(Kōbe City Museum).
Creolisation & Indigenisation – BURLAMACCHI[1] & DIODATI[2] family ties in the Dutch VOC empire
by Mansell G. Upham (7 December 1999) ©
The VOC’s world was an intricate network of entrepôts administered by certain patrician or grande bourgeoise families – existing and multiplying in a twilight creole (and even mestice) world …
The inter-connected world of the VOC and other European chartered trading companies (also smaller trading houses – handelshuise – eg, in Amsterdam) and the factories beyond Europe; the constant coming and going of individuals and families that worked them – in both the East and West Indies and in Africa – and their impact on the Cape of Good Hope during the VOC-period, are neglected aspects of South African colonial history and even genealogy.
Who were the movers and shakers of this vast commercially-driven Dutch colonial empire? What was the relationship between the VOC and private trading houses in Amsterdam? How separate was ‘private trading’ from ‘public trading’?
Significantly, the granddaughter of that (in)famous ‘Hottentot’ First Lady EVA MEERHOFF (c. 1643-1674) – Catharina Diodati, née Zaaiman – married into a powerful family whose astute manipulation of religion, law, diplomacy, public office, trade, commerce and slavery developed tentacles extending within – and without – the VOC empire.
The ongoing search for her unacknowledged offspring takes us to Lucca, Lyons, Geneva, Leiden, Dordrecht, Amsterdam, London, Paris, the Cape of Good Hope, Mauritius, Jakarta, Bengal, Surat and Nagasaki in pursuit of two aristocratic families originating in Italy who exerted considerable influence in European colonial possessions in both Africa (including the Cape) and Asia.
Did any of the Eurafricasian descendants remain ‘behind’ in the colonies?
CATHARINA SAAIMANS (Mauritian-born granddaughter of Cape aborigine EVA MEERHOFF, born KROTOA) was wife to RODOLF DIODATI – until 1720 Opperhoofd of Dejima, the VOC outpost in Japan.
Unravelling the complex web of family ties is the haunt of the genealogist. The pervasiveness of nepotism, power cliques and sheer solidarity in (and amongst) families – the blood-is-thicker-than-water principle – is, more often than not, hidden from us. This is due to the fact that relatives through female (and even illegitimate) lines of descent and the consequent loss of maiden names, cease to be obvious. During the VOC-occupation of the Cape, an enquiry into nepotism amongst the more entrenched colonial families helps to shed more light – and shade – on the colonisation process. Colonisation results in a dispersion of the descendants of families of both the rulers (officials, servants and garrison) and the ruled (settlers / colonists, slaves and autochthons). Governing classes or their privileged offspring invariably return to the Patria once their postings are completed and even after their creolised descendants have merged with the settler / colonist / slave / indigene populations. Their names and genetic input amongst their formerly enslaved and illegitimate offspring, often unnoticed, are ‘left behind’ in the colonies. Either way, their names sometimes re-emerge but generally disappear from the local landscape of the post-colonial / newly-independent ‘Third World’.
The careers of men such as the Cape’s 2nd commander, Zacharias Wagener (1614-1668), François Caron (1600-1673) and even my ancestor Johann Bockelberg (1668-1709) reveal the extent of how officials could move across the globe in pursuit of Dutch commercialism. Wagener’s career took him to the following places: Brazil, Batavia, Taiwan (Formosa), China, Japan (Deshima), Batavia, the Cape of Good Hope, and Batavia. François Caron’s career is perhaps even more exciting. Originally stationed in Japan at Hirado, he fathered children by a Japanese concubine taking his children, to the Netherlands. In 1642 he was Raad-Ordinaris of Dutch India. In 1644 he again went to the East but was accused of private trading. He joined the French East India Company and under the command of the Marquis de Mondevergue[3], went to Fort Dauphin at Madagascar. On the return voyage the ship went down in the Tagus River near Lisbon and he drowned on 5 April 1673.[4] Finally, people like Johannes Bockelenberg, who married another of Eva Meerhoff’s granddaughters, Magdalena Zaaiman (1683-1704), spent time in Surinam, Mauritius and Batavia eventually ending up at the Cape of Good Hope.
Most of these officials, however, came and went. The only trace in the colonies is sometimes to be found in their names amongst the slave population left ‘behind’. Even these names were seldom perpetuated beyond a single generation. Examples of Company slaves who bandied patrician names that the writer has encountered in Cape records are:
- Jannetje Kemp (cf Pieter Kemp – rear-admiral 1655 and Willem Kemp – commander of return fleet 1692)
- Jannetje Bort (Niclaes del Bort from Arien – official resident at the Cape 1663)
- Maria Blom (there were numerous high-ranking VOC officials with this surname either resident or en passant at the Cape)
- Anna de Coninck (François de Coninck from Ghent – official resident at the Cape 1658-1663)
- Jacobus van As and Jan van As (Joan van As / Asch / Assen from Brussels – official resident at the Cape 1659-1668)
Dem Bones Dem Bones …
Johan / Joan Bax van Herentals / Herenthals (‘s-Hertogenbosch 14 March 1637 – Cape Town 29 June 1678) – governor of Cape of Good Hope (from 1676)
The family of Cape Governor Bax’s wife (and later widow) the Hinlopens, were related to the Six family, who were related to the van der Stels, the Cranendoncks and the d’Ablaings, who were related to the Burlamacchis and the Diodatis …
In effect, it can be said that the Cape of Good Hope was home and working base to a host of VOC officials and their families, all connected by blood and all in some sort of uninterrupted ruling capacity, for almost half a century – and for a lot longer throughout the VOC empire.
Related VOC officials at the Cape
(Residence at the Cape in chronological order)
Aletta Hinlopen[5], wife of Governor Bax (Cape’s ‘first lady’: 1676-1678)
S. van der Stel[6], husband of Johanna Jacoba Six (Cape commander: 1679-1691) (Cape governor: 1691-1699)
Simon van der Stel Heer van Lisse (1639-1712)
Rodolf Diodati[7] (resident official at Cape: 1686-1692) (commander at Mauritius: 1692-1704)
W. A. van der Stel (Cape governor: 1699-1707)
J. C. d’Ablaing[8] & A. W. Burlamacchi (Cape secunde: 1707-1710)
A. Cranendonck[9] & E. A. Burlamacchi (Cape secunde: 1715-1722)
The extent of the social standing, status and ‘respectability’ of these people is best illustrated by the incident in June 1718 at church involving the wives of the visiting inspector (later Cape governor) Pieter Gysbert Noodt (Johanna Drabbe) and the secunde Abraham Cranendonck (Elisabeth Angelica Burlamacchi) and determining who, after the then governor Mauritz Pasques de Chavonnes and his wife Baltazarina Kien, should occupy the seats nearest the pulpit.[10] The incident exacted clarity in terms of the whole question of rank and precedence during Noodt’s visit with his superiority finally being accepted after written submissions by both husbands were laid before the Council of Policy. As a palliative, however, Cranendonck was promoted to Councillor Extraordinary by the Heeren XVII soon thereafter. Not only was he well-connected in his own right; but his wife’s connections, doubtless, helped considerably to consolidate his position and propel his career.
The search for Eva Meerhoff’s DIODATI descendants continues
Two children of the tragic and illegally detained Cape aborigine the Goringhaicona woman Eva Meerhoff (c. 1643-1674), were taken to Mauritius as wards of the free burgher Bartholomeus Borns and his wife Theuntje van der Linde (both from Woerden): Pieternella and Salamon.[11] Pieternella Meerhoff (1663- ante 1714) subsequently married Daniel Zaaiman (died 1717) from Vlissingen and one of their eight children, the Mauritian-born Catharina Zaaiman came to marry the commander of the Island, Rodolf Diodati from Dordrecht.
RODOLF[12] DIODATI
Family background
Descending from an aristocratic family originating from the city and Republic of Lucca, (Italy), his great-grandfather Carlo Diodati converted to Protestantism and relocated to Geneva. His grandfather Jean Diodati (1576-1649) was the famous theologian Giovanni Diodatus who, by marrying Magdalena Burlamacchi, married into another Italian cross-over family, her nephew Benjamin Burlamacchi (1643-1697) being head of the famous Burlamacchi Handelshuis in Amsterdam. Both Jean Diodati, and his merchant brother Joseph Diodati, relocated to the Netherlands. As theologian, Giovanni Diodatus played an active role at the Synod of Dordt and his opinions concerning the right to baptism of heathen children forming part of Christian households, equal right of liberty with all other Christians and the prohibition of selling and transferring of baptised slaves.[13] Jean Diodati and Magdalena Burlamacchi were parents to two sons that relocated to London, England and three sons who remained in the Netherlands. Rodolf Diodati’s own father Philippe Diodati (1620-1659) was a minister in Leiden, while his uncles, Samuel Diodati and Marco Diodati (murdered 1641), were merchants in Haarlem and Amsterdam.
Jean Diodati / Giovanni Deodatus (1576-1649)
Rodolf Diodati, born Dordrecht 1660, was the 3rd and youngest son of Philippe Diodati and Elisabeth Francken. His maternal grandfather was alderman of Dordrecht and provincial councillor of Holland. His brother Philippe-Sébastien Diodati (1656-1710) was a doctor of law while his other brother Jean Diodati (1658-1711) was a merchant in both Holland and Surat (India). Worth mentioning is Rodolphe Diodati’s nephew Salomon Diodati (1688-1753). A merchant, he travelled to the East and married in Batavia where he was vice-chairman of the Commission on Marriages and Petty Affairs. His travels he recorded in a personal diary, a significant part of which has survived.[14] The diary is inscribed:
Reijsen gedaan door Salomon Diodati ‘t sederd a:o 1697 tot ao 1733 in diesnt der Nederlandse Oost Indische Compagnie, en Naar gelaten aan syn twee sonen Marten Jacob en Anthonij Josua Diodati.
Unfortunately, parts of the diary describing his stop-over at the Cape are missing. He eventually returned to Geneva to claim, as titular head of the Diodati family, his title originally granted to the family by Henri IV, king of France.
Rodolf Diodati’s BURLAMACCHI Relations
Benjamin Burlamacchi (1643-1697) hoof van het handelshuis Burlamacchi te Amsterdam – born in Geneva and died in Bengal – was 1st cousin (once removed) to Rodolf Diodati. He married Wilhelmina van der Hoop (?-1727). He was the son of Vincenzo di Fabrizio Burlamacchi (1598-1682) who married his 1st cousin Elisabeth Turettini. Benjamin’s aunt was Magdalena Burlamachi [sic] who was married to Jean Diodati. Like the Diodati family, the Burlamacchi family also originated from Lucca in Italy, escaped to Geneva during the Reformation, and also settled and traded from the Netherlands and VOC factories in the Indies. Benjamin and his family (four children and wife) went to Bengal in May 1691 aboard the Silversteijn arriving there on 15 February 1692.
His daughter Elisabeth Angelica Burlamacchi (1682-1728) married one of the Cape’s secundes Abraham Cranendonk / Cranendoncq (he died 1721) and returned to the Netherlands after her husband’s death. His other daughter Adriana Wilhelm(in)a Burlamacchi (2 March 1684-7 July 1760) married another of the Cape’s secundes Joan Cornelis d’Ableing / d’Ablaing. According to Böeseken his son of five years and two months was with him at the Cape, but not his wife Adriana Wilhelma Burlmachi.[15] This may have been the case initially; we do, however, have documentary evidence of her being resident at the Cape. Johanna Maria van Riebeeck, when stopping over at the Cape gives us a description of Juffr.[ouw] Dablijn: heel soet, modest vrouwtje.[16] Her 2nd child Agatha Wilhelmina d’Ableing was born at the Cape and baptised there on 28 August 1708. The parents are recorded as Joan Cornelis d’Ableing and Adriana Wilhelma [sic] Burlamachi and the witnesses as d’Ed.[ele] Heer Louis van Assenburg Gouverneur, en d’Ed.[ele] H:[ee]r Simon van der Stel, oud-Gouverneur; nervens MeJuffr:[ouw] Agatha Guldewaagen gerepresenteerd door Juffr:[ouw] Maria Engelbregt.[17]
Rodolf Diodati’s career at the Cape
From 1686-1687 he was bookkeeper on the Jambi. His presence at the Cape under Simon van der Stel would have been comfortable as the governor and his successor son, were related to both the d’Ablaings and Cranendoncks, who in turn were relations by marriage to Rodolf Diodati’s grandmother Magdalena Diodati, née Burlamacchi. On 4 December 1690 Roelof Diodati is mentioned in a resolution concerning the appointment of officers aboard the ships Courtgene & Honsholredijk to serve at the Cape, inter alia the boekhouder tot ‘t opnemen van ‘s Comps. buijtenposten en d’ommeslag der vrijluijden … On 30 December 1691 in a resolution, he was chosen as praesident en commissarissen van kleine civile saken replacing lieut. Adriaan van Reede. In 1692 he appears in the Cape’s muster roll as Roelof Diodati van Dorth earning f 30 a month as boekhouer van garnisoen signing resolutions during Simon van der Stel’s leadership. On 3 March 1692 there is a resolution concerning bookkeeping done by Diodati and Christian Freser. On 21 March 1692 he sat on the Council of Justice for the trial of Grietje Grof’s killer who was sentenced to death.[18]
Diodati’s slave sales[19]
- 30 November 1686: Roedolf Diodati, bookkeeper of the Jambi sells the slave Pieter van Madagascar (aged 17) to Hans Jurgen Troost for Rds. 50
- 27 December 1686: Roelof Diodati of the Jambi sells Orson and Jacob van Madagascar (14 & 15 respectively) to Theunis [Dircksz:] van Schalkwijck for Rds 64
- 3 January 1687: Roelof Diodati, bookkeeper of the Jambi sells Isak van Madagascar to Jeronimus Cruse for Rds. 32
- 27 January 1687: Roelof Diodati sells Abraham van Madagascar (aged 20) to Jan Jansz: [van Eeden] van Oldenburg for Rds. 47
- 27 January 1687: Roelof Diodati sells Salomon van Madagascar (aged 16) to Jan Dircx: de Beer for Rds. 40
- 29 January 1687: Roelof Diodati sells Willem van Madagascar (aged 17 / 18) to Henning Huijsing for Rds. 50
- 29 January 1687: Roelof Diodati sells Daniel van Madagascar (aged 14) to Jan Dircx: de Beer for Rds. 40
- 11 February 1687: Roelof Diodati of the Jambi sells for Abraham Arnouts, skipper of the Cronenburg , Aran from the Coast (aged 18 / 19, to Steven Jansz: [Botma] for Rds. 40
- 14 February 1687: Roelof Diodati, bookkeeper of the Jambi sells David van Madagascar (aged 16 / 17) to Oloff Bergh for Rds. 32
- 21 February 1687: Roelof Diodati sells David van Madagascar (aged 17 / 18) to Henning Huijsing for Rds. 33 ]
- 23 March 1689: Roelof Diodati sells Jacob van den Cust (aged 23 / 24) to Frederik Russouw de Wit for Rds 60
- 13 May 1692: Aron van Malabar (aged 24 / 25) sold by Gerhardus Brouwer to Roelof Diodati, who was bookkeeper of the Garrison, for Rds. 100
- 7 July 1692: Roeloff Diodati sells slave Aron van Malabar (aged 23 / 24) on behalf of Jonathan Davidtsz: to Henning Hüsing for Rds. 100
- 12 July 1692: Roeloff Diodati sells Coridon van Malabar (aged 24 / 25) on behalf of Jonathan Davidtsz: for Rds. 62 – no buyer is mentioned
- 13 August 1692: appointed new Commander of Mauritius, purchases the slave Servidor van Bengale (aged 12) for Rds. 60 from William Price from the stranded English vessel Orange
Commander of Mauritius
On 13 August 1692 Roeloff Diodati was appointed new Commander of the island of Mauritius. Diodati undertook, on the same date, to look for Hannibal, Scipio, Nimrod, Pakkolet, Scanderbek and Diogenes – all slaves from Trancquebar – who fled into the interior of Mauritius after the Bengal Merchant, an English vessel, ran ashore on the island.[20] On 24 August 1692 he left the Cape with the flute‘t Duijfje with orders to arrest the superintendent of Mauritius, Isaak Johannes Lamotius, and to succeed him. From 1692-1703 he was commander of Mauritius.[21] On 26 July1703, he was relieved of his position at Mauritius following his request in a letter dated 5 September 1702.
Later career in the East
On 28 December 1704 he arrived with his family at Batavia.[22] There he was merchant and book keeper of the ambagskwartier in Batavia. Thereafter he became senior merchant and finally superintendent (opperhoofd) of the VOC’s trading post in Japan [Deshima, Nagasaki] until 1720. Did they return to the Netherlands via Batavia or did they remain ‘behind’ in Batavia? The writer, when visiting Dejima (twice) found no graves of any of the family. There is also no sign of them at De Hollandsche Begraafplaats at Goshinji, Nagasaki.[23]
What happened to the family?
Tracing the whereabouts of the Diodati great-grandchildren of Eva Meerhoff – ie the children of her granddaughter, the Mauritius-born Catharina Saaimans: – is proving to be difficult. The published European genealogy of the Diodati Family[24] informs us that the four unnamed legitimate children all either died in infancy or without progeny – yet the writer has found documentary evidence that the intestate heirs to the deceased Pieternella Meerhoff’s husband’s estate included: Johannes and Samuel Diodatij, the children of Catharina Zaaijman. [25] Both appear to have been alive in 1717. Why are they unnamed and excluded from the published genealogy? Did this branch of the family really die out?
A crucial question begs further enquiry: were these two sons creolised and to the extent that they remained ‘behind’ in the East, did they become further indigenised? Did their relatives in Europe finally lose contact? Jean Gelman Taylor’s prognosis of the final dissolution of mestizo culture and of colonial society in Indonesia[26] explains possibly what could have happened. Eventually confronted with post-colonial independence, those Eurasians (in our case Eurafricasians) and their offspring ‘left behind’ were faced with two ‘choices’: either obey or resist the ‘urge to merge with the splurge’ – what locally could be termed the Simunye-factor.
Failure to embrace their indigenous, but newly-defined, Bumiputra or Pribumi [27] roots, meant exile or alienation and having to revert, or even cling, to a long-lost, but no longer pure, European [sic] identity.
Feast of Dutch in Japan by unknown artist
(Kōbe City Museum)
DIODATI Genealogy
Carlo Diodati baptised Lucca, Italy by Pope Paul III; influenced by priests at Lyon, he converted to Protestantism and settled in Geneva.
married (1) N.N.
married (2) Geneva N.N.
b1 Jean Diodati / Giovanni Diodatus
theologian
married
Magdalena Burlamacchi
c1 Philippe Diodati born Geneva 21 September 1620; went to Holland in 1650; Waalse Minister at Leyden; died Leyden 6 October 1659
married Dort 7 April 16541654
Elisabet(h) Fran(c)ken (d/o Sébastien Francken)
d1 Philippe-Sébastien Diodati born 1656; doctor of law, counsellor at Rotterdam; died 1710
married
Lydia Blankert / Blanckers
e1 Petronilla Diodati
married
Brouwer
e2 Ewald(us) Diodati born Amsterdam 16 May 1735
married
N.N.
f1 N.N. only child & daughter
married
The Count of Verelst (Mr. le Comte de Verelst), envoy & minister plenipotentiary to their Highnesses at the Court of Berlin; died at The Hague without issue
e3 N.N. daughter died in infancy
e4 N.N.daughter died in infancy
d2 Jean Diodati born 28 July 1658; baptised Leyden 31 July 1658; merchant in Holland; died at Surat 1711
married 2 April 1680
Al(d)egonde Travers / Trouwers (she came from a family originating in Ireland ); died 1698
e1 Marie Elizabeth Diodati born 9 March 1681; died young
e2 Elisabeth-Renée Diodati born 10 October 1682
married
Daniel Hurgonje [Hurgronje]
e3 Isabella Cornelia Diodati born 23 November 1684; died young
e4 Philippe Diodati born 19 October 1686
merchant in Holland; died testate, unmarried and without issue Batavia 26 January 1733
e5 Salomon Diodati born Dort 25 January 1688; baptised Dordregt 28 January 1688; merchant in Holland; 1720 merchant in VOC & vice-chairman on Marriages and Petty Affairs at Batavia; reputedly writer of a manuscript detailing VOC affairs from 1692 and a diary for 1732; died The Hague 1753 aged 65 years, 2 months and 18 days; buried 13 April 1753 at l’Eglise de Cloître dans notre cerceuil
married Batavia 7 December 1713
Gertrude-Colombine Slott / Geetruyda Plott (daughte r of Jérome Slott and Anne Schreuder)
f1 Martin-Jacob Diodati born 1722
f2 Antoine-Josué Diodati born Batavia 1728; baptised Batavia 1 February 1728; he returned to Geneva claiming as titular head of the family, his original title granted to the family by French King Henri IV (of Navarre)
f3 N.N. died in infancy
f4 N.N. died in infancy
f5 N.N. died in infancy
e6 Simon Diodati born 9 June 1689; died young
e7 Johanna Aldegonda Diodati / Jeanne-Aldegonde Diodati born 30 October 1690
married
Jean F. Witte van Schooten
e8 Magdalena Diodati born 12 March 1692; died young
e9 Maria Magdalena Diodati born 9 November 1693; died young
e10 Abraham Trouwers Diodati born 30 December 1695; died young
e11 Mattheus Emanuel Diodati born 22 March 1697; died young
d3 Rodolphe / Rodolf / Roelof / Rudolf Diodati
born Dordrecht 1660; According to published Diodati genealogy (1892) mentioned in 1695 in will of his aunt Renée Diodati; bookkeeper (boekhouder) on the Jambi ; 4 December 1690 officer (bookkeeper) aboard either Courtgene or Honsholredijk appointed to serve at the Cape tot ‘t opnemen van ‘s Comps. buijtenposten en d’ommeslag der vrijluijden…; 30 December 1691 praesident en commissarissen van kleine civile saken replacing lieut. Adriaan van Reede; 1692 boekhouer van garnisoen signing resolutions during Simon van der Stel’s leadership; 21 March 1692 sits on Council of Justice for trial of Grietje Groff’s killer [CA: CJ 780]; 13 August 1692 appointed new Commander of Mauritius; 24 August 1692 left Cape with flute ‘t Duijfje with orders to arrest the superintendent of Mauritius, Isaak Johannes Lamotius, and to succeed him; 1692-1703: commander of Mauritius; 26 July 1703 relieved of position at Mauritius following his request in a letter (5 September 1702); 28 December 1704 arrives with family at Batavia; merchant & book keeper of the ambagskwartier in Batavia; senior merchant & superintendent (opperhoof) of the VOC’s trading post in Japan (ie Deshima / Dejima, Nagasaki) until 1720.
married Mauritius
Catharina Saaimans: (born Mauritius daughter of Daniel Zaaiman from Vlissingen and Pieternella Meerhoff from the Cape of Good Hope; granddaughter of P(i)eter Meerhoff from København (Copenhagen), Sjælland (Zealand), Denmark and the Khoe / San (Goringhaicona) woman Krotoa (baptised Eva); 2 sons and 2 daughters [28]
e1 Johannes Diodati
e2 Samuel Diodati
e3 N.N. daughter
e4 N.N. daughter
c2 Samuel Diodati born Geneva; merchant in Haarlem in 1664; he also did business in Amsterdam (akte van notaris Pieter Padthuysen dated 30 August 1672) – mandated by prominent Dutch burghers and sent as special envoy to the Duke of Luxembourg, governor of the city and province of Utrecht (then occupied by the French) to negotiate ransom monies; died Haarlem 1676
c3 N.N. son went to London
c4 N.N. son went to London
c5 Marco Diodati killed in Amsterdam by his travelling companion in 1641; buried Westerkerk, Amsterdam 18 February 1640
c6 Renée Diodati her nephew Rodolphe Diodati is mentioned in her will
b2 Joseph born Geneva; servant to the merchant Jan Auxbrebis [29] according to een wisselprotest in het protocol van notaris Jan Fransz Bruyningh dated 19 December 1596 member of Waalse Gemeente in Amsterdam 28 January 1597; obtained attestatie 23 April 1599 returning to Geneva
BURLAMACCHI Genealogy
N.N. Burlamacchi
married
N.N.
b1 Magdalena Burlamachi
married
Jean Diodati – see separate genealogy for DIODATI family
b2 Vincenzo di Fabrizio Burlamacchi (1598-1682)
married
Elisabeth Turettini
c1 Benjamin Burlamacchi (1643-1697) hoof van het handelshuis Burlamacchi te Amsterdam. He was born in Geneva and died in Bengal.
married
Wilhelmina van der Hoop (?-1727).
d1 Elisabeth Angelica Burlamacchi (1682-1728)
married
Abraham Cranendon(c)k / Cranendoncq born Amsterdam 1678; baptised Amsterdam 2 March 1678; son of Abraham Cranendonk and Weintje Eduwarts Pelt;
Fiscal at Hoogly (Bengal); chief merchant; 1714 succeeds Willem Helot as secunde at the Cape of Good Hope; October 1714 sailed on Westerdijxhorn arriving at the Cape on 4 March 1715; Member of the Council of Policy; 1717 president of the Orphan Chamber; Councillor Extraordinary; died at the Cape 8 October 1721 and buried at the Groote Kerk; 1722 his wife and daughter returned to the Netherlands on the Astrea
e1 Johanna Wilhelmina Cranendonk
d2 Adriana Wilhelmina Burlamacchi (2 March 1684-7 July 1760)
married
Joan Cornelis d’Abl(e)ing, widower of Louise Soury; born Haarlem, Netherlands 20 November 1663; sn of Joan Daniel D’Ablaing (1634-1665) and Agatha Guldewagen (1638-1717) and reputedly half-brother of Willem Six and 1st cousin to Willem Adriaan van der Stel; 1692 junior merchant & cashier : Java; 21 December 1694 merchant; 21 July 1696 superintendent Palembang (South Sumatra); 25 October 1698 summoned to Batavia for questioning (private trading and shortfalls in his administration; 28 September 1700: repatriated with family and loss of salary; 1706 readmitted to VOC as senior merchant; 6 May 1707 arrives at the Cape of Good Hope on Barnevelt as acting governor following W.A. van der Stel’s recall (16 April 1707) and takes up administration on 3 June 1707; 1 February 1708 senior merchant, secunde & chief administrator under Governor Louis van Assenburgh [Note: Van Assenburgh was a bachelor so that Mrs d’Ablaing was de facto the Colony’s first lady]; 4 July 1710 resigned as secunde leaving for Batavia; 16 September 1710 Councillor Extraordinary of India; 12 October 1710 president of the college of orphan-masters; 5 June 1720 councillor of India; died Batavia, Dutch East Indies 21 May 1721; buried Weltevreden in Batavia
e1 Johan Daniel D’Ablaing born Haarlem, Netherlands 23 January 1703; died The Hague 1755
Lord of Haulsin and Peursum & by marriage he became Baron of Giessenburg, Giessen-Nieuwkerk and Cadzand; since 1815 his descendants have borne the title of Baron D’Ablaing van Giessenburg
e2 Agatha Wilhelmina d’Ableing baptised Cape of Good Hope 28 August 1708
e3 Cornelia Adriana d’Ableing baptised Batavia 24 September 1715
married (1)
Salomon Janssen
married (2)
Johan Herman Theling, Councillor Extraordinary of India
married (3)
Willem Bernard Albinus, Governor of Malacca
Sources consulted at the Cantonal Archives, Geneva, Switzerland
Extracts from a published genealogy of the Diodati family consulted by the writer at the Cantonal Archives in Geneva are quoted hereunder:
- Notices Généalogiques sur des Familles Genevoises depuis les premiers temps jusqu’à nos jours par J.-A. Galiffe, C.G. Tome Second Genève 1892.
Extracts are quoted verbatim in the original French, to illustrate also, by means of comparison, how families have been recorded genealogically in the past. When comparing the published genealogy with data found in existent personal correspondence by members of the Diodati and Burlamacchi families, additional information and discrepancies were found. Members of the family communicated to each other regularly in both the Dutch and French languages. Discrepancies are pointed out in the footnotes together with additional information gleaned from family papers and other primary records. The existence of a comprehensive published genealogy of the Diodati family is significant. Even more significant, is the fact that this same genealogy is vague and non-committal about the descendants of Rodolf Diodati. There is not even a hint of suggestion as to the demi-semi-Hottentot-ness of his wife. The impression is given that this particular branch of the Diodati family had died out. But have they?
The Diodati family is well documented and members of this family itself were actively engaged over generations in recording their own affairs. Much correspondence between members detailing family ties survived. That Rodolf Diodati did, at some stage, have contact with his kinsman Benjamin Burlamacchi in Amsterdam, we know from one of his surviving letters. Also noteworthy, is the fact that, although born in Dordrecht, his right to citizenship of Geneva had been specially secured. He appears, however, never to have benefitted from this reconfirmed post-natal status.
Contrary to claims that the Diodati Archives lodged in the State Archives in Geneva, Switzerland, were closed to the public,[30] the writer had occasion to consult personally at least some of the Diodati Family papers lodged at the Cantonal Archives in Geneva, viz.:
- Archives de Famille D-F DIODATI 1ère série [ref Archives A78, vol. 8.2[
- Actes, notes et titres généalogiques, VI 26 pièces + photocopies [vol. V 92 pièces] [these were not found].
- Lettres et documents de Hollande 1737-1804).
Permission was denied, however, to consult the other existing Diodati family papers. The undisclosed owner of the documents refuses to grant permission for these other papers to be consulted by researchers. In response to the suggestion that descendants of the Diodati family might wish not to disclose the family’s extensive participation in the slave trade or even its mestizo offshoots, the Chief Archivist assured me that these papers in question only concern the family’s Swiss affairs and not anything outside Geneva or Switzerland. According to the Chief Archivist, the name Diodati is no longer found in the Swiss Confederation.
Note: there is a Diodati Villa on the banks of Lake Geneva where the poet Lord Byron resided.
Notices Généalogiques sur des Familles Genevoises depuis les premiers temps jusqu’à nos jours
par J.-A. Galiffe, C.G. Tome Second Genève 1892.
DIODATI
… une Ancienne famille originaire de la Ville et République de Lucques en Italie …
Philippe Diodati, né 21 septembre 1620, pasteur à Leyden, + 6 octobre 1659 & Ep. 1654 Elisabeth, f. de Sébastien Francken, aldermann de Dort, conseiller à la Cour provinciale de Hollande; – dont il eut entre autres enfants les trois fils qui nés à l’étranger, obtinrent en 1671 que leur bourgeoisie genevoise leur fut conservée.[31]
1. Philippe-Sébastien, né 1656, Dr en droit, conseiller à Rotterdam, + 1710; qui de sa femme Lydie Blankert eut, outre deux filles, + en bas age ou s.p.:
a. Petronilla, née 1690, + 1757, femme de ….. Brouwer; ____
b. Ewald, qui de … L’Estevenon[32], sa femme, eut Lydie, née 1723 femme de Dick-Hubert Verelst[33]
2. Jean, né 28 juillet 1658[34], négociant en Hollande, + à Surate, 1711. Ep.: 2 avril 1680, Aldegonde Travers, + 1698, d’une famille originaire d’Irlande, —–dont il eut onze enfants[35], la plupart + en bas age, s.a. ou s.p., et:
1. Elisabeth-Renée, née 1682, femme de Daniel Hurgonje
2. Philippe, né 1686, négociant en Hollande, + à Batavia, le 26 janvier 1733, s.p.[36]
3. Salomon, qui suit.
4. Jeanne-Aldegonde, femme de Jean F. Witte van Schooten.
Salomon Diodati né 1688[37], négociant en Hollande, + 1753[38]
Ep.: 7 décembre 1713 Gertrude-Colombine, f. de Jérome Slott et d’Anne Schreuder —– dont il eut, outre
trois enfants + en bas age.[39]
1. Martin-Jacob, né 1722
2. Antoine-Josué[40]
3. Rodolphe, né 1660, mentionné en 1695, au testament de sa tante Renée D.; établi à Batavia, et chef de la Compagnie des Indes hollandaises. De sa femme Catherine Saaijmans, de l’ile Maurice, il eut deux fils et deux filles, + en bas age ou s.p.[41]
Sources consulted at the Gemeentearchief in Amsterdam
A. Jaarverslag 1979: I gemeentelijke archiefdienst Bijlage II: Aanwinsten, verkregen door de archieven, p. 30
61 Reproduktie:
Verslag van Salomon Diodati van zijn wederwaardigheden in Oost-Indië 1697-1732 146 xerokopieën Het deel is eigendom van de heer J. Veenendaal te Seacombe Heights, Australië.[42]
B. Burlamacchi Archives
Inventaris van het archief Burlamacchi 1665-1691
door P. BoeykensGemeentearchief Amsterdam (1969/1991)
Note: These comprise a collection of correspondence sent to Benjamin Burlamacchi (1643-1697) hoof van het handelshuis Burlamacchi te Amsterdam. He was born in Geneva and died in Bengal. He married Wilhelmina van der Hoop (?-1727). He was the son of Vincenzo di Fabrizio Burlamacchi (1598-1682) who married his 1st cousin Elisabeth Turettini. Benjamin’s aunt was Magdalena Burlamachi [sic] who was married to Jean Diodati. Like the Diodati family, the Burlamacchi family also originated from Lucca in Italy, escaped to Geneva during the Reformation and also settled or traded from the Netherlands and VOC factories in the Indies. Benjamin and his family (4 children and wife) went to Bengal in May 1691 aboard the Silversteyn arriving there 15 February 1692 [See Dutch-Asiatic Shipping in the 17th and 18th centuries, vol II (R.G.P. Grote Serie. 166)].
The following correspondence from members of the DIODATI family to their cousin is found in the Burlamacchi Archives:
arch. 1
800 : Diodati, César [43] (cousin), Geneve. 1684-1685, 2 stukken
801 : Diodati, Jean (neef) en zijn vrouw Alegonda Trouwers, Dordrecht . 1681-1682, 1684, 1686, 1689-1690, 23 stukken
802 : Diodati, Philip (neef) en zijn vrouw L. Blanckers, Rotterdam. 1689. 5 stukken
803 : Diodati, Rudolf (cousin) Dordrecht. 1681, 1 stuk
[Note: in this letter he signs his name as Rodolf]
C. Amstelodamum, Maandblad voor de kennis van Amsterdam
Redactrice: Dr I.H. van Eeghen55ste Jaargang 1968, ‘Amsterdam en de Familie Diodati (I)’, pp. 118-119 ‘Amsterdam en de Familie Diodati (II)’, pp. 188-189.
Note: the above articles are based on: Ned. Leeuw 1939, k 263 re Family DIODATI
ooOoo
[1] The name is also found in the records as Burlamachi and Burlamacquie.
[2] The name is also found in its Latin form Diodatus.
[3] Francois de Lopis, Marquis de Mondevergue, also known as le Marquis de Mondeverguin. Until 1671 he was governor of the French at Madagascar. He was at the Cape from 12 December 1666 until January 1667 [Anna Böeseken, Uit die Raad van Justisie , p. 217, n. 652].
[4] See Jean Gelman Taylor, The Social World of Batavia: European and Eurasian in Dutch Asia, pp. 43-45 for more interesting biographical details about this man, his 2 wives, and both his European and Eurasian offspring.
[5] Aletta Hinlopen’s paternal aunt, Cathalina Hinlopen (1612-1677) married Willem Six (1612-1652). She was thus a 1st cousin to Johanna Jacoba Six who married Simon van der Stel. Her grandson Willem Six was reputedly half-brother to the secunde J.C. d’Ablaing.
[6] Simon van der Stel’s son, Adriaan van der Stel was married to Hillegonda Cranendonck. Was she a sister to the secunde A. Cranendonck?
[7] Rodolf Diodati was the grandson of Magadelena Diodati, née Burlamacchi. He was thus 2nd cousin to both Mrs D’Ablaing and Mrs Cranendonck, who were sisters née Burlamacchi and grand-nieces to his grandmother.
[8] See n. 4.
[9] See n. 5.
[10] Dr Dan Sleigh – personal communication. See also Celestine Pretorius, Al Laggende en Pratende: Kaapse vroue in die 17de en 18de eeu, p. 58.
[11] Resolutions of the Council of Policy (14 July & 23 July 1677) and Company Journal (15 July 1677).
[12] Throughout records consulted, his name appears variously as Rodolphe, Roedolf. Roelof, Rudolf.
[13] See Robert C.-H. Shell, Children of Bondage: A Social History of the Slave Society at the Cape of Good Hope, 1652-1838, pp. 332-343.
[14] The Khoikhoi at the Cape of Good Hope: Seventeenth-century drawings in the South African Library (text by Andrew B. Smith & translations by Roy H. Pheiffer) (South African Library, Cape Town 1993), p. 19. Prof. A. B. Smith kindly indicated the whereabouts of the manuscript, viz. the Gemeentearchief, Amsterdam. I was subsequently able to visit in person and obtain a copy of the incomplete 145-page manuscript.
[15] Anna J. Böeseken, Resolusies vandie Politieke Raad, III, p. 465, n. 29.
[16] Dr Celestine Pretorius, Al Laggende, en pratende – Kaapse vroue in die 17de en 18de eeu, p. 13.
[17] DRC/A: G1: Doopregister (Groote Kerk).
[18] CA: CJ 780. Margaretha Gerrits:, wife of Jan Coenraed: Visser from Ommen in Overijssel was axed to death by her slave Claes van Malabaer.
[19] Anna J. Böeseken, Slaves and Free Blacks at the Cape 1658-1700, pp. 147-149, 153,159, 161.
[20] Anna J. Böeseken, Slaves and Free Blacks 1658-1700, p. 161.
[21] D. Sleigh, Die Buiteposte: VOC-buiteposte onder Kaapse bestuur 1652-1795 (Haum, Pretoria 1993), pp. 653-658.
[22] D. Sleigh, Die Buiteposte: VOC-buiteposte onder Kaapse bestuur 1652-1795 (Haum, Pretoria 1993), p. 658.
[23] Genealogie Kwartaalblad van het Centraal Bureau voor Genealogie,vol. 3, nr.4, pp. 101-105. I am grateful to Robert Laing for drawing my attention to this article which lists the names of the buried.
[24] Notices Généalogiques sur des Familles Genevoises depuis les premiers temps jusqu’à nos jours par J.-A. Galiffe, C.G. Tome Second Genève 1892.
[25] CA: MOOC 13/1/1 (Boedel Rekeningen) no. 89 (Estate Accounts of Daniel Saaijman, 15 July 1717).
[26] See her Epilogue in The Social World of Batavia: European and Eurasian in Dutch Asia, pp. 159-174.
[27] Literally ‘sons of the soil’ – a post-colonial term utilised by the majority native (Indonesian and Malaysian) population to distinguish themselves politically from the Chinese and Indian immigrant minorities in terms of an institutionalised policy of Affirmative Action.
[28] According to CA: MOOC 13/1/1 (Boedel Rekeningen), no. 89, 15 July 1717: Daniel Saaijman, the heirs to his estate included: Johannes and Samuel Diodatij, the children of Catharina Zaijman. The Genevois published genealogy, however, states that there were 2 daughters (pre-deceased or born post 1717?).
[29] The Auxbrebis family were related by marriage to the Cape’s 2nd commander, Zacharias Wagener.
[30] See The Khoikhoi at the Cape of Good Hope: Seventeenth-century drawings in the South African Library (text by Andrew B. Smith & translations by Roy H. Pheiffer) (South African Library, Cape Town 1993), p. 19.
[31] Philippe was born in Geneva 21 September 1620 and went to Holland in 1650. He married at Dort 7 April 1654 Elisabet, fille de Sébastien Franken. He died at Leyden 4 October 1659.
[32] An established family amongst the Heeren XVII – personal communication: Dr Dan Sleigh.
[33] According to a certificate (18 July 1787) filed amongst family papers lodged at the Geneva Archives, Ewaldus Diodati was born in Amsterdam 16 May 1735 and had 1 daughter (qu’une fille son enfant unique mariée à Mr le Comte de Verelst envoyé et ministre Plenipotentiare de Leurs Hautes Puissances à Cour de Berline et morte à la Haye sans laisser de lignée.
[34] According to family papers lodged at the Geneva Archives, he was né et baptisé à Leyden 31 juillet 1658.
[35] According to family papers and letters lodged at the Geneva Cantonal Archives, Jean and Aldegonde had the following 11 children:
Marie Elizabeth born 9 March 1681
Elizabeth Renée born 10 October 1682
Isabella Cornelia born 23 November 1684
Philip born 19 October 1686
Salomon born 25 January 1688
Simon born 9 June 1689
Johanna Aldegona born 30 October 1690
Magdalena born 12 March 1692
Maria Magdalena born 9 November 1693
Abraham Trouwers born 30 December 1695
Mattheus Emanuel born 22 March 1697
[36] Listed in the family papers lodged with the Geneva Archives is a traduction de 1890 du testament de Philippe Diodati de Dordrecht prononcé à Batavia le 26 janvier 1733 et copie de la lettre d’accompagnement de A.A. Moll, sécretaire rientieur de l’Eglise protestante néerlandaise de Dodrecht à la Comtesse Diodati-Eynard, 8. II. 1890. Don de M. Stelling-Michaud, Nov. 1983. Don de M. Stelling-Michaud (former professor of history at Geneva University and now deceased) noted in November 1983 that Philippe Diodati’s will (dated Batavia 26 January 1733) was translated and accompanied a letter by A. A. Moll, private secretary of the Dutch Protestant Church at Dordrecht, to the Countess Diodati-Eynard on 8 February 1890.
[37] According to family papers lodged at the Geneva Archives, he was born and baptised at Dordregt 28 January 1688.
[38] He wrote:
Verslag van Salomon Diodati van zijn wederwaardigheden in Oost-Indië 1697-1732.
[39] According to these same papers (see n. 7) Salomon Diodat née à Dort le 25 janvier 1688 Epouse à Batavia le 7 décembre 1713 Geetruyda Plott ,2 enfants en Europe, + à la Haye agé de 65 ans 2 mois et 18 jours. He was buried 13 avril 1753 à l’Eglise de Cloître dans notre cercueil.
[40] According to family papers lodged at the Geneva Archives, he was born and baptised Batavia 1 février 1728. He returned to Geneva and claimed as titular head of the family his title originally granted to the family by Henri IV.
[41] Why are they unnamed? According to CA: MOOC 13/1/1 (Boedel Rekeningen), no. 89, (15 July 1717) Daniel Saaijman, the heirs to his estate included the children of Catharina Zaijman: Johannes and Samuel Diodati. At this stage, these heirs were no longer infants.
[42] Salomon Diodati reputedly wrote, not only a manuscript detailing Company affairs from 1692, but also a diary for 1732 according to De Nederlansche Leeuw (1939:195). This is the only manuscript that appears to have survived. The 145 page manuscript is incomplete ending on p. 145 in mid-sentence.
[43] This could be César Diodati (grandson of Pompeo Diodati, a cousin of Carlo Diodati, who also emigrated to Geneva via Lyon in 1576). He was married to Anne Pattac in 1665. His son Jean Louis Diodati, returning to Geneva from Amsterdam via France, was arrested in Paris on 8 December 1706 for speaking too freely (there being war between France and the Dutch Republic at the time) and imprisoned in the Bastille.
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