In 1628 a Dutch ship with 68 colonists landed in the island
(called by them Nieuw Walcheren). They founded a fort called Fort Flushing near
today’s Plymouth in the Great Courland Bay. In 1629 and 1632 more ships arrived from
Zeeland to strengthen the small Dutch settlement that now was populated by about 200
colonists.
The history of this first colony had a tragic conclusion on 1 January 1637 when a Spanish
expedition destroyed the settlement and massacred the colonists.
A few months later, in 1637, a Courlandian (Courland was a dukedom situated in the present
Republic of Latvia) ship with 212 colonists attempted to found a colony in the island but
both this attempt and a subsequent one, in 1639, ended in failure.
In 1639 the English also attempted to found a settlement in Tobago but the colonists were
forced to withdraw in 1640. A renewed English attempt in 1642 met the same fate.
In 1642 about 300 Courlanders made a third attempt to colonize Tobago but the Caribs
attacked and killed many of them. The survivors escaped to the Wild Coast (today’s
Guyana).
In 1647, a third English attempt also failed.
On 20 May 1654, a Courlanders expedition of 80 families and 149 soldiers landed at Great
Courland Bay. They renamed the island New Courland and started to build a fort named Fort
Jacob.
In September 1654, a Zeelandian expedition under Pieter Becquart founded a settlement at
Lampsins Bay on the opposite side of the island. This new settlement was named Nieuw
Flushing. The Dutch built here three forts. The strongest was called Fort Lampsinsberg,
the other two were Fort Beveren and Fort Bellavista.
Thus the island was divided between the two nations.
In 1657 reinforcements arrived from Courland and about 120 colonists were added.
Meanwhile, the Dutch settlement had had a swift growth and in 1658 about 500 Frenchmen
settled under Dutch sovereignty. They founded a settlement (named Le Quartier des Trois
Rivières) in Little Courland Bay, not far from the Courlanders colony.
By 1658, 1.200 men peopled the Dutch colony. The Courlanders were in trouble for there was
the Baltic war and no reinforcements came from Courland.
On 11 December 1659, the Courlanders surrendered the colony to the Dutch.
The Dutch colony flourishing, it counted in 1660 about 1.500 colonists (prevalently
Zeelanders and Frenchmen) and 7.000 slaves. There were three churches and six or seven
sugar mills. The island produced sugar, rum and cacao. There were about 120 plantations,
and 2 rum distilleries.
In January 1666, the colony was forced to surrender to the British pirates from Jamaica. A
few days later English troops arrived and assumed official English control of Tobago. A
garrison of 50 Englishmen was left in the island. This garrison surrendered to the French
in August 1666.
A short time later the French must have abandoned Tobago. In fact, when the Dutch Admiral
Abraham Crijnssen landed in April 1667, he found the island deserted and the forts and the
houses of the colony in ruins. He had the fort restored and left a garrison of 29 men.
In December 1668 a Courlandian ship made an attempt to occupy the old site of Fort Jacob
but the Dutch were watchful and the Courlanders escaped.
In 1672, about 500 Dutch colonists arrived.
On 18 December 1672, an English expedition totaling 6 ships and 600 men conquered the
colony after five or six hours of fight. The British destroyed the colony and the
colonists were deported to Barbados. Tobago was again abandoned.
The second peace of Westminster in 1674 gave back Tobago to the Dutch, but they reoccupied
the island only on 1 September 1676 when an expedition under the command of Jacob Binckes
landed at Klip Bay and a new fort was built near were once stood Nieuw Flushing. The new
fort was called Fort Sterreschans; it was a star-shaped fort whit four bulwarks. A small
outpost was built on a hill overlooking the bay.
In February 1677 Dutch reinforcements (about 150 men) landed, but a few days later a
French fleet totaling 24 ships and 4.000 men was sighted. The Dutch had 700 soldiers, 100
colonists and 15 ships anchored in the bay.
On 21 February 1677, the French landed 1.000 men and attacked the fort but failed. After
this, on 3 March 1677, the French Admiral Count D’Estrées decided to attempt a
dangerous attack to the Dutch by land and sea. The battle was destructive for both parties
and the Dutch remained masters of the fort, but only three Dutch ships and 400 men
survived the battle. All the French ships were damaged and four were lost. After this
battle the French troops left Tobago.
On 6 December 1677, a new French fleet totaling 21 ships under D’Estrées landed in
Tobago. The Dutch now numbered only 700 men and 5 ships. The French attacked the Dutch
fort from the land side, and a French "fire ball" fell near the powder magazine
of the fort that exploded. This terrific explosion killed Bickens and about 250 of his
men. As the Dutch survivors surrendered, the French destroyed the remains of the
Sterreschans and abandoned the island.
This marked the end of the Dutch attempts to make Tobago a Dutch colony.Bibliography:
- Archibald, D. "Tobago: melancholy isle, vol. I 1498-1771" ?
137 pp. Westindiana, 1987, Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago.
Chapter I, The Caribs of the Island of Tabaco; Chapter II, the European Presence
1498-1627; Chapter III, Early Settlements 1628-1637; Chapter IV, The Courland Adventure
1639-1690; Chapter V, the Dutch at Roodklyp Bay 1654-1678; Chapter VI, Captain John Poyntz
1666-1704; Chapter VII, A neutral Island 1679-1763; Chapter VIII, the British settle
Tobago 1763-1771.
- Bubberman, F. C. "Tobago en zijn Nederlands verleden"
In: AA.VV. "Vestingbouw overzee. Militaire architectuur van Manhattan tot
Korea" pp. 37-43 Vestingbouwkundige bijdragen, Walburg Pers, 19--,
NL.
- Carmichael,Gertrude "The history of the West Indian Island of
Trinidad and Tobago, 1498-1900" ?
463 pp. 8 plts. 1961, London, UK.
- Edmundson "The Dutch in Western Guiana"
English historical review: 1901 Vol. XVI 640 - 675 pp.
An interesting article on the first period of Dutch settlements in Guiana and Tobago.
There are also some information about the Courland attempts of colonizing Tobago.
- Goslinga,C.Ch. "The Dutch in the Caribbean & on the Wild Coast 1580-1680"
647 pp. 12 maps Van Gorcum & C. 1971 Assen, The Netherlands.
A detailed and a very interesting and complete study on the Dutch in the Caribbean area:
Guyana and Caribbean Islands. This is the vol I of the study.
Index: The beggars and the Broom, dreamers and realists, the tardy interlopers, the truce,
the rise of a brilliant star, the battle for salt, the first great designs, the silver
fleet, the king's veins, Pie de Palo, the Dutch pearls, the years of crisis, the decline
of a brilliant star, black ebony, "that superb nation", the Wild Coast, New
Walcheren, the last Dutch stand.
- Goslinga, C.Ch. "The Dutch in the Caribbean and in the Guianas 1680-1791"
712 pp. 13 maps Van Gorcum 1985 Assen, The Netherlands
A detailed and a very interesting study on the Dutch in the Caribbean area: Guyana and
Caribbean Islands. This is the vol II of the study.
Index: The rise and the decline of the new Dutch West India Company 1675-1770, the Dutch
in West Africa, the Company and the colonists in the Curaçao islands, the Company and the
colonists of the Dutch Leeward islands, the Dutch Caribbean slave trade, the "Kleine
Vaart" in the Caribbean, Antillean colonial society, the colonists and the society of
Suriname, Surinam: plantation colony, the Surinam Maroons, the Surinam slave trade,
Essequebo and Demerara, the Berbice slave rebellion, a tale of two cities: Willemstad and
Paramaribo, the Dutch black and red codes, the fall of the West India Company.
- Oppenheim, Samuel "An early Jewish colony in Western Guiana, 1658-1666 and
its relation to the Jews in Surinam, Cayenne and Tobago" ?
In: A.J.H.S. n° 16, 1907
- Oppenheim, Samuel "An early Jewish colony in Western Guiana. Supplemental
data" ?
In: A.J.H.S. n° 17, 1909
- Williamson, J. A. "English colonies in Guiana and on the Amazon
1604-1688"
191 pp. Clarendon Press, 1923, Oxford,
- Wise, K. S. "Historical sketches of Trinidad & Tobago"
Vol I, 1934, articles IX, X, XI
The Dutch settlements in Trinidad 1636, the Dutch settlements in Tobago 1633-1636, the
Dutch attack on St. Joseph 1637.
BOOKS ABOUT DUTCH IN TOBAGO:
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