VOC Letters of Freedom

Indexes to the Letters of Freedom (Vrijbrieven) from service of the VOC

The Dutch United East India Company or Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie (VOC) archives are held at the General State Archives in The Hague, Netherlands. The ‘Inventaris van het archief van de Verenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie (VOC), 1602–1795’ collection contains 14 934 individual series of which approximately 1 200 are of specific interest on the history of the Cape of Good Hope. The first Letters of Freedom were issued on 14 Apr 1657 by Jan van Riebeek. The original Vrijbrief (Letter of Freedom or Free Paper) was held by the former VOC employee and the copies of the Letters of Freedom for the initial freeman were included in the journal of documents sent back to the VOC in the Netherlands. These Vrijbrieven were included in the journal of documents until October 1662. The extent of this index focuses on the first 208 Letters of Freedom from 1657 to 1662. 

Unfortunately, the Vrijbrieven post 1662 are not generally available. Copies of the Letters of Freedom for May 1686 to June 1700 are available at the Cape Town Archives Repository (KAB) in the Archives of the Secretary, Council of Police, reference number 2748 ‘Diverse Letters of Freedom and Notices’ (KAB C. 2748).

The structure of the Letters of Freedom for the period 1657 to 1662 are in the format of a legal contract between the VOC and the former VOC employee, containing the following information as applicable:

• Name of the Freeman (former VOC employee)
• Where the person was residing
• Where the person originated from 
• The person’s role or duties in the VOC, i.e., sailor, soldier, etc.
• The time remaining on the terminated employment contract
• The duration of the (new) agreement
• Specific conditions applicable to their contract, e.g.if they were to acquire the land.
• Official signature of the VOC Governor or official

Following this introduction are the transcripts in the form of an index with the details mentioned above in a searchable table, including a link to the online digital image of the Letter of Freedom document held by the archive in The Hague. 

Background and context of the Freemen Scheme

The ‘freeman’ construct was established by the Commander, Jan Van Riebeek, who started the initial scheme, allowing the most respectable of the Company Servants to cultivate little gardens for themselves with the right to freely sell their produce whenever there were ships in the bay. The scheme was planned to be executed through a legal contract or agreement between the VOC and the Company servants that would declare them as “freemen” with rights and obligations towards the VOC. The agreement was called a ‘vrijbrief’ and would form the basis of establishment of the first farming communities at the Cape of Good Hope 

When Jan Van Riebeek landed at the Cape of Good Hope on the 6^th of April 1652, his mission was to establish refreshment and lodging facilities for the ships passing between the East and the Netherlands. The initial intention was to barter with the local communities and over time, establish sufficient facilities to service the needs of the VOC and ships and those passing by from England and France. The trade with the local communities was proceeding with caution but did encounter quite a few skirmishes. The cost and upkeep of employees to sufficiently cultivate produce, livestock and other necessities, was very costly to the VOC. To this end, the VOC started floating the idea as early as 1655 to settle free families on the ground about the fort to reduce the Company’s expenditure but maintain their monopoly on trade at the Cape of Good Hope. A similar plan had been found to answer well in India and was thought suitable to replicate at the Cape. The Freemen would assist in defending the station so that the garrison could be reduced, and they would then be required to grow food for sale at the cheap rates set out by the VOC, utilising hired servants from across the VOC strongholds.

One such notable initial event was the chief gardener, Hendrik Boom’s wife, Annetje, who was allowed to lease a cow from the VOC and use her knowledge from back in the motherland, Netherlands, to cultivate dairy products. This led to her being called Annetje De Boerin by the locals. She was contracted to pay a yearly lease fee of twenty shillings and ten pence for each cow and in return would supply milk and butter to the Commander at a fixed price. She was allowed to sell the passing ships freely and at the best prices she could obtain. These events are well documented in the VOC records and form the basis for the first recorded European diary business to be established at the Cape.

By 1656, nearly every garden plant of Europe and India was cultivated at the Cape, although potatoes and maize were not yet introduced. Fruit trees of many kinds, young oaks and firs were sent in growing boxes from Europe. Various kinds of vines from the Rhine region were also established. Even strawberries and blackberries had been brought from the motherland. Plenty of foreign animals had been introduced, including horses from Java, pigs, sheep, dogs, and rabbits from Europe. Unfortunately, every season’s wheat and barley crops have failed thus far. Just as it was getting ripe, the south-east winds came sweeping through the valley and destroyed it. This was not the case at the back of Devil’s Peak, and even when a perfect storm was blowing at the fort, there was nothing more than a gentle breeze about Devil’s Peak. The Commander ordered a trial to plant grains at the “ronde doorn bosch”, today’s Rondebosch, where the first plot of land was ploughed with some wheat, oats, and barley. The experiment was mostly successful and yielded a very large return.

The initial arrangements to release VOC servants from their engagements and take up farming were concluded on the 21^st of February 1657. These men were mostly petty officers with their families, who drew money instead of rations, and who could derive a portion of their food from their gardens, as well as participate in small business ventures selling vegetables and other produce to passing ships. The free burghers, as they were known from there on, formed a different class within society, as they were neither subjects, nor servants of the VOC, but free men working and living for their own account.

The men formed units or ‘geselschappen’ to support each other and establish a cooperative means of working and earning a living. The first part consisted of five men, consisted of Harmen Remajenne, Jan Martensz De Wacht, Jan Van Passel, Warnar Cornelisz, and Roelof Hansz. They had selected a tract of land just beyond the Liesbeek, and had called it ‘Groeneveld’ or Green Country. They were led by Harmen Remajenne, thus called the ‘Harmen’s Geselschap’ and were principally going to cultivate wheat. They would also attempt to grow vegetables, breed cattle, pigs and poultry.

The second party was composed of four men, led by Steven Jansz Bothma, and called the ‘Steven’s Geselschap’, which included Hendrik Elbrechtsz, Otto Jansz, Jacob Cornelisz. They also selected a piece of land on the side of the Liesbeek and named it ‘Hollandsche Thuijn’ or Dutch Garden. They were mainly going to cultivate tobacco and grain. They would also attempt to grow vegetables, breed cattle, pigs and poultry.

The conditions under which these men were release from the duties within the VOC, were as follows:

• They were to have full possession of all the ground which they could bring under cultivation within three years, during which time they were to be free of paying any taxes.
• After the three years, they were to pay a reasonable land tax. They were at liberty to sell, lease, or otherwise alienate their land, but not without first informing the Commander.
• Any provisions they should require will be sourced from the VOC magazine and would be sold to them at the same price as to the married VOC servants.
• They were to be at liberty to catch as many fish in the rivers as they would require for their own consumption.
• They were at liberty to sell freely to the crews of ships any vegetables which the VOC might not require for the garrison, but they were not to go on board any ships until three days after the arrival of the ship and were not to bring any strong drink on shore.
• They were not to keep taps but were to devote themselves to the cultivation of the ground and the rearing of cattle.
• They were not to purchase horned cattle, sheep, or anything else from the natives, under penalty of forfeiture of all their possessions.
• They were to purchase such cattle as they needed from the VOC, at the rate of thirty-four shillings and nine pence for an ox or cow, and four shillings and two pence for a sheep. They were to sell cattle only to the VOC, but all they offered was to be taken at the above prices.
• They were to pay the VOC for pasture, one-tenth of all the cattle reared, but under this clause no pigs or poultry were to be claimed.
• The company will furnish them with credit, at the cost price of items in the motherland, to all such implements as were necessary to carry out their work, including food, guns, gun powder, and lead for their defence. In payment they were to deliver the produce of their ground, and the VOC was to hold a mortgage upon all their possessions.
• They were to be subject to such laws as were in force in the motherland and India, and those made by the VOC for the welfare of the local community.
• These regulations could be altered or amended at will by the supreme authorities.

The two free burgher parties immediately took possession of their land and commenced building their own houses. They had less than two months before the rainy season would set in, but that was enough time to run up sod walls and cover their new homes with thatched roofs. The nearby forests would provide amble timber and most other materials were relatively close at hand. Their main impediment would be the availability of farming implements to start farming.

On the 17^th of March 1657, a ship arrived from the motherland with Rijklof van Goens onboard. He was a high-ranking officer with instructions from the VOC to rectify anything that he might find amiss at the Cape. This included his views on the conditions under which the new free burghers held their land. He therefore made several alterations and inserted additional clauses, the most important of which are as follows:

• The freemen were to have plots of land along the Liesbeek, approximately forty roods by two hundred roods, or about thirteen and a third morgen. These would be supplied to the farmers tax free for twelve years.
• All farming equipment were to be repaired free of charge for three years.
• To enable the freemen to breed good quality cattle, they were at liberty to purchase from the natives, until further instructions were given by the VOC, but they were not allowed to pay more than what the VOC instructed. The price for horned cattle was reduced from thirty-four shillings and nine pence to sixteen shillings and eight pence.
• The penalty payable to the VOC should a free burgher sell cattle to the natives, was set at eighty-three shillings and four pence.
• The free burghers were to apply their attention to cultivating grain, and refrain from planting any tobacco, nor vegetables more than their own personal consumption.
• The free burghers were to keep guard in turns in any redoubts which should be built for their protection.
• The free burghers were not to shoot any wild animals except such as were noxious. To promote the destruction of ravenous animals, the premiums were increased, for a lion to thirty-four shillings and nine pence, for a hyena to twenty-seven shillings and nine pence, and for a leopard to thirteen shillings and ten pence.
• None but married men of good character and of Dutch or German birth, were to have land allotted to them. Note: although this was stipulated in the original regulations, it was not strictly applied given that some of the first free burghers were in fact from Kent, England, Thomas Roberts, and Oslo, Norway, Roeloff Hansz.
• Upon request, their wives and children were to be sent from Europe. In every such case, they were to agree to remain at the Cape for twenty years.
• Unmarried men could be released from service at the VOC to work as mechanics or if they were able to secure employment with the land holders for a set number of years.
• One of the most respectable free burghers will be granted a seat and voting rights in the court of justice whenever cases affecting freemen, or their interests are being tried. He would hold the title of ‘burgher councillor’ for a minimum of one year. Steven Jansz Bothma was appointed to this position for the first term of office.

In addition to those first free burghers already mentioned, the following men also received their vrijbrieven in the next twelve months.

• Wouter Mostert, who was for many years one of the leading men in the settlement. He was a miller back in the Netherlands, he contracted to build a new mill to replace the existing corn mill that was initially horse-driven and later by fresh water.
• Caspar Brinkman, Pieter Visagie, Hans Faesbenger, Jacob Cloete, Jan Reyniers, Jacob Theunissen, Jan Rietvelt, Otto Van Vrede, and Simon Janssen, all received land allotments.
• Harmen Ernst, Cornelis Claasen, Thomas Robertson, the Englishman, Isaac Manget, Klaas Frederiksen, Klaas Schriever, and Hendrik Fransen, who took service with the free burghers as farmhands.
• Christiaan Janssen and Pieter Cornelissen received their free burgher papers for their expert hunting skills. They were to remain the service of the VOC as well, and were granted a monopoly, at fixed prices, for shooting and selling all kinds of game. They were also allowed to keep a tap to sell strong drink and alcohol.
• Leendert Cornelissen, a ship’s carpenter, received the strip of forest at the foot of Table Mountain to cut timber for sale, at fixed prices set by the VOC.
• Elbert Dirksen and Hendrik van Suurwaerden were allowed to make a living as sailors for their own account.
• Jan Vetteman, the fort surgeon, was given the monopoly to practice his profession.
• Roelof Zieuwerts, the wagon and plough maker, was granted a small piece of forest land to practice his trade.
• Martin Vlockaart, Pieter Jacobsz, and Jan Adriaensen were to earn their keep as fishermen.
• Pieter Kley, Dirk Vreem, and Pieter Heijnse, were allowed to saw yellow wood planks for sale and continue to work as carpenters.
• Hendrik Schaik, Willem Petersen, Dirk Rinkes, Michiel Van Swol, Dirk Noteboom, Frans Gerritsen, and Jan Zacharias were allowed to become free burghers without any specific restrictions or instructions from the VOC.

 
Vrijbrief of Steven Jansz of Wageningen dated 14 April 1657.

 Sources

• Nationaal Archief, Den Haag,Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie (VOC), call number 1.04.02, inventory numbers 3991–3997
  
• Theal, George McCall,History of South Africa Under the Administration of the Dutch East India Company, 1652 to 1795, 2nd revised English ed. (London: S. Sonnenschein & Co, 1897) pp. 52–64