Vrolykheid No. 61 (Tulbagh)

Farm number: No. 61
District: Land van Waveren / Tulbagh
Extent, as the diagram states it: 465 morgen 12 square roods

This parcel has no matched survey polygon, so it cannot be drawn on the map. That is a gap in the cadastre match, not an absence from the record.

Why this farm is here

T.G. Hugo (Vrolykheid, Tulbagh, 1816) held it, and no kinship to the Oosthuizen, Marincowitz or Van der Merwe lines is recorded, this ground entered through the land, not the family. Not yet placed on the map.

story A written history is set on this ground Two farms called Vrolykheid
story A written history names this ground The brother-in-law who founded a town
document A document in the collection describes this ground DOC-0074
document A document in the collection describes this ground DOC-0116

Stories

about this farm Two farms called Vrolykheid
Two farms of one name, 400 km apart. The 1816 Tulbagh diagram names four neighbours; two of the surnames turn up in the Koup and only ONE survives being looked at. Jan de Bruin, whose 1823 estate held a farm the inventories call Rondabel, was baptised at Tulbagh in 1769, but the Theron who took Rondabel in 1868 was a Roggeveld man, and that thread is a coincidence of surname reported as one.
mentions this farm The brother-in-law who founded a town
Two daughters of Middelwater marry two van Zyl brothers in the 1830s. One stays. The other goes north on the trek and is dead by about 1840, and her husband lives another sixty-six years and lays out the Free State town of Brandfort on his farm Keerom - described in print as a Voortrekker from Prince Albert.

What the record holds, in order

25 January 1816 document SG diagram 388/1816
Tul.Q.1-23
25 January 1816 document SG diagram verso 388/1816 (verso)
before 1816 ownership T.G. Hugo (Vrolykheid, Tulbagh, 1816)
erfpacht · survey · confidence high

Bordered by, as the diagram names them

N D.T. Theron F.Z. (erfpacht loan-place)
E T.C. Winterbach (erfpacht loan-place)
S T. de Bruin (erfpacht loan-place)
W W. Grobbelaar (erfpacht loan-place)

Documents

Scan of Surveyor-General diagram, 388/1816, 25 January 1816

Surveyor-General diagram, 388/1816, 25 January 1816
SCAN676.TIF

Scan of Diagram verso, 388/1816 (verso), 25 January 1816

Diagram verso, 388/1816 (verso), 25 January 1816
SCAN677.jpg

Research notes

[31 Jul 2026] THE OTHER VROLYKHEID. An erfpacht loan-place 'in de Kom van Tulbagh', surveyed 25 Jan 1816 by J. TullekenM on the order of the Commissie van Inspectie, titled Tul.Q.1-23 on 25 Jun 1818 (DOC-0074). It carries the same name as the Koup's Vrolykheid No. 177 (PAR-000014), granted 1841 and about 400 km east - the question of LEAD-0010. This row exists so that lead can be tested against the neighbours rather than retold: it is NOT part of the Karoo land story and does not get grown. Subdivided 1933 into Ptn 1 and Ptn 2 'Vrolikheid Suid' per the verso (DOC-0116); the parent diagram was cancelled 10 Dec 1940 vide dgm 3666/1940 under s24(b) of Act 9 of 1927. No geometry pulled - the WC cadastre pull is scoped to the Prince Albert / Beaufort West registration divisions.

The research behind this page, kept separate from it: dated working notes, open questions, and what is not yet settled.

Open questions

Which congregation baptised Jan de Bruijn in 1769? priority 1 · LEAD-0030
The register page (SRC-168) gives the entry in full but not the church. If it is Roodezand/Tulbagh, the de Bruin family is a Tulbagh family and the Vrolykheid name-transfer of LEAD-0010 has a documented carrier. If it is Drakenstein or Swellendam, it does not.

What would settle it The waypoint. This is a thirty-second lookup, not a research task.

What the record is missing

“T.C. Winterbach (erfpacht loan-place)” held ground next door and we have no tenure for them first order · B4 unheld-owner
A boundary description for Vrolykheid No. 61 (Tulbagh) names T.C. WinterbachM (erfpacht loan-place), a surveyor stating on the record that this person held the adjoining ground. No one of that surname holds a single ownership span anywhere in this model.

What would settle it The diagram's own date fixes the window. The quitrent or erfpacht register for that year names the holder of the adjoining place, and an estate inventory will name the farm outright.
“W. Grobbelaar (erfpacht loan-place)” held ground next door and we have no tenure for them first order · B4 unheld-owner
A boundary description for Vrolykheid No. 61 (Tulbagh) names W. GrobbelaarM (erfpacht loan-place), a surveyor stating on the record that this person held the adjoining ground. No one of that surname holds a single ownership span anywhere in this model.

What would settle it The diagram's own date fixes the window. The quitrent or erfpacht register for that year names the holder of the adjoining place, and an estate inventory will name the farm outright.
The record stops in 1816 and never resumes second order · B2 trail-ends
Vrolykheid No. 61 (Tulbagh) was worked as far as ../1816, with T.G. HugoH (Vrolykheid, Tulbagh, 1816) the last owner on record. 210 years follow with nothing. Who held it after that, and is it still one farm?

What would settle it The current title deed traced backwards, each transfer names the one before it, or the Surveyor-General's subdivision diagrams, which are what usually explain a farm going quiet.
“D.T. Theron F.Z. (erfpacht loan-place)” held ground next door and we have no tenure for them third order · B4 unheld-owner
A boundary description for Vrolykheid No. 61 (Tulbagh) names D.T. Theron F.Z.M (erfpacht loan-place), a surveyor stating on the record that this person held the adjoining ground. We do hold Theron tenure elsewhere, but none on this boundary and none at this date.

What would settle it The diagram's own date fixes the window. The quitrent or erfpacht register for that year names the holder of the adjoining place, and an estate inventory will name the farm outright.
“T. de Bruin (erfpacht loan-place)” held ground next door and we have no tenure for them third order · B4 unheld-owner
A boundary description for Vrolykheid No. 61 (Tulbagh) names T. de BruinM (erfpacht loan-place), a surveyor stating on the record that this person held the adjoining ground. We do hold De Bruin tenure elsewhere, but none on this boundary and none at this date.

What would settle it The diagram's own date fixes the window. The quitrent or erfpacht register for that year names the holder of the adjoining place, and an estate inventory will name the farm outright.

Found by breaks.py reading the model against itself, not written by hand, each one is a shape of missing record, not a fault in the data. The whole set is on the questions page.