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Simon van der Stel (14 October 1639 – 24 June 1712) was the first Governor of the Dutch Cape Colony (1691), the settlement at the
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 ...
. He was interested in botany, establishing vineyards Groot and Klein Constantia, and producing a famous
dessert wine Dessert wines, sometimes called pudding wines in the United Kingdom, are sweet wines typically served with dessert. There is no simple definition of a dessert wine. In the UK, a dessert wine is considered to be any sweet wine drunk with a mea ...
. He is considered one of the founders of South African viticulture.


Background

Simon was the son of Ariaen or Adriaan van der Stel an official of the
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 Ge ...
(VOC) and Maria Lievens, who married in March 1639 in Batavia. His mother, was of mixed-race descent and the daughter of Dutchman Hendrick Lievens and a Malay or
India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
n freed slave. In the same year Adriaan was appointed the first Dutch governor of
Mauritius Mauritius, officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island country in the Indian Ocean, about off the southeastern coast of East Africa, east of Madagascar. It includes the main island (also called Mauritius), as well as Rodrigues, Ag ...
. Adriaan replaced 'Onderkoopman' Pieter de Goijer who was sent by the Dutch East India Company in 1638 with 25 men and cattle, sheep, geese, chickens and rabbits to start the new refreshment station for the Company. Simon was born at sea while his father was en route to take up his new posting on the island; Simon spent his youth there. Adriaan's governorship ended in 1645 when he left Mauritius and transferred to
Dutch Ceylon Dutch Ceylon (; ) was a governorate established in present-day Sri Lanka by the Dutch East India Company. Although the Dutch managed to capture most of the coastal areas in Sri Lanka, they were never able to control the Kingdom of Kandy locate ...
. He was murdered in 1646 by the troops of Rajasinha II of Kandy. Simon, his mother and his sisters returned to Batavia, capital of the
Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies (; ), was a Dutch Empire, Dutch colony with territory mostly comprising the modern state of Indonesia, which Proclamation of Indonesian Independence, declared independence on 17 Au ...
and his mother remarried in 1648, to Captain Hendrik of Ghent. Little is known of what happened to Simon during this time, other than he returned to the Dutch Republic in 1659.


Career

Simon then went to the United Provinces, where he associated with Willem Six, a wealthy cloth dealer. In 1663 he married Willem's daughter, Johanna Jacoba Six (1645–1700) and they had six children. She was the niece of Thymen and Jacob J. Hinlopen, founders of the VOC and
Noordsche Compagnie The Noordsche Compagnie () was a Dutch cartel in the whaling trade, founded by several cities in the Netherlands in 1614 and operating until 1642. Soon after its founding, it became entangled in territorial conflicts with England, Denmark-Norwa ...
, besides known as art collectors. In 1679, he was appointed "Commander" of the VOC's colony at the Cape of Good Hope, through the growing influence of his relative, Joan Huydecoper van Maarsseveen, a mayor and an amateur botanist. Simon was involved in making wine in
Muiderberg Muiderberg () is a village in the municipality of Gooise Meren in the Netherlands. It lies about 6 km north of Bussum and 2 km west of Naarden, adjacent to the Naarderbos. Geography Muiderberg is in the east of the municipality of ...
; when he left the country, he handed the vineyards over to
Hendrik van Rheede Hendrik Adriaan van Rheede tot Drakenstein (13 April 1636 – 15 December 1691) was a Dutch military man and colonial administrator of the Dutch East India Company. Between 1669 and 1676 he served as a governor of Dutch Malabar at Kochi and em ...
, the former governor of Malabar region and a famous botanist. Van der Stel and his wife did not enjoy a very good relationship and her sister Cornelia accompanied her husband to the Cape. Van der Stel never saw his wife again, though he remained devoted to her and frequently sent her money. Johanna Jacoba sent the furnishings and works of art required to fit out the governor's residence at Groot Constantia. These included several art works including ''The Fisherman'', an unfinished painting by Simon de Vlieger, which was one of 13 of his works purchased by Jan van de Cappelle. In 1685, he was visited by
Hendrik van Rheede Hendrik Adriaan van Rheede tot Drakenstein (13 April 1636 – 15 December 1691) was a Dutch military man and colonial administrator of the Dutch East India Company. Between 1669 and 1676 he served as a governor of Dutch Malabar at Kochi and em ...
(with whom he shared in great interest in
tropical medicine Tropical medicine is an interdisciplinary branch of medicine that deals with health issues that occur uniquely, are more widespread, or are more difficult to control in tropical and subtropical regions. Physicians in this field diagnose and tr ...
and
botany Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...
), and was given Constantia as a reward for 'good and faithful services to the VOC'. In 1685–86, he left for an expedition to the Copper Mountains at
Springbok The springbok or springbuck (''Antidorcas marsupialis'') is an antelope found mainly in south and southwest Africa. The sole member of the genus (biology), genus ''Antidorcas'', this bovid was first Species description, described by the Germa ...
(
Namaqualand Namaqualand ( Khoikhoi: "Nama-kwa" meaning Nama Khoi people's land) is an arid region of Namibia and South Africa, extending along the west coast over and covering a total area of . It is divided by the lower course of the Orange River int ...
), where he made topographic and geographic, botanical and zoological observations. In 1691, the VOC replaced the office of "Commander" with "Governor", and Van der Stel was promoted to the new position. His house, Groot Constantia, was well furnished with fine paintings, including ''The Fisherman''. The painting came up for sale at the auction of Van der Stel's estate in 1716. Every one of his four sons was at one time or another with him in South Africa. Willem Adriaan, after being magistrate of Amsterdam, succeeded his father as Governor of the Cape; Frans "de jonker" became a farmer at the Cape; Adrian became governor of Amboyna (1706–1720); Cornelis was one of the 352 shipwrecked in the in 1694. An expedition under Willem de Vlamingh was sent out to look for survivors on islands in the
Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...
or on the coast of
Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...
. Van der Stel retired in 1699, and was succeeded by his son Willem Adriaan van der Stel. In retirement, Simon devoted himself to his wine estates (known as Constantia), where he died in 1712. François Valentijn visited his son Frans in March 1714. The estate was sold in parts (also Bergvliet) in 1716; the auction took four days and was very well attended.


Legacy

The town of
Stellenbosch Stellenbosch (; )A Universal Pronouncing Gazetteer.
Thomas Baldwin ...
(founded in 1679) was named after him and
Simon's Town Simon's Town (), sometimes spelled Simonstown, is a town in the Western Cape, South Africa and is home to Naval Base Simon's Town, the South African Navy's largest base. It is located on the shores of Simon's Bay in False Bay, on the eastern s ...
is also named after him, as well as the Simonsberg mountain. An early ship of the
South African Navy The South African Navy (SA Navy) is the naval warfare branch of the South African National Defence Force. The Navy is primarily engaged in maintaining a conventional military deterrent, participating in counter-piracy operations, fishery prote ...
, was also named for him, in 1952.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau Jean-Jacques Rousseau (, ; ; 28 June 1712 – 2 July 1778) was a Republic of Geneva, Genevan philosopher (''philosophes, philosophe''), writer, and composer. His political philosophy influenced the progress of the Age of Enlightenment through ...
, in his ''
Discourse on Inequality ''Discourse on the Origin and Basis of Inequality Among Men'' (), also commonly known as the "Second Discourse", is a 1755 treatise by philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau, on the topic of social inequality and its origins. The work was written in ...
'', refers to Governor Van der Stel by name in a story about a Hottentot raised by the Dutch who chooses to "return to his equals" rather than remain in civilised society. According to Rousseau, Van der Stel himself raised the "Hottentot" from birth "in the principles of the Christian religion and in the practices of European customs". The frontispiece of the ''Discourse'' features Van der Stel and the "Hottentot" above the phrase, ''Il retourne chez ses Egaux''. Widely known for his development of the South African wine industry, Van der Stel was also the first Cape Governor to be of mixed race-origin, a fact that was largely unacknowledged by the apartheid government. Journals and records from Van der Stel's travels are kept by the Library of Trinity College Dublin as part of
The Fagel Collection The Fagel Collection is a collection assembled by the , a prominent political family in the Dutch Republic during the Early Modern Period, which now resides at the Library of Trinity College Dublin. Comprising 30,000 printed books, as well as man ...
.


Ancestry


References


External links


Simon van der Stel's Journal of his Expedition to Namaqualand, 1685
at the Library of Trinity College Dublin
Daily Register Kept of Simon van der Stel's Expedition to Namaqualand, 1685
at the Library of Trinity College Dublin {{DEFAULTSORT:Stel, Simon van der 17th-century Dutch colonial governors 17th-century Dutch explorers 1639 births 1712 deaths Commanders of the Dutch Cape Colony Dutch emigrants to South Africa Dutch people of Indian descent Mauritian politicians of Indian descent Governors of the Dutch Cape Colony People born at sea Early modern Netherlandish cartography 17th-century farmers 17th-century Dutch Cape Colony people Dutch East India Company people