Many years ago I received a gedcom file from Christo Heymans with extensive notes for many of the individuals in the file. These are the notes on Jan Greyling.

Jan Greyling is the progenitor (stamvader) of the Greyling Family in South Africa.

According to Pama (Die Groot Afrikaanse Familie Naamboek), the surname means “the shining, the radiant”. Another meaning is almost the opposite, namely “the frightener, the terrible”. Greylings are therefore privileged to be able to choose a meaning that in their opinion most corresponds to their character traits.

Many years ago I received a gedcom file from Christo Heymans with extensive notes for many of the individuals in the file. This is one of those notes.

Abraham Carel Greyling married Isabella van Staden on 21 November 1853.

Abraham Carel Greyling and Isabella Susanna van staden were married by Ds. P Roux in marriage confirmed. The witnesses were A P van Wyk and C F du Toit.

Abraham Carel Greyling was probably born on his parents’ farm, Roodedam, district of Rouxville, along the Caledon River. Abraham Carel Greyling was a 20-year-old livestock farmer from the farm Roodedam, district Smithfield, when he was married to Isabella Susanna van Staden.

Many years ago I received a gedcom file from Christo Heymans with extensive notes for many of the individuals in the file. This is one of those notes.

Jan Gert heymans married Martha Magdalena Catharina Petronella Gertruida Sophia Greyling on 21 November 1853.

Jan Gert Heymans and Martha Magdalena Catharina P G S GREYLING were married by Ds. P Roux has been confirmed in marriage. The witnesses were H J Joubert and J F Klopper.

Notes from unknown imported gedcom file

Siewert Jacobus Wiid is the 5th great uncle of Arnold Greyling the author of this website.

From Copenhagen, arrival 1752.

On September 12, 1750, the Danish Asiatic Company wished the sailing ship, the Crown Princess of Denmark with Swen Finger as captain and Siwert Jacobsen Hvidt as cooper, good luck for the long journey to the fabled spice-rich East. The first leg of 7,000 miles to the South Point of Africa was covered fairly well and it also went relatively quickly because after Finger had taken in water and refreshments in Table Bay, on 12 February 1751 he lifted anchor for the second leg, the shortest one though also about 6,000 miles to Tranquebar, a port city on the East Coast of India.

It is possible to download GEDCOM files from webtrees.greylingfamily.org.za by using the clippings cart menu item.

GEDCOM files are text files that contain the information and linkages necessary to exchange genealogical data between two entities. The entities may use the same or different software application.

Examples of these exchanges would include:

• Between two users of the same application - One family member sending new information from Legacy to another family member using Legacy.
• Between users of differing applications - A RootsMagic or Heredis genealogist receiving information from someone using Family Tree Maker.
• From an Internet site to a local application - Downloading information from an internet site to your genealogical program which supports GEDCOM formatted files.

As a text-based file, it is easily transmitted as an attachment to e-mails or downloaded from web sites. The recipient then uses the “Import” function of their application to include the GEDCOM file contents in their genealogy. Also, applications may be found on the web to print or manipulate individual GEDCOM files without importing them into applications.

If you are here because of a internet search for the Greyling Coat of Arms, i am sorry to disappoint you. There is no such thing as a family crest for a specific surname. A family coat of arms is assigned to an individual and only his direct descendants may bear (use) the coat of arms as a family coat of arms. Any person who wishes to legally use a family crest in South Africa must register it with the Bureau of Heraldry. The registration requirements are governed by the Heraldry Act.

There is a lot of information on the internet about the origins and meaning of the surname Greyling. In the South African context almost all of it is wrong. Most of the information about the meaning of Greyling is pure speculation on sites with “boilerplate” explanations of the meaning of surnames.

The progenitor (stamvader) of the Greyling family in South Africa arrived at the Cape of Good Hope as an employee of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) in 1725. His name was Jan or Johann Greyling and all the Greylings in South Africa are his descendants. He originated from the town Linz in Saxony, a very small town near Dresden.

Many years ago I received a gedcom file from Christo Heymans with extensive notes for many of the individuals in the file. This is one of those notes.

Petronella Heymans is the 6th maternal great grandmother of Arnold Greyling the author of this website.

Exerpt from: ILLEGITIMACY AND FAMILY FORMATION IN COLONIAL CAPE TOWN, TO c. 1850, Vertrees C. Malherbe, Journal of Social History, Summer 2006

The partnership of Christiaan Roelofse from Norway and Johanna Petronella Heymans van de Kaap illustrates a woman’s passage out of slavery and the founding of a family, in and out of marriage, by her association with a European. In 1749, “Pieternella Heijman Bastert Hottentottin”–a description signifying that she was the offspring of a slave and a Khoekhoen–baptized her out-of-wedlock daughter, Elena Pieternella, in the country town of Stellenbosch. No father was named. In 1756, when she was cited as Petronella van de Caab, she married Roelofse who was, by then, the father of other daughters and a son. After their marriage (which legitimated their joint existing family) they produced six more children. (49) It appears that some, at least, of the ten children were not presented for infant baptism: in 1772 their vrijgeboren (freeborn) daughter Catharina Petronella’s baptism, as an adult, was recorded in the register for VOC and privately owned slaves. One week later Catharina’s out-of-wedlock child by Barend Barendse was baptized and entered in the separate register for “Christian” children. (50)