Which VOC Project?

I don't think there's a project thatcan handle that. Judi and I discussed many months ago how we could create projects around a few specific roles within the VOC. We have nice coverage about the governors or commanders, but how about "fiskaals", "koopmannen"...? The challenge is that there were so many VOC employees over history that you'd need a mega-project to highlight them all (one could think of 'simply' a project to which any VOC employee would be attached, without necessarily adding him in the plain text of a profile description. But, such projects are not that attractive. It would be nice if we could add a tag to a profile!

Yes, that's what I thought George. I do think we need a project for VOC employees.
=One could think of 'simply' a project to which any VOC employee would be attached, without necessarily adding him in the plain text of a profile description.=
I think that might not be the prettiest project - but otherwise a whole category of people fall through the cracks. (I'm thinking, especially, of the useful way the HistoryLink app throws out people connected to projects. This is a good categoriser for that.)

Can you give me a a day or two to think about a few things? A few months ago, we started streamlining the VOC projects (attaching them to an umbrella, moving some content, identifying some holes in the bigger picture...). It would be good to have something that's coherent, and possibly can accomodate future changes (for instance, tracking the movement of VOC officials from one post to another is interesting - and your ancestor is actually an example of that). We have a 'famous' case here on Geni about Six van Chandelier that is similar (by understanding the migration between VOC posts we understood that some traditionally accepted genealogical data were actually incorrect).
So, I'm saying that NOT to make it more complicated. I just would like to think a bit and see how we can quickly add something meaningful where we can add your ancestor as the first profile :-)
(Defining what an official is, may already be an interesting exercise :-). In fact, we may collate databases from payroll data)

That's great George - I trust your big-picture thinking abilities to come up wqith the best solution. Let me know if I can help.

Dankie George.
I will also go with whatever you do.
Juds

If I don't come back to you, it's not that I forget - but that my head is spinning around other things at the moment :-) Weekend!

:-)

What is VOC?

The Dutch East India Company http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_East_India_Company

Thank You. How very interesting. Certainly was a lot involved. Like other things in life it seem to continue on through greed and killing. Can't believe so much was involved and never heard about this in our school history

Likewise here, Ruth. The VOC is of course a feature for Dutch history lessons, but the real detail and extent, you only learn it later (and Geni is GOOD for that).
Let's keep in mind that this is indeed a VERY big topic. The VOC is generally regarded as the world's first true megacorporation, operating by principles that companies work by today (shareholders, dividends...). Also, a bank was set up in Holland (Wisselbank) - not the oldest bank in the world but probably again a bank operating in ways that still influence banks today. All this worked on the back of the Wars of Religion, in a place that had the world's only republic.
Interesting point about 'greed and killing'. Greed definitely so LOL. But, perhaps the killing not more and even less than other colonizers. The VOC set out to trade, not really to acquire territory (perhaps because it was a republic with no power-hungry monarch at the top?). In fact, it is broadly considered that the Dutch colonizers were quite opportunitistic and understood that having honest and good relations with the 'locals' was beneficial to trade. Trade is the only thing that mattered.
What's really interesting about this topic is that the VOC cannot really be compared with the colonial ambitions of other powers. There's a lot of nuance. Of course, there was a lot of tragedy, no doubt, but then perhaps especially so when the VOC ceased to exist and when Holland became a Kingdom and became a real colonizer (like others). There are very distinct phases.
Honestly, one learns a lot by digging into the genealogical aspect of things. When learning about the people behind, you start to see the nuances. (It's a great voyage for me :-) )

Yes the various East India Companies are fascinating, and the VOC the most of all. It is a mega project isn't it?

I am just looking through my CD of the work a group of ladies were doing for years called TANAP. Those were the early days at the Cape The first document being 1673 of - No name
http://databases.tanap.net/mooc/make_pdf.cfm?output=pdf&id=MOOC...

and then the 2nd oldest
Francois Champelaer
http://databases.tanap.net/mooc/make_pdf.cfm?output=pdf&id=MOOC...
And VERY interesting a map of the 1st settlement.

http://www.tanap.net/_resources/images/activities_MOOC/intro4_groot...
So interesting. If you think how the see has gone backwards- actually smaller would be the world.
If you know the Cape the Kasteel is far fro the beach but in those days it was right at the beach with the waves ponding on the walls.
☼

Very interesting, Judi.
Willem Steenkamp's 'Assegais, Drums and Dragoons - A Military and Social History of the Cape" is very interesting on how the VOC guards the Cape in the first years.
I'm not sure if it's available in Afrikaans, but it's fascinating about the building of the fort etc.

I have bought a Fort book once we were there. I don't mind English and would love to see this. It is on Celia website?
Juds

Here's a link to a review: http://www.defenceweb.co.za/index.php?option=com_content&view=a...

It says it costs R250, but I bought it at Bookdealers for R100. I think there might be one near you: http://www.bookdealers.co.za/search?q=steenkamp

Thank you. I am sure there isn't. Remmeber I am on the West Rand but will love to have it. I will ask Annelie to look in Pretoria for me. But for a good book R250 is not a lot of money. Thank you so much.
Juds