Theunis van Schalkwyk

Full name: Theunis Dirksz Van Schalkwyk / Theunis Dircksen van Schalckwijck

Lifespan: c.1639 Netherlands - bef.1717 Cape

Occupation: Musketeer, soldier, fish & liquor merchant, farmer, carpenter, high-ranking official.

He is considered the progenitor (stamvader) of the Van Schalkwyks in South Africa. He was the first person to bring the surname (originally from the place name Schalkwijk in the Netherlands) to the Cape as a permanent settler. His surviving son Dirk became the direct male-line ancestor.

Theunis was a prominent early Cape settler and one of the wealthiest free burghers of his time. Born in Zeeland, Netherlands (possibly Schalkwijk), he arrived at the Cape on 13 April 1664 (or circa 1665) (on the Nieupoort) as a busschieter (musketeer/soldier) in the service of the Dutch East India Company (VOC). He was granted burgher rights shortly thereafter, marking his transition to independent status.

A versatile and enterprising man, Theunis initially worked as a private woodcutter (from 1668) while also fishing — securing exclusive rights in 1675 to supply fish to the Cape Market. Between 1679 and 1697 he held licences to sell liquor, and he later received permissions to brew and sell beer and stronger spirits (though some brewing ventures were unsuccessful). He frequently clashed with authorities over issues like smuggling, a common occurrence among settlers of the era.

As a farmer, Theunis excelled in viticulture, grain production, and livestock farming. By 1692 he was already one of the most prosperous burghers, owning 180 cattle, 1,700 sheep, 8,000 vines, and harvesting 260 mud of grain. Two years later his holdings had grown significantly to 200 cattle, 2,700 sheep, and 16,000 vines. He became the second-largest grain producer at the Cape and a major landowner.

He received or owned multiple farms, including:

• Paarl Diamant (granted 1693, with additional portions later)
• De Drie Fonteinen (Three Fountains) near Paarlberg (1699)
• Orangen/Oranjerie on Paardeberg (1707)
• Alphen in the Constantia area (granted 13 October 1714; transferred to Jan Brommert in 1716)
• Blommesteijn (now part of Bellville/Kenridge, Durbanville; granted 17 October 1714)
• Leeuwenjagt (briefly)
• Klipheuvel and Dodekraal (which he owned at his death)

In 1716, he transferred the Alphen farm (part of the greater Constantia lands) to Jan Brommert, who was responsible for equipping VOC ships in Table Bay and was married to Theunis’s only daughter, Anna. Given Theunis’s substantial wealth, it is widely believed Alphen formed part of Anna’s inheritance.

Theunis held several civic and military positions: officer in the burgher militia (1687), member of the Burgerraad (burgher council, 1696–1697), the marriage court (1696–1705), and the court for minor civil cases (1699–1700). He was also actively involved in the burgher community’s governance and representation.

He married three times: first in 1669 to Jacomijntje Hermans (from the ship Alphen; she died before 1682), then in 1682 to Geertruy Jansz van Buiren (widow), and in 1689 to Gysberta Adriana van Breugel (widow). He was survived by his son Dirk (to whom he gifted Slot van de Paarlberg in 1712) and daughter Anna.

Theunis Dirks van Schalkwyk died before 16 March 1717 at the Cape, leaving a lasting legacy as a successful pioneer farmer and community leader whose descendants continued the strong agricultural tradition in South Africa.

---

Sources

1. Trotter, A.F. (1903) Old Cape Colony.
2. Theunis Dirksz Van Schalkwyk