Guilliam Visagie
Guilliam Visagie (born about 1751; still alive in 1793) was a fugitive from the Dutch Cape Colony who fled to southern Namibia in about 1786.[1] He is considered to have been the first person of European ancestry to have settled in the country.[2]
Visagie was born about 1751 in the Dutch Cape Colony, likely to parents of Huguenot descent. He became a farmer in the area near the Olifants River. In 1780, he was found guilty of killing a Nama and wounding two others. To escape punishment by the Dutch East India Company, he and his wife moved north of the Orange River.[3]
In 1785, Guilliam and his wife Elsabe Visagie settled in the area of today's Keetmanshoop, then named ǂNuǂgoaes.[2] Visagie translated the name as Modderfontein, 'Mud Spring', becoming the first European to permanently settle in Namibia.[4] The translation later changed to Swartmodder, 'Black Mud'. Visagie farmed and traded firearms to the Namas for cattle.[3] In 1793, he withdrew from his farm after a clash with Afrikaner Oorlams commandos, who were apparently acting on orders from the Dutch East India Company.[1]
References[edit]
- ^ a b Tilman Dedering (1997). Hate the Old and Follow the New: Khoekhoe and Missionaries in Early Nineteenth-century Namibia. Franz Steiner Verlag. p. 48. ISBN 978-3-515-06872-7. Retrieved 2013-09-11.
- ^ a b Dierks, Klaus. "Chronology of Namibian History. The period of the explorers, hunters and traders 1486–1800, section 4". Retrieved 17 September 2023.
- ^ a b Victor L. Tonchi; William A. Lindeke; John J. Grotpeter (2012-08-31). Historical Dictionary of Namibia. Scarecrow Press. p. 454. ISBN 978-0-8108-7990-4. Retrieved 2013-09-11.
- ^ "Keetmanshoop". Namibia Tourism on tourbrief.com. Retrieved 10 September 2013.