Like most van Blerks, the story of a family member that married a dark skinned girl, was ostracised by the family, was forced to pace a ‘c’ in his surname and was given land on the other side of the mountain, was told to many.

I think Basina was an extraordinary woman and the Basina/Rogier family and extraordinary family. According to record she was born in 1773 and her occupation was that of a washerwoman. She was given the surname of van de Kaap as she was a slave and she stayed and worked at 51 Waterkant Street, in the Cape Colony. On Jan 2 1801 she gave birth to their first daughter Alida Johanna van Blerk at the age of 28. Basina was christened on Mar 7 1812 age 39 in the Swartland. It is possibility here that she adopted the names Martha and Dorothea.

In 1818 she was declared a Free Citizen by the Cape Court at the age of 45 and the family migrated south where they married in George on Sep 24 1821. Basina was 48 years old their love had lasted a long time but it was also at this stage that she gave birth to their last and thirteenth child Bastiaan Pieter Everhadus van Blerk. The family then moved to and farmed in the Colesberg area. She died Jul 1 1839 age 66.
-Clifford van Blerk

Died in Stellenbosch

Somerset Road Cemetery, Cape Town, Cape. Compilers: M Cairns, DG Boonzaaier and C Graham Botha, 1907. Courtesy: Cape Archives Depot (Accession 397), Dutch Reformed Church Archives, Cape Town and  Regional  Services, Western Cape, HSRC.