ANDERSON, William of Griquatown, Rev. ^{1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8}

  General Notes:

Rev. William arrived in South Africa as a Missionary from the London Missionary Society in 1800. He was in Griquastad in 1801 and Pacaltsdorp in 1821. ^{1 4 7}

  Events

• Bible Record: Anderson-william-1724-1789-Bible-doc.jpg, 1789. Anderson-william-1724-1789-Bible-doc.jpg

• Historical, 1800, Cape Town South Africa. ^{10 11} He sailed from England in 1800 for Cape Town and in February 1801 he left with Kicherer for the North West Cape to work among the nomadic Griquas. After 2 months they were 150 miles north of the Zak river on the banks of the Orange river. Growing tired of the nomadic life of the Griquas, he and Nicholas Kramer, another missionary, decided to settle in 1804 at Klaarwater (Griquatown) where they started making gardens and cultivating the soil. The community around them apparently grew as in 1805 a smallpox epidemic carried off about 300 of them. Soon after, William became seriously ill with fever, and was taken back to Cape Town to recover. After his marriage to Maria Johanna Schonken in 1806, he returned to Klaarwater for 3 years, then after a rest again in Cape Town, he returned in 1811, this time with Mr and Mrs Kramer.

• Historical, 1800. ¹² P26 of Source adds that he sailed for South Africa in May 1800 arriving in Cape Town in September as part of the second party of LMS Missionaries including Rev.James Read, and 2 Dutch missionaries, Bastian Tromp & A.A. Van der Lingen.
They were preceded by Rev.Dr. J.T.Kemp and party that arrived more than a year earlier.

• Historical: Missionaries at Griquatown, 1800-1824, Griquatown South Africa. ^{10 13} Are listed on the displayboard of the Mary Moffat Museum as follows:- William ANDERSON 1801/1804-1812. However we know from Peter Anderson's Weapons of Peace, that he served at Griquatown until February 1820. Cornelis KRAMER 1801/1804-1812 Lambert JANSZ 1806-1815 John CAMPBELL 1813-1820 Heinrich Carl Jacob HELM 1816-1824 Robert MOFFAT 1820-1821 John (De) MELVILL 1821-1824

• Occupation: Missionary for the London Missionary Society, 1801, Klaarwater(Griquatown) South Africa And In Pacaltsdorp (Near George) From 1821. ^{10 14}

• Historical, 1801, Griquatown South Africa. The setting up of the Griquatown Mission in 1801 was a historic event. See <http://www.rupert.net/~lkool/TimeLine.html> I found that it was entered in a summary time line history of South Africa -this means that someone sometime said it was critical."1800 First printing press in Cape Town.Government Gazette started.1801Official expedition of Truter, Somerville, Barrow and Daniell - with missionaries Jan Matthys Kok and William Edwards - reaches Dithakong William Anderson establishes mission at Aakaap and Klaarwater (laterGriquatown). Khoisan spelling book printed by LMS. 20 April, Lt.-Gov. Dundas appointed Governor of the Cape. 01 March 1803 - January 1806 Batavian Republic rules the Cape

• Death, Jan 23, 1812, Griquastad, Cape Colony, Southern Africa. ^{10 14} Mrs Kramer, a young and beautiful woman, wife of Cornelius Kramer, who was the faithful and beloved co-worker at Klaarwater with William Anderson, died suddenly during pregnacy. She was burried on the side of a hill at Lieeuwenkuil just over a mile from Klaarwater itself, the first white woman to be buried north of the Orange River. According to L.F.Du Preez, she died of pneumonia.

• Occupation. ^{10 14} Conraad Buys, in an emotional speech to discredit William is reported to have said "Why do you think Mr Anderson keeps a record of births and deaths among the people (of Griquatown)" This record has not been found.

• Engagement, Abt 1813, Griquastad, Cape Colony, Southern Africa. ^{10 14}

• Travel, Abt 1815, Klaarwater (Griquarown). ^{10 14} Robert Moffat was keen to visit the Tswana and together with William and Johanna, and their six children travelled to Lattakoo near the Kuruman river They saw the recently completed church as well as the thatched mud houses of the READ's and HAMILTON's. There was also an irrigation ditch which led water from the Kuruman river 3 miles away.

• Travel, Feb 1820, Griquastad, Cape Colony, Southern Africa. ^{10 11 14} Late in February 1820 William and Johanna, with 3 months old Bartholomew Ebenezer in her arms, finally left Griquatown to the goodby waves of the Helms and about 200 residents, mostly church members. They went first to Zuurbraak in 1821 and to Pacaltsdorp in January 1822.

• Occupation, 1821-1822, Zuurbraak, Cape Colony, Southern Africa. ^{10 14} William was sent to Zuurbraak mission to sort out difficulties said to be due mainly to the failure of Johanna's brother-in-law Johannes Seidenfaden to run things properly, but whilst there Dr.Philip of the LMS offered him the chance to go to the mission at Pacaltsdorp to assist Johann Messer who had replaced Carl Pacalt the first LMS missionary to the Outeniqua Khoikhoi in 1813, and had only been there for 2 years when William arrived on the 17 Jan 1822.

• Historical, Jun 19, 1825, Pacaltsdorp South Africa. ^{10 14} Dr. John Philip, LMS representative, officially opened the great stone church with its massive Norman style tower, which had taken only 18 months to complete. Roger Edwards, an artisan missionary is credited with having overseen the actual building construction, whilst William was the Minister in charge and of course responsible for the overall project

• Historical, 1830, Pacaltsdorp South Africa. ^{10 11 14} Robert Moffat, his wife and their 9 year old Mary, visited William and Johanna and told of the tribal battles they had endured around Griquatown and the Kuruman mission. Mary, who had been born at Griquatown, was still to meet David Livingstone, her future husband.
They were married in Kuruman by the Rev.P. Lemue on the 9 Jan 1845

• Alt. Birth, Dec 1, 1840, Pacaltsdorp South Africa. ^{10 14} According to the source, he celebrated his 70th birthday, which was to be the day when all slaves in the Colony were to be freed. This makes a year difference in his previously quoted birth date of 1 Dec 1769. The Emancipation Act was only pased much later in 1833. In a later reference (p188) he died a few months short of his 83rd birthday, which would confirm the date as 1 Dec. 1769.

• Cemetery, Sep 24, 1852, Pacaltsdorp South Africa. ^{10 14} He is burried next to his wife Johanna in a small cemetery not far from the old stone church. His epitaph is inscribed in Dutch, at his own request, whilst that of Johanna is in English.

• Historical, 1813-1839, Pacaltsdorp South Africa. ¹² Pacaltsdorp Missionary Institution Memorandum includes William Anderson's Register of Marriages cotaining 209 entries.
There is also a Register of Deaths between 1814 and 1821and a Register of Births (no dates given)

• Death, Sep 24, 1852, Pacaltsdorp South Africa. ¹² He was burried next to his beloved wife Johanna and the inscription on his tombstone is in Dutch (as opposed to English on hers) and is translated as follows:- "In memory of the Revd. William Anderson. Born in London on the 1st of December 1769 and died at Pacaltsdorp on the 24th of September 1852. He came as a Missionary to South Africa in the year 1800 and laboured with diligence and faithfulness for 21 years among the nativesn on both sides of the Orange River. In the year 1822 he came to this place where his faithful and untiring work wascrowned with great prosperity. After a long life dedicated to the service of God and the welfare of his fellow-men he departed this world in peace in expectation of the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life."

• Historical. ¹⁵ For information on the formatiom of the L.M.S. See the photo display for William Anderson

• Historical. Maria Johanna Schonken married William Anderson in 1806. Her mother was Elizabeth van Ellewee, whose paternal grandfather was Johannes van Ellewee, married to Maria du Plessis (b.1702). Maria's grandfather was Jean du Plessis (1548-1640) of Poitiers, France. His paternal grandmother was Guionne de Laval, whose father was Guillaume de Montmorency. This was a noble French family which you can trace back the patrilineal line sixteen generations to Bouchard de Montmorency (957-1020), whose father was Alberic of England, son of Edward I, son of Alfred the Great (and you can go back further to the kings of Wessex in the seventh century!).
Clear as mud, you say. Well, it's all on my family tree, which you can read on <http://trees.ancestry.co.uk/tree/19913420/family?fpid=876409813> if they will let you at ancestry.co.uk <http://ancestry.co.uk/>
-- Best wishes,
Allan

Prof Dr Allan Anderson
Birmingham, England



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• Missing Event.

William married Johanna Maria SCHONKEN, daughter of Bartholomeus SCHONKEN and Elizabeth Maria VAN ELLEWEE, on Aug 17, 1806 in Dutch Reformed Church, Cape Town, South Africa. (Johanna Maria SCHONKEN was born on Jul 22, 1777 in Stellenbosch, South Africa ^{1 3 4}, christened on Jul 27, 1777, died on Jun 22, 1848 in Pacaltsdorp, South Africa ^{1 7} and was buried in Pacaltsdorp, South Africa.)

• Marriage: William Anderson and Maria Skonken, Aug 17, 1806, Cape Town.

• Alt Marriage. ¹⁶ Marriage in the Dutch Reformed Church is confirmed in Archives and Records of the Cape by Graham Botha.

• Alt Marriage, Aug 17, 1806, Cape Town South Africa. ¹⁶ Biographies DSAB and SESA says marriage was in the DRC (Dutch Reformed Church)

  Marriage Notes:

Anderson, William, of London, Missionary; Johanna Maria Schonken, of the Cape. (a), 17-8-1806." [(a) refers to the Dutch Reformed Church in these extracts.]

"William and Johanna Anderson. I found an extract from the Dutch Reformed Church archive that they were married there on 17 August 1806. Peter was right about this in his book (p.81). As the Schonkens were baptised and married in this church it is not surprising. That they were a "mixed race" family is now incontrovertible. There was no Anglican Church in Cape Town in 1806, and St George's Cathedral was built at the beginning of the 20th Century. The only other church building in the Cape at that time was a Lutheran one. Ed, maybe you can start by clarifying this in your dad's records, which I checked. The confirming reference is found in G.C. Botha, "Extracts…" published in 1913-16: https://www.familysearch.org/library/books/viewer/260194/?offset=0#page=7&viewer=picture&o=&n=0&q="

C.G. Botha, "Extracts of Marriages at the Cape of Good Hope, 1806-1821", extracted from The Genealogist 30, Supplement 11, 1913-16, p.2
https://www.familysearch.org/library/books/records/item/260194-redirection

Research by AAllan Heaton Anderson ⁷