James departed from London, England on the ship “Zoroaster” on 12 February 1820 as part of the William WAIT (a wine merchant) party (Part of the 1820 British Settlers) on its way to South Africa. James a British citizen was born in 1801 in Buckinghamshire, England. Although his was young, James was a carpenter, which specialised in legs of chairs or tables. He was not wealthy. The ship arrived in Simon’s Town, Cape Colony on 30 April 1820. There the party was transferred to the ship “ Albury” and arrived in Algoa Bay on 15 May 1820. The party settled in the Eastern part of the Cape Colony, near the Bushman River (80 miles east from Algoa Bay). James later moved to Graaff-Reinet, Cape Colony. The surname means “A military man” A lot of confusion has been going around regarding the Herman’s origin in South Africa. This Progenitor was British. The surname was spelled with only one “n” at the back. Germans with the surname Hermann (with two “n’s”) also immigrated to South Africa, but only much later in the 20th Century. The British Herman’s however change their surname to be spelled with two”n’s”.
James X on 3 December 1825 in Graaff-Reinet, Cecilia Jacoba GREEFF (*30 April 1809). She was the daughter of Matthys Johannes and Anna Jacoba Johanna (Née ROOS)

Children born:

b1 James John *5 September 1826 in Graaff-Reinet, †6 April 1874 in Pretoria, Transvaal, X Isabella Maria SCHOOMBEE (1829-1896) in Potchefstroom, Transvaal on
6 June 1849. James was a teacher.

b2 Matthys Johannes *21 April 1830 in Graaff-Reinet, †20 March 1897 in Pretoria, X Catharina Helena KLOPPER (1836-1874) in 1853 in Pretoria, XX Maria Elizabeth
van der WALT (1838-1911) on 13 March 1875 in Pretoria

b3 Christina Maria *20 May 1832 in Graaff-Reinet, †11 August 1895 in Pretoria, ? Pretoria, Urban, Claremont, Booysen Voortrekker Graves, X Jan Jonathon BOOYSEN
(1833-1880), XX Thomas Fredrick DREYER (1815-1889) in 1881 in Pretoria

b4 Anna Cecilia Jacoba *31 March 1834 in Graaff-Reinet, †22 April 1862 in Potchefstroom, X Cornelius Johannes JOUBERT (*1828) on 3 September 1851 in
Potchefstroom, XX Jozua Johannes BEZUIDENHOUT (*1829) on 31 January 1854 in Potchefstroom

His wife CJ GREEFF died on 3 May 1834.

James XX Cecilia Jacoba ROOS (*22 April 1834) on 28 November 1834. She was the daughter of Jacobus Gerhardus and Sibella Maria (Née FOUCHé)

Children born:

b5 Jacobus Gerhardus *27 October 1835 in Graaff-Reinet, † 6 November 1836 in Graaff-Reinet Cape Colony

b6 Jinnie Christina * 1837 in Graaff-Reinet, †30 November 1887 in Pretoria, X William Adriaan RAS (1812-1855) in 1852 in Pretoria

James and his in-laws then slowly moved up country towards the Transvaal.

b7 Jacobus Gerhardus *5 January 1841 in Colesberg, †21 June 1937 in Pretoria, X Catharina Helena FOURIE (1832-1921) on 8 July 1861 in Rustenburg

b8 Johannes Christiaan *10 January 1843 in Colesberg, † 23 October 1907 in Pretoria, X Sybella Maria ROOS (1851-1875), XX Johanna Jacomina du PLESSIS
(1849-929) on 24 December 1875

The family then moved to Rustenburg, Transvaal

b9 Paulus Petrus *11 June 1846, †3 May 1889 in Pretoria, X Isabella Catharina Maria SCHOEMAN (*1849), in 1869 in Rustenburg. This couple had son Jacobus
Johannes (1870-1934) who married HME STEENKAMP (*1877)

It is unclear when and where did, James the British Ancestor and Progenitor of the HERMANN’s in South Africa, or his second wife CJ ROOS die.

Sources:
Naairs
FamilySearch
Research published by Bernhardt, W. in 2020