In 1780 he was appointed head of the Company"s station at saldanha Bay and filled this position under three different governments: The VOC, 1780-1795; the British, 1795-1803; and the Batavian, 1803-1806, at the end of which he was also placed in charge of the military station at St Helena Bay. As keeper of this post he had to guard the bay with six or seven men, report to the authorities in the Cape about visiting ships, supply these with provisions, and ensure that corn of the surrounding farmers was delivered to the Cape. That his duties were numerous and therefore demanding is clear from his correspondence with authoritiesat the Cape in which he complained that he could not cope with so few men. He was allowed to supplement his income by farming cattle and vegetables on the Company"s estate on the south-western side of the bayand on two neighbouring loan-farms allocated to him. He made excellent provision for the education of his children by engaging a Prussian ex-soldier as teacher. A cultured man, he could, among other things, speak French fluentlyand play the violin beautifully. Among the inland travellers who called on him in May 1798 were Lady Anne Barnard and her husband. She was particularly impressed by the Prussian teacher. In Octobet 1803 the Commissioner-General J.A.U. de Mist and his daughter, Augusta, visited the post and stayed with Jacobus Stofberg. They were accompanied by a German traveller, M.H.C. Lichtenstein who twice referred to their host as "the excellent Mr Stofberg". When the British occupation of the Cape began, Stofberg was dismissed. At the time of drawing up his will in 1808 he wasliving "on the slopes of the Paardeberg" and died on a farm belonging to one of his sons.
Stofberg married Anna Catherina OLWAGEN on 2 November 1783 and has six sons and four daughters. One son, Leonardus Dirk, was a burgher at Stellenbosch; another, Jacobus Arnoldus, a farmer at Louwshoek, Goudini, and another farmed "on the slopes of Paardeberg" near Malmesbury. (Signed L.F. Stofberg)
Source of information:
Cape Arch., C.T.: MOOC 7/1/115;
VC; - Gemeente Nieuwerkerk Amersfoort, the Neth.: Baptismal and marriage register;
Lady Anne Barnard, South Africa a Century ago, 1797 - 1801. Part 2: Extracts from a journal. C.T.,1924;
H. Lichtenstein, Travels in South Africa. Vol. 1 (VRS, no. 10). C.T., 1928;- W.B.E. Paravicini Di Capelli, Reize in de binne-landen van Zuid- Africa. (VRS, no.46). C.T., 1965;
S. Levin and J. Burman, The Saldanha Bay story. C.T., 1974;
Private information: Mr A.P. Roux, Vredenburg; Dr J.A. Heese, NG Kerk Arch., C.T.
FIRST GENERATION 1. Leendert Jacobz Stofberg was born in Nieuwkerken aan de Yssel, Netherlands. He was married to Van Muylwijk in 1745. Children of Leendert Jacobz Stofberg and Van Muylwijk were: +2 i. Jacobus Stofberg.
SECOND GENERATION 2. Jacobus Stofberg was born on 4 Sep 1746 in Nieuwkerken aan de Yssel, Netherlands. He died on 26 Jul 1831 in Cape Of Good Hope, South Africa. He was married to Anna Catharina Olwagen on 2 Nov 1783. Anna Catharina Olwagen was born on 4 May 1760.
CHILDREN of Jacobus Stofberg and Anna Catharina Olwagen were:
b1 Frans Jacobus Stofberg was born 1784.
b2 Leonardus Dirk Stofberg was born 1786.
b3 Cornelius Stofberg was born in 1788.
b4 Christiaan Marthinus Stofberg was born 1789.
b5 Jacobus Arnoldus Stofberg was born 1791.
b6 Johanna Maria Stofberg was born in 1792.
b7 Anna Catharina Stofberg was born 1795.
b8 Lodewijk August Stofberg was born 1797.
b9 Aletta Louisa Stofberg was born 1799.
b10 Cornelia Maria Magdalena Stofberg was born in 1801.
Sources:
Thanks to research by:
Thanks to submissions by:
Margaret Ruston (nee Prins) (XXXXX@XXXX.XXX)
View all