Olof Martini Bergh | |
---|---|
![]() Portrait of Ensign Olof Bergh in 1685 | |
Captain of the Garrison | |
In office circa 1695 –unknown | |
Governor | Simon Van Der Stel |
Personal details | |
Born | Gothenburg,Sweden | 16 April 1643
Died | 19 July 1725 81–82) Constantia,Cape Colony | (aged
Spouse | Anna de Coningh |
Children | Twelve |
Parents |
|
Employer | Dutch East India Company |
Olof Bergh (sometimes spelled Olaf or Oloff Bergh) was an early Swedish-South African explorer and Cape Colony official as well as the progenitor of the well-known Bergh family in South Africa. He is also a former owner of South Africa's first wine estate "Groot Constantia" after Simon van der Stel. His accounts of his travels to the interior of the Cape Colony are among some of the first Dutch writings to originate on South African soil.
Olof Martini Bergh was born on 16 April 1643. [1] in Gothenburg in Sweden to Norwegian parents. Little is known about his pre-South African background; however, he appears to have been the youngest son from a aristocratic family of Swedish-Norwegian origin. At the age of 22, he entered the service of the Dutch East India Company in 1665. He first served in the East in Batavia (present day Jakarta) and then in 1676 moved to the Cape where he continued his service with the Company. He married Anna de Coningh [2] on 10 September 1678 in Cape Town, who herself had arrived in the Cape with her mother in 1657. [3] When Simon van der Stel became governor in 1679 he was a ensign at the Cape.
Some of Bergh's earliest work at the Cape included leading bartering trips to the neighboring as well as to the more remote kraals such as those of the Hessequas, a Khoi tribe, in search of livestock and in particular cattle. [4] In addition to these, one of the earliest accounts of Bergh's expeditions included leading a small party of colonists assembled to recapture and return to the Colony three men, who had escaped a few days earlier, which he did.
In 1682, shortly before his scheduled trip to Vigiti Magna, Bergh was despatched instructed to investigate and retrieve any surviving treasures from the stranded English ship Johanna , [5] which had was wrecked near Cape Agulhas on 8 June 1682. This ship had sunk beyond present day town of Hermanus, in the neighborhood of Gansbaai. After three months, Bergh returned with more than 28,000 guilders worth of treasure and a great deal of experience in conducting local expeditions. The details of this story named the "Landtocht na de Cape das Agulhas in den jare 1682" were recorded in the Company Day Register.
Six weeks later, on 30 October 1682, Bergh embarked on one of his most well-known expeditions, in which he was despatched by the then Governor of the Cape in search of the Namaqua and fabled "Copper Mountains" which had garnered significant attention of both the Cape officials and the VOC itself. He turned north and the details of this trip were again recorded, this time in "Die Journael van de landtocht gedaen by d'E Vaendrich Olof Bergh". [6] [7] During this expedition, Bergh and two other members of his group inscribed their names on the face of a rock near the site of a spring [8] (later to become known as "Berghfontein", and designated as a former South African National Monument) as well as discovered and spent the night in a large cave (later to become known as "Heerenlogement", and which was used subsequently by numerous later explorers, including Van Der Stel himself).
He returned to the Kasteel at the Cape on 19 December 1682 without any tangible results, although one success of his trip was an initial detailed mapping of this region of the Cape. Despite the failure of his own expedition, it has been noted that both Bergh's expedition as well as that of a previous explorer (Jonas de la Guerre, who set out in 1663), were instrumental in paving the way for the later successful trip of Governor Simon van der Stel's expedition in 1685, in which he successfully sampled copper-containing ore near the present day town of Springbok. [9] As a result of his experience in 1682, van der Stel again chose Bergh to lead another expedition in 1683 to the Namaquas, the people from the North who came to trade copper ore at the Castle.[ citation needed ] This journey is documented in "Rapport van den Vaendrich Olof Bergh op hare reyse na de Cralie van de Namaquas" (1683).
According to the Daily Register, in a journal kept by Hendrik Claudius ("Dagregister van de landtocht van de Caap de Goede Hoop, waren gedistineert naar de Tropikus Caprikornij"), Bergh also undertook a trip to North in search of the Tropic of Capricorn. On this journey, however, he did not progress much further than the Doornbosch River (now Green River) due to the great drought and the difficulty of the terrain he encountered.[ full citation needed ]
In 1686, Bergh, who was now a high ranking member of Cape society and a close friend of Governor van der Stel, was named a member of the Political Council. In July 1686 Bergh was once again despatched in the direction of Cape Agulhas to search for the wreck of the Portuguese ship, Nostra Signora de los Milagnos , which had run aground and been abandoned and which Company officers had subsequently purchased. [10] In addition to a group of Jesuit priests, onboard the ship had been three envoys from the King of Siam with gifts intended for Pedro, King of Portugal, Louis XIV of France and Charles II of England. However, despite these valuables being on the ship at the time of departure, they were not accounted for at the wreck nor among the items returned at the conclusion of the expedition. Later, when Bergh was supervising the construction of the Council House in Stellenbosch in 1687, rumors began to circulate that items had been stolen from the Portuguese wreck during the previous expedition. Bergh was subsequently arrested and imprisoned at the Castle. After a month in custody, he pleaded guilty on 5 May 1687 and the valuables, including two golden pears and a flask of musk, were found buried in his garden. Bergh was subsequently banished to Robben Island, the place of great terror for both black and white criminals during Company times. [11] The following month, when a fleet of enemy French vessels sailed into Table Mountain, he was briefly returned to the mainland, but was returned to the island after the fleet's departure a short time later. Sometime later, in September 1690 he was released into the supervision of the Council of Seventeen (Here Sewentien).
Upon his release, because of his previous notable service to the Company, Bergh was given the option to retain his rank and leave the Cape immediately and take up duties at the Company station in Dutch Ceylon (currently Sri Lanka), or be remain at the Cape but be discharged from the Company and continue as a Freeburgher. Bergh chose the former and left for Ceylon shortly thereafter on 29 December 1690 (without his wife) on the ship Pampus, [12] where he remained for five years until 1695 before being allowed to return to the Cape, once the scandal of his previous conviction had dissipated amidst the Burghers.
Soon after his return the Cape, it appears Bergh's previous conviction was not held against him and he was appointed Captain of the Garrison by the Governor and took up residence in a grand home on the Heerengracht (currently Adderleystraat) next to the church. [13] In 1698, Bergh was granted the farm Groot Phesantekraal near present day Durbanville, [14] whose flagship wine is named after his wife Anna. In 1701 he bought the farm De Kuilen (today's Kuils River) as well as the adjacent farm Saxenberg. He was again nominated as a member of the Political Council in 1697, 1699 and again in 1709 and 1710 was honored with a seat on the Council of Justice, when the new Governor, Willem Adriaan van der Stel, was facing various difficulties (including the attempted suicide of his wife Maria, who was saved by apparent intervention of Bergh's wife Anna[ citation needed ]). In addition to his home on the Heerengracht, Bergh was also the first owner of the farm De Hoop, located close to the town (on the site of present day Gardens), the remaining buildings of which still exist today and are operated as historic luxury accommodation [15] as well as two bungalows in Piquetberg.
After his retirement, Bergh bought the historic farm Groot Constantia from the estate of Simon van der Stel where he lived with his wife until his death. [16] [17] [18] With his wife Anna, he fathered no less than twelve children, including Christina (1679), Maria (1682), Petrus (1684), Appolonia Africana (1686), Carolus Erlandt (1689), Johanna Magdalena (1691), Dorothea Francina (1695), Marthinus (1696), Simon Petrus (1696), Engela (1700) and Albertus (1702). He died on 19 July 1725 in Cape Town.
As a result of his various activities at the Cape as well as being one of the earliest European explorers of the Northern Cape, Bergh has become a well known member of early Cape Dutch history and lends his name to a number of cultural as well as official sites, including:
Several of Bergh's journals as well as missives have been preserved as part of the Dutch East India Company archives [34] [35] which have subsequently preserved as part of the United Nations UNESCO Silk Roads project [36]
Through the diaries of his travels (which were among some of the first Dutch writings to originate from the Cape within which it was already evident how these early writers had begun to evolve the Dutch language to deal with the unique circumstances and living habits of the colonists), Bergh is considered like many other early Colonists to have made an important contribution to the early development of the Afrikaans language.
For example, Bergh appears to have been the first to record the phrase "bosjesmans" (later translated to "bushmen") when referring to the local indigenous people he came into contact with on his travels North from the Cape [37] [38] as well as "Afrijkaenders" (referring to local European Colonists of Dutch heritage) as early as September 1683. [39]
Stellenbosch is a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa, situated about 50 kilometres east of Cape Town, along the banks of the Eerste River at the foot of the Stellenbosch Mountain. The town became known as the City of Oaks or Eikestad in Afrikaans and Dutch due to the large number of oak trees that were planted by its founder, Simon van der Stel, to grace the streets and homesteads.
Constantia, a South African dessert wine, is made from Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains grapes grown in the district of Constantia, City of Cape Town. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries it was widely exported to Europe. However, production of Constantia ceased in the late-nineteenth century following the devastation of South African vineyards in the phylloxera epidemic. Production resumed at Klein Constantia in 1986, at Groot Constantia in 2003 and at Buitenverwachting in 2007.
The following lists events that happened during the 1680s in South Africa.
Simon van der Stel was the first Governor of the Dutch Cape Colony (1691), the settlement at the Cape of Good Hope. He was interested in botany, establishing vineyards Groot and Klein Constantia, and producing a famous dessert wine. He is considered one of the founders of South African viticulture.
Constantia is an affluent suburb of Cape Town, South Africa, situated about 15 kilometres south of the centre of Cape Town. It is considered to be one of the most prestigious suburbs in South Africa. The Constantia Valley lies to the east of and at the foot of the Constantiaberg mountain. Constantia Nek is a low pass linking to Hout Bay in the west.
Groot Constantia is the oldest wine estate in South Africa and provincial heritage site in the suburb of Constantia in Cape Town, South Africa.
Klein Constantia is a wine estate in the suburb of Constantia in Cape Town, South Africa.
Willem Adriaan van der Stel was an Extraordinary Councillor of the Dutch East Indies, and Governor of the Cape Colony, a way station for the Dutch East India Company (VOC), from 23 January 1699 to 1707. He was dismissed after a revolt and was exiled to the Netherlands.
Rijcklof Volckertsz. van Goens was the Governor of Zeylan and Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies. He was the Governor of Zeylan from 12 May 1660 to 1661, then in 1663 and finally from 19 November 1664 to 1675 during the Dutch period in Ceylon. He was also served as Council Member of India during 1679. Van Goens’ managed to monopolize the cinnamon trade, get hold of the Malabar pepper and drive away the Portuguese from Ceylon and the Coromandel Coast for the VOC.
Western Cape is a Geographical Unit within the Wine of Origin classification system of South African wine. Corresponding to the province of Western Cape it includes most of the vineyards in South Africa.
Isaq Schrijver was a Dutch ensign and South African explorer. Although born and raised in Leiden, both his parents were born near Aachen, Germany. Little else is known of his origins, but by 1667 he was a marine.
Johanna was an East Indiaman for the British East India Company (EIC), possibly named for the island of Anjouan, then known as Johanna. She made five voyages for the EIC between c. 1671 and 1681, On her sixth voyage she became the first Indiaman lost on the South African coast when she wrecked on 8 June 1682.
The early history of the South African wine industry can be traced to the founding of a supply station at the Cape of Good Hope by the Dutch East India Company. Jan van Riebeeck was given the task of managing the station and planting vineyards to produce wine and grapes in the Wijnberg ; that could be used to ward off scurvy for sailors continuing on their voyages along the spice route. In 1685, another Cape Governor, Simon van der Stel, purchased a large 750-hectare (1,900-acre) estate, founding what later became the world-renowned Constantia wine estate. In the 19th century, South Africa fell under British rule which proved lucrative for the wine industry as South African wine flowed into the British market. This prosperity lasted until the 1860s when the Cobden–Chevalier Treaty signed by the Palmerston government and France reduced the preferential tariffs that benefited South African wine in favor of French wine exports.
Assegaaibosch Nature Reserve is a historic estate and currently a CapeNature nature reserve and World Heritage Site situated in the Jonkershoek Valley near Stellenbosch in the Western Cape province of South Africa. The historic estate was established by Dirk Coetsee, the progenitor of the Coetsee family in South Africa.
Hendrik Claudius aka Heinrich Claudius was a German painter and apothecary or physician, noted for his 17th-century watercolours of South African plants and animals.
Steenberg Estate is the site of the oldest farm in Cape Town, located in the suburb of Constantia. Steenberg is translates as “Mountain of Stone” and is named for the nearby mountain range. The manor house and other buildings on the farm have been declared a national monument. The estate has been redeveloped as a hotel, vineyard and golf course.
Coetsenburg is an historic wine estate and one of the oldest estates in South Africa, established in 1682. It is located at the foot of the Stellenbosch Mountain, which forms part of the estate, in the town of Stellenbosch, 31 miles (50 km) east of Cape Town, in the Cape Winelands of the Western Cape Province. The estate has historically been owned by the Coetsee family and is currently not open to the public. The north-western portion of the original estate is now the Coetsenburg Sports Grounds which belongs to the University of Stellenbosch.
Dirk Coetzee/Coetsee was a Dutch colonist and the Hoofdheemraad (Chancellor) of the District of Stellenbosch and Drakenstein in South Africa for most of the 1690s and early 1700s. He also served as captain of the Stellenbosch Infantry and deacon of the Stellenbosch Moederkerk at different points in time. As captain of the Stellenbosch Infantry, which comprised mostly Huguenots, he provided military backing for a rebellion which began in 1706 against the Governor of the Cape Colony, Willem Adriaan van der Stel, whom the vrijburghers had accused of tyranny, corruption and racketeering. Coetsee was imprisoned in the dungeon of the Castle of Good Hope along with the other leaders of the Huguenots but he was released after a year. The rebellion ultimately succeeded in 1707 when the Dutch East India Company recalled the Governor and other colonial officials. An account of the rebellion is vividly described in the "Diary of Adam Tas".
Anna de Coningh was the wife of early Swedish explorer Olof Bergh and the daughter of an enslaved woman, Angela van Bengale and a white father.
Heerenlogement [he:rənloʒəmɛnt] also known as "Gentlemen's Cave", is a historical cave in the northwest of the Western Cape, South Africa, about 30km north of Graafwater, in the Cederberg municipality, which was used by travellers in the 17th and 18th century as a shelter. The oldest still visible engravings in the Cave were made by Simon van der Stel in 1685, with another by Kaie Jesse Slotsbo from the year 1712. Altogether, approximately 130 visitors have inscribed their names along with their dates on the Cave walls, with 30 leaving only their names, and a further thirteen leaving only their initials.