Cornelis Molenaar (1704

Events in Cornelis Molenaar (1704 - 1745)'s life
Date	Age	Event	Place	Src
		carpenter
16 Mar 1704		Cornelis Molenaar was born	Haarlem, NL
03 Jun 1724	20	Death of mother Annetje Symensd (aged 53)	Haarlem, NL
25 May 1725	21	Married Heijltje Aeltje Bottelier* (aged 24)	schepenbank Haarlem
31 Mar 1726	22	Birth of son Adreiaen Melenaar	Haarlem, NL
26 Mar 1728	24	Birth of son Abram Molenaar	Haarlem, NL
27 May 1728	24	Death of son Abram Molenaar	Haarlem, NL
12 Jan 1729	24	Death of son Adreiaen Melenaar (aged 2)	Haarlem, NL
09 Dec 1731	27	Birth of daughter Antje Melenaar	Haarlem, NL
23 May 1733	29	Death of daughter Antje Melenaar (aged 1)	Haarlem, NL
14 Mar 1734	29	Birth of son Abraham Molenaar*	Haarlem, NL
23 Apr 1740	36	Birth of daughter Johanna Molenaar Moolenaar	Haarlem, NL
03 May 1740	36	Death of father Aerien Adriaen Molenaer (aged 68)	Haarlem, NL
05 Jun 1745	41	Cornelis Molenaar died	buried at sea
		Burial at sea

Personal Notes:

"Old-Notarial Archive" in Haarlem: On 15 October 1744 a Cornelis Molenaar visited a notary solicitor in Haarlem in order to give his wife “ power of attorney “ whilst he was absent for the duration of his trip to Indonesia as ship’s master carpenter on the “ United East Indies “ vessel “ Brouwer “.
In the “ Common Federal Archive in the Hague the “ ship wages book “ of the “ Brouwer “ was found. Mentioned therein was that Cornelis was enlisted on 9 October 1744. Also was found a register of that ship noting the deaths of crew members and the proceeds of the sale of their possessions – if indeed they had anything of value . In this register as well as in the book “ Dutch Asiatic Shipping “ in the 17th & 18th centuries more particular details of the ship and the journey were found.
Despite a stay in port of more than 3 weeks together with the intake of fresh water and other provisions the condition of the crew members was already precocious. On May 19, 1745 the ship left Cape Town in South Africa with destination Batavia and already on the 21st a crew member died. A few weeks later on 5 June 1745 Cornelis Molenaar also passed away. His remains, as was the custom were sewn into sail cloth by Remmert Claasz and weighted and were cast into the waters of the Indian Ocean. The records in which the death was noted did not give information regarding the position of the ship but an estimate based on the departure date from Cape Town and the arrival date in Batavia would place the vessel’s position near the island of Mauritius.
Before the ship reached Batavia on the 8th August 1745 and after the demise of Cornelis, death would claim 16 more and before the signing-off of the crew on the 18th August 3 more had died. A total of 36 people had perished on the “ Brouwer “ during the voyage.
What could have possessed a man like Cornelis to start a venture such as this in his 40th year? It is difficult to assume that money problems were the cause; as master carpenter he must have been a good tradesman. As well he owned 2 houses, 1 of which must have been fairly valuable, that was his residence in the Coning straat ( now spelled Koning which was bought by his father Adrien Molenaar for 1130 Carolian guilders on 6 May 1730. The other house situated in the Gasthuis straat and known as the “ Blue Column “ had a value of 480 Carolian guilders. Compare these amounts with the 28 guilders paid to him upon enlistment for 2 months wages and the 300 guilders as an advance on the total wage for the trip. The ship’s paybook further mentions that he received a seaman’s chest at a value of 6 guilders and fifty cents which was also advanced. On the day of his death 5/6/1745 and as was usual in those days, the commitment of the Company ceased and it was carefully recorded that upon his death he was entitled to a total wage of 82 guilders and sixty cents. Equally carefully was noted that with the money he had already received, a debt remained of 251 guilders and ninety cents.
Following the return of the ship in Holland the crew were paid part of the profit made on the trip and those that had perished were also included pro-rata in that distribution. This was carefully calculated till their death. Cornelis’ part was calculated as being 48 guilders and ten cents. However this amount was not passed on to his widow Heiltje Bottelier. According to the ship’s paybook the money was paid to a Claas Ketel on the 10th November 1746. Also in the cases of other crew members who had died it appears that their final wages were made out to this Claas Ketel. Who this man was remains unclear. Was he maybe a member of the Chamber of the Company and was this maybe a ruse of the Chamber to be compensated for the inconvenience of their “ servants “ passing away too soon and the recovery of the advanced monies? Who knows.

This information was supplied by Erik Moolenaar of Voorschoten. He also supplied the following information on Aerien Molenaar (1671-1740).

Created on 30 Dec 2018