- Gegevens
- Geschreven door: Fred Heistek
- Categorie: Geschiedenis
In oktober 1747 lag Willemke Gerritsdr van Wensen in Uitwijk voor de vierde keer in het kraambed. Zij was aan het bevallen van een zoon aan wie zij tijdens diens doop op de 9e van dezelfde maand de voornaam Gerrit zou geven. De kleine Gerrit groeide op in het bescheiden dorpje Uitwijk, maar vele jaren later verliet hij zijn geboortegrond om in de Bommelerwaard te gaan wonen. En wel in het langgerekte pittoreske esdorpje Zuilichem. Hij verliet zo Noord-Brabant en vestigde zich in Gelderland.
Land van Altena en Bommelerwaard
For the Voortrekkers in Natal, a deadly silence hung over their encampments, one that they mistook as peaceful. Quite a few families had jumped at the chance to trek ahead of the main body of Trekkers gathered at the foot of the Drakensberg mountains. By mid-February these families were outspanned (unhitched) along a fourty-mile stretch along the Bloukrans and Bushmen Rivers (see map). So sure were these Trekkers of the success of Retief’s mission, that many of the men were either out hunting to replenish their supplies, while some were even on their way back to the Drakenberg mountains to help others descend those steep cliffs. In most of the camps the women and children were alone with their servants, who were taking care of the livestock grazing on the abundant sweet grass of these fertile valleys. Their ox wagons were staggered in small, indefensible family groups, far away from others. None were pulled together in a defensive laager.
