Willem Adriaan van der Stel

Willem Adriaan van der Stel (born in 1665 in Haarlem - deceased in 1720 with Amsterdam) was governor of the Colonie of the Cape in South Africa of 1699 with 1707.

Adriaan van der Stel was the oldest son of Simon van der Stel (1639 - 1712) and of Johanna Jacoba Six (1645 - 1700). His/her paternal grandfather had been the governor of the Mauritius and his/her maternal grandfather had been mayor of the town of Amsterdam.

In 1679, it settled with the Cape with his/her father who there had just been named Commandeur.

In 1684, it is sent in Holland to achieve its studies and it returns to the Cape only in 1699 to take the load of Governor of the colony where it succeeds his father.

Van der Stel was very interested by the Horticulture and the Agriculture. It was thus one of the touts first authors of an almanac on the gardening in South Africa. It developed the gardens of the company thus and organized many forwardings inside the grounds to index the endogenous species there.

He is the founder of the " Land van Waveren" , renamed Tulbach then.

But the administration of Adriaan van der Stel remained in the history like one of the periods of government most authoritative and corrupted of South Africa.

Van der Stel benefitted from its situation to develop its wine field, Vergelegen, by adapting the resources of its employer, the Compagnie of the Eastern Indies.

Its style, its ostentatious love for the money, its favoritism, its unilateral measurements caused in 1706 the revolt of 63 free colonists (on a total of 550) including 31 Huguenot S which sent a petition to the Company to obtain its reference.

The petition is initially rejected and Van der Stel benefits from it to make throw in prison those which had been on the initiative.

At that time, the Netherlands are in war with the France and the Company fears that Huguenots do not take makes and causes for France and do not become its spies. It then decides to dislocate Adriaan van der Stel and to recall it to the Netherlands the April 23rd 1707.

It thus definitively leaves the colony of the Cape in 1708 and passes the remainder of these days in exile to the Netherlands. Its property, Vergelegen, were sold 3 years and were divided later in 4 distinct farms. The residence of Master was destroyed.

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