Government Slaves 1802

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The British occupied the Cape Colony from 1795 to 20 February 1803 when the Colony was handed back to the Dutch Batavian Republic, per the Treaty of Amiens signed 27 March 1802. This register of Government owned slaves was drawn up in December 1802. As with the names listed in the 1714 Census of the VOC Slave Lodge, the names in this register appear to be a truer reflection of the original slave names. The Government slaves were stationed at the various organs of state. The summary of slaves owned by the British Government for January and February 1803 is noted as:

Kloeke Jongens - 228                        Kloeke Meyden - 93

School Jongens - 18                          School Meyden - 16

Zuigende Jongetjes 4                        Zuigende Meisjes - 5

New born - 2

Died - 1  

Total slaves : 365

In addition to the above number of slaves, the Slave Lodge housed 42 Indian exiles who were banished to the Cape from Batavia at an unspecified time in the past and before the register was compiled. Of this number 24 were in Government service and provided for, 16 were trying to make a living in the Cape,  and 2 were too infirm to provide for themselves and were taken care of by the Lodge. A number of Hottentot and Indian convicts were also housed in the Lodge and received the same treatment as the slaves.

The archive's writing is ink blotted, sometimes illegible, and written in Dutch. Please note that the names transcribed here may contain errors and unless translated to English, other data is as it appears in the archive.

Government Slave register 1802

Transcribed by Lara Seaward from RSA National Archives

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