THE SWISS IN SOUTHERN AFRICA 1652-1970 - swissroots-za.ch

Meurant, Louis Balthasar usually recorded as from Basel or Switzerland though at his
second marriage he gave as his place of origin “Bourdioux” which could not be
identified in Switzerland, nor could the Staatsarchiv Kanton Basel-Stadt trace him. The
name Meurant is not listed in the Swiss Family Name Book.
Born 20.2.1773, he probably arrived at the Cape around the end of 1809 as the
bandmaster of a British Regiment from Chester, with his first wife Louisa Eliza (1808-
1888). 1 Meurant took his discharge in Cape Town and earned his living as a dancingmaster
and music teacher, and from 1813 onward augmented his income as a
shopkeeper selling local produce. 2 His application for the same privileges as
commissioned officers enjoyed “at home” after retiring were refused. 3
Louis Balthasar Meurant is one of the first South African composers: he wrote the
music for the ballet Het liefde-nes which J. Riaux produced with his pupils in the
Afrikaans theatre, Cape Town, on 10.10.1810.
Initially Meurant appears to have done reasonably well and in 1812 his first son,
Louis Henry was born. (see below) Then he met with reverses. His second son born in
1813 died soon after birth, he had financial difficulties and had to sell his furniture and
musical instruments, and in 1818 his wife died. Almost immediately he married
Elisabeth Koen of Bengal, widow of Richard Basty. From then on his circumstances
improved again. He was able to buy a printing-press for 300 pounds sterling for George
Greig (thus financing the first free printing-press in South Africa) on condition that his
son Louis Henry should serve his apprenticeship with him and become a partner. 6 Only
five months later Governore Lord Charles Somerset suppressed the Commercial
Advertiser edited by Thomas Pringle and John Fairbairn and printed by Greig, thus
precipitating the famous struggle for a free press.
When Louis Balthasar died in 1826 he owned three houses in town while he himself
lived on premises hired from the Heer J.N. Neethling in Longmarket Street with a
warehouse and shop selling produce, clothing, materials, jewellery, tobacco, etc.
/ 1 S.A. Standard Encyclopaedia; 2 RGD 113; 3 CO 4315:87, 23.8.1881; 4 Bond: They
were South Africans; 5 Bosman: Drama en Toneel; 6 Rosenthal: 160 Years of Cape
Town printing. Cape Town, 1960.
Meurant, Louis Henry, son of Louisd Balthasar Meurent, showed enterprise and self
assurance from a very early age. At the age of 13, with all the confidence of a man of
business, this minor applied for permission to purchase property in town. Suffice to say
this was not granted.
In 1820 Robert Godlonton and Thomas Strongfellow brought an old wooden printingpress
to the Cape but on arrival it was confiscated by the authorities who feared that a
press would organise frontier opinion. It was sent to Graaff-Reinet and used for printing
government notices. In 1831 it was auctioned and Louis Meurant bought it and
established the first newspaper in the Eastern Cape, the Graham’s Town Journal. He
also established other newspapers, the most important being Het Kaapsche Grensblad
(1844-50) in which he published under various nonom-de-plumes two series of letters
and dialogues commenting on current affairs. Godlontonm soon joined him, became a
partner in 1843 and bought him out in 1849.
Thereafter Louis Meurant worked as a merchant and interpreter, took part in frontier
wars, often as officer commanding the burgher forces. In 1863 he was appointed
magistrate and 1884 elected member of the Legislative Assembly in Cape Town.
In 1860-61 he published his famous Zaamspraak tussen Klaas Waarzegger en Jan
Twyfelaar in the Cradock News. This attracted so many readers that it was reprinted in
bookform – the first Afrikaans book. His non-de-plume Klaas Waarzegger practically
came to be a symbol of Afrikaans conciousness and played an important role in the first
Afrikaans language movement. Louis Henri Meurant died 29.3.1893 at Riversdale.
After his mother’s early death he was raised by an Afrikaans speaking family, but it
was said that he never lost the French accent acquired from his father.
/ Nienaber: Louis Henri Meurant
Schindler, Friedrich born Glarus GL 1776, bricklayer, 1815 while resident in St.
John’s Street, Cape Town, received permission to remain in the colony 1 and in the
4 & 5
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