tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91904594557796145902024-02-08T03:58:14.539+01:00Ghana and the Netherlands - Historical NotesBlog accompanying the Gold Coast DataBase with historical, biographical, and genealogical information on the relationship between Ghana and the Netherlands, from the sixteenth to the twenty-first century.Michel Doortmonthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11279163297265000339noreply@blogger.comBlogger24125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9190459455779614590.post-84642082328127376152020-10-08T17:00:00.007+02:002020-10-09T11:32:23.523+02:00Jacob de Petersen (1703-1780): Slave trader, West India Company official, and member of the Amsterdam city government<p>This blog reproduces a short biographical sketch of Jacob de Petersen (1703-1780), one of the most powerful men in the Dutch West India Company in the later 18th century. He was involved in the Atlantic slave trade for fifty-five years, both institutionally and privately. At the same time he was closely connected to the Court of the Prince of Orange Nassau at the Hague, and the top echelons of the Amsterdam city government, in which he took an active part himself.</p><p>This is the author's version of a paper published in a book on slavery and the slave trade, commissioned by the city government of Amsterdam. The article is in Dutch (as is the book). I am currently working on a publication on the subject in English.</p><p><b>Reference:</b></p><p>Michel Doortmont, 'Jacob de Petersen, slavenhandelaar op West-Afrika en Amsterdams bestuurder,' in: Pepijn Brandon, Guno Jones, Nancy Jouwe, Matthias van Rossum (red.), <i>De slavernij in Oost en West: Het Amsterdam onderzoek</i> (Amsterdam, Unieboek Het Spectrum, 2020), p. 104-111.</p><p>[p. 104]</p><h1 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">Jacob de Petersen, slavenhandelaar op West-Afrika en Amsterdams bestuurder</span></h1><h3 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium; font-weight: normal;">Michel Doortmont</span></h3><p style="text-align: justify;">Als een van de constituerende Kamers van de WIC speelde Amsterdam een sleutelrol in de activiteiten van die handelscompagnie, inclusief de slavenhandel vanuit West-Afrika naar Amerika. Om de rol van Amsterdam beter te begrijpen kan het voorbeeld gebruikt worden van Jacob Baron de Petersen (1703-1780), die tussen 1725 en 1780 carrière maakte als WIC-ambtenaar, slavenhandelaar en stadsbestuurder. Een carrière die mogelijk gemaakt werd door leden van het Amsterdamse regentenpatriciaat en die datzelfde patriciaat ook ten dienste stond in de slavenhandel.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Hoewel geen Amsterdammer van geboorte, was De Petersen nauw gelieerd aan het Amsterdamse regentenpatriciaat. Zakelijke en familierelaties gingen terug tot in de zeventiende eeuw. Jacobs grootmoeder was Catharina Bicker (1642-1678), kleindochter van zowel een Amsterdamse burgemeester als een lid van de Vroedschap. De Bicker-clan had belangen in het Amsterdamse stadsbestuur, maar ook in handel en industrie op wereldschaal, inclusief Scandinavië (mijnbouw, metaalindustrie), Azië (bestuur en handel van de VOC), en West-Indië (slavenhandel, plantages, suiker- en koffiehandel). (1) Na de dood van hun moeder in 1712 en de opsluiting van hun vader vanwege psychische problemen werden Jacob en zijn broer en zusters opgevangen door de familie Bicker. Hij ging rechten studeren in Utrecht en promoveerde hier in 1725. Direct daarna volgde een benoeming tot juridisch en bestuurlijk ambtenaar bij de WIC op het eiland Curaçao. Daar zou hij tot 1739 blijven.</p><p style="text-align: left;">[p. 105]</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Slavenhandelaar op Curaçao</h3><p style="text-align: justify;">Op Curaçao dreef De Petersen samen met de gouverneur, Juan Pedro van Collen, handel in slaven uit West-Afrika en verwierf hij een eigen plantage, Groot Sint Joris. Die handel in slaven was illegaal, want werknemers van de WIC mochten officieel niet voor eigen rekening handelen. Nu deden wel meer WIC-ambtenaren dit, maar de bedrijfsmatige wijze waarop Van Collen en De Petersen te werk gingen lijkt uitzonderlijk. (2)</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Van Collen was lid van een Amsterdamse regentenfamilie die al vanaf het begin van de achttiende eeuw banden had met de WIC en de slavenhandel op Curaçao. De alliantie met Van Collen maakte van De Petersen al op jonge leeftijd een machtig en invloedrijk man. Hoe machtig bleek pas goed toen Van Collen in 1738 overleed. De Petersen had gehoopt hem als gouverneur op te kunnen volgen. Dat gebeurde echter niet, vanwege politieke perikelen in Nederland en op Curaçao. De door de Heren Tien, het hoofdbestuur van de WIC, benoemde Jan Gales keerde zich direct na aankomst op Curaçao tegen de Van Collen-gezinde Raad en andere koop-lieden, onder wie De Petersen. De situatie liep volledig uit de hand en De Petersen vluchtte uiteindelijk in 1739 naar Nederland. Die actie stond gelijk aan desertie en zou het einde van zijn WIC-carrière betekend moeten hebben.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1SaHxueUAAJ4hpmh8VeVXcFIHAYTZ-pQaQ2Dhy9g251hyphenhyphenhxPA0Quu1UoLSx-EKUsKRLu66mDI916i0mrgxW2DrWPgvRI2p8LfxTKvsZOO9DaAvbA7wVjyvynewUM4iEnp_YaoiibZ0Yg/s312/Petersen-1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="218" data-original-width="312" height="390" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1SaHxueUAAJ4hpmh8VeVXcFIHAYTZ-pQaQ2Dhy9g251hyphenhyphenhxPA0Quu1UoLSx-EKUsKRLu66mDI916i0mrgxW2DrWPgvRI2p8LfxTKvsZOO9DaAvbA7wVjyvynewUM4iEnp_YaoiibZ0Yg/w557-h390/Petersen-1.jpg" title="rent door H.P. Schouten; ca. 1760-1783; Stadsarchief Amsterdam De binnenplaats van het West-Indisch Huis, vanwaaruit schepen voor de slaven-handel uitgereed werden en de winsten uit de slavenhandel verdeeld. Hier zwaai-de Jacob de Petersen vele jaren de scepter." width="557" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>prent door H.P. Schouten; ca. 1760-1783; Stadsarchief Amsterdam<br /></i>De binnenplaats van het West-Indisch Huis, vanwaaruit schepen voor de slavenhandel<br /> uitgereed werden en de winsten uit de slavenhandel verdeeld. Hier zwaaide<br />Jacob de Petersen vele jaren de scepter.</span></td><td class="tr-caption"></td><td class="tr-caption"><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>[p. 106]</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Een bestuurlijke doorstart</h3><p style="text-align: justify;">Na terugkeer in Nederland werd De Petersen verhoord door de bewindhebbers van de Kamer Amsterdam. Hij bepleitte zijn zaak met succes en hij werd in zijn functie hersteld. Gouverneur Jan Gales werd ontslagen. Eén van de gronden voor het ontslag was dat Gales zich met particuliere handel had ingelaten, precies hetzelfde waaraan De Petersen zich ook schuldig had gemaakt. Het is duidelijk dat hij betere contacten en beschermheren in Amsterdam had. Terug naar Curaçao ging hij niet. In plaats daarvan werd De Petersen op 23 augustus 1740 benoemd tot directeur-generaal (gouverneur) in West-Afrika. De benoeming betekende enerzijds eerherstel, maar anderzijds ook een functie met mogelijkheden rijk te worden in de slavenhandel. (3) Om te begrijpen wat dit voor De Petersen betekend moet hebben toen hij de benoeming aanvaardde moeten we kijken naar de ontwikkelingen in het apparaat van de WIC in deze periode.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">In 1674 werd de tweede WIC opgericht als doorstart van haar failliete voorganger. De belangrijkste activiteit van de nieuwe organisatie was de handel in goud, ivoor en slaven. Aan de Afrikaanse zijde van de handelsdriehoek Europa-West-Afrika-Caribisch gebied was het in 1637 op de Portugezen veroverde St. George d’Elmina het administratieve hart van de Nederlandse slavenhandel. Alleen bleek allengs dat de (slaven)handel onder monopolie door de WIC niet winstgevend genoeg was. Daarom werd vanaf 1730 dit monopolie in verschillende stadia afgeschaft: eerst voor alle gebieden in Afrika buiten de Goudkust, daarna ook voor de Goudkust zelf. Dit betekende dat particulieren zich op de handel in slaven mochten toeleggen, tegen betaling van zogenaamde recognitie, een belasting per ingekochte slaaf.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Al voordat de WIC vanaf 1730 haar monopolie op de (slaven)handel op-gaf, was er een stevige competitie tussen de twee belangrijkste Kamers Amsterdam en Zeeland van de WIC over de bezetting van de post van directeur-generaal over de Goudkust. Die werd in de periode van private handel alleen maar sterker. De Kamer die Elmina en daarmee de Goudkust in handen had kon immers bepalen wie bevoordeeld werd in de handel. (4)</p><p>[p. 107]</p><p style="text-align: justify;">De periode tussen 1730 en 1740 verliep voor de WIC in West-Afrika tamelijk chaotisch. Alle betrokkenen moesten wennen aan de nieuwe omstandigheden. Tussen 1730 en 1734 was het de Amsterdamse Jan Pranger (1700-1773) die de transitie begeleidde. Zijn bewind werd echter gemarkeerd door het verlies van de belangrijke handelsrelatie met het naburige koninkrijk Dahomey en leidde tot zijn ontslagverzoek. (5) Zijn directe opvolgers ging het ook niet voor de wind. Met name directeur-generaal M.F. de Bordes, in dienst van de Kamer Zeeland, was een ramp. De man joeg niet alleen al zijn ambtenaren tegen zich in het harnas, maar ontketende bovendien bijna een oorlog met de lokale bevolking. Toen berichten over het disfunctioneren van De Bordes Nederland bereikten, grepen de Heren Tien direct in en benoemden De Petersen als opvolger. Diens lange staat van dienst en de politieke noodzaak hem aan een nieuwe betrekking te helpen, zullen daarbij een rol hebben gespeeld. Voor de Kamer Amsterdam was het een gelegenheid de macht in Afrika opnieuw – na het vertrek van Jan Pranger – naar zich toe te trekken middels de aanwezigheid van een lid van het patriciaat, een insider.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Slavenhandelaar op de Goudkust</h3><p style="text-align: justify;">Jacob de Petersen had ook zijn eigen motieven om de functie te aanvaarden. Voor hem was het een uitdaging om de chaotische bestuurlijke toestand op de Goudkust te corrigeren en zijn naam als succesvol WIC-bestuurder te bevestigen. Er waren ook economische perspectieven. Aanvankelijk was het onder het nieuwe vrijhandelsregime aan WIC-ambtenaren toegestaan particuliere handel te drijven en kon men als agent voor particuliere slaven-handelsfirma’s optreden. Wat in Curaçao nog in het geheim moest, kon De Petersen nu dus in alle openheid doen. Hoewel hierover geen eenduidige gegevens beschikbaar zijn – het wachten is op een goede studie op basis van het nader ontsloten Amsterdamse notarieel archief – mogen we aannemen dat het kapitaal voor deze particuliere slavenhandel van de Amsterdamse familie- en vriendenrelaties in het regentenpatriciaat afkomstig was.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">De Petersen bleef van 1741 tot 1747 in Elmina. Tijdens zijn bewind werd de transitie naar vrije handel voltooid en bouwde hij het lokale WIC-apparaat opnieuw op. Hij sloot daartoe allianties met verschillende WIC-ambtenaren die hij op strategische posities neerzette, waardoor het lokale netwerk van kooplieden-ambtenaren voor de organisatie van de slaven-handel versterkt werd. Onderdeel van deze strategie waren ook allianties met lokale Afrikaanse kooplieden, zodat de aanvoer van slaven uit het binnenland naar de kust gegarandeerd werd. (6)</p><div>[p. 108] </div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2whVaeuKpJgEEObeKX9cuXZahl52lgU-BgV492IZJRkdF0gKQ4GyEcQNrfSE6P7g57xrmDsr3lU_yM-wPfcas6ZE7AqZBFTLpnE4SS4toCbXOJ2bJNYD7R6wRDXilDZkWv9DRVd8CUT8/s313/Petersen-2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="212" data-original-width="313" height="434" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2whVaeuKpJgEEObeKX9cuXZahl52lgU-BgV492IZJRkdF0gKQ4GyEcQNrfSE6P7g57xrmDsr3lU_yM-wPfcas6ZE7AqZBFTLpnE4SS4toCbXOJ2bJNYD7R6wRDXilDZkWv9DRVd8CUT8/w641-h434/Petersen-2.jpg" width="641" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>prent door Jacobus van der Schley; 1747; Koninklijke Bibliotheek<br /></i>Gezicht op Elmina met links kasteel St. George d’Elmina en rechts fort Coenraadsburg,<br />vernoemd naar WIC-bewindhebber en later burgemeester van Amsterdam,<br />Albert Coenraads Burgh. Jacob de Petersen zetelde in dit kasteel als gouverneur in<br />West-Afrika (1741-1747). In het midden is de haven zichtbaar, vanwaar slaafgemaakten<br />per kano naar de schepen gebracht werden die in de baai voor anker lagen. </span></td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><p style="text-align: justify;">Met ingang van 1746 verbood de WIC de particuliere handel aan haar medewerkers. Het beleid zwalkte hier nogal. Voor De Petersen was dit reden om al op 1 juli 1745 zijn ontslag in te dienen. Vermoedelijk viel de Goudkust hem ook tegen. Er bleven problemen met het personeel. En belangrijker nog: door politieke conflicten in het binnenland liep de handel sterk terug. Het duurde bijna twee jaar voordat hij daadwerkelijk vertrok. In april 1747 ging hij scheep naar Suriname op het particuliere schip Watervliet. Aan boord waren ook 400 slaven, bestemd voor de verkoop in Suriname. Het schip arriveerde in juli 1747 in Paramaribo, maar toen waren er nog slecht 150 slaven aan boord. De rest zou onderweg gestorven zijn ‘door een langdurige en bedroefte reise’. (7)</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Amsterdamse regenten in de slavenhandel</h3><p style="text-align: justify;">De Watervliet maakte tussen 1743 en 1747 drie reizen met slaven van West-Afrika naar Curaçao en Suriname. (8) Van de eerste reis is bekend dat de investeerders uit het Amsterdamse regentenpatriciaat afkomstig waren, inclusief [p. 109] erschillende zittende bestuurders. Zo investeerden de Vroedschapsleden Jan Bernd Bicker, Gerard Bors van Waveren, Pieter Clifford, Gerrit Hooft Gz., Harman Henrik van de Poll, Pieter Rendorp en Jonas Witsen in de reis. Bicker, Clifford, Hooft en Van de Poll waren op enig moment ook bewindhebber van de WIC en Bicker en Van de Poll ook directeur van de Sociëteit van Suriname. (9)</p><p style="text-align: justify;">De Petersen wordt niet genoemd als investeerder, maar aangenomen mag worden dat hij mede-initiatiefnemer was voor meerdere slavenreizen. De latere financiële positie van De Petersen bevestigt dat hij een zeer vermogend man was. Een dispuut over een zending goud uit Suriname ter waarde van ruim 111.000 gulden, die op zee gestolen zou zijn door kapers, bevestigt dit al, maar ook de levensstijl die hij er in Nederland op na hield en het aantal personen dat hij onderhield wijzen hierop. De oorsprong van deze rijkdom kan alleen maar gevonden worden in winsten uit de slavenhandel. (10)</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Na zijn terugkeer in Nederland vestigde Jacob de Petersen zich in Am-sterdam, waar hij in 1750 een monumentaal huis kocht op de Keizersgracht, voor een bedrag van 55.600 gulden dat hij contant betaalde. Hij bezat verder nog een huis en tuin in de Plantage, ‘daar het Moortje boven de deur staat,’ een duidelijke verwijzing naar zijn Afrikaanse en slavenhandelsbetrekkingen. In 1766 kocht hij een tweede pand aan de Keizersgracht.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">WIC-bestuurder in Amsterdam</h3><p style="text-align: justify;">Ondanks zijn rijkdom ging De Petersen niet rentenieren. Hij was bij terugkeer uit Afrika ook pas vierenveertig jaar oud. Hij bleef bestuurlijk actief en zette zijn WIC-carrière in Amsterdam voort. Al in 1748 werd hij op voordracht van de burgemeesters bewindhebber in de Kamer Amsterdam. In die hoedanigheid bekleedde hij vele malen de functie van president-bewindhebber, onder andere bij de installatie van Erfstadhouder Prins Willem V als opperbewindhebber en gouverneur-generaal van de WIC in 1768. Van die gebeurtenis is door de kunstenaar Fokke Simons een prent vervaardigd waarop De Petersen ook afgebeeld is. Met de benoeming van Prins Willem V als opperbewindhebber werd er ook een verte-genwoordiger van de prins benoemd. Vanaf 1766 was dit Mr. Ferdinand van Collen (1708-1789), raadsman in de Vroedschap en oud-commissaris en oud-schepen van Amsterdam. Van Collen was een neef van De Peter-sens oude compagnon op Curaçao, gouverneur Juan Pedro van Collen. Jacob de Petersen nam in 1770 het stokje over en werd daarmee tot zijn dood in 1780 de machtigste man in de WIC. Daarnaast bekleedde hij een reeks andere bestuursfuncties, waaronder die van schepen van Amsterdam en directeur van de Sociëteit van Suriname. (11)</p><p style="text-align: left;"><br />[p. 110]</p><div><br /></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkMFM05UDany2h8aPxC8NvMX3YJTOrF9aPfHd8t3ewu24SWu3KqYYvPmGUBHGle1mzYAOOk1hu_QYUXdVPXsBKIGFxt1eFimeGuBM6Nl3fv8CRkjb03VR__JtQsJbLSlDTPj1XdCDGv8I/s312/Petersen-3.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="216" data-original-width="312" height="413" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkMFM05UDany2h8aPxC8NvMX3YJTOrF9aPfHd8t3ewu24SWu3KqYYvPmGUBHGle1mzYAOOk1hu_QYUXdVPXsBKIGFxt1eFimeGuBM6Nl3fv8CRkjb03VR__JtQsJbLSlDTPj1XdCDGv8I/w597-h413/Petersen-3.jpg" width="597" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>prent door Fokke Simons; 1771; Rijksmuseum<br /></i>Zittingneming van Willem V tussen de directeuren van de WIC<br />bij zijn bezoek aan Amsterdam in 1768.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><p style="text-align: justify;">In zijn nieuwe leven in Amsterdam veronachtzaamde De Petersen zijn Afrikaanse contacten niet. Hij bleef zijn beschermelingen ondersteunen. Daarmee zorgde hij er ook voor dat de Amsterdamse belangen in West-Afrika vertegenwoordigd bleven. Na verloop van tijd werd privéslavenhandel voor WIC-ambtenaren in West-Afrika opnieuw toegestaan. Dat leidde tot een hausse aan particuliere activiteiten onder deze ambtenaren, in samenwerking met leden van het Amsterdamse regentenpatriciaat. De Petersen sloeg ook een brug tussen datzelfde patriciaat en leden van de Amsterdamse middenklasse, gegoede burgers zonder directe relatie tot het bestuur. Jan Pranger, zijn voorganger als Amsterdamse directeur-generaal op de Goudkust en zoon van een Amsterdamse wijnhandelaar, is daar een voorbeeld van. Met hem onderhield hij een jarenlange persoonlijke en zakelijke vriendschap en beheerde hij diverse belangen in de Afrikaanse slavenhandel. Twee van zijn beschermelingen, de Amsterdamse Nicolaas Mattheus van der Noot de Geeter en de Duits-Groningse Pieter Woortman volgden hem zelfs – dankzij zijn steun – op als directeur-generaal in Elmina.</p><p>[p. 111]<br /></p><p style="text-align: justify;">In Amsterdam was De Petersens huis een verzamelpunt voor Afrika- en West-Indiëgangers, inclusief kinderen uit gemengde Europees-Afrikaanse relaties. Ook waren er verschillende Afrikaanse bedienden te vinden. (12)<br /></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Jacob de Petersen was een spil in het web van de Atlantische slavenhandel in West-Afrika in een periode dat deze grote veranderingen onderging. Als zodanig was hij, met zijn eerstehands ervaring in de handel in Curaçao en op de Goudkust, zijn zakelijk en bestuurlijk inzicht en zijn solide betrekkingen met het Amsterdamse regentenpatriciaat, een bijzonder voorbeeld van de manier waarop het burgerlijk bestuur van Amsterdam in formele en informele zin direct betrokken was bij de slavenhandel in West-Afrika.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Notes</h3><p style="text-align: left;"></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li style="text-align: justify;">M.R. Doortmont, ‘Van kamerheer tot binnenmoeder: De Rijksbaronnen De Petersen in de Nederlanden, 1650-1914,’ De Nederlandsche Leeuw: Tijdschrift van het Koninklijk Nederlandsch Genootschap voor Geslacht- en Wapenkunde 116 (1999), kol. 97-174, 278-314, 482, aldaar kol. 119-120.</li><li style="text-align: justify;">Ibidem, kol. 136-143, 282-284.</li><li style="text-align: justify;">Ibidem.</li><li style="text-align: justify;">H. den Heijer, De geschiedenis van de WIC (Zutphen 1994) 163.</li><li style="text-align: justify;">H. den Heijer, Goud, ivoor en slaven: Scheepvaart en handel van de Tweede Westindische Compagnie op Afrika, 1674-1740 (Zutphen 1997) 325-335.</li><li style="text-align: justify;">De rol van Afrikaanse kooplieden en politieke machthebbers in de Atlantische slavenhandel is sinds de Jaren 1970 onderwerp van internationale academische discussie. Hoewel een belangrijk debat, is er hier geen ruimte verder op die rol in te gaan. Volstaan moet worden met te constateren dat er in de organisatie van de slavenhandel in West-Afrika handelsnetwerken ontston-den waarin Afrikaanse en Europese kooplieden nauw samenwerkten, ieder met hun eigen belangen. Zie voor Nederlandse betrekkingen o.a. M.R. Doortmont, ‘An overview of Dutch relations with the Gold Coast in the light of David van Nyendael’s mission to Ashanti in 1701-1702,’ in: I. van Kessel (red.), Merchants, Missionaries & Migrants: 300 Years of Dutch-Ghanaian Relations (Amsterdam 2002), 19-32; M.R. Doortmont, ‘The Dutch Atlantic Slave Trade as Family Business: The case of the Van der Noot de Gietere – Van Ba-kergem family,’ in: J.K. Anquandah, N.J. Opoku-Agyemang en M.R. Doortmont (red.), The Transatlantic Slave Trade: Landmarks, Legacies, Expectations (Accra 2007), 92-137; H. den Heijer, De geschiedenis van de WIC, 151, 163-174, 177-179, passim; H. den Heijer, Goud, ivoor en slaven, 89-166, 220-262, 297-373.</li><li style="text-align: justify;">Nationaal Archief Suriname, Oud Archief Suriname, 1.05.10.01, inv.nr. 4, Journaal 1744-1748, inschrijving maandag 17 juli 1747, scan 322.</li><li style="text-align: justify;">Voor de drie reizen van de Watervliet en verdere details zie de website ‘Slave Voyages: Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade – Database’ en de daar genoemde literatuur en bronnen.</li><li style="text-align: justify;">Voor de lijst van investeerders zie Stadsarchief Amsterdam, Notarieel Archief Amsterdam, 5075, inv.nr. 2837, akte 26 november 1745, averijgrosse schip Watervliet. Persoonsgegevens ontleend aan J.E. Elias, De Vroedschap van Am-sterdam, 1578-1795 (Amsterdam 1903-1905).</li><li style="text-align: justify;">Stadsarchief Amsterdam, Notarieel Archief Amsterdam, 5075, inv.nr. 10243, akte 10 januari 1748, scheepsverklaring.</li><li style="text-align: justify;">M.R. Doortmont, ‘Van kamerheer tot binnenmoeder,’ kol. 136-143, 282-284.</li><li style="text-align: justify;">Vergelijk Ibidem; N. Everts, ‘Cherchez la Femme: Gender-Related Issues in Eighteenth-Century Elmina,’ Itinerario 20 (1996) 45-57.</li></ol><p></p>Michel Doortmonthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11279163297265000339noreply@blogger.com0Groningen, Netherlands53.2193835 6.566501724.909149663821154 -28.5897483 81.529617336178845 41.7227517tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9190459455779614590.post-41369666274424493382016-08-21T11:56:00.000+02:002016-08-27T15:26:59.879+02:00An African baptism in Delft, 1794<h2>
"Baptism of a negro lady from the Coast of Africa"</h2>
In the collections of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, there is an image of a baptism ceremony of a 'negro lady from the Coast of Africa.' The caption further reads that the ceremony took place in the Remonstrant Reformed church of Delft on 24 September 1794. In pen is added that the ceremony was performed by the Rev. Pieter van der Meersch, and that the the ceremony was set to <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ephesians%205:8" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Ephesians 5 verse 8</a>: "For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light." On the pulpit a reference is made to <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=psalm+36&version=ISV" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Psalm 36</a>, but it is unclear if this has bearing on the ceremony. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhykTcuCxsYUU-Z0FGZJ9JUaj-d0dy-DgsdXr3ylDu2IqFSgoP-S6-8ZqPwCA9tp0N8Kf-0sC955fgn5ZVPk5ZCBVl1D-R3ojITpahoVBjd49NLkXBOtT2zuzVAjz9gKLmYYLuJ2koUvQA/s1600/RP-P-OB-86.356.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="464" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhykTcuCxsYUU-Z0FGZJ9JUaj-d0dy-DgsdXr3ylDu2IqFSgoP-S6-8ZqPwCA9tp0N8Kf-0sC955fgn5ZVPk5ZCBVl1D-R3ojITpahoVBjd49NLkXBOtT2zuzVAjz9gKLmYYLuJ2koUvQA/s640/RP-P-OB-86.356.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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The image is detailed, with the African lady kneeling, the minister performing the baptism and a man and a woman assisting. A considerable congregation is looking on. However, except for the name of the minister, nobody is mentioned by name. Apparently the maker of the print and caption was more interested in the rarity value of the occasion - an African lady being baptised - than in the human aspect of it, in terms of a social occasion.<br />
<br />
As the date and location of the baptism are mentioned in the caption, it is possible to look up the original registration of in the records of the Remonstrant Reformed Church of Delft. As it happens these have been digitised and can be found <a href="http://collectie-delft.nl/bladeren-door-bronnen/weergave/register/id/ca799548-4025-11e5-be75-af388905f5fc" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
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<h2>
"An African young daughter [...] named Maria Zara Johanna"</h2>
The registration is very elaborate and runs as follows:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"The 24th of September on Wednesday night was baptised in this church, by Rev. A. van der Meersch, an African young daughter, who was named at Holy Baptism<u> Maria Zara Johanna</u>. As witnesses stood the overseer <u>Johannes Guus</u>, and Ms. <u>Zara Turfkloot</u>, wife of Rev. Van der Meersch, who also led her to Holy Baptism. According to her own information she was born in <u>Zoogwoin</u>, on the Coast of Guinea, a day's travel from St. Elmina [sic], and probably circa 24 years old. Her father's name is <u>Cajo Sainquo Niabi</u>, and her mother's name is <u>Masa Oribo</u>. She was repatriated from Demarara in America with Mr. Hekker, who bought her there as a slave, in public auction. His Honour refused her to be inducted in the Christian faith, and when the Church Council of the Remonstrant Reformed Church found out about this, it assisted her in this, finding her to be a Religious and honest soul, too noble to live in an un-Christian state of slavery any longer. Oh, could her miserable fellow-sufferers enjoy freedom with her, and the Christians be less Barbarians, and Slaves!"</blockquote>
The text tells us a lot about the young lady's identity, background, and the process that led to her baptism. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYeZgQ-4OnAestBc0bTx0AMJ5GEJir6NUfNpbk3yHbR9C2uk0HwHrEeSVh-nO4AxkK3044VjXo1NQ2t5P_7uHMpinyr51xawCBdBiUTShWOuBpcp_eon67rQK9c0Sy_Gp4Jc4sm8z_aMU/s1600/AR0014_00108_0033.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYeZgQ-4OnAestBc0bTx0AMJ5GEJir6NUfNpbk3yHbR9C2uk0HwHrEeSVh-nO4AxkK3044VjXo1NQ2t5P_7uHMpinyr51xawCBdBiUTShWOuBpcp_eon67rQK9c0Sy_Gp4Jc4sm8z_aMU/s640/AR0014_00108_0033.jpg" width="526" /></a></div>
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<br />
The most striking element in the report is the detailed information about Maria Zara Johanna's African background. She recalls her birthplace and its approximate location, the names of her father and mother, and her approximate age. It is therefore probable that she was enslaved in her teens or as a young adult. Unfortunately, the African names are phonetically spelled in such a way that it becomes quite hard to identify them properly. Location of birthplace and some elements in the personal names seem to indicate an origin in the Akan cultural and political area of today's Ghana. Her father's first name, Kajo, could well read as the Akan first name Kwadwo (also Kojo, or Kodjo), for Monday-born. The other names could also well be Akan in origin.<br />
<br />
Equally interesting is the story of her arrival in the Netherlands: she was enslaved in Ghana and sent to the then Dutch plantation colony of Demarara (now Guyana), where she was bought in auction by a Mr. Hekker, presumably a plantation owner. He took her to the Netherlands, where, according to the report, she remained in slavery, until the Remonstrant Reformed Church took pity on her and brought her into the Christian fold. Not mentioned is how this helped her to gain her freedom from Mr. Hekker. Possibly the church council records may hold a key here.<br />
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<h2>
Further research and invitation to assist </h2>
This blog limits itself to the registration of the etching and the identification of Maria Zara Johanna. It is likely that additional research can bring forth a lot more information about her life history. A quick search online gives her <a href="https://www.wiewaswie.nl/personen-zoeken/zoeken/document/a2apersonid/97538505/srcid/24843530/oid/1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">death record</a>, for instance:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Maria Sara Johanna Kajo Sanchonia, died The Hague 26 October 1834, 68 years old, born in Demarara, no further information.</blockquote>
Only the index to this record is digitally available, so perhaps the original has more information. Writing from Ghana I do not have access to this currently.<br />
<br />
The age given at baptism and her age at death put her birth year at circa 1766/1770. At death she apparently used a form of her father's first names as her surname. The baptism record gives no surname. However, the 21st-century index maker listed her surname as Niabi, also a name given to her father.<br />
<br />
So far nothing further is known about Maria Zara Johanna's life, or that of her former owner. Contributions to that effect are most welcome and will be included in a follow-up to this blog. In the meantime a note has been sent to the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam to amend the description of the etching and identify the characters mentioned in the baptism record.<br />
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<h2>
References</h2>
<ul>
<li>Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, Rijksstudio, <a href="http://hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.509465" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Doop van een Afrikaanse vrouw in Delft, 1794, Anonymous, 1794</a>, etching,
h 183mm × w 267mm. </li>
<li>Baptism register Remonstrant Reformed Church (Oude Delft), Delft, 4 July 1674 - 16 April 1809, entry 24 September 1794, <a href="http://collectie-delft.nl/bladeren-door-bronnen/weergave/register/id/ca799548-4025-11e5-be75-af388905f5fc" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">scan 70</a>. </li>
<li><a href="https://www.wiewaswie.nl/personen-zoeken/zoeken/document/a2apersonid/97538505/srcid/24843530/oid/1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Death record, Civil Registry The Hague 1834, registration 28 October 1834, doc. no. 1162</a>. </li>
</ul>
<h2>
</h2>
<h2>
Update 27 August 2016: Death record</h2>
George Homs was so kind to provide a copy of the death certificate of Maria Zara Johanna. It confirms the information from the index quoted above, and has some added information as well.<br />
<br />
The death of Maria Sara Johanna Kajo Sanchonia is registered by Hendrik de Nijs, 65 years old, death announcer ('bidder'), and Hendrik Zoomerveldt, 50 years old, cobbler or shoemaker, both living in The Hague. De Nijs was a professional, while Zoomerveldt could be a friend or neighbour, but also a passer-by. The two listed the address where Maria Sara Johanna's died as Quarter W3 ('Wijk W3') in The Hague, which may also have been her residential address, and that she was without occupation.<br />
<br />
The next stop will be the Municipal Archives in The Hague (<a href="http://www.denhaag.nl/home/bewoners/kunst-en-cultuur/haags-gemeentearchief.htm" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Haags Gemeentearchief</a>) to see if anything can be found about her there in non-digitised records.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIdo61DGb3TqT8q-8OAp3Olk4_UczJnHfyXH2BWQxSHKsgPyyN2R3-fzk2jq9M5VEK4EIaGjAPJ6a9uPhXmsgnHrDKICm1iaOOwohn_nqoLvlaAmcByve7ABoUSjPbYWD1IcJ1yMfM_MM/s1600/Kajo+Sanchonia+death+1834.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIdo61DGb3TqT8q-8OAp3Olk4_UczJnHfyXH2BWQxSHKsgPyyN2R3-fzk2jq9M5VEK4EIaGjAPJ6a9uPhXmsgnHrDKICm1iaOOwohn_nqoLvlaAmcByve7ABoUSjPbYWD1IcJ1yMfM_MM/s640/Kajo+Sanchonia+death+1834.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br />Michel Doortmonthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11279163297265000339noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9190459455779614590.post-49838615167170637752016-07-15T12:20:00.001+02:002016-07-15T14:05:35.606+02:00Elmina in 1865: New photographs discovered<h2>
</h2>
<h2>
Pictures of Elmina </h2>
Photographs of the town of Elmina in the Dutch period, i.e before 1872, are quite rare. There are some, and there are depictions of the town in the form of drawings and lithographs, but on the whole, one does not find many clear pictures.<br />
<br />
You can imagine my surprise and elation therefore, when my colleague and friend, and comrade in arms in the Dutch history of Elmina, Natalie Everts, pointed me towards a fantastic find this morning.<br />
<br />
The website of <a href="http://www.mysticseaport.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Mystic Seaport: The museum of America and the sea</a> harbours a large collection of historical photographs, mainly of ships. However, hidden in the long list of ships called "Elmina", there are three photographs of the Ghanaian town of Elmina. They were taken by a man called John F. Brooks, whom I believe to be one of the American ship's captains that frequented Elmina, dated circa 1865, and made in the photographic technique called <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambrotype" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">ambrotype</a>.<br />
<br />
With this firm date of 1865 attached to them, these images of Elmina are among the oldest surviving photographic townscapes on record.<br />
<br />
I have ordered high resolution scans of the images, but found this discovery too important to let it wait. So here are the low resolution small-sized reproductions as they can be found on the Mystic Seaport website, with a brief description of what we see.<br />
<br />
When the high resolutions scans become available, I will return here with a more complete description and analysis. <br />
<h2>
</h2>
<h2>
View from St. Jago Hill </h2>
The first two pictures, identical or almost identical, show a familiar sight: the Castle of St. George d'Elmina taken from Fort Coenraadsburg on St. Jago Hill opposite. The castle flies the Dutch flag from a very tall mast, and stands out brightly whitewashed. In addition to the castle we see the roadstead with three merchant ships, the Benya Lagoon with bridge, a part of the old town of Elmina with stone houses, all destroyed by the British in 1873, and part of Liverpool Street to the left and centre, with the row of new, flat-roofed, luxurious merchant's houses dating from the 1840s.<br />
<br />
What is special here is that the photograph shows, more than any other known picture, a fair part of the old town of Elmina.<br />
<br />
These images link <a href="http://library.mysticseaport.org/ere/odetail.cfm?id_number=1980.22.4" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>. <br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4zOGv_opromUHPN_OGyWunkxMRyRFmoLGp475BPaYShFSgNsDxnIt0NedJv8khVC-ZJgu0jjni-_gudWA0yS3XHbvBkRBUR-iSl517CJ3hFN3o-oFFm3A75y29hGqC4UUj0h88U4yPu0/s1600/m024429-r.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4zOGv_opromUHPN_OGyWunkxMRyRFmoLGp475BPaYShFSgNsDxnIt0NedJv8khVC-ZJgu0jjni-_gudWA0yS3XHbvBkRBUR-iSl517CJ3hFN3o-oFFm3A75y29hGqC4UUj0h88U4yPu0/s1600/m024429-r.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Reference: <i>Mystic Seaport Image ID m024429</i></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk61JCve5bHvPM-1kJ5cp7PqAsCAhtt-wf-jjZlXy14YuIF9PNYX-n-864zChgaPW3lW8S1tPhIPPZsm8ZC8fLxZ83cDS_9SCXlutSni1fa34TmkIx4VdzqwUz3VWubmCyFybZcCYa1Zs/s1600/m024429-01-r.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk61JCve5bHvPM-1kJ5cp7PqAsCAhtt-wf-jjZlXy14YuIF9PNYX-n-864zChgaPW3lW8S1tPhIPPZsm8ZC8fLxZ83cDS_9SCXlutSni1fa34TmkIx4VdzqwUz3VWubmCyFybZcCYa1Zs/s1600/m024429-01-r.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Reference: <i>Mystic Seaport Image ID m024429-01</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<h2>
View of High Street</h2>
The second picture is a view of what is now called the High Street in Elmina, from an elevated point, overlooking the bay on the left, with a clear view of the castle, and with Fort Coenraadsburg on St. Jago Hill dominating the right-hand side of the picture. We see the white houses in Liverpool Street in the middle, as well as some other buildings. And below the vantage point we see the street, not much more than a sandy path, some mottle and swish houses, a larger building on the opposite side of the street which seems under construction, and a walled yard of some sort in the middle, right below where the photographer stood.<br />
<br />
Although this needs more research, my first guess would be that the photographer stood inside the house known as Mount Pleasant, built by the Elmina merchant Carel Bartels in the early 1850s.<br />
<br />
This image links <a href="http://library.mysticseaport.org/ere/odetail.cfm?id_number=1980.22.3" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>. <br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKifplJWVC4Znms_5slEKHiIScGDWyDsqkAkCOsBiXyBIavI22-oUmARdrMD6AwF7VpVcYY1n19oBF378vFICxt8q7vmvTylMmJjyWX4QZDcRCqyAIiHENkVXg8newqZLSZv2Q-UnsKos/s1600/m024428-r.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKifplJWVC4Znms_5slEKHiIScGDWyDsqkAkCOsBiXyBIavI22-oUmARdrMD6AwF7VpVcYY1n19oBF378vFICxt8q7vmvTylMmJjyWX4QZDcRCqyAIiHENkVXg8newqZLSZv2Q-UnsKos/s1600/m024428-r.jpg" title="" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Reference: <i>Mystic Seaport Image ID m024428</i>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr></tr>
</tbody></table>
<h2>
Addendum</h2>
A thorough search of the Mystic Seaport database brought to light one other image from the Gold Coast, namely of the British fort at Dixcove, dated 1862. The entry has no image attached to it. Th picture is also an Ambrotype by John F. Brooks, which may mean that the date for the Elmina pictures has to be pushed back three years too, to 1862.<br />
<br />
See the link <a href="http://mobius.mysticseaport.org/detail.php?type=related&kv=24427&t=objects" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
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<br />Michel Doortmonthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11279163297265000339noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9190459455779614590.post-45232257964800551692016-03-16T23:27:00.000+01:002016-03-16T23:27:08.799+01:00'The White Man's Grave': A suicide in Elmina, 1749 (2)Last week I wrote about the case of the Dutch West India Company sergeant <a href="http://gcdb.doortmontweb.org/getperson.php?personID=I7580&tree=Africa" target="_blank">Pierre Richer</a>, who deliberately killed himself while on duty in Fort Coenraadsburg on the Hill of St. Jago in Elmina, shooting himself in the head. The blog was inspired by the curt entry in the governor's journal, reading:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
'Tuesday
15 [April 1749] This morning around 6 o'clock, the sergeant on the Hill
of St. Jago, Pierre Richer, has shot himself in the head, and was
subsequently buried on Gallow's Hill.'</blockquote>
Considering that suicide was a crime, the thought occurred that there might have been a (posthumous) murder inquiry and criminal court case in the court of the Netherlands Possessions on the Coast of Guinea. And indeed, fiscal (read: public prosecutor) Huibert van Rijk made a case that went to court.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZPKSy_YJr_huHx0Q7eLtOVeVPP6d4lcjieXZkbUZqTMqB2C3oIcF4vPkpo0qLiA9WpdqUuG_USlwiCd9gTWqr5pVR0N7qLg6wIImNKWBPyfFaa6tSGqcod_m3W2kZJlmLzz7Yw1q8B0w/s1600/NL-HaNA_1.05.14_9_0319.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZPKSy_YJr_huHx0Q7eLtOVeVPP6d4lcjieXZkbUZqTMqB2C3oIcF4vPkpo0qLiA9WpdqUuG_USlwiCd9gTWqr5pVR0N7qLg6wIImNKWBPyfFaa6tSGqcod_m3W2kZJlmLzz7Yw1q8B0w/s640/NL-HaNA_1.05.14_9_0319.jpg" width="451" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Page 1 of the sentence on Pierre Richer</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
In the minutes of the sessions of the director-general and Council, which acted as the highest legal authority, we find the sentence. Prosecutor Van Rijk had put forward a report on his initial investigation of the case, a summons, and sworn statements by ten 'irreproachable' witnesses, all members of the garrison on St. Jago Hill.<br />
<br />
The evidence first of all showed that:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
'[...] Pierre Richer of Paris, while stationed as sergeant in Fort Coenraadsburg, had dared to take his own life with a musket, on the 15th of April 1749, around 6 o'clock in the morning [...]'</blockquote>
So the facts of the suicide were clear. But how about the reason? The sentence report continued:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
'[...] without [anybody] so far having been able to detect the reason for this enormous fact.' </blockquote>
This uncertainty could call into question whether Pierre Richer's death was indeed a suicide? Could it not be that he had been cleaning his musket and accidentally fired it, killing himself? This question is not asked by the court, nor is there any reference made to the witness statements that may shed some light on possible circumstantial evidence pointing towards or explaining suicide. <br />
<br />
The court had no doubts. It is considered a case of suicide, and therefore,<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
'the cadaver of the delinquent was, according to custom, clandestinely buried under the gallows, having perpetrated the crime of suicide and the crime of desertion, as far as it concerns his oath-bound position, as an officer on an important post.'</blockquote>
So, in the eyes of the prosecutor and the court, Richer had not only committed the crime of murder, but by killing himself he also deserted his post as sergeant on active duty. And this, the court decided was a dangerous affair:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
'All these [suicide and desertion] are matters that make for such dangerous examples in the depopulated remote domains of the State, with regard to the other few militiamen, and the harshest punishment is not even enough as a deterrent.'</blockquote>
Sentence was passed, and Pierre Richer, deceased, was punished with the 'forfeiture and seizure' of his complete estate insofar it was within the jurisdiction of the West India Company, including his clothes, salary, allowances, et cetera.<br />
<br />
Whether this 'punishment' was really a deterrent for others to follow Richer's example is doubtful, I would think. And moreover, the instances of suicide among Europeans were rare in any case. The court, however, had done its duty, in the name of the the Honourable Gentlemen the States General of the United Netherlands, and the Chartered West India Company.<br />
<br />
<i>For the full text of the sentence (in Dutch):</i><br />
<a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/fppygayk4p9o9x0/Pierre%20Richer-%20sentence%201749.pdf?dl=0" target="_blank">Sentence in the case of the suicide of Pierre Richer (PDF)</a><br />
<br />
<b>Sources:</b><br />
National Archives of the Netherlands, Archives of the Netherlands
Possessions on the Coast of Guinea (access no. 1.05.14), inv. no. 110,
Elmina journal and correspondence with the outer forts, 1749, journal
entry 15 April 1749 (<a href="http://proxy.handle.net/10648/eda522be-7831-48a8-dba2-4ff3806bbc83" target="_blank">Scan 769</a>).<br />
<br />
Ditto, inv. no. 9, Minutes of the meetings of the director-general and Council, 1742-1758, p. 289-290 (<a href="http://proxy.handle.net/10648/5f0f27cb-06d4-75fb-9fc2-8733833e008a" target="_blank">Scan 319</a> and <a href="http://proxy.handle.net/10648/0a7979b3-bfe2-ce5c-7741-3dce381898f0" target="_blank">320</a>)<br />
<br />
<br />Michel Doortmonthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11279163297265000339noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9190459455779614590.post-17478922263034967592016-03-05T14:04:00.000+01:002016-03-12T00:55:38.104+01:00'The White Man's Grave': A suicide in Elmina, 1749 (1)The coastal areas of West Africa were long known as 'The White Man's Grave' due to its harsh climatic conditions and the endemic occurrence of deadly diseases including malaria, dysentery, typhoid fever and the like. Obviously this affected the indigenous population as well, but as in so many cases, the view of Africa encompassed in the phrase 'The White Man's Grave' strongly reflects a Eurocentric bias. <br />
<br />
In any case, before the advent of modern medicine and principals of hygiene in the latter part of the nineteenth century, mortality and morbidity were high. For any arriving European it was a matter of surviving the first year and subsequently keeping a keen eye on a style of living that was as healthy as possible. And in some cases, personal physique and genetic make-up assisted survival as well.<br />
<br />
But this is about physical health. What about psychological health? Living in West Africa was not easy on the mind either. However, this is a subject much less studied. For the Dutch presence on the Gold Coast we have one clearly documented case, that of the Asante Prince Kwamena Poku in 1850 (Doortmont & Smit, 2007: 268). He was brought to the Netherlands in 1837, with his cousin Kwasi Boakye, who went on to become a planter in the Netherlands East Indies. Kwamena Poku, a potential heir to the Asante throne, returned to the Gold Coast where he stayed at Elmina as guest of the governor. He was shunned by his uncle, the king of Asante and dissuaded from returning to Kumase, however, and subsequently found live unbearable. After lunch on 22 February 1850 he returned to his room, took a gun, and blew his brains out.<br />
<br />
This is a case of an African gentleman returning to his own country and experiencing a severe inverse culture shock, together with utter social abandonment by his family. For Europeans, documented examples of suicide are scarce.<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGGioiqn7BAJ4U5V393B0WbtAOEUykPIi-kw8IlC4Dt1RM8yFK7y2CDWjvXrgx8aqFDq0BWsF037EHRfVmSOcJYAKdYdS7rcfKMZhTh1ZWlJtQkJriPYajn7X4LHIdDgh5YSsDiwgGUoQ/s1600/suicide+1749.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Elmina Journal Entry for 15 April 1749" border="0" height="147" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGGioiqn7BAJ4U5V393B0WbtAOEUykPIi-kw8IlC4Dt1RM8yFK7y2CDWjvXrgx8aqFDq0BWsF037EHRfVmSOcJYAKdYdS7rcfKMZhTh1ZWlJtQkJriPYajn7X4LHIdDgh5YSsDiwgGUoQ/s400/suicide+1749.jpg" title="Elmina Journal Entry for 15 April 1749" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
The Elmina Journal for 1749 mentions a suicide by a European sergeant named as <a href="http://gcdb.doortmontweb.org/getperson.php?personID=I7580&tree=Africa" target="_blank">Pierre Richer</a>:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
'Tuesday
15 [April 1749] This morning around 6 o'clock, the sergeant on the Hill
of St. Jago, Pierre Richer, has shot himself in the head, and was
subsequently buried on Gallow's Hill.'</blockquote>
The
director-general, who wrote the journal, made short shrift of the
occurrence. Suicide was a crime, and hence the hurried burial on
Gallow's Hill, the burial place for convicted criminals. Nothing about
the possible reasons for the suicide, the poor man's state of mind in
the days and weeks before he killed himself, or anything else. It
happened, he was buried, and that was the end of it.<br />
<br />
Now, some 267 years later, <a href="http://gcdb.doortmontweb.org/getperson.php?personID=I7580&tree=Africa" target="_blank">Pierre Richer</a>, just another anonymous West India Company servant, becomes the first known example of a European suicide in Elmina.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Literature:</b><br />
Doortmont, Michel R. & Jinna Smit, <i>Sources for the mutual history of Ghana and the Netherlands: An annotated guide to the Dutch archives relating to Ghana and West Africa in the </i>Nationaal Archief<i>, 1593-1960</i> (Leiden / Boston: Brill 2007), p. 268.<br />
<br />
<b>Sources:</b><br />
National Archives of the Netherlands, Archives of the Netherlands Possessions on the Coast of Guinea (access no. 1.05.14), inv. no. 110, Elmina journal and correspondence with the outer forts, 1749, journal entry 15 April 1749 (<a href="http://proxy.handle.net/10648/eda522be-7831-48a8-dba2-4ff3806bbc83" target="_blank">Scan 769</a>).<br />
<br />
Ditto, inv. no 367, Journal 1849-1855, journal entry 22 February 1850 (<a href="http://proxy.handle.net/10648/b93dfec3-684a-84a3-9c88-563671279b72" target="_blank">Scan 45</a>)<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Michel Doortmonthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11279163297265000339noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9190459455779614590.post-62479930325239439272016-02-17T14:09:00.000+01:002016-07-21T13:30:54.821+02:00Famine on the Gold Coast, 1749One of the prevailing images of Africa as a continent is that of natural disaster, especially drought, and crop failure, more often than not resulting in severe famine and loss of human (and other) life. Currently, Southern and East Africa and the Horn are hit by the fall-out of El Niño, seriously threatening the existence of millions of people (<a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-34779447" target="_blank">'El Nino threatens "millions in east and southern Africa"', <i>BBC World News Africa</i> website, 15 November 2015</a>).<br />
<br />
Severe drought and crop failure are normally not connected to Ghana as a matter of course, but rather as an exception. In living memory, the year 1983 stands out, when the results of drought and crop failure early in the year were exacerbated by the influx of over 1.5 million Ghanaians flowing into the country from Nigeria, which had expelled them (<a href="http://www.africanglobe.net/featured/1983-year-ghana-prefer-forget/" target="_blank">Editorial Staff, '1983 A Year Ghana Would Prefer to Forget', <i>African Globe</i> 22 Jan 2013</a>). <br />
<br />
Historically, information about famine in Ghana is sparse, although sources reporting on them are available, as it turned out, when I scanned the archives of the Netherlands Possessions on the Coast of Guinea. This collection is in the National Archives in The Hague, but was recently also made available as high definition scans in an online repository (<a href="http://www.gahetna.nl/collectie/archief/ead/index/eadid/1.05.14/node/c01%3A0.c02%3A0.c03%3A9.c04%3A8./open/c01:0.c02:0.c03:9.c04:8.#c01:0.c02:0.c03:9.c04:8." target="_blank">Archief Nederlandse Bezittingen ter Kuste van Guinea</a>).<br />
<br />
The particular record series I studied were the letters of the Dutch director-general (governor) at Elmina to his superiors in the Netherlands, reporting on important affairs. In his letter of 15 July 1749, director-general Jan van Voorst wrote about the dire state of the Dutch possessions, highlighting the lack of personnel and provisions, and the poor condition of trade with the hinterland. As usual in this period, he referred to warfare and the blockade of trade routes as an important reason. However, near the end of his letter, almost as an afterthought, Van Voorst pointed at another serious reason for the poor state of affairs:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
'[...] Also, in the last six months [i.e. since January 1749], such a sad and serious
famine visited the whole Coast (caused by an extraordinary drought in
the past year, which made the cereal crops fail), that many natives died
daily from hunger. Had I not had some victuals in store during that
time, and having had the opportunity to buy some for the maintenance of
the garrison, truly, [Your Honourable Gentlemen], the fate of the white
people would have been miserable, because the natives would not sell
provisions for gold, and thus the transportation of victuals [to the
Gold Coast from the Netherlands] is highly necessary.'</blockquote>
<br />
In summary: 1748 had seen a serious drought on the Gold Coast, in which the crops had failed; cereals are mentioned, but most likely vegetables and other food-crops were affected too, not to mention livestock. In the following dry season of 1748-1749, this led to severe shortages in food supply, and eventually to a famine that affected large parts of the population, including those (the Europeans mainly) that could secure access to imported foodstuffs. 'Many' - dozens, maybe hundreds of - people died on a daily basis. And we have to keep in mind here that the figures are those Van Voorst registered from his immediate surroundings, so one can hazard to guess what the situation in the hinterland of the coastal settlements was like.<br />
<br />
Thus, a social economic disaster visited the Gold Coast in that year, most likely with immediate geo-political consequences, as well as a fall out of several years to come. <br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ5kwOWC3GL38S9HwUCm255M6iBcAVpS4erBLelJ3hTTkcNFnuY-WZSF-ryeY4H_EDcIC__cg0uw8g5bRRcp1DyqaBwIvEa881SmdriQMQkqzrUxORsszVbns4Vhz0nHf1yQV8KMwtxVA/s1600/c7c438d4-5e97-213b-046e-1546035b3cac.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="208" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ5kwOWC3GL38S9HwUCm255M6iBcAVpS4erBLelJ3hTTkcNFnuY-WZSF-ryeY4H_EDcIC__cg0uw8g5bRRcp1DyqaBwIvEa881SmdriQMQkqzrUxORsszVbns4Vhz0nHf1yQV8KMwtxVA/s400/c7c438d4-5e97-213b-046e-1546035b3cac.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
It is just a note in a letter, easily missed. However, a source of importance
for our knowledge of the social-economic and political history of Ghana, and – in
terms of methodology – a pointer to a source that may yield more
information on the subject.<br />
<br />
<b>Addition (15 March 2016):</b><br />
Further scrutiny of the Elmina journals brought to light an entry by director-general Van Voorst on 11 September 1748, in which he warns the captain of the Dutch West India Company slave trading ship De Maria Galeij, that he has to take into account that he cannot get any fresh drinking water at Elmina, 'because of the excessive drought, [which continues] since some time.' This confirms that the rainy season of 1748 was extremely dry. All ships are sent to the port of Shama, on the estuary of the River Prah, to take in fresh water. <b> </b> <br />
<br />
<b>Sources:</b><br />
National Archives of the Netherlands, Archives of the Dutch Possessions on the Coast of Guinea (acc. no. 1.05.14), inv. no. 265, Letters to the directors of the Dutch West India Company, doc. no.: letter by director-general Jan van Voorst, Elmina 15 July 1749 (<a href="http://proxy.handle.net/10648/c7c438d4-5e97-213b-046e-1546035b3cac" target="_blank">link</a>).<br />
<br />
National Archives of the Netherlands, Archives of the Dutch Possessions on the Coast of Guinea (acc. no. 1.05.14), inv. no. 109, Elmina Journal and correspondence with the outer forts, 1748, Journal entry 11 September 1748, with letter by director-general Jan van Voorst to captain Herloff of the W.I.C. ship De Maria Galeij in the roadstead of Elmina (<a href="http://proxy.handle.net/10648/4edca0f3-affc-68f4-fb95-6d3e53507833" target="_blank">link</a>).<br />
<br />
<b>References:</b><br />
<a href="http://www.africanglobe.net/featured/1983-year-ghana-prefer-forget/" target="_blank">Editorial Staff, '1983 A Year Ghana Would Prefer to Forget', <i>African Globe</i> 22 Jan 2013</a>.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-34779447" target="_blank">'El Nino threatens "millions in east and southern Africa"', <i>BBC World News Africa</i> website, 15 November 2015</a>.<br />
<br />
<b>See also:</b> <br />
<a href="https://books.google.nl/books/about/Late_Victorian_Holocausts.html?id=3IrKEzgkQkMC&redir_esc=y" target="_blank">Mike Davis, Late Victorian Holocausts: El Niño Famines and the Making of the Third World (London: Verso Books 2001).</a><br />
<br />
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Late_Victorian_Holocausts&oldid=704902896" target="_blank">Late Victorian Holocausts. (2016, February 14). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 11:39, February 17, 2016.</a><br />
<br />Michel Doortmonthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11279163297265000339noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9190459455779614590.post-18418795126743634072015-11-20T07:23:00.003+01:002015-11-21T21:15:32.643+01:00Marriages between White and Black in the Netherlands: Legal and social issues from the early nineteenth century<b>Regulating interracial marriages</b>
<br><br>
In the Netherlands, interracial marriages were not uncommon in the eighteenth and nineteenth century. And in most documented cases such liaisons did not encounter much attention, either legally or socially. A telling case in this respect is that of the Africa-born Christiaan van der Vegt, who married the Dutch girl Kaatje de Bas in the Dutch Reformed church of the town of Weesp on 8 May 1779. A young man from Africa, only baptised two years before, and a young local working class woman. A black man and a white woman. So how did this work; legally, with the church, socially? (<a href="http://www.vandervegt.be/">Hoe heette Christiaan?</a>)
<br><br>
This is a question which invites a varied set of answers. The fact that the marriage was celebrated in the Dutch Reformed church indicates that the church authorities (formally) had no problem with such a marriage. And in the eighteenth century the Dutch Reformed church also represented the State in matrimonial matters, so we can deduce that the civil authorities equally had no problem with mixed race marriages in the eighteenth century.
<br><br>
Were interracial marriages ‘normal’ then? Dutch historian Dienke Hondius discusses the issue in her book Blackness in Western Europe, and indicates the complex European attitudes towards non-white people throughout the ages (Hondius 2014). In her arguments she emphasises how Europe, differently from the United States for instance, never saw the substantial presence of groups of black people. For Dutch historian Natalie Everts and the author this was reason to speak about ‘Invisible Africans’ (Doortmont & Everts 1999). This invisibility must be regarded as a sociological phenomenon, because individuals could be quite visible physically, as was the case with Christiaan van der Vegt. In her blog on her African ancestor, Annemieke van der Vegt lists numerous public accounts in which skin colour played a role. And also with the children of Christiaan and Kaatje skin colour played an important role in their lives (<a href="http://www.vandervegt.be/">Hoe heette Christiaan?</a>).
<br><br>
Still, we can state that interracial marriages were ‘ordinary’ in the Netherlands in a variety of ways. For one, there was no legal structure governing these marriages, at least not between free persons. And in known examples of interracial marriages colour blindness seems to be the rule with all people concerned. So were interracial marriages socially accepted then? This is a question that asks for a qualified answer. In the eighteenth century several dozens of African children, many from interracial relationships between (senior) Dutch West India Company officials and African women came to the Netherlands from West Africa. Many stayed here and married with Dutch men and women (Doortmont, Everts & Vrij 2000). What is striking is that most of them married below the social class of their (European) fathers, especially men. They either married women from a considerably lower social class, or women with a social ‘defect’. One can think in this respect about (young) widows with children, who needed a father and breadwinner, or older spinsters, for whom a ‘normal’ marriage with a man from their Dutch peer group and age was no longer an option. For African women in this group of immigrants the same was probably true. It has to be noted that in many cases the African partners in these relationships will often have been of a rather light complexion, because they were already the product of a mixed-race relationship themselves
<br><br>
In France, the situation was more complicated than in the Netherlands. Here the eighteenth century (‘the Age of Enlightenment’) saw a continuous debate – with accompanying legal measures – about the status of African slaves and interracial marriages. The French revolution with its institutionalised approach to equality for all did not change that (Heuer 2009). So it could happen that in the aftermath of the Dutch incorporation into the French Empire in the period 1810-1813, French legal regulations about interracial marriages started to play a role in the Netherlands. And not only during the three years of incorporation, but also in the decade after, when the Netherlands was reinventing itself as a constitutional monarchy.
<br><br>
So what is the case in hand? On Nivôse An XI, according to the French Republican Calendar, or 8 January 1803, the French ‘Grand Judge, Minister of Justice’ sent out a circular in which he wrote that it was the intention of the French government to prohibit marriages between black and white people (‘que l’intention du Gouvernement est qu’il ne soit reçu aucun mariage entre des blancs en des négresses, ni entre des négres et des blanches’).
<br><br>
The effects of this circular for the Netherlands in the period of the Empire (1810-1813) are still a matter of conjecture and need further research. For the period after 1813 it is known that the municipal commissioners for marital affairs of several Dutch towns tried to block marriages between black and white people on the basis of the French circular. In at least five cases this led to a petition to the King for redress. The first known petition dates from May 1814 (only five months after the institution of the new independent State) and the last is from 1823. The municipal governments that were obstructive were Amsterdam (twice), Hoorn, The Hague, and Veendam.
<br><br>
<b>Opposing the prohibition of interracial marriage</b>
<br><br>
On the basis of the first petition from 1814, the King asked advice from the foremost legal mind of the Kingdom, C.F. van Maanen, First President of the Supreme Court of the United Netherlands. Van Maanen did some research and was crystal clear in his legal opinion on the matter:
<br><br>
‘The same circular [from 1803] is in no way grounded in any law, but can only be regarded as an order made by [the French] Government, which can not be found among the Laws and Decrees which were made obligatory for these Lands [i.e. The Netherlands in 1810], and thus were not binding in this Country, even under the French Government.’
<br><br>
In other words, the 1803 circular was never law in the Netherlands, not even in the period 1810-1813. And to be sure, Van Maanen knew what he was talking about, because he had been the president of the Imperial Court of Justice in The Hague between 1811 and 1813, responsible for the implementation of French law in the Netherlands.
<br><br>
King Willem I accepted the advice. An important conclusion was then that no decision needed to be made nor decree promulgated on the 1814 petition, because in law it was moot: permission for the marriage was not required, so could also not be given. In all further known petitions the same principle was applied and the arguments were repeated time and time again. The documents show, in text as well as in between the lines, the frustration of the officials around the King, and possibly the King himself, when the same issue comes up time an time again. However, this did not result in a new circular, directed at the municipal governments to explain the situation and their standing.
<br><br>
Although the matter was legally undisputed, this did not prevent all interested parties to include social and cultural arguments in the discussions. Van Maanen continued his legal advice with the remark that interracial marriages had not been prohibited before [i.e. before 1803] either, so that there was no historical basis to plead for an interdiction, ‘especially in those cases where the black person has embraced the Christian Religion.’ And indeed, religion was a point of attention. The petitioners of 1814, 1819, and 1823 all indicated that both partners were of Christian faith and put this forward as an important argument for the acquisition of a marriage permit. Strangely enough, nobody submitted an affidavit by their church to support their position.
<br><br>
<b>Individual arguments</b>
<br><br>
In the 1814 case, between the Curaçao-born Jan Andries Machielse and the Dutch Gerardina Hellendoorn, two additional arguments were put forward. Van Maanen considered that as ‘the petitioner and his intended Bride, had both passed the age of 50, there were no considerations in their case, which might have been a reason for the French government to prohibit this type of marriage.’ So the lawyer who had just, without qualms, thrown the 1803 circular into the rubbish bin, now engaged himself in second guessing the social reasons the French government might have had to prohibit interracial marriage, namely the formation of a mixed-race population. Obviously, in this consideration about French motives Van Maanen was right (Heuer 2009). However, in the Netherlands, governments, from local to national, had never made this an issue. So why would Van Maanen want to do this?
<br><br>
The final argument Van Maanen puts forward is that ‘the parents of the petitioner and his intended Bride are all deceased, and consequently the desired marriage can not give the parents any displeasure.’ Apparently an interracial marriage was not so ordinary in the Netherlands that the couple’s environment and / or family might not take exception to it. Live and let live, negotiate and arbitrate until consensus is reached, but not without grumbling. In that respect not much seems to have changed in Dutch society over the last two centuries.
<br><br>
In 1819 the Amsterdam-based Anthon Paul petitioned the King with a request for permission to marry the Curaçao-born Celestina Martina Vesta. She had arrived in the Netherlands from Curaçao in 1793 with the retired navy captain Lodewijk Wiedeman, when she was about twelve years old. Here she was employed in Wiedeman’s household, and after his death she served his widow for many years. Paul had lived in Amsterdam for a long time, but was originally from Bohemia.
<br><br>
The social-economic status of his intended bride and the Roman Catholic faith in which she was raised gave Paul reason to remark: ‘that she […] could only be regarded as a useful member of society.’ He indicated that he had known Vesta for some time as a ‘well-behaved’ girl and that he had lost his heart to her. So he wanted to marry her. The Commissioners for Marital Affairs in Amsterdam prevented this, however, 1803 circular in hand, which was indicated (again) to be the law. Paul argued that the French laws were no longer in force. He added that he was well aware of ‘the Humanity of the incumbent Sovereign Prince, who looks upon all God’s creatures, whomever they may be, with respect, and who does not allow any distinction to be made between people, the more so because Celestina Martina Vesta has embraced the Christian Religion.’
<br><br>
Again, we notice a contradiction between an assumed legal obstacle for the marriage, combined with a call for humanity and clemency, with a Christian identity being highlighted. New in this case is the direct reference to the equality of all men before the law, be it packaged in a reference to the well-known humanity of the King himself. It looks as if Paul was supported by a good lawyer. Although it remains unclear why that lawyer apparently did not have knowledge about the jurisprudence in earlier cases. The King formally ordered a check on the correctness of the information, but furthermore limited himself to a reference to the Royal Decree of 1814 in the Machielse case. No permission was necessary.
<br><br>
The case from Hoorn in 1815, described by Toes, concerns another Curaçao-born man, and a Dutch lady, both in their twenties. Striking in this case in the fact that the mayor of Hoorn wrote the letter, and he did this directly to the President of the Supreme Court, C.F. van Maanen, rather than to the King. The letter had the form of a request for a legal advice, and that was what Van Maanen gave him. From the advice it becomes clear that the circular was only a small obstacle on the road to marriage for this couple. The groom, Joseph Bartholomij Comina was a drum-major in the Dutch Marine Corps, who had no family, nor any capital. These latter elements were the greater obstacles. Van Maanen advised the mayor to be discrete about the case, to enable him to apply the ‘current laws’ with ‘careful diligence’, in the interest of the requesting parties, and others like them (Toes 2001: 314-315).
<br><br>
The last known case, from 1823, fits the pattern. Here the petitioner is a certain Jan van Oost, who arrived in the Netherlands from the Dutch East Indies around 1810. He travelled in the custody of a Dutch army officer, who settled in the town of Veendam. In the East Indies Van Oost had been a slave, se he reported himself. In Veendam he was a free man. His petition stipulated that it was impossible for him to identify himself, in the absence of a birth certificate, parents, grandparents, or acquaintances who had known him long enough to be able to identify him legally. The result was that he could not marry. The King solved the issue quickly, by acknowledging the identification problem and invoking his powers as highest authority in the land to confirm Van Oost’s identity, thus removing the hindrance on this point. On the point of race, Van Oost had added the argument that he was not black to begin with, but rather a ‘mulatto’, or a person ‘of colour’, because of his yellow and brown complexion. The King’s response was identical to the earlier ones, be it that he now simply referred to the 1814 and 1819 cases as relevant jurisprudence.
<br><br>
Whether the 1823 case was the last one dealing with the uncertainty about the legal validity of the circular in as yet unknown. Possibly further research will unearth more of these cases. The motivation of the Commissioners for Marital Affairs to repeatedly prohibit interracial marriages remains an enigma. The possibility exists that in the same period dozens of interracial marriages were celebrated without the 1803 circular ever being invoked.
<br><br>
<b>Conclusion</b>
<br><br>
In conclusion we can say that the 1803 French circular is an important historiographical document, in that in shows us the way in which local Dutch authorities dealt with the issue of race in the Netherlands in the early nineteenth century. Local governments believed that the prohibition of interracial marriages was an acceptable practice. The 1803 circular was regarded as a legal framework for this opinion, despite valid arguments to the contrary by both the president of the Supreme Court and the petitioners.
<br><br>
In Van Maanen’s arguments the purely legal (and formal) point of the circular’s invalidity is linked to social and cultural arguments. In the latter an apparently ‘deficient’ skin colour – although one does not speak in those terms – can be corrected by civilisation. And civilisation in the early nineteenth-century Netherlands means having an honest and stable job and be of Christian faith. In one case the fundamental human rights of the individual were invoked, declaring that all men (and women) are equal before the law. Legally and socially this principle was first codified in the National Constitution of 1798, in which article 3 read: ‘All Members of Society have, without distinction of birth, property, social position or rank, an equal claim to its benefits.’ In later constitutions, including those of 1814 and 1815, the position of the individual citizen or subject was less clearly defined, but the principle did not disappear. C.F. van Maanen must have had this in mind when he formulated his first legal advice in 1814, to repeat it over the timespan of a decade after. The French circular was not only invalid on formal grounds, but also because it stood diametrically opposed to the fundamental human rights that the Netherlands had embraced since the 1790s. Moreover, the formalisation of human rights in the national state befitted the culture of tolerance, including racial tolerance, which marked Dutch politics and culture in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
<br><br>
<b>Notes on the sources:</b>
<br>
The 1803 circular was researched by Dutch legal historian Jaap Toes (Toes 1997 & 2001), on the basis of the 1814 Amsterdam case and the 1815 Hoorn case. Toes concentrates on describing the source, more than on an analysis of the different elements of the deliberations (legal, social, historical). The same holds true for Dienke Hondius, who deals with the prohibition in a few lines and a footnote, without further analysis of its possible meaning. Both of Toes’s articles contain mistakes, including the subtitle of the 1999 article (‘Prohibition abrogated in 1815’), which incorrectly suggests that an actual prohibition on interracial marriages in the Netherlands had existed. For this blog I studied the original archival records of the 1814, 1819, and 1823 cases, with special attention to the tone of voice and inflections, which are indicators for the separate contexts of the legal and social arguments. The case from The Hague mentioned in the blog was reported by Jean Jacques Vrij of Amsterdam, who is engaged in a more comprehensive study of interracial marriages in the Netherlands.
<br><br>
<b>Archival sources:</b><br>
Nationaal Archief, Den Haag, Archief Staatsecretarie 1813-1840 (2.02.01)<br>
*cat. no. 22, Exhibitum & Soeverein Besluit 9 June 1814, no. 38, re. Jan Andries Machielse (b. Curaçao ca. 1761) and Gerardina Hellendoorn (b. Emmen), Amsterdam. Interesting detail is that Machielse’s first wife, Curaçao born Dorothea Anthonie, died in 1813 as a result of being hit on the head by a falling chandelier in the Zuiderkerk (South Chruch) in Amsterdam, during a church service she attended.<br>
*cat. no. 887, Exhibitum & Koninklijk Besluit 19 October 1819, no. 91, re. Anthon Paul (b. Nîmes [sic] in Bohemen 1784) and Celestina Martina Vesta (b. Curaçao 1781), Amsterdam.<br>
*cat. no. 1713, Exhibitum & Koninklijk Besluit 30 July 1823, no. 36.<br>
Nationaal Archief, Den Haag, Archief Ministerie van Justitie 1813-1876 (2.09.01)<br>
*cat. no. 2, no. 572: J.C. van Bloquerie aan C.F. van Maanen, Hoorn 17 Jan. 1815, re. Joseph Bartholomij Comina (b. Curaçao ca. 1789) en Elisabeth Dudock (b. Kampen ca. 1793) (cited in Toes 2001: 314n.7).<br>
*cat. no. 2, no. 572: C.F. van Maanen aan J.C. de Blocquerie, Den Haag 30 Jan. 1815 (cited in Toes 2001: 314n.8)<br>
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<b>Literatuur:</b>
<br>
Doortmont, M.R. & N. Everts, ‘Onzichtbare Afrikanen’, in: ’t Hart, M., J. Lucassen, & H. Schmal (red.), Nieuwe Nederlanders. Amsterdam: Stichting Beheer IISG, 1999. p. 81-100.<br>
Doortmont, M.R., N. Everts & J.J. Vrij, ‘Tussen de Goudkust, Nederland en Suriname. De Euro-Afrikaanse families Van Bakergem, Woortman, Rühle en Huydecoper’, De Nederlandsche Leeuw. Tijdschrift van het Koninklijk Nederlandsch Genootschap voor Geslacht- en Wapenkunde 117 (2000), 170-212, 310-344, 490-577.<br>
Heuer, Jennifer, ‘The one-drop rule in reverse? Interracial marriages in Napoleonic and Restoration France’, Law and History Review 27 (2009) 515-548.<br>
Hondius, Dienke, Blackness in Western Europe: Racial patterns of paternalism and exclusion. New Brunswick (U.S.A.) / London: Transaction Publishers, 2014.<br>
Toes, Jaap, ‘Een zwarte bruidegom en een blanke bruid’, Pro Memorie: Bijdragen tot de Rechtsgeschiedenis der Nederlanden 3 (2001) 313-315.<br>
Toes, Jaap, ‘Zwarte bruidegom, blanke bruid. Verbod in 1815 opgeheven’, Oud Hoorn: Kwartaalblad van de Vereniging ‘Oud Hoorn’ 19 (1997), 163.<br>
<br><br>
<b>Website:</b>
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<a href="http://www.vandervegt.be/">Hoe heette Christiaan?</a>
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Michel Doortmonthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11279163297265000339noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9190459455779614590.post-17118588006083657022014-09-25T12:06:00.000+02:002014-09-25T12:09:04.772+02:00Soccer star Asamoah Gyan in allegations over ritual murderIt has been a while since I added to this blog. It is not the nicest of subjects to continue, but it does connect to the last post on ritual murder in Elmina. Only this week it was confirmed in the news how the idea of ritual murder as means to atone the gods and achieve personal gain remains part of the Ghanaian mindset, with allegations that soccer star Asamoah Gyan ritually murdered his friend, rapper Castro: <a href="http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/29357728">Asamoah Gyan denies 'ritual sacrifice' of Ghana rapper Castro</a> Michel Doortmonthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11279163297265000339noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9190459455779614590.post-92151473561921692692012-04-17T23:46:00.002+02:002012-04-17T23:58:11.108+02:00Ritual Murder in ElminaIt is definitely an election year in Elmina, Ghana, when we look at some current events, and if we go by historical precedent. The Omanhin jailed (see last post) and a ritual murder in town: signs of political unease if anything. <br />
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The details of the murder, as reported in the Daily Guide of today, are gruesome. The motivation for the murder as yet not clear. However, the specifics of the mutilation of the victim point to a ritualistic context.<br />
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The killing of Abdul Aziz is not the first ritual killing in an election period in Elmina. The most famous case dates from 1945, when a young girl of ten, named Ama Kakraba was found dead on the beach, with "... her upper and lower lips, both cheeks, both eyes, her private parts and anus, and several elliptical pieces of skin from different parts of her body ... removed." Five people were arrested and accused of the murder, including the Regent of Elmina, Kweku Ewusie. They were tried and found guilty of murder and sentenced to death. They were hanged at James Fort Prison in Acrra on 1 and 2 February 1946. The murder, it was contended was connected to a political court case which was critical to the position of the Regent and his followers. The girl was allegedly murdered to obtain body parts to make 'medicine' to be used in a ritual to assist in the positive outcome of the case. <br />
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For those interested in the details of the Ama Kakraba case, there is an article available by American historian Roger Gocking, accessible through JSTOR: <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/183433">A Chieftaincy Dispute and Ritual Murder in Elmina, Ghana, 1945-6</a> (or go straight to the <a href="http://www.jstor.org.proxy-ub.rug.nl/stable/pdfplus/183433.pdf?acceptTC=true">PDF)</a><br />
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Below the transcript of the Daily Guide article reporting on the 2012 Abdul Aziz killing, or go to the link here: <a href="http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=236149">Ritual murder hits central region</a>.<br />
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<i>Daily Guide, General News of Tuesday 17 April 2012</i><br />
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<b>Ritual murder hits Central Region</b><br />
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Two weeks after a hunchback was killed at Twifo-Praso where his hunch was allegedly removed for rituals, a 28-year old scrap dealer, Abdul Aziz, at Elmina Zongo in the Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abrem (KEEA) Municipality of the Central Region, has been found dead after being missing for four days.<br />
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Aziz had his penis, eyes and his tongue removed while he also had a broken jaw. The body of Aziz has since been buried after the performance of the necessary Islamic rites. Briefing Daily Guide on Monday, a concerned citizen who spoke on condition of anonymity said Aziz left the house around 4:30pm on February 21, 2012 and never returned home after he was alleged to have been called by some people at Abakam, a suburb of Cape Coast, to come and purchase some scraps.<br />
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The source said the situation compelled some people in the area to form a team to search for Aziz, adding that on February 25, 2012, somebody also going to purchase scraps found Aziz’s wheel parked at Abakam bearing the inscription, “For sale.” The person who was aware that Aziz was missing then asked for the owner of the wheel and one Kweku Ahajalo said it belonged to him and two other people. <br />
The person therefore told Ahajalo that he did not have enough money to purchase the wheel so he was going to collect money from his brother to enable him to purchase it. After some hours, the person brought in the biological brother of Aziz who confronted them and later reported the matter to the KEEA District Police Command where Ahajalo was arrested. The two other accomplices of Ahajalo took to their heels.<br />
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The source told Daily Guide that the case was then transferred to the University of Cape Coast (UCC) Police Station since the KEEA police command said the case did not fall under its jurisdiction. Daily Guide gathered that the family of Aziz, anxious of finding him, had information that some unidentified bodies were packed at the Central Regional Hospital morgue where the family went and identified the body of Aziz. Ahajalo has since been remanded by the Cape Coast Circuit Court and he is expected to reappear on April 26, 2012.Michel Doortmonthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11279163297265000339noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9190459455779614590.post-45822367465235446632012-04-17T23:12:00.003+02:002012-08-15T12:48:05.356+02:00Omanhin of Elmina jailedChieftaincy in Elmina was never unproblematic. Especially the position of the paramount chief of the Edina State, the Omanhin, has been hotly debated throughout history, with depositions, and long interegnums. The latest development is the incarceration of the incumbent Omanhin, Nana Kodwo Conduah, for contempt of court. The High Court at Cape Coast sentenced him to 3 months imprisonment and a fine of 3,000 cedis today. <br />
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The sentence stems from a dispute that goes back to 1998, when Nana Kodwo Conduah was first presented as the successor to the deceased Omahin of Elmina. In 2002, this dispute came to a head, with an injunction, which Nana did not adhere too. Why did it take so long for the original petitioners and the court to act on this? The sentence mentions a gift by telephone company MTN last year. And maybe the oncoming elections play a role as well. Traditionally, the Central Region and in it the constituency of Komenda - Edina - Eguafo - Abrem can play a decisive role when it comes to tipping the balance in a close vote. I have been away from Elmina too long to know all the details of the case as it stands now, however.<br />
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Below the transcript of the Daily Guide article reporting on the matter, or go to the link here: <a href="http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=236128">Elmina Chief Jailed</a><br />
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<i>Daily Guide, General News Tuesday 17 April 2012</i><br />
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<b>Elmina Chief Jailed</b><br />
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A Cape Coast High Court presided over by Justice James Benuyenah Benson on Monday sentenced the paramount chief of the Edina Traditional Area, Nana Kodwo Conduah, to three months in prison and a fine of GH¢3,000 for a contempt case against him. A cost of GH¢2,500 was also awarded against him in favour of the petitioners.<br />
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Briefing the press after the sentencing Justice Benson said a case of contempt was filed against Nana Conduah in 2002 restraining him from holding himself out as the paramount chief of the area and stop attending public functions in that capacity. He stated that sometime in the year 1998, a petition was filed before the Central Regional House of Chiefs by Supi George Asmah, the father of the former Chief Executive of Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abrem (KEEA), George Frank Asmah. He said the petition declared that the purported installation of Nana Conduah was contrary to the customary practices and constitution of the Edina State and should be made null and void. <br />
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Justice Benson added that the petition also ordered the destoolment of Nana Conduah. He said subsequent to the filing of the petition, the petitioners applied for and obtained an interim injunction by the high court, restraining Nana Conduah from attending all public functions until his status as the Omanhen had been fully and finally determined by the appropriate forum. The judge disclosed that since 2002 till date, Nana Conduah had committed contempt on five occasions. In 2002, he was even made to sign an undertaking and fined but he failed to pay the fine and also did not sign the undertaking. Mr. Benson noted that Nana Conduah also failed to prosecute and appeal and was compelled by the Court of Appeal to sign the undertaking.<br />
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The presiding judge revealed that in 2011, Nana Conduah received a donation from MTN, a telecommunications industry in the country, presenting himself as the paramount chief of the area, towards the Edina Bakatue Festival. The judge expressed worry about the way Nana Conduah was bent on disobeying court orders despite many contempt cases leveled against him.<br />
<br />
<blockquote>"He has not shown remorse or a sign of repentance, therefore the court took a serious exception to that and imposed a custodial sentence on him to deter him from disobeying orders of the court."</blockquote><br />
He said Nana Conduah’s conduct was contumacious and impaired the integrity of the court and legal system of the country, adding that the court could no longer tolerate that. Daily Guide gathered that the family members of the former MCE started distributing white bands in the courtroom immediately the judge pronounced the judgment. Daily Guide also gathered that Nana Conduah started weeping bitterly at the court immediately he was sentenced, a situation which compelled his followers who trooped to the court to also cry. Nana Conduah who was dressed in his traditional cloth, was ushered into the Ghana Prisons van and sent to the Ankaful prisons yard. Information gathered by Daily Guide indicated that the lawyers of Nana Coduah have filed an appeal against the sentence and have also applied for a bail term. The lawyers of Nana Conduah included Michael Atta Dadzie and Ebow Dawson. According to Mr. Dadzie they would do everything possible to ensure the release of Nana Conduah from prison.
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<b>Note:</b><br/>
A week later, the sentence was reduced to a 8 days in prison (already served), a fine of 3,000 cedis, and 2,500 cedis cost.
(<a href="http://www.graphic.com.gh/news/page.php?news=20398" target=blank>Graphic: Nana Conduah's Jail Term Reduced To Eight Days</a>)
Michel Doortmonthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11279163297265000339noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9190459455779614590.post-1174182854361930432011-08-20T20:40:00.004+02:002011-09-18T15:20:37.158+02:00Manganese Mining in GhanaThe <a href="http://www.ghamang.net/" target=blank>Ghana Manganese Company Ltd.</a> in Nsuta, Wassaw, Western Region, first started operations in 1916. This means that the mine is almost 100 years old. The current managing director of the company, Dutchman Jurgen Eijgendaal is keen to record the history of the mine and publish it as a book for the celebration of the 100-year anniversary. Mr. Eijgendaal’s historical interest is not such a strange thing, as he actually holds a master’s degree in history. Last week I spoke with him about the mine and the upcoming anniversary. The story of the mine is compelling. Not only is it one of the oldest producing mines in the world, it also has a further life expectancy of at least another twenty-five years. <br />
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The historic character of the mine is still very much present today. In the 1920s the American company <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_carbide" target=blank>Union Carbide</a> was the owner of the mine and management imported a prefabricated house from America for the director. The house, from Arizona hardwood, is still there and currently in use as a guesthouse. The relationship with the workforce is also historically interesting, with some families having been employed by the mine for three generations. And then there is the strong historical relationship between the railway and the port of Takoradi and the mine. It can only be hoped that come 2016, the story of the mine will indeed be told in the projected book and perhaps in other ways too, to give a wider public some insight in this industry which has been and still is of such great importance for Ghana.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1XEmdRZk08fuFd7yiQ25R14YiIPeM-NcUt8KqukR-DYKnspMT2n2Y3OA2l1xHIOMQUtGAgfOBKyHGVukavh8n657xuraTe2oGslsoLXJoZMTv6UgxDGCsfg63mR2lSh1Poui394k7ohg/s1600/Managnese+PC+Cheesman+I-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style=""><img border="0" height="203" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1XEmdRZk08fuFd7yiQ25R14YiIPeM-NcUt8KqukR-DYKnspMT2n2Y3OA2l1xHIOMQUtGAgfOBKyHGVukavh8n657xuraTe2oGslsoLXJoZMTv6UgxDGCsfg63mR2lSh1Poui394k7ohg/s320/Managnese+PC+Cheesman+I-4.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Although the manganese mine has no direct Dutch connections, the Western Region, with its large amounts of natural resources, including a great variety of minerals, has a long relationship with the Dutch. With their headquarters in Axim, captured from the Portuguese in 1642, the Dutch were for a long time – since the mid-seventeenth century – the most important and at times only formal European presence in the region. For a short while they had strongholds on the Ankobra River, one at its mouth, one well into the hinterland (see last <a href="http://gcdb-doortmontweb.blogspot.com/2011/08/ankobra-gold-route-common-ghanaian.html" target=blank>blog</a>). At times the Dutch also tried their hand at mining themselves, like the effort to commercially mine gold at Dabokrom near Butre in the 1840s. These efforts were never very successful, however.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXwOUTti8eTYM3hS997Qo2zRFqtr0MFgiyfLVITbZS1LEpXZEwTi6T1A-ZbjtK_sV-scYNWe3jFXTj6mBAt5fBxrIDgjXUw5YHvG9_-CVtLMprkKe0zfgyWLTHMMPsOLMn1QcdI3gE9BY/s1600/Managnese+PC+Cheesman+II-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style=""><img border="0" height="199" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXwOUTti8eTYM3hS997Qo2zRFqtr0MFgiyfLVITbZS1LEpXZEwTi6T1A-ZbjtK_sV-scYNWe3jFXTj6mBAt5fBxrIDgjXUw5YHvG9_-CVtLMprkKe0zfgyWLTHMMPsOLMn1QcdI3gE9BY/s320/Managnese+PC+Cheesman+II-2.jpg" /></a></div><br />
It was the British Australian mining engineer and colonial official <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Ernest_Kitson" target=blank>Albert Ernest Kitson</a> who discovered manganese in Ghana in 1915. With the First World War in its second calendar year, Great Britain had a desperate need for all kinds of raw materials to feed the war industry. One of these was manganese, which was used in the production of steel helmets, themselves a new invention in warfare. The discovery of manganese could therefore not have come at a more opportune moment. By 1916 the mine was in full operation, and exporting up to 30,000 tons (imperial) per year. Allegedly a total of five million helmets were produced with the help of Gold Coast manganese. By 1924 the mine exported 200,000 tons of manganese per year. At first these exports went through the old port of Sekondi, after 1927 through the new port of Takoradi, which today is still the natural maritime outlet of the mining industry in the Western Region of Ghana.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZPDkSTzid-M26AVOqbMbKU8gjpP81D3m1SFCd88gXzrOUAaxAj5zkCXY_Rvs9xkWDfwsM24n6Yv8Cso382v62eJ-LkmLVNBwhGEabgIri0fiuuSYw-xUVH3vRgmMJ998oDgJ3yj-JuB8/s1600/Manganese+stamps.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="116" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZPDkSTzid-M26AVOqbMbKU8gjpP81D3m1SFCd88gXzrOUAaxAj5zkCXY_Rvs9xkWDfwsM24n6Yv8Cso382v62eJ-LkmLVNBwhGEabgIri0fiuuSYw-xUVH3vRgmMJ998oDgJ3yj-JuB8/s320/Manganese+stamps.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Governor Guggisberg, 1920s moderniser of the Gold Coast Colony, was specifically proud of the manganese mining effort at Nsuta, and the contribution to the war effort it made. In 1923 he commissioned the British artist Edith Cheesman to paint thirty-six watercolours of the new colony he was building. The manganese mine at Nsuta was depicted in two of these. The watercolours were used to produce a series of postcards for the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley in 1924, and for this purpose explanatory texts were added. Both postcards have been incorporated in this article. The importance of the mine was also acknowledged in later years. In 1948 the mine was depicted on a stamp, which was reissued in the 1952 series of Gold Coast stamps. <br />
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Today, manganese is again an important product, especially in the electro-technic industry, for instance in batteries. <br />
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<b>Sources:</b><br />
Raphael Tuck Oilette Postcards of the Gold Coast, 1924. Artist: Edith Cheesman. Nos. I-4 'A manganese mine in the Gold Coast' and II-2 'Manganese mine, Insuta, Gold Coast', with descriptions.<br />
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Conversation with J. Eijgendaal, Managing Director Ghana Manganese Mining Co., Accra 19 August 2011.Michel Doortmonthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11279163297265000339noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9190459455779614590.post-34575807608040979132011-08-19T19:40:00.000+02:002011-08-19T19:40:55.888+02:00The Ankobra Gold Route: Common Ghanaian-Dutch Historic and Cultural Heritage in Western GhanaThe Ankobra Gold Route: Common Ghanaian-Dutch Historic and Cultural Heritage in Western Ghana <br />
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Within the framework of the Multual Cultural Heritage Policy 2009-2012, the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs has released substantial funds for the project ‘The Ankobra Gold Route: Common Ghanaian-Dutch Historic and Cultural Heritage in Western Ghana ’.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRrmRoJSu4coEwunSlxoSdP2fLR8fKZxcZpJjAPU6ra3ru9SI0ipC1HGXri3Yl3oZ5ofSdKiFDfGhAXAEMtt5XhCpUhy_a_0t9TBa2WquekJtQX5_Idla6MTLMGLPschk7rTXTOSErWc4/s1600/Axim.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="298" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRrmRoJSu4coEwunSlxoSdP2fLR8fKZxcZpJjAPU6ra3ru9SI0ipC1HGXri3Yl3oZ5ofSdKiFDfGhAXAEMtt5XhCpUhy_a_0t9TBa2WquekJtQX5_Idla6MTLMGLPschk7rTXTOSErWc4/s320/Axim.jpg" /></a></div><br />
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The project is run by a consortium consisting of <br />
- Ricerca & Cooperazione, an Italian development NGO with extensive experience in Ghana (R&C)<br />
- Ghana Museums and Monuments Board (GMMB)<br />
- Atlantic World and the Dutch Programme (AWAD)<br />
- Public Records and Archives Administration Department (PRAAD)<br />
- University of Pavia (Italy)<br />
- University of Ghana at Legon<br />
- University of Groningen (The Netherlands)<br />
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The project builds upon earlier cooperation between the partners in the field of mutual cultural heritage and heritage management in Ghana, going back to 1998. The project size is 344,000 euro, of which about 150,000 euro is funded by the Ministry. The length of the project is eighteen months. In the current Dutch political climate, in which the budget for culture is heavily cut back, the fact that this project was eventually funded may be called a pleasant surprise. <br />
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The project focusses on the identification and revitalization of several outstanding objects of mutual cultural heritage of Ghana and the Netherlands in the Western Region of Ghana, more specifically the seventeenth-century forts of Elize Carthago and Ruychaver, both on the Ankobra River, and the importance of these Dutch establishments for local Ghanaian history. The project has a scientific component, in which the history is charted through archaeological, historical, and anthropological research. A second component focusses on development issues, more specifically the social-economic and cultural development of the area, inter alia through sustainable tourism.<br />
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The project has three concrete goals: (1) The enhancement of our knowledge of the early Dutch-Ghanaian interaction in the hinterland of Ghana and the conservation of monumental and archaeological remains from that period. (2) The creation of a sustainable historical and cultural touristic route along the Ankobra River into the hinterland, which will link into the already existing ‘Ghanaian – Dutch Historical Path’ along the coast. (3) The promotion of an integrated development plan for the region, based on sustainable management of natural and cultural resources, in close cooperation with local communities.<br />
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The project does not have its own website yet, but the site <a href="http://www.ghanawestcoast.com">www.ghanawestcoast.com</a> gives a good impression of the region and the work done and to be done.<br />
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Michel Doortmonthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11279163297265000339noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9190459455779614590.post-82492227494199640882011-06-19T12:52:00.000+02:002011-06-19T12:52:21.183+02:00Two Elmina fishermenToday I prepared entries I6599 and I6600 to the Gold Coast DataBase, completing another set of 100 individuals. It seemed fitting to pay the two men behind the entry numbers hommage. Not because they are historically significant individuals, but rather because they are ordinary men who represent the Longue Durée of Elmina history.<br />
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Through their occupation and their death they are representative of the history of Elmina as a whole, and do they remind us of the economic basis of the town throughout the ages - fishery - and the personal and social perils so closely connected with that industry.<br />
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<a href="http://www.gcdb.doortmontweb.org/getperson.php?personID=I6599&tree=Africa" target=blank>Kwamena Esson</a> and <a href="http://www.gcdb.doortmontweb.org/getperson.php?personID=I6600&tree=Africa" target=blank>Kudjo Koem</a> were both (canoe) fishermen, the first from the small village of Ampenyi, several kilometres west of Elmina, and the latter from Elmina town. Both drowned off the coast of Elmina, during their work, only a day apart. From the registration in the <a href="http://www.gcdb.doortmontweb.org/showsource.php?sourceID=S00027&tree=Africa" target=blank>Dutch death register</a> it is unclear if it concerned two separate incidents, or whether we are dealing with one accident - a capsized canoe? - with both men on board, but the bodies found on two consecutive days.Michel Doortmonthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11279163297265000339noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9190459455779614590.post-15948983996264433402011-03-03T12:07:00.000+01:002011-03-03T12:07:45.556+01:00Axim asks for Western education, 1861Sometimes, as an historical researcher, one accidentally finds information that sheds a whole new light on questions of development in Africa, but at the same time leaves one baffled. It happened to me this week while trawling through a set of documents compiled by Dutch official <a href="http://www.gcdb.doortmontweb.org/getperson.php?personID=I649&tree=Africa">P.M.J. Kamerling</a>, about whom I am writing an article. In 1861, Kamerling was the official in charge of the Axim Department of the Dutch possessions on the Gold Coast. At the time, Axim was the most western establishment of the Dutch, and a relatively important place. This was due to regional geopolitical circumstances on the mainland, but also to its position as maritime gateway to the Gold Coast for ships coming from Europe and the Americas, with a safe and sheltered harbour to boot. The operative adjective is ‘relatively’, however. In many respects Axim was not part of the main stream developments that were taking place around Elmina and Cape Coast, and in Accra at the time. <br />
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In this respect, the following event is very interesting. In December 1861, the king and chiefs of Axim requested Kamerling to petition the Dutch government at Elmina for a schoolteacher to be sent to Axim. In return they would provide a “spacious school building and a house for the teacher”. Kamerling was impressed by the request, and commented: “When such a request comes from the population itself, it does not need further recommendation”.<br />
<br />
What was happening here? Where did this request come from? For the moment it remains a riddle to me. In 1861, the European presence in West Africa was still under pressure. Costs were high, income from exports and imports was low, Africa had not yet become a colonial project, and in the parliaments at Westminster and The Hague voices for the abandonment of the West African possessions ran high. At the same time, developments towards a new type of (colonial) relationship were well under way in Sierra Leone and the hinterland of Lagos (Nigeria). Here the abolition of the Atlantic slave trade in the early part of the century had led to an ever increasing British involvement and triggered missionary activities by Methodists and Anglicans. By the early 1850s, this missionary movement was fairly widespread, and a debate had started about the role of education in bringing Christianity and civilisation. Not so on the Gold Coast, though, and especially not with the Dutch. They had their ill-designed castle school, with a structurally inadequate supply of schoolteachers, who more often than not were put to work in the administration after their arrival. Already in the 1830s, children from the Euro-African elite of Elmina, were sent to the British school in Cape Coast instead, and by the 1860s, English was the European lingua franca, rather than Dutch. <br />
<br />
In short, the Dutch had no tradition of education, and this makes the Axim request all the more curious. On the other hand, that the request was made sheds some light on the cosmopolitan position of the smaller Gold Coast towns in this period, and the importance attached to the modernisation of society along western lines. One has to keep in mind here that to request for western education required a giant leap in thinking in an oral society, where the power of the written word was more often seen as a threat than as an opportunity. <br />
<br />
<b>Sources:</b><br />
NANL, NBKG 587, letter P.M.J. Kamerling to governor, Axim 20 December 1861.Michel Doortmonthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11279163297265000339noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9190459455779614590.post-55664448648642033232011-03-03T00:45:00.001+01:002011-03-03T00:47:01.958+01:00High-handed colonialism: Nagtglas, Kamerling, and the case of the Axim hammock-bearersGovernor <a href="http://www.gcdb.doortmontweb.org/getperson.php?personID=I713&tree=Africa">C.J.M. Nagtglas</a> of the Dutch Gold Coast, in office from 1858 to 1862 and again from 1869 to 1871, is generally known as an enlightened colonial ruler, well acquainted with local politics and customs, but also with a realistic view towards the weak position of the Dutch on the Gold Coast in the second half of the nineteenth century. When he was appointed governor, he was already an old hand in the West African service, having arrived in Elmina in 1851 in the rank of assistant, at the rather advanced age of thirty-seven. In later years he became the single most important advisor to the Dutch minister of Colonial Affairs, first on the modernisation and rationalisation of the possessions, and later on with regard to the hand-over to the British. His re-appointment as governor and government commissioner in 1869 confirms this. In the latter period he also advised the minister on the quality of the officials, and possibilities for their advancement once the Dutch Gold Coast possessions were dismantled. His report on P.M.J. Kamerling, years later, in 1872, was rather negative.<br />
<br />
From the correspondence of colonial official <a href="http://www.gcdb.doortmontweb.org/getperson.php?personID=I649&tree=Africa">P.M.J. Kamerling</a> it becomes clear that Nagtglas and Kamerling did not like each other very much. There are also indications that Nagtglas was perhaps not the big colonial thinker many have held him to be. A good illustration of this is what I have called the case of the Axim hammock-bearers. Inquiry – by Nagtglas – and report – by Kamerling – cover less than one page, but speak volumes.<br />
<br />
Axim, 14 March 1861. Pieter Kamerling has just arrived in the town, from his post in Butre, to take up his position as commandant of fort St. Anthony and official in charge of the Dutch government in the Axim district. On his arrival he found a letter from governor Nagtglas dated 10 March, inquiring into a problem with hammock-bearers, reported by his predecessor, D.P.H.J. Weijtingh. Since time immemorial, the Dutch government rented canoes, oarsmen, porters, artisans, labourers, and hammock-bearers in the local towns and villages. The local African leadership was responsible for the organisation of this labour supply, which was regulated in a contract, the so-called “Pen en Contract”, between the respective governments. This included wages and costs to be paid by the Dutch. As long as the system existed, the provision of services requested posed problems. In many cases labour or a specialised service was simply not available, in others political or other animosities often prevented a ready compliance. <br />
<br />
On this occasion Weijtingh had complained that he could not get any hammock-bearers, presumably for his trip to Elmina at the conclusion of his command at Axim. Weijtingh was also an old hand in Africa, but not a very experienced official. He first arrived on the Gold Coast in 1842, but as a merchant. Only in 1860 was he appointed as “official at the disposal of governor”, a rank below that of assistant. So it might be that Weijtingh did not have the proper diplomatic feeling to handle the situation. <br />
<br />
In any case, Nagtglas wrote a high-handed note to Kamerling to look into the matter. In it he requested an official inquiry and report, and, so he stated, if no "definite and sufficient reasons" were given, leading to "a general apology" for what had happened, those responsible should be punished with a fine of 2 ounces in gold (underlining by Nagtglas).<br />
<br />
In my studies of Kamerling’s career on the Gold Coast between 1856 and 1865, I found him to be a very conscientious and diplomatic administrator and diplomat, albeit somewhat arrogant in his demeanour. Kamerling’s response to Nagtglas’s questions of 20 March is worth quoting in full. It highlights the mechanism of labour supply, as well as some of the intricacies of colonial rule on the Gold Coast, and the frustrations of a local Dutch commandant. <br />
<br />
<blockquote>"The King of Axim had received an order from Mr. Weijtingh to supply 8 hammock-bearers. He in turn ordered Edjefoe Kwamie, Senior Broker, Nabakouw, Quarter Ensign, and Allaban, to supply two men each, to make up 8 with 2 more supplied by the King himself.<br />
<br />
Adaban sent 2, and the King himself sent 2 as well, but the King’s men arrived after Mr. Weijtingh had left (the soldiers confirmed this). Edjefoe Kwamie and Nabakouw sent none. Being asked why, they replied that Mr. Weijtingh had ordered the King [to supply the men], not them.<br />
<br />
Furthermore, I found out that the King has no influence on the population whatsoever. Thus, in accordance with [the order of the Governor], Edjefoe Kwamie and Nabakouw were fined 2 ounce gold, and incarcerated for it."</blockquote><br />
Supplying hammock-bearers was obviously not popular and the king chose to spread the burden, by assigning the task to several local leaders. It is interesting to note that Edjefoe Kwamie was not delivering, because in his position as ‘senior broker’, he was the appointed intermediary between the Dutch and local government, courting a special relationship with the Dutch. Kamerling, being the conscientious administrator he was, inquired into the reasons for the refusal. He quickly found out that he had a potential problem of some magnitude, namely a king – his natural opposite number – who had no authority whatsoever. He loyally fined and incarcerated the two culprits as ordered, but the phrasing of the Dutch text echoes his reluctance with the order. Understandably so, as he was the new commandant and needed to build up cordial relations with all people in authority in Axim. Nagtglas had just made this a lot harder for him, after only six days on the job.<br />
<br />
<b>Sources:</b><br />
Nationaal Archief of the Netherlands, Archives of the Netherlands Possessions on the Coast of Guinea (NBKG), inv. no. 587, Correspondence Axim 1861: Notification and report 20 March 1861.Michel Doortmonthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11279163297265000339noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9190459455779614590.post-46637319818499971202011-02-25T14:43:00.002+01:002011-02-25T15:19:24.376+01:00'Gold Coast Africans in the native village at Wembley'Some months ago I wrote a blog on Princess Baa of Ashanti and her appearance at the Gold Coast Pavilion of the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley in 1924. The focus was on her demeanour and footwear: an Ashanti princess who clearly indicated she did not want to be in that photo, and her uncommon - though sensible - footwear accompanying her traditional apparel. In that blog I indicated the existence of two other postcards in the same series, <i>Prempeh, son of the late King of Ashanti</i>, and <i>Gold Coast Africans in the Native Village at Wembley</i>, and how the title of the last clinched the essence of the series and indeed the whole British Empire Exhibition. I can now present both these images, and reformulate my analysis of Princess Baa somewhat.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTTzYoasoIn52Q5eQEg_1CYDdV5XKBHGqP6Xu8mSn0hX0-Ulqg2EQfjpbCZnCKqzeByXsr4f8Xi9W2kj1ZcWWxF8SQTozDiZrDL0OgkfUELN4BxI3kvESAGj8tCxvtjL3B8aXUVgCLcus/s1600/BEE_GC_SVIIT5_GC_Africans_Native+_Village.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="252" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTTzYoasoIn52Q5eQEg_1CYDdV5XKBHGqP6Xu8mSn0hX0-Ulqg2EQfjpbCZnCKqzeByXsr4f8Xi9W2kj1ZcWWxF8SQTozDiZrDL0OgkfUELN4BxI3kvESAGj8tCxvtjL3B8aXUVgCLcus/s400/BEE_GC_SVIIT5_GC_Africans_Native+_Village.jpg" /></a></div><br />
The card titled <i>Gold Coast Africans in the Native Village at Wembley</i> shows a group of Ghanaians dressed in cloth, in what can best be qualified as a semi-static action pose. The first two men visible appear to be dancing towards the camera, and on the far right, a third man seems to be moving out of the frame. The man closest to the camera is partly out of focus, because of his movements. Several others, including a man in uniform, stand still at the left of the picture, apparently looking on. The snapshot quality of the photo is enhanced by the fact that the framing is defective, with heads partly being cut off and a somewhat awkward composition of the group as a whole. Tuck's found the image interesting enough to make it part of a series for sale, however.<br />
<br />
Curiously enough, the men looking on wear European footwear, just like Princess Baa, while the dancers wear sandals. It enhances the play-acting quality of the scene: the 'natives' are dressed up for the occasion, to perform a role and mimic their 'traditional habitat', but only up to a point. I think we can safely say that the picture of Princess Baa and her husband was indeed taken in the Gold Coast pavilion, as well as the two other pictures.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://goo.gl/photos/cZWjKsBYrv" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right;margin-bottom:1em;margin-left:1em"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFlo6MAPfuJp93ED43kx_4LK2twDpDFAQ3tZ2ptFMJNET5kRxzqpMYN6-WrDcn09bJlhLYpHnUokdZ-cA7QraLOvphJB3I78KKyy_6qsMYVHfqvkcS1gq2AmgALusDBAfH5mnDSAm6WGI/s512/BEE_Tuck_Type5_Prempeh.jpg"></a><br />
<br />
The third picture is a portrait of <i>Prempeh, son of the late King of Ashanti</i>, and shows a proud young man in traditional cloth and sandals, without any visible adornments, sitting on a dinner table or kitchen chair, in front of a doorway into one of the exhibition buildings. He looks straight into the lens, and seems well aware of his status and his position. In that sense, this portrait is the exact opposite of that of Princess Baa. The caption and identification of the portrayed man pose some problems. The last king of Asante was Prempeh I, who was ousted and exiled by the British in 1896, eventually ending up in the Seychelles. He was allowed back into the Gold Coast in 1924, reinstated as Kumasihene (king of Kumasi, capital of Asante) in 1926, and died in 1934. His <i>nephew</i> (sister's son) succeeded him as Kumasihene and became Asantehene as Prempeh II. It seems likely that the person portrayed here is this newphew and future Asantehene Prempeh II rather than a son by the same name. However, I am not an expert on Asante dynastic history, and additional information is welcome here.<br />
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<b>Postcard info:</b><br />
<i>Gold Coast Africans in the Native Village in Wembley</i>. Raphael Tuck & Sons, Ltd., London. Printed in England.<br />
<i>Prempeh, son of the late king of Ashanti</i>. Raphael Tuck & Sons, Ltd., London. Printed in England.<br />
<br />
<b>Literature:</b> <br />
M. Perkins & B. Tonkin, <i>Postcards of the British Empire Exhibition, Wembley 1924 & 1925</i>. West Wickham: Exhibition Study Group, 1994. p. 88-89.Michel Doortmonthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11279163297265000339noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9190459455779614590.post-17120800872744298032010-09-24T22:10:00.004+02:002010-09-26T10:38:36.012+02:00Decoration for Important War Service, with the clasp Guinea 1869-1870Apart from the <a href="http://gcdb-doortmontweb.blogspot.com/2010/09/medal-for-bravery-and-loyalty-guinea.html"><i>Medal for Bravery and Loyalty Guinea 1869-1870</i></a>, about which I wrote before, there was one other military decoration with a special variant issued for service in the Dutch Gold Coast. This was the <i>Decoration for Important War Service, with the clasp Guinea 1869-1870</i> ("Ereteken voor Belangrijke Krijgsbedrijven, met de gesp Guinea 1869-1870").<br />
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This decoration was commonly also known as the Expedition Cross or the Cross for War Service. It is a Dutch military decoration, instituted 19 February 1869 by King Willem III, and issued to all officers, non-commissioned officers and men who took part in certain important military expeditions. The decoration was issued for participation, rather than merit, although two crossed swords or a silver crown, attached to the ribbon, would indicate ownership of an honorary sabre or a mention in despatches respectively.<br />
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The cross itself was produced from a cheap silver-coloured metal named Nickel silver, also known as German silver or alpaca, an alloy of copper with nickel and zinc. On the front it bears the portrait of King Willem III of the Netherlands (reigned 1849-1890), framed by a garter and the text "VOOR BELANGRIJKE KRIJGSVERRIGTINGEN". The four arms of the cross bear the monogram of the founder, a "W". The ribbon is divided in three vertical bars, namely two narrow ones in yellow on the sides and a wide one in green in the middle.<br />
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<a href="http://goo.gl/photos/zXaq" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right;margin-bottom:1em;margin-left:1em"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZObfC4PNIJk9J3mbl7yLzHlwsvzhikdZXHYiNOhVBsy6O3H5zLV6CwXs5aXPJaujNKonXzPwmtCeQN5yW9UULOfPkUnwac1dZgSTLqxPy7mFl0d1A5gWtShR-aU4evQPPV34fvbfYV4I/s512/215px-Het_Erekruis_voor_Belangrijke_Krijgsbedrijven_met_de_batons.jpg"></a><br />
<br />
On the ribbon one or more metal clasps could be attached with the name(s) of the expedition(s) the bearer participated in. Thirty-two clasps referred to various expeditions in the Netherlands East Indies, held between 1846 and 1942. Only one clasp, "Guinea 1869-1870", was issued for service on the Dutch Gold Coast, in the same expedition for which the <a href="http://gcdb-doortmontweb.blogspot.com/2010/09/medal-for-bravery-and-loyalty-guinea.html"><i>Medal for Bravery and Loyalty Guinea 1869-1870</i></a> was instituted (go there for details). The decoration was issued both to the European expeditionary troops that fought in this war, and the local African troops in Dutch service.<br />
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<b>Sources</b><br />
<a href="http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ereteken_voor_Belangrijke_Krijgsbedrijven">Ereteken voor Belangrijke Krijgsbedrijven</a>, Wikipedia NL.Michel Doortmonthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11279163297265000339noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9190459455779614590.post-6325545689863386772010-09-18T08:00:00.015+02:002010-09-19T02:05:03.493+02:00Medal for Bravery and Loyalty Guinea 1869-1870The Dutch <i>Medal for Bravery and Loyalty Guinea 1869-1870</i> ("Medaille voor Moed en Trouw Guinea 1869-1870") was instituted by a Royal Disposition ("Koninklijk Kabinetsbesluit") of 31 October 1870, No. 38. It was meant as a reward for "natives who had disthinguished themselves with actions of bravery and loyalty during the expedition to the Coast of Guinea in the years 1869 and 1870". The decision to institute the medal was directly linked to the fact that the only medal the Dutch government had to honour 'native' soldiers in its colonial forces, the <i>Medal for Bravery and Loyalty</i>, was expressly intended for soldiers of the Netherlands East Indies Army, as a reward for actions in the Netherlands East Indies. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://goo.gl/photos/C37O" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right;margin-bottom:1em;margin-left:1em"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT7ggmwGvAEDZ3NNhb2QUl2tL3MBBLVTEQWn7yjR-Oq4X9cxR30r-3hOePhkpsCBx_yPasdXooddI8I36s9Hb5GcWVBjzSYo5vXVqCyu_wv3iy24KW_pDDSlgcr-5v6i8wrL_cmYV1sSA/s512/Guinea_Medaille_1870.jpg"></a><br />
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In 1868, the Dutch and the British reorganised their respective possessions in the Gold Coast (the Coast of Guinea). They redivided them in such a manner, that both nations controlled a continuous strip of land for the first time in over 200 years. The Dutch took over all British possessions to the west of Elmina, and the British took over all Dutch possessions to the East of Cape Coast. In the negotiations leading up to this repartition, the local African polities were hardly consulted, and protests against possible negative political and social-economic effects were brushed aside. Eventually this led to several uprisings in the new Dutch territories, especially in and around Komenda and Sekondi. The Dutch sent an expeditionary force to quash the unrest, and a small colonial war was fought out. In this war, the local Dutch garrison was also involved.<br />
<br />
When the war was over, it was felt that several soldiers from the local garrison deserved a medal, for which there was no provision. The new medal amended this. On 10 November 1870, the medals were awarded to the following men:<br />
<br />
Pieter van Chama, sergeant<br />
Alexander Prins, corporal<br />
Esson Koffie, private<br />
Ekrom Kwakoe II, private<br />
Jan Plange, private<br />
Kondua Robbena, private<br />
Pieter Robbena, private East Indies Army<br />
<br />
With only seven people decorated, the medal has the distinction of being the rarest Dutch official decoration.<br />
<br />
The medal itself is hexagonal, made in bronze, and 30 millimetre in width. The front is adorned with the coat of arms of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the insription "MOED EN TROUW 1869-1870". The back carries the inscription "COMMENDAH. ANDEMA-ATJIRM. KWASSIE-KROM.", referring to the three places were battles were fought. The ribbon is divided in three vertical bars of equal width, in the colours of the Dutch flag, red, white, and blue.<br />
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<b>Sources:</b><br />
W.F. Bax, <i>Ridderorden, eereteekenen, draagteekens en penningen, betreffende de Weermacht van Nederland en Koloniën (1813-heden)</i>. Maastricht: Van der Dussen, 1973.<br />
<br />
H.G. Meijer, C.P. Mulder & B.W. Wagenaar, <i>Orders and Decorations of The Netherlands</i>. Venlo: Van Grinsven, 1984. 2nd revised edition.<br />
<br />
Picture of medal courtesy of Robert Prummel, published in Wikipedia under the GNU Free Documentation License version 1.2 (<a href="http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bestand:Guinea_Medaille_1870.jpg">Guinea Medal 1870</a>).Michel Doortmonthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11279163297265000339noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9190459455779614590.post-38668116481354291442010-09-17T01:46:00.002+02:002010-10-01T09:31:50.119+02:00Who Do You Think You Are: Hugh Quarshie (2)In the programme, Hugh Quarshie's uncle Jimmy Phillips - his mother's brother - showed him a book called the Pen-Pictures, containing a series of biographies in which Hugh's grandfather had an entry. <br />
<br />
In full, the book is titled <i>The Pen Pictures of Modern Africans and African Celebrities</i>, published by the Ghanaian businessman and author C.F. Hutchison. It was published around 1928, and gives biographies in blank verse of some 162 Ghanaians ("Gold Coasters") who, according to Hutchison, were important pillars of society, standing at the root of modernisation and development in the Gold Coast Colony. The list includes both western-educated men (and three women) from a budding middle class, and traditional chiefs (some of whom had had a western education as well) who were instrumental in the policy of merging traditional rule with British colonial rule. Almost all biographies come with a portrait picture of the subject involved.<br />
<br />
In 2003 I decided that, because of the importance of the book for Ghanaian history, as well as its rarity, the book warranted a new scholarly edition, properly annotated, and with an explicative and analytical introduction. With the help of Carla, my wife, who retyped and copy-edited the complete text, this project was finished within a year. The book was published in 2005. Since then it has turned into a bible for the study of the early 20th-century Gold Coast elite.<br />
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<i>Cover of the 2005 edition (Click to access the full size image in Picasa.):</i><br />
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<a href="http://goo.gl/photos/qdMe" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right;margin-bottom:1em;margin-left:1em"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhClVW6LtCGLy8k3LNWVIvipa2zg9Szq8T9ydFjrpue96tpuGzf9zbKd8sTw5d-DBiKMEhJWFFzYGtV5UVPw7_Q_RdSfJ3qqQA-EgNpqLMwYnHk7ZC5rh1LsLaUwrft9WxH5cU4fQFxW5I/s512/PP_Cover_web.jpg"></a><br />
<br />
The entry for William Reginald Phillips is interesting in several ways, and quite detailed, referring to his "whiteness" and his mix of African and European heritage, as well as giving details about his school days, law studies, business, marriage, and his lodge membership. Having already looked into the Kamerling family history in depth, it was fairly easy to produce an annotation sketching the context of Phillips's connection to the Kamerling family and Abi village.<br />
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<i>Print from the old edition:</i><br />
<br />
<a href="http://goo.gl/photos/rOsP" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right;margin-bottom:1em;margin-left:1em"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhgs75u8EMr_TsSlDKp42tD-W9EGTnicf1gZKgPRcpjeRPYCuGGQQIZTkbJNyA5YkaywmfY636iiS21bGzn63_y4XXB0bgRMPJABz3YbJycaqSlA_oqRrICzlLirToLcKCtpavrclJ-Ss/s512/145p148%20Phillips,%20W.R.%2001.jpg"></a><br />
<br />
In the television programme, the old edition wetted Hugh's appetite to find out more about his grandfather, which he of course subsequently did. It was the new publication that put the Wall-to-Wall production team on my track in September 2009, and started a co-operation that culminated in the television recording of March this year, and the broadcast of 7 September. Obviously, the existence of the new book could not be divulged to Hugh, as it would have given the game away. <br />
<br />
It was my privilege to present the book to him after the recording in the National Archives in The Hague. Hugh then told me he was also affiliated, through his mother's sister's husband, with the Bartels' family. This family was very prominent in Elmina in the nineteenth century, and also constitute one half of the Bartels-Hutchison clan of Elmina and Cape Coast, which figures prominently in the book and of which the author, C.F. Hutchison, was a member. It's a small world... <br />
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<i>Prints from the 2005 edition:</i><br />
<br />
<a href="http://goo.gl/photos/Qd9Z" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right;margin-bottom:1em;margin-left:1em"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuqG6A_q0WzjUwHKwvwJHWmy7LZs6SaPU9tJRETDniwXgWmcZ5hsrk2AZteDYEcvB25Q0lpZ0TiqMS5o09VfGujh4KVqUXoI4E_EtONXu3AlKYX8nikIa7cx9v2skRzVP37MNuwAMTDN4/s512/PP_Phillips_WR_01web.jpg"></a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://goo.gl/photos/pX9V" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right;margin-bottom:1em;margin-left:1em"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfVnDi5gzbJJOBY97vv1BFuD4ttb3I47iC_obMBSgiUnJE-wezRzJy2_XQf8O5LEHpgAEJImiO9VO9c74Q3-z1h2HeHQkGQy4ULis_ZfaZ5Xf341pUfLHkF3be12rUpJMaAGbtK887FpE/s512/PP_Phillips_WR_02web.jpg"></a><br />
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<a href="http://goo.gl/photos/h1v6" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right;margin-bottom:1em;margin-left:1em"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDIsvEb8L7cS4M9m-q72lRdUcfPsmz2Hzya9tyub94m_ozrnzUxRu5sjbFPsODQsfjbVJl6UL8uPwRXRAK3qvyzU7-fHLcLsbyBxUxgI8kZCPcxqeD3NWnXch3SvNIEjyeUBjhpUnpcrc/s512/PP_Phillips_WR_03web.jpg"></a><br />
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<b>Source:</b><br />
M.R. Doortmont (ed.), <i>The Pen-Pictures of Modern Africans and African Celebrities. A Collective Biography of Elite Society in the Gold Coast Colony</i>. Leiden / Boston: Brill, 2005.Michel Doortmonthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11279163297265000339noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9190459455779614590.post-61706917522473882702010-09-15T13:06:00.013+02:002010-09-15T15:21:43.523+02:00Asante princess on display<a href="http://goo.gl/photos/sZPc" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right;margin-bottom:1em;margin-left:1em"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbP-yEHDpMy8aWteVREjk4heip5sD8qWLSCf8QEjTeybEpw8PS3ScfwXx_KJqtzbKPjECeEkVrQKwgl-7f0bd9vc_1-dBZjZ4n11K364UfXZYk2zmVn8HbvOthiQ9YS6-1yC5quvFNYos/s512/Tuck_Princess_Baa_full_web.jpg"></a><br />
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Part of my research into Gold Coast history - and an ever more important part - is the hunt for images. As such I started collecting historical postcards, depicting a multitude of images. Most recently I set myself to investigate the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley in 1924 and 1925, which has attracted a lot of attention from classic postcard collectors (which I am not). There are several publications about the postcards issued at the exhibition, a number which runs into the thousands. In these publications much attention is given to the printing particulars of the cards, especially the backs. I am more interested in the images on the front and the context - if any - in which the cards were produced. A larger project I am currently working on is the set of postcards produced by the artist Edith Cheesman for the Government of the Gold Coast, to accompany the presentation of that colony in the Empire Exhibition, and printed by the famous postcard printer Raphael Tuck & Sons (also discussed in an earlier blog). Some of the images can already be viewed via a menu option in the Gold Coast DataBase or by clicking <a href="http://gcdb.doortmontweb.org/collections/TP1924/TP1924.htm"> here</a>. The story behind the pics will follow shortly.<br />
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My latest acquisition comes from a series of three postcards from original photos, also printed by Tuck for the British Empire Exhibition. This series seems rather rare. The card I bought is the first one in the series, titled <i>Princess Baa of Ashanti and her Husband</i>. The other two, which I hope to find in the market at some point in the future, are <i>Prempeh, son of the late King of Ashanti</i>, and <i>Gold Coast Africans in the Native Village at Wembley</i>. The title of the last card clinches the essence of these three images. The three pics of African "natives" were a depiction of these people on display to the general public. Ethnology brought home, so to speak. In the late 19th and early 20th century the displaying of "natives" was nothing special; it occurred on a regular basis, and fitted seamless into the traditions of the - equally unquestioned - display of disformed people at fairs and circuses, and Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. <br />
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The photo of Princess Baa holds few clues as to where it was taken, and if she and her husband were actually at the Exhibition to show themselves off to the public. There is an indication that the photo was taken in Europe though (see below). Apart from the caption on the front of the card, there is no explicative text. I am not an expert on Asante history, and I do not know who Princess Baa is, or her husband for that matter. Maybe a specialist in the field can help me out here. The backdrop of the portrait shows a decorated wall and a door-screen, which could be either in the Gold Coast Pavillion of the Exhibition, or in Kumase or another Asante town. A postcard picture of the Asante Court at Wembley (see picture below) does not give any clues. The site <a href="http://www.20thcenturylondon.org.uk/server.php?show=conObject.8084&search_word=princess+ba&pp=10¤t_browser_object=1"><i>Exploring 20th-Century London</i></a> lists the same image, with a description positively stating that the couple is indeed photographed inside the "West African Pavillion" (sic), but without any evidence to that effect.<br />
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The husband is seated on a wicker chair - I assume it is a chair, and not an upturned basket - and faces the camera with a self-assured look in his eyes. He is dressed in cloth and slippers, and wears gold rings and bracelets, as well as some other accessories that befit his social status. How different is this for his wife, the main character in the caption, Princess Baa. She wears fewer accessories than her husband. The cloth is nice, but looks like it is draped in a hurry. She stands to the side of her husband, rather stiffly, legs slightly apart, arms hanging down, lips pressed closed, and awkwardly looking away from the lens. She definitely does not want to be there. <br />
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<a href="http://goo.gl/photos/so1K" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right;margin-bottom:1em;margin-left:1em"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih2QaOBdFPCXBpHMLx5ffm4V-zB4m7R3K1WVcinCUZsJI_HuB5Gd89WdxLqiTXKDkihlnsyiEiuHlP_6k7urol7lNUmx-4tvlZCnASRvDAdUX-4jf4yjzvgBYNobeldUMoBc8U1N_PLvU/s512/Tuck_Princess_Baa_detail.jpg"></a><br />
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What struck me most in the picture is one specific detail: the princess's footwear. Rather than the traditional slippers, like the ones of her husband, she wears sturdy European walking shoes. Once spotted, it is a feature one can ponder over for hours. I can, at least. Was this a photo session at Wembley for which she had to come especially, and did she forget to take her slippers? Did she object to this picture taken from the outset, because she did not want to get out of her warm European dress in the cold London weather? Or was it an act of defiance against being turned into a circus attraction? It looks very much as if she is wearing stockings, although the image is not detailed enough to be completely sure about this. It would at least be a positive indication that the photo was taken in Europe. One would wish to be able to speak to Princess Baa about it all. <br />
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I wonder if there are any records or oral traditions about the scene and Princess Baa. Who was her husband? If at Wembley, why were they there? Another research project in the making...<br />
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<a href="http://goo.gl/photos/VogU" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right;margin-bottom:1em;margin-left:1em"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihdyM0qzATOt_TBtqtMDfDL_OL5L4oxJeBgW7wq7B9z8w0_zHNAxrm_7G_EH-R8GBon5LO-_uLHhUCLhSaX1azRAOpE0Add8132P2WlCg1w3XK4dF328ExIXgyyFEXUcWTK7bhVFkvBa4/s512/Asante_Court_Wembley.jpg"></a><br />
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<b>Postcard info:</b><br />
<i>Princess Baa of Ashanti and her Husband</i>. Raphael Tuck & Sons, Ltd., London. Printed in England.<br />
<i>Interior - Gold Coast Building - Wembley. Ashanti Court</i>. Copyright Government of the Gold Coast. Raphael Tuck & Sons, Ltd., London. Printed in England.<br />
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<b>Literature:</b> <br />
M. Perkins & B. tonkin, <i>Postcards of the British Empire Exhibition, Wembley 1924 & 1925</i>. West Wickham: Exhibition Study Group, 1994. p. 88-89.Michel Doortmonthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11279163297265000339noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9190459455779614590.post-82485279664915209142010-09-07T00:49:00.002+02:002010-09-07T09:38:16.210+02:00Who Do You Think You Are: Hugh Quarshie<a href="http://goo.gl/photos/qyeK" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right;margin-bottom:1em;margin-left:1em"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikQZWSnrH3H46ZROlKaRKj65r7Om_Eyodu-wrjMZCyW8SEjINFFpa1rzMXgqnWI2Y2NnCMjElKvFrqs1R-2TR_CI-9VfsIuRvnk_SbUZ5OORejC7WdfXVwvpEsKbDzUSaP2PvlZHxt2rw/s512/Kamerling_PMJ_uniform_01.jpg"></a><br />
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Tonight BBC 1 broadcast the Hugh Quarshie episode of the Who Do You Think You Are series 7. It was my privilege to contribute to the programme in several ways, advising the team, as well as providing materials and contacts. For me the story was not new. Already in 1995, as part of a research project into the Dutch historical presence in Ghana, I visited the Kamerling House in Elmina and Abii village. I met several of the family members and was impressed by their knowledge of their family history. <br />
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On my return home,I contacted Eric Kamerling, whom I had known for many years as a fellow genealogist. He showed me the photos and papers from Ghana and told me the story of his great-grand-uncle Pieter Martinus Johannes Kamerling, who went to Africa and had a family there. It is a thrilling story and it was very nice to relive and re-tell it with Hugh and the Wall-to-Wall production team. <br />
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Obviously, as is the case with all television documentaries, the story is bigger than the small screen allows for. Additional info on some of the stars from the programme is available in the Gold Coast Data Base. Work on a more complete publication is in progress but requires additional research, both in The Netherlands and Ghana.<br />
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One issue brought up in the programme can be addressed here already.<br />
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<a href="http://goo.gl/photos/MC0W" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right;margin-bottom:1em;margin-left:1em"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJIVWYZAPTeqQum2d22qfCCvcYUTt7r3xZIvRqXI7Wv3WHc4Ef9ftbtMUxanAHZSngtkpBX6FHJC_a1esLG4ag9jDL_l3sDBpTk1OUTYxP4H3oT0jlOKok9ft5iAyvrFkfdwhngJSREtU/s512/Spek_Ellen_01.jpg"></a><br />
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In the episode one of the mysteries is the name of Pieter Kamerling's wife. In family tradition she is called Efua Yenkye (pronounced 'Yentshee'; mis-spelled on the family tree as 'Jensch'). In the Dutch documents she is called Ellen van der Spek, and even signs a document with that name. On screen I say that in my opinion the two ladies are one and the same. It now turns out from new evidence that Efua Yenkye (aka Janet van der Spek) was Pieter's first wife in Ghana. He fell out with her over money and other matters and Janet took Pieter to court over the dispute. It meant the end of that relationship. About a year later he was married to Ellen, in all probability Janet's sister, with whom - as the programme showed so vividly - he had a loving relationship that survived their separation. <br />
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Photo's courtesy of Eric Kamerling, Vorden (NL)Michel Doortmonthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11279163297265000339noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9190459455779614590.post-19845524196246618292010-07-13T00:01:00.001+02:002012-07-25T11:45:01.027+02:00Bombardment of Elmina, 13 June 1873<a href="http://picasaweb.google.nl/lh/photo/Zukv6o2NOPer2bF2GMPaNXPgXYrk2JLC8BwABycP1bk?feat=blogger" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" target=blank><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3YlYYhhSl2CemaFUvXno5Zp6-qCiKDETfhYA3YoaJWkB9fRiXWoA-KxmH7fdcmZt28EmWc_ViJPPqnC_1a78sVabN3XEq7IyPxvfRGjR8o4EKj20pSSAt60YZbFAHkCQnYjAhLwRUSvY/s512/Elmina_bombardment_1873_web.jpg" /></a><br />
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On 13 June 2010 it was 127 years ago that the British army and navy bombarded the old town of Elmina. This was a momentous occasion, which returned a then still flourishing trading town of some 12,000 plus people to the status of a fishing village of circa 5,000. The impact of the bombardment and the ensuing fire was tremendous. It completely destroyed the old town with all its contents, bereaving over half the population of the town of home and property. Thousands of people fled the town, some living in makeshift refugee camps in the countryside for years, some of the richer merchants permanently moving to neighbouring Cape Coast, while others moved even further away.<br />
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The bombardment changed the physical outlook of Elmina permanently. The area of the old town was transformed into a 'parade ground', resettlement being prohibited. When refugees started to return to Elmina in the late 1870s and early 1880s, they had to find living space on the other side of the lagoon. This area, the so-called Garden of Elmina, was already fairly crowded, while usuable space was limited due to the presence of several flood plains, salt marshes, and three hills. Eventually the people of Elmina found ways of accomodation, and by the 1920s the town had regained some of its former splendour, due to remittances from its sons and daughters aquiring wealth in the booming Gold Coast economy of that decade.<br />
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The bombardment of Elmina is a classic case of British 'gunboat diplomacy'. After the British took over the Dutch Possessions on the Gold Coast on 6 April 1872, the government of Elmina - at least part of it - refused to acknowledge British suzerainty. Traditionally, the Elmina were the allies of the powerful Asante state in the Gold Coast hinterland, which was in turn the archenemy of the British. During 1872 a stand-off between the British and the Asante developed, with a large Asante army camping out in the hills around Elmina. Reason for the British to demand the loyalty of the Elmina government with an ultimatum. When this was not met, the town was given a small space of time to evacuate, and was then bombed and burned. The king of Elmina, <i>Omanhin </i>Kobena Gyan, was exiled to Sierra Leone, where he stayed until 1894. Soon after the bombardment the British moved on the Asante with an attack on their capital Kumase.<br />
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Some years ago, sipping a beer with some historian-friends at a beach resort near Elmina, the importance of the bombardment for the history of Elmina came up as a topic of conversation. My friend Brenda, not a historian, remarked that as the impact of the event was seemingly so momentous, would it not be a necessity for all historians of Elmina to start each and every book they wrote with a reference to the bombardment.<br />
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In effect, I think she was right. The history of Elmina can be traced back to the 15th century, with archaeological evidence pointing to human settlement as far back as the 10th century. Throughout the centuries the history of the town was one of almost constant development and growth - obviously with cyclical ups and downs - until 13 July 1873, when this cosmopolitan, world-wise and outward-looking town was forcefully dimished to a fishing village. To date, the most important identity of the town is just that, a fishing village - albeit the largest traditional fishing port along the Ghanaian coast, and a town which still physically shows a much grander past.<br />
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The lithograph of the bombardment, or plan of attack as the caption reads, is one of several accompanying an article in <i>The Illustrated London News</i> of 26 July 1873. (Click on image to see full-size picture in Picasa.)Michel Doortmonthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11279163297265000339noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9190459455779614590.post-74628759770762590972010-06-17T23:47:00.005+02:002013-07-25T18:58:50.343+02:00Treaty making on the Gold Coast, 1672<a href="http://picasaweb.google.nl/lh/photo/3NpX91IQb-iMSpiBMgrFli1mLzR_udskxPnfnAabRF0?feat=blogger" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right;float:right;margin-bottom:1em;margin-left:10em" target=blank><img border="5" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD4HdInzcGUfjaaqYsNs1DMmTipPVCpjVJc5xRnBC44Brhf5iKKHuZk34ogx28VOE5Z9-0JTnjU8jUBF9ua66q6Gxueox-3akPorr_myCkcJvzSUVxra-HJOvMIJfd90zlnG3crRvPK50/s512/Tuck_RAC%20official.jpg"></a><br />
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The British postcard publisher Raphael Tuck & Sons published several series of so-called 'oilette' full-colour postcards on Africa and the British Empire. This card is part of the series "The Rise of Our Empire Beyond the Seas" - Series I, and is undated. Most likely it was published on the occasion of the <a href="http://www.20thcenturylondon.org.uk/server.php?show=conInformationRecord.86" target="_blank">British Empire Exhibition</a> at Wembley in London in 1924-1925, for which the company made several series. The series "The Rise of Our Empire Beyond the Seas" contained pictures from all parts of the British Empire, many showing the encounter between the British and local authorities.<br />
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This image is titled "An official of he Guinea (Royal African) Company, treaty making on the Gold Coast in 1672", and shows an elaborately dressed English merchant with two other Europeans discussing with a Gold Coast chief, apparently about a treaty. Both the chief and the British delegation are accompanied by and entourage. It is uncertain whether the picture is imagined, or shows an historical event. The fact that a date is mentioned could be an indication of the latter, but the year 1672 does not seem to have special significance in British-Gold Coast relations. <br />
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On the back of the card is a description, which runs as follows: "The Gold Coast. The Gold Coast, now a British Colony and Protectorate, was once in the hands of the Portuguese and the Dutch, who, settling there before England was a sea-going power of importance, built forts and began a search for gold. In 1664, however, the English successfully attacked the Dutch defences, and four years later the "new five pieces of gold coined by the Guiny Company" were issued. In 1844 the jurisdiction of England on the Gold Coast was defined."<br />
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The description is not historically inaccurate, but nevertheless rather uneven. No mention is made of the importance of the Atlantic slave trade, for instance, nor of the problematic relationship between the British and the Asante Kingdom. The reference to the five pieces of gold coined by the Guinea company is obscure. It can not refer to the famous Gold Guinea coin, because this was first coined in 1663, by the English government. "1844" refers to the Bond, concluded between the British government and the Fante states of the Gold Coast, delimiting jurisdictions, but not turning the area into a Crown Colony yet. That happened in 1874.Michel Doortmonthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11279163297265000339noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9190459455779614590.post-89895191562020048442010-03-15T22:27:00.000+01:002010-06-18T00:37:47.765+02:00Gold Coast DataBase - how it started12 Jan 2010 - Added collections of photographs and postcards from the 19th and early 20th-century to the features.<br />
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5 Jan 2010 - The Gold Coast DataBase TNG-site was completely redesigned on a new, and now hopefully stable, server and at a new address.<br />
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1 Jan 2005 - The Gold Coast DataBase first developed as an online system using The Next Generation genealogical software.<br />
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2002-2005 - Developed a digital database to hold my research results on Euro-African families in Ghana and the Dutch presence there.<br />
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1998-2002 - Co-designed and co-operated in the development of the public programme "Ghana - Netherlands 300 Years Diplomatic Relations"<br />
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1994 - Started a funded research programme on the history of the Dutch in Ghana.<br />
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1980-1981 - Started research in the Dutch archives into the mutual history of Ghana and the Netherlands, with a bias towards the genealogy of Euro-African familiesMichel Doortmonthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11279163297265000339noreply@blogger.com0