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The first Du Plessis to come to South Africa was a French Huguenot by the name of Jean Prieur du Plessis who sailed to the Cape of Good Hope aboard the "Oosterland" in 1688. This ship stopped over in Saldanha Bay on its route, so in a way I have returned to my roots by moving to Saldanha in 1996 (at the time without knowing it). Jean Prieur and his wife, Madeleine Menanteau's son, Charles, was born during the voyage and christened aboard the ship on 18 April 1688 (from M. Boucher, 1983. "French Speakers at the Cape", University of South Africa: Pretoria).
I have only recently started researching my roots back to this first Du Plessis and have information going back to my great grandfather. I still have to establish the link between Johannes Christiaan du Plessis and Jean Prieur du Plessis. My son, born on 11 December 1999 and nicknamed Martin, has my names and is the fifth generation Marthinus Johannes in our family.
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