Roelof de Man (1634–1663) was a Dutch colonial administrator in the Dutch Cape Colony. He was born in

Culemborg Culemborg () is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and a city in the centre of the Netherlands, in the province of Gelderland. The city had a population of 29,386 on 1 January 2022 and is situated just south of the Lek River, Lek ...

(formerly also spelled Culenborg or Kuilenburg or Kuylenburgh),

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

in 1634 and grew up in the same walled village and era as Dutch Explorers/Founders

Jan van Riebeek Johan Anthoniszoon "Jan" van Riebeeck (21 April 1619 – 18 January 1677) was a Dutch navigator, ambassador and colonial administrator of the Dutch East India Company. Life Early life Jan van Riebeeck was born in Culemborg on 21 April ...

(1619-1677) and

Anthony van Diemen Anthony van Diemen (also ''Antonie'', ''Antonio'', ''Anton'', ''Antonius''; 1593 – 19 April 1645) was a Dutch colonial governor. Early life Van Diemen was born in Culemborg (now in the Netherlands, then in a county in the Holy Roman Empire) ...

(1593-1645). Jan van Riebeek commanded the initial Dutch settlement fleet of 3 ships (Dromedaris, Reijger and Goede Hoop) which in 1651 travelled to the great southern oceans, landing on 6 April 1652 to establish the settlement of today's

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 ...

Cape of Good Hope The Cape of Good Hope ( ) is a rocky headland on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. A List of common misconceptions#Geography, common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Afri ...

. Roelof de Man joined Van Riebeek at Cape Town on 5 January 1654 as the colony bookkeeper, sailing from

Vlie The Vlie or Vliestroom () is the seaway between the Dutch islands of Vlieland, to its southwest, and Terschelling, to its northeast. The Vlie was the estuary of the river IJssel in medieval times. Today it's still possible to reach the port of ...

, Netherlands on 23 August 1653 on the ship Naerden together with 4 other ships (Vreede, Lam, Draeck and Calff) - the latter two arriving sometime after the first three. Roelof's ancestors and family held prominent positions in the Culemberg community such as Alderman(Cornelis de Man in 1492 and 1507), Mayor (Aert de Man 1539-41 and Roelof de Man 1599), Churchmaster (Roelof de Man 1542-43 and Willem de Man 1561-62) and Postmaster (Otto de Man 1580-81).

South Africa

Roelof went on to become Second-In-Charge of the new colony. He was one of the witnesses at the baptism of

Krotoa The "!Oroǀõas" ("Ward (law), Ward-girl"), spelled in Dutch language, Dutch as Krotoa or Kroket, otherwise known by her Christian name Eva (c. 1643 – 29 July 1674), was a Strandloper peoples, !Uriǁ'aeǀona translator who worked for the Dutch ...

(Eva van die Kaap) on 3 May 1662. Former 20th Century South African President

F.W. de Klerk Frederik Willem de Klerk ( , ; 18 March 1936 – 11 November 2021) was a South African politician who served as the seventh and final state president of South Africa from 1989 to 1994 and as deputy president alongside Thabo Mbeki under Preside ...

is a claimed descendant of

. Roelof died on 6 March 1663 and at that time had as part of his possessions 3 Angolan slaves whom he had acquired from

in 1662 The

Central South African Railways The Central South African Railways (CSAR) was from 1902 to 1910 the operator of public railways in the Transvaal Colony and Orange River Colony in what is now South Africa. During the Anglo-Boer War, as British forces moved into the territory of ...

recognised Roelof's contribution to the settlement of South Africa by naming one of the South African Class B 0-6-4T steam locomotives in his honour. Between 1893 and 1898 one hundred and seventy-five 46 Tonner 0-6-4T tank steam locomotives were placed in service by the Netherlands-South African Railway Company (Nederlandsche-Zuid-Afrikaansche Spoorwegmaatschappij - NZASM) in the

Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek The South African Republic (, abbreviated ZAR; ), also known as the Transvaal Republic, was an independent Boer republic in Southern Africa which existed from 1852 to 1902, when it was annexed into the British Empire as a result of the Second ...

. The "Roelof de Man" was built in 1898 and carried Works Number 2950 with NZASM number 235. Picture shows Works Number 2945 NZASM number 230 "Jan Wintervogel" that was part of the same build order.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Man, Roelof de 1634 births 1663 deaths 18th-century Dutch colonial governors Dutch Cape Colony people People from Culemborg