Zwarte Maria Evert

17th Century

17th Century drawing of an African woman wearing Dutch clothing. Image: Rijksmuseum

“She is a tall woman, very black, with sparkling eyes which… She is, however, a very good hostess and provides for us splendidly,” the traveler Samuel Briercliffe on meeting Maria Evert.

Before Camps Bay became the upmarket tourist destination we know today, it was owned by a wealthy female farmer named Zwarte Maria Evert. The Dutch East India Company (VOC) granted the land between Table Mountain and Lions Head to Maria. The title deed for the area is in her name.

Born to Evert of Guinea and Anna (or Hoena) of Guinea, Maria and her family started life at the Cape as enslaved workers, but eventually obtained their freedom. Her father, Evert, was granted a plot of land, which he farmed and extended by purchasing an adjacent property. He became one of the earliest free black farmers and owned the farm Welgelegen in Stellenbosch near Cape Town. Maria sold his produce to the public.

Evert taught his daughter entrepreneurial skills and business principles and she became a successful businesswoman. She worked hard and became the owner of several farms in the Cape and along the West Coast. Maria sowed wheat and corn, she planted fruit trees and vines, from which wine was produced, and she farmed with sheep and cattle. Despite receiving a sentence of six months’ hard labour for harbouring an escaped enslaved labourer, Maria’s land was cultivated by numerous male and female enslaved workers. She also employed a white servant (called a “knecht”) who helped oversee the farms.

Maria Evert married Jackie Joij (Gracias) of Angola. Theirs was the first wedding at a Cape church between two West Africans. She separated from Jackie after being accused of poisoning him. Maria had a brief relationship with Willem ten Damme and Kraak, before settling with her life partner, a Dutchman named Bastiaan Jansz Colijn. They had four children together and their son Johannes Colijn became a notable winemaker. The kings and queens of Europe stocked his wine in their cellars.

Maria died as a prominent and independent woman in her own right. Her family was the founding family of many living South Africans.