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Inventories of the Orphan Chamber
of the Cape of Good Hope


Inventories of the Orphan Chamber

Introduction to Cape inventories

An inventory (inventaris) is a list of possessions that is sometimes accompanied by an evaluation (taxatie). The latter term does not refer to the payment of tax, but to an estimate of the worth of an estate. Inventories list heirs to the estate, for example the surviving spouse, ‘children of all beds’, grandchildren, relatives – even very close friends, sometimes called bloedvrinden.

Cape inventories were a relatively complete and undisturbed reflection of households at the time of appraisal, which usually took place within days of death. There are some exceptions, such as the inventory of Hendricus Munkerus and his wife Elsje van Suurwaarden who were married in community of property. Munkerus died on 29 January 1705 and his inventory was drawn up nearly 2 1/2 years later on 20 May 1707 (see MOOC8/2.8).

In the country districts possessions were inventoried by two people, whether neighbours, relatives or friends, while in Cape Town by reputable commissioners. A clerk then copied the appraisal in a standard format, though the original details were retained.

Short inventories were listed straightforwardly either ranging from most valuable to lesser items, or according to the appraisers’ access to the items (first household and then outbuildings or vice versa, as cupboards or chests were opened, etc.). At a certain level of listing, the possessions were categorised according to the space they occupied, for example rooms, cupboards, stores, attics, or outbuildings (i.e. sheds, slave quarters) and in the case of a farm in the yard and surrounding areas (werf). Livestock (beestiaal) and slaves (slaven, slavinnen, leijfeijgenen, etc.), precious metals and later in the 19th century, stocks and shares were listed under separate headings. Precious metal was valued by weight, whether jewellery, tableware or ornaments.Lists of larger households often included catalogues of book titles, and also, although rarely, pictures and collections of sheet music.

The cause of death was seldom mentioned in the inventories. However, in a few of the inventories of people who died during the second devastating smallpox epidemic that spread like wildfire through the Cape Colony in 1755 the cause of death, namely kinder pokjes or kinder ziekte, was mentioned. In the later inventories the time of death was also specified in most cases: “the late Major General Charles Collins Campbell. Born in Scotland died the 9:th day of May 1822 at 8 o clock a:m:” (MOOC8/37.47).

In cases of fixed properties, the name and location were provided. The fixed properties were often listed according to the main building and its various rooms, as well as outbuildings (outhouse, shed, etc.). Many of the deceased, however, did not own a house or farm, but lived with a friend or rented a room or house from someone more affluent.

The room-by-room appraisals are particularly valuable sources of information on households as a whole, because the layout or plan of the house and the number of rooms give an indication of its size, and the contents within it can be observed. The function of rooms is shown by their contents.

The following images are good examples of typical letter-shaped Cape houses of the mid-18th and early 19th centuries, showing the number of rooms and other interesting features.

Stellenberg, Cape Town suburb – mid-18th cent., U-shaped with 4-leaved screen between voor- and agterkamer (front and back room)

Groot-Sorgfontein, Groot-Brakrivier (George district) – c. 1814, T-shaped, voorkamer flanked on one side by 2 bedrooms and on the other by one bedroom and a buitekamer (outer room); end rooms have clay floors, other rooms have yellow-wood floors; most of original yellow-wood ceilings survive, also 2 plain wall-cupboards; early-straight end-gables, no front gable; exterior walls of great thickness: 2 1/2 ft.

Kliprivier, Swellendam – c. 1820, large H-shaped, 2 rooms beside voor- and agterkamer in each wing, 4 holbol end-gables.

(Source: Fransen and Cook, 1980)

 

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