Willem Adriaan van der Stel

Willem Adriaan van der Stel
Portrait of Simon van der Stel and his son Willem Adriaan. The original was destroyed in a fire in 1962; a replica was created based on photographs
2nd Governor of the Dutch Cape Colony
In office 2 November 1699 – 3 June 1707
Preceded by	Simon van der Stel
Succeeded by	Johannes Cornelis d’Ableing
Personal details
Born	24 August 1664 Haarlem
Died	11 November 1733 (1733-11-12) (aged 69) Lisse
Nationality	Dutch

Willem Adriaan van der Stel (24 August 1664, Haarlem – 11 November 1733, Lisse) was appointed as extraordinary Council of the Dutch Indies, and Governor of the Cape Colony, a way station for the Dutch East India Company (VOC), from 23 January 1699 to 1707. He was dismissed after a revolt and was exiled to the Netherlands.

Van der Stel was the eldest of six children of Simon van der Stel (1639–1712) and Johanna Jacoba Six (1645–1700), who were prominent members of the Dutch merchant world. His paternal grandfather had been the governor of Mauritius, and his grandmother a mestizo. His mother was related to Jan Six, involved in the silk trade and a friend of Rembrandt. Willem Adriaan was fifteen when he went to the Cape in 1679. Around 1684 he returned to Holland where he married Maria de Haze, with whom he would have five children. (Her father François de Haze who worked for Dutch East India Company as an opperhoofd on Deshima, in Persia and Bengal was also involved in the silk trade).

Willem Adriaan van der Stel lorded over Nieuw and Oud-Vossemeer on the island Tholen, probably through his wife. In 1691 became an schepen of Amsterdam. He did not return to the Cape until January 1699 when he was appointed to succeed his father as Governor of the colony.

Van der Stel displayed an interest in horticulture and agriculture and conducted extensive farming experiments. He sent quite a few Aloe to the Hortus Botanicus Amsterdam. He was the author of one of South Africa's earliest gardening almanacs. Van der Stel expanded the VOC's gardens and sent expeditions towards the north to explore the rest of the country. He established the "Land van Waveren", now known as Tulbagh and laid the cornerstone for the Groote Kerk in Cape Town.