Schalk Willemsz van de Merwe

Abt 1611 - Yes, date unknown    Has one ancestor and more than 100 descendants in this family tree.

• Name	Schalk Willemsz van de Merwe
  Birth	Abt 1611	Holland, Nederland
  Gender	Male
  Death	Yes, date unknown
  Siblings	2 Siblings
  + 1. Schalk Willemsz van de Merwe,   b. Abt 1611, Holland, Nederland d. Yes, date unknown   2. Dirk Willems van de Merwe   d. Yes, date unknown   3. Pieter Willemsz. van de Merwe   d. Yes, date unknown
  Person ID	I806538	Geneagraphie
  Last Modified	16 Aug 2011

  
  

  Father	Willem van de Merwe,   b. Abt 1590   d. Yes, date unknown
  Family ID	F356079	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Children	+ 1. Willem Schalk van der Merwe,   b. 1643, Nederland d. 12 Jul 1716 (Age 73 years)   2. Dirk Schalks van de Merwe   d. Yes, date unknown   3. Joost Schalks van de Merwe   d. Yes, date unknown
  Family ID	F356870	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	16 Aug 2011

  
  

• Event Map	Click to hide
  		Birth - Abt 1611 - Holland, Nederland  = Link to Google Earth
  Pin Legend	: Address       : Location       : City/Town       : County/Shire       : State/Province       : Country       : Not Set

  
  

• Notes

  The first Boer commando A turning point was reached in 1715 when the security situation at the Cape got out of hand and the VOC were unable to protect the free-burghers, partly due to the distance from the Cape and partly due to a lack of interest by the government. After another attack, during which the home of Pieter Rossouw was burned down and cattle were looted, the burghers pleaded to the "politieke raad" for permission to retaliate. On 20 November 1715, a commando of 30 volunteers, under command of "burgervaandrig" Schalk Willemsz van der Merwe and "wagtmeester" Jan Harmensz Potgieter, were given orders to find the bushmen Hottentots and bring the cattle back. During this expedition, Jan Harmensz (the son of Harmen Jansz) killed a bushmen woman. Jan was charged before the military court and, after many years of deliberation, evidence given, and embarrassment by the VOC, Jan was eventually discharged from the army on 14 October 1727 (due to "old age and inappropriate behaviour"). The expedition is however hailed as the start of the commando system in South Africa, where-by the protection of rural farm communities were left in the hands ofcivilian volunteers. At first, the commando's were a free for all wild west type of operation, but later on, it was organized under law, with the commandant and the field cornets as elected leaders of the commando's. Sources: "Stellenbosch - Drie eeue" (three centuries), edited and compiled by F Smith, published by the city council of Stellenbosch (1979), ISBN 0 620910-8. (Chapter 14, p429) Resolusies van die Politieke Raad, Deel IV, 1707-1717 Resolusies van die Politieke Raad, Deel VII