Johann Coenraad Gie was a South African businessman, community leader, and Grand Master of the

Freemason Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

s in South Africa.

Personal life

Gie was born in Zurich,

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

, on 22 March 1727. He was one of the children of Andreas Caspar Gie and Anne Marie Liguren. He died 1 July 1797 in

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

. He arrived on 23 January 1751 on the ship ''Rosenburg'', from

Texel Texel (; Texels dialect: ) is a municipality and an island with a population of 13,643 in North Holland, Netherlands. It is the largest and most populated island of the West Frisian Islands in the Wadden Sea. The island is situated north of De ...

, the Netherlands. as a young man working in the military. He was married on 18 December 1757 to Engela Johanna Leij. They had six children. His working life started in the military. In 1761 he became a general merchant and later a supplier of goods. He supplied ships with goods at the refreshment station in Cape Town harbour on their way to

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

or Europe. He had a special licence for that. While busy with his merchant supply activities he became the Orphan-Master of the

Cape Colony The Cape Colony ( nl, Kaapkolonie), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British Empire, British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope, which existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when i ...

in 1768. The function of the Orphan-Chamber was to look after the interest of orphans. Later in the same year he was appointed the Civil Commissioner in Matrimonial Affairs at the Matrimonial Court. The function of the Court was to establish whether couples who wanted to marry were eligible. The Court consisted of a president and six members. This court was abolished by

Sir David Baird General Sir David Baird, 1st Baronet, of Newbyth, GCB (6 December 1757 – 18 August 1829) was a British Army officer. Military career He was born at Newbyth House in Haddingtonshire, Scotland, the son of an Edinburgh merchant family, and enter ...

in 1806, long after Gie's death. In 1779 he added the task of Commissioner of Fleet Affairs. These fleet affairs dealt with the management of the fleet of ships, especially regarding logistics and docking. 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 ...

had a political council that governed the Cape Colony. This political council supervised the regulations of the Lords Seventeen (Dutch: Heren XVII). The Political Council appointed three citizens to attend meetings where normal citizens were involved. Those three people were called the Citizen Council. In 1784 Gie was appointed to the Council. In 1786, his request that the number of the Citizen Council be expanded to six was granted. He was appointed to the rank of captain in the civil society. In 1793, the Cape Colony was divided into wards. Gie became master of one of the wards.

Freemasonry

Together with A. Chiron (first Grand Master), J. A. le Febre, P. Soermans,

Christoffel Brand Sir Christoffel Joseph Brand (21 June 1797 Cape Town – 19 May 1875 Cape Town) was a Cape jurist, politician, statesman and first Speaker of the Parliament of the Cape of Good Hope, Legislative Assembly of the Cape Colony. Early life and edu ...

, J. A. van Schoor,

Olof de Wet Olof Godlieb de Wet (1739–1811) was a South African high-ranking official in the Dutch East India Company and co-founder of the Freemasons in South Africa. Personal life He was born in middle 1739 in Cape Town, South Africa. De Wet's grandfath ...

, and P. J. de Wit, Gie started the first Freemason Lodge in South Africa. It was called Lodge de Goede Hoop. In 1776, he was appointed Grand Master but, due to his inability to speak English, he had to step down. Being Swiss, however, he was fluent in German and French.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gie, Johann 1727 births 1797 deaths Swiss Freemasons Swiss emigrants to South Africa