To Barent falls the lot of being the sole male to propagate the name Booyens in South Africa in his generation. Ironically, of his three sons, only Mattheus will have any children. And so, the first two generations of Booyens born in South Africa each produces only a single male to propagate the name, making it a rare one by the standards of the 21st century, often mistaken for Booysen; a completely different family, but also with roots in 17th century Denmark.

Beyond his marriage and the baptisms of his four children in the 1750s, the first time we hear of Barend again is in 1777, at the time of the death of his father, Pieter Booyens. Barent inherits just over 270 Rijksdalers as per the liquidation of his father's estate [#1]. However, he has already borrowed 214 Rijksdaler from his father against that inheritance. The document is signed on 15 June 1778.

The next time we meet him, is in 1779, when his wife's name appears as a debtor to the estate of Johannes de Buys the Elder, the father of the famous frontiersman who became a thorn in the side of the British authorities and eventually founded the Buys People of Northern Transvaal. The elder Buys has a homestead on the Kammanassie River east of the present Oudtshoorn [#2] .

It is a further 17 years before we meet Barent again in 1796, when "Barent Booyens d' Oude" appears on the Dragoon Muster List of the Reserve Company of the Graaff-Reinet Militia [#3]. His sons Mattheus and Barend are on the strength of the Second Company of that militia unit, as are the two eldest sons of Mattheus [#4]. By now the family lives in the dry Southern Karoo, in the euphorbia studded Swartruggens area (below). How the family evolves from being successful wine estate people to being ranchers in the tough South Karoo is not clear. It may have something to do with Barent being the youngest of the brothers.

Barent's sons, Mattheus and Barend, appear on the stock lists (Beestiaal Lijsten) of 1787 in the Graaff-Reinet "Colonie" [#5]. For this reason we suspect that Barent d' Oude, as he is known by now, is also there. Certainly, from 1796 onward we can trace him in the Muster Rolls of Graaff-Reinet. The last time we find him on those rolls is in 1800, when he lives with son Petrus Johannes ("woond by Petr. Johs. Booÿens") [#6]. We therefore conclude that he died ca. 1801. This conclusion is supported by the filing of his wife's will in 1801 [#7]. The Muster Roll of 1801 does not contain him.

Barent makes fleeting appearances in Chapters 2 and 9 of the book AmaBhulu.

For the references, see below^#