Abraham Chiron | |
---|---|
Grand master of Lodge de Goede Hoop (South African Freemasons) | |
In office 1772–1776 | |
Preceded by | Organization started in South Africa |
Succeeded by | Gie,J.C. |
In office 1776–1784 | |
Preceded by | Gie,J.C. |
Succeeded by | Duminy,F.R. |
Personal details | |
Born | 1746 Frankfurt,Holy Roman Empire |
Died | 1822 Frankfurt,Germany |
Nationality | German |
Spouse | Marie Philippine Roger |
Children | 4 daughters |
Known for | Freemasonry,bookkeeping\banking |
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.
Chiron was born in 1746 in Frankfurt,Germany to Charles Chiron and Susanna Schuler. He married Marie Philippine Roger from Sedan,France. [1] Once settled in South Africa,the couple raised four daughters:Susanna Maria (1771),Marie Charlotte (1774),Jeane Marianne (1775),and Antoinette Caroline (1778). [2]
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. [1] In 1782,he became responsible for the accounts of supplying ships and general book keeping duties. [3] After The Grosvenor,a ship of the Dutch East India Company,was wrecked in August 1782 on the Pondoland Coast of South Africa,Chiron helped uncover the cause by facilitating the gathering of evidence from the survivors as he was able to speak English. [4] [5] Chiron communicated frequently with Joachim van Plettenberg,the Governor of the Cape of Good Hope regarding Dutch East India Company employees matters. [6] He acted as coordinator between deceased Dutch members and their families in the Netherlands regarding their bequests. [7] [8]
Chiron joined the Zur Einigkeit Freemason Lodge in Germany in 1765. [9] [1] In Cape Town,he met Captain Abraham van der Weijden and a division of the Grand Lodge of the Netherlands was established in 1772. [10] The founding members were Jacobus Alexander le Febre,Johann Coenraad Gie,Christoffel Brand,Jan Adriaan van Schoor,Olof Godlieb de Wet and Petrus Johan de Wit. Chiron served as the first Grand Master until 1776,and again from 1776 until 1781 following a brief absence. [11] [12]
After Chiron resigned from the Dutch East India Company,he and his family returned to the Netherlands in 1784. [13] They settled again in Frankfurt,Germany where Chiron was a bank manager until his death in 1822.
Johan Anthoniszoon "Jan" van Riebeeck was a Dutch navigator,ambassador and colonial administrator of the Dutch East India Company.
Plettenberg Bay,nicknamed Plett,is the primary town of the Bitou Local Municipality in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. According to the census of 2001,the town had a population of 29,149. It was originally named Bahia Formosa by early Portuguese explorers and lies on South Africa's Garden Route 210 km from Port Elizabeth and about 600 km from Cape Town.
The following lists events that happened during the 1790s in South Africa.
The following lists events that happened during the 1780s in South Africa.
Wolraad Woltemade 1708 –1 June 1773 was a Cape Dutch dairy farmer,who died while rescuing sailors from the wreck of the ship De Jonge Thomas in Table Bay on 1 June 1773. The story was reported by the Swedish naturalist Carl Peter Thunberg who was in South Africa as a surgeon for the Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie at the time.
The Grand Orient of the Netherlands or Grand East of the Netherlands is a Masonic Grand Lodge in the Netherlands. It falls within the mainstream Anglo-American tradition of Freemasonry,being recognized by The United Grand Lodge of England and the 51 Grand Lodges in the United States. In addition to its jurisdiction over nine districts in the Netherlands,it also administers three Lodges in Suriname through the Provincial Grand Lodge of Suriname,three lodges in Curaçao,one in South Africa,one in Thailand,and through the Provincial Grand Lodge of the Caribbean,three lodges in Aruba and one in St. Maarten. In the Netherlands it claims to have 145 lodges with 5,792 members.
Baron Joachim Ammena van Plettenberg was the governor of the Cape of Good Hope from 11 August 1771 to 14 February 1785. Plettenberg was presiding governor after Ryk Tulbagh's death. On 18 May 1774 he was permanently appointed as governor.
Colonel Robert Jacob Gordon was a Dutch military officer,explorer and naturalist.
The wreck of the Grosvenor,an East Indiaman,occurred on 4 August 1782 on the Pondoland coast of South Africa,north of the Umzimvubu River. The shipwreck was close to the place where the Portuguese ship São João had gone down more than two centuries earlier on 8 June 1552. The Grosvenor was a three-masted ship of 729 tons on her return voyage to England when she was wrecked,carrying a crew of 132 and 18 passengers,and a cargo valued at £75,000. Of the 123 survivors,only 18 reached Cape Town and were repatriated,the remainder dying of their privations or joining with tribes. Four survivors,Robert Price,Thomas Lewis,John Warmington,and Barney Larey,eventually got back to England.
Bruintjieshoogte Pass,is a mountain pass situated in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa,on the Regional road R63,between Somerset East and Pearston.
The Fort de Goede Hoop was the first military building to be erected in what is now Cape Town. It was built in 1652,and was in use until 1674 when it was superseded by the Castle of Good Hope.
Freemasonry was introduced by the Dutch to what is today Indonesia during the VOC era in the 18th century,and spread throughout the Dutch East Indies during a wave of westernisation in the 19th century. Freemasons originally only included Europeans and Indo-Europeans,but later also indigenous people with a Western education.
François Renier Duminy was a French mariner,navigator,cartographer and South African pioneer.
Baron Pieter van Reedevan Oudtshoorn was a senior official and Governor designate of the Dutch Cape Colony. He was appointed Governor of the Cape Colony in 1772 to succeed the deceased Governor Ryk Tulbagh but died at sea on his way to the Cape Colony to take up his post. The Western Cape town of Oudtshoorn is named after him. He is the progenitor of the van R(h)eede van Oudtshoorn family 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
Johann Coenraad Gie was a businessman,community leader,and Grand Master of the Freemasons in Cape Colony.
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.
Abraham van der Weijden,a Dutch citizen,was a ship's captain and the initiator of Freemasonry in South Africa.
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.
Sebastiaan Cornelis Nederburgh was a Dutch statesman,first advocate and Commissioner General of the Dutch East India Company.