PLETTENBERG BAY NEWS - Two treats awaited members of the Van Plettenberg Historical Society at its get-together at The Old Rectory on Friday 26 July.
The first was an absorbing presentation by Rodney Grosskopff on Francois Renier Duminy, under the title "a dream which became Plettenberg Bay".
The second was the birthday celebration of Len Swimmer, VPHS chairman, who treated those attending to a slice of chocolate cake.
Grosskopff's insight into the personality of Duminy brought history alive for the full-house audience, regaling them with facts of this French mariner, navigator, cartographer, farmer, South African pioneer - and the ancestor of the Duminy family in South Africa.
Duminy was born in France. He first went to sea at the age of nine with the French East India Company and spent his life sailing the seas and developing his outstanding skills as a navigator and cartographer.
Later he worked for the Dutch East India Company.
Baron's visit
Duminy spent much of his time in the Cape - during which he travelled extensively and mapped the coastline.
"He had a deep involvement in the earliest days of Plettenberg Bay and was instrumental in encouraging the very first visit by Baron Joachim van Plettenberg to the area in 1778," said Grosskopff.
Baron van Plettenberg hoped our bay would become a timber export port and approved the construction of the Timber Shed by Johan Jacob Jerling - which still stands across the road from The Old Rectory.
The Old Rectory is believed to have originally housed employees of the Dutch East India Company who supervised the storing of timber in the Timber Shed.
First timber load
The first load of timber left the bay on board Duminy's ship "De Meermin" in August 1788.
The names are all familiar to Plettenberg Bay. Peter Duminy, a direct descendant, was treasurer and an active member of The Van Plettenberg Historical Society committee for many years. His sister and her husband still live in the area.
The Jerling family still live in Plettenberg Bay, with Dion Jerling, a member of the executive committee, a direct descendant
Duminy never really received the recognition he should have for his contributions to history in South Africa.
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