Andreas Gotlieb Schoombee (born 1741) moved to the Cape from Konningsdal in Denmark in 1765. He had to flee his homeland as a young man because he had gotten into an argument with his brother and had thrown him from the top floor of the family’s apartment building. He thought his brother was dead, which was not the case.

Governor Baron Joachim von Plettenberg was offering farms to settlers and Schoombee (also written as Schaumbe, Schoombie, Schombie, Schombé and Schumb) was granted land in the area now known as Middleburg.  Andreas, along with his brother Guilliame, who followed him to the Cape, laid out the farm. The years rolled by and despite skirmishes with cattle thieves and problems with predators and other wild animals, life was good. Then one day, when they were out in the fields, the sun seemed to darken, and like one of the plagues of the Bible, the land was suddenly covered with locusts. And then, almost as suddenly as they came, the locusts were gone, but so was all the good pastureland. The brothers could not financially recover and had to sell the farm in 1780 and move back to the Cape.

Before leaving Schoombee carved the following on a rock – “Anno 1780 Aprel ik ben die die plaas heeft aangeleygt AGSB uyt Deenemark. Sprenghane als sant.” (“The year is 1780 April and this farm was founded by me AGSB from Denmark. Locusts like sand.”) This rock is the oldest landmark of the occupation by the first European inhabitants in the region.

Andreas became a burgher of Stellenbosch, where he met and married Johanna Sophia Viljoen on 18 September 1785. They had seven children.

The rich legacy of the Schoombee family lies deep in the whole district. Stewards of ,among other, Vriesfontein farm, the Schoombees are now fifth and sixth generation farmers. This historic land holds the echoes of a bygone era when the Schoombee railway station graced Vriesfontein’s expanse, now known as the thriving Schoombee area. Conveniently situated midway between Middelburg and Steynsburg in the Great Karoo, Schoombee is a testament to the enduring spirit of this family and the Schoombee community.