Heinrich PRIEN-PRIEM was born about 10 May 1761 in Schmalstede, Holstein, Denmark. He died on 28 Jul 1810 in Cape of Good Hope .

VOC: Opvarenden, Voornaam opvarende: Hendrik
Periode: 1699 - 1794
Voornaam opvarende Hendrik
Achternaam opvarende Priem
Herkomst opvarende Smalstee
Datum indiensttreding 1787-12-19
Functie bij indiensttreding Soldaat
Uitleg over functie Militair
Uitgevaren met het schip Gouverneur-Generaal Maatsuijker
Datum uit dienst 1793-08-31
Waar uit dienst Kaap de Goede Hoop
Reden uit dienst Laatste vermelding

Concise genealogical story; ChatGPT:
The Story of Heinrich (Hendrik) Prien and Neeltje van den Berg

Heinrich, also known as Hendrik Prien, was born around 10 May 1761 in Holstein, Denmark (then under Danish rule). He came from the village of Schmalstede and enlisted as a soldier with the Dutch East India Company (VOC) on 19 December 1787. Hendrik sailed to the Cape of Good Hope aboard the Gouverneur-Generaal Maatsuijker and arrived there in 1788.

After serving as a soldier, he became a woodcutter in 1789 and later settled as a burgher (free citizen) “over the Zouterivier” — the area across the Salt River — on a farm known as “Hols.”

On 9 December 1798, he married Neeltje (Cornelia Catharina) van den Berg in Cape Town. Neeltje was born about 11 February 1785, the daughter of Mattheas Hartman van den Berg of Münster, Westphalia, and Geertruyda Brits.

Hendrik and Neeltje built a life together at the Cape during the closing years of VOC rule. Hendrik died on 28 July 1810, at the age of 49, on the farm of Matthys Bantjes in the Cape of Good Hope.

Years later, the widowed Neeltje remarried in Cape Town on 22 April 1827 to Andreas Wanning, a native of Amsterdam, the Netherlands. She lived out her final years at Blaauwberg’s Valley, where she passed away on 15 April 1835, aged 50.

Together, the lives of Hendrik Prien and Neeltje van den Berg reflect the early European settler experience at the Cape — one of movement, adaptation, and the blending of northern European and Cape colonial roots.

Heinrich married Petronella Catharina VAN DEN BERG daughter of Mattheas Hartman VAN DEN BERG and Geertruijda BRITS on 9 Dec 1798 in Cape of Good Hope. Petronella was born about 11 Feb 1785. She died on 15 Apr 1835 in Bloubergvallei, Cape of Good Hope.

          1825; Blaauwberg Muster Roll; Field-Cormetcy of Mr J.C. Kotze [J.J. son]
          Widow Prien; 1 Male Slave older than 20 yrs; 10 Breeding Stock Cattle; 2 Goats

Heinrich and Petronella had the following children:

Elisabeth Geertruyda PRIEN was born about 1798 in Cape of Good Hope. She was christened³ on 13 Jan 1799 in Cape of Good Hope.

Elisabeth married Justinus Nicolaus KEHR son of Justinus Nikolaus KEHR and Johanna Magdalena EIJKENSTROOM. Justinus was born about 1795 in Cape of Good Hope .

Johan Hendrik PRIEN-PRIEM "Jan" was christened on 26 Jan 1800 in Cape of Good Hope. He died on 20 Dec 1841 in Cape of Good Hope.
          Christening witnesses; Johan Andreas Alberts; Anna Maria Catharina Zaaijman; Johan Cornelis Vogel; Wilhelmina Cornelia haycam ??

DEPOT; Genealogical; Society of SA, Peter Holden
DESCRIPTION; Priem, F - Gravestone; START 1834; END 1906.06.26
REMARKS; Dutch Reformed Church Cemetery, Main Road, Observatory, Cape Town.
SUMMARY   +    Franciscus   Priem.   Born   1834   in   Koeberg.  Died 26-06-1906. Aged 72 years. Son of Jan Hendrik Priem an Hermina Johanna Verwey. Husband of Petronella Barendina Schietekat. (Source:  Mansell George Upham).

Concise genealogical story: ChatGPT

The Story of Johan Hendrik “Jan” Prien/Priem (1800–1841)

Johan Hendrik “Jan” Prien, also recorded as Priem, was christened on 26 January 1800 at the Cape of Good Hope, with witnesses Johan Andreas Alberts, Anna Maria Catharina Zaaijman, Johan Cornelis Vogel, and Wilhelmina Cornelia Haycam?. He was the son of Heinrich (Hendrik) Prien from Holstein and Cornelia Catharina (Neeltje) van den Berg.

Jan grew up in the Cape Colony and worked as a farm labourer (“knegt”) on several farms, including Keert de Koe, Blaauwberg’s Valley, and Witzand in the district of Cape Town.

On 23 December 1821, in the Dutch Reformed Church, Cape Town, Jan married Hermina Johanna Verwey, daughter of Gerhardus Verwey [b3c3d6e2] and Christina Johanna Brand [b3c5d7]. Hermina had been christened on 22 August 1802 in Cape Town, with witnesses Gijsbertus Brand, Johanna Hugo, Johannes Frederik Dreijers, and Engela van Nieuwkerk.
By 1825, the Blaauwberg Muster Roll lists Jan and his wife Wilhelmina with two young sons, indicating the family’s early establishment in the rural Cape.

Jan and Hermina lived humbly; by the 1837 Blaauwberg Muster Roll, he was marked as “poor”, yet the couple raised ten children, continuing the Prien/Priem line in the Cape.

Jan died before 20 December 1841, at about 41 years old. His legacy continued through his son Franciscus Priem, born in Koeberg in 1834, who died in Cape Town on 26 June 1906, aged 72. Franciscus was the husband of Petronella Barendina Schietekat, and his gravestone stands in the Dutch Reformed Church Cemetery, Main Road, Observatory, Cape Town.

          1825; Blaauwberg Muster Roll; Field-Cormetcy of Mr J.C. Kotze [J.J. son]_
           Johan H; Wilhelmina; 2 Male Children below 16 yrs of age; 15 Draught Oxen
          1837; Blaauwberg Muster Roll; Field-Cornetcy of W. Pieter Wahl;
           Jan; marked as poor

Johan married Hermina Johanna VERWEY daughter of Gerhardus VERWEY and Christina Johanna BRAND on 23 Dec 1821 in Cape Town Neder Geref Church, Cape of Good Hope, by Ds. J.C. Berrange. Hermina was born about 1802 in Cape of Good Hope. She was christened⁶ on 22 Aug 1802 in Cape of Good Hope.
          Christening witnesses; Gijsbertus Brand; Johanna Hugo; Johannes Frederik Dreijers; Engela van Nieuwkerk