by Mike Dash
Lort Stokes John Lort Stokes entered the Royal Navy in 1826 and served in South American waters, joining Darwin’s Beagle as a midshipman, and rising to command the ship from 1841 to 1843 (this was after the naturalist had left her). In addition to his work in the Abrolhos, Stokes conducted the first survey of New Zealand since Cook’s day, and was the author of Discoveries in Australia 1837–1843. Despite a lifetime in the hydrographical service, he was passed over for the position of Hydrographer of the Navy in 1863 in favor of Captain (later Vice Admiral Sir) George Richards, the pioneer oceanographer. See G. S. Ritchie, The Admiralty Chart: British Naval Hydrography in the Nineteenth Century (London: Hollis & Carter, 1967), pp. 180, 190, 307, 313.
Stokes in the Abrolhos Malcolm Uren, Sailormen’s Ghosts: the Abrolhos Islands in Three Hundred Years of Romance, History and Adventure (Melbourne: Robertson & Mullens, 1944), pp. 238–43; Drake-Brockman, op. cit., pp. 278–9. He conducted the survey under the orders of Commander John Wickham.
“. . . published by a Perth newspaper . . .” It appeared in the Christmas 1897 edition of the Perth Western Mail. The translation was by Willem Siebenhaar; it has since been reprinted by Philippe Godard as part of his The First and Last Voyage of the Batavia (Perth: Abrolhos Publishing, nd, c. 1993).
Gun island as Batavia’s Graveyard Uren, op. cit., pp. 244–5.
Identity of the wreckage The debris was described by the Zeewijk’s crew as noticeably old, while the Aagtekerke had vanished only the previous year and the Fortuyn three years earlier. This seems to make an identification with the Ridderschap van Holland, lost in 1694, at least possible. See also Graeme Henderson, Maritime Archaeology in Australia (Nedlands, WA: University of Western Australia Press, 1986), pp. 26–7.
Drake-Brockman and the Broadhurst collection Hugh Edwards, Islands of Angry Ghosts (New York: William Morrow & Co., 1966), pp. 93–5; The ANCODS Colloquium, pp. 106–7; Drake-Brockman, pp. xxi–xxii; 279n. The Broadhurst Collection is now in the Western Australian Maritime Museum, Fremantle. Henrietta Drake-Brockman was the author of a historical novel, The Wicked and the Fair (Sydney: Angus & Roberston, 1957), which was based on the Batavia’s story and identified present-day Goss Island as Batavia’s Graveyard. She died, in her mid-60s, in 1968.
“. . . an article published in 1955 . . .” Henrietta Drake-Brockman, “The Wreck of the Batavia,” Walkabout Magazine 21, no. 1 (1955).
The first artifacts Edwards, Islands of Angry Ghosts, pp. 98–101; The ANCODS Colloquium, pp. 107–8.
Discovery by Johnson and Cramer Edwards, Islands of Angry Ghosts, pp. 111–2, 116–7.
“The sea had dug a grave . . .” Ibid., pp. 134–5.
The Batavia artefacts Jeremy Green, The Loss of the Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie Retourschip Batavia, Western Australia 1629: An Excavation Report and Catalogue of Artefacts (Oxford: British Archaeological Reports, 1989), pp. 37, 45, 55–60, 83, 90–1, 95–6, 99–101, 178, 183–5, 197–200; Edwards, Islands of Angry Ghosts, pp. 149–51. The mortar bears the—in the circumstances ironic—inscription AMOR VINCIT OMNIA: “Love conquers all.”
Wiebbe Hayes’s dwellings Robert Bevacqua, “Archaeological Survey of Sites Relating to the Batavia Shipwreck,” Early Days Journal 7 (1974): 64–9; Jeremy Green and Myra Stanbury, “Even More Light on a Confusing Geographical Puzzle, Part 1: Wells, Cairns and Stone Structures on West Wallabi Island,” Underwater Explorers’ Club News (January 1982): 1–6; The ANCODS Colloquium, p. 10. There is considerable doubt that these structures are now as they would have been several hundred years ago. There is anecdotal evidence of extensive reconstruction, as well as general “tidying,” particularly by film crews filming reconstructions of the events of 1629.
The Batavia reconstruction The ship can be seen at the Bataviawerf in Lelystad, to the east of Amsterdam. Philippe Godard, The First and Last Voyage of the Batavia (Perth: Abrolhos Publishing, nd, c. 1993), pp. 246–73; J. R. Bruijn et al., Dutch-Asiatic Shipping in the 17th and 18th Centuries (The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 3 vols., 1979–87), I, pp. 37–40, 42–44.
Skeletons Hunneybun, pp. 1.4a, 3.14, 4.2–4.13, 5.2–5.7; Myra Stanbury (ed.), Abrolhos Islands Archaeological Sites: Interim Report (Fremantle: Australian National Centre of Excellence for Maritime Archaeology, 2000), pp. 5–10; The ANCODS Colloquium, pp. 159–61; Juliïtte Pasveer, Alanah Buck, and Marit van Huystee, “Victims of the Batavia Mutiny: Physical Anthropological and Forensic Studies of the Beacon Island skeletons,” Bulletin of the Australian Institute for Maritime Archaeology 22 (1998): 45–50; Edwards, op. cit., pp. 3–7, 165–6; author’s interviews with Juliïtte Pasveer, Alanah Buck, and Stephen Knott, 12–13 June 2000. The seven bodies in the grave pit consist of five partial skeletons and two separate sets of teeth. In the case of “Jan Dircx,” who was exhumed by Max Cramer in 1963, the musket ball has been separated from the body and now lies mounted as part of a display in the dining room of the Batavia Motor Inn motel in Geraldton. “Dircx,” if that is who he was, suffered from rickets and was so physically immature he must have made a poor sort of soldier. His body (catalogued as BAT A15508) has no skull, but a similarly weathered skull, BAT A15831, may belong to it. The two relics have been attributed ages of 16–18 and 18–23, respectively, which is how I have arrived at an estimated age of 18 for this body.
Death of Jacop Hendricxen Drayer Sentence on Jan Hendricxsz, JFP 28 Sep 1629 [DB 183]. Buck’s reexamination of this body has revealed no trace of the broken shoulder that some early writers on the subject say the skeleton displays.
The death toll in the islands Pelsaert to the Gentlemen XVII of Amsterdam, 12 Dec 1629 ARA VOC 1630II [DB 259]; “Note regarding the fate of the people embarked on board the Batavia,” ARA VOC 1098, fol. 582r [R 220]. It is hard to know what Pelsaert meant by “children.” Certainly the Batavia’s cabin boys must have been included among the 96 “employees of the VOC,” but when the offspring of Pieter Jansz, Claudine Patoys, Hans and Anneken Hardens, and Mayken Cardoes are added to the six children of the predikant, the number of children definitely known to have been killed in the archipelago rises to at least 10. Conversely, if we take “children” to mean those under the age of, say, 10, and count Bastiaensz’s three daughters as “women,” thus correcting the number of children who died to the number given by the commandeur, the number of female deaths cannot be less than 14. Bernandine Hunneybun, in Skullduggery on Beacon Island (BSc Hons dissertation, University of Western Australia, 1995), section 5-5, suggests a total death toll of 137 in the archipelago, including the 11 mutineers who died on Seals’ and Wiebbe Hayes’s Islands.
“. . . more than 120” “Declaration in Short,” JFP nd [DB 248].
“. . . all but two of the children . . .” The exceptions were one child who was among those who fled to Wiebbe Hayes, and the babe in arms who reached Batavia in the longboat.
“. . . almost two-thirds of the women . . .” There were seven survivors among the 20 women on the ship: Creesje Jans, Zwaantie Hendricx, Judick Bastiaens, Zussie and Tryntgien Fredricx, either Anneken Bosschieter, or Marretgie Louys, and the unnamed mother who sailed on the longboat.
Pelsaert on Jacobsz’s responsibility “Declaration in Short,” op. cit.; see also Drake-Brockman, op. cit., p. 61.
“Torrentian” JFP 30 Sep 1629 [DB 212] (where the word is spelled phonetically, “torrentiœnschen,” an indication of its rarity).
“Epicurean” Ibid.; verdict on Andries Jonas, JFP 28 Sep 1629 [DB 203].
“Following the beliefs of Torrentius” Van Diemen to Pieter de Carpentier, 10 Dec 1629, ARA VOC 1009 [DB 50].
Anonymous sailor Letter of December 1629, published in Leyds Veer-Schuyts Praetjen, Tuschen een Koopman ende Borger van Leyden, Varende van Haarlem nae Leyden (np [Amsterdam: Willem Jansz], 1630), pp. 19–20 [R 235]. It has been suggested that the author was the upper-steersman, Claes Gerritsz, and certainly the man, whoever he was, seems to have returned to the Abrolhos with the Sardam, judging from the details in his letter.
Torrentius’s vi
ews Govert Snoek, De Rosenkruizers in Nederland, Voornamelijk in de Eerste Helft van de 17de Eeuw. Een Inventarisatie (Ph.D. thesis, University of Utrecht, 1997), pp. 80–7.
Jeronimus and Torrentius How, then, it might be asked, did the word Torrentian find its way into Pelsaert’s journals? Torrentius’s trial had been such a cause célèbre that it is certainly possible the upper-merchant used it as a label for something he hardly understood. But Pelsaert was not in Holland when Van der Beeck was arraigned, and there is no sign that he was familiar with the minutiae of the charges or the trial. On the whole it seems more likely that it was indeed Jeronimus who brought up the painter’s name.
If so, Cornelisz’s reasoning remains obscure. Admitting that he had known such a notorious heretic was hardly likely to help his case, and it may be that Van der Beeck’s name was dragged from him under torture. However, it is perhaps more likely that Jeronimus volunteered it freely, perhaps with the intention of using it in mitigation—presenting himself as the painter’s dupe. Such an effort would be in keeping with his earlier attempt to place the blame for all the murders on his dead councillors, and it would have been equally characteristic for the under-merchant to assimilate a few of Torrentius’s beliefs into his own warped worldview, while ignoring any that did not fit his preconceived opinions.
“Well spoken” “Declaration in Short,” op. cit.
The psychology of Jeronimus Cornelisz Theodore Milton, Erik Simonsen, Morton Birek-Smith, and Roger Davis (eds.), Psychopathy: Antisocial, Criminal and Violent Behaviour (New York: Guildford Press, 1998), pp. 34–6, 161–9; Robert Hare, Without Conscience: The Disturbing World of the Psychopaths Among Us (New York: Guildford Press, 1999), pp. 12–4, 18, 34–5, 38, 40, 44, 46, 52, 135–6, 158, 166–70, 195–200; Hare, Psychopathy: Theory and Research (New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1970), pp. 95–109.
“Most clinicians and researchers . . .” Hare, Without Conscience, p. 22.
“Rebel without a cause” Cited in ibid., p. 81. In 1944, Lindner wrote a well-regarded study of criminal psychopathy titled Rebel Without a Cause, which was later turned—with extensive modifications—into the famous film of the same name.
“Psychopaths have a narcissistic view . . .” Hare, Without Conscience, p. 38.
“Careful observers . . .” Ibid., p. 52.
Psychopathy has no cure Ibid., pp. 195–7.
Source of Chapter Heading Quotes
Opening quote JFP 17 Sep 1629—Resolution of Francisco Pelsaert, JFP28 Sep 1629 (DB 144, 153)
Prologue From Francisco Pelsaert’s last letter to the Gentlemen XVII ofAmsterdam, 12 Dec 1629, ARA 1098, fol. 583–4 [DB 259–61]
Chapter 1 JFP 17 Sep 1629 [DB 158]
Chapter 2 John Keay, The Honourable Company: A History of the English EastIndia Company (London: HarperCollins, 1993), p. 34.
Chapter 3 Jacques Specx to the Gentlemen XVII, ARA VOC 1009 [DB77]
Chapter 4 JFP 19 Sep 1629 [DB 164]
Chapter 5 JFP 17 Sep 1629 [DB 158]
Chapter 6 Letter by an anonymous sailor, published in Leyds Veer-schuyts .. . [R235]
Chapter 7 JFP 19 Sep 1629 [DB 146]
Chapter 8 LGB
Chapter 9 JFP 2 Oct 1629 [DB 213]
Epilogue JFP 13–16 Nov 1629 [DB 222–37]
Bibliography
I. ARCHIVAL MATERIAL
* * *
[a] Amsterdam
Gemeente Archief [Municipal Archive]
Baptismal registers
Marriage registers
Burial registers
Records of the Classis of Amsterdam
[b] Dordrecht
Gemeente Archief [Municipal Archive]
Baptismal registers
Marriage registers
Burial registers
Family Archive Balen
Records of the Church Council of Dordrecht
Transportregisters [Registers of transfers of ownership]
Oud-Notarieel Archief [Old Solicitors’ Archive]
Solicitors’ acts
[c] The Hague
Algemeen RijksArchief [General State Archive]
General correspondence, letters, and resolutions of the VOC
Centraal Bureau voor Genealogie
Van Welderen collection
Anonymous MS entitled Geschiedenis van het Geslacht Vaassen, vol. 8 (nd, twentieth century)
[d] Haarlem
Gemeente Archief [Municipal Archive]
Burial registers
Memorialen [Burgomasters’ records]
Oud-Notarieel Archief [Old Solicitors’ Archive]
Solicitors’ acts
[e] Leeuwarden
Gemeente Archief [Municipal Archive]
Authorization books
Certificate books
Mortgage books
RijksArchief in Friesland [State Archive of Frisia]
Hypotheekboeken Tietjerksteradeel [Tietjerksteradeel mortgage books]
2. UNPUBLISHED DISSERTATIONS, THESES, AND TYPESCRIPTS
* * *
Boranga, Sofia. The Identification of Social Organisation on Gun Island (Post Graduate Diploma in Archaeology dissertation, University of Western Australia, 1998).
Hunneybun, Bernandine. Skullduggery on Beacon Island (BSc Hons dissertation, University of Western Australia, 1995).
Huystee, Marit van. The Lost Gateway of Jakarta (Fremantle: Western Australian Maritime Museum, 1994).
Snoek, Govert. De Rosenkruizers in Nederland, Voornamelijk in de Eerste Helft van de 17de Eeuw. Een Inventarisatie (PhD thesis, University of Utrecht, 1997).
Zuiderbaan, Louis. “Translation of a journal by an unknown person from the Dutch East Indiaman Zeewijk, foundered on Half Moon Reef in the Southern Abrolhos, on 9 June, 1727” (typescript, nd, copy in Western Australian Maritime Museum).
3. PUBLISHED MATERIAL
* * *
Ablaing van Giessenburg, WJ d’. De Ridderschap van het Kwartier van Nijmegen (The Hague: Van Stockum, 1899).
———. De Ridderschap van de Veluwe (The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1859).
Acda, G. M. W. Voor en Achter de Mast: Het Leven van de Zeeman in de 17de en 18de Eeuw (Bussum: De Boer Maritiem, 1976).
Aerts, R., and H. te Velde (eds.). De Stijl van de Burger: Over Nederlandse Burgerlijke Cultuur vanaf de Middeleeuwen (Kampen: Kok Agora, 1998).
Alie, Joe. A New History of Sierra Leone (London: Macmillan, 1990).
Anon. Droevighe Tijdinghe van de Aldergrouwelykste Moordery, Geschiet door Eenighe Matrosen op ’t Schip Batavia (Rotterdam: Cornelis Fransz, 1630).
———. Leyds Veer-Schuyts Praetjen, Tuschen een Koopman ende Borger van Leyden, Varende van Haarlem nae Leyden (np [Amsterdam: Willem Jansz], 1630).
———. Wonderlijck Verhael van het Leven en Gevoelen van Jan Symensz Torrentius (Haarlem: Louwerens Jansz, 1630).
Anon. [Isaac Commelin] Ongeluckige Voyagie, Van ’t Schip Batavia, Nae de Oost-Indien. Gebleven op de Abrolhos van Frederick Houtman, op de Hooghte van 28 1/3 Graet, by-Zuden de Linie Æquinoctiael. Uytgevaren Onder den E. Francoys Pelsaert . . . (Amsterdam: Jan Jansz, 1647; expanded edn., Amsterdam: De Vries, 1649; third edn., Utrecht: Lucas de Vries, 1652).
Barend-van Haeften, M. Op Reis met de VOC: De Openhartige Dagboeken van de Zusters Lammens en Swellengrebel (Zutphen: Walburg Pers, 1996).
Barend-van Haeften, M., and A. J. Gelderblom (eds.). Buyten Gaets: Twee Burleske Reisbrieven van Aernout van Overbeke (Hilversum: Verloren, 1998).
Bevacqua, Robert. “Archaeological Survey of Sites Relating to the Batavia Shipwreck.” Early Days Journal 7 (1974).
Blussé, L. “The Caryatids of Batavia: Reproduction, Religion and Acculturation under the VOC.” Itinerario 7 (1983).
Boucher, M. “The Cape Passage: Some Observations on Health Hazards Aboard Dutch East Indiamen Outward-bound.” Historia 26 (1981).
Boxer, C. R. “The Dutch East-Indiamen: Their Sailors, Their Navigators and Life on Board, 1602–1795.” The Mariner’s Mirror 49 (1963).
�
�——. The Dutch Seaborne Empire 1600–1800 (London: Hutchinson, 1963).
———. Dutch Merchants and Mariners in Asia 1602–1795 (London: Variorum Reprints, 1988).
Bredius, Abraham. Johannes Torrentius (The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1909).
Brereton, William. Travels in Holland, the United Provinces etc . . . . 1634–1635 (London: Chetham Society, 1844).
Breuker, P. H., and A. Janse (eds.). Negen Eeuwen Friesland-Holland: Geschiedenis van een Haat-Liefdeverhouding (Zutphen: Walburg Pers, 1997).
Brockliss, Laurence, and Colin Jones. The Medical World of Early Modern France (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1997).
Bruijn, Iris. “The Health Care Organization of the Dutch East India Company at Home.” Social History of Medicine 7 (1994).
Bruijn, Jaap. “Between Batavia and the Cape: Shipping Patterns of the Dutch East India Company.” Journal of Southeast Asian Studies 11 (1980).
———. The Dutch Navy in the 17th and 18th Centuries (Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press, 1993).
Bruijn, Jaap, and E. S. van Eyck van Heslinga. Muiterij, Oproer en Berechting op de Schepen van de VOC (Haarlem: De Boer Maritiem, 1980).
———. “Seamen’s Employment in the Netherlands, 1600–1800.” The Mariner’s Mirror 70 (1984).
Bruijn, Jaap, and Femme S. Gaastra (eds.). Ships, Sailors and Spices: East India Companies and Their Shipping in the 16th, 17th and 18th Centuries (Amsterdam: NEHA, 1993).
Bruijn, Jaap, F. S. Gaastra, and I. Schöffer. Dutch-Asiatic Shipping in the 17th and 18th Centuries (The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 3 vols., 1979–1987).
