Did Willem de Vlamingh survive the long journey back home after his voyage of discovery? Most researchers assume not. The emeritus professor Günter Schilder who wrote one of the most important Dutch books about the voyage of discovery of Willem de Vlamingh (1), assumed Willem died on board de Gent during this return trip and was given a seaman's grave.

Unfortunately, no muster roll of this part of the journey has been preserved, so we do not know for sure whether Willem de Vlamingh died on his return home or whether he simply arrived at the Texel roadstead on Saturday, August 16, 1698 with the  rest of the return fleet.

All newspapers (there were several at that time, even a French one) mention their return (3), of which the report in the Amsterdam Courant of August 16, 1698 is the most interesting:

P.S. This evening, around 7 o'clock, the  Governors  of the VOC received further information that the ships Yselmonde for the Zeeland Chamber, Berkel for the Amsterdam Chamber, the Lek Amsterdam, Blois Amsterdam, and Schellak for Zeeland, left Ceylon at the end of January and on April 8 the Cape of Good Hope was approached; finding there from Batavia the ships Gend for Amsterdam, Cartago and Santloper for Zeeland, and De Boor for Amsterdam, with which they left on May 8 under Commander David de Vlaming from there, and had progressed to about Hitland on August 8 when they were met from the Galliot de Matroos, Skipper Barent Fockes; Since then, 4 ships have been separated from her by fog, the 5 others arrived on these coasts yesterday, and the Lek and Berkel arrived safely in Tessel this morning.

In short, traces of the unmarried Gerrit Collaert can still be found. But until now nothing was heard from Willem de Vlamingh again after he boarded de Gent in the Cape of Good Hope...

AND YET….

And yet we found it very difficult to believe Willem de Vlamingh would not have returned home from his great journey. Was he really never seen alive anywhere after August 16, 1698 - the day of their arrival at the Texel roadstead?

In our opinion, there are a few reasons why we suspect “our Willem” did not remain at sea.

Firstly, Willem de Vlamingh did everything himself in Batavia just before departure, because anyone who thinks that the old elderly man rested on his laurels and left all the work to his fellow skipper is wrong. The ship de Gent was fully loaded under his auspices and Willem himself signed the lists for it.

In addition to this, in the logbook of the ship Geelvinck, Willem's wages are calculated over 17 months on de Gent "until his arrival", so until he was repatriated to the Netherlands...

Over 17 maanden op de Gent tot zijn arrivement (which means: 17 months on de Gent until his arrival) as noted in the Ship's Pay Books of the Geelvink

The lists of ships sailing for the VOC also clearly read under the heading Names of skippers who arrived behind the ship De Gent the words:Commander Willem de Vlamingh (7) [187].

Lists of ships that sailed for the VOC, with notes regarding length, tonnage, number of crew members, year of construction, names of the skippers, number of deaths during the voyage, and dates of arrival and departure at and from the Cape of Good Hope, Batavia and the Republic (with information about de Gent)

Moreover, on October 3, 1698, six weeks after the arrival of de Gent in the Netherlands, mayor Nicolaes Witsen wrote a letter to a certain Dr. Martin Lister. In it he says that a ship has returned which the VOC had sent to the unknown Southland. This is not entirely correct, because both the Geelvinck, the Nijptangh and 't Weseltje still served in the East during this period. Two other ships did recently arrived in the homeland: in June 's Lands Welvaren led by skipper Claes Bichon with all the goods found in Australia on board, such as the logbook, the Dirk Hartog dish and the fragrant wood. And on August 16, 1698 de Gent came in on which Willem de Vlamingh was skipper.

In the letter Witsen writes in his best English: “The Master hath brought me two sholls from that country". So some captain brought exactly two shells from the Southland to the mayor of Amsterdam. The ship 's Lands Welvaren had a whole box of shells on board, so it is possible skipper Claes Bichon was the one who brought the shells to Mayor Witsen, but we doubt that.

In theory, this could of course still concern both skippers. Until one reads the addition about the given shells: which he found on the Sea-side. This statement can only refer to one skipper. Only Willem found these shells with his own hands on the beach of Australia. In our opinion, this can only mean one thing: after his return, Willem de Vlamingh personally visited Mayor Witsen to report to the man who had sent him on an expedition! This also seems like a very logical course of events to us. The skipper had set aside the two most beautiful shells to give to his benefactor with his own hands.

We therefore assumed Willem de Vlamingh was still alive on October 3, 1698. Otherwise, Mayor Witsen would have made a comment about the fact that the captain in question had now died. That is why we started digging deeper and deeper into the archives.

And behold... Suddenly we came across our Willem still very much alive in the summer of 1702!!! YEAHHH!!!!

Alive and well

On June 19, 1702, Willem Hesselsz Vlamingh, Skipper on the East Indies, entered the notary office of Gijsbert van Schoonderwoert, together with his eldest daughter Evertje Vlamingh, merchant, both living in this city. This last sentence does surprise us. What did Evertje sell? And does Willem now live in Amsterdam? Or does he just stay with his daughter when he has to be in town and does her adress serve as his mailing address?

See the Notarial archive of the City Archives in Amsterdam

They authorize one Cornelis Cos, attorney in Hoorn, to settle all their affairs, both plaintiff and defendant, before the Lords, Courts and Judges. Apparently something is going on and the De Vlamingh family is expecting a lawsuit.

Apparently there is already a case in progress by Cornelis against Mr Tor on Vlieland in February and they are looking for justice in higher and higher court rooms, eventually all the way up to the Supreme Court.

It is striking that Cornelis appoints his mother, Miss Willempje Cornelis, wife of Willem Vlamingh, as his agent and not his father. Would Willem have been too weak and old at that time?

However, six months later it was his father who, alive and kicking, walked to an Amsterdam notary twice to further settle his son's case against Volkert Tor before the various courts in Amsterdam, Hoorn and The Hague. Well, alive and kicking... Willem's signature (written as Willem Vlaming and Willem Vlamingh respectively) looks very wobbly. Perhaps his daughter Evertje is coming along for a reason and is present to support her father.

Waarom late Cornelis z’n zaakjes door zijn ouders opknappen?? Het is de zomer van 1702 en als schipper zit hij dan op zee. misschien woont hij zelfs al op Batavia, waar hij een aantal jaren zal verblijven.

Tor

Who is this Volkert Janszoon Tor? And why is the De Vlamingh family taking legal action against him?

Volkert, a Vlieland skipper, initially lives on the island with his wife. Until they both have a fight with the church council, no longer feel comfortable on Vlieland and move to Amsterdam. Volkert not only had words with the church secretary, he even fought with the man! A year earlier, Volckert's wife had already been excluded from the church supper due to misconduct.

Arriving in Amsterdam, Volkert Jansz Tor borrowed 800 guilders from wine buyer Claes Boon (9). Maybe to build a new life in the big city. We suspect at some point he also borrowed money from Cornelis de Vlamingh and the problems are because he cannot repay the borrowed amount.

In any case, it is thanks to this Volkert and to the case Cornelis once brought against him that we know today Willem de Vlamingh was still walking this earth in the summer of 1702!

Volckert Tor borrows 800 guilders from a certain man called Claes Boon

Desolate Estate Chamber

An entry in the books of the desolate estate chamber of Amsterdam on July 12, 1702 shows Volckert has since been declared bankrupt and a curator has been appointed over his estate (10).

It then also turns out there are several creditors who have filed a case against Volckert Tor in Hoorn and want money from him. The De Vlamingh family quickly decides to join all other creditors. This is a smart move, because if they first wait for the case in Hoorn and only then start a case against Volckert themselves, all those other plaintiffs will first be paid by the curator and then there may be nothing left for them.

The signing of this deed is striking. Not so much because, in addition to Evertje Vlaming, one H. van Heiden (11) signs his name on behalf of Willem de Vlamingh. The information is mainly contained in a number of sentences below the deed that have been completely crossed out, but fortunately chief archivist Harmen Snel of the Amsterdam city archives knew what to do with this.

Amsterdam City Archives: Desolate estate chamber (accession number 5072, inventory number 31, scan 41)

The deletions show H. van Heiden was the representative of Willempje Vlamingh, who had a power of attorney from her husband Willem Hessels Vlaming, according to a power of attorney issued by notary Simon van Sevenhoven. Everyone authorizes  everyone in this case, it seems. However, no matter how we searched, this authorization from Willem to his wife unfortunately did not come to light. It would have been interesting to know from when Willempie became a representative for her husband. As a skipper's wife, you actually needed this approval to be able to arrange things properly when your husband was at sea.

Hoorn

The lawsuit therefore moved to Hoorn. The case on the docket for the Lord Aldermen (12) of June 26, 1702 shows there were no fewer than 25 creditors. We see the name of Claas Boon, the person from whom we know Volkert had borrowed a large amount of money ten years earlier. Willem Vlamingh is mentioned separately from Evertje Vlamingh, which indicates Volckert owed them both money. Nothing will be decided that day.

More than a week later, everyone stands before the aldermen of Hoorn again. Cornelis Cos, the attorney who was authorized by Willem and Evertje, speaks on their behalf. He believes this case falls under the Amsterdam court and this Hoorn court has no jurisdiction over it. The Hoorn aldermen agree and the matter returns to Amsterdam.

Ultimately, the dispute will be fought out before the highest court in The Hague. On July 10, Willem and Evertje authorize Abraham Selkart van Wouw, the famous prosecutor for the court of justice in The Hague, to argue their case there.

Court in Hoorn on July 3, 1702

Court of Holland

On July 18, 1702 - about two weeks later - they were already at the court of Holland in The Hague. Willem and Evertje ask the highest court for permission to engage a bailiff. Especially because, according to them, Volkert Tor is absent and cannot be found. The guilty Volkert seems to have disappeared without a trace!

The “fugitive” has asked this notary to deliver a message on his behalf to Willem and Evertje Vlaming. In it, Volkert says he has been staying in Hoorn for the last four or five days. A bit strange, because their case before the court of Hoorn has long since been completed and argued. As we saw, there was already a verdict on July 3, 1702. So Volkert Tor actually had no business being in Hoorn in August anymore and no one would have searched for him there.

Volkert Tor admits he is a bit confused, because Willem and Evertje were allowed to send a bailiff to his house by the court of Holland, but that has still not happened.

In a copy of the court's ruling (13), Volkert Tor read he is suspected of abstaining from the jurisdiction of this court. He counters that he is by no means a fugitive, but is simply staying on Vlieland, which he describes as his permanent residence. Volkert makes it clear he can be found on the island and if anyone wants something from him, he can be reached there.

Notary Adriaan Rustenburgh ends the deed by stating he himself, in the name of Volkert Tor, has been to the residences of Willem and Evertje Vlaming, however Willem Vlaming was absent and the notary read this insinuation and protest to Evertje Vlaming, who replied Willem Vlaming was out of town and she wanted a copy. Which all passed in Amsterdam. This passage requires some explanation.

Volckert Tor with notary Adraan Rustenburgh

A few things immediately struck us:

In any case, the problems had been going on since the beginning of 1702, when Cornelis de Vlamingh authorized his mother on Vlieland. That is the first moment we hear there is an affair going on between them. We assumed Willem de Vlamingh was too weak at that time to do anything for Cornelis, otherwise he would have authorized his father.

Yet Willem and Evertje take over this business from Cornelis and Willempie a few months later (in June and July). We know Cornelis is sailing at the time, but what happened to his mother Willempie? Has she perhaps now gone to heaven? We do not know.

Remarkably enough, Volkert says he just walks around on Vlieland, in the village of Oost-Vlieland! So it seems Willem is not there, otherwise he would know, because in such a small village you regularly meet each other without any effort.

Would Willem - who we really believe lived on Vlieland for most of his life - have moved in with his daughter Evertje during this period? It sounds plausible that Willem, if he was weak and had just lost his wife, temporarily moved in with his eldest daughter. As we will see, Evertje often cared for members of her family during her life, all of whom she took into her home. But hey, these are just guesses unfortunately. There are probably more scenarios conceivable to make these special facts into a coherent whole...