Slave emancipation
Hendrik Van Cooten was a plantation and slave owner.
In Britain, in August 1833, the Slave Emancipation Act was passed, giving all slaves in the British empire their freedom, albeit after a set period of years. Plantation owners received compensation for the ‘loss of their slaves’ in the form of a government grant set at £20,000,000. The slaves themselves received no recognition of the injustices done them, no reparations, nor apology.
A recent segment on the Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC) Radio National (RN) Late Night Live programme looks at some of the ramifications of slave emancipation – https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/latenightlive/blood-money_-emma-christopher/11924196
An article taking a position on a current compensation movement appears in the Guardian – https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/mar/29/slavery-abolition-compensation-when-will-britain-face-up-to-its-crimes-against-humanity
University College London hosts a website detailing the compensation money paid to slave owners at https://www.ucl.ac.uk/lbs/.
Although Hendrik died in 1825, his estates and family received payments.
Hendrik appears in the database, indicating that he had been the owner of plantations Vryheids Lust and Sheet Anchor in Demerara. The plantations had the following slaves:
| Year | Males | Females | Total |
| 1817 | 119 | 99 | 218 |
| 1826 | 124 | 104 | 228 |
| 1832 | 166 | 133 | 299 |
299 enslaved persons were registered in 1832 to the heirs of the late Hendrick van Cooten, by John L.C. Playter.
On 19th Apr 1836 compensation for 286 enslaved of £14638 18s 6d was issued.
An Elizabeth Ann Van Cooten received £36 7s 0d (1 enslaved) and £35 9s 10d (2 enslaved). Elizabeth is possibly Eliza Ann Van Cooten or Elizabeth Van Cooten nee van Tienen.
Nicholas Van Cooten received £287 10s 2d (5 enslaved) and British Guiana £98 9s 11s (2 enslaved). This Nicholas is either Hendrik’s son or Hendrik’s grandson.
I would like to know if you have more information on an individual named Bastiaansen from Holland. He is described as: “Mixed East Indian breed. Married with half-indian woman and works as assistant” on a list of Demerara planters from the 1700s which Rodney Van Cooten published on the internet. I would like to know when Bastiaansen arrived in Demerara, where he lived in the Netherlands, the plantation on which he worked and the name of his employer. I would also like to know what Bastiaansen´s first name was, the name of his wife and whether or not she was Amerindian. Finally, the list of Demerara colonists includes an Edward Hughes that was born in 1799. I would like to know where you found Edward Hughes´s date of birth and if you have any other information on this individual and other instances of the names Hughes or Marsden in British Guiana. Thank you.
Notes from your site:
Demerara Planters 1785 (vc.id.au), settlers to the Directors of the Dutch West India Company in several cities in Holland. The copy referred to at this site is held at central archives of the City and Province of Groningen. The settlers complain in the letter about their problems during the fourth Anglo-Dutch war (1780-1784). During this period, Essequibo and Demarary was occupied by the English and the French. After the war the colonies were returned to the Dutch West India Company. However, the company set up an new governor, and took the ancient right of the planters away.