We can only pick up on the life of Willem de Vlamingh when he first appears in the archives as an adult - more than twenty years after his birth - immediately with his nickname "de Vlaming".

First time whaling (1664)

On May 7, 1664, a certain Jacob Jelmersz Cocq reports to the notary's office of Pieter van Buijtene in the Nieuwebrugsteeg in Amsterdam (near the current Rokin). This Jacob has three seamen with him with whom he wants to record a number of agreements. One of them is Willem de Vlamingh.

In those days, someone called a commander was skipper and charterer at the same time. So the young Willem not only had to prepare the ship and arm it against possible hijackers, he also had to ensure there was sufficient food on board and hire his own people. As captain, he therefore had overall command of the entire ship and its crew, and he also had to understand whaling.

The harpooner standing on the prow had the responsible task of driving a harpoon into the body of the swimming animal. This single action did not immediately kill the formidable beast however. Such a whale feels a jolt of pain and swims away at full speed. With the harpoon in its body to which a rope is attached, the large whale, sometimes weighing up to 100,000 kilos, dragged the much smaller sloop behind it through the water. Usually it took a few hours before the animal became exhausted and the men were able to kill it. As long as the whale was alive, they were in danger, for the injured animal could take a dive under the ice. Then the harpooner, still standing at the tip of the sloop with an axe, had to quickly cut the line. Otherwise, the men would be pulled into the icy sea with the sloop and all, and they would surely die.

Back to the deed. The data mentioned in the contract immediately provide us with quite a lot of information. For example, Willem signs the deed with his full name in a firm signature (although he spells it differently than ever, namely as Wyllem Hesselzen Vlamynck). From this we can deduce he learned to read and write well in his youth. It is also striking that the ship they set sail on is called De Roomsche Kerck (The Roman Church), while we know Willem was not Catholic. Apparently he had no problem at all as a Reformed person working with Catholics. By the way, it was very common at that time to choose figures and concepts from the bible and ecclesiastical tradition when naming a ship.

Signature of Willem on the third line

Stadsarchief Amsterdam, archiefnummer 5001, inventarisnummer 2769, bladzijde 225 (pag. 214)

What stands out the most is actually the fact that Willem goes on a whale hunt. And straight away as commander! This tells us he has had a solid training in seafaring. Would he - as was customary - have been apprenticed to his father? But Hessel Dirksz carried cargo, just like almost all other male relatives. So how did his son Willem get interested in whaling? And where did he learn the trade? Fishing is a completely different type of skill. Not only do you sail to other areas, you also need to know where the fish can best be caught.

From the diligence with which Willem sets to work on this first journey, we can deduce he was well trained. If we are to believe the various sources, it was a special trip. So let's take a closer look at this first journey.

Secondly, it shows Willem did not - as was usual up till then - go whaling near Spitsbergen, although we can learn elsewhere in Witsen's book that Willem de Vlamingh did go to those parts at some point (15). Due to years of overfishing at Spitsbergen, the fish stocks there had decreased a lot. Like many other Dutch whalers, Willem therefore sought his fortune more eastwards on this first trip.

Yet, the most striking about this message is the fact that our Willem had sailed all the way up to Novaya Zemlya, maybe even further north! To beyond the place where Willem Barentsz had built his Behouden Huys in 1596 and where the famous skipper and his crew had to spend the winter after his ship got stuck in the ice. A number of them had not survived the harsh conditions in the cold north. Everyone in the Netherlands knew this story from skipper Barentsz, who had also died himself. It shows a fine example of bravura that the relatively young Willem de Vlamingh not only took the risk, but also succeeded in sailing past the top of the island of Novaya Zemlya. Not many Dutch skippers had reached this place before him!

Best part of it was Willem being able to prove he had really been all the way to the Behouden Huys, because he found a piece of wood on the Admiralty Islands, with the year 1596 on it, clearly written in a Dutch handwriting (16). With this seamanship, Willem proved he was not only young and brave, he also was really  an experienced and skilled seaman.

Thanks to Frans Schot from Terschelling for this watercolor on the dangerous adventure of Willem Barentsz!

Even more happened on that particular journey, because on August 4, 1664 they saw an unknown coast and called it Jelmerland. We know this from a map the same Nicolaes Witsen published in 1687. Unfortunately I don't have a picture available of this map.

We can conclude Willem had not only been whaling on his first trip, he also explored the seas in the North on his own account and discovered a new piece of land, which he called Jelmerland. Or rather, the whole story went just a little differently: It so happened Willem de Vlamingh, as commander of the ship, had one of his men gauge the sea depths up to 70 miles north-northeast of Novaya Zemlya and part of the waters in that vicinity turned out to be very shallow (only 5-7 fathoms (17)), so it was suspected there might be land nearby. On the basis of this assumption alone, Nicolaes Witsen drew a fixed coast on the nautical charts, although Willem de Vlamingh told him he did not see the land with his own eyes. The skipper only suspected there must be land, because he saw all the signs one usually sees near land on the high seas. And many of the sailors thought they did see the land.

The men on board decide to call this newly discovered piece of land Jelmerland, after the above-mentioned boatswain, Cornelis Jelmersz Cock, who came along on this trip. One may wonder why the new island is not called Cornelisland? This is probably because Cornelis' older brother, Jacob Jelmersz Cock, was the patron who had sent them on this journey and they wanted to do Jacob this honor. Of course it was much more common, to dedicate a new country to the one who paid the money! So, that's probably why it was now named after the father of the two boys: Jelmer (Cock).

Not only discovering new countries and giving names to unknown areas was something Willem de Vlamingh did already from the very first beginning. There is something else he does on this primary trip which returns later during his voyage to discover Australia: Willem draws part of the coast of Novaya Zemlya very securely on a map.

Nevertheless, Nicolaes Witsen does not simply adopts everything Willem de Vlamingh claims to be true, much to Willem's annoyment. For example, the skipper states that the three islands of Orange are much less northerly than the Hoek van Begeerte (places the famous Willem Barentsz mentioned). According to Willem de Vlamingh, it makes a difference of 15 miles. Unfortunately there was another sailor who spoke doubtfully about this claim to mayor Witsen and the latter did not dare to change it on the map...

About this first trip we also found a document in the Archives of Rotterdam! It turns out Willem de Vlamingh made a contract with a Rotterdam commander somewhere along their journey in Greenland that summer of 1664. He would hunt for whales together with Cornelis de Swedt from Rotterdam. After all whales where captured, skipper de Swedt returned home to the Netherlands with his vessel full of whales, while Willem de Vlamingh sailed on towards Novaya Zemlya with his galliot De Roomse Kerck. In the archive of Rotterdam we found a deed in which De Vlamingh's patron, Jacob Cock, urges the boss of Cornelis de Swedt to honor the contract, but he refuses (19).

So after he had been whaling and had stored (part of) his catch in the ship of the other commander, Willem de Vlamingh sailed on this first trip as commander in the direction of Novaya Zemlya. That wasn't just for fun. The adventurous and enterprising Willem was looking for a safe North-East passage: a route to sail to the Dutch East Indies via the Arctic Ocean. The same passage Willem Barentsz also sought seventy years earlier. This time young Willem thought he had found it!

We keep writing about “our Willem”, but of course this was not a one-man operation. None of this would have been possible without the help of his helmsman Hendrik Sijmonsz de Vries and boatswain Cornelis Jelmersz Cock. The three boys have big plans. They want to prove it is really possible to sail from Holland across the cold North to the East (instead of all the way around the South Cape in Africa), with the underlying idea of ​​exploiting this route. The States General had offered a prize of no less than 25,000 guilders (20) to the person who succeeded, which of course attracted the boys. They planned to set up their own Nordic company, a kind of VOC of the North. They called it a society of trade, to discover the north of Tartary,West America, the northern part of China and Japan as well as other as yet unknown lands and islands.

According to them, a sea journey from the Netherlands via the north to Japan, for example, was much shorter. Their new route would be faster, they think, so you needed less crew and food for the journey. Moreover, everything on board is better preserved by the cold. Where goods transported via the traditional Southern route spoiled faster and took much longer. Yes, the ice was dangerous, but - our men argue - in the south there are hugh problems with piracy. All in all, our trio thought they had found something really special on their first trip with which they could even compete with the VOC. So they rushed back to the Vlie in the incredibly short time of only 16 days to announce their find to the world about this passage and claim the promised money!

In the book by Nicolaes Witsen we read (in Dutch): Schipper Vlamingh judges that Novaya Zemlya (21) is broken land, where one can sail in and perhaps through in many places. So, according to Willem de Vlamingh, anyone who wanted to sail to the east simply had to keep to the coast of Novaya Zemlya or had to cross through this group of islands. He himself had sailed up to the 74th parallel and had seen nothing but open sea before him. So in his eyes it had to be manageable to sail to Japan or India via this Northern route.

In order to investigate this new route properly, Willem went ashore several times on their first trip to take a closer look around from a high mountain top. This shows our adventurous sailor was also a skilled mountain climber, because he reports the southernmost island is smooth on top and very steep all around. Yet, in spite of the steep hillsides he climbed up anyway (23).

Back home, the boys enthusiastically told Jacob Jelmers Cock (the brother of Cornelis who had sent them on this journey in 1664) they had discovered the passage. Jacob then applied for a patent from the States General of Holland to be allowed to sail to China and Japan via their route. Most likely, Jacob had also applied for the same type of patent a few months earlier (together with some merchants). Unfortunately, the names of the patent applicants are not mentioned in the Resolutions of the States General (24). Since it is a similar request, we suspect Jacob was one of the applicants. Seventy years after Willem Barentsz got stuck in the ice in the far North, Willem and his companions intend to risk this dangerous undertaking again.

The States General asked the East India Company for advice in this matter. They felt threatened by this new competitor and came up with a long list of objections. According to the Compagny a route along the top was indeed shorter, but also much more expensive. The VOC investigated the matter and found out there was already a patent for the Straits of Anian from 1623 (which was in the hands of the Compagny itself). So the Company's management immediately applied for an extension of the 1623 patent, and the bounty of 25,000 guilders the States General had once offered for discovering a passage around the North was unfortunately withdrawn. The applicants for the patent never heard anything about it again.

The anonymous applicants had already indicated the first time: if the States General refused to give them a patent, they would turn to neighbouring potentates of Norway, Sweden, France or England, who - in their opinion - would definitely grant them one. So this was exactly what Jacob Cock did when he heard nothing on his second request (25). He turned to the King of Denmark and asked this man - who at that time saw himself as the ruler of the entire Arctic - for a patent for a Northern route to the east. Then the young adventurous boys waited for a replay...

Meanwhile, the Amsterdam mayor Nicolaes Witsen did not like the entire venture along the north side at all. Firstly, Witsen thought it is most likely Novaya Zemlya was not an island at all. In his opinion it's attached to the mainland and therefore there will be no passage possible (26). Witsen, as always, based his arguments on reports from distinguished sailors, who have been eye-witnesses and who have told him about their vicissitudes.

Witsen's main objection, however, is the danger to the expedition members who are sent on such a journey. The mayor is simply too well aware of the situation in the North, prompted by the many years of experience of many skippers. He knows in those parts in the winter there won't be daylight for a long time and therefore it will be unbearably cold. He also knows the island of Novaya Zemlya has many small islands in front and cliffs in between which accumulate ice, so ice floes of several fathoms thick can be seen even in the heat of summer (27). Willem de Vlamingh may have sailed back home once in 16 days - according to Witsen, Willem was very lucky that time, for the wind was in the right corner that year. As a result, the young skipper only encountered a single ice floe. The Amsterdam mayor however just knew for a fact there is usually nothing but ice there.

Although he must admit there are whales caught near Japan with European harpoons in their flesh, so there must at least be a passage for fish. To mayor Witsen this is not yet proof there will be a passage for ships. Add to all these objections the summer fog and the period of total darkness in the winter, plus the many storms and the much too short summers with every chance of freezing and getting stuck into the ice, then it is easy to understand why Witsen comes to the conclusion in his book sailing around the North to the East is simply impossible for many reasons: it will just cost far too many lives, no matter how skilled the sailors are.

We can imagion this judgment was a serious blow to the bold plan of Willem and his mates. From all this it is however clear that Willem de Vlamingh already had an appetite for voyages of discovery from an early age on.

Whaling during the Second Anglo-Dutch War (1665-1667)

In the years after his first journey in 1664, Willem de Vlamingh will not have been able to fish much. In 1665 war breaks out (again) between the Netherlands and England (the first one had already taken place from 1652 to 1657). The Dutch have gained a strong position in European trade at the expense of the English , which leads to arguments flaring up again and again.

Because of the war, the Dutch government prohibited all ships to sail. This rule also applied to whalers such as Willem de Vlamingh. Those who did sail risked confiscation of both ship and goods, even if they managed to return safely to their home port. Skippers who violated this rule could also face an "arbitral correction" (a hefty fine) (28). This decree was immediately followed by another one in which the States General also forbade all kinds of tools and fishing gear to depart the country, probably in case clever fishermen rented a sloop in Germany and sailed out via the harbor of the eastern neighbours of the Netherlands (29).

These decrees of January 26 were very explicitly repeated on March 14 and 30, on April 2 and again on June 10, 1665, because the Dutch government received signals whalers were preparing to set sail after all. Also the following year - in 1666 - the Dutch Republic is at war and these rules still apply (30). We suspect Willem de Vlamingh will not have been out to catch whales in these years.

In the beautiful Scheepvaartmuseum of Amsterdam we found a thesis from South Africa containing a short passage about Willem de Vlamingh! According to the author, C. de Jong (31), Willem went on a whale hunt almost every year. The word “almost” suggests De Jong had access to sources containing information about in which years Willem had sailed. Unfortunately, we only found one list (see the illustration below).

Because of the certainty with which C. de Jong says Willem de Vlamingh sailed out on a whale hunt almost every year, we are inclined to believe him. This idea seems logical to us. If catching fish is your profession, then you set sail as a skipper as soon as possible, because you have to provide food for your family. Only during periods of war - when it is too dangerous at sea - whaling was not possible. From the Naauwkeurige Lyst van alle Nederlandsche Scheepen die zedert het Jaer 1661 naar Groenland () zyn uytgevaren (translated this title means: The Accurate List of all Dutch Ships who sailed to Greenland () in 1661), it appears that during the Second Anglo-Dutch War no one actually hunted whales. The tables are empty for the years 1665, 1666 and 1667.

Greenland whaling table. A booklet published in Amsterdam in 1746 by Kornelis van Tongerlo (Bookseller in the Kalverstraat above the Keizerskroon) (33)

In 1665-1667 and 1672-1674 it seems no ships sailed out to catch whales

How did Willem make a living during those years when a war was raging? Has he been deployed in helping to fend off the enemy, as proposed by the decree of the States General, in which the Dutch government  suggests to use fishermen to defend their country (34).

Unfortunately, we do not know where Willem was in the days when the great disaster occurred off the coast of Vlieland and Terschelling. This forgotten tragedy (the largest maritime disaster of the Netherlands) was a result of this war. 170 ships were reduced to ashes, plus the entire village of West-Terschelling (see my book on this subject (35)). Was Willem de Vlamingh on Vlieland during this attack by the English? We don't have any leads to his whereabouts. Although we can most likely assume at least his mother was present on the island and that she experienced the events from close by. How terribly frightened the poor woman must have been!

Watercolor painting of the burning ships on the Vlie by Frans Schot (2014)

The death of Willem's father

We did make a wonderful find from July 23, 1666 (just before the disaster described above). On this day Willem Hesselsz Vlamingh of Vlieland enters the office of notary Pieter van Buijtene in Amsterdam. 25-year-old Willem brought two elderly ladies from the island. One of them is Anna Abels. She is 66 years old and the widow of a Vlieland skipper named Adriaen Crab. The other woman is 55 year old Jaepge Reijns, the widow of Claes Backer.

Willem has asked both women to give evidence. They declare to the notary they both know Willem as the son of the late Hessel Dirckz van Vlieland. Then they claim to know Willem's father sailed to the East a while ago and - in their own words - "it was said the man had died overthere".

So it seems father Hessel sailed to the East a few years earlier and sailors who returned from the Indies then told Willem his father had died there. How special to learn Willem's father also once sailed on the East! And also that Willem had to miss his father at such a young age.

If we take a look at the Sound Toll registers, we see Hessel Dircks only sailed to the Baltic Sea in the years 1640 to 1643, until the Swedish-Danish war breaks out. It seems Willem's father then started working for the king of Sweden, because in a newspaper from 1645 we come across a captain Hessel Dircksz who is employed by the Swedish crown. And according to this Tydinghe of May 20, he has captured nine Danish ships full of goods with his galliot. The war between Sweden and Denmark was over in 1645 and eventually Willem's father sailed to the Dutch East Indies. He was not officially declared dead until 1666. Looks like Willem's father did a lot of different jobs in those twenty intervening years as a skipper. So it's quite possible he once maybe earned his living as a whailer in Greenland for a while and that little Willem simply learned the trade of whaling from his own father…

From: Tijdinge uyt verscheyde quartieren of 20 May 1645 (found via Delpher)

In Dutch the text reads: Captain Hessel Dircksz (in service of the Crown of Sweden), commanding a galliot, has captured nine Danish ships at sea, including a boeier loaded with various goods and trades. Two of these ships he had to let go, because he didn't have enough crew to occupy them. So he got payed seven times bail in Gothenburg 

The women whom Willem took with him to the notary's office in Amsterdam in 1666 claim to have known the late Hessel Dirck and his widowed wife Trijntje Cornelis very well, because they all lived for a long time at the East end of Vlieland. Adriaen Crab lived all his life with his wife at the end of the Groote Straat (now Dorpsstraat) number 198 on Oost-Vlieland.

Willem needs the testimony of these women for his inheritance. He - and his apparently still living mother Trijntje - get everything, because the two testifying women also can tell the notary Hessel has left no other children, nor any children's children. Perhaps William was indeed an only child? In any case, in 1666 he was the only one still alive.

We have not yet been able to find anything about this legacy. Yet, with this brand new information - rescued from the oblivion of history - we are already more than happy!

Second time whaling (1668)

Only in 1668 - when the war against England is over and it is possible to sail to the North again - we meet Willem de Vlamingh once more when he is about to go whaling for the second time (that we know of).

In early 1668, the three friends resume their plan to find an arctic passage. On February 7, one Louis Quickelenburch, together with a number of associates (36), concludes a contract with Willem de Vlamingh and his mate Hendrik Simons de Vries at notary Adriaan Lock. We notice the name of their other sailing mate Cornelis Jelmersz Cocq has been crossed out everywhere in the deed. And in this document there is no sign of his brother Jacob Cocq, their former patron.

Just in this small section, the name of Cornelis Jelmersz Cocq has already been crossed out twice

Their new patrons have had three galliots (long, narrow sailing ships) prepared and both Willem de Vlamingh and Hendrik de Vries will man one of those ships as captain. Apparently it was their initial intention to make Cornelis Cock skipper of the third galliot. It seems they only decided at the very last minute he would be replaced, given his name was in the deed already.

This is one of those places where Willem de Vlamingh is said to live here (the deed is made in Amsterdam).  At the beginning of the year 1668 he is not yet married and has not yet registered as a burgher. Would he have some kind of postal address in the big city as a pied à terre, for example with one of his friends? Funnily enough, Cornelis Cock lives on the Lindengracht (in the street where Willem's future bride Willempie comes from). Or maybe "here" does not mean Amsterdam, it could perhaps refer to "here in the Netherlands".

The contract with Louis Quickelenburch and associates states Willem and Hendrik will be sent out this spring each with their own galliot properly equipped to go fish for walruses and whales.

There is also an Instruction that will be given to Willem de Vlamingh and which he will have to follow exactly. Our man is making a fast career, because this time he is appointed commander of no less than all three ships. Willem will receive 500 guilders in wages for this trip and Hendrik 300: one half will be paid before they go to sea and the other half when the journey is completed. In addition, Willem also receives some extra money for every barrel they will catch with the blessing of the Lord.

Next thing they agree on is for Willem is to hire the sailors himself and he promises to do his best to choose the most skilled, suitable and decent employees.

At the end of the contract it appears this voyage is not only about whaling, it's also about discovering new land. That's why it is stipulated in the contract if something is discovered for the benefit of the patrons, the seamen are urged not to disclose it to anyone in the world or to make it public in any way. So the friends have finally done it and are sent on a journey of discovery by their new patrons!

Willem signs the contract with his fully written name: Willem Hesselszen Vlamingh.

Amsterdam City Archives, notarial archive 5075, inventory number 2226, page 323

That same day, Louis Quickelenburch and his partners appear to have changed their mind and a new contract is made up in which Hendrik de Vries receives not three but four hundred guilders wages. The skipper stated he was "very satisfied with this".

On February 16, 1668, the shipowners settled the rest of this contract with notary Adriaen Lock. On the same day they also spoke with Jacob Jelmers Cock. As it turns out Cornelis Cock's brother has finally received the coveted patent!

Jacob provides the patrons with this patent with the necessary permission from the king of Denmark to search for new unknown northern lands in his territory. The shipowners pay Jacob no less than a thousand guilders for this and promise him he will also participate in the contract they drew up with Willem de Vlamingh earlier that month, so Jacob will "enjoy and endure the profit and loss that by the grace of the Lord will be obtained". At least now we know in which regions Willem de Vlamingh will look for new land: in the northern polar region where the king of Denmark ruled.

In addition to the contract between Willem de Vlamingh and those who sent him out, a contract also had to be drawn up between him as commander and all crew members hired by himself. The agreements were put in writing on 4 April 1668 at the notary Adriaen van Santen. Apparently they had not yet set sail with their three ships at that time.

Anyone who reads this ship's contract will learn a number of things. First of all: Willem Hesselsz Vlaming sails as commander-in-chief on a ship called the Vliegende Arent, Hendrick de Vries is the commander of the galliot ship the Vogel Phenix and someone by the name of Jacob Brandaris will be the commander of the Witte Valck. Moreover, the document states all three skippers come from Vlieland! It is therefore likely Willem not only selected the lower-ranking crew members, but also nominated his fellow skippers to his Amsterdam patrons.

Immediately after this trip, the same Hendrick Muijkens reports again to notary Adriaen van Santen. Muijkens had been on board the ship of Willem de Vlamingh as a "supercargo" - i.e. as supervisor over the business dealings of the voyage - and is now coming to give evidence at Willem's request.

This Hendrick Muijkens brought along 44-year-old helmsman Jacob Sybrandsz Smith from Vlieland and 18-year-old boatsmate Joris Jorisse from Terschelling to confirm his story. We recognize their names from the crew list of the ship Willem was de commander on and which is now fully called the Vergulde Vliegenden Arent.

The men complain about the behavior of one of the other boatsmen, called Sijmon Jansz. Indeed, his name also appears on the original ship list of the Vergulde Arend. According to the witnesses, this man always misbehaved, refused to follow the orders of Willem de Vlamingh and did not want to do the normal ship's work either.

Willem decided there was no longer room on his ship for a gentleman like Symon Jansz and told him, after they had been lying off the coast of the prescribed island for a while, to take his duffel and go ashore. All the more so because Sijmon Jansz had said several times to Willem and the others that if they did not want to allow him to drink, he would go to a ship from Hamburg which was also moored near Loppa and needed people. So our bold Willem left Symon Jansz behind on the island and the drunken sailor had to try and find out if the other ship indeed would still hire someone like him.

Although everyone probably thought they got rid of this troublesome man forever, it turns out Sijmon Jansz went on board their ship "about 6 to 8 days ago" (so before this deed in Amsterdam was drawn up) to ask where Willem de Vlamingh was. To which the helmsman replied the skipper was in the new city inn (which, by the way, was a very common place to have business meetings at the time).  If Sijmon wanted to see the commander, the helmsman added, he would have to go there. Apparently the travelers have now returned to Amsterdam and Sijmon Jansz has also found his way back from the island to the capital, where he visits his former employer to seek redress. 

Sijmon Jansz wants money. The fired man comes to claim his missed wages for the period he was on board (even though he did not want to work at the time). When he hears the commander is not on board, he demands someone goes to fetch Willem de Vlamingh. The minute he notices no one has any intention to do so, things went wrong rather quickly. Sijmon reached for his knife! Luckily, the helmsman saw it in time, grabbed the attacker and threw him off the ship. Things could have ended very differently in this dangerous situation!

When leaving, Sijmen Jansz threatens he will know where to find commander Willem de Vlamingh or the helmsman...  This is why these three witnesses - Hendrick Muijkens, Jacob Smidt and Joris Jorisz van der Schellingh - come to record the event at the notary's office. All sign the deed (the latter with a mark). Willem de Vlamingh himself is not present at that time, but according to the witnesses they came at his request.

On this second trip Willem de Vlamingh not only had a quarrel with a crew member, he also seems to have had a disagreement with the men who had sent him out with the three ships Arent, Valck and Phenix. For the following winter (after the trip) we find Louis Quickelenburch and his co-shipowners at the same office of notary Adriaen Lock with a complaint, on January 21, 1669 in Amsterdam (38).

One of the shipowners, Louis Craijers, has passed away. His widow, Miss Adriana van Geijn, however is present at the notary. A problem has arisen between her and the other shipowners. Before the trip, a contract had been drawn up and given to Commander De Vlamingh, with regard to whaling and the discovery of unknown northern countries. According to the men, the widow has these papers of the contract in her possession, she just refuses to give them.

The men claim they really need their copy of the contract in order to be able to act against Willem de Vlamingh. Since widow Adriana repeatedly refused to hand over the papers, she now is held liable for any damage this will cause the others.

The shipowners have a dispute with Willem de Vlamingh, who was ultimately responsible for the three ships. Unfortunately, it is not stated which of the agreements he did not keep. Would Willem have discovered new land and announced it to the world himself against the rules? Or is the proceeds of the fish not divided fairly according to agreement in their eyes? We just don't know.

What we can conclude from this deed is that Willem de Vlamingh apparently did not agree on something with Louis Quickelenburch after returning home and that Willem has argued in his favor, referring to his contract. The opposing party couldn't find find their copy of the contract and were unable to make a fist to their commander. Willem - who has only just turned 28 years old - must already have had a strong character!

Shortly afterwards, on February 10, 1669, Louis Quickelenburch and his companions appear again at the same notary. Again they call widow Adriana to account. Once more they want to try and force the widow of their former colleague to help them get the necessary papers. Apparently the group of shipowners only had one copy of the instruction themselves.

A month later, Louis Quickelenburgh and associates send out another ship. This time with a different skipper (39). For a moment it seems they no longer want to do business with Willem. Nevertheless, we think everything is amicably settled. For at the end of that same year Willem turns out to have done business with Louis Quickelenburch again. We read in the deed (already quoted in the chapter about Willempie) Willem's brother-in-law Gerrit Cornelis fell overboard and drowned at sea. This happened "not so long ago", according to the statement of Willem. He stands surety for all his brother-in-law's debts and it seems both merchant Louis Quickelenburch and skipper Cornelis Jelmers Cock are standing surety for Willem again at the end of 1669.

The question remains whether this brother-in-law worked as an employee of Willem de Vlamingh on one of his ships in the year 1669 and whether Willem therefore felt partly responsible for his death, or whether this incident took place on a completely different ship?

Freight transportation (1671)

The deed of February 7, 1671 recorded by notary Jan Volkaertsz Oli is no larger than a hand's breadth. Still, we are happy with every shred of information. This time Willem himself is present at the notary's office on the Oudezijds Voorburgwal.

In this text you can read about skipper Willem Hesselsz Vlamingh who sailed on a ship called the Vetgath,  instead of a chap named Henne Agges. It seems Willem has filled in for another skipper and has gone on a journey to Gothenburg in his place. There Willem unloaded a large cargo of salt from the Vetgath. This happened "last November" (so at the end of 1670). This salt was left with a certain Pieter Brandt in Gothenburg. Willem now authorizes a man called Sr. David Amia, a merchant from Gothenburg, to claim the money owed from Pieter Brandt and otherwise take him to court.

Stadsarchief Amsterdam, notariële archief 5075, inventarisnummer 1521, pagina 234

We never knew Willem de Vlamingh, who in our opinion always only went on whale hunts and voyages of discovery, also sometimes transported cargo, like his ancestors. In this case it looks like he tried to help someone. For the next tour, the following year, Henne Aggesz reported to duty himself again.

The question arises what Willem de Vlamingh did in the winter to make a living. Whaling took place from late April to September. We don't know what kept him busy for the rest of the year. There were plenty of sailors who carried cargo in winter in addition to summer whaling. Skippers who took part in whaling often combined this with Baltic-, Archangel- or salt-trades (and also, to a much lesser extent, with timber trades around Norway, according to research (40)). For charterers and skippers alike, whaling was probably just one activity out of many.

Third time whaling (1671)

We know Willem went whaling again in the summer of 1671. This is proven by a contemporary newspaper. In the Oprechte Haerlemse Courant of July 16, we read the following message: on July 15 in Amsterdam another ship has arrived from Greenland. It is Commander Willem de Vlamingh, bringing with him 13 and a half fish.

Oprechte Haerlemsche Courant, 16 July 1671, p. 2. Found via www.Delpher.nl

So Willem caught 13 and a half whales near Greenland. “How did he get half a fish?”, we hear you ask. Well, sometimes several sloops from different ships hunted the same whale and spearheads from several harpooners were lodged in the body of such a large beast before the animal gave up and died. Then the catch was shared.

Over thirteen whales is a very good catch. The whales now have to be processed in a special cooker as soon as possible to make lamp oil and cod liver oil.

Watercolor by Frans Schot

Remarkably enough, a week later in the same newspaper there is a message of July 18 which claims to be "directly from the Vlie", the passageway to see near Vlieland. In Dutch it says: "Yesterday a fleet arrived from various regions, including this week Willem Vlamingh van Vlielandt with 14 to 15 whales from Greenland" (41). Willem seems to have caught 1 extra fish here, although 14 to 15  is a lot less specific than 13½, so it seems more plausible to us he caught thirteen and a half whale.

We do wonder though to which cod liver oil cookery Willem de Vlamingh took his fish: to those on West Vlieland or elsewhere?

No whaling in 1672-1674?

In Dutch history the year 1672 is known as "the yaer of disaster". Our country was at the same time attacked by several countries around us and almost completely overrun. This period was followed by the Third Anglo-Dutch War, which lasted from 1672 to 1674 and was mainly at sea. So it was impossible to go whale hunting and the tables for whaling of the Lyst van Groenlandse Vissery are empty.

A booklet about whaling published in Amsterdam in 1746 by Kornelis van Tongerlo

Again we have no idea what Willem did during this period to make a living. However, it seems he was ready to sail immediately as soon as it was possible again, because the war lasted until early 1674 and on September 29, 1674 it is stated in the newspaper that Willem de Vlaming returned from Greenland with 8 and a half to 9 whales (42). If we are to believe the empty table mentioned above, he was one of the few who apparently sailed out undaunted. It was not until the beginning of May 1675 the whaling really started again (43).

Oprechte Haerlemsche Courant of 29 September 1674 (found with Delpher)

Fifth time whaling (1675)

Anyone who opened the newspaper on August 22, 1675, got a terrible shock. In harsh black and white colour it says a lot of whailers who sailed to Greenland have perished! In the row of wrecked ships our sturdy whaler appears no less than twice: not only with his name Willem de Vlamingh, a little further on in the article the name of his ship is also mentioned: d'Hoop op Walvisch (44).

Oprechte Haerlemsche Courant of August 22, 1675 (found via www.Delpher.nl)

How frightened everyone at home must have been! We have no idea whether Willempie read the newspaper. To be honest, this is highly unlikely, because these papers were not daily spread door-to-door at the time. Rather loose pamphlets of about 1 page with text printed on the front and back, which were distributed to cafes and other commercial centers (in those days people often traded in inns and pubs). Nevertheless, the horrific news must have reached her quickly. Such news spreads like wildfire among sailors and because of her work she was in direct contact with skippers and sailors. The whole village probably knew what was going on that same day.

We can now immediately browse all the newspapers of that week (24 and 27 August) online via Delpher, only to learn that the rumor still had not been retracted by the end of the week. In the following periode, there subsequently appear some messages: one about a large fleet that has entered the Vlie containing some ships comming from Greenland (46) and on 12 September another ship from Greenland was spotted on the Maas in Rotterdam (47). This didn't help at all to reduce the anxiety.

Willempie will probably have lived in agony for the rest of the month, until on September 30 a fleet of 130 ships from Greenland finally arrives on the Vlie (48). It is not stated in so many words, but we suspect this included the presumed dead skippers with their ships.

Haegse post-tydinge of October 1, 1675 (via Delpher)

Unless Willempie's patience is tested even longer, because in the newspaper of another week later can be read "the Greenland vessels that have moored near Norway did still not return" (49). The convoy from Bergen finally arrives at Texel on 23 October (50).

If Willem belonged to this last group of skippers, poor Willempie must have been in strangling fear for more than two months. Would she have thought all along her husband had perished with ship and all? The life of a sailor's wife is not a bed of roses, as it turns out. Anyway, Willem finally made it home in one piece. The story does not tell us how he managed to do so nor what exactly happened or why people thought Willem and the other skippers had died. Did his ship really sink, with Willem barely surviving the adventure? Or was it just an empty rumour? (51)

Sixth time whaling (1677)

Again Willem de Vlamingh goes on a whale hunt as a “Greenland fahrer”. In that period, this term often meant not only fishing in the waters around Greenland, but also the sea area near Spitsbergen and Jan Mayen Island (53), so it is impossible to say exactly where he sailed to. Unfortunately, a debacle soon awaits them. The sailors have not yet caught anything or they are already being hijacked. Real French pirates enter the ship and loot the place. For us now perhaps an exciting adventure to read about, for Willem de Vlamingh and his friends quite a nasty experience, we can imagine!

We read about these events for the first time in the Oprechte Haerlemsche Courant, because anyone who experiences such a sensational adventure will of course be in the newspaper and Willem de Vlamingh happens to be the first to return to the Netherlands after the hijacking to report on their vicissitudes (54). We quote the full newspaper report:

Oprechte Haerlemsche Courant of August 14, 1677 (found via Delpher)

Saint-Malo is still a port city in France today. It is located on the coast in northern Brittany. That's where the hijackers came from, when they suddenly appeared among the Dutch fleet. This statement suggests not only merchant vessels, but also fishing boats sometimes set sail in a group for their own safety.

Traveling together was not always a guarantee of security, so is evident from the havoc caused by the hijackers. Only four pirate ships induced enormous damage to the fishing fleet: the hijackers burned no fewer than four ships and took another thirteen with them. The newspaper report explicitly states Willem de Vlamingh's ship has also been “taken”.

Emeritus professor Louwrens Hacquebord tells us this action by the French privateers was in retaliation for a Zeeland hijacking of French fishing vessels near Newfoundland (55).

In the cited newspaper report we also read Willem had "rationed" his ship. To be honest, we initially thought Willem had put his crew on rations because of a lack of food. Turns out, in Holland there exists a real lexicon on everything there is to know about sailing (56). In it we read that the old Dutch word "rantsoeneren" is like the English word "ransom", so it had to do with paying a ransom. The captain, shipowner or government pay the ransom and the privateer returns the captured ship with its cargo to its owner.

We do not know for how much money the ship De Vlamingh sailed on was bought back. Afterwards, the merchant from Zaandam who owned the fluit (which is a typical Dutch ship) had a list drawn up of all the damage caused to his ship. This list shows the ship, including all gear, was worth a total of 19,000 guilders.

During our search we learned this deed was no less than 25 pages, so we hoped for an extensive account of the skirmishes between Willem de Vlamingh and the privateers. Regrettably it is mainly a long ship's inventory (of several ships involved) (57).

Amsterdam City Archives: 23 January 1678 at notary Adriaen van Santen (folio 102-103)

On this rather damaged deed you can still read the name "Willem Hessels Vlaminch" (left - in the middle)

In the two pages of the deed relating to the ship d'Hoop op de Walvisch, only one line is devoted to the incident, namely that commander Willem Hessels Vlaminch van Vlielant had to deal with no fewer than two French frigates (these are warships). In the battle Willem not only lost his ship to the robbers, but also his fishing tools and other gear. The  rest of the deed gives a long list of goods transferred from the ship to the two frigates, including Willem's jib, mizzen and a whole set of other sails. Also all sorts of ropes, flags, plumb bobs, a canon, about three hundred pounds worth of gunpowder, bullets, muskets and pistols. So it seems the Dutch had a lot of weaponry on board to defend themselves. Still they were defenseless against two warships.

Perhaps worse, the sailors lost all their fishing gear, as well as all their wine and brandy. As we read in the newspaper article, Willem had not caught anything before the attack. Which was strange, considering the information in the follow-up to the same newspaper report that there was a good catch: a total of 49 ships had already caught 196 whales. The ship the Rode Leeuw in particular had done very well and caught 30 fish  all by itself. How is it possible our Willem - already 36 years old and skilled in his profession -hadn't caught anything yet?

In any case, after the ransom was paid to the French pirates, he got his ship back, except for the necessary tools to catch fresh fish. With the lack of the right sails and sufficient ropes it must have been quite difficult return to Holland. Once again Willem proved to be an excellent sailor. He was the first of the hijacked skippers arriving in Amsterdam on August 12th.

On the way back there was another small incident. Somewhere at sea they came across the Eendracht, one of the ships taken by the hijackers! This was on July 9, 1678. Willem de Vlamingh immediately sent his harpooner Jacob Lolles with 18 men in 3 sloops. They were helped by sloops from other ships that were apparently also nearby: commander Snijder of the ship the Uijtgeesterkerck came with 5 sloops and 31 men, and commander Cornelis Tade van Emden with 26 men in 3 sloops. Together they brought the battered ship the Eendracht to the harbor in Emden. In the end, everyone who had contributed to this received 18 guilders and 18 "stuivers" (like pennies) for their efforts. These were probably the only wages earned that summer.

This whole adventure ended better for Willem de Vlamingh than for some of the others involved. Weeks later, there are still hijacked Dutch ships in the bay of Sint Malo. They are tossed back and forth by the tide, the ebb and flow of the water, which has caused several ships "to become very leaky" (57). For some of the hijacked skippers, the problem is not solved until Christmas 1677 (58). In retrospect, we are even more impressed that Willem managed to return home as the first of the hijacked ships!

Sale of a barge (1681)

Who would like to read something about the dangers a whaler could be in, please read the quotes from the newspapers from 1683 until 1687 about whaling.

On 19 January 1681 he sold this fishing boat for 135 guilders to Gerrit Cornelisz Nobel. Coincidentally, he owed exactly the same amount to Alof Pieters, the impostmaster of Vlieland, for the second half of the house, which he paid off on May 21, 1681. Willem had already acquired the first part of the buildings and the surrounding yard, which were located on the site of the current Dorpsstraat numbers 21 to 27 (60).

Still, whatever Willem had planned with the botter, he had not yet abandoned whale hunting for a living.

Seventh time whaling (1688)

For further information on whaling in the summer of 1688, we read the book of Nicolaes Witsen. In his Tartarye, he writes about the journey skipper Willem de Vlamingh made at the time. After sailing to Greenland to catch whales, Willem again passed the coast of Novaya Zemlya. To be honest, that is quite a detour! The island is much more to the east. So we think Willem may have sailed to this area after whaling up north, just to take a closer look…

From another source we know this time he also went whaling near Novaya Zemlya, because we found a reference to Willem de Vlamingh in a Scandinavian book (61):

Transcription (of the danish sentence):

Fra dette sted in Anno 1688 hyrede en hollander fra Rotterdam Ved Nafn villum de flame, nogle bønder at fare med til Nova Sembla, Huilche Kom tilbage igien og fich en goed hyre.

So his name was written as Villum de Flame :-)

Freely translated in English it says:

In the year 1688, a Dutchman from Rotterdam (62) named Willem de Vlamingh hired some farmers to sail to Novaya Zemlya, who afterwards returned safely to their homes and were well paid.

According to this source, all this happened in the town of Maassøe, so it concerned a number of Norwegian farmers from Massǿ, a village on the island of Magerøya (on which the North Cape is also located).

Willem hired these local farmers to sail with him to Novaya Zemlya, so they could help him catch whales. Maybe Willem didn't always know where to fish? And is that why it could happen he hadn't caught anything yet while others had a good catch? Could this have anything to do with the fact that Willem had been raised with cargo carriers like his father and not among whalers? He knew everything about sailing and perhaps  not so much about good places where fish will hide. Bringing farmers along for the trip turned out to be a smart move. As we saw, the Norwegians returned home safely after the catch and were well paid (from which we conclude apparently a lot of fish had been caught).

It is true, according to mayor Witsen, the walrus teeth caught in the Ys Sea are much softer and more brittle than those caught near Greenland, and the animals themselves are also smaller. That is why Willem might have first tried his luck near Greenland. When that didn't work out, he sailed towards Nova Zembla, where he cleverly took a bunch of locals on board to show him where to fish. They knew, for example, there is little fish on the north coast of the island, although there are many lobsters instead. On the other side, there is a lot of fish to be found in Waaigat and you mainly catch sturgeon in the river Oby, from which good caviar can be made (62).

William's day list as printed on page 923 in the book North and East Tartaryen by Nicolaes Witsen.

Source: www.huygens.knaw.nl where Bruno Naarden provided a facsimile edition

Some people think this island does not exist at all and Willem lied about discovering a land that wasn't there. Be that as it may… Willem had played his cards well. His plan worked out great. Mayor Witsen was sensitive to his friendly gesture of an honorable mention. Witsen proudly describes how he had seen Willem had marked the island in his own handwriting on a drawing. In that same period, the mayor of Amsterdam was busy publishing a large map of Asia. The map even bears the year 1687. Yet this discovery from 1688 is still incorporated. On the Asia map you can clearly read: ‘t Eylandt Witsen ontdekt bij schipper De Vlaming den 28 july Anno 1688 (the island called Witsen discovered by skipper De Vlaming on 28 July Anno 1688) (64).

Willem de Vlamingh immediately got a job from Witsen as skipper at the VOC, where the Amsterdam mayor could pull some strings. From now on Willem's days as a whaler, risking his life in the North for a living, are  defenitely over. From 1688 on, our sailor only left for the Indies and enjoyed a fixed income. His old profession as a whaler had many dangers: not only could you be hijacked or end up in a storm, the many ice floes could also cause a ship to leak. The biggest risk they ran, however, was getting stuck in the ice. If you managed to break free with the help of another ship, you had to give up part of your catch as wages for the help. When they failed to break free, the crew members had to spend the winter in the harshest conditions. Often with fatal outcome. Willem de Vlamingh has now left all this behind him for good, although he will still encounter many adventures on his trips for the VOC, especially on his final journey discovering the unknown land in the South!