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Born into slavery, Christoffel Snyman (son of the exiled convict Groote Catrijn van Paliacatta, adopted son of Anthonij Jansz van Bengale), who married Marguerite-Therese de Savoye, daughter of the French Huguenot Jacques de Savoye, and eventually owned the Delta part of what is now Solms-Delta.
https://winemag.co.za/wine/opinion/joanne-gibson-on-some-of-the-inv...
'Viking' blood at the Cape - DNA evidence confirms European paternity of Christoffel Snijman van der Caep and debunks theory he was the biological son of Anthonij Jansz van Bengale
A examination of recently published public DNA test of Kornelius Snyman showing him to be in the Y-DNA haplogroup I-M253 - the ancient paternal lineage of the Nordic countries popularly known as the 'Viking' haplogroup. Forty percent of Fins and 38% of Swedes are from this haplogroup which also commonly occured other other north European countries and in Germany, France and the United Kingdom. This article should be read in conjunction with Mansell Upham's 'Cape Mothers - Groote Catrijn van Paliacatta (c. 1631-1683), her slave Maria van Bengale & her de Savoye daughter-in-law Marguerite-Thérèse (1673-1742)'
HOWEVER INCONCLUSIVE! Only one individual has done a yDNA test . Assumed ydna haplogroup not confirmed! Needs at least 2 more descendants tested and not direct relatives of current descendant tested I-M253 haplogroup. So theory of Anthonij as his father not yet debunked
( Extract FFY -thx to Delia Robertson )
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Christoffel SNIJMAN the son of Hans Christoffel SNIJMAN.
Note : (Catharina 'Grootje Catrijn' van Bengle, married Anthonij (Jansz) (de Later) van Bengale. Their marriage produced no children, although it legitimized the position of Catharina from slave to free-burgher and legitimized her son, Christoffel Snijman, who was also adopted by Anthonij van Bengale.)
https://www.familytreedna.com/groups/cape-dutch/about/goals
Nederduitsch Gereformeerde Kerk, Kerken Boek (Bapt.): [de]n [g.] Maert een soontje van Groote Catrijn wiert genaemt Christoffel tot getuyge stont Step Angila, 1665-1695
NGK G1 1/1, Nederduitsch Gereformeerde Kerk, Kerken Boek (Bapt.), 1665-1695: [1669]; [de]n 9 Maert een soontje van Groote Catrijn wiert genaemt Christoffel tot getuyge stont Angila, transcribed by Richard Ball, Norfolk, England, (May 2006), Genealogical Society of South Africa, eGSSA Branch http://www.eggsa.org/. Hereinafter cited as Nederduitsch Gereformeerde Kerk, Kerken Boek (Bapt.).
No father mentioned on his baptism !
http://www.e-family.co.za/ffy/g5/p5115.htm#c5115.7
Updated 20 June 2019
The eGGSA Monsterrolle can be found here: http://www.eggsa.org/sarecords/index.php/muster-rolls/cape-archives...
The eGGSA transcription of the church membership records can be found here: http://www.eggsa.org/sarecords/index.php/church-registers/cape-town...
Leibrandt’s book can be found here: https://archive.org/details/precisofarchives00cape_1
Upham’s essay, ‘Cape Mothers’, can be found here: http://www.e-family.co.za/ffy/RemarkableWriting/UL14CapeMothers.pdf
I can provide links for the individual primary records should anyone want them.... Alun Peter Stevens
Input from Delia Robertson:
It was the accepted legal practice at the time that new spouses to the biological parent of a child became the legal parent … this applied in different circumstances, children born out of wedlock, children of a deceased parent, etc. Sometimes they were referred to as adopted, sometimes as (step)child, etc. So there was generally no formal adoption process in these examples. In other cases (the Meerhof children being an example) children were placed in the care of an individual by the Council, or the church, or the court.
Christoffel was the universal heir to Anthonij Jansz v Bengale and his mother Groote Catrijn.
Viking' blood at the Cape - DNA evidence confirms European paternity of Christoffel Snijman van der Caep and debunks theory he was the biological son of Anthonij Jansz van Bengale.
An examination of recently published public DNA test of Kornelius Snyman showing him to be in the Y-DNA haplogroup I-M253 - the ancient paternal lineage of the Nordic countries popularly known as the 'Viking' haplogroup. Forty percent of Fins and 38% of Swedes are from this haplogroup which also commonly occurred in other north European countries and in Germany, France and the United Kingdom. http://e-family.co.za/ffy/ui114.htm Delia Robertson posted this.
PLEASE DONT ALTER PARENTS AS HE WAS ADOPTED BY ANTHONI JANSZ VAN BENGALE
Name: Christoffel Snyman
Origin of the name: Snijman is an Afrikaans variation on the German surname Schneider - which is German for "tailor"; literally "someone who cuts," from the verb schneiden "to cut".
Birth date: circa 1668
Birth Place: Cape of Good Hope
Baptism date: 9 March 1669, Cape Town
Date of Death: circa 1706
Place of Death: Drakenstein, Cape of Good Hope
Parents: Hans Christoffel Snijman and Catharina van Paliacatta. Christoffel Snyman was the stepson of Anthonie van Bengale.
Marriage: Margaretha de Savoye
Date: circa 1689
Place: Cape of Good Hope
Children:
b1 Jacobus Christoffel = 10 December 1690
b2 Catharina = 27 January 1692
b3 Maria Magdalena = 9 August 1693
b4 Christina = 22 July 1695
b5 Elsje = 1 August 1697
b6 Johanna = 25 October 1699
b7 Philippus = 24 July 1701
b8 Susanna = 28 October 1703
b9 Elisabeth = 21 March 1706
Occupation & Career: Farmer at Zandvliet, Groot Drakenstein between 1692 and 1705.
Relevant Links
Other information:
Christoffel was one of only two half-slaves that married into the white community.
Christoffel Snyman started farming in 1692 in partnership with Ernst Friedrich Walter.
After his death in 1706 Margaretha Therese DE SAVOYE married Henning Viljoen.
Hans Christoffel Snijman (the father of Christoffel Snyman) was a soldier in the garrison, convicted and banished to Robben Island on 30th July 1667 for not standing guard - instead he had been sleeping on a regular basis with Groote Catrijn - washerwoman at the Fort to successive commanders. Thereafter, Snijman disappears from the records at the Cape. On instructions from the Council of India, Groote Catrijn was again pardoned.
VOORKIND with Hans Christoffel SNIJMAN
Christoffel Snyman baptised on 9 March 1669. (He became the stamvader of the Snyman family).
Groote Cathrijn then gets baptised herself as an adult with her fellow slave friend Mooij Ansela on 29 April 1668.
Catharina later married a free black (mardijker) Anthonij (Jansz) (de Later) van BENGALE on 20th December 1671. In a letter dated 6 January 1672 it is mentioned that Groot Catrijn was freely pardoned.
Groote Catrijn, her husband, her daughter and granddaughter - with the exception of Christoffel Snijman Jnr appear to have all died, in some family tragedy sometime between December 1682 and February 1683.
Antjonij Jansz van Bengale's sizeable estate provided for the boy's education and a substantial inheritance.
Sources:
M Upham "In Hevigen Woede ... Groote Catrijn: Earliest Recorded Female Bandiet at the Cape of Good Hope - A Study in Upward Mobility" Capenis, Sept 1997. Part of a series.
New updated article to be available soon..
Christoffel was een van net twee manlike halfslag slawe wat in die wit gemeenskap ingetrou het. Christoffel trou in Julie 1689 met Margaretha Therese DE SAVOYE sy was van Gent, Vlaandere. Haar ouers was Jacques de Savoije en Christine du Pont (korrekte ouers gekry van Jean le Roux) , sommige gepubliseerde inligting verkeerdelike gee haar moeder as Marie Madeleine de Klerk.
Y-DNA Genetic Information
SNYMAN (Snijman, Snijder, Schneider), Hans Christoffel (arr 1657) [b7c4d3e6 NPE Branch] 568248 Snyman Unknown Origin G-M201
https://www.familytreedna.com/public/CapeDutch?iframe=yresults Another possible YDNA for Christoffel Snijman G-M201
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haplogroup_G-M201
A descendant of Christoffel's son Philippus (b7) has tested positive in April 2014 for: I1 M253+ Z60+ (The haplogroup I-M253 is also referred to as I1d1a)
Haplogroup I-M253 (Y-DNA) is the original paternal lineage of Nordic Europe (Z60 is a subclade under this haplogroup). The highest frequencies of the I-M253 lineage are now found in Scandinavian countries. I-M253 males are currently present throughout Europe, consisting of about 40 percent of the male population of Norway, 35 percent of Finland, between 10 and 11 percent of French, about 18 percent of German and between 10 and 22 percent of the British Isles.
Sources:
1. Geno 2.0 test results by the Geneographic Project of National Geographic
2. The document Snyman_genetics_20140423_v0.4.pdf under the Sources tab: http://www.geni.com/documents/view?doc_id=6000000025851668631
Christoffel Snyman x voor 1690 Marguerite de Savoye, d.v. Jacques de Savoye, v. Aeth, Frankryk, en Christine du Pont. Marguerite hertrou met Henning Viljoen. Christoffel was one of the few free slaves who married into the white community. Haplogroup I-M253 (alias I1, prev. I1a) - Z60 subclade (prev. I1a2a). http://www.e-family.co.za/ffy/g5/p5115.htm
Christoffel Snyman, corporal in the Burgher-Corps Infantry, Stellenbosch.
Died before 12th Sept.1705
Succeded as corporal by Jacob Nortje.
Text:
To Stellenbosch.] 12th Sept. “ Jacob Cruse and Johannes Swellengrebel deputed to be present at the parade and parrot exercise on the 15th and 18th. Jan Elbertsz to be captain of the cavalry in the place of Pieter Robbertsz; François du Toit to be lieutenant, and Claas Elbertsz to be cornet. Lourens Verbrugge to be quartermaster. Jan Harmensz Potgieter to be cavalry sergeant. Nicolas Cleeff to be standard bearer. Hans Jacob Conterman to be sergeant vice the disrated Hans Henske. Jacobus van Driel to be corporal. Hercules du Preez to be captain vice Barend Burchard deceased. Willem van Zyl to be lieutenant. Jan Mague to be ensign. Nicolas de la Noy to be sergeant. Jacob Nortje to be corporal vice Christoffel Snyman, deceased.
Source: Precis of the Archives of the Cape of Good Hope: Letters Despatched, 1696-1708 pg.272
Geni source: https://www.geni.com/documents/view?doc_id=6000000040988542946&
Link: http://www.mocavo.com/Precis-of-the-Archives-of-the-Cape-of-Good-Ho...
From 1686 to 1705, parrot-shooting was a regular feature during the annual military review (Stellenbosch Three Centuries: Official Commemorative Volume, Stellenbosch Town Council, 1979).
On November 29, 1705, the High Government in the Indies had ordered the Cape Government to abolish the annual custom of shooting at the parrot at Stellenbosch (The Huguenots in South Africa, Manfred Nathan).
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Gebeurtenissse:
a. Hans Christoffel Snijman (the father of Christoffel Snyman) was a soldier in the garrison convicted and banished to Robben Island on 30th July 1667 for not standing guard - instead he had been sleeping on a regular basis with Groote Catrijn - washerwoman at the Fort to successive commanders. Thereafter, Snijders disappears from the records at the Cape. On instructions from the Council of India, Groote Catrijn was again pardoned
b. Christoffel was een van net twee manlike halfslag slawe wat in die wit gemeenskap ingetrou het. Christoffel trou in Julie 1689 met Margaretha Therese DE SAVOYE sy was van Gent, Vlaandere.
c. Zandvliet plaas van Christoffel Snyman. Na sy dood word Marquerite- Thérèsa eienares van Zandvliet Zandvliet heet vandag Solms-Delta Homestead
Voorvader en Afstammelinge:
Christoffel Snyman x Marguerite-Thérèsa de Savoye
Hans Christoffel Snyman en Catharina Anthonius {van Bengale}
e. Catharina van Bengale, *1631, Ł.1683
Maria van Bengale
f. Catharina staan ook bekend as Groote Catrijn g. Sy was ‘n slavin van Paliacatte aan die Coromandel Kus in Indië h. Op 8 Oktober 1665 is sy deur die slaaf Claes van Malabar in ‘n stal te Fort Ruiswijck verkrag i. Sy slaan hom met ‘n leer in die maag j. Asgevolg van ‘n gebarste lewer sterf Claes na vier dae k. Sy word van moord aangekla en ontvang die doodstraf l. Haar vonnis word versag en sy word die eerste vrou, wat na die Kaap gedeporteer word m. Sy arriveer op 21 Februarie 1657 met die skip Prins Willem aan die Kaap n. Sy bekom twee buite-egtelike kinders. Een by die hoof van die Garnioen Pieter Everaerts van Bruisaert en die ander een by die soldaat Hans Christoffel Snijders(Schneider}; ook bekend as Snijman van Heidelberg van die Palitinate Hierdie kind word genoem Christoffel Snijman
o. Hierna tref die noodlot haar op verkeie wyses:-
a. Everaerts sterf 15 Maart 1664 b. Sy verwek nog twee Kinders:- 1. Petronella 2. Anthony[Stiefbroer van Christoffel Snijman] 3. Petronella trou met ‘n soldaat Willem Jansen en verwek ‘n dogtertjie, wat hulle ook Petronella noem
4. ‘n Onbekende tragedie tref die gesin en die Jansen-familie word deur die dood uitgewis
5. Hans Christoffel Snijman word vir versuim van diensplig na Robbeneiland verban. Hierna verdwyn hy van die toneel
According to Mansell Upham, all available evidence points to the fact Groote Catrijn was Christoffel's mother. Groote Catrijn was banished to the Cape for murdering a fellow slave, whom she accused of raping her, in India. A Study in Upward Mobility in Volumes 3/97 and 4/97 of Capensis, makes a strong case that there was only one woman known by that name at the Cape. Mansell Upham, "In Hevigen Woede," mentions Christoffel's father as Hans Christoffel Snijman. Christoffel was named directly after his father and, throughout his life, he identified himself by his father’s surname, as did his own children. Furthermore, paternity was not in dispute as Hans Christoffel Snijman was charged and convicted (30 July 1667) for dereliction of duty for being a distracted sentry due to his regular nocturnal activity inside the living quarters of the Fort’s washerwoman. A VOC slave known as Groote Catrijn. Groote Catrijn’s illegitimate son was baptised Christoffel on 9 March 1669 and witnessed by Mooij Ansela. As was the case at the time, Christoffel's legitimacy was conferred when his mother married Anthonij Jansz van Bengale, irrespective of the fact that he was not the biological child of Anthonij.
1692 to 1705 Christoffel was farmer on Zandvliet, Groot Drakenstein.
Names in the record, in publications, etc. detail his name as: Christofell Sniman, Christoffel Snijman van de Caep, Crhijstoffel Snijman, Christoffle Senaymant, Christoffle Sçirinaan, Christoffle C'nayman, Christoffle Senaimant, Christoffle Senaiman.
Christoffel SNIJMAN was gedoop 9 Maart 1669, sy vader was Hans Christoffel Snijman 'n soldaat by die Kaap. Sy vader het 'n skelm verhouding gehad met die slaafin Catharina van Bengale, sy was ook bekend as Groote Catrijn (Kyk ook onder haar inskrywing). Sy vader is toe na Robben eiland gestuur op die 30 Julie 1667. Christoffel se moeder was hierdie Catharina van Bengale. In 'n brief van die owerheid 6 Januarie 1672 word daar melding gemaak dat Groot Catrijn vrygestel was. Sy moeder trou later met die vryswarte Anthony (Jansz) (de Later) van Bengale, wat toe sy stiefvader was. Baie mense maak die fout om te dink dat sy stiefvader sy vader was. Daar moes 'n tragedie plaas gevind het want die hele familie is ewe skielik oorlede tussen Desember 1682 en Februarie 1683, behalwe Christoffel. Christoffel was een van die min manlike halfslag slawe wat in die witgemeenskap ingetrou het. Christoffel trou in Julie 1689 met Margaretha Therese DE SAVOYE sy was van Gent, Vlaandere. Haar ouers was Jacques de Savoije en Christine du Pont (korrekte ouers gekry van Jean le Roux) , sommige gepubliseerde inligting verkeerdelike gee haar moeder as Marie Madeleine de Klerk. Hulle het nege kinders gehad:b1 Jacobus Christoffel Snyman, ged 10.12.1690 (jonk oorlede?)b2 Catharina Snyman, ged 27.1.1692 x Johannes Viljoen b3 Maria Magdelana Snyman, ged 9.8.1693, x 15 Des 1710 Theunis Botha b4 Christina Snyman, ged 22.7.1695 x Jeremias Roux b5 Elsie Snyman, ged 1.8.1697 x 22 Okt 1713 Jacobus Bothab6 Johanna Snyman, ged 25.10.1699 x 7 Feb 1717 Anthonie Lombard b7 Philippus Snyman, ged 24.7.1701 x 14 Apr 1726 Johanna Margaretha van Deventer b8 Susanna Snyman, ged 28.10.1703 x Jacob Coetzer b9 Elisabeth Snyman, ged 21.3.1706, oorlede 18 Maart 1758 x Jan Hendrik van Helsdingen Christoffel Snyman het in 1692 geboer in vennootskap met Ernst Friedrich Walter. Hy het geboer op die plaas Sandvliet in Groot Drakenstein. Christoffel Snyman het in 1706 gesterwe. Margaretha Therese DE SAVOYE trou toe met Henning Viljoen. Bronne:Inligting van Danie ViljoenMansell Upham, "In Hevigen Woede", CapensisInligting van Jean le Roux Saamgestel deur:AM van Rensburg
1669 |
March 9, 1669
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Cape of Good Hope, South Africa
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March 9, 1669
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Kaapstad, Caap de Goede Hoop, Suid Afrika
This document is generally accepted as the source for his baptism record: https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G9ML-49YD-J "Een soontje van Groote Catrijn wiert genaemt Christoffel tot getuijge stont Angila" |
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March 9, 1669
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Cape Town
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March 9, 1669
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Cape Town, Cape Province, South Africa
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March 9, 1669
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Cape Town, Cape Province, South Africa
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March 9, 1669
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1671 |
12, 1671
Age 1
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Manumitted
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1690 |
December 10, 1690
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Drakenstein, Cape, South Africa
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1690
Age 20
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Drakenstein, Cape Province
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