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The surname Jansen van Vuuren in South Africa, dates back to approx. 1685 when the first Janszoon van Vuren (Gerrit) arrived from Gelderland, Holland (Netherlands) as a 'Vryburger'. He settled in the Drakenstein area and developed the farm (vinyard) Bellinchamp. Today known as Bellingham. He married Suzanne Jacob, the daughter of the French Hugenot Pierre Jacob en Suzanne de Vos. They had two children, Suzanne (1st) and Johannes. Johannes had three sons, Johannes, Lucas and Pieter, which formed the three main branches of the van Vuren family tree in South Africa. No surnames were used for the commoners in the 17th century Europe and people were known only by their first name and often reffered to as the 'son of' (Janzoon - son of Jan). Therefore when Gerrit arrived in the Cape, he was only known as Gerrit Janzoon. During Napoleon's time, surnames became the order of the day in Europe. It is not known how Gerrit Janzoon became known as Gerrit van Vuren, other than it refers to the town he originated from in the Gelderland. Gerrit Janzoon van Vuren. Many spelling mistakes later and birth registers disappearing resulted in a variety of surnames originating from the original (Janzoon) van Vuren, i.e. 'Janse van Vuuren', 'Jansen van Vuuren', 'van Vuuren' etc. There is a vague reference to a second van Vuren family that is said to have stepped onto the shores of Africa, in the 18th century, via what is now known as Namibia. Confusion with the Dorstland trekkers is a possibility. Jaco J.v. Vuuren (10th generation, Lucas van Vuren[c 4])