Rondabel

124 on the cadastre · on record 1818–2020 · show on the map

Farm number

No. 124

Also recorded as

Rondabelthe original, and the name every document before the twentieth century usesRondawelSRC-436, the modern spelling, which the cadastre and the deeds office now use for Portion 1

On the cadastre

124, whole farmregistered as RONDABLE

District

Prince Albert

Modern surveyed area

13882.9 ha

1 entry below names a party who is living, or who cannot be shown to be deceased. The transaction is shown; the name is not.

Why this farm is here

Aletta Johanna Oosthuizen had an estate taken here. 15 km from Klaarstroom.

Aletta Johanna Oosthuizen is on record on this ground directly. No trace needed.

• story A written history is set on this ground The fifteenth of April, 1841
• story A written history is set on this ground Rondabel No. 124: a farm history
• story A written history names this ground Middelwater No. 169: a farm history
• story A written history names this ground Vrolykheid No. 177: a farm history
• …and 2 more, listed in full further down this page.

Stories

• about this farm The fifteenth of April, 1841
  One surveyor works the Koup for two seasons. Eight years later, on a single day, the Crown turns a dozen loan farms into freehold - and the map of the district is set for a century.
• about this farm Rondabel No. 124: a farm history
  From a loan-farm widow who signed with a mark to the Marincowitz farm of today: the full documented history of Rondabel No. 124 - the Venter household of 1829, the twelve-farm grant day of 1841, the Oosthuizen-Theron partnership of 1868, the 1910-34 subdivisions, and the two graves by the huis nobody has read.
• mentions this farm Middelwater No. 169: a farm history
  From a loan farm on the Zwartberg to eight cadastral parcels: the full documented history of Middelwater No. 169 - Stretch's 1833 survey for Okert Oosthuizen, the twelve-farm grant day of 1841, the 1883 resurvey and the 1884 quitrent to J.D.J. Oosthuysen 'and another', the portions cut off for a spring called Vaste Water and a place called Avondrust, and the 1990 power-line survey whose coordinates finally put the farm on a map.
• mentions this farm Vrolykheid No. 177: a farm history
  The farm where the paper and the people disagree: Stretch's 1833 survey already carrying the names of portions not cut for another century, two titles granted on one day in 1841 - one to an Oosthuisen and one to an 'N. Hitge' whose deed four later portions cite instead - a Trieste immigrant who married a Hitge in 1844 and died holding the farm in 1890, and the death notice that finally put the Hitges on the ground.
• set here Two farms called Vrolykheid
  Two farms of one name, 400 km apart. The 1816 Tulbagh diagram names four neighbours; two of the surnames turn up in the Koup and only ONE survives being looked at. Jan de Bruin, whose 1823 estate held a farm the inventories call Rondabel, was baptised at Tulbagh in 1769, but the Theron who took Rondabel in 1868 was a Roggeveld man, and that thread is a coincidence of surname reported as one.
• about this farm What is under the Koup
  Four times people have come to this country certain there was something valuable under it: gold in 1871 and 1891, oil in the middle 1960s, uranium from 1969 to 1985, and shale gas from 2011. A drill bit still lies on Rondabel. The boreholes SOEKOR drilled for oil are the same cores that deflated the shale gas estimate fifty years later.
• mentions this farm Almero
  A Venetian teenager in the service of the Dutch East India Company stands godfather at a Cape baptism in 1786. Six generations of Karoo farmers carry his name, and nobody remembers why.
• mentions this farm Cut, and then stitched
  This project holds 124 boundary acts: 96 subdivisions and 20 consolidations. Sorted by date they tell one story with a turning point. The district cut ground for a hundred and fifty years; from 1970 it has only stitched.
• mentions this farm The words on the papers
  A glossary of the words these documents actually use — leeningsplaats, opstal, erfpacht, kwitrent, morgen and square roods, veldkornetskap, Weeskamer, vendue, d'oude — each illustrated by a verbatim line from the family's own papers.
• mentions this farm Four grandparents, four countries
  How four grandparents out of four lines met: three weddings in four years at Bellville and Williston, and a fourth marriage that tied two of them back together after both were widowed. Each line has its own page; this one is the join. Of the four countries the title promises, this record can point at one on a map.
• mentions this farm The Oosthuizens of the Koup
  Eight generations east, from a VOC soldier off the Land van Schouwen in 1685 to a farmer baptised at Prince Albert in 1909. An 1809 estate inventory shows a forge on the Olifants River and explains in one line why the family left: the farm was sold to the eldest son for 1 000 rixdollars, and the rest had to find ground elsewhere. After 1836 they stop moving, and title and a congregation arrive in the same two years.
• mentions this farm The Jouberts and Duminys of the winelands
  The one line that never lived in the Karoo, and reached it three times anyway - in 1904, 1945 and 1946, every time through a woman. It also holds the only one of the four origins this record can put on a map: a foundling born at Lorient in Brittany in 1747, who became a Dutch East India Company sea captain, harbour master at Simonstown, and a slaver.

What the record holds, in order

1. 2 May 1818 document estate inventory
   MOOC8/64.12a
2. 2 May 1818 estate Ignatius Michael du Plessis (?–1818), Aletta Elisabeth Dorothea van Heerden
   MOOC8/64.12a · loan farm Rondabel, on the Tarka
3. before 1818 to 1823 ownership Ignatius Michael du Plessis (?–1818), Jan de Bruin (1769–23 December 1822)
   loan farm · occupation · confidence medium
4. 13 June 1823 document estate inventory
   MOOC8/38.12
5. 13 June 1823 estate Jan de Bruin (1769–23 December 1822), Aletta Johanna Oosthuizen (about 1775–10 October 1834)
   MOOC8/38.12 · loan farm Rondabel, in the Tarka
6. 29 October 1829 document estate inventory
   MOOC8/44.48
7. 29 October 1829 estate Jan Adriaan Venter (14 September 1794–23 July 1829), Maria Catharina Venter (1783–?)
   MOOC8/44.48 · the place Rondavel, field cornetcy of Hermanus van der Westhuisen, Traka, district of Beaufort
8. before 1829 ownership Jan Adriaan Venter (14 September 1794–23 July 1829), Maria Catharina Venter (1783–?)
   loan farm · occupation · confidence high
9. August 1833 document SG diagram 366/1833
   Bf.W.Q.5-2?
10. 1841-04-15 to 1868 ownership David Jan Strydom (Daniel son) (12 August 1798–11 January 1882)
    Perpetual Quitrent · grant · confidence high
11. November 1863 document SG diagram 502/1867
    P.A.Q.1-21
12. 21 January 1868 ownership Jan Adriaan Oosthuizen, Stephanus Johannes Theron (4 September 1828–7 January 1879)
    Perpetual Quitrent · grant · confidence high
13. 17 July 1872 boundary change subdivision: becomes Rondawel (Rondabel No. 124 Ptn 1)
14. 17 July 1872 ownership Stephanus Johannes Theron (4 September 1828–7 January 1879)
    transfer · confidence high
15. 1910 boundary change subdivision: becomes Brand Kraal (Rondabel No. 124 Ptn 3)
16. August 1910 document SG diagram 1654/1910
    8326
17. 16 September 1910 document beacon report 1654/1910
18. 1919 boundary change subdivision: becomes Hartebeest Voedpad (Rondabel No. 124 Ptn 5)
19. January 1919 document SG diagram 270/1919
20. 1919 document SG diagram 1872-23-208
21. 1919 document SG diagram
22. 1919 document SG diagram 1872-23-208 (p 2)
23. 1919 document SG diagram 1872-23-208 (p 3)
24. 1921 boundary change subdivision: becomes Elandsfontein (Rondabel No. 124 Ptn 6)
25. 1921 document SG diagram 891/1921
26. 1933 boundary change subdivision: becomes Klein Elandsfontein (Rondabel No. 124 Ptn 7)
27. 1936 lived here Frederik Simon Oosthuizen (29 May 1856–10 October 1936)
    farming · to 1936
28. 1999 lived here Roy Don Oosthuizen (9 December 1923–20 September 1999)
    farming · to 1999
29. 2003 lived here Gert Annis Oosthuizen Marincowitz (17 February 1919–4 July 2003)
    farming · to 2003
30. the 2020s ownership 2 party/parties held back by the publishing rule
    owner · confidence high
31. undated boundary change subdivision: becomes Visgat (Rondabel No. 124 Ptn 2)
32. undated boundary change subdivision: becomes Driehoek (Rondabel No. 124 Ptn 4)
33. undated boundary change subdivision: becomes Rondabel No. 124 Ptn 8
34. undated boundary change subdivision: becomes Rondabel No. 124 Remainder
35. undated document SG diagram verso 502/1867 (verso)
36. undated burial
    Rondabel werf graves
37. undated burial
    Rondabel werf graves

Ground cut out of this farm

• Brand Kraal (Rondabel No. 124 Ptn 3) 3/124 · 3.4 ha
• Hartebeest Voedpad (Rondabel No. 124 Ptn 5) 5/124 · 1390.9 ha
• Elandsfontein (Rondabel No. 124 Ptn 6) 6/124 · 2317.0 ha
• Klein Elandsfontein (Rondabel No. 124 Ptn 7) 7/124 · 1300.0 ha
• Rondabel No. 124 Remainder RE/124 · 3008.9 ha
• Rondawel (Rondabel No. 124 Ptn 1) 1/124 · 3456.0 ha
• Visgat (Rondabel No. 124 Ptn 2) 2/124 · 1800.3 ha
• Driehoek (Rondabel No. 124 Ptn 4) 4/124 · 466.8 ha
• Rondabel No. 124 Ptn 8 8/124 · 139.5 ha

Bordered by, as the diagram names them

• E Kopjes Kraal
• N Remhoogte
• N Klip Gat
• E Klip Fontein
• S Government Land
• W Middelwater
• W Remhoogte
• W Droege Kloof (1833 diagram)

Buried on this ground

• Rondabel werf graves 2 graves recorded · no coordinate yet

The burials also appear on this farm's timeline above, each at its own date.

Also bordered by, as the modern cadastre draws it

Ground that touches this farm on the Surveyor-General's current polygons and that none of the diagrams held here names. Derived from the geometry, not read off a document.

• N Kalkgat (Klipgat No. 114 Ptn 7)
• NE Kromrivier (Kopjes Kraal No. 123 Ptn 1)
• NE Brand Kraal (Rondabel No. 124 Ptn 3)
• NE Rondawel (Rondabel No. 124 Ptn 1)
• E Kopjes Kraal No. 123 Remainder
• E Driehoek (Rondabel No. 124 Ptn 4)
• SE Elandsfontein (Rondabel No. 124 Ptn 6)
• SE Klein Elandsfontein (Rondabel No. 124 Ptn 7)
• SE Oorlogs Kloof No. 172 (Roode Els Bosch and Oorlogs Kloof)
• S Hartebeest Voedpad (Rondabel No. 124 Ptn 5)
• S Die Kruine No. 170
• SW Ebeneser (Middelwater No. 169 Ptn 4)
• SW De Claar Stroom (Klaarstroom No. 178)
• SW Rondabel No. 124 Remainder
• W Rhemhoogte No. 125
• NW Visgat (Rondabel No. 124 Ptn 2)
• NW Rondabel No. 124 Ptn 8
• NW Rhemhoogte No. 125 Ptn 8
• NW Swartskraal (Rhemhoogte No. 125 Ptn 5)
• NW Swartskraal (Rhemhoogte No. 125 Ptn 6)

Documents

Surveyor-General diagram, 366/1833, August 1833
SCAN329.TIF

Surveyor-General diagram, 502/1867, November 1863
11025624.TIF

Diagram verso, 502/1867 (verso)
11025627.TIF

Estate inventory, deed MOOC8/38.12, 13 June 1823
make_pdf.pdf

Estate inventory, deed MOOC8/64.12a, 2 May 1818
make_pdf (2).pdf

Surveyor-General diagram, 1654/1910, August 1910
10676575 (1).PDF

beacon_report, 1654/1910, 16 September 1910
10676576 (1).PDF

Surveyor-General diagram, 270/1919, January 1919
10747350 (1).PDF

Surveyor-General diagram, 1872-23-208, 1919
10747351-3 (1).PDF

Surveyor-General diagram, 1919
10747354 (1).PDF

Surveyor-General diagram, 891/1921, 1921
10767696 (2).PDF

transcription held, not an image

Estate inventory, deed MOOC8/44.48, 29 October 1829

Surveyor-General diagram, 1872-23-208 (p 2), 1919

Surveyor-General diagram, 1872-23-208 (p 3), 1919

Cadastre

Surveyor-General diagram index for this parcel

Research notes

The research behind this page, kept separate from it: dated working notes, open questions, and what is not yet settled.

Open questions

• Which Rondabel - Tarka (east) or Traka (Koup)? priority 1 · LEAD-0014

  Do the 1818 du Plessis and 1823 de Bruin inventories ('leeningsplaats Rondabel aan de Tarca / in Tarka') describe the Prince Albert Rondabel No. 124 (PAR-000009), or a namesake loan farm in the eastern-Cape Tarka?

  What would settle it Placing Greyling's or van Wyk's veldkornetskap, or a loan-farm register entry locating the leeningsplaats Rondabel.

• Which congregation baptised Jan de Bruijn in 1769? priority 1 · LEAD-0030

  The register page (SRC-168) gives the entry in full but not the church. If it is Roodezand/Tulbagh, the de Bruin family is a Tulbagh family and the Vrolykheid name-transfer of LEAD-0010 has a documented carrier. If it is Drakenstein or Swellendam, it does not.

  What would settle it The waypoint. This is a thirty-second lookup, not a research task.

• The two graves at the Rondabel huis priority 2 · LEAD-0011

  Who lies in the two graves close to the Rondabel farmhouse?

  What would settle it Reading the stones, or a burial entry naming the farm

• The Rondavel Venters - parentage, the two Jan Louis Venters, and Wolwekraal priority 2 · LEAD-0015

  (a) Who were Jan Adriaan VenterL's (PER-000350) parents - vernoeming suggests a father named Willem; (b) who are 'Jan Louis VenterL j:r' and 'the widow of Jan Louis VenterL' in the 1829 debts, given the tree kills Johanna Jacomina SmitM in 1824 and a Jan Louis witnesses a baptism in 1837; (c) is the Wolwekraal grantee Johannes Hendrik VenterL (PER-000095) the widow's brother Johannes Henricus (); (d) 8 Nov vs 8 Dec 1823 for Jan Adriaan jr (PER-000096); (e) when did the Venters arrive on Rondavel and how did it pass to the Strydoms by the 1833 survey?

  What would settle it Registers and the two grant/survey files.

• Where exactly is Vischat / 'fisgat', and what is its real name? priority 2 · LEAD-0018

  Vischat is where Frans's grandfather Hendrik Lodewyk Malherbe OosthuizenM farmed until 1979 and where his father CJJ grew up, yet the model has no ground for it: no extent, no geometry, no ownership row, no document. Which parcel does it actually sit on, and is the name Vischgat/Visgat?

  What would settle it The purchase deed - it will name the parcel Vischat forms part of. Failing that, a topo sheet showing the werf, or CJJ simply saying which farm it was on.

• Reopen: is the 1818/1823 Rondabel of the inventories ours or an eastern namesake? priority 2 · LEAD-0092

  Were the field cornets Stephanus van Wyk (1818) and Abraham Greyling (1815) Koup wards or eastern Graaff-Reinet wards?

  What would settle it A ward list for Graaff-Reinet and for Beaufort in those years.

• Three Orphan Chamber inventories put Rondabel 'in the Tarka' and this model pins them to farm 124 priority 2 · LEAD-0183

  INV-0001 (MOOC8/64.12a, 1818), INV-0002 (MOOC8/38.12, 1823) and INV-0027 (MOOC8/44.48, 1829) are all linked to PAR-000009, Rondabel No. 124 near Klaarstroom, yet each describes the place as lying in the Tarka or Traka. Is that this Rondabel?

  What would settle it A district named alongside 'Tarka' in the 1818 or 1823 inventory, or a chain of holders running from these estates into the 1841 grantee of farm 124.

• Vischat, Vischgat or Visgat, and where does the name come from? priority 3 · LEAD-0024

  The place is now located (PLC-000034, on Rondabel). What is its actual name, and does any document use it?

  What would settle it Any document or map using the name, or CJJ simply saying it.

• The drill bit on Rondabel, whose rig, and which of the four searches? priority 3 · LEAD-0051

  There is a drill bit on Tokkie's farm Rondabel (PAR-000009) from exploration drilling, which Frans remembers as French and dates to the 1950s, 60s or 70s. Whose was it?

  What would settle it A photograph of the maker's mark, or a borehole on Rondabel in the national register.

What the record is missing

• 27 years, and the ground changes hands to nobody we can follow second order · B1 succession

  On Rondabel, David Jan StrydomH (Daniel son) is the last owner recorded from 1841-04-15, and the next entry is Jan Adriaan OosthuizenL and Stephanus Johannes TheronL from 1868-01-21, 27 years later, with no person in common. DOC-0186 records the later arrival but not the 27 years before it.

  What would settle it The Deeds Office transfer register for this farm between 1841 and 1868. A transfer names its predecessor in title, so one deed closes the whole gap.

• “Remhoogte” is named as a neighbour 3 times and we hold no parcel for it second order · B3 unheld-farm

  3 separate surveys in this model put Remhoogte on the boundary of ground we do hold (PAR-000001, PAR-000009). It has no parcel of its own here, so nothing is known about who held it or when, while it borders farms at the centre of the project.

  What would settle it The Surveyor-General's farm index for the registration division will give it a farm number and a diagram; the cadastre pull in `data/fetch_cadastre.py` then places it on the map.

• A tenure with no one in it second order · B7 no-owner

  OWN-000008 records a owner on Rondabel from 202X and names no party. Either the holder was never read off the document, or the publishing rule withheld them, the page cannot tell you which, and neither can this.

  What would settle it There is no document on this span either; it wants one.

Found by breaks.py reading the model against itself, not written by hand, each one is a shape of missing record, not a fault in the data. The whole set is on the questions page.