Stel, Simon van der, 1639-1712 (Personal Name)

Codex Witsenii, 2002: t.p. (Simon van der Stel) p.181-182 (born 1639, died 1712)

Dictionary of African Biography, accessed April 21, 2015, via Oxford African American Studies Center database: (Van, der Stel, Simon; territorial governor; born 1639 in Mauritius; commander of Dutch colony at the Cape of Good Hope; moved to the Netherlands (1659); served in the Amsterdam militia as a cavalry officer in the war with France (1672); commander of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) in Cape of Good Hope (1679-1699); made a well-documented exploration of the Namaqualand copper mines (1685); discovered the ore; set up the farm which became the premier wine estate of the Cape and the first marketed in Europe; successful governor and contributed considerably to the Cape colonial society; died 1712 in Cape of Good Hope, South Africa)