jan van riebeeck - father of the nation

Dr. Peter Hammond

Dr. Peter Hammond

Johan Anthoniszoon van Riebeeck was born

21 April 1619, in Culemborg, in the Netherlands.

He was the son of a surgeon.

Jan van Riebeeck grew up in Schiedam

where he married 19-year old

Maria de la Quellerie, 28 March 1649.

Jan and Maria van Riebeeck had 8 children.

One of their sons, Abraham van Riebeeck, who was born in Cape Town, later became Governor General of the Dutch East Indies.

At age 20, Jan van Riebeeck joined the Vereenigde Oost–Indische Compajnie (VOC). He served as a surgeon in Batavia in the East Indies.

He was also the head of the VOC Trading Post in Tonkin, of what is today Vietnam. In 1643, he served at De Jime in Japan.

Vision Leads to Volunteering

Jan van Riebeeck proposed the selling of animal hides from South Africa to Japan.

In 1651, he volunteered to establish a Dutch settlement at what became known as Cape

Town.

He landed three ships, the Dromedaris, Reijger and Goedehoop in Table Bay

and built the Fort of Good Hope as a half-way-house supply station for VOC vessels travelling between Europe and the East Indies.

PRAYER for AFRICA by JAN VAN RIEBEECK upon landing in Table Bay 6 April 1652:

"O Gracious and Most Merciful God and Heavenly Father,

in Your Divine Majesty You have Saved us and called us to guide the affairs of the Dutch East India Company

in this place, and to this end we are gathered here together in Your Name. May the decisions we take further maintain justice and,

among these wild and uncivilised people, may Your true and perfect Christian teachings

be established and spread, to the honour and praise of Your Holy Name

and the prosperity of our God Almighty, without whose merciful help we are powerless.

Therefore we pray to You, Most Merciful Father, and ask that You will stand by and support us with your Fatherly

wisdom and understanding and preside over our gatherings; lift our hearts that all wrong passions, misunderstanding and bestial

lusts be removed from us and cleanse our hearts; and so fix our minds that in our actions no other principles or motives are apparent other than the magnification and honour of Your most

Holy Name so that we may best serve our Lord and Master, without in any way acting for our own advantage

or taking into account personal gain, to which end we will carry out our orders

and so earn a worthy blessing. We pray and ask this in the Name of Your Beloved Son,

our Master and Saviour Jesus Christ, who taught us to pray…

'Our Father who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy Name…'"

Strategic Outpost

The outpost established in Table Bay by Jan van Riebeeck initially consisted of just 82 men and 8 women. During the first winter at the

Cape, 19 people died in the harsh environment..

Within a few months of arriving in the Cape, the Dutch Republic and England became engaged in a Naval war (10 July 1652 - 5 April 1654).

The completion of a fort became urgent. Fort De Goede Hoop was hastily built of mud, clay and timber

in the middle of what is today, Adderley Street

Cultivating the Cape

For 10 years Jan van Riebeeck served as commander of the

Cape (1652-1662). He planted vegetable and fruit gardens and imported livestock to

provide fresh stocks of fruit, vegetables, meat and milk to

vessels passing the Cape.

Many of the innovations of Jan van Riebeeck changed the natural environment of the Cape forever, including importing grapes, cereals,

groundnuts, potatoes, apples and citrus trees.

In Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens, one can still see some of the wild almond trees that he planted.

Observant

His diary showed a keen eye for the environment, natural resources and an understanding of the culture of the Bushmen hunters and

Hottentot (Khoi Khoi) herdsmen in the area.

On 17 December 1652, Jan van Riebeeck reported the first comet sighting from South Africa.

East Indies

Shortly after being relocated to the Dutch East Indies,

his wife, Maria, died in Malacca,

now part of Malaysia, 2 November 1664.

She was only 35 years old. Jan van Riebeeck died in 1677

in Batavia, (what is now called Jakarta),

on the Island of Java.

Father of the Nation

For many years, Jan van Riebeeck was recognised as the father of the nation.

His image appeared on the stamps and currency from the 1940s until 1993.

The Coat of Arms of the City of Cape

Town is based on the Van Riebeeck

family coat of arms.

Towns such as Riebeek-Kasteel and Riebeek-West and schools such as Hoërskool Jan van Riebeeck

are also named after this founding father of South Africa.

At the tercentenary (300th anniversary)

of the arrival of Jan van Riebeeck,

Van Riebeeck Day was declared a public holiday,

6 April 1952.

Later it was renamed Founders Day. 6 April, the date he landed in Table Bay, was observed as a national holiday until 1994.

Maria De La

Quellerie

The wife of the governor, Maria de la Quellerie, is

the first French Huguenot to have moved to South

Africa.

Born the daughter of Abraham de la Quellerie and Maria du Bois, Maria was described as

energetic, a thoughtful hostess, gifted and diplomatic,

she was well respected and liked in the colony.

There is a statue of Maria van Riebeeck at the Foreshore on Adderley Street in Cape Town.

The South African Navy also named one of their submarines, the SAS Maria van Riebeeck in honour of her, as the mother of the nation.

Dr. Peter Hammond

Reformation Society

P.O. Box 74

Newlands, 7725

Cape Town, South Africa

Tel: (021) 689-4480

Fax: (021) 685-5884

Email: info@ReformationSA.org

Website: www.ReformationSA.org