Origin

In what has certainly been one of the most important advancements in the family history research of the Labuschagne family in decades, Professor Casper Labuschagne in the Netherlands, has just completed his latest findings regarding the origins of Pierre Labuscaigne in France. Please click here to read the full story. Also note that in the light of these new facts, the narrative below is now considered obsolete.

(If you have difficulty in opening the link, go to the main website at http://home.hetnet.nl/~bart_labuschagne/ and select one of the bottom three links.)

The traditional assumption has always been that Pieter de la Buschagne had come from the region of Pontacq-Béarn in France, but so far there has been no tangible evidence to prove that this is indeed the case. The assumption was largely made due to the fact that Pieter named his first farm "Pontacq" when it was granted to him in 1723. Since many Huguenots named their new homes after their original homes in France, it was believed that Pieter would have done the same. The problem is that there are always exceptions to the rule. Current research may ultimately point to a different origin for the Labuschagne family. More details may be made known as they become available.

What is well-known in the meantime is that Pieter's family must have fled to Holland when he was a child. The indication is that he must have spent a considerable part of his life in Holland. When he arrived at the Cape of Good Hope in August 1710, he was a fluent speaker and writer of the Dutch language. Pieter (whose name is sometimes given as "Peter" or "Pierre") did not seem to be quite as much of a refugee as most of his countrymen, because he had enlisted as a drummer in the service of the Dutch East India Company. At the time it was possible to pay for one's ocean passage by enlisting in the service of the Dutch East India Company for a period of time. The result was that for a long time the Labuschagne family had been slightly ignored when it came to Huguenot history. Nevertheless, Pieter de la Buscagne and his wife, Anne Marie Bacot/Bacat were true Huguenots in every way. The common belief is that the parents of Pieter and Anne Marie must have fled from France some time after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685. During the subsequent years a great Exodus resulted and many French Huguenots ended up in Holland for varying periods of time.

The problem was that Holland had difficulties in supporting the flood of immigrants properly, even though they did a lot to welcome the refugees as warmly as possible. Pieter's first three children were born in Holland. Perhaps he lived there until employment difficultires forced him to look for other opportunities elsewhere, or until the hunger for space, opportunity and freedom became overwhelming. Possibly also, he may have waited until his parents and/or those of his wife had passed away, before making the move towards an unkown future.

As for the history in France, precious little is known. One old family legend has it that a close relative by the name of Samson Labuscaigne was captured during the flight from France, and was sentenced to a life of rowing in the French slave galleys. If this legend was true, then Samson could indeed be pitied, for conditions in French slave galleys were indescribably severe. It seems certain enough that the Labuschagnes were of good, solid French stock from somewhere in the south of France. As such, they may have been inhabitants of the land for a very long time, but even that would be mere guesswork.

A small measure of research is currently being done into the French origins of the Labuschagne family. The results so far suggest that the Labuschagne family would have originated from the Bergerac region in Pericord, along the Dordogne River in, east of Bordeaux in the south-west of France. This region is one of exceptional natural beauty and was widely renowned for the quality of the wine that was produced there. The region was occupied by the British during various times between the years 1152 to 1450. During the 1500's and 1600's the region became a very strong bastion of Protestantism. Throughout the time of the wars of religion the Protestants of the region played a drawn out game of cat and mouse with the Catholics, and it would seem clear that they were a very unpleasant thorn in the flesh of the Roman church. In 1621 Bergerac was attacked by the royal army and the castles and strongholds of the Huguenots were destroyed. On 13 April 1598 King Henry IV of France signed the Edict of Nantes, which recognised the Protestant religion and presented the Huguenots with a measure of freedom and peace.

Before this time, there had been periods of intense Huguenot persecution, so the calm years that followed must have been very welcome. From the 1620's onwards, trouble began to grow again. Soon new persecution against the Huguenots started. One after the other, Huguenot castles, fortresses and other strongholds were attacked, until the last one, La Rochelle after a dreadful fourteen month siege. For sixty years the Huguenots faced warfare, attacks on their civil liberties, and overall death and mayhem. On 22 October 1685 the Edict of Nantes was revoked by King Louis XIV, and overnight 800,000 to 1,000,000 Huguenots became virtual outlaws. The attacks and persecutions which followed were an outrage, and made life intolerable for many Protestants. It must have been soon after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes that the Labuschagne family decided that they had finally had enough of the years and years of death and uncertainty.

At the time there used to be a very active trade route between Bergerac and the Netherlands, on account of the fact that the Dutch appeared to have a particularly fondness of the sweet red wine produced along the Dordogne. Perhaps there Labuschagnes would have had acquaintances in Holland via some involvement with commercial activities along the trade route. Or perhaps this just seemed to be a logical escape route. Whatever the circumstances, the trade connections may have facilitated the escape of many of the region's inhabitants.

It is still by no means a certain fact that the Labuschagnes who went to Holland had in fact come directly from Bergerac, but at this point this seems to be a fairly likely conclusion. In the absence of concrete records, the argument rests a lot on conjecture, but perhaps more details will become available in future which might make it possible to trace the route of the Labuschagnes more definitely.

It would appear as if the flight of the Labuschagnes to Holland marked the end of that family line in France. Labuschagne records may be found along the Dordogne, but appear to have become extinct from that period onwards. Certainly there are no other members of the family left any where in the world, besides the descendants of those who had been transplanted to South Africa. Accordingly, one can be assured that everyone bearing the Labuschagne name, no matter where in the world, should be related to the rest of the family.

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