The earliest traces of the Labuschagne family can be found near the Dordogne River in the region of Bergerac in France. As Protestants the family suffered heavy religious persecution for a long time. At least two family members attempted to escape France. One, Samson Labuscaigne was captured and sentenced to life imprisonment as a galley slave. The other, Pierre Labuscaigne, escaped to Switzerland, and then moved on to the Netherlands where he married the Huguenot daughter, Marie Ann Bacot, with whom he had several children. The family lived in Toren Street in the town of Enkhuizen. Pierre Labuscaigne's profession was listed as master tailor.
Migration
In 1710 Pierre Labuscaigne entered into the service of the Dutch East India Company, and embarked for the orient. This was during the War of Spanish Succession, which made it a very perilous time to travel. During the voyage, two of the fleet of eight VOC ships were attacked by corsairs and lost. With the convoy scattered and in apparent disarray, Pierre Labuscaigne's ship, the Brug, was the last of the convoy to reach the Cape of Good Hope. Here Pierre was left behind, as he proved to be too sick to continue the voyage. Still under contract of service to the VOC, Pierre was then indentured to a succession of local families as a private school master, and later became sexton of the fledgling Drakenstein congregation. Upon his release from his VOC contract, he sent for his wife and children, who joined him ten years after his original departure from Holland. Pierre purchased a portion of land and named it Pontac, after the feudal lord of the region of his origin in France, the Duke of Pontacq. The family eventually migrated to the Eastern Cape border region in the present-day region of Cradock where the family featured in the Slagtersnek rebellion. The majority of the family left the Eastern Cape during the Great Trek, starting in 1836, and migrated to places of resettlement, most notably in the Transvaal and Free State, as well as Natal. Some of the Labuschagne families fought in the Battle of Vegkop as well as the Battle of Blood River in 1838.
Present day location
Today the Labuschagne family name can be found in countries around the world. As far as could be established, all family members of this name world-wide descend from one progenitor only, Pierre Labuscaigne. Of the Labuscaigne family members in France, no other name-bearing descendants appear to have survived to the present age.
Spelling
The family name has experienced minor variation in spelling over the past 300 years. In modern times, the variations that dominate are Labuschagne and Labuscagne. Memorial The unveiled a memorial to commemorate the founding of the Labuschagne family at the Cape in 2011. The stone was laid at the Pontac Manor Hotel in Paarl. Upon change of ownership, the stone had to be moved in 2015 to its present location at the Huguenot Memorial Museum in Franschhoek.
