De Villiers book complete but incorrect

names as Robert Villiers, others used the name Villiers or were referred to as de
Villiers.
Jean Robert Villiers died a number of years before the demolition of the temple at
Landreville in 1679, but references to his children appear there up to that date
and thereafter in the register at Buncey, which served the Calvinist congregation
of Chatilon-sur-Seine. This congregation was attached to the Dijon colloquy of
the synodal province for Burgundy, but the temple was sufficiently close to the
Bar-sur-Seine bailiwick for members of the Reformed Church there to make use
of its facilities up to the eve of the revocation.
Jean Robert Villiers had sons called Pierre and Abraham, both vine growers, as
well as a son Paul who died unmarried on 12 March 1671. (The name Paul
appears again in the family at the Cape.)
This leaves one with the question of Jacob. His name appears in the Buncey
registers as Jacob Robert Villiers and Jacob de Villiers. On 8 June 1681 he
became godfather to Jacob, son of Jacques Bonnemain and Anne de Lan of
Viviers-sur-Artaut and on 15 September 1683 to Marie, daughter of Abraham
Arnoux and Jeanne Robin of the same place, but there is no indication at all that
Jacob was a son of Jean Robert Villiers. On the other hand the Delft letter,
referred to earlier on, described the new settlers as brothers and according to the
Cape records Jacob was a brother of Pierre and Abraham. See C. Graham
Botha, p 89.
One may assume, with some degree of confidence that at least Jacob was a
Burgundian. In his will which was drawn up by Daniel Thibault, Secretary of the
Council of Justice, Thibault states that "Jacob Villiers van Borgondien" and his
wife "Margaretha Gardiol van Provance" appeared before him to have their will
drawn up. In a subsequent section of the will it is stated that the will was read out
to the testators word by word, whereupon they declared it to be their last will and
testament. Thibault's description of Jacob as coming from Burgundy, was
therefore made with Jacob's full agreement.
Boucher stresses the fact that the discovery of the Villiers family in Burgundy is
by no means conclusive proof that the Cape refugees of this name came from
Viviers-sur-Artaut, although it is a distinct possibility. That the brothers' place of
origin is given as La Rochelle in the Delft letter, may be explained by the fact that
La Rochelle was used by them as an escape route and that La Rochelle was
consequently their last place of residence in France.
The question of the exact place in France where the de Villierses originally came
from therefore remains an open one which may well be solved in future by some
enthusiastic researcher.
Bibliography
Botha, C.G. : The French Refugees at the Cape. Cape Town. Cape Times, 1919.
Boucher, M. : French speakers at the Cape: The European background. Pretoria.
University of South Africa, 1981.
De Villiers, Derick. Personal communication.
De Villiers, D.P. : A History of the De Villiers Family. Cape Town. Nasionale
Boekhandel, 1960.
Die Stamvaders se Reis na en Vestiging aan die Kaap
Attie de Villiers
Summary
The three de Villiers brothers travelled to the Cape on the ship Sion which had