Dutch

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Information on ancestors with a Dutch connection.

The Dutch East India Company or VOC

The Dutch name of the Dutch East India Company was the Verenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie or VOC, literally the "United East Indian Company". The alternative spelling Vereenigde is also used.

Brief History

"The Dutch sent their first fleet to the East in 1595. Being commercial realists they went straight to the source of the spice trade in the East Indies, established themselves at Batavia (now, as previous to their arrival, called Jakarta), and proceeded to oust the Portuguese. Then they established a chain of posts through Ceylon and Capetown to connect themselves with their home base and proceeded to develop a great Asian network of trade by which they planned to earn resources needed to purchase spices without drawing on the silver bullion which was in chronic short supply in northern Europe. India came within their purview only as a link in their great commerical chain. It was a source of textiles for sale in the East Indies in exchange for spices while the extreme south and Ceylon were valuable for their own supplies of pepper, cardamom and cinnamon. The Dutch had 'factories' or warehouses as far north as Agra but they took no part in politics or cultural contacts. Their eccentric tombs at Surat and their factories at Cochin and Negapatam are their principal memorials in India. Only in Ceylon did they exercise dominion in the plains from Colombo and leave a living memorial in the Burgher community."[1]

Individuals

An example of a Dutchman who ended up in Bengal was Johan Jacob Hoff . A Dutch book states he had joined the VOC in 1788. He went from Holland to the Dutch East Indies for the Chamber of Enkhuizen with the vessel Maria Carolina. Having arrived at Batavia, Hoff was sent to Malacca where he served as a “second chirurgeon.” In 1795 he was taken prisoner by the English in Malacca at Pera; together with the garrison stationed there, he was sent to Bengal. [2]


Church Records

See also general article: Church records

If your ancestors were baptised, married or buried in a European church in British India, then the church records should have been transcribed and sent to the capital of the Presidency, where they would later have been forwarded on to London. These records were indexed and about 80% of church records in British India are believed to have survived. You can access these records at the British Library, or at LDS Family History Centres.

However, your Dutch ancestors may not have lived in British India (i.e. that portion of India that was controlled by the British - this grew from a very small area in 1600 to almost all of India by 1947). In this case, the church records will not be kept at the British Library.

The Dutch Churchbook of St Francis Church, Cochin has been microfilmed by the LDS and is available at LDS Family History Centres on microfilm 498601. A transcribed index of the names in this book, together with dates of death, can be seen on the Archived Cochin Churchbook website The dates of death cover the period 1751-1804

BACSA have transcribed and published Bimlipatam Christian Cemeteries which contain British and Dutch tombs from the 17th century. Other BACSA holdings at the British Library comprise lists of Dutch graves and miscellaneous papers relating to genealogical sources. These are itemised in the BACSA online database

Associations

If you had Dutch ancestors who lived in India, a useful association is the Dutch Indies Genealogical Association. Although their main focus is what is now called Indonesia, the Dutch Indies Genealogical Association can also help with Dutch genealogy in India.

Books

The following are books relating to the Dutch in India :

De Nederlanders in Voor-Indië by Terpstra, H. and Kernkamp, J.H. Published in 1947 in Amsterdam by P. N. van Kampen & Zoon

The Dutch in India By Owen C. Kail. Hardcover edition (1981).

Precious Metals and Commerce : The Dutch East India Company in the Indian Ocean Trade By Om Prakash. Hardcover edition (1994).

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Spear, A History of India (Volume Two) (1978) pp.65-68
  2. ↑ Het Nederlandsch-Indisch bestuur in het midden van 1817, naar oorspronkelijke stukken by Pieter Hendrik van der Kemp 1915 Google Books (snippet view); pages 216 and 217, translated by Leo Janssen. The book by Van der Kemp deals with the period of 1817 and the complications with respect to the cession of the former Dutch possessions in Bengal according to the Treaty of London of 1814. Details provided by Mary McPherson (marymac129@btinternet.com) who is researching a man named Johann Jacob Hoff, possibly the man mentioned in the book. The book is available at the British Library together with many other books by the author including De administratie der geldmiddelen van Neerl.-Indië. (Alphabetisch Register, etc.).

External links

Historical books online

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