Jan de la Fontaine
Jan de la Fontaine ( 1684 – 6 May 1743) was governor of the Cape from 1729 to 1737, after also acting as governor in 1724 to 1727. Career De la Fontaine started his career with the Dutch East India Company (VOC) in 1708 when he was sent to Batavia. In 1710 he was re-employed to the Dutch Cape Colony and arrived at the Cape in March 1710. At the Cape he was appointed assistant and junior merchant and progressed through the ranks to member of the council of policy in 1713 and in 1717, was given the rank of merchant. On the death of governor, Maurits Pasques de Chavonnes on 8 September 1724, De la Fontaine was appointed acting governor. He served in this capacity until 25 February 1727, when the new governor, Pieter Gysbert Noodt, assumed office. De la Fontaine then applied for discharge from the service of the VOC, but his request was rejected, and the company gave him a promotion to senior merchant and increased his salary substantially. When Noodt died in 1729, De la Fontaine again was appointed acting governor on 24 April 1729 and on 8 March 1730 the Lords XVII (Heren XVII) confirmed