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[for king and fatherland]
To die for one's fatherland is not a very popular concept these days. But serve we certainly have always done. One source mentions that a Klerck was in service of the Dutch royal family for over 300 years. Not the same one, of course. They certainly served kings and homelands: Hendrik - 40 years in the Dutch Navy; Albert - entitled, by King William III, Baron. But probably one of the most intriguing stories is that of Willem Jan v. P. Klerck, the son of a Boer Commander - read his story here.
Please visit: where you will learn about (the) Queen and a Winter King ... and even some Dutch delights. And then visit Boomstraat, to see where the Klercks nonchalantly smoked their clay pipes on the stoep while enjoying the splendour of Table Mountain. Boom? Or check out other Klercks and interesting Links for more info.
Kwartierstaat Interested to see where you as a Klerck fit in? Is your name/family missing? Download the kwartierstaat - 2003 Word, or kwartierstaat - Word.docx They were compiled by Pierre Faure, and you may make additions, then send them to me at mklerck@gmail.com for us to update. if this doesn't work, simply email me for copies - not sure why winzip tries to open these, because I have hyperlinked them both to the actual original files on the site itself. Download here ... As many of you might know the original Klerckiana - the ONLY recorded Cape Dutch family history in South Africa, and therefore the world, is housed in a private collection in the Archives in Roland Street, Cape Town. Here, above, you may download the original text, with the translation by Henk Deys and myself. It certainly gives some idea of our history from another century. A full explanation of the elusive von Petersom, or von/van Petersheim will simply not surface, as no one knows exactly where it comes from; hopes of vast tracts of land, castle, etc. have, sadly, not yet materialised! Henk Deys has subsequently visited Cape Town a number of times. He came originally , with other historians, to inspect the Klerckiana boek - the only recorded history of a Cape Dutch family, which resides in the Archives in Roland Street, Cape Town. Since first meeting him, I have had what I thought to be the only other copy returned to me by my aunt. Since then I acquired another copy that belonged to Jan Klerck von Petersom Klerck, who at 91 is still alive and lives in Durban. Because of Dr Dey's interest and his invaluable efforts in translating the entire Klerckiana into English, I decided to approach Jan Klerck and ask if he would mind donating his copy to the town of Rhenen. He gave his permission and you can see below a delighted Henk Deys with the copy he presented to the historical society in Rhenen a few years ago.
Both Jan Klerck's boek (seen in the pic above) and the one I still have in my possession, sadly, no longer in South Africa, are identical copies of the original in the Archives; this ascertained by myself and Pierre Faure who accompanied me twice to make the comparison. Dr Deys has performed a magnificent service to our family by translating the original Dutch of the Klerckiana into English. This is available to anyone who would like to have a copy - see the link above. You may also view the original in the Archives; take some form of ID - it does help if you are a Klerck - and make sure you remember to ask for the Klerckiana that is housed in the Private Collection - otherwise they hunt for hours and can't find it! Been there, done that. Here is a copy of the boek in Dutch, and English lovingly translated by Dr Deys, and partly edited by myself.
The original Scutcheon or hatchment featured on the Boomstraat page and above and which features Willem Jan's coat of arms and those of his wives, Alletta Wilhelmina Deneys, and Chathrina Maria Munnik, once adorned the waiting room of the Archives, placed there, no doubt by a proud curator who valued such history. Sadly the present one clearly has less interest in European heritage and has assigned the one metre square piece of wood - the only one of its kind - and now more than 200 years old, to a store-room. Ask nicely if you can view this too ... and please report back to me if you do; I would appreciate an update. You are visitor number -
I am indebted to my aunt, Norma Seuffert, whose research has assisted me greatly, and also to Dr Henk Deys, historian of Rhenen, who so warmly received me some a few years ago (about 1992), and enthusiastically shared his knowledge and thoughts about the Klerck family. When we both stood under what remains of the Winter King's palace - one lonely arch, in the small town of Rhenen - I said: "You know, perhaps Gerard Klerck never came from Bohemia after all, but instead was born right here, and when King Frederick was overthrown, old Klerck said: 'what the heck - you love yachting, let's go to Rhenen where I come from and build a palace - it's on the Rhine, my skoonma bakes vetkoek like you can't believe, en ons kan lekker op die stoep sit en eenige iets in stilte rook!' " And Dr Deys said: "you know, I never thought of that...I like it." Designed and compiled by Michael von Petersom Klerck, Wynberg Cape Town [1997]/Vancouver, Canada [2009].
you might like to read my story about growing up on Robben Island.
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