In May 1999 I was able to visit the Netherlands National Archives in Amsterdam. I was seeking information about my ancestor Hendrik Van Cooten, who I understood to have been involved in surveying the Dutch colony of Demerara under the auspices of the Dutch government.

One of the documents I accessed was a list of plantation owners in 1785. It includes the name of my forebear.

I am in the process of transcribing this document and translating it into English. Unfortunately my knowledge of old Dutch is fairly limited, and so I am having trouble deciphering the handwriting. The following pages contain a scanned version of the document, together with a draft transcription and translation. Click on the page image to bring up a larger version.

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