Anna de Coningh
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Anna de Coningh | |
|---|---|
 Portrait of Anna de Coningh in 1685 | |
| Born | Unknown Batavia (Unconfirmed) |
| Died | 1733 |
| Spouse | Olof Bergh |
| Parents |
|
Anna de Coningh was the wife of early Swedish explorer Olof Bergh and the daughter of slave Angela van Bengale and François de Coninck of Ghent from the ship Drommedaris . Born in Bengale, Anna was brought to the Cape along with her mother and two brothers in 1657 by Freeburgher Pieter Kemp of Batavia before being sold into the household of Jan Van Riebeeck, making Anna, along with her mother and brothers, among the very first slaves brought to the Cape Colony. Having started life amongst some of the poorest inhabitants of the Cape, Anna died after her husband, one of the wealthiest members of Cape society and the third owner of the well-known South African wine estate Groot Constantia, having inhierited it from her husband after his death, as well as several other estates around the Colony[1].
Early life
Not much is known about Anna prior to her arrival at the Cape, however it is presumed she was born in Batavia. While Anna's mother was a slave, her father being a Freeburgher, made Anna a so-called "halvslag" ("half-slave")[2]. Prior to her marraige (after her manumission) to Arnoldus Willemsz from Wesel (later known as Arnoldus Willemsz Basson), Anna's mother bore two children in addition to Anna, known as Johannes van As and Jacobus van As[3].
Anna was baptised at the Cape in 1661, as was common for both Christian children as well as slaves or others seeking manumission or acceptance into free Cape society and prior to his departure from the Cape in 1662, Van Riebeeck sold Angela, Anna and her two siblings to a local burgher, Abraham Gabbema, who himself, immediately prior to his own departure from the Cape for Batavia, set Angela and her children free in1666[3]. Anna's mother Angela, following her emancipation, went on to have a further 7 children with Basson[4].
On 10 September 1678, Anna married a Swedish explorer and VOC official Olof Bergh at the Cape starting an unprecedented size in her social status for a former slave. Together with Bergh, Anna had 12 children. As was the case for many women at that time, not much was written about Anna specifically, apart from that which was noted about her husband, although her fortunes being closely bound to those of her husbands, she became an increasingly prominent figure in Cape society as his own status increased.
Despite her very poor upbringing, following her husband's death in 1724, as a result of her inheriting her husbands large estate, Anna became one of the wealthiest women in the Colony (if not one of the wealthiest members of society in totality) until her own death in 1733, owning several homes, in and around Cape Town, a number of farms both in close to the town as well as near present day Kuils Rivier, Saxenburg and Durbanville, as well as becoming the third owner of Governor Simon Van Der Stel's wine estate, Groot Constantia, South Africa's oldest wine estate, where several of her belongings as well as her portrait are still on display today[5][6].
Legacy
As a result of her life from that of a poor former half-slave to the wealthiest woman (and by many accounts, one of the wealthiest members of Cape society) has been noted as one of the unlikeliest strokes of good fortune. Her life from poverty to wealth has been novelised, along with that of her husband, in the novel "Kites of Good Fortune - The story of Anna de Coningh"[7].
During the difficult Governorship of Willem Adriaan Van Der Stel, it was reported in the diary of Adam Tas, that Anna had famously prevented the Governors wife Maria from committing suicide by trying to drown herself on Christmas Eve, December 1705[8][9].
"Thursday the 24th. Fair morning. Our labourers were busy carting the corn to the homestead, and cutting what corn was still standing. They tell me this day that the Governor's wife had, in a fit of despondency, tried to drown herself by jumping into the fountain behind the house at the Cape; however, Mrs. Berg was on the spot, and ran to help her, pulling her out of the water, to whom the Governor's wife lamented bitterly that her life had become one of terror for her on account of the many scandalous acts she must daily hear and witness. A singular affair, which gives reason for not a little thought ... " [10].
Anna is also remember through the epononymous wine "Anna de Koning" produced at one of her husbands former estates[11][12].
At the time of her death Anna owned around 27 slaves herself. As is the case for her own mother, Anna is considered one of the stammoeders ("founding mothers") of South African society, from whom many South Africans of both European and non-European descent, as well as all members of the Bergh family, can trace their heritage directly[13].
References
- ^ Gelderland, Erfgoed. "Ansiela van Bengalen en Anna de Coningh". mijngelderland.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 2023-07-12.
- ^ Gibson, Joanne (2018-08-14). "SA wine history: On some of the 'invisible' people of early Cape wine". winemag. Retrieved 2023-07-12.
- ^ a b heinz (2016-08-08). "Celebrating Women at Groot Constantia: Anna de Koningh - mother, hero and farm owner". Groot Constantia. Retrieved 2023-07-12.
- ^ "Anna de Koningh & Maai Angela - Camissa Museum". camissamuseum.co.za. Retrieved 2023-07-12.
- ^ "Dining Hall: Anna de Koningh's Amoire". VoiceMap. Retrieved 2023-07-12.
- ^ "Interim era: 1714 -1778 | Heritage of Slavery". slavery.iziko.org.za. Retrieved 2023-07-12.
- ^ "Kites of Good Fortune ebook by Therese Benadé". Rakuten Kobo. Retrieved 2023-07-12.
- ^ "BERGH Olof". www.stamouers.com. Retrieved 2023-07-12.
- ^ www.beaumont-project.com http://www.beaumont-project.com/VanRyneveldFT/6850.html. Retrieved 2023-07-12.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ^ DBNL. "December, 1705, Dagboek, Adam Tas". DBNL (in Dutch). Retrieved 2023-07-12.
- ^ "HISTORY". Groot Phesantekraal. Retrieved 2023-07-12.
- ^ "ANNA DE KONING". Groot Phesantekraal. Retrieved 2023-07-12.
- ^ "Anna De Koningh | South African History Online". www.sahistory.org.za. Retrieved 2023-07-12.