User:Trijb007/Marthinus Bergh

Marthinus Bergh (Cape Town, 2 November 1696 – Cape Town, Desember 1741) was a former magistrate of Stellenbosch.

He was the ninth child of explorer Olof Bergh and his wife, Anna de Koning. Like many other young men of his time, Bergh signed up in April 1711 for a fifteen year contract as a soldier in the service of the VOC. In contrast to his father, who chose a military life, and was later the Captain of the Garrison at the Cape, Bergh quickly moved to the civil service and in October 1714 became a clerk in the "secretariat" of the Council of Justice. In December 1720 he was promoted to the role of bookkeeper and deputy of the Fiscal.

On the 30 September 1721, Bergh succeeded Jacob Voet as the magistrate of Stellenbosch and Drakenstein with his headquarters based in Stellenbosch. Op the 8 December 1722, Bergh submitted a memorandum to the Political Council, in which he requested to become a submerchant. The Council accepted his request and his salary was increased to 40 guilders per month. After a period of nearly 6 years in Stellenbosch, Bergh returned to the Castle whereafter the Council appointed him a "shopkeeper".

Back in the Cape, Bergh played an active role in the decisionmaking body and as early as 1728 he was promoted to an "orphan master". In May 1735, he was appointed a seat on the Council of Justice and on 1 October 1737, he followed in his fathers footsetps when he became a member of the Political Council. Four months later, he acheived the position of merchant, a position he retained for the rest of his life

Bergh was married to Catharina Ley, the daughter of Michiel Ley and his wife Engela Breda on the 20 August 1719. Two children were born out of the marraige. Bergh's son, Olof Martin Bergh, was later a secretary of the Politicial Council, while his grandson Marthinus Adrianus Bergh was a magistrate of Stellenbosch and one of the leaders of the Cape Patriots.