The
Origins of Du Plooys
Point to pictures to
see the captions
The progenitor of the Du Plooys in
Suid-Afrika was Simon du Plooy of Krommenie in North-Holland.
The name Du Plooy was
originally the Dutch name PLOIJER: a name indicating the trade of
brushmaker. A "ploijer" was, in the dialect of the Zaanstreek,
where Krommenie is, a brush or broom with soft, long bristles. The brushes
were oval and often had handles of silver or horn.
Mr and mrs Henk Hendrikse and
Ms Annie
Hendrikse-Borremans did research in North Holland to discover whether the
Dutch family Ploijer (of Ployer) of Krommenie and the South
African Du Plooys are the same family, and they concluded that this
was indeed the case.
I don't intend to give all the
details of their research here: it is available in Familia
XIX 1982 no 3, or if anyone would like me to mail them the article,
they can e-mail me by clicking HERE.
|
Note how the people
didn't use formal surnames: their identity is indicated by a
patronymic or by their place of origin or by their occupation.
Willem
Pieters or Pietersz indicates that Willem is "Pieter's son",
or "Pieters-zoon". By the same token, Maria Willems, Willemsd of
Willemsdr indicates that she is Maria "Willemsdochter" or "Willem's
daughter". |
The oldest generations
of Ploijers in North-Holland that the Hendrikses could find,
are as follows:
1.
Claes PLOIJER (no record of him, but we know his name as is
son's name is recorded as "Claeszoon".)
2.
Pieter Claeszoon PLOIJER, born about 1595 at Neck near Purmerend.
He died before 1659.
He resided in "de
Heylige Weg", Krommenie. His property was 11 roods in size and he
paid 16 stuivers en 8 duite per year "verponding". (The
word is an archaic one meaning rates, rent or mortgage.
"Stuivers" and "duite" are something like ha'pennies
and farthings.)
There is a record of a
notarised document in connection with a dispute he had with the neighbours
about the upkeep of a bridge between De Heyligland and Het Madt at
Krommenie. The brush business must have been fairly lucrative!
Hy was married twice:
-
Aftgen
Christiaans, married 26.12.1621
-
Ytje Simons
(widow) married 5.3.1628
Pieter and Aftgen
had two daughters, Annetje (1622) and Trijntje (1624); and with his
second wife, Ytje,
Pieter had three more children, Grietje (1628), Marytje (1632) and lastly our
ancestor, Pieter Pieterszoon PLOIJER.
3.
Pieter Pieterszoon PLOIJER was
baptised at Krommenie 24.2.1636. His occupation was "borstelmaker"
(brushmaker), and he died between 1673 and 1695.
-
On 26.11.1656, when he
was 20 years old, he married Risje Willems. She was the
daughter of Willem Jansz of Cnollendam and his wife Piryne
Michiels. Risje died 23 Februarie 1668.
-
His second wife was Guurtje
Claesdr, the widow of Teunus Arentsz. She was the daughter of Claes Pietersz
and Geertje Taams. He was 33 and his bride was 27 when they were
married in Krommenie on 14 April 1669.
Pieter en Risje had
six children: two girls, Aafjen (1659) and Aagt (1661), and three sons: Willem (1657), Michiel (1662)
and our ancestor, Symon Pietersz, baptised at Krommenie 29 August 1666.
With his second wife, Guurtje, Pieter
had 2 more children: Pieter (1671) and Risje
(1673.
Symon Pietersz
Plooijer (a.k.a. Simon Du Plooy) was next
heard of in the Cape. Click the link
At The Cape below to follow the adventures of the Du
Plooys at the Cape.
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