SA-HISTORY-L Archives

From: "Mansell Upham" <>
Subject: Re: Slave uprising
Date: Tue, 18 Jul 2000 04:41:14 +0000

Keith:
My Mother's paternal 3th great-granddaddy, Hendrik PRIEM wa, roughed up and
tied up by these 'slaves' as they 'marched' on Cape Town. At that time
Priem had already left the VOC's employ living as a woodcutter behind the
Blaauw Berg when taken by surprise. He was one of the lucky ones as he
managed to break free and fire on his attackers. This evidence was later
used to convict and sentence to death the runaway slaves/'Bastard
Hottentots' once these had been arrested nearer to present-day Cape Town.
Perhaps this was a minor 'rebellion' in the grand scheme of things - however
I think that the event has been glossed over simply because our
'cherry-picker' historians have never really taken the trouble to look at
the details. Just because the writers you mention, make little or no
mention of this incident, does not mean that they are/were sufficiently
informed or have done the necessary (or any!) primary research. By way of
inverse analogy, the renewed interest in the 'rebel' Estienne Barbier has
reinforced his importance as a historical figure - yet when we analyse who
his followers were....they were relatives by blood or marriage...a family
affair and nothing more. The slave 'rebellion', however, I think to be of
great significance - notwithstanding my ancestor's involvement - not only
because it involved slaves, but also because it involved Irishmen and
so-called Bastard Hottentots. Also in need of investigation are the
pitfalls of Dutch colonial justice and how the British were saddled with a
colony of virtually non-British inhabitants and an entrenched Roman-Dutch
legal system.
If you are interested, I am working on an article about this event and will
let you know about its availability nearer the time of completion.
Mansell Upham

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• Re: Slave uprising by "Mansell Upham" <>