Vlakfontein (Koup)

325 on the cadastre · on record 1827–1833 · show on the map

On the cadastre: 325, whole farmregistered as VLAKFONTEIN
District: Beaufort West
Modern surveyed area: 10144.7 ha

Why this farm is here

Pieter Johannes Swanepoel (b6c5d7) lived on this ground. Connected to the Oosthuizen, Marincowitz or Van der Merwe lines BY MARRIAGE, not by blood, 5 steps on the shortest path. 67 km from Klaarstroom.

Pieter Johannes Swanepoel (b6c5d7)
married to Johanna Jacomina Petronella Catharina Venter
child of Maria Catharina Venter
child of Jan Louis Venter
parent of Adriana Cecilia Venter
parent of Johannes Adriaan Oosthuizen

Each step is a recorded parentage or marriage in this model, and the shortest one the record supports, follow the names to check it.

story A written history is set on this ground The fifteenth of April, 1841
story A written history names this ground The farm he was born on

Stories

set here 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.
mentions this farm The farm he was born on
Jan Adriaan Venter was born on Wolve Kraal in 1823, orphaned off it at five, bought it at thirty-one, halved it and named half after himself at thirty-three, and spent the next thirty-seven years selling that half away.

What the record holds, in order

1827 lived here Pieter Johannes Swanepoel (b6c5d7) (13 February 1799–26 March 1885)
farming
July 1833 ownership Pieter Johannes Swanepoel (b6c5d7) (13 February 1799–26 March 1885)
loan/quitrent · survey · confidence high

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.

SW Lammers Kraal No. 11

Cadastre

Surveyor-General diagram index for this parcel

Research notes

[SRC-072] In the field cornetcy of the Koup. SURVEYED JULY 1833 BY LANDMETER C.L. STRETCH, and on 24 July 1833 Pieter Johannes SwanepoelL signed before FIELD CORNET M. DE BEER that he was satisfied with the survey and that the beacons had been properly shown to him. General plan No 21, No 9 Vlakfontein. Same surveyor, same field cornet and same season as Middelwater, Vrolykheid, Klaarstroom and Rondabel (1833) and Varsche Fontein (1834) - direct evidence that one survey campaign preceded the 1841 grants.

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

Open questions

Three farms are drawn as one of their own portions priority 2 · LEAD-0100
PAR-000050 Angeliersbosch, PAR-000059 Vlakfontein (Koup) and PAR-000126 Jan Willems Fontein No. 32 are each pinned to a PORTION polygon while the cadastre also holds a whole-farm polygon for the same number. Is the pin wrong, or does each row genuinely mean that portion?

What would settle it Frans, or a document that ties one of these three rows to a specific portion. The evidence for the whole farm is already in the rows' own notes; what is missing is the decision, because re-pinning changes what the map draws.