(Her late father François de Haze worked for the Dutch East India Company as an opperhoofd on Deshima, and in Persia and Bengal, and was also involved in the silk trade).

Willem Adriaan van der Stel held the lordship of Nieuw and Oud-Vossemeer on the island of Tholen, probably through his wife.

[6] Van der Stel expanded the VOC's gardens and sent expeditions into the interior to the north to explore the rest of the country.

[8][9] Van der Stel owned a private estate, Vergelegen, which was the foundation of the present day Somerset West and its wine route.

Van der Stel had Tas arrested, tried and imprisoned—in the "Black Hole", an infamous dungeon at the Castle of Good Hope.

Fearing that the discontent might cause some burghers to become spies for the French, the VOC dismissed Van der Stel, and ordered his return to the Netherlands (23 April 1707).

Although most sources agree that his rule at the Cape was authoritarian, beset by favouritism, and characterised by misuse of company assets, others claim that this was in no way unique to Van der Stel's tenure as governor.