First Fifty Years - a project collating Cape of Good Hope records

Thomas van Bengale¹

M, #16031, b. circa 1675

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Last Edited

03/04/2015

BirthOrigin*

Thomas was from Bengal and was perhaps born there circa 1675. Van Bengale - or from Bengal - was a term loosely applied during the period of VOC dominance to enslaved or formerly enslaved people from any of the countries bordering the Bay of Bengal. He was said to be 19 years old in 1694.^1,2

Slave Transactions

On 17 May 1694 Thomas van Bengale was sold by William Mackdowall to Claas Hendricksz Diepenouwe, for Rds. 85.³

Citations

[S418] Anna J. Böeseken, Slaves and Free Blacks at the Cape 1658-1700 (Cape Town: Tafelberg, 1977), p.165.. Hereinafter cited as Slaves and Free Blacks at the Cape 1658-1700.
[S432] Robert C-H Shell compiler, Changing Hands, A calendar of bondage in southern Africa, 1550 to 1888, CD-ROM; ISBN 1-86918-063-1; (Cape Town: Ancestry24, September 2007), Sequence IDNO:       0896
Slaves First Name:       Thomas
Presumed Place Of Origin:       van Bengal
Day Of Sale:       17
Month Of Sale:       5
Year Of Sale:       1694
Type Of Name:       Christian
Continental Origin Code:       Indian Sub Continent
Slaves Age:       19
Slaves Gender:       Male
Price In Rixdollars:       85
Sellers Last Name:       Macdowal
Sellers First Name:       William
Sellers Gender:       Male
Sellers Domicile:       Transit-at sea
Sellers Occupation:       Surgeon
Buyers Last Name:       Diepenauw
Buyers First Name:       Claas; H
Buyers Civil Status:       Councillor
Buyers Gender:       Male
Buyers Domicile:       Cape district
Buyers Occupation:       farmer
Primary Reference:       Transporten en Scheepeniskennis. Hereinafter cited as Changing Hands.
[S418] Anna J. Böeseken, Slaves and Free Blacks at the Cape 1658-1700, p.165. 17.5.1694: Thomas from Bengal, sold by William Mackdowal (signature Mackdowall), Captain of the Charles II, to Claas Hendricx Diepenauw for Rds.85.