Maurits Pasques de Chavonnes

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Maurits Pasques de Chavonnes - Wikipedia

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Maurits Pasques de Chavonnes


4th Governor of the Dutch Cape Colony
In office 28 March 1714 – 8 September 1724
Preceded by	Willem Helot (acting)
Succeeded by	Jan de la Fontaine (acting)

Personal details
Born	c. 1654 The Hague, Dutch Republic
Died	8 September 1724 Cape Town
Resting place	Cape Town
Nationality	Dutch

Maurits Pasques de Chavonnes (c.1654 – 8 September 1724) was governor of the Dutch Cape Colony from 1714 till 1721.^[1]

Early life

Maurits (or Mauritz) Pasques de Chavonnes was born in The Hague and baptized on 23 July 1654 in de Grote Kerk, The Hague.^[2] He was the youngest son of Jeanne de Savornin^[3] and Pierre Pasques de Chavonnes, whose father, Joachim Pasques, marquis de Chavonnes, fled from France after the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre in 1572. He married Bathazarina Kien in 1689 and later had two children: Anna Magdalena Pasques de Chavonnes and Pieter Rochus Pasques de Chavonnes.^[3]

Career

He trained as a soldier and progressed to lieutenant colonel of the States-General of the Netherlands. Mauritz de Chavonnes was in charge of the infantry regiment in the army of the Dutch Republic during the War of the Spanish Succession (1701-1713). After the Treaty of Utrecht which ended the war, he joined the Dutch East India Company, who appointed him as the Cape Governor in 1714, replacing Louis van Assenburgh who had died on 27 December 1712.^[4]

Within the first few months after arrival in the Cape he regulated the responsibilities of the garrison and for the first time in the Cape's history allowed the soldiers to wear uniforms and drafted instructions for the use of weapons and ammunition.^[4] De Chavonnes also instituted grazing licenses for the Cape stock farmers: in July 1714 he decided that (according to the Politieke Raad) "every person that has the requirement for grazing on any land shall request permission, and for recognition shall pay a semi-annual fee of six or an annual fee of twelve Dutch rijksdaalder to the Company". Furthermore, the farmers had to pay tithes of all their harvests to the Dutch East India Company. He contributed to the development of the Cape and was promoted to Justice of India in 1721.

His military innovations included the organisation of so-called Free Black and Asian citizens in Table Valley into a military unit called Companie Vryswarten (Company Free Blacks) in 1722 under the command of their own officers. This company, together with others, took turns in the night watch of the company's barracks.^[4]

He died on 8 September 1724 in the Cape after a day's illness and was buried with military honours on 14 September.^[4]

References

^ Rosenthal, Eric, Encyclopaedia of Southern Africa, Juta and Company Limited, Cape Town and Johannesburg, 1978.
^ De Kock, W. J. (1972). Dictionary of South African biography: Vol II. Pretoria: Human Sciences Research Council. p. 168. ISBN 0-624-00856-8. OCLC 20937.
^ ^a ^b genealogieonline Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Die Suid-Afrikaanse Krygshistoriese Vereniging, Governor Mauritz Pasque de Chavonnes and the First Military Uniforms at the Cape, Military History Journal - Vol 6 No 2, Besoek op 3 Junie 2007

Bibliography

500 Jaar Suid-Afrikaanse Geskiedenis, Prof. CF Muller

v t e Commanders and Governors of the Dutch Cape Colony
	Commanders 1652–1691	Jan van Riebeeck Zacharias Wagenaer Cornelis van Quaelberg Jacob Borghorst Pieter Hackius Albert van Breugel IJsbrand Godske Johan Bax van Herenthals Hendrik Crudop Simon van der Stel
	Governors 1691–1795	Simon van der Stel Willem Adriaan van der Stel Johan Cornelis d'Ableing Louis van Assenburgh Willem Helot Maurits Pasques de Chavonnes Jan de la Fontaine Pieter Gysbert Noodt Jan de la Fontaine Adriaan van Kervel Daniël van den Henghel Hendrik Swellengrebel Ryk Tulbagh Joachim van Plettenberg Pieter van Reede van Oudtshoorn Joachim van Plettenberg Cornelis Jacob van de Graaff Johan Isaac Rhenius Sebastiaan Cornelis Nederburgh & Simon Hendrik Frijkenius Abraham Josias Sluysken Those in italics were Acting Governors

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