What does the "Fransch" stand for in "Franschhoek", South Africa?

Question

It is generally accepted that the South African town's name means "French Corner", but "Fransch" definitely doesn't mean "French" in Afrikaans, does it?

To Roger C: Do you have anything to back that up? Because I couldn't find anything, buddy!

Answer 1

Yes it does - the spelling is just old fashioned from the original Cape Dutch.
The modern Afrikaans spelling is Frans.

Answer 2

Fransch is the old Dutch spelling, in Afrikaans it would be Frans. Just like Stellenbosch- Stellenbos. It is named after the French Huguenots who first settled the area in the late 1680's and 90's.

Answer 3

The area, above the Berg River and towards the end of the valley, where the soils were more fertile, was originally know as Oliphantshoek (elephants corner), as elephants found it the ideal place to raise their young. It was here, in 1694, that the first nine farms were allotted by Simon van der Stel, then Governor of the Cape.

The area became known as “de France hoek” (French corner), due to its inhabitants being mainly French speaking. They were, however, forced to adopt the language of the Dutch settlers but did so willingly, as the French language represented what they were fleeing from. It is reported that within one generation, Dutch was widely spoken.

Answer 4

Hi Porgie, in my Encyclopedia of Southern Africa by Eric Rosenthal, published 1961, I quote:
"Fransch Hoek (literally ´French Corner´). Town in Western Cape Province so named because it was originally settled by Huguenot refugees in 1688....." Unquote.
I know that the Dutch of "french" is "frans", but sometime or another they may well have pronounced it as "fransch".
And in Wikipedia, they mention that this was the spelling before 1947:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franschhoek

Answer 5

The name Franshhoek derives from the French hugenotes who settled themselfves in the Cape on a farm called Oliefantshoek in the 1690's .

Answer 6

Fransch is dutch for French but in those years they spoke Hoog Hollands. roger is correct he doesn't need any references its like Kaapstad/capetown that is what it has been called always.

Answer 7

Yes i am with Heavy D on this one - they have a museum their as well