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Louis Fourie
Until 1745 when Swellendam was proclaimed a District, the Stellenbosch Drostdy's jurisdiction encompassed the entire eastern region of the Colony. In 1721 the Stellenbosch list of "unmarried persons (cenlopende personen) not owning property records that de jonge Louis Fourie boven aan het duivenhoka Rivier aan de sekoegat wonen [which is just north of Doornboom AP). It is surmised that in the early 1720s Louis II, son of the stamvader, was employed as a Aneg or herdsman by a fellow Huguenot, Andries Gous, who had obtained grazing rights to Zeekoeigat.
Duicenhoksrivier gent de dorenboom. In 1726 the name of Louis Il is omitted from the Stellenbosch Drostdy list of cavalry and in 1730 it is entered under Kommando Overberg. This confirms that he had relocated east of the Hottentots Holland mountains. In 1732 Andries made his last payment of rent in respect of Doomboom and on 15 October 1733 the rights to this grazing were registered under the name of Louis Fourie II (RLR 9/3 p.212-4). From a humble beginning Louis II was in time to become one of the most respected and
prosperous farmers in the region. In 1744 he was appointed wagmeestter of the Overberg. Between 1751 and 1758 he served on the heemraad of Swellendam.
Already in 1747 he had made a loan towards the construction of the new District's Drostdy and, according to the opgaaf of 1762, Louis II was the second most wealthy man in the area.
After Louis's death in 1767 his wife Susanna le Riche farmed the property and she was the 'widow Fourie to whom Thunberg (1773), Swellengrebel (1776) and Governor van Plettenberg (1778) referred in their journals. After sixty years on Doornboom, Susanna Fourie died in 1788 and in September the following year the farm passed on to her fifty-nine year old son, the Burger Cornet Louis III.In 1796 Louis Fourie III passed away, leaving the old family farm teen 'n bemakingsprys van 13000 to his eldest son, Louis. On 1 September 1823, Louis IV obtained full title to the property when it was granted to him on ewigdurende erfpag (Sw.Q.4A-19). It was a typical carly circular farm (Fig.3). He passed away in 1836 after which his eldest son, the fourth generation of Louis's to reside at Doomboom, continued the dynasty (Louis Johannes 1797- 1876).
Early visitors to Doornboom
CvEnsign Isagiki Schtürzt led an ambitious expedition which took him as far as Aberdeen to barter cattle in the castern districts. On 17 January 1689 his diary records that "we came at about 11 o'clock in the forenoon to the Duivenhok and have camped on the far side of the river, where eight eels were caught and eaten "with relish" (Mossop 1931 215). This crossing of the river was most probably near the present-day town of Heidelberg, on the site of the future farm Doomboom.
1752 Ensign August Friedrich Beutler was sent on an expedition to the Eastern Cape by Governor Ryk Tulbagh, to investigate development possibilities. Beutler ventured as far as the Xhosa territories and crossed the Kei River in July 1752. As the drift through the Duivenshoks River at Doornboom had become a recognized crossing, he too in all probability navigated the river near the dwelling of Louis Fourie II, who had acquired grazing rights to the farm in 1733 and took up residence there.
1768 Jan Willem Cloppenburg, Secunde (vice-Govermor) at the Cape in 1768, accompanied by the Surveyor Carel F. Brink, undertook an expedition. In his Joernaal van mijn reis in Afrika he describes Doomboom as een seer hebbelyk mitshouden (a well run household). As Louis Fourie II had died the previous year, his widow Susanna was the hostess.
1773 Card Peter Thunberg, the Swedish botanist, is possibly the earliest traveller of eminence to mention the widow Fourie by name. On 10 November 1773 he arrived at the "widow.
Doornboom Opstal
The restoration architect Dirk Visser, who inspected the building in 1995, concluded that the present building dated from the early 1800s. However, the most recent edition of The Old Buildings of the Cape (Fransen & Cook 2004: 471) agrees that "on all available evidence" it is the original Doomboom homestead, and the house is "certainly much older than the town, possibly even pre-1800"
Doomboom's older walls are of layered clay (dagha) and sun-dried bricks (Figs.14 and 17). The roof was once thatched, part of which is still visible under the present covering of corrugated iron (Fig.13) A reed ceiling (sparretjiesriet), topped with clay to create a brandsolder, is still visible in the main bedroom, the other reed ceilings were later boarded over (Fig. 16)The beams in the kitchen are open to the roof and consequently do not carry the traditional solder for storage (Fig. 15). The wall separating the kitchen from the voorhuis has a triangular gable (now concealed in the roof) and some of the kitchen walls are built of layered clay (opgekleide mure). This could be the oldest part of the house.Figure 7 is the earliest known drawing to show the layout of the 'Auld House', but it is not to scale. It was done in 1935 by the mother of Hanna and Charles Hopkins. In January 1996, when Ds Willie Fourie and fellow clan members enthusiastically set out to restore their ancestral home, a ground plan was made showing the layout of the "original" Doomboom, as far as could be ascertained (Fig.8). Three years later, the author made a rough sketch (with notes) of the old house as it remained after most of the 'modern' appendages had been removed in preparation for the final restoration.
Sadly, the ambitious plans of the Fouries did not materialize, and in 2004 the property was in a state of collapse.
Restoration
Jan Geldenhuys, Jurie Uys and Henk Rall have come to the rescue of the old house with the establishment of the Fourie Huis Trust in December 2004.
Johannes Joseph (Jopie) Fourie 27 August 1878- 20 December 1914.
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