Claesje van Angola1

F, #8113, b. circa 1645, d. before 31 December 1732

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NGK (Cape Town) Baptisms 1665-1695NGK (Cape Town) Baptisms 1665-1695
Last Edited13/10/2021
BirthOrigin*Claesje was said to be from Angola and was perhaps born there circa 1645. The date is estimated. Many of the slaves generally identified as van Guinea orvan Angola were embarked at Benin for the Cape and came from as far afield as Sudan.2 
Death*She died before 31 December 1732 Slave Lodge, she died during December.3
 

Family 1
Children
  • Lysbeth van de Caep+ b. 14 Aug 1667; This relationship is offered with a view toward further discovery in the record. At the time of Lysbeth's birth, Maaij Claesje was apparently the only female slave owned by Abraham Schut.
  • Christijn Pietersz van de Caep+20 b. c 1670, d. 25 Dec 1719
  • Jannetje van Wijk+ b. b 27 Oct 1675; This putative relationship is offered on the following grounds: 1) Claasje baptised a daughter named Jannetie on 27 Oct 1675, and at the time there were no other company owned female slaves named Claasje (var.). 2) Jannetje van Wijk closely fits the profile, including age cohort, to be this child. 3) A direct matrilineal descendant of Jannetje van Wijk has tested positive for mtDNA haplogroup L4b2b - a rare group which current informatioin suggests is centered in northwest Africa around Mali. This strongly suggests that Jannetje's mother would have been one of the slaves generally identified as 'van Guinea' or 'van Angola.' Many of these slaves were embarked at Benin for the Cape and came from as far afield as Sudan. This further suggests that this mother-daughter relationship is indeed correct
  • Magdalena van de Caep+21 b. 15 Aug 1677

Family 2

Leendert Jansz van Gijselen b. c 1630
Child
DNA* Noelene Selmon, a documented direct matrilineal descendant of Claesje, has tested for mtDNA haplogroup L4b2b.

Her ascent to Claesje is as follows:
Noelene
Her mother, Wilhelmina Andrina van Eyk (1922-2002)
Maternal grandmother, Catharina Maria Hermina Wolhuter (1890-1970)
Maternal great-grandmother, Catherina Maria Aletta Holtzhausen (1843-1913)
Maternal gg-grandmother, Catharina Maria Steyn (1823-1885)
Maternal ggg-grandmother, Sophia Dorothea de Kock (1786-1837)
Maternal gggg-grandmother, Sophia Dorothea Otto (1754-1815)
Maternal ggggg-grandmother Johanna Christina Piek
Maternal gggggg-grandmother Margaretha Hartog
Maternal ggggggg-grandmother Jannetje van Wijk
Maternal gggggggg-grandmother Claesje van Angola, who is predicted to be mtDNA Haplogroup L4b2b.4 
(Slave) ShipVoyage On 14 October 1657 the Amersfoort departed Vlie enroute to de Caep de Goede Hoop where it docked on 28 March 1658. With more than half the journey completed, on 23 January 1658, probably off the coast of Angola, the Amersfoort sighted a Portuguese slaver with 500 slaves on board. After a 24-hour chase, the vessel was captured, and 250 slaves were taken aboard the Amersfoort for the journey to the Cape. The crippled Portuguese vessel was abandoned to whatever fate might befall her, 250 slaves and her crew.

Of those, when the Amersfoort heaved to in Table Bay two months later, only 174 had made it alive, most them, according to Jan van Riebeeck "girls and small boys" - among them were Claesje van Angola.5,6,7 
(Slave) InventoryRoeloff's estate was inventoried on 27 March 1663 Cabo de Goede Hoop. Three unnamed Angolan slaves were included as among his possessions. They were probably three of the following four slaves: Thomas Keuken van Angola, Domingo van Angola, Claesje van Angola and Jackie Joy van Angola.8,9 
Names in the record, in publications, etc.Between 4 September 1652 and 6 February 1660, the name of Claesje was written in the record as Marselij van Angola, It is assumed that the Angolan slave woman named as Marselij among the slaves owned by Jan van Riebeeck is Claesje (var.), in other words a scribal contraction of Maaij Claesje. This name appears nowhere else in the record.10
20 April 1662, the name of Claesje was written in the record as Claesje van Angola.11
27 October 1675, the name of Claesje was written in the record as Claasje NN.12
Claesje van Angola was also known as Claesie NN.
Slave TransactionsThomas Keuken van Angola, Domingo van Angola, Claesje van Angola and Jan Meeuw van Angola were sold by Johan Anthoniszoon van Riebeeck, to Roeloff de Man and Abraham Gabbema on 20 April 1662 Cabo de Goede Hoop.13,14,15
After 14 August 1667 Ventura van Ceylon was sold for f 277:10. Sold with him for f 225 were a female slave, Pollecij and her child, who may have been Claesje van Angola and Lysbeth van de Caep. The seller was the departing Abraham Schut and the purchaser the incoming commander Jacob van Borghorst.16
On 31 December 1669 Andries van der Kust Coromandel, Claas Gerrits van Bengale, Mathijs van Angola, Anthonij Jansz van Bengale, Jeronimus van Coromandel, Titus van Bengale, Baddou van Bali, Ventura van Ceylon, Claesje van Angola, Abraham van Guinea, Maria da Costa van Bengale and Lysbeth van Bengale were sold by the departing commander Jacob van Borghorst to the Company for f 2 842:10:-, the amount he had originally paid for them. Included in the sale were three children, who, because they fit the profile, I have for the present presumed to be Lysbeth van de Caep, Anna Pieters and Anthonij van de Caep; the first the child of Pollecij/Maaij Claesje van Angola and the third and fourth the daughter and son of Lijsbeth van Bengale. However, at least some of these slaves came into the possession of Joan Bax van Herentals, Borghorst's successor.17
Slaves owned by individualsAfter 28 March 1658 Claesje van Angola was owned by Johan Anthoniszoon van Riebeeck.18
On 15 August 1677 Claesje van Angola was.19
Slaves Owned by the CompanyOn 5 July 1671 Claesje van Angola was enslaved and owned by the VOC (Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie) at the Cape.12

Citations

  1. [S629] Personal communications between Mansell Upham and Delia Robertson, 2010-present.
  2. [S676] Attestation, C2391; Council of Policy, 4 September1652-6 February 1660, Western Cape Archives and Records Service as transcribed and annotated by Mansell Upham, Guinees
    Dirck ende Dirckie [Hoewj/Hoen(a)/Anna]           


                                  Angools
    Hier onder heeft den Commandeur een Angools [Marij Pekenijn] tegen een Madagascarsz slavin [Eva van Madagascar] die per abujis onder d'Angoolse na Bat:a[via] gesonden is
                                  
    Mathijs en: Marselij [Claesje?]
    Domingo en: Francyn
    Tomas Keuken ende Marij
    Klaes Kelder
    Jan Meeu en: Marij Pekenijn
    Jackie Joij
    Ouwe Jan en Isabel [Maaij Isabella?]

    Meijndert van Antongil becoming van den Coopman Cops

    Marij van Bengale [Maria da Costa] door Jacob Reijniersz op Batavia laten coopen aen de heer gesonden

    Domingo [sic Elisabeth van Bengale] ende          van d'heer Kemp hier aen de Caep becomen
    Angela [Maaij Ans(i)ela van Bengale] van ditto [Batavia]

    Eva en haer soontie                    voor S:[ieu]r Verburgh op Madagascarvoor den Commande:[u]r gecoght sijnde dese Eva per abuijs onder d'Angoolse slavinnen na Batavia gesonden als hier voren aengeseijen
    Jan Bruijn
    Cleijn Eva                         door den Coningh van Antongil aen der                                    Commande:[u]rs vrou tot vereeringh                                         gesonden

    Cornelia ende
    Lijsbeth                          van Abissina door den Fransen admiral                                    Lacrox aen den Commande:[u]rs vrouw vereert

    [Note in margin about the last 5 slaves]     

    dese 5 lijfeijgenen sijn deur Comp:[agni]e goedt gedaen onder dato 2en Maij a:[nn]o 1657

    Welcke 2 laeste door ordre van d'e:[del]e h:[ee]r Van Goens den overleden onder coopman Verburghs huijsvrou ende den sieckentroost:[er]r ter Van der Staels vrou elck een provisioneel tot haar dienst sijn geleendt van allen t' welcke wij onder geschreven raedts personen des forts de Goede Hoop bij dese oirconde wil connen kennisse ende wetenschap te hebben ende volgens desen en please van acto in forma onderteijkent
    Actum in't Fort voorsz: desen 1en September a:[nno] 1659
    [signed] Roeloff de Man

    Van alle 't bovenstaande, ick ondergeschreven verclaer, mede kennisse te hebben, excepto van Marij van Bengale, Eva ende Jan Bruijn haer soontjen, die voor mijn arrivement alhier aen de Caep geweest t' sijn: doch wel uijt den monde van andere gehoort, datse gelijck boven verhoedt gecoght, ende also hier gecomen waren.
    [signed] Abraham Gabbema.
  3. [S562] Precis of the archives of the Cape of Good Hope, W.A. van der Stel Journal, 1699-1732, H.C.V. Leibrandt; (Cape Town, South Africa: W. A. Richards & Sons, Government Printers, Castle Street, 1896), p.341: 31 December 1732: Warm, calm weather. Nothing of importance occurred. One slave named Manna Claasje [sic Maaij Claesje] died during the month. …. Hereinafter cited as W.A. van der Stel Journal 1699-1732.
  4. [S709] Website Geni (www.Geni.com) "https://www.geni.com/people/Noelene-Selmon/…."
  5. [S665] Mansell Upham 'Johanna Kemp - An enquiry into the ancestry of the Cape-born Johanna Kemp (c. 1689-1778) - wife of Jacob Krüger (from Sadenbeck)', First Fifty Years, Uprooted Lives - Unfurling the Cape of Good Hope's Earliest Colonial Inhabitants (1652-1713), (This article is under review), March 2012. "This was followed by the arrival of the Amersfoort (March 1658) offloading a cargo of mostly Brazil-bound Angola slave children (170 of whom 125 were not sent to Batavia) captured from the Portuguese off the coast of Brazil (sometime in January 1658)..."
  6. [S646] Precis of the archives of the Cape of Good Hope, JVR Journal II, 1656-1658, H.C.V. Leibrandt; (Cape Town, South Africa: W. A. Richards & Sons, Government Printers, Castle Street, 1897), p.113; March 28th. N. W. breeze. The Amersfoort casts anchor; had 323 men on her, 29 dead and 30 sick. The weakest brought on shore and exchanged for others. Was provided with refreshments for the crew and the slaves who were brought on shore, already reduced to 170 in number. Many of them still very ill; most of them girls and small boys, from whom for the next 4 or 5 years very little can be got.. Hereinafter cited as Precis of the archives, JVR Journal II 1656-1658.
  7. [S522] André van Rensburg, "Capensis (The Amersfoort)," October 2000. Hereinafter cited as "The Amersfoort."
  8. [S418] Anna J. Böeseken, Slaves and Free Blacks at the Cape 1658-1700 (Cape Town: Tafelberg, 1977), p. 126. 27.3.1663, 11, p. 67: Roelof de Man died on the 6th of March 1663. The inventory of his possessions was signed on the 27th of March. One item was given as "drie Angoolse sla ven en slavinnen".. Hereinafter cited as Slaves and Free Blacks at the Cape 1658-1700.
  9. [S853] J.L. (Leon) Hattingh, "Kaapse noteriële stukke waarin slawe van vryburgers en amptenare vermeld word (1658 - 1730? 1670)", Kronos - Kaapse noteriële stukke waarin slawe van vryburgers en amptenare vermeld word (1658 - 1730? 1670) 15 (1988): 27.3.1663     CTD 2, p.66
    Inventaris van die boedel van Roelof de Man, oorlede op 6 Maart [1662] en in lewe onderkoopman en tweede in bevel aan die Kaap, waarvan die laaste inskrywing van 'n lang lys besittings lees: ‘drie angoolse slaven en slavinnen’. [Geen name vermeld.]. Hereinafter cited as "Kaapse noteriële stukke waarin slawe van vryburgers en amptenare vermeld word (1658 - 1730? 1670)."
  10. [S676] Attestation, C2391; Council of Policy, 4 September1652-6 February 1660, Western Cape Archives and Records Service as transcribed and annotated by Mansell Upham.
  11. [S418] Anna J. Böeseken, Slaves and Free Blacks at the Cape 1658-1700, p.125, 20.4.1662, I, p. 306: Domingo, Jan, Thomasso, Claesje, all from Angola, sold by Jan van Riebeeck to Roelof de Man.
  12. [S397] NGK G1 1/1, Nederduitsch Gereformeerde Kerk, Kerken Boek (Bapt.), 1665-1695: Anno 1671
    Den 5 Juli
    Een Comp. slaafinne kint half van een christen vader de moeder genaamt Claasje t' kint Sara, tot getuyge stont in plaatze van den E.Command. en den raat, Alexander Carpius Schoolm', transcribed by Richard Ball, Norfolk, England, (May 2006), Genealogical Society of South Africa, eGSSA Branch http://www.eggsa.org/. Hereinafter cited as Nederduitsch Gereformeerde Kerk, Kerken Boek (Bapt.).
  13. [S418] Anna J. Böeseken, Slaves and Free Blacks at the Cape 1658-1700, p. 125. 20.4.1662, 1, p. 306: Domingo, Jan, Thomasso, Claesje, all from Angola, sold by Jan van Riebeeck to Roelof de Man. [DR: Jan later become known as Jan Meeuw van Angola]
  14. [S606] J.L. (Leon) Hattingh, "A.J. Böeseken se Addendum van Kaapse slawe-verkoopstransaksies: Foute en regstellings", Kronos (Foute en regstellings) 9 (1984): 20.4.1662: Roelof de Man en Abraham Gabbema is die twee kopers van die vier slawe vermeld.. Hereinafter cited as "Foute en regstellings."
  15. [S853] J.L. (Leon) Hattingh, "Kaapse noteriële stukke waarin slawe van vryburgers en amptenare vermeld word (1658 - 1730? 1670)", 20.4.1662     CTD I, p.306 [Verlore]
    Jan van Riebeeck, kommandeur, verkoop aan Roeloff de Man, onderkoopman en Abraham Gabbema, fiskaal, vier Angolese slawe en slavinne, Domingo, Jan, Tomaso en Claesje. [Geen bedrag of ouderdom vermeld.]
  16. [S418] Anna J. Böeseken, Slaves and Free Blacks at the Cape 1658-1700, p.30: From Lieutenant Abraham Schut, Jacob Borghorst bought the slave Ventura [7950] for f 277:10 and a slave woman [Claesje v Angola – 8113?] together with her child [Lysbeth vd Caep - 7998?] for f 225.
  17. [S788] Webpage Tanap (http://databases.tanap.net/) "Reference code: C. 5, pp. 89-91.
    Dingsdagh den 31en December ao. 1669."
  18. [S676] Attestation, C2391; Council of Policy, 4 September1652-6 February 1660, Western Cape Archives and Records Service as transcribed and annotated by Mansell Upham, Guinees
    Dirck ende Dirckie [Hoewj/Hoen(a)/Anna]           


                                  Angools
    Hier onder heeft den Commandeur een Angools [Marij Pekenijn] tegen een Madagascarsz slavin [Eva van Madagascar] die per abujis onder d'Angoolse na Bat:a[via] gesonden is
                                  
    Mathijs en: Marselij [Claesje?]
    Domingo en: Francyn
    Tomas Keuken ende Marij
    Klaes Kelder
    Jan Meeu en: Marij Pekenijn
    Jackie Joij
    Ouwe Jan en Isabel [Maaij Isabella?]

    Meijndert van Antongil                becoming van den Coopman Cops

    Marij van Bengale [Maria da Costa]          door Jacob Reijniersz op Batavia laten                                    coopen aen de heer gesonden

    Domingo [sic Elisabeth van Bengale] ende          van d'heer Kemp hier aen de Caep becomen
    Angela [Maaij Ans(i)ela van Bengale] van ditto [Batavia]

    Eva en haer soontie                    voor S:[ieu]r Verburgh op Madagascar                                    voor den Commande:[u]r gecoght sijnde                                    dese Eva per abuijs onder d'Angoolse                                    slavinnen na Batavia gesonden als hier                                    voren aengeseijen
    Jan Bruijn

    Cleijn Eva                         door den Coningh van Antongil aen der                                    Commande:[u]rs vrou tot vereeringh                                         gesonden

    Cornelia ende
    Lijsbeth                          van Abissina door den Fransen admiral                                    Lacrox aen den Commande:[u]rs vrouw vereert

    [Note in margin about the last 5 slaves]     

    dese 5 lijfeijgenen sijn deur Comp:[agni]e goedt gedaen onder dato 2en Maij a:[nn]o 1657

    Welcke 2 laeste door ordre van d'e:[del]e h:[ee]r Van Goens den overleden onder coopman Verburghs huijsvrou ende den sieckentroost:[er]r ter Van der Staels vrou elck een provisioneel tot haar dienst sijn geleendt van allen t' welcke wij onder geschreven raedts personen des forts de Goede Hoop bij dese oirconde wil connen kennisse ende wetenschap te hebben ende volgens desen en please van acto in forma onderteijkent
    Actum in't Fort voorsz: desen 1en September a:[nno] 1659
    [signed] Roeloff de Man

    Van alle 't bovenstaande, ick ondergeschreven verclaer, mede kennisse te hebben, excepto van Marij van Bengale, Eva ende Jan Bruijn haer soontjen, die voor mijn arrivement alhier aen de Caep geweest t' sijn: doch wel uijt den monde van andere gehoort, datse gelijck boven verhoedt gecoght, ende also hier gecomen waren.
    [signed] Abraham Gabbema.
  19. [S397] NGK G1 1/1, Nederduitsch Gereformeerde Kerk, Kerken Boek (Bapt.): 1677. Den selfden dito (15 Aug) Magdalena, een slavinne kint De vader een onbekent christen, De moeder Claesie, 1665-1695, Genealogical Society of South Africa, eGSSA Branch http://www.eggsa.org/
  20. [S810] Mansell Upham 'At Earth's Extremest End… Op 't eijnde van de Aerd … The genealogical impact of the 'Angola' & 'Guinea' slaves at the Cape of Good Hope in the 17th century', First Fifty Years, Uprooted Lives - Unfurling the Cape of Good Hope's Earliest Colonial Inhabitants (1652-1713), (http://e-family.co.za/ffy/ui66.htm), August 2014.
  21. [S397] NGK G1 1/1, Nederduitsch Gereformeerde Kerk, Kerken Boek (Bapt.): 1677
    Den selfden dito (15 Aug) Magdalena, een slavinne kint
    De vader een onbekent christen, De moeder Claesie, 1665-1695, Genealogical Society of South Africa, eGSSA Branch http://www.eggsa.org/
 

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