The SS Groote Beer, originally built as the SS Costa Rica Victory, emerged as a significant vessel post-World War II. Constructed as an enlarged Victory troopship under the US War Shipping Administration, the ship was purchased by the State of the Netherlands. After a brief stint under the American Hawaiian Read more…
Anthony van Diemen was the Governor of the Netherlands East Indies during the time of the exploration of Abel Tasman. Tasmania was first known as Van Diemen’s Land, the name given to the island by Anel Tasman. The name was changed in 1856 to Tasmania. Anthonio (Anthonie, Antonie, Anthony) van Read more…
Maatsuyker Island is named after Joan Maetsuycker, the The Dutch Governor of Zeylan (present-day Sri Lanka) during the Dutch period in Ceylon and later the Governor-General of the Netherlands East Indies from 1653 to 1678. The island was named by Dutch explorer Abel Tasman, who named it after Maetsuycker in Read more…
In 2017 the Museum of Geraldton held an exhibition titled “Descendants of the VOC: Portraits and Histories”. Curated by Curtin University historian Dr Nonja Peters, the exhibition delved into the impact of the Netherlands East India Company’s (VOC) exploration during the 17th Century on indigenous peoples in Western Australia, Indonesia, Read more…
The Wessel Islands group off the north-eastern coast of Arnhem Land has a rather abstruse history in terms of its naming and ultimate cartographic location. Cartographic evidence, and some primary documentary evidence points to a Wesel(s) Eijland initially referring to an island off the southern coast of present-day West Papua. Read more…
Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie – VOC – (Dutch East India Company) related gable stone with a lying lioness in the ‘gable stone wall’ at the Oudezijds Kolk in Amsterdam. The stone comes from Kleine Kattenburgerstraat 14/16 and was found there by Van Arkel and Weissman (Noord-Hollandsche Oudheden 6destuk (1903) page 43). Read more…
Being the Narration by Diedrich Buys of His Discoveries and Exploits in Terra Australis Incognita about the Year 1630. Author: Ernest Favenc. First known publishing date: 1896 A fictionalised account of the adventures of two mutineers (Diedrich and Paul Buys) from the Dutch ship Batavia which was shipwrecked on the Read more…
November 1786 saw the publication of An Historical Narrative of the Discovery of New Holland and New South Wales, which sought to explain the reasons for the British Government’s decision to establish a settlement at Botany Bay. Although the book was published anonymously, the London publishers, John Fielding and John Stockdale, were Read more…
By Gerard van Haren Richard was born on January 3, 1913, in Probolinggo, situated on the island of Java. He held the position of a militia sergeant, bearing the title tkl (2nd class), and was identified by pedigree number 13613. On December 15, 1941, he received his assignment for the Read more…
The text below is a brief summary of a report titled “EXPLORATORY VOYAGE OF THE SHIPS RIJDER AND BUIS, COMMANDED BY LIEUTENANT JEAN ETIENNE GONZAL AND FIRST LAVIENNE LODEWIJK VAN ASSCHENS, TO THE GULF OF CARPENTARIA.” This report was submitted by Gerrit de Haan, the “Master Cartographer” at Batavia, on Read more…