Baron Joachim Ammena van Plettenberg (8 March 1739,

Leeuwarden Leeuwarden (; fy, Ljouwert, longname=yes /; Town Frisian: ''Liwwadden''; Leeuwarder dialect: ''Leewarden'') is a city and municipality in Friesland, Netherlands, with a population of 123,107 (2019). It is the provincial capital and seat of the ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

– 18 August 1793,

Zwolle Zwolle () is a city and municipality in the Northeastern Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of Overijssel and the province's second-largest municipality after Enschede with a population of 130,592 as of 1 December 2021. Zwolle is o ...

, Netherlands) was the governor of the

Cape of Good Hope The Cape of Good Hope ( af, Kaap die Goeie Hoop ) ;''Kaap'' in isolation: pt, Cabo da Boa Esperança is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. A common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is t ...

from 11 August 1771 to 14 February 1785. Plettenberg was presiding governor after

Ryk Tulbagh Ryk Tulbagh (14 May 1699, Utrecht – 11 August 1771, Cape Town) was Governor of the Dutch Cape Colony from 27 February 1751 to 11 August 1771 under the Dutch East India Company (VOC). Tulbagh was the son of Dirk Tulbagh and Catharina Catte ...

's death. On 18 May 1774 he was permanently appointed as governor.

Early years

Plettenberg descended from an aristocratic family from

Westphalia Westphalia (; german: Westfalen ; nds, Westfalen ) is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of and 7.9 million inhabitants. The territory of the regio ...

in the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a Polity, political entity in Western Europe, Western, Central Europe, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, dissolution i ...

, the

House of Plettenberg The House of Plettenberg is the name of the Westphalian noble family of the ''Uradel''. It dates back at least to 1187, when ''Heidolphus de Plettenbrath'' was mentioned in a document by Philip I (Archbishop of Cologne). Plettenberg-Wittem branch t ...

. His parents were Henrik Casimir van Plettenberg, colonel in the

orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...

garrison in

and Agatha Petronella van Ammena. After his studies of law at the

Utrecht University Utrecht University (UU; nl, Universiteit Utrecht, formerly ''Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht'') is a public research university in Utrecht, Netherlands. Established , it is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands. In 2018, it had an enrollme ...

he left the country in 1764 and became in the service of the

Dutch East India Company The United East India Company ( nl, Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, the VOC) was a chartered company established on the 20th March 1602 by the States General of the Netherlands amalgamating existing companies into the first joint-stock ...

for 2 years a member of the Council of Law in

Batavia Batavia may refer to: Historical places * Batavia (region), a land inhabited by the Batavian people during the Roman Empire, today part of the Netherlands * Batavia, Dutch East Indies, present-day Jakarta, the former capital of the Dutch East In ...

. In 1767 he married Cornelia Charlotte Feith, the widow of Louis Taillefer.

Cape Town

At this time Cape Town was the property of a commercial company, the

(VOC) and not a colony of the Netherlands. At 28 years of age, in 1767, Plettenberg became "Independent-Fiscaal", the highest official of justice at Cape Town. After the death of Governor

, Plettenberg took control of the administration; on 11 August 1771, he became governor. On 1 June 1773, Plettenberg presided over a platoon of 30 soldiers charged with the task of salvaging goods and money from the ''De Jonge Thomas'' wrecked in a storm in Table Bay. During the salvage operation, the father of one of the soldiers,

Wolraad Woltemade Wolraad Woltemade (c.1708 – 1 June 1773) was a 65 year old Cape Dutch dairy farmer, who died while rescuing sailors from the wreck of the ship ''De Jonge Thomas'' in Table Bay on 1 June 1773. The story was reported by the Swedish naturali ...

heroically rescued men from the ship, unaided by the soldiers. In 1781 Van Plettenberg sent five ships to

Saldanha Bay Saldanha Bay ( af, Saldanhabaai) is a natural harbour on the south-western coast of South Africa. The town that developed on the northern shore of the bay, also called Saldanha, was incorporated with five other towns into the Saldanha Bay Local Mu ...

and wait for French escort. In the Battle of Saldanha Bay four ships were taken prize and was destroyed by the captain himself. The French-influenced Patriotic Movement ("Patriotte beweging") became a strong opposition to him. Petitions of colonists in 1779 and 1782 to the Lords Seventeen of the Dutch East India Company and to the "Staten-Generaal" of the Netherlands in 1784 show the problems between the governor and the colonists. The free burghers wished for greater representation in the courts and policy councils, codification of laws and some economic benefits, such as free trade (which were hindered by the trading activities of Company officials and various restrictions on the farmers).

Later years

Huis Windesheim In 1781 Plettenberg defended himself in a record. In 1785 he requested for discharge and was dismissed "with all honors". He resigned on 14 February 1785 and went back to the Netherlands, where he died on 18 August 1793, at his Huis Windesheim, near

. His successor as Governor of Cape Town was Lieutenant Colonel

Cornelis Jacob van de Graaff Cornelis Jacob van de Graaff (also known as ''van de Graeff'') (30 March 1734 – 21 April 1812), Dutch engineer-officer and Dutch Cape Colony, Cape Governor from 1785 to 1791. Career Van de Graaff followed in his father's footsteps and entered ...

Exploration

Plettenberg had great interest in the discovery of unknown regions and supported the exploration of southern Africa. In his time were the voyages of

August Frederik Beutler August Frederik Beutler (c. 1728 in Dinkelsbühl – ? in Cape Town) was an ensign ( sergeant 1747–49, ensign 1749–54) in the employ of the Dutch East India Company who headed an epic 1752 reconnaissance expedition lasting 8 months ...

Carl Joseph Kindermann Carl may refer to: *Carl, Georgia, city in USA *Carl, West Virginia, an unincorporated community * Carl (name), includes info about the name, variations of the name, and a list of people with the name *Carl², a TV series * "Carl", an episode of te ...

Carl Peter Thunberg Carl Peter Thunberg, also known as Karl Peter von Thunberg, Carl Pehr Thunberg, or Carl Per Thunberg (11 November 1743 – 8 August 1828), was a Swedish naturalist and an "apostle" of Carl Linnaeus. After studying under Linnaeus at Uppsala Un ...

Anders Sparrman Anders Sparrman (27 February 1748, Tensta, Uppland – 9 August 1820) was a Swedish naturalist, abolitionist and an apostle of Carl Linnaeus. Biography left, Miniature of Sparrman at the time of his travels with James Cook. By unknown artis ...

Francis Masson Francis Masson (August 1741 – 23 December 1805) was a Scotland, Scottish botanist and gardener, and Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Kew Gardens’ first Botanical expedition, plant hunter. Life Masson was born in Aberdeen. In the 1760s, he ...

, William Patterson,

Jan Splinter Stavornius Jan, JaN or JAN may refer to: Acronyms * Jackson, Mississippi (Amtrak station), US, Amtrak station code JAN * Jackson-Evers International Airport, Mississippi, US, IATA code * Jabhat al-Nusra (JaN), a Syrian militant group * Japanese Article Numb ...

or Stavorinus,

Robert Jacob Gordon Robert Jacob Gordon (29 September 1743, in Doesburg, Gelderland – 25 October 1795, in Cape Town) was a Dutch explorer, soldier, artist, naturalist and linguist of Scottish descent. Life Robert Jacob Gordon was the son of Maj. General Jacob ...

and

François Le Vaillant François () is a French masculine given name and surname, equivalent to the English name Francis. People with the given name * Francis I of France, King of France (), known as "the Father and Restorer of Letters" * Francis II of France, Kin ...

(Levaillant). He made several tours to determine the borders of the Cape-Colony and visited 47 outposts. Among others he erected a column for the

(VOC) on 6 November 1778, the so-called

Van Plettenberg Beacon A van is a type of road vehicle used for transporting goods or people. Depending on the type of van, it can be bigger or smaller than a pickup truck and SUV, and bigger than a common car. There is some varying in the scope of the word across ...

. Since then, the place where it was erected is called

Plettenberg Bay Plettenberg Bay, nicknamed Plet or Plett, is the primary town of the Bitou Local Municipality in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. As of the census of 2001, there were 29,149 population. It was originally named Bahia Formosa ("beautifu ...

. The Plettenberg Bay area was rich in natural forests. Plettenberg was worried about these forests and suggested that a control post be erected to prevent the over-use of the timber. The Dutch East India Company started a woodcutter’s post in 1778. JF Meeding was appointed the first overseer of this post. In 1786 Johann Jacob Jerling was contracted to build a Timber Store for storage of the timber.

Legacy

* The town of

was named after him in 1779. * His former Residency at

Simon's Town Simon's Town ( af, Simonstad), sometimes spelled Simonstown, is a town in the Western Cape, South Africa and is home to Naval Base Simon's Town, the South African Navy's largest base. It is located on the shores of False Bay, on the eastern sid ...

dating from 1777 is now the Simon's Town Museum

Publications

* (in German) Weyl, Andreas, ''Joachim van Plettenberg, Gouverneur der niederländischen Kapkolonie.'' In: ''An Bigge, Lenne und Fretter'', Part 1: Heft 35, Dezember 2011 p. 25-40; Part 2: Heft 36, Juni 2012 p. 48-61.

References

External links

* National Archives of the Netherlands * Gemeindearchiv

Finnentrop Finnentrop is a ''Gemeinde'' (municipality) in Olpe district in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Geography Finnentrop is situated in the Sauerland, near the forks of the rivers Bigge and Lenne. Finnentrop shares borders with Sundern and Eslo ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Plettenberg, Joachim Ammena van 1739 births 1793 deaths Governors of the Dutch Cape Colony 18th-century Dutch colonial governors House of Plettenberg People from Leeuwarden Forestry in South Africa