Page 37 - Bulletin 20 2016

34

than one loan place at a time. So, to further his application, he asked that if this should prove
a difficulty he be allowed this land under the same conditions as two other residents of
Simon’s Town, Jan Willem Hurter and Arend Munnik, who have been allowed to have
“similar places” on this side of the mountain, “as a special favour” (45) .

This serves to confirm that Arend Munnik had been successful in his request of 1788 to have
the use of Schoesterkraal as a grazing outpost. Still we are no wiser as to what sort of “special
favour” Auret is referring to. As already mentioned, the westward extent of Barend Muller’s
subsequent grant of land at Wildschutsbrand is evidence that Munnik had been granted the
full half hour walk of land that could be claimed by Schoesterskraal if granted as a loan place.
There is also the very real possibility that both the Hurter and Munnik concessions were
influenced by a long established understanding between the Company and the Munnik family
regarding the land grant to which the Hurter’s boarding house was attached. In any case, and
returning to Auret, his request for Groot Smitswinkel Vlakte was denied.

The consolidation of Buffelsfontein and Die Uiterstehoek / Cape Point Farm

In 1794, at the age of only 41 or 42 years, Jeremias Auret died and Buffelsfontein passed to
his wife, Christina Hendrina (formerly Russouw and daughter of Christina Diemer) with the
rest of his estate. The following year - in the midst of the first British invasion of the Cape –
Christina married a surgeon who had recently arrived in Simon’s Town, Jan Michiel Endres,
of Franconia (part of present-day Germany). As was customary in those days, Endres through
marriage now became the manager of his wife’s business affairs and for which he would
prove to have little aptitude. Through his lack of business acumen and in many instances his
cupidity, Endres steadily brought the Auret estate into bankruptcy by 1799. He was, however,
able to salvage Buffelsfontein by transferring ownership before foreclosure to a business
associate in Simon’s Town, David Piton. True to their agreement Piton held Buffelsfontein
until 1802 when, under the security of a substantial second bond, he returned the property to
Endres. (46) .

34