Susanna Abigaël Breytenbach (Bredenbach)
1791 – ?
Connection to the Koup
Took part in something recorded here: Wijnand van Zijl baptised (1809-12-06).
Names
- Given
- Susanna Abigaël
- Surname
- Breytenbach
The formal baptismal name and the name a person was actually called are both kept, and neither is derived from the other. Spelling drift between records is evidence, not noise.
Immediate family
- Children
- Wynand van Zyl, Jacobus Stephanus van Zyl
A life in the record
- 1791 born Born
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6 December 1809
event
Wijnand van Zijl baptised
Born 3 June 1808. Baptised with his younger brother Jacobus on the same day. Witnesses on his mother's side: Weijnand Bredenbach the elder and the younger, with their wives - the source of his name.
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6 December 1809
event
Jacobus van Zijl baptised
Born 20 September 1809, so eleven weeks old. Baptised the same day as his brother Wijnand, who was eighteen months old - which is how a family history came to record them as twins born 6/12/1809. He is the man who married Susanna Catharina Oosthuizen of Middelwater and laid out Brandfort in 1866.
Stories
- mentioned The brother-in-law who founded a town
What we don't know
- No death date is recorded.
- Neither parent is recorded, so this person is not attached to the tree above them.
- No dated record ties this person to a specific piece of ground.
A sourced gap beats an unsourced fill. These are the open questions on this person, stated rather than papered over.
Sources
- Baptism register, 6 December 1809. Wijnand and Jacobus van Zijl, sons of Casper van Zijl and Susanna Abigaël Bredenbach FamilySearch, "South Africa, Dutch Reformed Church Registers (Cape Town Archives), 1660-1994"; State Archives, Cape Provinceark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSK6-CS1D-T, cc=1478678, image 1 of 1; register pages 148-149
Research notes
[SRC-180] Mother of Wijnand and Jacobus van Zijl. Her own family stands as witnesses at the elder son's baptism: Weijnand Bredenbach DE OUDE with his wife Hermiena Catharena van Weijk, and Weijnand Bredenbach DE JONGE with his wife Catarina Olivier - which is where the name Wijnand comes into this family, and it comes down her side, not the van Zyls'. The vernoemingspatroon predicts exactly that for a first son. [FS, 1 Aug 2026] 2CBR-9D4, b.1791. SPELLING: FamilySearch has BREYTENBACH; the 1809 baptism register writes BREDENBACH, twice, and so do the witnesses of her own family ('Weijnand Bredenbach de oude', 'de jonge'). Both recorded; neither normalised away.
These are working notes, not finished prose: they carry the reasoning, the corrections and the things still marked to verify. They are kept here so the page itself can read as what is known.
Open questions
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Is Modderdrift's "Casper van Zyle Senior" the Casper van Zyl of the Beaufort West baptisms?
priority 1 · LEAD-0056
Is the Casper van ZylMe Senior for whom Modderdrift No. 106 was surveyed in 1833 the same man as Casper van ZylM (1781-1863), father of the two van Zyl brothers baptised at Beaufort West?
What would settle it A death notice or estate inventory listing Modderdrift among his property, or a title deed giving his full names. Either settles it in one line.
Elders
FamilySearch profile 2CBR-9D4