Ds. M.J. Goddefroy

Full name: Marié (or Marius) Joseph Goddefroy

Lifespan: 1848 Belgium - 1920 Pretoria [71]

Occupation: NH Kerk minister

Unidentified photographer, n.d.

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Timeline

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Biography

Family

His first marriage was to Anna Antonia Hogerzeil (1855 Netherlands - 1896 Pretoria [41]) in 1876 in the Netherlands. They had three children:

• Joseph Louis Simon Chretien Goddefroy (1877 Netherlands - 1900 Waterberg)
• Anton Francois Christiaan Goddefroy (1879 Netherlands - 1947 Potgietersrus [68]) became a farmer.
• Marius Theodore Goddefroy (c.1881 Netherlands - 1901 St Helena)
• Edmond Abraham Goddefroy (1884 Netherlands - 1918 Paarl [34]) became a sheep farmer.
• Elisabeth Louisa Antonia 'Betsy' de Moor (1886 Netherlands - 1965 SA [79]) became a women's and children's doctor in SA. In 1916 she was living at 418 Church Street, Pretoria.¹⁷
• Christiaan Deodatus Goddefroy (1887 Waterberg - 1949 Warmbaths [62]). He was in charge of a Children’s Home.
• Theodore Goddefroy (1893 - 1963 [70])

In 1898, he married his second wife Susara Maria Otto (1880-1915 [35]) in Standerton. They had one child:

• Hester Frederica Philippina Watson (1905 - ?)

Goddefroy and his second wife, Susara Maria Otto on their wedding day.⁴

Education

Goddefroy was born in 1848 in Brussels, Belgium, and was of French descent. He received his schooling at the Waalse Weeshuisskool in The Hague, after which he taught for a period of time. He studied theology at the University of Utrecht between 1871 and 1876. He had a great interest in literature and philosophy and belonged to various student societies.

After his studies, Goddefroy served three congregations of the Dutch Reformed Church (Nederlands Hervormde Kerk) between 1877 and 1887.

Move to the Z.A.R.

After the attempts to unite the NG Church and the Hervormde Church in the ZAR failed, there was a great need for a minister who could provide leadership in the reconstruction of the Reformed Church / Hervormde Kerk (NHK).

On 7 December 1885 (prior to Goddefroy's arrival in the Z.A.R.) the NHK and NGK briefly joined to form the Vereenigde Kerk (formally the Nederduitsch Hervormde of Gereformeerde Kerk) in the Z.A.R. The merger was intended to consolidate the two main Reformed denominations in the Transvaal into a single national church to provide stronger leadership and unified theological training. It was initially viewed as a success, and for a period, it became the primary Dutch Reformed body in the region, though it was plagued by internal disharmony from its inception. During the union, many NHK properties (churches, parsonages, etc.) came under control of the Vereenigde Kerk. The union was legally and structurally dissolved by 1892, following a series of bitter legal disputes over church property and assets. Goddefroy later played a pivotal role in the re-establishment of the independent NHKA after the failure of the union.

After the church union, the Reformed Church (Hervormde Kerk) had only five active ministers, namely C.W. du Toit of Potchefstroom, M.J. Goddefroy of Pretoria, Jac van Belkum of Rustenburg, J. Beyer of Standerton, and A. Murray of Ventersdorp. Prospects that the Nederduitsch Hervormde Kerk could progress vigorously were destroyed by the outbreak of the 1st Boer War.⁶

In 1886, the Consulent Congregation of Pretoria, together with the members from Middelburg and Trichardtsfontein (Secunda), called Rev. Goddefroy from the Netherlands.

He accepted the call to the Nederduitsch Hervormde Kerk in the Transvaal in 1887. On 30 September 1887, Goddefroy was inducted / confirmed at Witfontein. Here he ran into the hostility of the United Church (Verenigde Kerk), specifically Rev. HS Bosman. Numerous Cape ministers (including Bosman) had a fundamental distrust of the Dutch Reformed Church NHK, which they regarded as modernist, liberal, and free-thinking.

Goddefroy lived in the NH Pastorie which was located on Pretoriusplein, on the corner of Visagie and Paul Kruger Streets in Pretoria (where the Town Hall stands today). The church was on the corner of Minnar and Paul Kruger Streets.⁴ There were two houses between the church and the pastorie. The church later became the Tivoli Theatre.¹⁶

He identified completely with the church in which he had been a minister in the Netherlands (NHK). Furthermore, he possessed a very strong pro-Boer and sharp anti-English attitude; hence, he could fully identify with his adopted people's ideals and their struggle to remain a sovereign, independent nation free from any English influence.¹³

• The farm Witfontein (north of Pretoria) served as a central gathering point for the Hervormde community before a permanent church building was completed in the city center.

In the Z.A.R, for several years as the only minister of the NHK as a whole, he competently performed the immense work of rebuilding the Church - which had been totally disrupted and disorganized after the failed church union of 1885 - and he once again charted the theological course of the Church.¹⁰ Until 1890, he stood virtually alone serving 13 different congregations with 17 church locations, until a second minister was called for Rustenburg and Marico.

In Eastern Transvaal (Mpumalanga), Goddefroy and Van Belkum continued the custom of bringing in ministers from the Netherlands in order to build a Dutch bulwark against the Cape colonial influence. For example, in 1895, Rev. A. Lagerwey, a good friend of Goddefroy, was called to Heidelberg. In 1896, Rev. C. Spoelstra was called to Pretoria.⁵

Initially, Goddefroy also looked after the needs of the NHK members on the Witwatersrand (those who didn't want to form part of the United Church). Through his mediation, the NHK obtained stands (plots of land) in Johannesburg. On 23 February 1895, Rev. A. Lagerwey of Heidelberg established a congregation on the Witwatersrand under the name of the Ned. Herv. congregation of Fordsburg and Johannesburg. After the death of Rev. Lagerwey in 1898, Rev. M.J. Goddefroy acted as the konsulent (interim/consultant minister).

Goddefroy was moderator (Voorzitter) of the of the General Church Assembly (Algemene Kerkvergadering) of the NHK from 1888-1899.¹⁴

Goddefroy in c.1897.¹⁴

2nd Boer War

Rev. Goddefroy went with the Boer forces to Natal, where he experienced several battles, preached the gospel, cared for the wounded and sick, and conducted funerals. After the war entered its second phase with the fall of Pretoria, Goddefroy went to the Waterberg region where he and his family stayed on the farm of Faan Viljoen. From there, he visited the Boer forces in the Northern Transvaal and ministered the gospel to them. During the course of the war, Rev. Goddefroy contracted malaria, which damaged his health for the remainder of his life.

In June 1901, while afflicted by fever, he was captured with his family 70 miles east of Pietersburg and taken to the Pietersburg concentration camp. In the following October, he was sent to Trichinopoly, British India - the same camp as his son Edmond who was captured earlier at Rhenosterpoort⁷ - and from there deported to Fort Govindgarh in the Punjab. He was only able to leave that part of the world in July 1902, and because permission to return to the Transvaal was initially refused, Rev. Goddefroy could only return to Pretoria in mid-1903.¹²

Of the six sons of Rev. Goddefroy, four distinguished themselves on the battlefield. The eldest, Joseph, served in Danie Theron’s Wielrijders Rapportgangers Corps, where he was promoted to Lieutenant; however, he died of typhus on 27 October 1900 in the Waterberg district. Two other sons, Anton and Marius, were taken prisoner of war shortly thereafter during a battle at Pienaars River and sent to St. Helena; there, the latter lost his life on 9 February 1901 to a treacherous bullet (murdered?). The fourth son, Edmond Goddefroy, was wounded at Colesberg in December 1899, subsequently fought under General Beyers, but was ambushed by a large superior force in May 1901 along with about thirty other faithful burghers, taken prisoner, and sent to India.¹²

Chapter on the murder of Marius Goddefroy from Nienaber, P.J. (1950) Boere op St Helena.

The war had a tremendous negative effect on Goddefroy, and he struggled with his health and depression long after the war. He also became very anti-British.⁶

Post war

NH Kerkraad with the laying of the cornerstone of the new church. Goddefroy is sitting centre, General Louis Botha sitting 2nd from right. (1904). Image source: Eeufees-album. Pretoria se eerste eeu on Wikimedia Commons.

NH Kerk, Pretoria (2015).

Goddefroy was a staunch advocate for the principle of Christian National Education (Christelike Nasionale Onderrig / CNO), believing that the church should have a strong hand in the schooling of its youth.

During the war, Republican education collapsed, leaving many teachers, especially Hollanders, in poverty. In June 1901, a committee called Vriendenkring was formed in Pretoria to support them. After the war ended in 1902, this evolved into the Algemene Kommissie tot behartiging van die Christelik Nasionale Onderwys (CNO). Its goal was to preserve the spirit of the old Transvaal education laws, free from British interference. By early 1903, the movement for Free CNO Schools began. The first head commission consisted of Pretoria's three Dutch ministers: Dr. H.S. Bosman, Rev. M.J. Goddefroy, and Rev. P. Postma.¹⁵

After his return to the Transvaal he accepted a call to Middelburg (1905-1917).

Unlike some of his contemporaries who favored a local seminary (kweekskool), Goddefroy advocated for a high-level university education for ministers, preferably at an established institution in the Netherlands, which was expensive. Inadequate educational facilities in the South African Republic, the Boer War, and the poverty of Church members after the war hindered the process. In 1917 the Transvaal University College opened the Faculty of Theology.

"Die Kerk wou nooit broeikasplante kweek nie, en dit lê nie in die aard van onse Kerk om uit 'n kleingelowige of bygelowige vrees, te verhinder, dat die studente met allerhande soorte van wetenskap in aanraking moet kom. Ons is nie bang vir die wetenskap nie." (NHK, 1928)

Goddefroy retired in 1918 and passed away in 1920 in Pretoria. He was buried next to his wife Anna in the Ou Begraafplaas.

Also see Goddefroy Gedenksaal.

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Sources

1. Marius Joseph Goddefroy
2. Dreyer, W.A. (2017) Honderd Jaar hervormde teologie.
3. Botha, S.J. (2001) Nederduitsch Hervormde Kerk in 1899.
4. Rex, H.M. (1974) Die Ontstaansgeskiedenis van 'De Hervormer' (1869-1899). Die Hervormer, Sept 1974.
5. Pont, A.D. (1995) Die koers van die Nederduitsch Hervormde Kerk 1894-1924.
6. Dreyer, W. (2019) Sketse uit die geskiedenis van die Hervormde Kerk (1824-2024).
7. War Museum.
8. Botha, S.J. (1987) Ds Marié Joseph Goddefroy as volksman.
9. GODDEFROY Marius Joseph. South Africa's Stamouers.
10. Botha, S.J. (1987) Ds MJ Goddefroy en Christeliknasionale onderwys.
11. Joseph Louis Simon Chretien Goddefroy
12. Engelenburg, F.V. et al. (1904) Onze Krijgs-Officieren Album van Portretten met Levens-Schetzen.
13. Botha, S.J. (1977) Waar lê die wortels van die "sondige verskeurdheid" in die Kontrovers Bosman-Goddefroy 1888-1890?
14. De bevestiging van Ds. Goddefroy te Witfontein, 1887. Die Hervormer, Aug 1928.
15. Lotz, P.W. (1952) Geskiedenis van die Ontwikkeling van die Onderwys aan Blankes in die Distrik Heidelberg, Transvaal van 1839 to 1950. (thesis)
16. Kotterer, A.C. (1952) Pretoria se eerste munisipale kantoor. Pretoriana, Vol 2 No 1.
17. Ploeger, J. (1972) Ses maande uit "De Spectator". Pretoriana 68, 1972.