm.

Partnership Contract on 15 November 1710

Claas made a contract on 15 November 1710 page 1 (82k) and page 2 (105k), which was a partnership between him and Johannes Carstens. Johannes Hermann Carstens born,1674 Husum, Germany. Karstens was married to Catharina van As, she was the daughter of Louis van As and his wife Helena Jansen: van Leiden. (note a Leiden connection, on the other hand there is also a German connection)

In the contract Claas would supply 400 sheep for breeding purposes. Once the sheep got sold Carstens would pay Claas Jansz van Rensburg the sum of 600 gulden, (which is three guilders per sheep), as Carstens share towards half of the sheep, since Carsten did not supply any sheep. Claas Jansz van Rensburg was to deliver on the 17 November of that year 400 sheep to Carstens. This partnership was signed 15 November 1710, the arrangement was to last for four years. The profits from this venture was to be shared equaly between both parties. The arrangement stipulated that Carstens would hold the sheep and graze them on a property between Riebeeck Kasteel and Paardeberg for a period of six months, "op die conditie dat Jan Carstensz deselve sal houden en wijden en daar bij leggen op sekere stuk Land gelegen tussen riebeeck Casteel en de Paarde Bergh". The wording indicates that Claas would not be living here since he will be delivering the sheep to Carstens, "Claas Jansz. Op den 17den deser sal Leveren vier honderd stuks aanteel Schapen. Aan den 2den Compt. Jan Carstens". It is indicated that this was a loan farm of Claas Jansz. Mention is also made that they hope that this property may be granted them in freehold title, they will then own it jointly. This property may in fact be the loan farm Hottentotsfontein (Kobus van Rensburg suggests that the present day Boesmansfontein may be this property. The contract was nullified the 12 Feb 1711. We do not have any indication what led to the scrapping of this parnership within three months. Claas Jansz signed both the contract, and the nullification which is recorded in the side margin. The partnership is found:(1STB 18/41) The facts in the Opgaafrol supports the fact that Claas could have supplied 400 sheep:

He has recorded for the years the following number of sheep: 1708 - 350 : 1709 - 500; 1712 - 200. The figure of 500 sheep in 1709 confirms his ability to supply.

Sold Vrymansfontein 9 October 1711

According to Dr Jean le Roux the farm Vrymansfontein was sold on 9 October 1711 to Nicholas Prinsloo. (Documentation to be found in the Title Deeds Office, Cape Town). Why would they have sold this farm and then moved to the Land van Waveren? Claas was keen to enter into stock farming, and with the collapse of his partnership with Carstens he was forced to look at alternatives. He thus must have decided himself, to establish and run a stock farm. They must have moved the same time since as noted earlier his name was removed from the road maintenance list and placed on the list for those in the Land van Waveren.

Note: (On 9 October 1711, according to Microfilm ZS 1/1/7 Transport No 876 of 1711 Drakenstein. Property No 234. (this number indicates that it is a farm rather than a house etc.) Name of property : Paarl diamant. Seller Jan Lourensz, burger. It was a "normal" transaction. (not an auction, bought out, estate, forced sale, legal sale, invalid sale, power of attorney, MOOC, or repatriated.) purchase price 1320 guilders. Buyer Claas Prinsloo. Financed through a mortgage. First payment 51 guilders. No new plans or diagrams for this transport. On 1701 July 28 the farm had one of three things happen to it : Either a) First and subsequent grant, or b) subdivision, or c) survey date.)

Loan farm Rensburg

Claas thus obtained the loan farm(27) at the side of the Breede river on 17 Dec 1711 in ‘Land van Waveren’(map 41k), opposite Philip du Pree, the present Tulbagh(28) area. This was the farm known as Rensburg. We have a description of van Heerden's house at Weltevreden, he was Claas's brother-in law. Their farms were separated by only one other farm. The van Heerden house consisted of three rooms: a larger room which functioned as the general bedroom, the ‘voorhuis’ family room, and the kitchen quoted in M. Cairns.(29) This gives us some idea of what Claas’s house may have been like.

The early farmers who went to the ‘Land van Waveren’ had to offload and dismantle their wagons. They carried everything by human effort over the Obiqua mountains.(30) Hottentot's raiding their farms harassed those living in the ‘Land van Waveren’. Since the inhabitants "in en omtrent Land van Waveren en de Berghrivier gelegen, zodanigh benauwen en bang maken, dat des nagts nauwelijks als met geweer in die hande derven slapen"(31) They were so afraid of being attacked that they had to sleep with their guns in their hands. They decided to form a local burgher commando under the leadership of Schalk Willem van der Merwe and Jan Harmense Potgieter. A commando consisted of the local farmers forming a defense and pursue system. Here we have the origin of the Commando. Twenty three volunteers joined this expedition. It is most likely that Claas was part of this commando, since he lived there; we know he served as a sergeant in the commando; and van der Merwe was his brother-in-law.(32)

Calamities

The family seems to have escaped the Smallpox epidemic of May 1713 due to the isolation of the Land van Waveren. This epidemic left Drakenstein with only 20 able whites. This epidemic caused a lot of deaths amongst the Hottentots. At the same time the Cape experienced the commencement of 2 years of drought and 7 years of stock sickness (p 48,49 Thom Skaapboedery).

  Page 1 Page 2 Footnotes Claas Jansz b4 Willem c2 Nicolaas d1 Willem e6 Willem f5 Nicolaas Jacobus   andre@clover.com.au