I have been doing a lot of research into my Genealogy since I had my DNA done! It has been so interesting and fascinating.
My Mother's maiden name is Marais and her father was born a Marais but we will go into that further down the line, so lets work our way back to the first Marais that arrived in South Africa.
Charles Marais 1 Direct ancestor (11 generations)
Born: Mar 30 1638 in Plessis Marle, France
Died: Apr 3 1689 Le Plessis Marle, Drakenstein district Western Cape, South Africa.
Charles Marais would be my Maternal 11th generation great grandfather .
Who were the French Huguenots?
Huguenots were French Protestants in the 16th ad 17th centuries who followed the teachings of the theologian John Calvin. They were persecuted by the French Catholic government during a violent period, Huguenots fled the country in the 17th Century, creating Huguenot settlements all over Europe, in the United States and Africa.
So Charl Marais married Catherine Tabourdeaux , Catherine was born in 1640 and we assume that they would have been married in 1658.
They had 5 children:
Claude Marais in 1662
Jacques Marais in 1666
Charles Marais in 1668 (Direct Ancestor 10th generation)
Marie-Madeleine Marais in 1673
Isaac Marais in 1677
They were all born and lived in Le Plessis-Marlé, Hurepoix, Ile-de-France, France.
In 1687 when Charles was 49 years old, they fled France for the Netherlands, in my research I came across a document:- A South African Diary: Contested Identity, My Family - Our Story Compiled by: Dr. Anthony Turton tony@anthonyturton.com
He is obviously related to me as his notes that Charles Marais is his maternal 9th Great grandparent.
Here is an extract taken from his diary.
14/9/87 Turton Genealogy: Charles Marais (Marré) (Maternal 9th Great Grandparent) and his wife Catherine Taboureux, having fled from Paris as a result of religious persecution, renounce Catholicism in the Waalse Kerk in Den Haag.
21/12/87 Turton Genealogy: Charles Marais (Marré) (Maternal 9th Great Grandparent) and his wife Catherine Taboureux, along with their 4 children (Claude born 1662; Charles born 1668; Izaac born 1667 and Maria born 1682), depart from Delft harbour on the ship "Voorschoten" destined for the Cape, escaping religious persecution in Europe. They are part of the French Huguenot movement.
1688
1688 Around 200 French Protestant refugees, known as French Huguenot’s, arrive in the Cape, driven out of Europe by the policies of King Louis XIV, who on the advice of his mistress Françoise de Maintenon, decides to drive out Protestantism. This loses a cadre of highly skilled people to the New World, including the likes of Du Pont and Courtauld, who go on to make a major contribution to the Americas. This new class of immigrant is more industrious than the VOC employee or the Vryburgher, resulting in a shift in productivity in the emerging Cape settlement.
13/4/88 Turton Genealogy: Charles Marais (Marré) (Maternal 9th Great Grandparent) arrives in the Cape at Saldanha Bay with his wife Catherine Taboureux and four children on board the ship Voorschoten. They originate from Plessis Marle, south of Paris in France and are part of the French Huguenots. The story of Charles Marré becomes linked to the story of Jean Prieur Du Plessis by virtue of the autopsy that the latter performs after the murder of the former (see 23/4/1689). The ship is damaged in a bad storm and they transfer to the ship "Jupiter" where they sail onto Table Bay.
1/12/88 Turton Genealogy: Charles Marais (Marré) (Maternal 9th Great Grandparent) and his wife Catherine Taboureux, presumably along with their 4 children (Claude, Charles, Izaac and Maria), is given 60 morgen of land in the Simonsberg area of Groot Drakenstein. He calls his farm Le Plessis Marle in recognition of his place of origin south of Paris, France. (One source refers to the farm name as “Plessis les Marle” – see notes by Adela Meyer – mwadela@mweb.co.za). Of the three children, his oldest son Claude Marias, goes on to become the first Elder of the French Church, and by the time his second wife dies in 1729, owns four farms, Meerlust, Lekkerwyn, le Plessis Marle and Welvanpas. It is interesting to note that Piet Retief is born years later at Welvanpas, creating a direct link between my early family and the Great Trek (see various references in 1837; 1838; 1839; 1884; 1885, 1985 and 1992).
29/3/89 Turton Genealogy: Charles Marais (Marré) (Maternal 9th Great Grandparent) is attacked by a Hottentot on his farm Le Plessis Marle (Plessis le Marle). He dies on 3 April 1689 from his injuries. This incident shows that life in the Cape is hard, unpredictable and violent. Significantly, three of my oldest traceable biological ancestors that settle in the Cape, die as a result of violence (see details of the death of Jacob Cloete on 25/3/1693, the death of Charles Marais (Marré) on 3/4/1689 and also the murder of Geertjen Gerrits (Maternal 9th Great-Grandparent) by the slave Claas van Malabar in March, 1692).
5/4/89 Turton Genealogy: Simon van der Stel writes in his diary that a Hottentot headman (Captain) called Thomas hands over another Hottentot (unnamed) for the murder of a French “refugee” living in Drakenstein (Charles Marais, my Maternal 9th Great-Grandparent). This indicates that justice is carried out swiftly and through the traditional leadership structures of the Hottentot people.
23/4/89 Turton Genealogy: Simon van der Stel writes in his diary that the convicted Hottentot has been sentenced to death. The sentence (translated) states that, “The Hottentot named Edescha, also known as Dikkop, residing under the authority of Hottentot Chief Thomas, is aged around 25. On the 29th of March at about one hour before sundown, Edescha accompanied by two other Hottentots from the same kraal, entered the garden of the French farmer Charles Marré (Marais) at Drakenstein, to ask for watermelons. Refused permission by Marré, the accused picked these nonetheless.
An argument ensued and the accused attacked Marré twice, using stones, hitting him twice on the left hand side of his groin, causing the victim to be taken to his house in order to recover.
Edescha then fled back to his own people, where upon hearing of the death of Marré, took flight, to be recaptured by his own people in the name of justice.
The surgeon of Stellenbosch, Jan du Plessis, after performing an autopsy, reported in writing that he had found a massive contusion on the left hand side groin of the deceased, along with a severed blood vessel, that had resulted in internal bleeding, resulting ultimately in death.”
This is an early example of the level of sophistication of the Dutch system of justice, because a coroner’s investigation leads to a written report being entered into the court records, providing a forensic link in the chain of causation that led from the throwing of the projectile by the accused Edescha, to the death of Charles Marré (Marais).
The coroner’s report has been reported in English as follows: “I have been in Drakenstein and have examined Charles Marais, who died after being struck in the left groin by two stones thrown by a Hottentot on 29th March.
I opened the wound in the presence of Monsieur the Landdrost Jan Mostert, Hendrik de Cochè and Jacques de Savoye. I found a great inward and outward contusion and the heart artery broken, which having collected much blood, overwhelmed the heart and caused death. In token of the truth hereof I have signed it, J. Prieur du Plessis”. It also gives an insight into human security at the time.
In 1690 Catherine marries Daniel des Ruelles and goes on to have 3 more children.
Ann des Ruelles born 1691
Daniel des Ruelles born 1692
Esther des Ruelles born 1692
SYNOPSIS:
Charles Marais from Lesierre du Plessis near Marle, and later Plessismornay near Longvilliers, a district of Paris, fled to the Netherland where, on the 14th of September, 1687 in the Waalse Kerk, Den Haag, he renounced the Roman Catholic Church.
He and his wife (Catherine Taboureux) left Delfshaven on 31st December 1687 aboard the Voorschoten. They arrived in Saldanha Bay on the 13th April 1688, embarking on the Jupiter for the trip to Cape Town. He was hit by a stone in the groin on his farm Le Plessis Marle by a Hottentot, Edessah, following an argument centered around a green watermelon. He died on the 3rd of April 1689.
In 1690 Catherine married Daniel des Ruelles of Picardie, France.
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