Part 1

European countries wanted to find a route to the East Indies to profit from the lucrative spice trade. The name East Indies was used for a group of countries and islands in and around the Indian ocean, such as India, Indonesia, Malaysia and other spice growing countries in the east. Spices were in those days a very sought after commodity and very expensive. The route by land which Marco Polo had taken was not an easy route and filled with many obstacles and danger.

Countries such as Portugal, Spain and Netherlands were keen on finding a route by sea. They believed if they sailed around Africa they would get to the East Indies. Others believed if they sailed West they would also get to India, like Christopher Columbus in the year 1492.

In the year 1487 a portuguese explorer, Bartholomeu Dias, was the first European to manage to sail around the southern most point of Africa ie. Cape Aghulhas. He left his ship to erect a cross at Algoa Bay, South Africa. Vasco da Gama sailed around the Cape in 1497 in search for a route to the East.

The Portuguese were never interested in forming a settlement at the Cape, instead they built their settlement in Mozambique.

Years later many ships sailed around Africa to bring back goods and spices from the East.

Part 2 First Settlement

The first people at the Cape were the Khoi and the San. The Khoi called Cape Town ||Hui! Gais meaning where the clouds gather; and the San named it Camissa, meaning place of sweet water.

Bartholomeu Dias named it Cabo Totmentas (Stormy Cape). But the King of Portugal changed the name to Cabo da Boa Esperanca (Cape of Good Hope). The Dutch kept the name Caep de Goede Hoop (Cape of Good Hope). I will call it the Cape.

A company based in the Netherlands, the Dutch East India Company, [ or VOC, Verenigde Oostindische Companie] had wanted to establish a settlement at the Cape to fill their ships with fresh fruit and water supplies. Scurvy was a disease suffered by most seamen due to them being on the ship for many months and having a lack of fresh fruit. The VOC instructed Jan van Riebeeck to form a settlement at the Cape. Van Riebeeck sailed with 3 ships, Dromedaris, Reijger and the Goede Hoop, and arrived at the Cape on 6 April 1652.

Initially the Netherlands nor the VOC had any interest in forming a Colony at the Cape. It was only a half way point where their ships could load up with fresh fruit, vegetables and other fresh products.

Part 3

The Cape grew, they needed more people to work on the lands. So slaves from Angola, Madagascar, India and Indonesia were brought to the Cape. Some of the local non European population, San and Khoi (Bushmen) and Xhosa tribes did not want to be enslaved so moved further inland. A large number of Khoi and San people died in the year 1713 when a smallpox disease reached the Cape from a ship that stopped to load supplies. They were not resistant to this epidemic. It is recorded that prior to the European arriving at the Cape the Khoi and San population was at 200 000. By mid 1700 their numbers had reduced to 15 000 mainly due to the smallpox epidemic.

The VOC wanted people to farm the land. The present burghers were not that successful. This is when the VOC decided to have the Huguenots come to the Cape. Huguenots were Protestant families fleeing religious persecution in France.

The first of the large scale emigration of Huguenots to the Cape of Good Hope took place during 1688 and 1689. In total some 180 Huguenots from France, and 18 Walloons from present day Belgium, eventually settled at the Cape of Good Hope.

The Huguenots were given farms in the Drakenstein area, now called Paarl. With the help of slaves given to them they cultivated this land into successful farms.

Our family tree has Dutch, British, German, French and 1 Portuguese Stamvader.
The following are some names that appear in the Ferreira / Dreyer tree. This list is not complete.

Portuguese forefather:- Ferreira

British forefathers:- Smith, Moore

German forefathers:- Dreyer, Jerling, Meyer, Odendaal, Scholtz, Waldeck

Netherlands:- de Jager, Janse van Vuuren, van Heyden, van Niekerk