POST SCRIPT
Jan and Maria van Riebeeck
On 2 November 1664, two years after the Van Riebeecks left the Cape, Maria de la Queillerie died in Batavia. Her husband, Jan Anthonizoon van Riebeeck died on 18 January 1677.
Angela
In December 1669, Angela married the Dutchman Arnoldus Basson, a reasonably wealthy free burgher. They were married for 20 years and had six children.
Maria
On 31 Dec 1669 Maria da Costa van Bengal and Lijsbeth van Bengal were sold by the departing commander Jacob van Borghorst to the Company. The amount he paid included the three children. On 14 March 1680 Maria da Costa van Bengal was emancipated by the Company, in terms of a resolution of the Council of Policy.
Catrijn
Catrijn became a free woman through her marriage to the free black, Anthonij de Later van Bengal on 20 December 1670.
Zara
In 1671 the young Zara committed suicide in Angela's sheep pen. When she hung herself, Angela was first at the scene. Because Zara had committed suicide, her corpse had to be tried for murder, and thereafter it was publicly hanged at the gallows as a punishment.
Krotoa
After Krotoa was banished to Robben Island in 1669, she had to remain there until her death on 29 July 1674.
Heinrich Lacus
In 1667, at age 32, Heinrich Lacus, disgraced for corruption, formed part of the informal network of Basson and Angela. He was first imprisoned on Robben Island and later demoted to the rank of ordinary soldier before being sent to Batavia with his family.
Cornelius de Cretzer
Cornelius de Cretzer fled the Cape (April 1671) after killing a man in a brawl. Ironically he himself, when on the run, was captured off the coast of Algeria by pirates and sold into slavery.
The surgeons: Walrandt and Schreyer
Pieter Walrandt was banished the following year for three years to Robben Island for malpractice. He neglected his patients.
Johann Schreyer further consolidated his position as senior VOC official by marrying the widow of his deceased predecessor Jan Hol. He wrote about his stay at the Cape, not referring to noteworthy dramatic incidents in which he had been personally involved but the Cape and its 'freakish' native inhabitants. He was present when the indigene Florida was exhumed alive, but when she dies soon thereafter no autopsy takes place. He also performed an autopsy on the aborigine suicide, Zara in 1671 and withholds his findings. Yet, his friend, Willem Rhyn, informs the world that Zara has two nipples in one of her breasts.
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SUSANNA
Historical FictionThe year is 1658. A young woman is tried in a Batavian court as a runaway and a thief. Her ear is cut off branding her as a convict slave and she is sentenced to a lifetime of slavery. Banished to a Dutch settlement she must serve her sentence as a...
