Olof De Wet
Olof Godlieb de Wet (1739–1811) was a Dutch Cape Colony-born official in the Dutch East India Company and co-founder of the Freemasons in Cape Colony. Personal life He was born in middle 1739 in Cape Town, Dutch Cape Colony. De Wet's grandfather Jacobus de Wet emigrated from Amsterdam, The Netherlands in 1693 to South Africa. His parents were Maria Magdalena Blankenberg and Johannes Carolus de Wet. He married Magdalena Saria Maria Butger in July 1761, and out of their marriage one child was born. He died at age 72 in Cape Town, South Africa on 6 December 1811. Work path He started his working career in the Dutch East India Company (DEIC) in 1757. Through the years he stayed with the DEIC and started as assistant and followed that up with a bookkeeper (1768), office manager (1772), buyer (1775) and then a member of the Council of Justice in 1778. This was followed by work as a store manager (1782) and auctions manager(1785). In this period he acted as Journal Writer an ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Cape Town
Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest city by population, after Johannesburg, and the largest city in the Western Cape. The city is part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality (South Africa), metropolitan municipality. The city is known for Port of Cape Town, its harbour, its natural setting in the Cape Floristic Region, and for landmarks such as Table Mountain and Cape Point. In 2014, Cape Town was named the best place in the world to visit by ''The New York Times'', and was similarly ranked number one by ''The Daily Telegraph'' in both 2016 and 2023. Located on the shore of Table Bay, the City Bowl area of Cape Town, which contains its Cape Town CBD, central business district (CBD), is History of Cape Town, the oldest urban area in the Western Cape, with a signi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Cape Colony
The Cape Colony (), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British Empire, British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope. It existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when it united with three other colonies to form the Union of South Africa, then became the Cape Province, which existed even after 1961, when South Africa had become a republic, albeit, temporarily outside the Commonwealth of Nations (1961–94). The British colony was preceded by an earlier corporate colony that became an Dutch Cape Colony, original Dutch colony of the same name, which was established in 1652 by the Dutch East India Company, Dutch East India Company (VOC). The Cape was under VOC rule from 1652 to 1795 and under rule of the Napoleonic Batavian Republic, Batavia Republic from 1803 to 1806. The VOC lost the colony to Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain following the 1795 Invasion of the Cape Colony, Battle of Muizenberg, but it was ceded to the ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Dutch East India Company
The United East India Company ( ; VOC ), commonly known as the Dutch East India Company, was a chartered company, chartered trading company and one of the first joint-stock companies in the world. Established on 20 March 1602 by the States General of the Netherlands amalgamating Voorcompagnie, existing companies, it was granted a 21-year monopoly to carry out trade activities in Asia. Shares in the company could be purchased by any citizen of the Dutch Republic and subsequently bought and sold in open-air secondary markets (one of which became the Amsterdam Stock Exchange). The company possessed quasi-governmental powers, including the ability to wage war, imprison and execute convicts, negotiate treaties, strike Coinage of the Dutch East India Company, its own coins, and establish colonies. Also, because it traded across multiple colonies and countries from both the East and the West, the VOC is sometimes considered to have been the world's first multinational corporation. St ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Freemasonry In South Africa
Freemasonry was brought to South Africa by members of the Grand Orient of the Netherlands in 1772. Today there are lodges chartered under the United Grand Lodge of England, the Grand Lodge of Scotland, the Grand Lodge of Ireland, the Grand Lodge of South Africa, as well as Le Droit Humain Early Colonial Period On 24 April 1772, Abraham van der Weijden, Deputy Grandmaster Abroad under the Grand Orient of the Netherlands, arrived in the Cape of Good Hope. He issued a warrant allowing for the founding of a lodge, "De Goede Hoop", ten days after arriving, which was ratified by the Grand Orient on 1 September 1772.Mackey, Albert. ''Encyclopedia of Freemasonry and its Kindred Sciences.'' Jazzybee Verlag, 2013. The founding members of Lodge de Goede Hoop were Abraham Chiron, Jacobus le Febre, Johann Gie, Pieter Soermans, Christoffel Brand, Jan van Schoor, Olof de Wet, and Petrus de Wit. While in 1774 the first two native-born candidates were initiated into freemasonry, the lodge f ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Region of Amsterdam, urban area and 2,480,394 in the Amsterdam metropolitan area, metropolitan area. Located in the Provinces of the Netherlands, Dutch province of North Holland, Amsterdam is colloquially referred to as the "Venice of the North", for its canals of Amsterdam, large number of canals, now a World Heritage Site, UNESCO World Heritage Site. Amsterdam was founded at the mouth of the Amstel River, which was dammed to control flooding. Originally a small fishing village in the 12th century, Amsterdam became a major world port during the Dutch Golden Age of the 17th century, when the Netherlands was an economic powerhouse. Amsterdam was the leading centre for finance and trade, as well as a hub of secular art production. In the 19th ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Joachim Van Plettenberg
Joachim was, according to Sacred tradition, the husband of Saint Anne, the father of Mary (mother of Jesus), and the maternal grandfather of Jesus. The story of Joachim and Anne first appears in the Gospel of James, part of the New Testament apocrypha. His feast day is 26 July, a date shared with Saint Anne. In Catholic tradition The story of Joachim, his wife Anne (or Anna), and the miraculous birth of their child Mary, the mother of Jesus, was told for the first time in the 2nd-century apocryphal infancy-gospel the Gospel of James (also called the ''Protoevangelium of James''). Joachim was a rich and pious man, who regularly gave to the poor; however, Charles Souvay, writing in the '' Catholic Encyclopedia'', says that the idea that Joachim possessed large herds and flocks is doubtful. At the temple, Joachim's sacrifice was rejected, as the couple's childlessness was interpreted as a sign of divine displeasure. Joachim consequently withdrew to the desert, where he fasted a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Graaff-Reinet
Graaff-Reinet (; Xhosa: eRhafu) is a town in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. It is the oldest town in the province and the fourth oldest town in South Africa, after Cape Town, Stellenbosch, Simon's Town, Paarl and Swellendam. The town was the centre of a short-lived republic in the late 18th century. The town was a starting point for Great Trek groups led by Gerrit Maritz and Piet Retief and furnished large numbers of the Voortrekkers in 1835–1842. Graaff-Reinet is home to more national monuments than any other town or city in South Africa. It is also known for being a flourishing market for agricultural produce, noted for its mohair industry, and sheep and ostrich farming. History Graaff-Reinet was established by the Dutch East India Company in 1786, after Cape Town in 1652, Stellenbosch in 1679, Paarl in 1687 and Swellendam in 1745. The town is named after then-governor of the Cape Colony, Cornelis Jacob van de Graaff, and his wife. The town was originally ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Abraham Josias Sluysken
Abraham Josias Sluysken (3 December 1736, Deventer - 18 January 1799, The Hague) was the last Governor of the Dutch Cape Colony before British occupation in 1795. Sluysken was born in the Netherlands, and in 1765 became governor of the Dutch trading colony of Surat on the northwest coast of India. He was sent to the Cape in 1793. With his eye on defense in the case of a possible French attack, Sluysken commissioned the construction of a few small forts at Simon's Town in 1794. The following year, the citizens of Swellendam and Graaff-Reinet Graaff-Reinet (; Xhosa: eRhafu) is a town in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. It is the oldest town in the province and the fourth oldest town in South Africa, after Cape Town, Stellenbosch, Simon's Town, Paarl and Swellendam. The to ... revolted and declared their independence from the Cape. At the same time British ships attack the Cape, and while Sluysken attempted to defend the colony against invasion, he had to surrender ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Abraham Chiron
Abraham Chiron was a German-born book-keeper and banker who played a key role in the establishment of Freemasonry in South Africa and served as the country's first Masonic Grand Master. He also played a significant role in the early European settlement of the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa. Family Chiron was born in 1746 in Frankfurt, Germany to Charles Chiron and Susanna Schuler. He married Marie Philippine Roger from Sedan, France. Once settled in South Africa, the couple raised four daughters: Susanna Maria (1771), Marie Charlotte (1774), Jeane Marianne (1775), and Antoinette Caroline (1778). Career Chiron joined the Dutch East India Company in 1768 on a five-year contract and arrived the next year in Cape Town, South Africa on the ship ''Grosvenor'' . As a contracted employee, Chiron was allocated to the Company’s Department of Secretary for Justice in 1775. In 1782, he became responsible for the accounts of supplying ships and general book keeping duties. After ''The ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Abraham Van Der Weijden
Abraham van der Weijden, a Dutch citizen, was a ship's captain and the initiator of Freemasonry in South Africa. Personal life Van der Weijden was born in Delft, The Netherlands in 1743. He married Johanna Slegge on 29 July 1764. He died in South Africa on 31 January 1773. Career He was trained as ship's captain. He started in the service of The Dutch East India Company (DEIC) on 2 October 1768. He joined from the Delft division of the DEIC. Van der Weijden was in charge of the shipped called "Pauw". This was a 140 feet long ship used by the DEIC from 1768 to 1784. The Pauw departed for Batavia on 5 December 1771 and stopped over in Cape Town, South Africa on 24 April 1772. Cape Town was a refreshment station between Europe and Asia, specifically for the ships from the DEIC. On 4 July 1772 the ship reached Batavia. Connection with South Africa When van der Weijden arrived in 1772, he stayed over for a few weeks. He had contact with the other personnel of the DEIC stationed at C ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Christoffel Brand (Simon's Town)
Christoffel Brand (1738–1815) was a trader, a well-known host at Simon’s Town near Cape Town, welcoming ships using it as a refreshment station and a participant in establishing Freemasonry in Cape Colony. Personal life Brand was youngest child and only son of Burchard Heinrich Brand and Anna van der Bijl. He was born in Cape Town on 29 June 1738. He married Catharina Maria Blankenberg the second oldest child of Anna Margaretha van der Heyde and Johannes Hendricus Blankenberg. He died in Simon's Town on 27 January 1815. Work life He joined the Dutch East India Company (DEIC) in 1755. His profession was that of a trader in goods. He was one of the partners in an enterprise called Cruijwagen and Company. His other partners were Gerrit Hendrik Cruijwagen, Petrus Johannes de Wit, Adam Gabriël Muller and two accountants Abraham Chiron and Hendrik Justinus de Wet. These employees of the DEIC (Dutch: Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, the VOC) felt their salaries from the co ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Johann Gie
Johann Coenraad Gie was a businessman, community leader, and Grand Master of the Freemasons in Cape Colony. Personal life Gie was born in Zürich, Switzerland, on 22 March 1727. He was one of the children of Andreas Caspar Gie and Anne Marie Liguren. He died 1 July 1797 in Cape Town. He arrived on 23 January 1751 on the ship ''Rosenburg'' from Texel, Netherlands, as a young man working in the military. He was married on 18 December 1757 to Engela Johanna Leij. They had six children. His working life started in the military. In 1761 he became a general merchant and later a supplier of goods. He supplied ships with goods at the refreshment station in Cape Town harbour on their way to India or Europe. He had a special licence for that. While busy with his merchant supply activities he became the Orphan-Master of the Cape Colony in 1768. The function of the Orphan-Chamber was to look after the interest of orphans. Later in the same year he was appointed the Civil Commissioner in M ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |