contents

Introduction to the Resolutions
of the Council of Policy of Cape of Good Hope


VOC officials

The men who made the voyage to the Cape in 1651 were the first VOC servants mentioned in the Resolutions. Some of them were high-ranking officials whose names were recorded, the rest were ordinary men of inferior ranking, such as sailors, “hooplopers” [teenage sailors], soldiers and craftsmen. Without the hard labour and sacrifices of the ordinary men these extremely dangerous and often fatal voyages would not have been possible.

In the early years of the settlement its population consisted mainly of VOC officials and their families. Later the population increased and a variety of people from various parts of the world, mainly from Europe and the East, made the Cape their home – some of them by choice, such as the Huguenots, some of them in bondage, such as the slaves and exiles from the East.

As a rule the names of the officers, soldiers and officials who were stationed at the Fort (later the Castle), and at posts in other places in the settlement, were annually listed in the so-called muster rolls. The following list of 1664, provides information regarding the positions then held by the VOC officials at the Cape: 1 Commander, 1 junior merchant, 1 fiscal and secretary, 1 sick comforter, 1 senior ship’s doctor, 1 bookkeeper, 1 warehouseman, 4 scribes, 1 sergeant, 2 corporals of the midshipmen, 1 other and 1 third ship’s doctor, 3 corporals, 1 constable, 1 ditto mate, 1 trumpeter, 1 table servant, 1 master of the horse, 2 attendants, 3 carbine riflemen with the constable, 1 master mason and 12 servants, 1 master carpenter and 16 ditto servants, 1 master smith and 6 ditto servants, 2 wainwrights, apart from the slaves 7 persons used in the Company’s big garden, 2 cooks and bakers, 1 police official, 2 in the Company’s cattle kraal behind the Fort, 4 in the Company’s horse-stable, 7 at the mounted guard, 5 at the redoubt Keert d’ Koe, 3 at Kijckuijt, 2 at Houtdenbul, 2 at the wooden doublet on the shore [in other words, 12 people stationed at the various look-out posts], 4 in the Company’s orchard, 4 in the forest, 4 at Bosheuvel [name of a farm], 15 at the Company’s granary, 5 on Robben Island, 3 on the shallop Bruijdegom, 2 on the shallop Musquijt, 3 on the Company’s open boat [in other words, 8 persons who served on 3 small ships], 2 coopers, 5 with the Company’s livestock at d’ Schuijr, 6 with ditto here at the Fort, 2 who were constantly on the look-out for ships [stationed] in the Leeuwenbergh’s cloof, 1 attendant in the hospital, 1 brewer, 1 drummer and 17 who did public service as guards/sentries and who were always doing service at the Fort, as well as patients and invalids from this settlement or from ships that called at the port. 178 Company officials (translated from Kloeke, 1950: 248-249). In later years many other positions were also occupied, for example that of clergyman and teacher.

There was a gradual increase in the number of VOC officials. In 1701 there were slightly more than 500. At the Council meeting of 29 December 1764 (C. 142) it was minuted “dat het getal van ’s Comp:s Dienaaren ten deesen Gouvernement onder Ult:o Aug:s 1763: in 1,246 Coppen bestaan hebbende, dus alhier 252 Coppen meerder waren aangehouden, als bij het reglement van a:o 1755 was toegestaan” [that on 1 August 1763 there were 1,246 Company officials of this Government, therefore 252 more than had been permitted by the regulation of 1755]. The largest increase in personnel took place during the last part of the 1780s: in 1789 approximately 3,400 VOC officials were stationed throughout the Cape Colony . In order to cut costs the Company then declared a thousand jobs redundant.

Nearly all the VOC officials resided in the town. In 1750 only 134 of the 1,331 employees lived outside Cabo, of whom 44 were stationed at False Bay and 33 on Robben Island , either as guards or detainees. Along with the shifting of the settlement’s borders, outposts were established at the frontline of expansion with the post holder in command of such a post. The names then given to the posts are well-known Cape place names even today, for example Soutrivier [Salt River], Robbeneiland, Dasseneiland, St. Helenabaai, Piketberg, Houtbaai, Muizenberg, Vissershok, Gansekraal, Klapmuts, Riviersonderend, Buffeljagtsrivier, Soetmelksvallei, Rietvallei, Tijgerhoek and Outenikwaland. The VOC fort at Rio de la Goa in Mozambique was the most remote post of all (see Expeditions). In the minutes of the Council meeting dated 16 September 1795 , being the day when the British took power over the Cape , it was noted that the post holders at Mossel Bay and Plettenberg Bay would be of the last officials to receive the message of capitulation.

To ensure that trade, which was the VOC’s main objective, could continue undisturbed, military protection of these interests was of utmost importance. The same principle also applied in the case of the Cape of Good Hope . Since the VOC had to depend on foreigners to serve as soldiers, there were many soldiers from other countries, such as Sweden , Denmark , Norway , Flanders , the Baltic States and the German territories. Many of the soldiers who were stationed at the Cape became freemen after completion of their VOC contract of five years and thus became members of the growing population.

From time to time officials of allied nations strengthened the VOC’s military structure at the Cape . The local government, therefore, had to maintain good communication when soldiers and other officials who spoke languages other than Dutch, were sent to the Cape . One such occasion arose in 1781 with the arrival of a large contingent of French soldiers who had orders to help defend the Colony against possible attacks. The Council decided that a VOC officer who could speak French fluently should be appointed to communicate the necessary orders between Governor Joachim van Plettenberg and the French command. The Governor chose L.F. van Wijnbergen for this position. Van Wijnbergen was the former military commander on the ship Mercuur but due to illness he stayed behind at the Cape when his ship departed (5.6.1781, C. 159).

Some interesting stories concerning VOC officials are included in the Resolutions. A number of times it was minuted that women disguised as male soldiers undertook the dangerous voyage from Europe under a false name and eventually reached the Cape in safety. As a rule these women were sent back “home”, but one, Johanna Elisabeth alias Johan Elias Spelling van Zell was allowed to stay on condition that she would earn herself a living at the Cape (14.3.1744, C. 122). It often happened that an elderly soldier who was no longer fit for service would present an application to be dismissed from service. On 18 December 1764 (C. 142) the application of 78-year old Jan Gerritz. van Lijden was approved by the Councillors. They also decided that he would receive a monthly allowance of ƒ7 for his 37 years of faithful service to the Company.

Rudolph Siegfried Allemann was one of the most distinguished military figures at the Cape . Allemann was born in 1693 at Neuensdorf , Germany and arrived at the Cape in 1720 as a VOC soldier. He made steady progress in the service and was promoted to the ranks of “corporaal ... een man van nugtere bekwaamheid [corporal ... a man of sober-minded competence] (4.9.1725, C. 73), sergeant (1728), ensign (1729) and lieutenant (13.12.1735, C. 99). In 1740 he became commander of the garrison and then “provisioneele capiteijn deeses Casteels” [provisional captain of this Castle] (14.2.1741, C. 116). Soon afterwards he was promoted “tot capitain militair deeses Casteels” [to military captain of this Castle] (20.3.1742, C. 120), the highest military rank at the Cape . He was thus responsible for defending and securing the Cape against attacks from both the interior and the sea. As a consequence of this appointment he became a member of the Council of Policy, in which capacity his signature appeared for the first time on 7 January 1744 . At the Council meeting of 9 July 1742 (C. 121) it was minuted that Allemann received a piece of land called “Sonneblom” [Sunflower] as his property and on 8 October 1743 (C. 121) it was mentioned that only 5 of the 12 morgen could be cultivated. He died on 22 Julie 1762 while still a member of the Council. One of his contemporaries, O.F. Menzel, wrote Allemann’s biography (see Source guide).

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