Abraham van der Weijden

Abraham van der Weijden, a Dutch citizen, was a ship’s captain and the initiator of Freemasonry in South Africa.

Abraham van der Weijden
Personal details
Born1743
Delft, Netherlands
Died1773
Cape Town, Cape Colony, South Africa
NationalityDutch
Spouse(s)Johanna Slegge
Known forShip’s captain in The Dutch East India Company and Freemasonry

Personal life

Van der Weijden was born in Delft, The Netherlands in 1743. He married Johanna Slegge on 29 July 1764. He died in South Africa on 31 January 1773.[1][2]

Career

He was trained as ship’s captain. He started in the service of The Dutch East India Company (DEIC) on 2 October 1768. He joined from the Delft division of the DEIC. Van der Weijden was in charge of the shipped called “Pauw”. This was a 140 feet long ship used by the DEIC from 1768-1784. The Pauw departed for Batavia on 5 December 1771 and stopped over in Cape Town, South Africa on 24 April 1772. Cape Town was a refreshment station between Europe and Asia, specifically for the ships from the DEIC. On 4 July 1772 the ship reached Batavia.[3][4][5][2]

Connection with South Africa

When van der Weijden arrived in 1772, he stayed over for a few weeks. He had contact with the other personnel of the DEIC stationed at Cape Town. Being a freemason and a member of the Grand Lodge in the Netherlands he set up a meeting to establish a Lodge in South Africa. This meeting took place on 2 May 1772.[6][7][3]

Freemasonry

At that meeting in 1772 Lodge de Goede Hoop was established with the first members being, Jacobus Alexander le Febre, Christoffel Brand, Jan Adriaan van Schoor, Abraham Chiron, Johann Conrad Gie, Pieter Soermans, Petrus Johannes de Witt and Olof Godlieb de Wet. Chiron was elected Grand Master. It was established under The Grand Lodge from the Netherlands. Van der Weijden issued a provisional warrant of authority, which was subject to the Netherlands' approval. It was approved by the Grand Master of the Netherlands. In July 1772 van der Weijden established the Lodge La Fidele Sinceritie in Batavia.[8][7][9]

Death

In January 1773 van der Weijden and other Ship Captains we invited for lunch by Governor Joachim van Plettenberg. Van der Weijden had a difference of opinion with Carl Phillip Cassel, also a ship’s captain. Cassel stabbed him to death and fled to France. He was the recipient of the first Masonic funeral in South Africa.[10][11][12]

References
  1. "Abraham van der Weijden". collectie-delft.nl. Collectie Delft. Retrieved 16 October 2018.
  2. "Abraham van der Weijden". www.openarch.nl. Open archives. Retrieved 16 October 2018.
  3. "The Deputy Grand Masters of the Netherlands". freemasonrysd.co.za. The Grand Lodge of South Africa, Southern Division. Retrieved 16 October 2018.
  4. "Pauw (1767)". vocsite.nl. de VOC site. Retrieved 16 October 2018.
  5. "Kamers van de VOC (Dutch-Translated: Divisions of the Dutch East Indian Company)". kenniscentrum.nl. VOC kenniscentrum. Retrieved 16 October 2018.
  6. "Lexicon Freemason". artefacts.co.za. Artefacts. Retrieved 16 October 2018.
  7. Cooper, Alan Amos (1980). The origins and growth of freemasonry in South Africa, 1772-1876 (Thesis). hdl:11427/18082.
  8. Bate, Osborn Hambrook (1908). The early history of the Lodge 'De Goede Hoop', 1772-1781. ISBN 9781108032643. OCLC 919810853.
  9. "The first Settler at the cape Hans Conrad Guy (J.C. Gie)" (PDF).
  10. Moodie, D. (2011). Book: a Series of Official Papers Relative to the Condition and Treatment of the Native Tribes of South Africa, Page 107. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781108032643.
  11. "Grand Lodge Ancient, Free and accepted Masons of the state Missouri official proceedings, one hundred thirty first annual communication". issuu.com. 1952. Retrieved 16 October 2018.
  12. Worden, Nigel (November 2009). "Demanding satisfaction: violence, masculinity and honour in late eighteenth century Cape Town". Kronos. 35 (1): 32–47. hdl:10566/100. JSTOR 41056621.
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