Book One · the founder's story

Of the Forest

From a Frisian peat bog to the Cape, 1700 to 1757.

One poor migrant, one freed slave, and the family that grew from them. This is the line you come from. Chapter one is free, for everyone.

Read chapter one free → Read the foreword

How the book opens up

The whole of Book One, free. It simply unfolds as you become part of the family.
Chapter one, free

Open to everyone, no sign-up. The story of the bog, and what made a man leave everything.

Chapter two, on claiming

Claim your place on the family tree, free, and chapter two opens at once. Belonging is the key.

A chapter a week

From there, a new chapter opens every week, all the way to Johanna. Something to come back for.

The whole book now

In a hurry? A gift to the gathering fund opens all nine chapters and the printable book at once.

The book closes in 1757. The family did not. The living tree carries the line from there to you, and your branch is the next chapter, not yet written.

Claim your place → See the One Tree