Abraham Chiron Explained

Abraham Chiron
Office:Grand master of Lodge de Goede Hoop (South African Freemasons)
Term Start:1772
Term End:1776
Predecessor:Organization started in South Africa
Term Start2:1776
Term End2:1784
Birth Date:1746
Death Date:1822
Death Place:Frankfurt, Germany
Nationality:German
Spouse:Marie Philippine Roger
Children:4 daughters
Known For:Freemasonry, bookkeeping\banking

Abraham Chiron was a German-born book-keeper and banker who played a key role in the establishment of Freemasonry in South Africa and served as the country's first Masonic Grand Master. He also played a significant role in the early European settlement of the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa.

Family

Chiron was born in 1746 in Frankfurt, Germany to Charles Chiron and Susanna Schuler. He married Marie Philippine Roger from Sedan, France. Once settled in South Africa, the couple raised four daughters: Susanna Maria (1771), Marie Charlotte (1774), Jeane Marianne (1775), and Antoinette Caroline (1778).[1]

Career

Chiron joined the Dutch East India Company in 1768 on a five-year contract and arrived the next year in Cape Town, South Africa on the ship Grosvenor . As a contracted employee, Chiron was allocated to the Company’s Department of Secretary for Justice in 1775.[2] In 1782, he became responsible for the accounts of supplying ships and general book keeping duties.[3] After The Grosvenor, a ship of the Dutch East India Company, was wrecked in August 1782 on the Pondoland Coast of South Africa, Chiron helped uncover the cause by facilitating the gathering of evidence from the survivors as he was able to speak English.[4] [5] Chiron communicated frequently with Joachim van Plettenberg, the Governor of the Cape of Good Hope regarding Dutch East India Company employees matters.[6] He acted as coordinator between deceased Dutch members and their families in the Netherlands regarding their bequests.[7] [8]

Freemasonry

Chiron joined the Zur Einigkeit Freemason Lodge in Germany in 1765.[9] [2] In Cape Town, he met Captain Abraham van der Weijden and a division of the Grand Lodge of the Netherlands was established in 1772.[10] The founding members were Jacobus Alexander le Febre, Johann Coenraad Gie, Christoffel Brand, Jan Adriaan van Schoor, Olof Godlieb de Wet and Petrus Johan de Wit. Chiron served as the first Grand Master until 1776, and again from 1776 until 1781 following a brief absence.[11] [12]

Later life

After Chiron resigned from the Dutch East India Company, he and his family returned to the Netherlands in 1784.[13] They settled again in Frankfurt, Germany where Chiron was a bank manager until his death in 1822.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: South Africa Dutch Reformed Church Register (Cape Town Archives) 1660-1970. . 22 September 2018.
  2. Web site: The origins and growth of Freemasonry in South Africa 1772-1876. Cooper, A.A. University of Cape Town. January 1980. 18 September 2018. open.uct.ac.za .
  3. Book: Book- Cape Town Between East and West: Social Identities in a Dutch Colonial Town, page 42. 9781431402922. Worden, N. . Jacana Media. 2012.
  4. Book: Book -The Wreck of the Grosvenor: Containing A Narrative of the Loss of the Grosvenor, East Indiaman, Wrecked on the Coast of Caffraria, 1782(edited by Botha, C.G),page vi. Carter, C.. Van Riebeeck Society. 1927. 9780958513456.
  5. Web site: A history of the Grosvenor shipwreck. The Telegraph newspaper. 16 February 2004. 30 September 2018. Shakespeare, N..
  6. Web site: Inventaris van het archief van mr. J. baron van Plettenberg [levensjaren 1739-1793], 1763-1788]. Nationaal Archief, Ministerie van Onderwijs, Cultuur en Wetenscap. 17 September 2018. 1914. de Hullu, J.
  7. Web site: Elisabeth van Spijk. 19 September 2018.
  8. Web site: Rare document from Cook's third and last voyage(no 14). 30 September 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20181001182457/https://www.hordern.com/dl.php?file=%2Fimages%2Fupload%2Fcat398_2.pdf&type=pdf. 1 October 2018. dead.
  9. Web site: Freimaurerloge Zur Einigkeit Nr.11. 29 September 2018.
  10. Web site: The Deputy Grand Masters of the Netherlands . 29 September 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180925143643/http://www.freemasonrysd.co.za/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=551%3Athe-deputy-grand-masters-of-the-netherlands&catid=46%3Aover-200-years-of-history&Itemid=66 . 25 September 2018 . dead .
  11. Web site: The first Settler at the cape Hans Conrad Guy (J.C. Gie). 17 September 2018.
  12. Web site: Proceedings: Grand Lodge of A.F. & A.M. of Canada, 1983 (Fraternal correspondence 47 A). 1983. Grand Lodge. 30 September 2018.
  13. Web site: Abraham Chiron. www.openarch.nl. 17 September 2018.