van der Westhuizen (also known as van der Westhuisen, van der Westhysen) is a common Afrikaans surname of Dutch/ Flemish origin. The largest number of van der Westhuizens can be found in Africa, but because of immigration large numbers of van der Westhuizens can also be found in Argentina,

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand and the United States. Van der Westhuizens have had a notable presence in South African history, most notably the Great Trek, First Boer War and the Second Boer War, as well as strategic campaigns in both World Wars.

Family history

The origins of the family name began with Pieter Jansz van der Westhuizen, a native of Bruges, Flanders. The first record of Pieter Jansz's arrival in Cape Town is in 1662 as a soldier for the Dutch East India Company, where he changed his name to van der Westhuizen from Westhuysen. Later Pieter Jansz worked as a servant for Tieleman Hendricks till the late 1660s. Pieter became a Free Citizen ('Vryburger' in Afrikaans) in 1670 along with Hendrik Coester, and in 1673 he married Maria Hendrickz Winkelhuisen, the German widow of Hendrik Barentsz, adopting her three children. Together they had seven children (Maria, Johannes, Claas, Barent, Hendrik, Helena, and Pieter). In 1706 Pieter married Eva Gerritsz Ligthart (widow of Jan Douwensz Mos) from Amsterdam, after the death of Maria earlier that year.

Family tributes

The van der Westhuizen street in the Cape is named after the van der Westhuizen family (Other significant street names also exist in the

Northern Cape The Northern Cape is the largest and most sparsely populated province of South Africa. It was created in 1994 when the Cape Province was split up. Its capital is Kimberley. It includes the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park, part of the Kgalagadi T ...

, Western Cape, Gauteng (' Transvaal'), Chatham in the United Kingdom and in Alberta Canada). * Van Der Westhuizen Street, Carletonville, Gauteng. * Van Der Westhuizen Street, Heidelberg, Gauteng. * Van Der Westhuizen Street, Oudtshoorn, Western Cape.

Notable family members

* Joost van der Westhuizen (1971-2017), South African rugby union footballer *

Johann van der Westhuizen Johann van der Westhuizen (born 26 May 1952 in Windhoek, South West Africa (now Namibia) is a former judge of the Constitutional Court of South Africa. Before his judicial appointment, he was a professor at the University of Pretoria Faculty of L ...

, judge in the Constitutional Court of South Africa *

Jacob van der Westhuizen Professor Jacob van der Westhuizen was a noted South African academic in the field of Criminology, who published over twenty-five books. In December 1987 he went to the Republic of China (Taiwan) on an Academic exchange program due to his posit ...

, director of the Institute for Criminology of UNISA *

Louis van der Westhuizen Louis van der Westhuizen (born 31 March 1988) is a Namibian cricketer. He is a left-handed batsman and a slow left-arm bowler. He has played first-class cricket for the senior Namibian cricket team since 2006, having previously lined up for the ...

, a Namibian cricketer * Charlize van der Westhuizen, a South African cricketer *Marco van der Westhuizen , former rugby player and pastor *

Yolandi van der Westhuizen Yolandi van der Westhuizen (born 11 December 1981) is a South African former cricketer and current cricket coach. She played as a right-handed batter and wicket-keeper. She appeared in eight One Day Internationals and 12 Twenty20 Internationals ...

, an international cricketer *

Minki van der Westhuizen Willemien "Minki" van der Westhuizen (born 26 February 1984) is a South African model and television presenter. Early life Van der Westhuizen was born in Durbanville near Cape Town to an Afrikaner family and attended Stellenberg High School ...

, well-known model * Peter van der Westhuizen, former South African runner *

Joffel van der Westhuizen Lieutenant General Christoffel Pierre "Joffel" van der Westhuizen (Born ) is a South African Army general from the artillery, who served as Chief of Staff Intelligence for the Defence Force from 19911994. Military career He served in the artill ...

, former Lieutenant General of the South African army.

Alternate spellings

Van der Westhuyzen

* Jaco van der Westhuyzen, rugby player *

Jean van der Westhuyzen Jean van der Westhuyzen (born 9 December 1998) is a South African-born Australian sprint canoeist. He was educated at Michaelhouse, Balgowan, KwaZulu Natal. He won a gold medal in the K2 1000 metres event at the 2020 Summer Olympics, competi ...

, South African-Australian sprint canoeist

Van der Westhuysen

* Hannah van der Westhuysen, English actress.

References

{{surname Afrikaans-language surnames Dutch-language surnames Surnames of Dutch origin