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1685 -1714
Commissioner Rijckloff van Goens - a former governor of Ceylon and Council Member of India visited the Cape while recuperating from an illness and recommended that Simon van der Stel receive land. During an annual visit to the Cape, Hendrik Adriaan van Rheede tot Drakenstein granted the grounds of Constantia to Simon van der Stel the VOC Governor of the Cape of Good Hope. Van der Stel received title to 891 morgen (about 763 hectares) on 13th July 1685. The land stretched southwards to the neighboring free burgher farms of Steenberg and Zwaanswyk, and to the north it reached as far as the wooded area named The Hell. Van der Stel had arrived at the Cape supply station in 1679. Also, estranged from his bride, he came in the company of his children and sister-in-law, Cornelia Six. Back in the Netherlands, he had gained a solid background in viticulture at his vineyards in Muiderbergh. In fact, the art of wine and brandy making he learned there he would soon implement here in the Cape. He built the house and used the land to produce wine as well as other fruit and vegetables, and for cattle farming. He retired in 1712. On 24 June 1712 Simon van der Stel died at the age of 73 and made his last will in favour of his five children. Furthermore, Constantia should be sold two years after his death and some of the slaves were to be set free. Ironically, by 1712 his sons Willem Adriaan and Frans were no longer living in the Cape, so, in 1714, the estate was broken up and auctioned in three parts: Captain Oloff Bergh bought the house -what later became known as Groot Constantia & Pieter de Meijer bought Klein Constantia and Bergvliet.
It appears Alphen and Wiitebomen also part of land held by Simon van der Stel. 1712
Klein Constantia later Hoop op Constantia 1716 owned by Hans Jurgen Kotze, b1
died 1718 his widow Elsabe van Hoff married Johannes Colyn
1716
On 13 November 1716 Oloff Bergh officially took possession of Groot Constantia. Born in Goteborg, Sweden in 1643. Bergh joined the VOC in 1665 spending a few years as a soldier in Ceylon and arrived as a sergeant at the Cape in 1676. The Captain met Anna de Koningh at the Cape; they fell in love and got married. The union produced 11 children. Oloff Bergh died and his wife Anna de Koningh became the first female owner of Groot Constantia. She was born in Batavia and was one of three children from the slave Angela of Bengal.
1734
Carl Georg Wieser became the new owner of Groot Constantia on 9 August 1734, he proceeded to further develop Groot Constantia. With 60 000 vines and 16,890 litres of wine produced from them by 1751, he increased viticulture activities.
1759
Jacobus van der Spuij, Wieser’s stepson purchased Groot Constantia. On 8 June that same year van der Spuij also had to borrow money toward the purchase of the farm and the additional expenses of slaves and wooden caskets. Like his predecessors, he had to supply wine to the VOC, which resulted in financial problems
1778
Jan Serrurier bought the farm on 15 January; Jacobus van der Spuij died three months later. Hail damage to the vineyards and the resulting poor crop contributed to the poor state of the farm and made the ownership of Serrurier short-lived. Eleven months after he bought it, the farm had a new owner and the fortunes of the farm were to change.
1778 - 1799
In December 1778 Hendrik Cloete, from the farm Nooitgedacht near Stellenbosch, bought Groot Constantia. Cloete purchased all the moveable property and the 16 slaves originally belonging to Van der Spuij. He added another 16 slaves to help clear up the neglected farm. He planted extensive vineyards and extended and improved the mansion by commissioning the architect Louis Michel Thibault. Fourteen years later, all the new buildings were complete, and the farm had a completely new appearance.The wine cellar was added by Cloete in 1791.Together, Hendrick Cloete and Hester Anna Lourens had 11 children. The house remained in the possession of the Cloete family until 1885, during which period the estate became famous for its production of Constantia dessert wine. New vines were also planted to replace the neglected ones and the VOC requested that Hendrik Cloete increase the farm’s production. By 1780 he had already planted 10 000 new vines. From 1780 Hendrik Cloete made the wine himself. Apparently his new cellar was one of the best in the Cape.
He too had to sell two-thirds of his wine to the VOC, but by 1794 he came to a better arrangement with them. After the British occupation of the Cape in 1795, he had to deliver wine to the British command at the Cape. For Hendrik Cloete, only the name of the wine monopolist had changed. In 1794 Hendrik’s wife died and she was buried in the family graveyard at Groot Constantia. Hendrik Cloete left the farm to live at Nooitgedacht where he died, and his younger son, also Hendrik Cloete, took charge of Groot Constantia and became the eventual new owner in 1799.
Baron Jacobus Johannes Gijsbertus van Reede van Oudshoorn was the owner of Nova Constantia during this time.
1795
The German poet Friederich Gottlieb Klopstock composes Der Kapwein under Johannesberger, Kapwein being Constantia wine.
1811
Constantia appears in Jane Austen’s novel Sense and Sensibility as a cure for a broken heart. .
1815
Napoleon is banished to St Helena after his defeat of Waterloo. On St Helena he was supplied with wine from Groot Constantia until his death in 1821.
1818-1825
The wife of the late Hendrik Cloete, Anna Catharina Scheller, becomes the second woman to own the estate. On 8 February 1823 Scheller made a deduction of land from Groot Constantia and passed it to her youngest son, Johan Gerard Cloete. Johan Gerhard was baptised on 7th August 1796 and in 1825 he married Anna Petronella Kuchler.
Was this deducted portion later known as Klein Constantia (later Hoop-op- Constantia) ? Or was original portion 1714 Klein Constantia ?
Scheller sold Groot Constantia to her oldest son, Jacob Pieter Cloete in 1824.
1833
Louis Philippe (King of the French) becomes the biggest buyer ever of Groot Constantia wine.
1857
Les Fleurs du mal is published, a volume of poems by the French poet Charles Baudelaire, in which Sed non satiata praises Constantia wine.
1872
Jacob Cloete was bankrupt and could no longer meet his obligations. He appeared in the Cape Supreme Court and was declared insolvent. Jacob left the farm and went to live in Plumstead where he died in 1875. He was buried in the Groot Constantia graveyard. Groot Constantia however was to remain in his estate until 1885.
1880
Dr. Cornelis Pieter Smuts sold the farm Hoop-op-Constantia on 9.6.1880 for 3750 pounds to Daniel Gerhardus Malan. He was killed when his wagon overturned and his widow, Deborah Susanna Retief, lived on the estate until her passing in 1931. The farm was inherited by their son Johannes Retief Malan who sold de Hoop-op-Constantia in 1942 to Dr. Solomon Hirshfield and his wife, Fanny. As far as the house itself was concerned, no one could have suited it better, for she was an individual of discerning and impeccable taste.
1885
Henry Cloete returned from Europe and it was decided to sell Groot Constantia by auction. On the 1st of October 1885 the Cape Government became the new owner, having bought the farm for a mere £5,275. When compared to the amount of £18,750 paid in 1824, the sad state of the vines on the farm is evident. Groot Constantia was used as an experimental wine and agricultural estate in 1889.
1925-52
Following a disastrous fire in 1925 the house was extensively restored to its original Cape Dutch splendour. The house was restored under the chairmanship of the architect Franklin Kendall. Alfred de Pass, from 1927 until his death in 1952, donated and bought objects for the Manor house and refurbished it.
1969 - today
The manor house became part of the South African Cultural History Museum, and in 1993 the estate passed into the ownership of the Groot Constantia Trust. The exhibition in the house is managed by Iziko South African Museum, and is particularly focused on rural slavery and the life of slaves during the early Cape colonial period.
1975 - today
Groot Constantia consolidated Hoop-op-Constantia with part of Nova Constantia in 1975. The Lategan family owned Nova Constantia. In 1931, after the death of Andries Lategan, it was inherited by Robert (‘Bob’) Lategan and his brother, Christoffel Francois ('Kitto') Lategan. In 1945, it was inherited by Andries Petrus (‘Nap’) Lategan and his sister, Beatrice Maria, who later transferred her share to him. He was married to Elizabeth Johanna Maria Van Niekerk, whose sister, Johanna Alida Van Niekerk, was the widow of Johannes Retief Malan, the owner of de Hoop-op-Constantia until 1942. The two sisters lived side-by-side on Nova Constantia and de Hoop-op-Constantia.
ALPHEN
The Alphen Estate was granted to Theunis van Schalkwyk in 1714. Its Historic Homestead is a square plan double-storey manor House with a well proportioned pediment and a well designed front door, whose construction dates back to the mid-18th Century, although the upper storey was probably a later addition.
In 1716, a farm, which formed part of Constantia, was bought from Theunis van Schalkwyk (died 1717), then by Jan Brommert, who at that stage was in charge of equipping VOC ships in Table Bay. Because this farm had the name Alphen, there is conjecture that both farms may have been named after ships. The same Jan Brommert was married to Theunis Dirksz van Schalkwijk's only daugther Anna - As Theunis DvS was a very wealthy man with several farms, Alphen was probably given to Anna as inheritance and not to her husband. Theunis also gave the farm "Slot van de Paarlberg" in Agter-Paarl (1712) to his son Dirk. Other farms that belonged to Theunis was, Blommesteijn (1714) (where Blommestein Bellville is today), Paarl Diamant (Portion 1 1693 and Portion 2 1713) (on Cape Town's side of Paarl Mountain). Perel Diamand 1704 (on Cape Town's side of Paarl Mountain), Drie Fonteine 1699
From Captain Pieter de Waal, who acquired Alphen in 1793, the estate passed to Thomas Frederick Dreyer, a friend of the British governor, Lord Charles Somerset, and, like him, a breeder of fine horses and lover of fox hunting.
It was declared a National Monument under old NMC legislation on 30 June 1973.
Nova Constantia, Constantia Valley. This originally formed part of the Groot Constantia Estate, and the House probably dates from the first quarter of the 19th century. The homestead is based upon a U-plan and, because of its impressive gables and its setting, is widely considered to be one of the finest Cape Dutch houses. It was declared a National Monument under old NMC legislation on 12 October 1973.
Set at the foot of Wynberg Hill in Constantia, the tale of The Alphen is a constantly evolving one that started in the late 17th century when the property was first granted as an 11-acre free-burgher loan farm. Declared a National Monument in 1973, The Alphen was originally part of the Groot Constantia Estate and apportioned off after the death of its owner, Simon Van Der Stel. Over the centuries it has been converted from a ramshackle farm to a manicured estate with every feature aligned in a succession of botanical vistas. In 1753 Abraham Leever - known as the 'Monsieur from Amsterdam'- built the present homestead and a century and many proprietors later, the Alphen estate became the property of the Cloete family, owners for the past 150 years. Today each of the outbuildings dates from a different era, with the slave quarters being the oldest and the Mill House the latest.
CLOETE- The Cloete family most nowadays associate with Constantia actually from Alphen Estate about 1850's
KLEIN CONSTANTIA
Two farms known by this name
First owned by De Meijer>Kotze>Colyn.
Other one 1823 portion of Groot Constantia given to Gerard Cloete.
First owner ? Meijer or Hans Jurgens Kotze ?
In 1996 owned by Andre Badenhorst
https://aabadenhorst.com/2013/12/12/the-extended-badenhorst-family-...
Bergvliet, about 475 morgen (405 hectares), and the larger part of Klein Constantia, slightly over 138 morgen (117 hectares), were acquired in 1716 by Isaac Scheepers and Jan Brommaert in partnership. Both portions then passed through the hands of J. Brommaert alone, Elbert Diemer, Pieter Heufke (Peter Hoffke), Gerrit van der Port, Jacob Rohland, Johann Nicolaus Schott and Petrus Michiel Eksteen, son of the owner of Zorgvliet and Brandenburg. In 1783 Sophia Cloete, Eksteen's widow, transferred the properties to their son Hendrik Oostwald Eksteen. Then in 1793 Eksteen deducted about 200 morgen (171hectares) for his brother-in-law Cornelis Brink, consisting of the larger part of Klein Constantia, mentioned above, and over 60 morgen (51 hectares) of Bergvliet too.
Bergvliet, with its area thus a little reduced, remained in the possession of Hendrik Oostwald Eksteen until his death, and in 1812 was transferred by his widow, Elisabeth Scholtz, to their youngest son, another Hendrik Oostwald Eksteen. About 1830 he went bankrupt, and his property was divided into four parts and sold. His cousin Johannes Paulus Eksteen acquired one part in 1830, described as the remainder although it was the first to be transferred; a small part (including part of Baasharmanskraal) went to Thomas Dreyer in 1831; the third to L. J. Colyn in 1832; the rest to two partners, and from them to L. J. Colyn in 1836. There was apparently no homestead on Bergvliet until Petrus Michiel Eksteen built one about 1769. Probably that house is the one still standing there, though it was considerably altered about the 1835. Today a large township, Bergvliet, occupies part of the farm.
Nova Constantia (a trifle more than part II of the original Klein Constantia) was transferred from Hendrik Oostwald Eksteen to C. Brink in 1793. Brink built a house on the property, and the following year transferred about 172 morgen (147 hectares) to his brother Arend, possibly to meet part of the costs of building. The remaining extent of a little less than 28 morgen (24 hectares) he transferred in 1801 to Hendrik Christiaan Carinus; from the estate of Carinus it passed in 1805 to J. G. van Helsdingen, and only a month later to Lambertus Johannes Colyn. In 1836 it was again transferred, from the widow of L. J. Colyn to their son, also L. J. Colyn.
The house was built in 1796, but it is nevertheless more likely to have been built by Cloete then by A. Brink. It greatly resembles Nova Constant, and the two houses may easily have been designed by the same hand. Cloete used the name Cis-Constantia for the property, and a later owner, Henry Batt called it Plumstead, after a place in Norfolk from which he came. The name Buitenverwach is now in use again.
In late 1990's we would visit Klein Constantia and drink the most wonderful wine out of plastic bottles.-- Phillipp Weyers
Klein Constantia and Hoop.op Constantia
Pieter de Meijer
Who was he ? Must have sold Klein Constantia within a year to Hans Jurgen Kotze.
FFY says this was Klein Constantia or later called Hoop op Constantia
--- Pieter de Meijer bought two parts, Bergvliet and Klein Constantia---
References:
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groot_Constantia
- https://grootconstantia.co.za/groot-constantia-rich-history/
- https://www.e-family.co.za/ffy/g14/p14425.htm