“DANKBAAR”

That was the first word that crossed the mind of GERT MEYER FERREIRA when he sat foot on this farm as a young man.

He was born 23 November 1904 in die district of Willowmore, and at the age of 24 he started work as a farm manager in Quagga, on the outskirts of Patensie.

On 28 November 1934 he got married to LOUZETTA THEODRA RENS, who was born on 23 January 1906. She was from the farm Vensterhoek in die Valley.

Foremost in their minds was to own their own farm, and they jumped at the opportunity when they got word that an uncultivated farm near Patensie was available to rent. With virtually no capital and no farm implements, but with a lot of guts and enthusiasm, and with the help of one farm worker named Nero, they started to deforest and cultivate this farm. The red soil in the valley is fertile, and with the grace of the Almighty the harvest was excellent. After three years he was in a position to buy the farm. He sat of on horseback to the Wehmeyers in Elandsrivier with his offer of 1800 pounds. It was accepted and on the same day he returned to inform his wife about the good news. There was no doubt in their minds about the name for the farm – DANKBAAR (thankful).

Six children were born from this marriage – three boys and three daughters:

In 1945 they realized that the house was getting too small for this big family,  and started building a new dwelling about 100m away from the old house. The master builder in those days was Barry Verwey and he was also the builder of this house.

It was the end of World War II and the building material was sometimes in short supply. Bricks for this house were manufactured on the farm by hand and they had to use brick moulds in the manufacturing process. The bricks were baked in a wood fired kiln. In September 1946 construction was completed and they moved to their new house. The old house was converted into a shed.

In 1948 their youngest child were born in the new house. All six children were married out of this house.

In the early hours of 30 July 1968, Gert Ferreira died suddenly from a heart attack. His wife, Louzetta, stayed in the house for a few more years until she moved to Humansdorp in 1972, where she passed away on 12 April 1978.

The oldest son, Jannie, inherited the farm. He rented out the house until his son, Retief, returned to the farm. Retief is still the current owner of the farm, and he is married to Adi- Mari Schoeman, who decided to convert this farmhouse into a guest house. In 2004 she started with great enthusiasm to convert this house, without changing the character, into a guest house.

The five surviving children are grateful that this house will be conserved:

“We know Gert and Louzetta laid the foundations on this farm, and by converting it into a guest house it will be preserved for future generations, and for that we are thankful (DANBAAR)”.

Compiled by: Christa Kemp (née Ferreira)