Ancestors and Descendants of Ron Smit and Brenda Schiefner Erasmus SCHMIDT arrived at the Cape of Good Hope from Holstein, Germany, in 1717 in the service of the VOC, contracted as a soldier. He was granted free burgher status in 1727, at which time his name changed to SMIT. He married Cornelia van Emmenes on 6th May 1731. They lived at Drakenstein, and he died on 6th May 1787, at Stellenbosch according to all published material. However, Richard Ball found a discrepancy, and we have established that death occurred prior to 22nd May 1770, the earliest date appearing on the distribution account.  Extracts of "Die Voorouers en Nageslagte van Stephanus Albertus Smit van Waterval, Burgersdorp" written by J.A. (Koos) Smit, of Pietersburg in 1970. Pieter ZEEMAN born 1728 in Amsterdam, arrived at the Cape of Good Hope in 1746. He was the son of Kornelius Zeeman and Johanna Mulder. He married Catharina Verbeek on 18 March 1753, the daughter of Jan Verbeek from Rotterdam and Dorothea Raats. These folk were the stamvaders (progenitors) of my family as it exists today. Unfortunately, not much is known of the Schiefner origins, apart from Ludwig Edmund Schiefner, Born 1879, Austria, died 16 September 1921, in Johannesburg. He married Elsie Elizabeth Brissenden, born 24 September 1882, in Willesborough, Kent who died 1953, Durban, South Africa I met Brenda Dawn Schiefner in Durban, and we married on 1st December, 1967. Brenda passed away suddenly in Johannesburg on 1st March, 1999. Our daughters, Angela Dawn, born 7th November 1969 in Johannesburg, married Paul Stewart Isaac 22nd June, 1991. Beverley Anne, born 27th February 1974 in Durban, married Shaun Ashley Evans 18th August 2001.  08 February, 2023