Claesje van Angola (abt. 1645 - bef. 1732)

Born about 1645 in Angola [uncertain]

Descendants

Died before 31 Dec 1732 before about age 87 in Slave Lodge, Cabo de Goede Hoop

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Claesje van Angola was part of the settlement of the Dutch Cape Colony. Join: Cape of Good Hope - Kaap de Goede Hoop (1652-1806) Project Discuss: dutch_cape_colony

Biography

Claesje van Angola was a female slave in the household of Jan van Riebeeck, probably acquired, as a child, in March 1658 (see below). Prior to Jan van Riebeeck's departure from the Cape, Mãe (mother) Claesje van Angola was sold, on 20 April 1662 together with Domingo van Angola, Jan van Angola (abt.1650-), Thomas van Angola (abt.1650-) to the secunde Roelf de Man. ^[1]

Name

Claesje van Angola

Birth

Date: c.1645

Place: Presumed Angola

Notes

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 or van Angola were embarked at Benin for the Cape and came from as far afield as Sudan.

Parents

Father: Unknown

Mother: Unknown

Family

Family One

Children

Lysbeth van de Caep b.14 August 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 b. c.1670, d. 25 Dec 1719

Jannetje van Wijk b. before 27 October 1675; This putative relationship is offered on the following grounds:

1) Claasje baptised a daughter named Jannetie on 27 October 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 b. 15 August 1677 ^[2]

Family Two

Leendert Jansz van Gijselen born c.1650

Children

Sara van Gijselen (Born before 05 July 1671; Died before 19 January 1719) ^[2]

Death

Name: Claesje van Angola ^[2]

Date: Before 31 December 1732 ^[2]

Place: Slave Lodge, Cabo de Goede Hoop ^[2]

Notes

Claesje van Agnola died before 31 December 1732 Slave Lodge, she died during December. ^[2]

Events

Date: March 1658

Acquired as a slave by Jan van Riebeeck

Date: 20 April 1662

Sold by Jan van Riebeeck to Roelf de Man

Date: 27 October 1675

Baptised a daughter, Jannetje ^[3]

Sources

1. ↑ Respectability Regained, Moeder Jagt`s truimphant reversal of her slave past. Mansell Upham on Angela of Bengal and other slaves in the early Cape. Seen and entered by Anton Bergh on 06 February 2022
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5}
   • 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). Hereinafter cited as W.A. van der Stel Journal 1699-1732. [Robertson, Delia. The First Fifty Years Project. http://www.e-family.co.za/ffy/g8/p8113.htm#c8113.3] Added by Rachel Marais on 05 October 2023
3. ↑ Source:
   • [Robertson, Delia. The First Fifty Years Project http://www.e-family.co.za/ffy/g9/p9306.htm] Added by Rachel Marais on 06 March 2023

Research Notes

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; Source: [Robertson, Delia. The First Fifty Years Project. http://www.e-family.co.za/ffy/g8/p8113.htm#c8113.3] Added by Rachel Marais on 05 October 2023

Disconnecting her from Angela van Bengale (abt.1644-1720) as mother (refer note above). Andre Laubscher 09 February 2022

Acknowledgements

WikiTree profile Domingo-7 created on 17 August 2011 by Jesse Haye

See Also

The more brutal aspects of collective slave labour started with the arrival of the ship Amersfoort (March 1658). This ship offloaded a cargo of slaves, Brazil-bound, captured from the Portuguese off the coast of Angola (sometime during January 1658). Of the original cargo of 500 slaves, 250 were taken onto the Amersfoort of which many died before the ship arrived at the Cape. Van Riebeeck first counts 170 survivors (but first reported 166 and then 174) of which many were ill. The majority are young boys and girls who are considered to be of little use to the settlement for the next 4 or 5 years. Instructed to send the best of the shipment to Batavia, Van Riebeeck complies, sending 92 slaves in different shipments. By April, he is left with 125 slaves from Angola, but their number rapidly diminishes with some dying on a daily basis.  Seen and entered by Anton Bergh on 06 February 2022

On 6 May 1658 a further cargo of 228 (of the original 271 slaves) were obtained from `Guinea` (actually at Grand Popo on the coast of Dahomey, now Benin). They were offloaded at the Cape by the ship Hasselt. Of these, no fewer than 80 are sent to Batavia.  Seen and entered by Anton Bergh on 06 February 2022

The remaining Angola and Guinea slaves are employed by the Company, while 55 slaves from 'Guinea' and 25 from 'Angola' are sold to the free-burghers and Company officials in their private capacities.  Seen and entered by Anton Bergh on 06 February 2022

Significantly, and perhaps conveniently for Van Riebeeck, his officials and predominantly wifeless/womenless free-burghers, no individual registrations for the sale/purchase of these slaves appear to survive. The death rate appears to be horrific and together with the absconding of some, their numbers dwindled considerably.  Seen and entered by Anton Bergh on 06 February 2022

By 1663 we learn that notwithstanding the 402 'Angola' and 'Guinea' slaves that had been brought to the Cape (1658), there remain all told (including 6 'Malagasy' and 2 'Bengal' slaves) only 82 individuals: men, women and children - both Company owned and privately owned.

The circumstances of slaves brought in en masse are quite different to those initial 'Bengal', 'Malagasy' and 'Abyssinian' slaves brought to the Cape as personal slaves or allowed to become such once there.  Seen and entered by Anton Bergh on 06 February 2022

According to researcher, Anna Böeseken, ^[4] this Claesje van Angola is one of three children of Angela van Bengale (abt.1644-1720) and Domingo van Angola. Maaij Ansela is concubine or de facto wife of one Domingo who is father to her 3 children and that the family had been sold together by Pieter Kemp in 1655.

Mansell Upham [1]  rejects this and argues that nothing in the records that he has searched substantiate such a claim. Maaij Ansela does not arrive at the Cape with 3 children, and she only arrives in the Cape and is sold by Pieter Kemp in 1657. Domingo is a fellow female slave according to the muster roll (Dominga would normally be the female version of this name). Pieter Kemp sells 2 female slaves from Bengal to Van Riebeeck in a private transaction. The 2 women are Maaij Ansela van Bengale & Elisabeth (Lijsbeth) van Bengale (aka Domingo). There were no children included in the purchase. The three children in question were: Claesje van Angola (abt.1650-), Jan van Angola (abt.1650-), and Thomas van Angola (abt.1650-). Seen and entered by Anton Bergh on 06 February 2022