Ryk Tulbagh
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Ryk Tulbagh (14 May 1699,
Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city and a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, pro ...
– 11 August 1771,
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 ...
) was
Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
of the
Dutch Cape Colony The Cape Colony ( nl, Kaapkolonie) was a Dutch United East India Company (VOC) colony in Southern Africa, centered on the Cape of Good Hope, from where it derived its name. The original colony and its successive states that the colony was inco ...
from 27 February 1751 to 11 August 1771 under the Dutch East India Company (VOC). Tulbagh was the son of Dirk Tulbagh and Catharina Cattepoel, who moved their family to
Bergen op Zoom Bergen op Zoom (; called ''Berrege'' in the local dialect) is a municipality and a city located in the south of the Netherlands. Etymology The city was built on a place where two types of soil meet: sandy soil and marine clay. The sandy soil p ...
when Rijk was still an infant. There he attended the Latin school. As a 16-year-old he enlisted with 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 ...
and in 1716 sailed as a cadet on the ship ''Huys Terhorst'' to South Africa. His career with the Company advanced rapidly. He was appointed a temporary assistant to the Council of Policy in 1716 and he received a full appointment in 1718. In 1723 he became chief clerk and later in the same year book-keeper. In 1725 he rose to become secretary to the Council of Policy and in 1726 to Junior Merchant. In 1732 he became a merchant. In 1739 he became Secunde (the second highest administrative post) and 27 February 1751 he was appointed Governor. In 1725 Tulbagh married Elizabeth Swellengrebel, the sister of
Hendrik Swellengrebel Hendrik Swellengrebel (Cape Town, 20 September 1700 – Utrecht, 26 December 1760) was the first and only Dutch East India Company governor of the Dutch Cape Colony who was born in the Cape. Life Swellengrebel was governor from 14 April 1739 ...
, Governor of the Cape Colony at the time. She died in 1753. Tulbagh himself died in 1771 and was buried in the Groote Kerk in the grave of his wife and father-in-law. Tulbagh was known for importing from
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 ...
124-provision
sumptuary law Sumptuary laws (from Latin ''sūmptuāriae lēgēs'') are laws that try to regulate consumption. '' Black's Law Dictionary'' defines them as "Laws made for the purpose of restraining luxury or extravagance, particularly against inordinate expendi ...
restricting extravagance. The 1755 Cape law, promulgated at the request of Batavia Governor-General
Jacob Mossel Jacob Mossel (28 November 1704 – 15 May 1761) went from being a common sailor to become Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies from 1750 to 1761. He was of noble birth, born in Enkhuizen. When he was 15 he left as an able-bodied seaman abo ...
, declared that only he could decorate his carriage with the colonial
coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...
and that he and the Council alone could dress their coaches in
livery A livery is an identifying design, such as a uniform, ornament, symbol or insignia that designates ownership or affiliation, often found on an individual or vehicle. Livery will often have elements of the heraldry relating to the individual or ...
. Lower officials and their wives were prohibited from carrying
umbrella An umbrella or parasol is a folding canopy supported by wooden or metal ribs that is usually mounted on a wooden, metal, or plastic pole. It is designed to protect a person against rain or sunlight. The term ''umbrella'' is traditionally used ...
s (called ''kiepersol'' or parasols and a major status symbol), and all women were banned from lining dresses with
silk Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons. The best-known silk is obtained from the coc ...
or
velvet Weave details visible on a purple-colored velvet fabric Velvet is a type of woven tufted fabric in which the cut threads are evenly distributed, with a short pile, giving it a distinctive soft feel. By extension, the word ''velvety'' means ...
. The then-current fashion of gowns with a
train In rail transport, a train (from Old French , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles that run along a railway track and Passenger train, transport people or Rail freight transport, freight. Trains are typically pul ...
was verboten, as were any frippery at funerals. He also codified the Tulbagh Code of colonial slave law, published in 1754. This loosened restrictions somewhat, only imposing the death penalty on those who killed their masters versus forced labor for lesser offences, allowing them to practice a trade to support themselves and buy their freedom as well as others', and placing said free blacks (called ''Fryswartes'') on an equal legal footing with white settlers. Nicknamed "Father Tulbagh" for introducing road maintenance, firefighting, and police among other civil services, Tulbagh did much to temper the
smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...
epidemics of 1755 and 1767, which wiped out almost the entire
Khoekhoe Khoekhoen (singular Khoekhoe) (or Khoikhoi in the former orthography; formerly also '' Hottentots''"Hottentot, n. and adj." ''OED Online'', Oxford University Press, March 2018, www.oed.com/view/Entry/88829. Accessed 13 May 2018. Citing G. S. ...
population of the area. The first was the worst to hit the white population, bringing it down from 6,110 to 5,123 in spite of high birth rates, and also killed over 500 slaves. The second one killed more than 500 people and was not eliminated until 1770. In 1761, he built the first library in the Cape to house books donated by
Joachim Nikolaus von Dessin Joachim (; ''Yəhōyāqīm'', "he whom Yahweh has set up"; ; ) was, according to Christian tradition, the husband of Saint Anne and the father of Mary, the mother of Jesus. The story of Joachim and Anne first appears in the Biblical apocryphal ...
, secretary of the orphan chamber and therefore guardian of estates. Tulbagh was of an intellectual and benevolent disposition. He wrote Latin and French and enjoyed the company of several foreign intellectuals who visited the Cape during his governorship. These included the astronomers Nicolas-Louis de La Caille,
Charles Mason Charles Mason (April 1728Jeremiah Dixon Jeremiah Dixon FRS (27 July 1733 – 22 January 1779) was an English surveyor and astronomer who is best known for his work with Charles Mason, from 1763 to 1767, in determining what was later called the Mason–Dixon line. Early life and ...
and the French writer
Bernardin de Saint-Pierre Jacques-Henri Bernardin de Saint-Pierre (also called Bernardin de St. Pierre) (19 January 1737, in Le Havre – 21 January 1814, in Éragny, Val-d'Oise) was a French writer and botanist. He is best known for his 1788 novel '' Paul et Virginie'', ...
. Over a long period Tulbagh corresponded with several botanists including
Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...
and sent him more than 200 specimens of local plants. Linnaeus named the plant ''
Tulbaghia ''Tulbaghia'' (wild garlic or society garlic) is a genus of monocotyledonous herbaceous perennial bulbs native to Africa, belonging to the amaryllis family. It is one of only two known genera in the society garlic tribe within the onion s ...
'' in his honour. An expedition sent northeast in 1752 was the largest since that of
Simon van der Stel Simon van der Stel (14 October 1639 – 24 June 1712) was the last commander and first Governor of the Dutch Cape Colony, the settlement at the Cape of Good Hope. Background Simon was the son of Adriaan van der Steland Maria Lievens ...
in 1685 and traveled through the lands of the
Thembu The Thembu Kingdom (''abaThembu ababhuzu-bhuzu, abanisi bemvula ilanga libalele'') was a Xhosa-state in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. According to Xhosa oral tradition, the AbaThembu migrated along the east coast of Southern Africa ...
and
Xhosa Xhosa may refer to: * Xhosa people, a nation, and ethnic group, who live in south-central and southeasterly region of South Africa * Xhosa language, one of the 11 official languages of South Africa, principally spoken by the Xhosa people See als ...
by the Qora River, returning 8 months later. Later, Captain Hendrik Hop journeyed north of the
Orange River The Orange River (from Afrikaans/Dutch: ''Oranjerivier'') is a river in Southern Africa. It is the longest river in South Africa. With a total length of , the Orange River Basin extends from Lesotho into South Africa and Namibia to the north ...
, in part to determine how far inland cattle farmers had settled. In 1770, Tulbagh declared the
Gamtoos River Gamtoos River or Gamptoos River is a river in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. It is formed by the confluence of the Kouga River and the Groot River (Eastern Cape), Groot River and is approximately long with a catchment area of . Cours ...
the eastern border of the
Swellendam Swellendam is the fifth oldest town in South Africa (after Cape Town, Stellenbosch, Simon's Town, and Paarl), a town with 17,537 inhabitants situated in the Western Cape province. The town has over 50 provincial heritage sites, most of them b ...
district and the
Swartberg The Swartberg mountains (''black mountain'' in Afrikaans) are a mountain range in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It is composed of two main mountain chains running roughly east–west along the northern edge of the semi-arid Little Kar ...
mountains the northern one, but was unable to defend them. The
Western Cape The Western Cape is a province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , and the third most populous, with an estimated 7 million inhabitants in 2020 ...
town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...
of
Tulbagh Tulbagh, named after Dutch Cape Colony Governor Ryk Tulbagh, is a town located in the "Land van Waveren" mountain basin (also known as the Tulbagh basin), in the Winelands of the Western Cape, South Africa. The basin is fringed on three sides ...
is named after him. No portrait of Tulbagh is known.


References


Sources

* Büttner, H.D. (1980). ''Kennis : die eerste Afrikaanse ensiklopedie in kleur'', vol 4, p. 681. Cape Town: Human & Rousseau. * De Kock, W.J., and Krüger, D.W. (eds.) (1972). ''Dictionary of South African Biography'', vol. II. Cape Town: Human Sciences Resource Council/Tafelberg, 1972 * * * * 1982. ''Wêreldspektrum'', vol. 27, p. 166-167. Roodepoort: Ensiklopedie Afrikana. {{DEFAULTSORT:Tulbagh, Ryk 1699 births 1771 deaths 18th-century Dutch colonial governors Dutch emigrants to South Africa Governors of the Dutch Cape Colony People from Utrecht (city)