Welbedagt No. 555

· on record 1823–2013 · show on the map

Farm number: No. 555

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

Carel Aaron van der Merwe (1771-1850) held it. Not yet placed on the map.

Carel Aaron van der Merwe (1771-1850) is on record on this ground directly. No trace needed.

document A document in the collection describes this ground DOC-0291
document A document in the collection describes this ground DOC-0292

What the record holds, in order

2 June 1823 document SG diagram 114/1823
grondbrief Clw. Q. 1-15
2 June 1823 ownership Carel Aaron van der Merwe (1771-1850) (1771–1850)
erfpacht · survey · confidence high
2013 document SG diagram verso 114/1823 (verso)

Bordered by, as the diagram names them

N Hantamsberg, and government ground measured in erfpacht for Hendk. Johs. Visagie
NE a wide expanse of waste government ground ("eene wyd uitgestrektheid woest gouvts. grond")
E the Hantam's berg
S the Hantam's berg
SW the place given out in erfpacht marked karre houte boom

Documents

Scan of Surveyor-General diagram, 114/1823, 2 June 1823

Surveyor-General diagram, 114/1823, 2 June 1823
10053943 555.jpg

Scan of Diagram verso, 114/1823 (verso), 2013

Diagram verso, 114/1823 (verso), 2013
10053944 555.jpg

Research notes

[11 Aug 2026, SRC-404, SRC-405, SRC-406] THE FARM JACOBUS ALEWYN VAN DER MERWE WAS KNOWN BY. He is recorded as "KWAAI KOOS WELBEDACHT"; his daughter Elsje Johanna was BORN here on 31 March 1835 and MARRIED here on 27 December 1854, and his wife Elisabeth Maria TheronM DIED here on 31 January 1855. Three events and a man's byname on one piece of ground that this project had never entered. IDENTIFIED BY ELIMINATION AND BY PROXIMITY, WHICH IS NOT THE SAME AS PROOF. The Calvinia cadastre holds exactly ONE farm whose name begins WELBED: no. 555, WELBEDAGT. It lies 26.9 km from Tygerhoek and 59.7 km from Oude Muur, which is the same country the rest of this branch held. The CSG name index also returned a WELBEDACHTE No. 611 in Calvinia, which does not appear in the division's own cadastre file under that name and was probably a compound-name artefact of that search; and two Welbedachts in CLANWILLIAM, Nos. 537 and 139. The 1854 marriage register says "parochie van Calvinia, distrikt van Clanwilliam", which in 1854 is not a contradiction - Calvinia was a parish inside Clanwilliam - so the register does not choose between the divisions for us. NO DOCUMENT YET PUTS A VAN DER MERWE ON THIS TITLE. That is what LEAD-0169 is for, and it is why this row says identified rather than proven. Polygon and centroid from the CSG cadastre.

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

Open questions

Read the diagrams for Brasse Fontein 371 and Welbedagt 555 priority 2 · LEAD-0172
Five SG diagrams are in the inbox unread: 10051901 and 10051902 for farm 371 in two parts, 10052409 for 371, and 10053943 and 10053944 for Welbedagt 555. Do any of them name a van Wyk, a Nel or a van der Merwe on the title or a boundary?

What would settle it A van Wyk on the title of 371, or a van der Merwe on 555.

What the record is missing

The record stops in 1823 and never resumes second order · B2 trail-ends
Welbedagt No. 555 was worked as far as 1823-06-02, with Carel Aaron van der MerweL (1771-1850) the last owner on record. 203 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.
“the Hantam's berg” is named as a neighbour 2 times and we hold no parcel for it third order · B3 unheld-farm
2 separate surveys in this model put the Hantam's berg on the boundary of ground we do hold (PAR-000199). It has no parcel of its own here, so nothing is known about who held it or when, while it borders farms at the centre of the project.

What would settle it The Surveyor-General's farm index for the registration division will give it a farm number and a diagram; the cadastre pull in `data/fetch_cadastre.py` then places it on the map.

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.