Uys

Uys is the surname of a family that played a significant role in South African history during the nineteenth century and made distinguished contributions to South African culture, politics and sports during the course of the twentieth.
Origins.
The earliest existing records show the Uys family living in Leiden and Amsterdam in the Netherlands.
The mother of the family's South African progenitor, Daentie Rycken (1645/46 – Stellenbosch 1725), was the first to arrive at the Cape in 1677 with her second husband, Jan Hendriksz de Lange (died Cape of Good Hope before June 1690). She briefly travelled to the Netherlands in 1697 with her third husband, Dirk Mol (died Stellenbosch 1731), and returned to the Cape in 1699 accompanied by her adult son, Cornelis Jansz Uys (Amsterdam 1671 – Cape of Good Hope c. 1716). Shortly thereafter, in 1704, Daentie settled on the farm By Den Weg in the Stellenbosch Kloof where she lived until her death in 1725.
Cornelis Jansz Uys was the only child from Daentie Rycken's first marriage to the maritime carpenter Jan Cornelisz (Uys) (1641/42 – died Newcastle upon Tyne c. 1674). Cornelis was accompanied to the Cape by his wife, Dirkje Matthysdr (van) Westerhout (Leiden 1673 – Cape of Good Hope 1714), the niece of his mother's third husband. The couple established themselves in the heart of the Cape settlement on modern-day Strand Street.
In 1722 their only son, Dirk Cornelisz Uys (born Leiden 1698 – died Stellenbosch 1758), settled on the farm Groote Zalze in Stellenbosch, where he married Dina le Roux (Stellenbosch 1702 – Stellenbosch 1740), who was of Norman Huguenot descent, and played a distinguished role in the local community as farmer, deacon, elder, burgher officer and alderman. Dirk was also one of the first European pioneers in the Overberg area of the Cape. The Uys family of southern Africa descend from this couple's three sons.
Two of the sons of Dirk Cornelisz Uys moved further into the interior of the Cape during the mid eighteenth century; their progeny played a notable role in the history of the colony and enjoyed fame as a distinguished and progressive frontier dynasty. The family also played a major role in the governance of the Dutch Republics in South Africa.
Onomastics.
Surname.
Genealogists have speculated that the name could be a variation of the French name de Louis or related to the Scottish island of Uist or perhaps a variation of the German name Husse. Reliable records do not exist to confirm any of these theories. 
First names and nicknames.
The Uys surname can also used as a first name (generally in reference to an Uys descent through the distaff side), as is the case with the poet, writer and adventurer Uys Krige. A character in the novel "Het Beloofde Land" by Dutch author Adriaan van Dis also has this first name.
Arms.
The arms of the Uys family are blazoned as:
"Party per pale, in dexter vert three onions or in pale, in sinister argent a farmer standing on a stretch of grass holding a basket under his right arm proper."
These canting arms appear similar to those of the Van Uye family of Zeeland, to whom the Uys family are not related. The Uys arms are differenced from the Van Uye arms by the basket which the farmer holds; in the Van Uye arms the farmer is holding a bunch of onions (French: "une glane d'oignons"). The onions (Dutch: "ui") in the dexter half of the arms are a canting reference to the Uys family name.
These arms were presented to the Dutch-South African heraldist and genealogist Cornelis Pama in 1960 by J.W. Prinsloo née Uys who informed him that they had been found in old family documents. Pama subsequently recorded these arms in his genealogical publications which led to their widespread dissemination and use by members of the Uys family. The Rootenberg family who descend from an extra-marital branch of the Kapkamma Uyses also have a canting reference to onions in their arms.