Adriaantie Jansz van Son, SM/PROG

Ariaantie was one of the eight orphan girls from Rotterdam brought to the Cape on a five year contract. They were choosen as being familiar with farm work and the cultivation of the soil. They left from the port of Goeree in South Holland on the ship 'China' on 20th March 1688 and arrived at the Cape on 4th August 1688.

- extract from Richard Ball's article on EGGSA: http://www.eggsa.org/articles/Weesmeisies.htm

C.G.de Wet writes:

'Jan van Riebeeck had already in 1659 requested that the Council of Seventeen (of the Dutch East India Company) send out at least 20 marriageable girls from Europe to the Cape settlement. In 1685 Simon van der Stel made a similar request, differing in that he asked for between 30 and 40 girls. The Council of Seventeen reacted favourably to this request and decided to send 40 farm girls to the Cape. Suitable girls were apparently no so readily obtainable and in the event only 8 orphan girls from Rotterdam,

Ariaantje Jansz van Son,

Willemijntje Ariens de Wit,

Ariaantje Jacobsz van den Berg,

Judith Jansz Verbeek,

Petronella Cornelisz van de Capelle,

Intjen Cornelisz van der Bout,

Catharina Jansz van der Zee and

Anna Eltrop

departed in December 1687 on the ship 'China' for the Cape. By October 1688 six of them had already married and the last of the eight was married on 8 May 1689. The orphan girls were in fact so few that they resulted in no noticeable improvement in the shortage of marriageable women in the Cape settlement'.

Heese states: Adriaante Janse. She married Albert Holder. They had two daughters but did not establish a progeny.

Her marriages and family were as follows:

Ariaantie Jansz van Son, born circa 1659, Rotterdam, died circa April 1731

married (1) 16 October 1688 at Cape Town

Albert Holder, born Bremen, burger of Stellenbosch, died circa 1697

married (2) 4 December 1701 at Stellenbosch

Pieter Malmer

The children of Ariaantie Jansz van Son and Albert Holder:

Heijltje Holder, born circa 1689, died 1713

married 1 February 1709 at Stellenbosch Allardus Bartholomeus Coopman, born Utrecht, died circa 1720

      This couple had two daughters, both named Ariaantje and both of whom seem to have died in infancy. Allardus Bartholomeus Coopman married again circa 1715.

Trijntjen Holder born circa 1691 Maria Holder born circa 1693 Rebecca Holder born circa 1695 Alberdina Holder born circa 1697

Rebecca Holder attained adulthood since she appears as a witness at the baptism of Ariaantie, daughter of Allardus Bartholomeus & Elsje (sic) Holders, 8th November 1711, but apart from Heijltje, they do not appear to have married, and none seems to have left descendants. Perhaps they all died in the smallpox epidemic of 1713.

The children of Ariaantie Jansz van Son and Pieter Malmer:

Pieter Malmer

Johannes Malmer born circa 1707, died circa 1772 in the Swellendam district.

In her will of 1730 Ariaantie stated that since her two sons lacked the ability to manage their inheritance, she named the heemraad Jan Nel as guardian and controller of their inheritances.

Ariaantie Jansz van Son seems to have left no descendants beyond her children.