Carel Petrus van der Merwe (bef.1784-abt.1816)

Carel Petrus (Carel) van der Merwe

Born before 11 Apr 1784 in Bo-Karoo, de Caep de Goede Hoop

Ancestors

Son of Carel van der Merwe and Hester Cicilia (Burger) Hoffman

Brother of Martha Sophia (Van Der Merwe) Pretorius [half], Hester Magdalena Frederica van der Merwe, Cecilia Aletta van der Merwe [half], Izaac Wilhelmus (Van Der Merwe) van der Merwe, Willem Nicolaas (Van Der Merwe) van der Merwe and Willem Francois (Du Toit) du Toit [half]

Husband of Anna (van Wijk) du Plessis — married 8 Mar 1806 in Cape of Good Hope, South Africa

Descendants

Father of Karel Petrus van der Merwe, Anna Christina (van der Merwe) Jooste, Hester Cicelia Carolina Willemina van der Merwe, Gerret Johannes van der Merwe, Maria Magdalena (Van Der Merwe) van der Merwe and Willem Jacobus van der Merwe

Died about 12 Aug 1816 after about age 32 in Bokkeveld, Cape Colony, South Africa

[uncertain]

Problems/Questions

Profile last modified 31 Mar 2024 | Created 31 Mar 2015

This page has been accessed 426 times.

Carel van der Merwe was part of the settlement of the Dutch Cape Colony.
Join: Cape of Good Hope - Kaap de Goede Hoop (1652-1806) Project
Discuss: dutch_cape_colony

1 Biography
2 Sources

Biography

Name

Carel van der Merwe ... ^[1]

Baptism

Nederduitse Gereformeerde Kerk. Gemeente Tulbagh

't Kind: Carel Petrus baptised 11 April 1784

Vader: Carel van der Merwe Isaacz

Moeder: Hester Cecilia Bürger

Get.:

Willem Bürger en Catharina Jacoba Liebenberg

Willem Wilmz Bürger en Maria Magdalena Zwevela^[2]

Marriage

From the minutes of the matrimonial commissioners in Tulbagh, approval of marriage banns^[3]:

Date: Saturday 8 March 1806

Bride: Anna van Wijk, age 17, jongedogter from Cabo, born and living in the Roggeveld.

Groom: Carel Petrus van der Merwe, age 22, jongman from Cabo de Goede Hoop, born and living in the Bokkeveld.

Houdenbek Slave Revolt of 1825

In the records of the trial at Worcester after the Houdenbek Slave Revolt of Feb 1825^[4] we read that the two 'hottentot' workers Valentijn and Vlak were born at "Carel van der Merwe". Given their ages, this could not have been the father of their boss Willem Nicolaas, but a likely match would be his brother Carel Petrus. It is however not (yet) known where Carel Petrus had his farm(s). We do know that Anna remarried in 1818, with Jan Abraham (dú Plijsies) du Plessis (1799-1875) who in 1825 had two farms: Lange Rivier and Wagenbooms Rivier.

Slave Owner

In 1816, under Governor Charles Somerset, Slave Registers were set up by district^[5].

On 16 Dec 1816, his Anna van Wijk registered 6 slaves as widow of Carel Petrus^[6]:

Salomon, Org, from Mozambique
Adonis, Pedro, Philida, from the Cape
Silvie, of Bougies

Pedro was 6 years old, and may have been the son of either Philida or Silvie.

Sources

↑ Entered by Jannie van der Merwe Feb 11, 2013
↑ Church Registers - Tulbagh Congregation, Cape Archives, page 214, Nr. 37, Film 008121003. https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSV8-WTJR?i=319&cat=993682. Transcribed and entered by Mary Pistorius Rudd, 23 Jan 2022, 14:33
↑ Minutes of the matrimonial commisioners at Tulbagh, 1805-1808, approval of marriage banns for :1 Carel Petrus van der Merwe and Anna van Wijk], image at Familysearch.org (see earlier pages for context)
↑ Space: Houdenbek Slave Revolt 1825
↑ Space: Slave Owners and Slaves in South Africa, and how to find relevant Slave Registers
↑ Tulbagh Slave Register, Ledger M, Folio 39 for the widow of the Late Carel Petrus van der Merwe, born Anna van Wijk

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DNA Connections
It may be possible to confirm family relationships with Carel by comparing test results with other carriers of his Y-chromosome or his mother's mitochondrial DNA. Y-chromosome DNA test-takers in his direct paternal line on WikiTree:

Francesco Rootenberg : Family Tree DNA Y-DNA Test 831 markers, haplogroup R-M6489, FTDNA kit #631312

It is likely that these autosomal DNA test-takers will share some percentage of DNA with Carel:

~1.56% Elsie Wilhelmina (van der Merwe) van Zyl : Family Tree DNA Family Finder, FTDNA kit #MI71373
~0.78% Christelle van der Merwe : 23andMe, GEDmatch GB8916146 [compare] + AncestryDNA, GEDmatch A669833 [compare], Ancestry member Stellajo + Family Tree DNA Family Finder, GEDmatch QQ8780861 [compare], FTDNA kit #648374
~0.78% Marlene (van der Merwe) Joubert : Family Tree DNA Family Finder, GEDmatch ZQ5938348 [compare], FTDNA kit #IN93636
~0.78% ~6.25% Maresa Botha : Autosomal DNA Test

Have you taken a DNA test? If so, login to add it. If not, see our friends at Ancestry DNA.

Comments: 5

Leave a message for others who see this profile.

Pieter van Zyl

Mary,

I agree with you. I already unhooked Anna van Wyk from Carel van der Merwe. I will have to find a new Carel AND a new Anna to hook up the children. I already searched for other another Carel and Anna yesterday but was unable to find something. BTW the formatting of the profile's biography and sources are still beyond my pay grade. Will be grateful if you can help with that on Anna van Wyk where I am cleaning up. Thanks! Piet

posted Jan 24, 2022 by Pieter van Zyl

Mary (Pistorius) Rudd

Francina Carolina van der Merwe Heydenrych, born circa 1812, died 26 Jun 1883, parents Carl Petrus van der Merwe and Anna Susanna du Plisies

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSQ6-LRM9?i=1171&cc=2517051&personaUrl=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3AQP7Y-T51Z

posted Jan 23, 2022 by Mary (Pistorius) Rudd

Mary (Pistorius) Rudd

Hi Pieter. I have had a wonderful time paging through online documents.

I agree that there is a problem, and I think that this Carel Petrus van der Merwe has been confused with another Carel or Karel Petrus van der Merwe. I have found that according to his marriage certificate he was single when he married widow Anna Susanna du Plessies, previously married to Hercules du Pree. So I don't think that he was married to Anna van Wijk. The Death Notice of Anna Susanna du Plesie gives two pre-deceased spouses - Hercules Petrus du Preez and Carel Petrus van der Merwe - and the following children: Elsabi Petronella du Preez Lategan; Anna Fransina du Preez Herholdt, Magdalena du Preez Malan; Herculina Johanna du Preez van Jaarsveld; Johannis Petrus du Preez; Wynand Carel du Preez; Herculis Petrus de Preez and from the second marriage - Fransina Carolina van der Merwe Heÿdenrÿch.

So, if you agree, then I think we should unlink Anna van Wijk, and the four children, from this Carel Petrus van der Merwe, and add in Francina Carolina. If you look at the page you can see on the left the surname van der Merwe written in pencil. Mary

posted Jan 23, 2022 by Mary (Pistorius) Rudd

Pieter van Zyl

It seems impossible that this profile was married to Anna Susanna du Plessis (du Preez) in 1811 because the last child of Carel Petrus and Anna van Wyk was born in 1815.

Furthermore it seems as his first wife (Anna van Wijk) married Jan Abraham du Plessis after the death of Carel Petrus and still had about 9 children with Abraham. Unfortunately I cannot find enough sources to sort out the conflicting reasoning. Piet

posted Jan 23, 2022 by Pieter van Zyl

Pieter van Zyl

The marriage date of 2 November 1811 involves Anna Susanna du Plessis and not Anna van Wijk. Sources attached to prove that.

posted Jan 23, 2022 by Pieter van Zyl

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