Dirk Gysbertus van Reenen van Breda (5 May 1803 – 14 November 1870) was a Cape Colony public official, farmer and twice Mayor of Cape Town. [1]
Van Breda was born in Cape Town, the second son of the first mayor of Cape Town, Michiel van Breda and his first wife, Catharina Geesje van Reenen. He married Susanna Hendrina Wilhelmina Meyer on 9 September 1828 in Cape Town. [1]
In 1839 he bought the farms Rietfontein and Buffeljagt in the Swellendam district, where he farmed mainly with merino sheep. [2] After his father's death in 1847, and in 1851, van Breda bought the two properties, Oranjezicht and Oudekraal from the deceased estate. [3] [4] Van Breda was a shrewd and intelligent farmer and was a member of the Legislative Council of the Cape Colony’s first elected parliament and a Cape Town municipal commissioner. In 1860 he became chairman of the Municipal Board of Cape Town, effectively the role of Mayor. He fulfilled the role for only one year, but between 1865 and 1866, served a second term as Mayor, being the first to do so. [5]
Unfortunately, two of his sons, Dirk Gysbert and the younger Pieter Johannes Albertus, did not inherit their father's good nature. Both were known for their violent and abusive behaviour towards slaves and even their own wives and barely six months after their father's death they both killed their wives. [2]
Dirk Gysbert van Reenen van Breda died on his farm, Oranjezicht on 11 November 1870. [4]
The written history of the Cape Colony in what is now South Africa began when Portuguese navigator Bartolomeu Dias became the first modern European to round the Cape of Good Hope in 1488. In 1497, Vasco da Gama sailed along the whole coast of South Africa on his way to India, landed at St Helena Bay for 8 days, and made a detailed description of the area. The Portuguese, attracted by the riches of Asia, made no permanent settlement at the Cape Colony. However, the Dutch East India Company (VOC) settled the area as a location where vessels could restock water and provisions.
Graaff-Reinet is a town in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. It is the oldest town in the province and the fifth 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.
Oranjezicht is a suburb in the City Bowl area of Cape Town, South Africa. It was built on the site of the old Oranjezicht farm, which used to stretch at least as far as the Mount Nelson Hotel and supplied the Castle of Good Hope with fresh produce.
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Johannes Joachim Lodewyk Smuts was a public official in Cape Colony, businessman and the second Mayor of Cape Town.
Sir William Thorne was a draper, milliner and businessman in Cape Town. He was also an active civil servant and Mayor of Cape Town.
David Christiaan de Waal was a Cape politician, businessman and Mayor of Cape Town.