David Jacobus de Villiers, a3b12c5d6e3f1

David Jacobus de Villiers was the first child of Abraham Pieter de Villiers and Jacoba Sophia Jordaan and he was born at De Helderenberg, Stellenbosch, on 11 March 1827. He moved to the farm Goedehoop in Noordhoek, Cape Town, when his parents bought that farm. Dairy farming was something that David grew up with on this farm. Later he married a lady of Jewish descent, Gesiena Geertruida Wulff, and soon after diamonds were discovered in the north of the Cape Colony and the new city of Kimberley offered a demand for milk, the couple bought the farm Spytfontein, about 15 km south of Kimberley right next to the road to Cape Town. The railway line soon followed next to the road and to this day there is a railway halt on the farm Spytfontein from where David transported his milk to Kimberley by rail. From Spytfontein you have a direct view on the hills where the British Empire learnt a lesson on trench warfare during the Battle of Magersfontein, right next to Spytfontein. David died at Spytfontein on 8 December 1902.