The progenitor of the South African Du Plooys was Simon du Plooy of Krommenie in
North-Holland.
The name Du Plooy was originally the Dutch name PLOIJER: a name indicating the trade of
brushmaker. A "ploijer" was, in the dialect of the Zaanstreek, where
Krommenie is, a brush or broom with soft, long bristles. The brushes were oval
and often had handles of silver or horn.
Mr and mrs Henk Hendrikse and Ms Annie Hendrikse-Borremans
did research in North Holland to discover whether the Dutch family Ploijer (of
Ployer) of Krommenie and the South African Du Plooys are the same family, and
they concluded that this was indeed the case.
I don't intend to go into all the details of their research
here: it is available in Familia XIX 1982 no 3, obtainable from the SA
Genealogical Society in Stellenbosch.
Note how the people didn't use formal surnames: their
identity is indicated by a patronymic or by their place of origin or by their
occupation.
Willem Pieters or
Pietersz indicates that Willem is "Pieter's son", or
"Pieters-zoon". By the same token, Maria Willems, Willemsd of
Willemsdr indicates that she is Maria "Willemsdochter" or
"Willem's daughter".
The oldest generations of
Ploijers in North-Holland that the Hendrikses could find, are as
follows:
1. Claes PLOIJER
(no record of his life story, but we know his name as his son's name is
recorded as "Claeszoon".)
2. Pieter Claeszoon
PLOIJER, born about 1595 at Neck near Purmerend. He died before 1659.
He resided in "De Heylige Weg", Krommenie. His
property was 11 roods in size and he paid
16 stuivers en 8 duite per year "verponding".
The word" verponding" is an archaic one meaning rates, rent or
mortgage. "Stuivers" and "duite" are something like
ha'pennies and farthings. Interestingly enough, there is a saying in Afrikaans:
"Dit is nie 'n duit werd nie", meaning it is not worth anything. Only
now do I realise what a "duit" is!
There is a record of a notarised document in connection with
a dispute Pieter Claeszoon PLOIJER
had with the neighbours, about the upkeep of a bridge between De Heyligland and
Het Madt at Krommenie. The brush business must have been fairly lucrative!
Hy was married twice:
i. Aftgen
Christiaans, married 26.12.1621
ii. Ytje Simons
(widow) married 5.3.1628
Pieter and Aftgen had
two daughters, Annetje (1622) and Trijntje (1624); and with his second wife,
Ytje, Pieter had three more children, Grietje (1628), Marytje (1632) and lastly
our ancestor, Pieter Pieterszoon PLOIJER.
3. Pieter Pieterszoon PLOIJER was baptised
at Krommenie 24.2.1636. His occupation was "borstelmaker"
(brushmaker), and he died between 1673 and 1695.
i. On 26.11.1656,
when he was 20 years old, he married
Risje Willems. She was the daughter of Willem Jansz of Cnollendam and his wife
Piryne Michiels. Risje died 23 Februarie 1668.
ii. His second
wife was Guurtje Claesdr, the widow of Teunus Arentsz. She was the daughter of
Claes Pietersz and Geertje Taams. He was 33 and his bride was 27 when they were
married in Krommenie on 14 April 1669.
Pieter en Risje had six children: two girls, Aafjen (1659)
and Aagt (1661), and three sons: Willem (1657), Michiel (1662) and our
ancestor, 4. Symon Pietersz,
baptised at Krommenie 29 August 1666.
With his second wife, Guurtje, Pieter had 2 more children:
Pieter (1671) and Risje (1673.
4. Symon Pietersz
Plooijer (a.k.a. Simon Du Plooy) was next heard of at the Cape.
No comments:
Post a Comment