Wiebbe Hayes
Encyclopedia
Colonial troops
Colonial troops or colonial army refers to various military units recruited from, or used as garrison troops in, colonial territories.- Colonial background :...
soldier
Soldier
A soldier is a member of the land component of national armed forces; whereas a soldier hired for service in a foreign army would be termed a mercenary...
from Winschoten
Winschoten
Winschoten is a former municipality and city in the northeast of the Netherlands.Population : 18.497; area: 22,24 km2.The origin of the name of Winschoten is not known but it has received nicknames. One of these is Molenstad . It has also been known, in living memory, as Sodom...
, Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
. Hayes became a national hero after he led a group of soldiers, sailors and other survivors of the shipwreck of the Batavia
Batavia (ship)
Batavia was a ship of the Dutch East India Company . It was built in Amsterdam in 1628, and armed with 24 cast iron cannons and a number of bronze guns. Batavia was shipwrecked on her maiden voyage, and was made famous by the subsequent mutiny and massacre that took place among the survivors...
against the murderous mutineers
Mutiny
Mutiny is a conspiracy among members of a group of similarly situated individuals to openly oppose, change or overthrow an authority to which they are subject...
led by Jeronimus Cornelisz
Jeronimus Cornelisz
Jeronimus Cornelisz was a Frisian apothecary and Dutch East India Company merchant...
at the Houtman Abrolhos
Houtman Abrolhos
The Houtman Abrolhos is a chain of 122 islands, and associated coral reefs, in the Indian Ocean off the west coast of Australia. Nominally located at , it lies about eighty kilometres west of Geraldton, Western Australia...
Islands
Archipelago
An archipelago , sometimes called an island group, is a chain or cluster of islands. The word archipelago is derived from the Greek ἄρχι- – arkhi- and πέλαγος – pélagos through the Italian arcipelago...
(Wallabi Group
Wallabi Group
The Wallabi Group is the northern-most group of islands in the Houtman Abrolhos. Nominally located at , it is 58 kilometres from the Australian mainland, and about 9 kilometres from the Easter Group....
), off the Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
n coastline in 1629.
Early life
Frisians
The Frisians are a Germanic ethnic group native to the coastal parts of the Netherlands and Germany. They are concentrated in the Dutch provinces of Friesland and Groningen and, in Germany, East Frisia and North Frisia, that was a part of Denmark until 1864. They inhabit an area known as Frisia...
descent, as he is known to have come from the small town of Winschoten in the Groningen Province
Groningen (province)
Groningen [] is the northeasternmost province of the Netherlands. In the east it borders the German state of Niedersachsen , in the south Drenthe, in the west Friesland and in the north the Wadden Sea...
of The Netherlands. Because Hayes could read and write, it is believed he had at least some basic formal education, and thus it is inferred that he was probably from a respectable, but impoverished family.
In October 1628, Hayes boarded the Batavia
Batavia (ship)
Batavia was a ship of the Dutch East India Company . It was built in Amsterdam in 1628, and armed with 24 cast iron cannons and a number of bronze guns. Batavia was shipwrecked on her maiden voyage, and was made famous by the subsequent mutiny and massacre that took place among the survivors...
along with about 70 other soldiers at the rank of Private
Private (rank)
A Private is a soldier of the lowest military rank .In modern military parlance, 'Private' is shortened to 'Pte' in the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth countries and to 'Pvt.' in the United States.Notably both Sir Fitzroy MacLean and Enoch Powell are examples of, rare, rapid career...
. Employed by the Dutch East India Company
Dutch East India Company
The Dutch East India Company was a chartered company established in 1602, when the States-General of the Netherlands granted it a 21-year monopoly to carry out colonial activities in Asia...
(Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie, or VOC), the soldiers were off to the Dutch East Indies
Dutch East Indies
The Dutch East Indies was a Dutch colony that became modern Indonesia following World War II. It was formed from the nationalised colonies of the Dutch East India Company, which came under the administration of the Netherlands government in 1800....
for five years of garrison duty at Batavia (present-day Jakarta
Jakarta
Jakarta is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Officially known as the Special Capital Territory of Jakarta, it is located on the northwest coast of Java, has an area of , and a population of 9,580,000. Jakarta is the country's economic, cultural and political centre...
). Most of the soldiers were young men in their late teens or early twenties. Hayes, at the time of the shipwreck, was thought to be about 21.
Shipwreck
On the night of 3 June 1629, the Batavia was running under full sail when the look-out thought he saw breaking whitewaterWhitewater
Whitewater is formed in a rapid, when a river's gradient increases enough to disturb its laminar flow and create turbulence, i.e. form a bubbly, or aerated and unstable current; the frothy water appears white...
over shallows. He warned the skipper, Adriaen Jacobsz, who decided not to change course, believing that it was a reflection of the moon. Shortly afterwards, the Batavia ran aground at full speed on a coral reef
Coral reef
Coral reefs are underwater structures made from calcium carbonate secreted by corals. Coral reefs are colonies of tiny living animals found in marine waters that contain few nutrients. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, which in turn consist of polyps that cluster in groups. The polyps...
near the Wallabi Group
Wallabi Group
The Wallabi Group is the northern-most group of islands in the Houtman Abrolhos. Nominally located at , it is 58 kilometres from the Australian mainland, and about 9 kilometres from the Easter Group....
of islands. Attempts to refloat her failed, and she subsequently broke up.
Francisco Pelsaert
Francisco Pelsaert was a Dutch merchant who worked for the Dutch East India Company, who became most famous as the commander of the ship Batavia, which ran aground in the Houtman Abrolhos off the coast of Western Australia in June...
and the ship skipper, Adriaen Jacobsz, realised that there was only one chance of rescue for the survivors. Thus four days after the shipwreck, they – along with about 40 others – sailed in an open boat for Java
Java
Java is an island of Indonesia. With a population of 135 million , it is the world's most populous island, and one of the most densely populated regions in the world. It is home to 60% of Indonesia's population. The Indonesian capital city, Jakarta, is in west Java...
in order to get help. With Pelsaert and Jacobsz gone, the VOC under-merchant Jeronimus Cornelisz
Jeronimus Cornelisz
Jeronimus Cornelisz was a Frisian apothecary and Dutch East India Company merchant...
was the most senior official. Cornelisz had been plotting a mutiny prior to the shipwreck, and had planned along with his co-conspirators to use the Batavia for piracy
Piracy
Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence at sea. The term can include acts committed on land, in the air, or in other major bodies of water or on a shore. It does not normally include crimes committed against persons traveling on the same vessel as the perpetrator...
. Following the shipwreck, Cornelisz and his supporters now plotted instead to seize control of the rescue ship when it arrived. Before this could be done, however, he needed to neutralize those in the ship's company who potentially stood in his way.
At some point early in the shipwreck, a hardy and loyal group of soldiers had spontaneously gathered around Wiebbe Hayes. Hayes was an ordinary soldier, but during the events and hardships they had just experienced, he must have shown uncommon qualities of natural leadership and courage, which had earned him the respect and trust of his comrades. Records show that Hayes had stepped out of obscurity to become a rallying point for many survivors.
The leadership qualities of Hayes did not go unnoticed by Cornelisz and his followers. Arguing that the survivors lacked space and resources at Beacon Island, Hayes, along with about 20 other men including a number of soldiers, were hand-picked by Cornelisz to explore for fresh water on two large nearby islands, now known as West
West Wallabi Island
West Wallabi Island is an island in the Wallabi Group of the Houtman Abrolhos, located in the Indian Ocean off the west coast of mainland Australia.-History:...
and East Wallabi Island
East Wallabi Island
East Wallabi Island is an island in the Wallabi Group of the Houtman Abrolhos, located in the Indian Ocean off the west coast of mainland Australia.-History:East Wallabi Island played an important role in the story of the Batavia shipwreck and massacre...
s. Cornelisz persuaded Hayes and his associates to leave behind their weapons before conducting their search. He assumed the men would not find water, and that they would either die of thirst or return unarmed and unsuspecting to Beacon Island whereupon they could be easily disposed of.
With his potential opponents out of the way, Cornelisz and his followers subsequently began a reign of terror on the island, raping, murdering and terrorizing the helpless passengers and crew who were not part of their conspiracy.
Defiance
Nearly three weeks after Hayes' departure to the 'high islands', a smoke signal was received from one of them. Clearly, Wiebbe Hayes and his soldiers had found water. This complicated matters greatly for Cornelisz, who had believed the stranded group were either dead or dying. First, it meant they had a means to survive. Secondly, he was in danger of their warning any rescue ship approaching..jpg)
Raft
A raft is any flat structure for support or transportation over water. It is the most basic of boat design, characterized by the absence of a hull...
s with stories of atrocities including rape
Rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
, murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
and massacre.
Despite being outranked by two cadets and other VOC officials, Hayes took command of the group and acted quickly to organise a defence of the island. He improvised weapons such as cudgels
Club (weapon)
A club is among the simplest of all weapons. A club is essentially a short staff, or stick, usually made of wood, and wielded as a weapon since prehistoric times....
, pikes
Pike (weapon)
A pike is a pole weapon, a very long thrusting spear used extensively by infantry both for attacks on enemy foot soldiers and as a counter-measure against cavalry assaults. Unlike many similar weapons, the pike is not intended to be thrown. Pikes were used regularly in European warfare from the...
, and planks from the Batavia wreckage with 16-inch long carpenter's nails driven through them. On the top of a slope, which the attackers would have to climb after landing, he used dry stones to build a small fort
Defensive wall
A defensive wall is a fortification used to protect a city or settlement from potential aggressors. In ancient to modern times, they were used to enclose settlements...
, erected near the freshwater well. Within the enclosure, his men piled up a large heap of heavy rocks and sharp stones to hurl at the attackers should they attempt to storm the fort.
During August and September, Cornelisz's gang made three attempts to take the island, but were repelled each time. On the third attempt, Cornelisz himself was taken prisoner and his best three lieutenants were killed. As a result, the rest of the mutineers fled in panic. On 17 September, the mutineers made a fourth and final attempt to take the island armed with two musket
Musket
A musket is a muzzle-loaded, smooth bore long gun, fired from the shoulder. Muskets were designed for use by infantry. A soldier armed with a musket had the designation musketman or musketeer....
s and were winning the battle by firing from a distance. In the very midst of hostilities, however, a sail unexpectedly appeared on the horizon—that of the small VOC ship Sardam
Sardam
The Sardam was a 17th century Dutch East India Company yacht . It was a small merchant vessel designed primarily for the inter-island trade in the East Indies....
under the command of Pelsaert, who had returned. Hayes once again acted more quickly than the mutineers, and organized a party to row to the rescue ship, warning them of the mutineers' intentions. When the mutineers reached Pelsaert's vessel, they found their scheme had been discovered, and surrendered without a fight, some of them breaking down and spontaneously confessing to horrendous crimes.
Aftermath
Pelsaert promoted Hayes on the spot to the rank of SergeantSergeant
Sergeant is a rank used in some form by most militaries, police forces, and other uniformed organizations around the world. Its origins are the Latin serviens, "one who serves", through the French term Sergent....
at a salary of 18 guilders per month — twice his former wage — and placed him in charge of all surviving soldiers. Upon arriving at Batavia, Wiebbe Hayes became a national hero, was decorated by the VOC and was promoted to the rank of standard-bearer (Lieutenant
Lieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
), with another significant increase in pay. The record of the promotion is also the last time Hayes is mentioned in the Dutch archives, and therefore nothing is known of his subsequent fate. He is remembered by his actions that bear witness to his strength of character, military ability, natural leadership, good judgement and courage.
The remnants of defensive wall
Defensive wall
A defensive wall is a fortification used to protect a city or settlement from potential aggressors. In ancient to modern times, they were used to enclose settlements...
s and stone shelters
Dugout (shelter)
A dugout or dug-out, also known as a pithouse, pit-house, earth lodge, mud hut, is a shelter for humans or domesticated animals and livestock based on a hole or depression dug into the ground. These structures are one of the most ancient types of human housing known to archeologists...
built by Wiebbe Hayes and his men on West Wallabi Island are Australia's oldest known European structures. The fort and the well can still be seen to this day.
In the 1970s, the wreck of the Batavia was located and many artifacts were salvaged. Some of them are now on exhibition at the Batavia Gallery in Fremantle, Western Australia
Fremantle, Western Australia
Fremantle is a city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle was the first area settled by the Swan River colonists in 1829...
.
External links
- The Batavia and Her Detectives (2002). The National Centre for History Education. Department of Education, Science & Training.