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

Jan Sausche of Rougemont VD bought a farm in the Berg River valley below Paarl,
but hired out his lands on a share crop basis and continued working as blacksmith. He
never married and left no descendants.
Most Swiss freemen took work as farmhands, staying long years with farmers who
treated them well. Some eventually hired part of the farm, the owner receiving as rent
one third of all produce. Thus in 1773 Hendrik Freene of Canton Berne was recorded as
owning 10 head of cattle and 200 sheep, and 1741 Johannes Litseler of Canton Basel
had 32 head of cattle.
TRADESMEN, TEACHERS AND BUSINESSMEN.
On obtaining burgher status those proficient at a trade would take employment, or, if
they had sufficient enterprise, work for their own account. In 1688 Hans Jurgen Sleyer
(SH) became a farmhand and in 1702 Pieter Frene (VD) took service as a shepherd. The
first Swiss tradesman recorded, in 1688, is Jacob Krebs of Berne, a free shoemaker.
Others to become free shoemakers were Johannes Struyk and Johannes Linacker both of
Berne, in 1765 and 1795 respecively, the last named living in Stellenbosch. Hans Waber
(BS) in 1701, Jan Vorster of Berne, in 1723, and possibly Samuel Cobie (BE) in 1763,
became free masons. Frederik Furter of Basel worked as a carpenter in the Swartland
(present day Malmesbury) after 1800. Jan Christiaan Yselle of Hasle BE set up as a
tailor in 1760 and no doubt profited from his wife’s connection with the wife of Colonel
Gordon, Head of the Military Establishment. One Swiss, Pierre Sandoz of Neuchatel,
worked as a free silversmith in 1754 but his dishonesty, combined with a deficient
knowledge of his trade, led to his downfall. Both Jan Sausche (VD) in 1747 and
Abraham Matthee of the Bernese Jura acquired farms in 1750, but appear to have made
their living mainly as blacksmiths.
The several Swiss recorded as teachers all appear to hail from the northern parts of
Switzerland. Jan Melchior Frick, sextant and teacher at the Drakenstein church 1733-
1741, was from Steckborn TG. Henry François Grondeler, a music teacher, was from
Basel; he and his son served for over 60 years as the organists of the Groote Kerk in
Cape Town. Another Swiss, Matthias Liedy, a former soldier in the Regiment
Wurttemberg was, at the time of the first British Occupation, teacher in the employ of a
farmer. They probably had only a most rudimentary standard of education. In contrast,
Johan Jacob Ziegler of Schaffhausen who was specially “imported” by prominent
burghers of Cape Town to teach their children, was well educated and even applied for
permission to open a Latin school.
Quite a few set up in business. The most successful were the two butchers Michiel
Ley of Basel and Jan Oberholster of Zurich. The former appears to have been on a good
footing with Governor Willem Adriaan Van der Stel, which brought him lucrative
Government contracts, notably, together with Obersholster and two others, the
monopoly of the meat trade. This sparked the famous protest action by farmers led by
Adam Tas. Nicolaas Wederkeer of Bremgarten AG also set up business but died only
five years later, in 1712. The inventory of his property and household goods includes
books, a pipe-rack and a caged canary, indicating him to have been a cultured person. A
few years later, Jacob Marik (GR) made an unsuccessful attempt to set himself up as
dealer and baker. After 1749 Casper Schalker of Winterthur had a general dealer’s shop
near Paarl.
Johan Coenraad Gie of Zurich, on becoming a burgher, married the granddaughter of
Michiel Ley. This brought him excellent connections: her father and uncles occupied
important positions. As active freemason, co-founder of De Goede Hoop Lodge in
1772, Church elder, Burgher Councillor and Captain in the Burgher Infantry he also
became prominent in public life. His name appears in an inscription on the pulpit in the
Groote Kerk.
Jan von Winterthur of Seuzach ZH in 1776 became a burgher of Stellenbosch, owned
property and married, but his profession is nowhere recorded.
FREE SETTLERS
All shipping to the Cape was controlled by the VOC who provided transport only for
Company servants, senior officials and their families. When prominent burghers wanted
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