Helperus Ritzema Van Ryneveld L. L. B. ¹ ^,2 ^,3

Born: 1793 ² ^,3
Christened: 31 Mar 1793, Cape Town, Cape Province, South Africa ¹ ^,2
Marriage (1): Emilia Hillegonda de Kruijff on 29 Mar 1815 in Leyden, South Holland, Holland ¹
Died: 29 Dec 1855, , Cape Province, South Africa aged 62 ² ^,3
Buried: Cape Town, Cape Colony, South Africa ²

Family Links

Spouses/Children:

1. Emilia Hillegonda de Kruijff

(+ Shows person has known children.)

bullet Birth Notes:

http://ancestry24.com/wp-content/uploads/pages/The%20Family%20Register%20of%20the%20South%20African%20Nation/page_01124.pdf

bullet Christening Notes:

http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Search/igi/individual_record.asp?recid=100178519159&lds=1®ion=0&frompage=1

And

http://ancestry24.com/wp-content/uploads/pages/Genealogies%20of%20old%20South%20African%20Families/page_02860.pdf

And

https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/VFTS-HKY

And

https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-266-11558-54256-95?cc=1478678

bullet Death Notes:

National Archives of South Africa

DEPOT KAB
SOURCE MOOC
TYPE LEER
VOLUME_NO 6/9/72
SYSTEM 01
REFERENCE 3539
PART 1
DESCRIPTION VAN RYNEVELD, HELPERNS RITZEMA. DEATH NOTICE.
STARTING 1855
ENDING 1855

And

http://ancestry24.com/search-item/?id=C1438233

bullet Burial Notes:

Died 29.12.1855 - buried in the family vault, No 79 in Somerset Rd, Cape Town. That area was later developed, I think, as Somerset Hospital. All the headstones were removed and sent to the cemetery at Wolraad Woltemade. I looked for them there in about 1975, but could not find any. (Per AJvR 2001)

bullet Sources of information or noted events in his life were:

• Children. They may have had a fourth son - Jan Jacoubus Van Ryneveld in 1816 who died young.

• Web Based Info. http://www.genealogieonline.nl/genealogie-van-rijneveld/I105.php

And

http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Search/igi/individual_record.asp?recid=100178519159&lds=1®ion=0&frompage=1

And

http://ancestry24.com/wp-content/uploads/pages/The%20Family%20Register%20of%20the%20South%20African%20Nation/page_01124.pdf

And

http://ancestry24.com/wp-content/uploads/pages/Genealogies%20of%20old%20South%20African%20Families/page_02860.pdf

• Occupation. ² Advocate.

• General Comment. 1793 - According to Mrs. Susan Munnik of Uitenhage he was brought up in Holland.

1815 - Returned to the Cape with his wife Emily, who is described as a Hollander. She was 26 and he was 22. They were married in Holland as there is no trace of a marriage in South Africa.
AJVR records - Note: I have in my possession a "Certificate of Arrival" that was issued to "H.R. van Rijneveld" when he arrived at the port of Harwich from Holland in a ship called Lady Nepean (or Nepcan) on 24/04/1815. The Certificate states that he was an advocate and was going to London and to the Cape of Good Hope. He was 5 ft. 7 ins. Tall with brown hair and light blue eyes. He was accompanied by his wife Emily of Holland.

1815-23 - Seemed to have lived with his mother in one of the Fiscal's properties in Boom St.

1823 - His mother Martha Cornelia van der Riet, Widow of the Chief Justice, was declared insane and the administration of her affairs was handed over to the Orphan Chamber. The Orphan Chamber caused a sale to be held among the heirs who purchased unequal portions to the value of about £2397, payment being by bond on their future inheritance. Amongst other things Helperus bought a half share in a valuable slave, Philida.
Martha Cornelia must have continued to live in the family home in Boom St. Helperus must have run the house for among his Mother's estate papers is a Huisboek (house book), written in Helperus' writing giving the most minute details of domestic expenditures for the period July to September 1823. In the liquidation account are numerous entries saying "Dr. to Helperus R van Ryneveld for three months lodging for Mrs. van Ryneveld and her slaves."

1826 - Martha Cornelia died. At the sale in October of that year the Orphan Chamber foolishly allowed Helperus to purchase the house outright for what was considered a bargain price of £2040, though he had no visible means of paying this sum. He gave a bond for which his uncle and cousin stood as securities (Ryno Johannes and Lieve Nicholai van der Riet), for which he mortgaged his slaves Petro, Sabaai, Marthinus and Claartjie.

1827 - The first of the lawsuits. Sued by Hendrika Catherina Ballot (his mistress?). Lost the case and had to pay. Legal proceeding were also started in this year which ended in his bankruptcy in 1833. This may be the basis of the legend that he squandered the family silver on a mistress - presumably part of the renowned collection of his father Willem Stephanus.

1828 - Admitted to the Cape Bar. In this year he was obliged to hand back the house to his co-heirs having not been able to pay off the bond and for having incurred a debt of £200 for the interest thereon. The "Gevonnis Makelaar" Hermanus Helsinger van Hellings declared Helperus had owed him money for rent of a house and in 1828 took the matter to court where judgment was given for the plaintiff. The Sheriff was ordered to seize the amount but reported that 'he could find no goods of the defendant whereof I can cause to be made the amount of this debt or part thereof.'

1830 - The Advocate attempted to pay off his debt but without success. In 1830 A Decree of Civil Imprisonment was granted for the balance, which with costs had now risen to £370. Advocate Joubert represented Helperus in Court but he himself was absent. He was also not found present in the case of Carfrae vs. van Ryneveld and once again the Sheriff reported that 'the within named van Ryneveld is not to be found.' Helperus must have gone to Graaff Reinet where he not only practiced as an advocate but advertised as shown in the Government Gazette.
"Mr. Advocate van Ryneveld begs to acquaint the Public that he will attend in future at all Circuit Courts in the Eastern Province and shall endeavour to be in time to pass all such Notarial Acts as may be required. - Graaff Reinet, 20 December, 1831"

1833 - His creditors, who numbered 35, caught up with him and insolvency proceedings were instituted.

1839 - Government Gazette of 1839 contains the re-instatement from bankruptcy of Helperus Ritzema van Ryneveld, L.L.B.

1855 - Died in 1855 and his property was found to consist of a half month's salary and was insufficient to cover his funeral costs. He died in Barrack St, Cape Town at the age of 62 on the 29th of December 1855. He was buried 2 days later with his Mother and two of the Croziers, in the family vault no. 79 in Somerset St.

• Children. ² His death certificate records 3 children. Jan Jacob (John?), the second child's name is illegible M…, and a daughter Jacoba Hillegonda who married Rev. Jan Frederik Reitz of Somerset West, first cousin to F.W. Reitz, President of the Orange Free State. Jacoba Hillegonda and her husband had 5 children. Gysvert Reitz died 1876, Emma Catharina, Gesina, Jan Frederik, Jacobus.).

• Namesake. Willem Stephanus (the Fiscal) was married to Martha Cornelia van der Riet. Her sister, Maria Johanna was married to the Rev. Helperus Ritzema van Lier and they were great friends of the family.

Van Lier was a Pastor to the Church in Cape Town. He was much loved. He decided to brighten up services by introducing more music. There might be a memorial plaque to him outside the Dutch Reformed Church in Adderley St. It was said that his preaching "was such that at times he would spring almost out of the pulpit. Women were often moved to tears and sometimes fell in hysterics. Some men were attracted but others were repelled." He died at age 28 (March 1782). His grave is at Newlands and is still maintained by the church.

Helperus married Emilia Hillegonda de Kruijff, daughter of Jan de Kruijff and Martha Jacoba Luzac, on 29 Mar 1815 in Leyden, South Holland, Holland.¹ The marriage ended in divorce on 21 Nov 1827. (Emilia Hillegonda de Kruijff was born on 3 May 1787 in Leyden, South Holland, Holland and died on 4 Jul 1870 in Leyden, South Holland, Holland.)

bullet Sources of information or n events in their marriage were:

• Web Based Info. http://pwinkel.home.xs4all.nl/genealogie/Bronnen/Van%20Rijneveld-de%20Kruijff-F1327496983/Huwelijk.htmll

And

http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Search/igi/individual_record.asp?recid=100178519160&lds=1®ion=0&frompage=1

And

http://ancestry24.com/wp-content/uploads/pages/Genealogies%20of%20old%20South%20African%20Families/page_02860.pdf

Van Ryneveld Table of Contents | Van Ryneveld Surnames | Van Ryneveld Name List

There will inevitably be errors and omissions and the whole purpose of creating this online record, is to invite feedback and corrections.
The data is specifically for non-commercial use and my clear intention is to build family records. The data may, therefore, not be used in any way for the purposes of financial gain.

Caveat:- Throughout the project UK GRO birth, marriage and death index data appears. The GRO data appears in Quarters. Q1 = January, February and March, Q2 = April, May, June , Q3 = July, August and September and Q4 = October, November and December. Similarly, Mar Q = January, February and March, Jun Q = April, May, June , Sep Q = July, August and September and Dec Q = October, November and December. Where these dates occur, they represent the date of Registration of the event rather than the date of the actual event. Logically, registration occurs AFTER the event. In some cases this may be days or months or even years after the event. The important thing is that the event was recorded and a copy of the document of registration could be obtained if necessary. This also applies to South African NAAIRS records.

Similarly, the UK system is confusing to the uninitiated because registration districts can span several counties. Accordingly GRO locations may not record the true location of the event. They do record where the record is actually kept or recorded.

Caveat #2:- I have used URL's throughout the website as sources. The URLs are often from paid subscription sites so you may not be able to access them without an account. Inevitably there are broken URL's. I have been to every URL recorded here and at the time they were operational. In this regard, the Ancestry24 records are a problem. There are numerous references in the South African data citing Ancestry24 records. Unfortunately Ancestry24 has closed down and these records are no longer available on line.

The early South African records on this site would not have been as good as they are without the work done by Delia Robertson. Where there are website addresses containing http://www.e-family.co.za... I record the citation should read Robertson, Delia. The First Fifty Years Project. This website can be found at First Fifty Years

Helperus Ritzema Van Ryneveld L. L. B. 1,2,3

Helperus Ritzema Van Ryneveld L. L. B. ¹ ^,2 ^,3