[Photograph is copyright and property of the Editor - Annelie Els]

Many South Africans whose ancestors lived at the Cape in 1650-1750’s are part of one big extended family. The custom of referring to seniors as "oom" or "tannie" is not only done out of respect but it also reflects the reality of the close familial bond and the small collective genetic pool.

Cape South African Stamouers / Progenitors / Forebearer came from Africa, Europe, Asia and other places. Some were VOC workers, free settlers, Huguenot, Slaves and Indigenous.

Hundreds of Germans emigrated to the Cape Colony during the Dutch rule between (1652-1806)

In 1814 Britain eventually gained formal possession of the Cape. Factors that prompted a substantial emigration of British settlers to South Africa 1819-1820.

A group of German settlers came to Natal in March 1848 on the ship Beta.

Gold had been mined since the early 1870s but was discovered on the Witwatersrand, in the Transvaal, in 1886. Prospectors streamed to South Africa from all over the world, and especially from Europe

Although there was much sympathy for the Boer cause outside of the British Empire. No other government actively supported the Boer cause. There were, however, individuals from several countries who volunteered and formed Foreign Volunteer Units. These volunteers primarily came from Europe, particularly the Netherlands, Germany and Sweden-Norway. Other countries such as France, Italy, Ireland (then wholly part of the United Kingdom), and restive areas of the Russian Empire, including Poland and Georgia, also formed smaller volunteer corps. Finns fought in the Scandinavian Corps. Many of these volunteers never returned to their homeland.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boer_foreign_volunteers]

Stamouers / Progenitors the individual considered to be the founder person of a specific ‘surname’ to be found in South Africa. Surnames have changed over time depending on the literacy of the individual who, for the first time wrote it in any South African document or record.

The STAMOUERS web site is an ongoing project of publishing the Stamvader [SV]; Progenitor of somebody who has living male descendant-lines in South Africa on the web page.

Female researchers may submit your paternal progenitor or any of your male ancestral lineage entries if they have any present day extended living male family members. Your living male member lineage is someone who descends from a particular ancestor.
[For example: Mozart had six children, but none of them had children of their own, so the composer’s lineage ended after one generation]

The search for your Stamvader [SV]; Progenitor; Forebearer begins with yourself. Everybody has two ascendants at the first stage, your father and mother; four at the second stage, your paternal grandfather and grandmother, and your maternal grandfather and grandmother; eight at the third, your great-grandparents. Thus in going up we ascend by various lines which split at every generation. By following and researching the paternal father lineage, the father of the father, and further back, you will hopefully eventually find your South African paternal progenitor.

If you would like to help with the 'development' of this new extended Stamouers/Progenitors web page please submit your article, here are some submission guidelines. . Submissions whether English or Afrikaans, will be placed on the web page in the language of submission.

Any corrections or additional data on posted 'Stamouers/Progenitors' articles are welcomed.

Contact 'The Editor' if contact-details with the writer of any of the Stamouers Articles would like to be made.

N.B. We can't vouch for the accuracy of the article information, researched and written by individuals, for posting on this webpage and advise that the genealogical researcher verifies the data.

Contact: The Editor