Stellenbosch Slave List 1816 - 1838 (A - E)

! Sensitivity : It is crucial to handle this database with care and a strong sense of responsibility. Many of the terms used were originally assigned by the VOC (Dutch East India Company) and often do not reflect how individuals and groups identified themselves. The terms themselves can be misleading, as they oversimplify the complex social realities experienced by people at the time.

This database may also contains terms that are considered derogatory, offensive, or harmful. The concepts within it are deeply connected to a history of colonial violence, enslavement, and racism that persisted both during and after the VOC's existence.

This database primarily holds records of slave registrations, a practice mandated by the British from 1816. Initially, Dutch Free Burghers were the main slave owners, but ownership later expanded to include Free Blacks and other European settlers, and refugees, notably the French Huguenots. Despite having fled religious persecution themselves, these Huguenots actively participated in the slave trade and the brutal mistreatment of enslaved people at the Cape.

The intermarriage among French Huguenots, Germans, and Dutch settlers led to the emergence of a new European identity: the Boere*. Their distorted interpretation of the Bible played a significant role in developing Apartheid, an alternative form of slavery in South Africa.

Slave owners assigned names to enslaved individuals, often reusing names or naming new children after those who had died. Slavery was abolished by the British at the Cape on December 1, 1834, but enslaved people were subjected to a four-year "apprenticeship." Forced labor officially ended on December 1, 1838, marking the end of slavery. When exact birthdates aren't available, the year of birth is an owner's approximation.

*Not to be confused with the Afrikaans word for farmer. There were and are many farmers/boere of different ethnicities.

Slave records - South African National Archives

Archive copying by Lara Seaward

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