Angela van Bengale

  Birth Notes:

Robertson, Delia. The First Fifty Years Project. http://www.e-family.co.za/ffy/g6/p6260.html
Her birth is recorded as about 1648 based on her beign an adult when she was bptised in 1668. There is a problem with her first child who would be born when she was 13 if she was born in 1648.

And

https://www.myheritage.com/person-1000618_120361901_120361901/angela-mooij-ansela-basson-born-van-bengale?lang=AF
Angela Mooij Ansela van Bengale
Gender: Female
Birth: Circa 1640 - Ganges Delta, Bengal, India
Marriage: Dec 15 1699
Death: July 18 1720 - Kaapstad, Kaap Kolonie
Spouses: ** Arnoldus Willemsz BassonDomingo DomingoJan Van Assen
Children: Elsie BassonElsie BassonGerrit BassonJohannes BassonMaria BassonMichiel BassonWillem BassonClaesje DomingoJan DomingoThomas DomingoJohannes Van AsJacobus Van As (born van Ass)UNKNOWN PieterAnna de Koningh

  Christening Notes:

Robertson, Delia. The First Fifty Years Project. http://www.e-family.co.za/ffy/g6/p6260.html

  Death Notes:

https://www.myheritage.com/person-1000618_120361901_120361901/angela-mooij-ansela-basson-born-van-bengale?lang=AF

  Sources of information or noted events in her life were:

• Web Based Info. Robertson, Delia. The First Fifty Years Project. http://www.e-family.co.za/ffy/g7/p7612.html

And


*** Angela Mooij Ansela van Bengale
Gender: Female
Birth: Circa 1640 - Ganges Delta, Bengal, India
Marriage: Dec 15 1699
Death: July 18 1720 - Kaapstad, Kaap Kolonie
Spouses: ** Arnoldus Willemsz BassonDomingo DomingoJan Van Assen
Children: Elsie BassonElsie BassonGerrit BassonJohannes BassonMaria BassonMichiel BassonWillem BassonClaesje DomingoJan DomingoThomas DomingoJohannes Van AsJacobus Van As (born van Ass)UNKNOWN PieterAnna de Koningh
Biografie

Notes:
The details of her children come from her deceased estate accounts
of 1720 and they are listed as there named. Interestingly enough, the
opgaaf return for 1670 lists this couple with 4 sons and no daughters.
Since Angela and her husband had only baptised one son by the date,
this number must presumably include 3 sons of Angela born before her
marriage. We know of Jacobus van As and Mansell Upham makes a
persuasive case for Johannes van As as another. Where then was
Anna de Koning at this date -- was she still a slave? In the 1682 return
the couple are listed with 6 sons and 1 daughter. (Opgaaf returns from
the computerisation by the Univ of the Western Cape as consulted at
GISA, Mansell Upham: Mooi Ansela & the black sheep of the family,
In: Capensis, 1997 issue 4, continued in later issues).

Her garden in the Table Valley, original grant dated 7th September 1702,
2 morgen in size, was sold from her estate in 23 August 1720 to Hendrik
van Dijk for 3010 gulden.

and her farm in Drakenstein, Hondswijk, 54 morgen in size, original
grant dated 5th July 1695, was sold from her estate for 5000 guldens
on 14th September 1720 to Daniel Marais.
(MOOC 9/1/87 and 88, Verkoop Conditien).



https://www.myheritage.com/person-1000618_120361901_120361901/angela-mooij-ansela-basson-born-van-bengale?lang=AF

• General Comment.
\\viewkind4\\uc1\\Batavia, Jawa Barat, Indonesia, Saam met die slaaf Domingo en Groote Catrijn. Cape Town, Cape, South Africa. "uijt puijre genegentheijt" - versoek Thomas Christoffel Muller om vir 6 maande na haar om te sien. Gabbema is bevorder na Batavia. Sy was maar die derde slawevrou wat aan die Kaap vrygestel is - die eerste wat vrygestel is sonder om te trou. Cape Town, Cape, South Africa / Heerestraat, Kaapstad - Buurman na Ooste was Wouter Cornelis Mostert 'Hondswijck', District Drakenstein[1]
is 'n slavin van Bengale, Indië (Bangladesh). Daar was in die Ganges delta verskeie VOC afsetpunte en forte, byvoorbeeld Hougli (hoofkwartier), Kazimber, en Patna. A.K. Chattopadhyay in Slavery in India (p. 45, 46) vermeld dat die slawehandelaars kinders van hul ouers af ontvoer het in die Bengaalse dorpies en hulle dan as slawe verkoop het, hulle het enige verbygangers ontvoer en selfs arm mense verkoop as slawe. Hy meld verder dat slawe in verskillende klasse verdeel kon word: 1. Slawe wat gevang is in 'n oorlog, dws verslane mense. 2. Die kinders van slawe. 3. Mense wat gekoop is as slawe. 4. Mense wat hulself as pand gegee het. 5. Sommige slawe is as geskenke weggegee. 6. Sommige is in slawerny geplaas deur hofbevele. In Bengale het die Hollanders in klere, opium en salpeter handel gedryf, salpeter was gebruik in die vervaardiging van buskruit. Die slawe van Begale is na die hawens van Canning, Flatah, Chandpalghat en Hooghly geneem aanboord van skepe en 'dhows'. Alle slawe is dan ook gebrandmerk op hulle voorkop en bors. Angela van Bengale is met haar eggenoot, ene Domingo de Conning, en drie kinders as slawe deur Pieter Kemp, 'n vryburger van Batavia, na die Kaap gebring aanboord die Amersfoort. Hy het hulle in Oktober 1655 aan Jan Van Riebeeck verkoop. Angela het blykbaar gehelp met die versorging van die Van Riebeeck-kinders, want toe Johanna Maria van Riebeeck, 'n kleindogter van Jan van Riebeeck, in 1710 in die Kaap gekuier het, het sy haar opgesoek. Toe die Van Riebeecks in 1662 na Batavia vertrek het, het hulle Angela van Bengale en haar kinders aan Abraham Gabbema verkoop op 16 April 1662. Gabbema het blykbaar geheg geraak aan Angela, want toe hy op sy beurt in 1666 na Batavia vertrek het, het hy 'n dokument onderteken op 13 April 1666 wat Angela en haar drie kinders vrygestel het - soos hy dit gestel het, "uit puijre genegentheijt". Angela was maar slegs die derde slaaf wat vrygestel is aan die Kaap. Angela het hierna aansoek gedoen om 'n erf in Heerestraat (later Kasteelstraat), wat aan haar toegestaan is. In 1668 het sy twee van haar kinders wat al mondig was, naamlik Angela en Catharina, laat doop en later ook haar seun, Pieter, wie se vader nie vermeld word nie. Angela het intussen 'n slaaf, genaamd Scipio Africanus, aangeskaf om haar met die verkoop van groente aan verbygaande skepe te help. Na Basson in 1689 oorlede is, het Angela sy boedel op 'n bekwame wyse behartig. Toe sy in 1720 oorlede is, was haar nalatenskap twee keer soveel as wat haar erfenis van haar man bedra het en het haar boedel meer as veertienduisend gulde bedra. In die boedel was ook 'n klein plasie, Hondswijck, wat sy intussen aangeskaf het. Angela het op 'n keer die lewe van 'n Hottentot vrou genaamd Sara probeer red. Sara het selfmoord gepleeg deur haarself op te hang, teen die tyd dat Angela haar bevry het was dit egter te laat. (Familia XVI p23).
Van Riebeeck se kleindogter, Johanna Maria, die Kaap in 1710 besoek, skryf sy in 'n brief van 'Ansiela', die vrou wat haar vader en sy broers en susters (d.w.s. die Van Riebeeck-kinders) opgepas het. Sy skryf verder dat Ansiela later met 'n Hollander getroud is en dat haar dogter die vrou van kaptein 'B.' was. Dit is inderdaad so dat 'Maai' Ansiela, ná haar vrystelling met Arnoldus Basson getroud is en die stammoeder van die Basson-familie in Suid-Afrika geword het. (Maai is blykbaar afgelei uit moei 'tante' [1e keer gedokumenteer 1201-1250] wat eintlik die vleinaam is vir moeder. WNT). Terwyl Angela nog 'n slavin was, is haar dogter, Anna de Koning, uit 'n buite-egtelike verhouding met 'n Europeër gebore. Anna was nie net mooi van aansien met fynbesnede gelaatstrekke nie, maar was ook geletterd en het met 'n vaste hand dokumente onderteken. Sy was met kaptein Oloff Bergh getroud en het op haar beurt die stammoeder van die Bergh-familie in Suid-Afrika geword. Soos soveel ander inwoners van Cabo gedoen het, het Angela waarskynlik ook vendusies bygewoon, hoewel sy self min aangeskaf het te oordeel aan die min kere wat haar naam in die vendurolle voorkom. Op 15 Maart 1719 koop sy as Maij Ansla '1 zadel met 1 kruithoorn' vir 1 riksdaalder op die vendusie van wyle die vermoënde Engela Breda (MOOC10/2.19). Haar naam verskyn weer in haar oorlede seun Michiel Basson se vendurol gedateer 21 November 1719, aangesien die goedere 'ten huijse van Ansla van Bengalen zijn verkogt. Al wat sy toe gekoop het, was ?1 mantje met poppe goet? teen 4:5 riksdaalders 'dalk om iets daarvan vir die kleinkinders te maak'[2] Ansla van Bengalen se boedelinventaris is gedateer 18 Julie 1720 (MOOC8/4.15). Ek het probeer bepaal hoe oud sy ten tyde van haar dood kon wees. Veronderstel dat sy 15 was in 1655, dan was sy 80 in 1720, wat werklik 'n hoë en soos ons sê 'n geseënde ouderdom vir daardie tyd was. Die erfgename tot hierdie boedel behorende was die volgende: • Anna de Koning, huisvrouw van den edle capitijn Olof Bergh
Catarina van der Sanden getrouwe met Gijsbert la Febre
Arnoldus Maasdorp
Jan van As, Matthijs van As, Willem van As ' kinderen van Jacobus van As
Arnoldus Basson, Matthijs Basson ' kinderen van Willem Basson
Arnoldus Basson, Michiel Basson, Jan Basson ' kinderen van Michiel Basson'
[Sowel Anna de Koning as Jacobus van As was voorkinders van Angela van Bengalen.]
het volgens haar inventaris 'n 'thuijn' in die Tafelvalleij besit. Die volgende vertrekke word in die dokument genoem: 'n kamertjie aan die regterhand waar o.a. gelys word '1 paar silvere gespen toebehorende Arnoldus Willemse Basson', haar oorlede man, '1 schilderij van Willem Basson', haar oorlede seun. Dan was daar nog '5 hemden, 1 lakens, 7 kussen slopen by juff:r Bergh' (Anna de Koning). Die volgende vertrekke of plekke is ook gelys, naamlik die 'combuis, voorhuijs, solder, afdakje, thuijnhuis' (met tuin- en ander gereedskap), 'kelder' en 'bottelary'. Volgens die inventaris het sy ook 5 slawe, 39 stuks bokke en 'n buiteplaas genaamd Hondswyk besit. Die slawe in Cabo was Jan Swart van Mallebaar, Louis van de Kust, Augustus van Bengalen, Martha met haar kind en Susanna met haar kind. Op 23 Augustus word Ansla van Bengalen se besittings in die Tafelvallei verkoop. Die Bassons het niks gekoop nie, maar Oloff Bergh het wel 'n paar items gekoop, o.a. '1 vrouw zadel' '1 silver snuifsdoos weegt 2 loot', '1 bett met een peuluw', 2 goue ringe elk met 'n steentjie, '1 kist met cooper beslag' en '1 jonge genaamt Jan Swart van Malle Baaren'. Die twee slavinne is ook verkoop: '1 meijd met een kindt genaamt Marta' aan Hendrik Ewersdeijk (die name het hier 'n bietjie verkeerd geloop), en '1 meijd Sussanna met haer kind' aan m:r Richter.[3] By dieselfde vendusie is 'een meijd genaamt Petronella van de Caab met haer kind' teen 141 riksdaalders aan Tomas Verrijn verkoop vir die rekening van die erfgename van wyle Michiel Basson.[4] Die vendurol van 14 September 1720 bevat die verkoopte goedere op Angela se plaas genaamd Hondswijk. Dit is ook heeltemal ander persone wat na die veiling gekom en goed gekoop het, omdat die plaas op die platteland geleë was. Vanne soos Viljoen, Roux, Marais, Lombart, De Plaisij, Zeenekal, Van Wijk, Meijboom, Roos, Prinslo, Pinar en De Venter kom voor, geen Basson of Bergh nie. Daar was slegs 3 slawe op die plaas, naamlik Pieter, Trompetter en Claas, al drie van Madagaskar wat deur onderskeidelik Hendrik Mholl, Wouter de Vos en Pieter Willemsse van Heerden gekoop is."[5]
(Ansela) VAN BENGALE Angela VAN BENGALE was born about 1645. She died in 1720. Anna de Koningh was born in Batavia, one of three children of the slave known as Angela of Bengal. The whole family was brought to the Cape by Pieter Kemp, a Free Burgher of Batavia, who sold them to Jan van Riebeeck (1619-1677). In 1662 Van Riebeeck sold the family to Abraham Gabbema, who when he was transferred to Batavia in 1666 set Angela and her three children free. It is not known what happened to her husband. In 1669 Angela married the Free Burgher Arnoldus Willemsz from Wesel, later known as Arnoldus Willemsz Basson; they had three children.[6] On the 15 Dec 1669 she got married to Arnoldus Willemsz Basson = b3 Johannes Basson = b3c1 Arnoldus Johannes Basson = b3c1d3 Anna Catharina Basson = b6c7 Johannes Dewalt Hattingh = b6c7d4 *Johannes Dewalt Hattingh = b6c7d4e10 Christiaan Johannes Hattingh = b6c7d4e10f4 Martha Rhyna Hattingh = b2c1d2e2f2g3h4 Anna Elizabeth Sophia van Jaarsveldt = b4c2d5e4f11g3 Jacobus Johannes Burger Combrinck = my mother = me Note:* Johannes Dewalt Hattingh was the half brother of Voortrekker leader Andries W.J. Pretorius. See pencil drawing of Andries Pretorius (19K) holding his sword. Hattingh was married to Anna Elisabeth Retief (after Hattingh passed away she married a Steenkamp) she kept a diary on the Great Trek and was the child of Francois Retief, older brother of Voortrekker leader Piet Retief. See (photo of brother (22k) of Piet Retief and also a photo of a sister of Francois & Piet Retief (16k) found in G Preller's book Piet Retief). Angela was a slave from Bengale, India. The Ganges delta had numerous company stations, such as Hougli (Head Quarters), Kazimber, and Patna. Clothing, opium and salpeter (the later used in preparation of gunpowder) was sold here. She was brought on the ship Amersfoort to the Cape (W. Blommaert "Het Invoern van de Slavernij aan de Kaap", p 6 Archive Year Book of South Africa 1938 Vol I). In Oct 1655 van Riebeeck bought a slave family from commander Pieter Kemp. Domingo and Angela van Bengale and their three children. Angela was sold by Jan van Riebeeck on 19 Apr 1662 to Abraham Gabbema, on the next day he sold Domingo, Jan, Thomas and Claesje all from Angola, to Roeloff de Man. (One wonders whether this Domingo is the same as Angela's husband). On the 13th April 1666 Gabbema signed a document which would lead to Angela's freedom six months later, see reproduction of this document which gave Angela her freedom (58k), from Boeseken p102, 103. She was the third person to be freed from slavery at the Cape. Angela tried to save a Hottentot woman, Sara, who committed suicide by hanging, unfortunately she was already dead (Familia XVI p23). Angela got married on the 15 December 1669 to the free burgher Arnoldus Willemsz from Wesel, he is known as Arnoldus Willemsz Basson, they had three children: Willem baptised Aug 1670, Gerrit baptised 12 March 1673 and Johannes baptised 5 May 1675. Basson, her husband died in 1689 and Angela died ten years later. Apparently her son Johannes predeceased her and I am a descendant of him. Angela received two properties as titles according to Cairns p 86. Angela was also the mother of Anna de Koningh who got married to Olof Bergh, there is a drawing of Anna de Koningh which I have included at the beginning of Page 1.[1]
Willemsz BASSON, was baptised 31 March 1647 at the Willibrordkirche and he died 1698. His father was Willem Baeson who was married on 9 May 1634 to Elsken Boespinck. He was already in 1665 atthe Cape as a burgher. He had the nickname "Jagt".[7] Arnoldus got married, 1669 to the previous slave ANGELA (Ansela) VAN BENGALE (also known as Maaij Ansela). She died c1720, (according to Richard Ball) refer to her Estate Account MOOC 13/1/2, 1.[7] Jan van Riebeeck bought Angela in 1655 from Pierre Kemp. Van Riebeeck in turn sold Angela on his departure from the Cape in 1662 to Fiscal Abraham Gabbema. On the 13th April 1666 Gabbema signed a document which would lead to Angela's freedom six months late, after serving Thomas Christoffel Mullerr. She was the third person to be freed from slavery at the Cape.[7] Angela was baptised 29 April 1668.[7] Angela tried to save a Hottentot woman, Sara, who committed suicide by hanging, unfortunately she was already dead (Familia, XVI, p 23).[7] Angela received two properties as titles according to Cairns p. 86.[7] Angela had a number of 'VOORKINDERS'[8], Basson was not their father: Anna de Koning X Oloef Bergh Jacobus van As (Their father was most likely Jan van Assen) Johannes van As Pieter = 3 Jun 1668 (We do not know who his father was, he died young)[7] CHILDREN OF Arnoldus Willemsz BASSON and ANGELA (Ansela) VAN BENGALE:
Willem baptised Aug 1670, died 30 Jan 1713, X 18 March 1691 Helena Clements 2. Gerrit, X Johanna Rynick 3. Johannes (He died before his mother) X Zacharia Visser 4. Elsie she died young 5. Michiel = 26 Jun 1679 X Maria Daaldons 6. Elsie = 29 Jun 1681 X Reynier van der Sande 7. Maria = 16 May 1683, X C Maasdorp[7] Arnoldus Basson obtained the title of the farm Nuwedorp in Groot Drakenstein with Jacobus van As on 20 December 1689. He died in 1689.[7] Angela purchased the 22 year old slave Pieter van Malabar in 1698. She also bought the slave Arend van Bengale in 1700. When she died she owned the farm Hondswyk in Drakenstein.[7][9][7]
her long life Angela endured the suicide in 1671 of the Hottentot woman (Zara) in her sheep pen; the detention in 1687 of her son-in-law (Olof Bergh) on Robben Island & removal thereafter to Ceylon; the execution in 1688 of her son (Jan van As) for kidnapping, stock theft & murder; the sexual indiscretion in 1701 of her son (Jan Basson) with the Widow Putter resulting in a bastard grandson (Arnoldus Johannes Basson who was later banished in 1739 from the Cape for aiding & abetting Estienne Barbier) & the banishment in 1716 of her grandson (Jan van As) to Robben Island for his undisclosed (unmentionable?) behavior.[10]
woman from Bengal named Mary was bought in 1653 for van Riebeeck in Batavia. Two years later, he purchased, from the Commander of a Dutch ship, a family from Bengal - Domingo and Angela and their three children. On May 21, 1956, the marriage was solemnised at the Cape between Jan Wouters, a white, and Catherine of Bengal. Later in the year Anton Muller was given permission to marry a slave woman from Bengal. From then until late eighteenth century when the import of slaves from Asia was prohibited, many hundreds, if not thousands, of persons from India - mainly from Bengal, Coromandel Coast and Kerala - were taken to the Cape and sold into slavery. Officers of ships and officials of the Dutch India Company returning to Holland usually took slaves or servants with them and sold them at high profit in the Cape. (They could not be taken to Holland where slavery was prohibited). Many others were carried by Danish, British and other ships. While most of the Indians were taken from Indian ports, a considerable number were also taken from Batavia where thousands of Indians had been transported by the Dutch as slaves. Bradlow put together available information from various studies on the places of origin of the slaves and free blacks between 1658 and early nineteenth century. The information is very incomplete after 1700 and covers only a little over three thousand persons. The figures indicate that the Indian sub-continent was the place of origin of the largest number of slaves (36.40 percent), followed by Indonesia (31.47 percent) and Africa (26.65 percent). Of those from India, 42 percent were from Bengal (including Bihar and Orissa), 23 percent from the Coromandel Coast (especially Trancquebar, Tuticorin, Nagapatnam, Pulicat and Masulipatnam); and 32 percent from the Malabar Coast (including Goa, Bombay and Surat). Angela and her three children were freed in 1666. She integrated easily into the white community. In 1669 she married Arnoldus Willemsz Basson, with whom she had three children. Her daughter from the first marriage also married a Dutchman. When her husband died in 1689, Angela took charge of the estate which had a considerable value when she died in 1720. Sexual relations between whites and Asian slaves were quite common in the 17th and 18th centuries, and several studies show that half or more of the children of slave women had white fathers. Asian ancestry did not automatically lower one's status. The grandmother of Simon van der Stel, the most prominent Governor of the Cape in the 17th century, was an Asian woman.
MARKS THE SPOT - Ingrid Jones
story has a beginning, a middle and an end. You can start at any point, but the formula from there will be the same. My recollection of my experience at Boschendal Estate, situated in the Groot Drakenstein in the winelands near Pniel and Franschhoek, will start at the end; and I'll work my way back from there.

the last morning of our stay at Boschendal, I was ready to go home. The notorious Boland heat was going to come round with hell-like fury at a scorching 40°C.
was January and summer was at her blazing best. After a night of indulgence, I was in no mood for an MCC tasting in those temperatures. But an appointment is an appointment, so I made my way over to the historic 1812 Manor House in which the bespoke, premier, booking-essential wine tasting sessions are conducted.
walking through the imposing 200-year old rooms that hold an incredible amount of history, I was shown to the tasting room. An exquisite collection of antiques and paintings form the backdrop to an experience of sipping wine and MCC in celebration of the 300-year winemaking history of the farm. Boy, was I glad I didn't opt out of this appointment as I settled into a deep chair in the sitkamer {`lounge' or 'drawing room').
family joined me for a morning of bubbly and canapes prepared by chef Christiaan Campbell and his team. Glass in hand, I looked up at the wall to read the names and signatures of the generations that have owned the farm since 1685. Most striking of all was a golden cross in the corner of the room. At first I thought it was just a feature, but after two glasses I had enough courage to ask about it. My eyes filled up with tears when it was explained that the 'X' marks the signature of Angela van Bengale, one of the first freed slaves in South Africa.
was the nursemaid of Jan van Riebeeck and when she was granted her freedom, she was also given land in the Table Bay area - around what is known today as Adderley Street. She married and her husband bought a property that now forms part of the Boschendal estate. When she passed away, winemaking equipment was found on the property; hence she's thought to be South Africa's first female winemaker. Angela is honoured on two labels in Boschendal's Vin de Memoir range. Her signature took the form of an X' because she was illiterate.
first recollection of Boschendal is of attending the wedding of a friend way back in the 1980s. The venue stuck in my mind as a wedding location and a place people go for picnics on a Sunday. It remained that way in my head -just a place on the way to Franschhoek - and I never returned or went for a picnic.
all that changed once the current owners took over and started rejuvenating the property into a lifestyle destination. The 2000 hectares of lush farmland now produces export-quality fruit, has a 900-strong herd of Angus cattle, free-range chickens, a spa and a nine-hectare sustainable vegetable garden.
attending weddings and having fabulous picnics, you can stay overnight in the cottages, ride horses, go mountain biking and hiking, take vineyard and cellar tours, and treat yourself to bespoke wine tastings and fantastic fine-dining experiences.
can't do Boschendal justice just by going for a meal. There is so much to take in that you have to spend at least two nights in one of the cottages on the estate. My family stayed over on the farm and as we drove in my jaw started dropping at the new picnic areas with hammocks and big pouffes under the trees. Not to mention the staff who bring your picnic orders to your site.
no standing around in queues picking at limp lettuce or drinking dodgy wine. All of the produce is sourced from the farm's vegetable garden and whatvever is fresh dictates the menu at the restuarants run by Chef Christiaan. We were amazed at the impressive variety of vegetables in the Boschendal `pantry' on a tour of the vegetable garden with horticulturist Megan McCarthy, who is in charge of the garden.
lunch at the deli, which included lots of chilled Mimosas, we retired to our beautiful two-bedroomed, air-conditioned cottage. The sparkling round pool framed by lavender fields and fig trees with the Drakenstein mountain range as a backdrop was something out of a dream.
cottages are situated on the other side of Pniel Road opposite the main farm; families can have fun with doing the activities on offer, like orchard walks and visiting the lookout point. It's self-catering, but who wants to cook when the chefs conjure up dishes like slow-braised lamb shoulder with broccoli risotto or a brisket of Angus beef, hot-smoked for 16 hours and plated with creamy local South African organic yellow maize polenta and a salad of wild herbs foraged from the vegetable garden beds?
at Die Werf restaurant blew us all away. It was a beautiful night under the stars. Everything on our plates was sourced from the farm, bar the fish. We didn't know what to order given all the deliciousness on the menu, so Chef Christiaan suggested we sample a little bit of everything on offer.
resolved not to drink too much because of the heat, but the very well-trained waiter persuaded me to do a pairing with some of the wines he would select for us. We ended up having a different wine with every course and the amount of glasses stacked in front of me was shameful, but I loved every drop and every morsel.
we plodded off to bed, our waiter recommended that I have an Old Fashioned. Hamish the barman prepared the bourbon mix at the table. He scorched an oak plank with a blowtorch before catching the smoke and dancing sparkles in the glass. Quite a spectacle for all the onlookers. It was lovely, but I settled for a last Negroni after that. Needless to say, I slept like a baby
from Juice March 2018. (Mango's In Flight Magazine)}

And

https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/first-slaves-cape

The First Slaves at the Cape
On March 28 1658 the Dutch merchant ship the Amersfoort anchored at Table Bay with 174 Angolan slaves in her hold. These slaves constituted the first shipment of slaves to arrive at the Cape, yet although the Amersfoort was the first ship to bring a whole cargo of slaves to the Cape, beginning the history of the slave trade at the Cape, these ill-fated Angolans were not the first slaves to set foot in the colony. Between 1652, the year of Jan van Riebeeck's landing at the Cape, and 1658, when the first slave shipment arrived, between 11 and 20 slaves had already been brought to the Cape colony.

In 1657, half a year before the arrival of the Amersfoort, the Dutch East India Company (VOC) Commissioner Rijckloff van Goens visited the Cape, and noted that Company officials at the Cape were in possession of 11 slaves, of which four slave women and one male belonged to Commander Van Riebeeck, one slave to the sergeant, one female slave at the sick visitor's, where people who were ill went, one female slave at the junior merchants, on female slave at the gardeners, one Madagascar female slave to sweep the fort, and one slave at the surgeons. It is from this account that most historical works make the claim that there were 11 slaves at the Cape before the arrival of the first large shipment of slaves on the Amersfoort. However, there seems to be sufficient indication in the scattered and unclear records that there were more than 11 slaves at the Cape by the time the Amersfoort arrived, with historians guessing the number could be anywhere up to 20.

These few souls, who arrived at the Cape in dribs and drabs, as stowaways or the personal slaves of Company officials, were the very first slaves in the Cape settlement. For four years this tiny group of enslaved peoples lived amongst the colonists, the only slaves amongst a few hundred Europeans. Almost all of these early slaves arrived at the Cape with VOC officials returning to the Netherlands from Batavia, although some where stowaways, some prisoners, and some gifts from across the seas. According to VOC rules, Company officials returning home from Batavia were allowed to take their personal slaves with them, but, as slavery was technically outlawed in the Netherlands, the officials could take their slaves no further than the Cape. Many officials made use of this rule to bring their personal slaves to the Cape and sell them there, where, as a rare commodity, the slaves would fetch a higher price than in Batavia. It was through this informal trade that most of South Africa's very first slaves reached her shores.

Most of the personal slaves who arrived at the Cape with VOC officials were women. In the early years of the colony these slave women were numbered amongst the very few women at the Cape. Of the roughly 360 people residing at the Cape in 1658, only 20 of them were categorised as 'Dutch women and children', with probably only half that number being women, rather than children. This meant that the male to female ratio in the colony was highly skewed. The result of this was that of the very earliest slave women who arrived at the Cape, three, Angela, Catharina and Anna, were manumitted in order to marry Dutchmen at the Cape. These slave women are the 'stammoeders' (matriarchs) of thousands of South Africans, of all colours and creeds.

As the numbers of the first slaves were so small, and their presence so visible in the settlement at the Cape, a few of them, particularly those who married Dutchmen, are amongst the most well documented slaves of the early Cape. A few of the others, particularly the male slaves, are so poorly documented that the only clue to their existence is a line or two in a letter or Van Riebeeck's journal.

Abraham van Batavia

Abraham van Batavia was the first slave at the Cape, but he was not brought there by anyone but himself, for Abraham arrived at the Cape as a stowaway. On 2 March 1653 Abraham arrived at the Cape aboard the Malacca, a ship in a VOC fleet returning to the Netherlands from Batavia. On the journey from Batavia to the Cape Abraham had been discovered by the crew of the ship. It is possible that Abraham had stowed away on the ship in the hopes of making it all the way to the Netherlands, where it was rumoured that slaves were set free. Whatever Abraham's reasons for trying to stowaway on a ship and travel thousands of kilometres from his home, his discovery by the crew before their arrival at the Cape foiled his plans. Abraham was taken off the Malacca and left behind at the Cape in order to be returned to his owner in Batavia, an arrack (a liquor from south-east Asia) distiller called Cornelius Lichthart. Van Riebeeck attempted to buy Abraham off of his owner in order to keep him on as a slave-worker in the Cape colony, but Lichthart absolutely refused. And so, after two years of negotiations, Abraham was sent back to Batavia, although by this point Van Riebeeck noted in his journal that his health was so bad that he was unable to even earn half of his food.

Eva and Jan Bruyn

In December of 1654 Frederick Verburgh brought the slave woman Eva, aged about 30, and her son Jan Bruyn, aged about 3, back with him from his first expedition to Madagascar. Eva was put in the service of Sergeant Jan van Herwerden, a senior member of the small community at the Cape.

In May of 1657 Eva was sent to Robben Island to quarry stone as she was considered strong enough to carry the quarried stones. Jan Woutersz, the superintendent on Robben Island, soon wrote of Eva:

'She does nothing but run about the island, chasing the sheep and driving them from the lands. She needs somebody to look after her and does not heed and cannot understand signs, gestures or thrashings, so that no credit can be gained at this work with such people.'

In March of 1658 Eva was brought back to the mainland. There is no further documentation relating to either Eva or her son.

Anthony

Anthony was a slave who probably arrived with Eva and her son in December of 1654, although there is no record of his arrival at the Cape. The first mention of Anthony is made by Van Riebeeck on 12 March 1655, when he notes that Anthony has 'quite suddenly' disappeared, and feels that he was in all likelihood killed by the KhoiKhoi.

The journal entry from March 12 1655 reads:

It is now several days since we first missed a certain Madagascar slave, and we do not know where he has gone. He disappeared quite suddenly in the morning, the day before yesterday. On a few precious occasions when any of our men had absconded, we had them brought back by the Hottentots for a small piece of tobacco, but they have not been willing to go and look for this slave although we promised them not only a large amount of tobacco but some copper to boot. This makes us suspect that they killed him, the more so as this slave was always fighting with them.

Where Anthony went and what happened to him is unknown. This journal entry on the 'disappeared' slave is the only marker of his existence.

Catharina van Bengale

Catharina Anthonis van Bengale is one of the most well known and important slaves of those first few years of the settlement. Catharina was the first slave at the Cape colony to be freed. She was freed in April of 1656, only four years after the founding of the settlement, by her owner Dirck Sarcerius of Batavia. Catharina was freed so that she could marry the Dutchman, Jan Woutersz. On 26 April Catharina received official permission to marry Woutersz and on Sunday 21 May 1656 the two were married in a ceremony in the castle. The wedding between this ex-slave and the Dutchman marked the first documented mixed marriage in South Africa. Their marriage was also the earliest marriage to take place at the Cape. The entry from Van Riebeeck's journal on the day of their marriage reads:

To-day the banns having been published on three Sundays, the assistant Jan Wouterssen was married before the law or the Council of this fort to the honourable young maiden, Catarina Anthonis, from Salagon in Bengal, formerly a slave girl in the service of the Hon. Boogeard, in the open Council chamber after the reading of the Sunday service, in accordance with the relative resolution.

Jan Woutersz had joined the company in 1644. In 1653 he was sent from Batavia to the Cape where he acted as Assistant and bookkeeper. There is some indication that Woutersz may have been disabled in some way as he twice refers to himself in documents as 'cripple Jan'. At the Cape, Woutersz had enough standing in the company to be allowed to eat at Van Riebeeck's table, and when he was not at the fort his wife, Catharina, would sit in his place, socialising with what was essentially the elite of Cape society at the time. The logs seem to imply that although there were only six white wives of VOC officials at the time, Catharina, described as a 'black woman', was offered the same respect and treatment as the other wives and was part of their social company. Catharina was baptised as a Christian, which at the time was the most crucial barrier to entry into settler society, thereby formalising her full acceptance into Dutch society. Once she was a Christian and the wife of a Dutchman, the records seem to indicate that Catharina's skin colour did not make much difference to the way in which she was seen and treated by the settlers.


Portrait of Dutch ships in Table Bay South Africa in the 17th century Source

A year after her marriage to Woutersz, Catharina's fate was to take a turn for the worse. By March 1657, some of the settlers had been complaining that Woutersz consumed too much arrack and that he had slandered against Van Riebeeck and his wife, Maria. Dissent of any sort was not tolerated in the VOC and so Woutersz had to make a public retraction of his claims, beg forgiveness on his bare knees, have his tongue pierced by an awl and lose his rank as Assisstant, as well as his possessions, and be banished to Robben Island. Catharina, however, was heavily pregnant at the time, and so, in sympathy for her condition, parties in the Cape society bandied together to alleviate her husband's punishment. As a result, Woutersz's tongue was not pierced and his banishment revoked. Two months later however, stone suitable for quarrying was discovered on Robben Island and Woutersz was sent to the island as superintendent, to supervise the work of four servants, slaves and exiles in the quarry.

Robben Island at the time was windswept and desolate, a place for the company to raise sheep without the threat of predators, but it had also taken the first steps in its long history as a quarry and penal colony. At the time there were only five people living on the island, in empty isolation. It was in these lonely and harsh conditions, far from her home or any people she knew, that Catharina had to raise her first son. By March of 1658, after Woutersz had been in charge of Robben Island for 10 months, Van Riebeeck felt that he had returned to his previous bad behaviour and neglected his duties. Disgusted by his behaviour Van Riebeeck ordered that Woutersz and his wife and child be sent to India. In 1658, Catharina, the first slave to have a married a colonists, left the Cape and is lost the records of Cape history.

Cornelia and Lijsbeth and Klein Eva

In March 1657, three little slave girls arrived at the Cape, Cornelia, Lijsbeth and Kleine Eva. Cornelia, aged 10, and Lijsbeth, aged 12, were two so called 'Arabian' slave girls from Abyssinia, present day Ethiopia. They had been brought to the Cape by the French Admiral De la Roche Saint-Andre, and were presented as a gift to Van Riebeeck's wife.

With these two girls came a further little slave girl, only five years of age. This girl was called 'Kleine Eva'. She had been sent to the Cape as gift by the King of Antongil in Madagascar, in order to show the Dutch at the Cape that the King was interested establishing a slave-trade network with them. All three girls were very young when they arrived, and it is likely they were all put into the household of Van Riebeeck. How their lives unfolded after their arrival at the Cape is unknown.

Angela van Bengale

Angela van Bengale, affectionately known as Maai Ansiela, is one of the most famous and prominent early slaves at the Cape. Angela had been brought to the Cape, via Batavia, with her companion Domingo and her three children by the commander of the return ship the Amersfoort, Pieter Kemp. It seems that Angela and her family were taken by slave raiders somewhere in the Ganges delta area of Bengal. The VOC Commander Pieter Kemp bought Angela and her family with him to the Cape as personal servants of his. They arrived on 24 February 1657.

There is much controversy over the character of Domingo. Very little is said about Domingo in any of the Cape documents. Some historians have argued that Domingo was Angela's husband and that the children who came with them were in part Angela and Domingo's children. Other historians have argued that Domingo was not Angela's husband at all, but in fact a woman.

At the Cape, Pieter Kemp sold Angela and her whole family to Van Riebeeck and his wife as personal household slaves. Five years later, when Van Riebeeck left the Cape for Batavia in 1662, he sold Angela to Abraham Gabemma. In 1666 Gabbemma left the Cape to return to the Netherlands. Before he left he manumitted his favourite slave, Angela. Two years after being freed, in April 1668, Angela made the full transition to Cape burgher society by becoming baptised as a Christian.

A year later, in December 1669, she married the Dutchman Arnoldus Basson, a reasonably wealthy free-burgher. Basson and Angela were married for 20 years, having six children together and building up their lives in the Cape colony. In 1689 Basson, who had been considerably older than Angela, died. He left his widow with a large inheritance of 6 495 guilders and a lot of land on Heerengracht, present day Adderly Street. Angela became the owner of this land, making Angela van Bengale, an ex-slave and widow, in fact the first woman to be granted land in the Cape in her own name.

As a widow with a small fortune and a plot of land Angela was a wealthy and independent woman, a rare and coveted state for a woman to be in. Her wealth and her independence, as well as her character which was described as wonderful, placed Angela in a high standing in Cape society. She was also clearly an astute business woman and housekeeper, for when she died she had managed not only to maintain her inherited wealth but to more than double it to 14 808 guilders, and she owned a small farm.

Angela, who lived well into her seventies, had to suffer a number of hardships in her life. Her son-in-law, Oloff Bergh, was put in detention; her son that had come with her from Batavia, Jan van As, was executed in 1688 for kidnapping, stock theft and murder; her son Jan Basson had indiscreet sexual relations with a widow resulting in a bastard grandson, Arnoldus Johannes Basson, who was later banished from the Cape in 1739; and her grandson, also a Jan van As, was banished to Robben Island in 1716.

Angela died in 1720, at over seventy years of age, an ex-slave who had become a wealthy and respected member of Cape society. Angela and Arnoldus had six children who all lived and procreated at the Cape, making Angela the forefather of thousands of South Africans and the mother of the Basson family in South Africa.

Anne De Koning

Anna De Koning was the daughter of Angela van Bengale. She arrived with Angela from Batavia, but who her father was is unknown. Like her mother, Anna de Koning was to make quite a name for herself at the Cape, moving from being a slave to becoming the mistress of that great Cape property, Groot Constantia.

It is believed that Anna was born in bondage somewhere around 1656 in Batavia, meaning she was very young when she arrived at the Cape. Anna, the only slave from the time of whom there is a portrait, was considered a true beauty in Cape society. On 10 September 1678, Anna married Oloff Bergh, a very well to-do gentleman who was one of Governor Simon van der Stel's favourites at the Cape.


The Portrait of Anna De Koning, the only known portrait of a slave from the early years of the Cape. Source

Oloff Bergh was of Swedish descent. He was born in 1643 and arrived at the Cape in 1676 when he was only 24 years old. He became a trusted employee of Governor Van der Stel and in 1686, as a reward for his hard work in retrieving treasure from a nearby shipwreck, Bergh was appointed to the High Court of Justice. In 1687, Anna's husband was put on trial under the suspicion of having taken valuable goods from a shipwreck and hiding them from the Company. In May of that year Bergh was banished to Robben Island taking his poor wife Anna with him. In September 1690, after three years imprisonment, first on Robben Island, and then in the castle, Bergh was finally set free and given the option of returning to his former VOC rank and serving the company elsewhere, or remaining in the Cape as a rank-less free burgher. Bergh took the former choice and left with his whole family for Ceylon, taking Anna with him. Although there is no record of Anna's feelings or situation during this tumultuous time in her husband's life, it was undoubtedly a difficult period for her. How Anna felt about returning to Ceylon, so near to the place where her mother was taken by slavers, is unknown.


The portrait of Oloff Bergh, Anna's husband, which was the accompaniment to Anna's portrait. Source

In 1695, five years after leaving, Bergh and Anna returned to the Cape from Ceylon. In Ceylon, Bergh built a record of service that was so fine that he was appointed Captain of the Garrison. Upon their return Bergh and Anna, with their children, moved into a comfortable residence on the Heerengracht, near the Dutch Reformed Church.

In 1712 Simon van der Stel died. With his death came the division of his great and beautiful farm, Constantia, which was divided into Groot and Klein Constantia. Bergh, who was by this time a very wealthy man, bought Groot Constantia as a home for him and Anna. This meant that Anna, a child of a slave and an ex-slave herself, became the mistress of one of Cape Town's greatest residences.

Bergh and Anna had 12 children. The names of their children were Christina, Maria, Petrus, Apolonia Africana, Carolusi Erlandt, Johanna Magdalen, Dorothea Francina, Martinus, Simon Petrus, Engela and Albertus.

Bergh died in 1724 at the age of 81. Anna, however, outlived her husband by many years. Bedecked in the most extravagant jewels and as one of the wealthiest widows at the Cape, this former slave girl spurned any further advances for her hand, living out the last of years alone as the mistress of Groot Constantia.

Anna de Koning, who had been born a slave, died in 1734, a wealthy widow of a prestigious Cape gentleman and the mistress of one of the greatest properties of the Cape. At the time of her death Anna owned 27 slaves, one of which was from Bengal and one even a Zulu from Natal. As the mother of 12 children Anna, like her mother, is one of the stammoeders of South African society and many South Africans, of all colours and creeds, and in particular all of the Bergh family, can trace their lineage back to her.

The Two Marias

There were two Maria van Bangle at the Cape settlement in its earliest years. One was in all likelihood a slave of Van Riebeeck's. The other arrived at the Cape as punishment. In December of 1657 the Council of India sent a Maria of Bengal to the Cape who was being punished for her thieving ways and exiled to spend the rest of her life on Robben Island. The fact that many of the slaves were all given similar names means that to keep track of the slaves at the Cape through the scanty records can prove difficult, as is shown by the confusion of two Marias who are often conflated into one person in history books.

And

http://www.jessehaye.com/angela_van_bengale.html

http://www.jessehaye.com/angela_van_bengale.html

Angela van Bengale "Maai or mother Ansiela" and her daughter Anna de Koningh

8th and 7th great-grandmothers of Jesse Haye

Angela was brought to the Cape, via Batavia, with her husband Domingo and their three children onboard of the VOC ship Amersfoort. They arrived with a fleet of ships including the Prins Willem, on 24 February 1657. The fleet had set sail from Batavia on 4th December 1656.This was before the first official slave consignments had been sanctioned. The family had been kidnapped by slave-raiders from Ganges delta area, their north-east India homeland. VOC Commander Pieter Kemp, a Free Burgher from Batavia, who had also been a landdrost there, sold Angela and the children to Jan van Riebeeck and his wife. Van Riebeeck was the first Dutch commander at the Cape. And founder of the Cape colony. He had arrived in Table Bay five years earlier in April 1652, with his three ships, De Reiger, De Drommedaris and De Goede Hoop. His mission was to establish a supply station on behalf of the Dutch East India Company where fresh produce could be cultivated to supply the VOC ships passing through on their way to the East.

Photo: SA History Online, Iziko Museums of Cape Town

Jan van Riebeeck sold Angela and her children to Abraham Gabbema five years later, on the 19th of April 1662. In the bill of sale no mention is made of her three children, but as Gabbema later liberated her children, they must have been included in the deal. Angela's age is nowhere mentioned and the price has also been omitted in this document.

When Gabbema, who was second in command at the Cape was promoted to Batavia, he signed a document on the 13th of April 1666, liberating Angela and her children 'uit puijre genegentheijt'. Before he left he asked Thomas Christoffel Muller to look after her for the first six months after his departure. Soon after gaining her freedom Angela, asked for and was given a plot of land in the Heerestraat, 57 by 50 feet in area. The deed was signed by Cornelis van Quaelbergen.

On 29 April 1668, Maai Ansiela made the full transition to Burgher society by being baptized as a Christian. On 15 Dec 1669, Angela married the Free Burger Arnoldus Willemsz Basson and thus became a member of the community of free persons ("vryliedengemeenskap").

The freed slave, Angela van Bengale,(Both male and female slaves could submit a request to the Council for manumission. In order to secure freedom however, slaves needed to be baptized, and be able to speak Nederduits. In addition, they needed to provide the VOC with a healthy capable male slave to take their place or pay the Company the amount equal to the value of a strong young male slave.) continued to live the life of a prosperous and respected member of early Cape society, even after Basson died in 1698. Maai Ansiela died in 1720 having lived well into her 70s. At the time of her death, her estate of f6494 (estate of Arnoldus Basson) had more than doubled thanks to her skilful management and now amounted to over 15000 guilders. This was besides her property in Table Valley, livestock, slaves and the small farm Hondswijck in Drakenstein, which the estate sold to Daniel Marais for f820. Angela also owned the farm Kronendal in Houtbay, today it is a restaurant. Description of the sale of her slaves and other possessions Nationaal Archief: 12653 VOC Monsterrol 1700.

Angela had a number of CHILDREN, of which Basson was not the father:
Anna de Koning, father unknown, she married Olaf Bergh.
Jacobus and Johannes van As, their father was most likely Jan van Assen.

CHILDREN OF DOMINGO and ANGELA VAN BENGALE: Jan, Thomas en Claesje

CHILDREN OF Arnoldus Willemsz BASSON and ANGELA VAN BENGALE:

1. Willem baptized Aug 1670, died 30 Jan 1713, married 18 March 1691 Helena Clements
2. Gerrit baptized 12 March 1673, married Johanna Rynick
3. Johannes, baptized 5 May 1675, (died before his mother) married Zacharia Visser
4. Elsie, died young
5. Michiel born 26 Jun 1679, married Maria Daaldons
6. Elsie born 29 Jun 1681, married Reynier van der Sande 7. Maria born 16 May 1683

Throughout her long life Angela had to endure the suicide in 1671 of the Hottentot (the name given to the local Khoi-Khoi tribe) woman (Zara) in her sheep pen; the detention in 1687 of her son-in-law (Olaf Bergh) on Robben Island & banishment thereafter to Ceylon; the execution in 1688 of her son (Jan van As) for kidnapping, stock theft & murder; the sexual indiscretion in 1701 of her son (Jan Basson) with the Widow Putter, resulting in a bastard grandson (Arnoldus Johannes Basson who was later banished in 1739 from the Cape for aiding & abetting Estienne Barbier) & the banishment in 1716 of her grandson (Jan van As) to Robben Island for his undisclosed (unmentionable?) behavior.

View report of some of the Descendants of Angela van Bengale

Maai Ansiela had at least three children while she was a slave. One of her children while still a slave, was her beautiful daughter Anna de Koningh, who married the Swedish Captain, Olaf Bergh in 1677. Anna de Koningh`s portrait is the only one of a former slave of this period that still exists today. Olaf Bergh was close to the elite of the Cape and it seems that he enjoyed a special relationship with both the first and second Governor Simon and Willem Adriaan van der Stel.

Anna de Koningh, my 7th great-grandmother

Photo: http://www.theresebenade.com

When Anna de Koningh lost her husband in 1724, she inherited the van der Stel property, Groot Constantia. She lived until 1733. Anna de Koningh, born a slave, had become the lady of the Governors manor. Anna had inherited her mother's beauty and used that to her advantage. She rose from very humble beginnings to become a free and prosperous woman who stood out as a character in early Cape society. Her cupboard is still on show at the Groot Constantia museum.

Thousands of South Africans and others, colored, white and Indo, have Angela van Bengale and her daughter Anna as ancestors. Yet these slave pioneers in South African history remain relatively unknown.

Olof Bergh, my 7th great-grandfather

Photo: http://www.theresebenade.com

Olof Bergh was born to a cadet branch of a Swedish noble house in 1643 in Goteborg, Sweden.Bergh joined the Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie (VOC) or Dutch East India Company in 1665, serving in Batavia and Ceylon before arriving at the Cape in 1670. Bergh became a prominent and wealthy member of the Cape community. He enjoyed a close relationship with Commander and later Governor Simon van der Stel, something that would become very useful later. (1)

In 1682 Olaf was send out to salvage the Johanna, the first English East Indiaman to be wrecked on the South African coastline. She weighed 550 tons, and was commanded by Captain Robert Brown. She was on an outward bound voyage from the Downs, off south-east Kent, which she had left on the 27th February 1682 in the company of 4 other ships named the Williamson, Nathaniel, Welvaert and Samson, all bound for Bengal except the Johanna destined for Surat. The Johanna went down about 40 miles to the east of the Cape, at about 4 o'clock in the morning of the 8th June, in good but dark cloudy weather. The Johanna's principal cargo consisted of silver specie to the value of 72, 000 pounds (70 chests of pieces-of-eight and silver bullion of the English factories in Bengal). Ten people drowned and 104 people reached Cape Town. Rumors of treasure on board the ship caused Commander van der Stel to send a salvage party, headed by VOC official Ensign Olaf Bergh, to see what they could find. At the site, Bergh found four bodies washed up on shore, which they buried. Besides bottles of Brandy, casks of wine and beer, Bergh found 613 Spanish Reels, which had all washed up on shore. This stimulated Bergh's desire to get out to the wreck and he sent for a carpenter and a slave named Pay Mina, who was a trained pearl diver. Bergh returned to the Castle after successfully salvaging coins to the value of 28, 302 gulden.

Four years later in 1686 Bergh was accused of plundering the wreck of the Portugueseship Nossa Senhora de los Milagros, a case surrounded by a great deal of controversy and mystery. This vessel of 30 guns and 150 men, was commanded by Don Emmanual Da Silva, a close friend of the Portuguese King. The ship was on her way from Goa (India) to Portugal, bearing gifts from King Phra Narai of Siam to Pedro, King of Portugal, Louis XIV of France and Charles XI of England, when it was wrecked at Cape Agulhas. Apart from a large crew, she carried three Jesuit Priests and three Siamese Ambassadors as passengers. Two Ambassadors were among the survivors. All survivors were brought to Kaapstad where they were cared for. When it was discovered that a valuable gold cross with eight diamonds, a silver filigree scent ball and a rosary had been sold to one of the residents by one of the salvagers Arent Hendricks, and company officials unearthed a cache of ship's loot in the garden of Olaf Bergh, shit hit the fan. Bergh was lieutenant and member of the Political Council at the time... He was imprisoned on Robbeneiland for six months (where 300 years later Nelson Mandela would also be incarcerated) and eventually he was banished to Ceylon. However it seems that Anna remained at the Cape. In 1695 Olof was pardoned for his crimes and he was restored to full glory in the Cape community as Captain of the Garrison, member of the Political Council and -- later -- the Council of Justice. See the article written by Leonard D. Lourens. This promotion had to have been the result of networking or ass-kissing in its highest form. Stashed royal loot could also have played a role here I imagine. In any case all the facts surrounding Olof and Anna leave plenty to speculate about. For instance, I wonder if Olof fathered Carolus Erlandt Bergh born 10 Jul 1689 and Johanna Magdalena Bergh born 26 Aug 1691?

Olaf Bergh was one of the wealthiest men at the Cape in his time and a considerable landowner. His properties included the farm De Kuilen (today Kuilsriver), a house on the Heerengracht in Kaapstad, another house behind it, a house near the Grote Kerk, a house in Table Valley, the farm Constantia and two bungalows in Piquetberg. How much of this wealth was from loot from the shipwrecks is anyone's guess. I cannot imagine how an official could earn enough to buy all these holdings with his salary alone.

In 1684 Bergh owned four male slaves, a female slave and two slave children. Anthonie van Angola bought the slave Sijmen Ham van Madagascar for 85 Rds from Bergh. In 1700 Bergh sold the slave Arend van Bengale to his mother-in-law for 70 Rds. In 1702 the freeburgher Christoffel Armbrecht agreed to purchase a slave for Bergh in exchange for another slave belonging to Bergh whom he wanted to marry. Christoffel already had a child with her and was raising the child as his own. Olof Bergh died in 1724 in Kaapstad, and his wife Anna de Koningh died there nine years later.

Batavia

Departure from the Cape of VOC ships

1. Like Anna de Koningh, Simon van der Stel was of mixed European and Indian blood. Simon was the son of Adriaan van der Stel, an official of the VOC, and Maria Lievens, daughter of a freed Indian slave woman known as Monica of the Coast of Goa, or Monica da Costa. Simon was born at sea on 14 October 1639 while his parents were on their way to Mauritius from Batavia. His father was posted there, where the family remained for about seven years. Eventually they returned to Batavia, where Simon remained until he was twenty years old. In 1679, he was appointed "Commander" of the VOC's colony at the Cabo da Boa Esperanca. (Portuguese was the lingua franca in the Indies) There he founded Stellenbosch and Simonstad and introduced viticulture on his farm Rustenburg at Rondebosch. Together with Jan van Riebeeck, he laid the foundations for the modern viticulture in South Africa today. He died at his estate Constantia in 1712.

Simon van der Stel

SOURCES:http://www.stamouers.com http://cape-slavery-heritage.iblog.co.za http://www.family-history.co.za
JG le Roux and WG le Roux, Ons Drakensteinse Erfgrond: Groot Drakenstein JA Heese & RTJ Lombard Suid-Afrikaanse Geslagregister, Vol IW Blommaert "Het Invoern van de Slavernij aan de Kaap", Archive Year Book of South Africa, Vol I, 1938, p 6
Familia XVI, p 23: CapeArgus, Government Gazette: Heese en Lombard
Ad Biewenga,De Kaap de Goede Hoop -- Een Nederlandse vestigingskolonie 1680 -1730: Karel Schoeman, Armosyn van die Kaap: Die Wêreld van 'n slavin 1652 - 1733: GC de Wet. 1981. "Die Vryliede en vryswartes in die Kaapse Nedersetting 1657 - 1707. Cape Town: Historiese Publikasievereniging. p. 205. "Nossa Senhora dos Milagros 1686" Cape Times weekly magazine of January 11th 1969. Story written by Leonard D. Lourens. :Transkripsies uit die VOC-verhaleskat deur Helena Liebenberg Spreekbeurt voor die Orde van den Prince, Afdeling Kaap de Goede Hoop, Huis der Nederlanden, 3 Mei 2008

http://www.safrica.info/about/history/mixedmarriages-genealogy.html

http://www.iziko.org.za/sh/resources/slavery/slavelodge_life.htmll

http://www.sahistory.org.za/pages/governence-projects/slavery/slavery.html

http://www.south-africa-tours-and-travel.com/slaves-in-south-africa.htmll

http://www.kleinconstantia.com/history.html

http://www.sahistory.org.za/pages/people/bios/vanRiebeek,j.html

Angela married Capt. François de Coninck. (Capt. François de Coninck was born about 1635.)

Angela next married Johannis van Asschen. (Johannis van Asschen was born about 1635.)

Angela next married Arnoldus Willemsz Basson on 15 Dec 1669 in NGK Kerk, Adderley St., Cape Town, Cape Province, South Africa. (Arnoldus Willemsz Basson was born about 1640 and died about 1691.)

  Sources of information or n events in their marriage were:

• Web Based Info. Robertson, Delia. The First Fifty Years Project. http://www.e-family.co.za/ffy/g7/p7401.html