Sailors' families and the urban institutional framework in early modern Holland

Abstract

This article points to a largely neglected theme in the maritime history: the important role of sailors' families in urban seafaring communities during the Early Modern Period. At the end of the seventeenth century and during the first decades of the eighteenth century, about 20% of the crewmembers of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) were married. Accordingly, in the towns in Holland where the VOC was present, many women had to run a household by themselves for a long period of time. The sailors' families were often confronted by emotional and financial distress, which to some extent affected the financial expenses of VOC towns as well. Many of these families were however able to cope because they received material support from various urban institutions. The Company created a system that encouraged sailors to send their money home during voyages, while urban poor relief often temporarily complemented the family's budget. Contrary to other married women, wives of sailors could obtain the legal power to engage in financial transactions, or to have access to inheritances. Town councils, civil courts, church councils, charity institutions and the East India Company were all willing to help the seamen's families. Their motives were twofold: while urban communities benefited from financially stable families, and the VOC compensated for their low pay by offering their employees fringe benefits, the attitudes towards seamen's wives also indicate that the urban elites genuinely wanted to provide some assistance to these needy families.

Keywords:

• Maritime communities
• Sailors' wives
• Women's legal powers
• Poor relief
• Remarriage
• Dutch East India Company

Acknowledgements

An earlier version of this article was presented at the Datini Conference ‘The Wealth of the Sea and Wealth from the Sea, 13th to the 18th Centuries’, Prato, 11th to 15th April 2005.

Notes

1 This can be derived from various tax registers who show large numbers of female household heads in the towns in Holland. Unfortunately it is not possible to calculate the actual numbers of women living alone.

2 Le Play showed that in the mid-nineteenth century major support was provided for families of needy employers as well. However such support usually did not involve the poorest employees (Wall, 1983a,b, pp. 27-28). Cambridge: Cambridge Un. Press.

3 This article is based on material that has been gathered for earlier publications: Manon van der Heijden (2002). Achterblijvers. Rotterdamse vrouwen en de VOC, 1602-1750. pp. 181-212 in Rotterdammers en de VOC. Handelscompagnie, stad en burgers, edited by Manon van der Heijden and Paul van de Laar. Amsterdam: Bert Bakker; Danielle van den Heuvel (2005) .“Bij uijtlandigheijt van haar man”. Echtenotes van VOC-zeelieden, aangemonsterd voor de kamer van Enkhuizen (1700-1750). Amsterdam: Aksant.

4 More than 50% of all European ships trading with Asia were Dutch: Gaastra and Bruijn, (1993, p. 178).

5 For the female surplus in Bruges (not a port) in the nineteenth century see: (Wall, 1983b, pp.421-474).

6 This percentage is based on the evidence presented by Grimm, 1994, p.31. Van Schouwenburg reported similar percentages for the VOC town of Delft (in Holland); in the eighteenth century about 60 to 75% of the sailors returned from their travels on VOC ships: Van Schouwenburg, 1988, p.83.

7 The ratio between land and sea wages between 1650 and 1800 was constant at between 1.6 and 1.8 (van Voss, van Lottum, & Lucassen, 2007). This calculation is based on a comparison of nominal silver wages of sailors working for the mercantile marine and of construction workers in Amsterdam. As pay was higher with the mercantile marine than with the VOC the differences between the incomes of VOC sailors and labourers in the building trades were even larger.

8 The VOC vessels consisted in this area (VOC towns of Rotterdam and Middelburg) of approximately 180 to 200 crew members per voyage. Approximately 60 to 70% of the crew members made requests to the VOC to relay a portion of their salary to others. Such a request could be made once per voyage only, and persons other than family members could be selected (such as creditors) (Grimm, 1994, p. 30; Bruijn et al., 1980, p. 139–140).

9 The calculations for Middelburg (the Chamber of Zeeland), Amsterdam and Enkhuizen are based on different types of records that nevertheless present us with similar information. For Middelburg the books of requests (verzoekboeken) are used. The names of everyone who wanted to make annual payments to persons at home were entered in this register. It was moreover recorded who the beneficiaries were and the amount of money they were entitled to every year. The calculations for Amsterdam and for Enkhuizen are based on information from the VOC pay-rolls (scheepssoldijboeken). Overall these records provide much more detailed information on the career of the seaman, but concerning the payments sent home the basic information is identical to that in the Middelburg books of requests.

10 This calculation is based on an analysis of a sample of the Company's records for the period 1700-1794 (selection of 15 out of 205 voyages) Nationaal Archief (hereafter NA), VOC-archief, 14638-14842.

11 In theory German and Scandinavions could send some of their wages home, but we have not found any evidence of such practices, and it seems to have been quite a complicated undertaking.

12 The maximum earnings for a ship's captain was 80 guilders per month, the minimum earnings for a sailor approximately 11 guilders. A sailor thus earned 176 guilders for the voyage to and from Asia (which is approximately 16 months) and if he indeed stayed for another 60 months in Asia, he earned 836 guilders (Van den Heuvel, 2005, pp. 22–24, 34–35, 65).

13 NA, VOC-archief, Register van resoluties van de Heren XVII (VOC's central governmental body), ‘Maantbrieven’, 21 February 1682, 5 April 1697.

14 AWG, Oud-rechterlijke archieven, Requesten en appoinctementen, 4846-4849.

15 The magistrates usually asked the East India Company for information on such matters; the magistrates permitted second marriages if the chamber confirmed that there had not been any news about the VOC employee for 5 years (Van der Heijden, 1998, p. 53; Helmers, 2002, p. 101–102).