Ek het groot geword met die wete dat Die Bos die oudste plaas in die land was wat vader na seun in die familie oorgedra was – dus het die Morkel naam behoue gebly. Daar was glo ‘n ander plaas wat langer in ‘n familie was, maar dit het deur ‘n dogter op ‘n slag gegaan en die familie naam het verander. (Ek is onder die indruk dit was Steenberg in die Constantia vallei, oorspronklik in die Louw familie. As ek dit verkeerd het, laat my gerus weet).
Vanjaar 2013, is die familie 300 jaar op die plaas. Philip Morkel en sy vrou Catharina Pasman het in 1713 op Onverwacht (later is die naam verander na The Bush en toe Die Bos) begin boer. Dit het eers aan Claas Elbertsz en sy vrou Margaretha Pasman behoort, maar hul is in die 1713 pokke epidemie oorlede. Dit het toe na Margaretha se ma Fytje (Sophia) Pasman gegaan wat haar skoonseun Philip en haar dogter Catharina daar laat boer het. Die plaas is in 1718 in Philip Morkel se naam oorgedra.
Verstedeliking het nou meeste van die plaas oorgeneem maar die uitgebreide plaaswerf met ringmuur, historiese duiwehok, ronde kraal dorsvloer, slaweklok (1722) en die ou opstal is nog in Morkel besit, nou die tiende geslag. In die huis is daar meubels en items van oor die generasies. Die pragtige ou kis van Catharina Pasman, die Liefdekrans, gedruk in 1725 hang teen die muur, die Hollandse staan horlosie, brandewyn stook-ketel, stinkhout toonkas, en die ‘prul’ sideboard van Vergelegen se kamferhout gemaak, is almal nog daar.
I grew up knowing that Die Bos was the oldest farm in South Africa within the same family handed down father to son, retaining the Morkel family name. I believe there was another farm that had a longer record in one family, but the surname changed when it passed through a daughter. (I am under the impression that it was Steenberg, originally in the Louw family. If I am wrong, please let me know).
The family has now, in 2013, been on the farm for 300 years. Philip Morkel and his wife Catharina Pasman commenced farming at Onverwacht (later renamed The Bush and still later Die Bos) in 1713. It originally belonged to Claas Elbertsz and his wife Margaretha Pasman. Sadly they died in the small pox epidemic of 1713 and the farm passed on to Margaretha’s mother, Fytje (Sophia) Pasman, who allowed her son-in-law and daughter to farm there. The property was transferred to Philip Morkel in 1718.
Much of the farm has been taken over by urban sprawl. However, the extensive farmyard with ringmuur, historic dovecote, round-walled threshing floor, slavebell (1722) and old home is still owned by Morkels, now the tenth generation. In the home there are furniture and items that go back over the generations. Catharina Pasman’s beautiful old ‘kis’, the ‘Liefdekrans’ printed in 1725 hanging on the wall, the Dutch grandfather clock, old stinkhout writing desk/display cabinet, the ‘prul’ sideboard made from camphor wood from Vergelegen, are all there.
