Freek was descendant of Wynand Leendertsz Bezuidenhout, of the Netherlands, master gardener at the Cape, and his wife, Jannetje Gerrits, of Amsterdam.
Unrest on the eastern frontier, caused by conflicts with the Xhosa, increased the tension, especially after the Black Circuit in 1812.
While Bezuidenhout was preparing to resist his arrest by force, Lieutenant F Rousseau accompanied the Deputy-Messenger with a patrol of twelve Khoikhoi soldiers.
With his mixed race[citation needed] son and a casual visitor, Jacob Erasmus, he sought refuge amongst the tumbled rocks of the nearby valley.
[2] The cave in which Bezuidenhout died, and also his grave, are at Silverbrook farm, the present Glen Lynden in the Eastern Cape.
The Dutch Reformed Church and the local Reddingsdaadbond [1] erected an obelisk of red dolerite at the cave and a granite rock at the grave.
Hans Bezuidenhout refused to surrender and was shot and killed at his farm, and five of the surviving ringleaders were later executed.