Maria de Wit

Married to Jan de Wit, 20 March 1707 in Cape Town, South Africa.

Petrus Johannes de Wit born 1716

Lambert Adriaans was not the father of Maria Adriaans. He was her mother's husband but they married quite a while after Maria was born. If he had been the girls' father they would automatically have been his legitimate heirs on his wedding to their mother. The orphan masters were very strict on this matter and even checked up in the fatherland of the person to trace possible legitimate heirs. In their joint will Anna Pietersz mentions the girls Elizabeth and

Maria Adriaansz as her heirs, whilst Lambert attests that he has no heirs in either the ascending or descending line (meaning parenst or children). He therefore leaves his half of the joint estate to a brother and a sister still in patria. This is how it was executed when he died.

In Anna's next will the one remaining girl, Maria Adriaansz, is mentioned (her sister had died already) but she is not named as the daughter of Lambert Adriaansz, which would often be the case. Years after 1713 when Anna Pietersz died things were still being sent off to children from the estate of Anna Pietersz, never is anything sent to them from the estate of Lambert.

The third point of proof is that none of Jan de Wit and Maria Adriaansz'sons is named Lambert, which would have been the case if Maria was Lambert's daughter. So for her parents I would state Anna Pietersz (of Batavia) and Adriaan Nn. I have a feeling that a very close friend and confidant of Jan de Wit was Maria's father, but no proof so I won't name names. I do know that Anna Pietersz was no ordinary person. She was rich in her own right and she had a beautiful and skilled handwriting. History wants us to believe that she was just a slave girl made good, but I have my doubts.

Gerda Pieterse.

Maria is voordogter van Anna Pieters van Batavia DP bl 1140

• Residence: Mar 20 1706 - Cabo
  • Reference: FamilySearch Family Tree - SmartCopy: May 28 2021, 18:01:00 UTC
• Reference: FamilySearch Family Tree - SmartCopy: May 28 2021, 18:02:09 UTC

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1739 Cape Muster Roll:
https://www.nationaalarchief.nl/onderzoeken/archief/1.04.02/invnr/4...

In the 1739 Cape muster roll Jan de Wit and Maria Adriaansz are recorded with 2 sons, 29 male slaves and 6 female slaves

1742 Cape Muster Roll:
In the 1742 Cape muster roll Jan de Wit is recorded with Maria Adriaanse and two daughters
the next entry is for Petrus Johannes de Wit (their son)

At the bottom of the page Thomas de Wit and Elisabeth delitz[sic] are recorded with 1 daughter

DEPOT KAB
SOURCE CJ
TYPE LEER
VOLUME_NO 2618
SYSTEM 01
REFERENCE 12
PART 1
DESCRIPTION ADRIAANSE, MARIA. WEDUWEE VAN DE WIT, JAN. TESTAMENT.
STARTING 17580000
ENDING 17580000