| 8. | Hendrik Adriaan GREEFF, b2c1d4e1f6g1 was born on 26 Jan 1828 in Lichtenburg, Durbanville Cape; was christened on 10 Feb 1828 in Cape Town, Cape, South Africa (son of Matthys Hendrik GREEFF, b2c1d4e1f6 and Rachel Anna Jacoba DE VILLIERS); died on 3 Apr 1884 in 'Sandspruit', Wakkerstroom, Transvaal, South Africa; was buried in reinterred Manana. Notes:
Lived on the farm Lichtenburg near Cape Town, trekked to Western Transvaal. Founder of Lichtenburgh, stephfather of Gen. Koos de la Rey.
Dictionary of South African Biography:
Greeff, Hendrik Adriaan (Subscriber Content)(*Lichtenburg, Durbanville, CC, 29.1.1828 - †Sandspruit, Wakkerstroom dist., 3.4.1884), founder of Lichtenburg, commandant, farmer, businessman, and adventurer, was the son of Matthys Greeff and his wife, Rachel Jacoba de Villiers.At the age of eighteen G. left home and entered the service of Net de Vos, a waggon-builder at Worcester. About 1847 or 1848 he built a ferry over the Vaal River near Bloemhof and made a good living from the toll. Finding this life too restricted, however, he sold the ferry, bought a waggon and a team of oxen, purchased merchandise in the Cape Colony and undertook a hunting expedition to the Transvaal, but a hostile Black chief robbed him of all his possessions and he escaped with only his horse and gun.G. then left the Cape Colony (1856) and moved to the Transvaal, where he took part in various hunting expeditions, among others to what was to become Rhodesia, and Damaraland. His family, who accompanied him, often had to endure great hardships such as encounters with hostile Blacks, water shortage, rain, cold, and heat.In 1860 G. bought the farm Doornfontein and later also a part of the farm Elandsfontein and the present farm Manana. Since as a farm surveyor he was usually paid in land, he acquired a number of farms with which he speculated, and in 1865 he campaigned for the founding of a town to be called Lichtenburg on the farm Doornfontein. It was not until 25.7.1873 that Pres. T. F. Burgers approved this proposal, and included the farm Middelbosch. G. opened a shop in the town but remained living on Manana, farming mealies and selling his mealie harvest every year in Kimberley, where it fetched a good price.A church elder, field cornet, and later commandant, G. became a respected resident of the Western Transvaal. On the outbreak of the Anglo-Boer War in December 1880 he was involved in the siege, laid by Gen. P. A. Cronjé, of the British garrison in Potchefstroom, and on 20.12.1880 he guarded an outpost alongside the Mooi River, but left shortly afterwards for Lichtenburg, which he reached on Christmas Day. He and Commandant J. W. Viljoen were responsible for the maintenance of peace among the Black tribes on the western frontier, and it was through G.'s intervention that Cronje acquired his only cannon, enabling him to return the British gunfire. G. was later replaced as commandant and in February 1881 returned to Potchefstroom where he remained for the duration of the war. Since news that peace had been declared had not reached Potchefstroom, G. was appointed (1.4.1881) to guard the town with thirty men, but the order was retracted when news was received that the war was over.In the same year G. was made commissioner for Native affairs to prevent Boer volunteers from becoming involved in the disputes of the Tswanas on the western frontier and at first he succeeded in doing so, but by the end of the year volunteers were crossing the frontier as they pleased. In 1883, when he was offered the post of Ianddros at Lichtenburg, he declined it on account of poor health. After various doctors had treated him without success, he left to have medical treatment at Wakkerstroom, but died at Sandspruit and was buried there. His remains were reinterred by the family on the farm Manana on 29.4.1944.On 16.7.1855 G. married Susanna Maria Redelinghuis in the Cape Colony, and had three sons and six daughters, the eldest of whom married Gen. J. H. de la Rey. A bust of G. was unveiled at the entrance to the Civic Centre in Lichtenburg on 29.1.1973.
Hendrik married Susanna Maria REDELINGHUYS on 16 Jul 1855 in Hopetown, Cape, South Africa. Susanna (daughter of Jan REDELINGHUYS) was born on 6 Jan 1839 in Tulbagh, Cape, South Africa; and died. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]
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1932 - 1984 (52 years)
