Abraham van Peere was a Dutch
merchant
A merchant is a person who trades in commodities produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Historically, a merchant is anyone who is involved in business or trade. Merchants have operated for as long as indust ...
from
Vlissingen
Vlissingen (; zea, label=Zeelandic, Vlissienge), historically known in English as Flushing, is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and a city in the southwestern Netherlands on the former island of Walcheren. With its strategic l ...
in the
County of Zeeland. In 1602, a charter was given by the
States General The word States-General, or Estates-General, may refer to:
Currently in use
* Estates-General on the Situation and Future of the French Language in Quebec, the name of a commission set up by the government of Quebec on June 29, 2000
* States Genera ...
of the
Dutch Republic
The United Provinces of the Netherlands, also known as the (Seven) United Provinces, officially as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands (Dutch: ''Republiek der Zeven Verenigde Nederlanden''), and commonly referred to in historiography ...
to his father Jan van Peere to found a colony on the
Berbice River
The Berbice River, located in eastern Guyana, is one of the country's major rivers. It rises in the highlands of the Rupununi region and flows northward for through dense forests to the coastal plain. The river's tidal limit is between from the ...
on the coast of Guyana. Abraham van Peere eventually founded the
colony of Berbice in 1627.
Apparently some disputes arose between the Van Peere family and the Second
Dutch West India Company
The Dutch West India Company ( nl, Geoctrooieerde Westindische Compagnie, ''WIC'' or ''GWC''; ; en, Chartered West India Company) was a chartered company of Dutch merchants as well as foreign investors. Among its founders was Willem Usselincx ( ...
, which was founded to succeed the First Dutch West India Company that went bankrupt in 1674. The Dutch West India Company was given the monopoly on trade with the West Indies, which conflicted with Van Peere's charter. This was resolved when on 14 September 1678 a charter was signed which established Berbice as a hereditary
fief
A fief (; la, feudum) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an Lord, overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a for ...
of the Dutch West India Company, in the possession of the Van Peere family.
In November 1712, Berbice was briefly occupied by the French under
Jacques Cassard
Jacques Cassard (30 September 1679 – 1740) was a French naval officer and privateer.
Biography
Born on 30 September 1679 to a family of merchants of Nantes, Cassard began a career as a sailor at age 14 on the merchantmen owned by his fa ...
, as part of the
War of the Spanish Succession
The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict that took place from 1701 to 1714. The death of childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700 led to a struggle for control of the Spanish Empire between his heirs, Phil ...
. Since the Van Peere family did not want to pay a ransom to the French to free the colony, the colony reverted to French rule, who subsequently sold it to the brothers Nicolaas and Hendrik van Hoorn, Arnold Dix, Pieter Schuurmans, and Cornelis van Peere, on 24 October 1714.
Notes
References
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Peere, Abraham van
17th-century Dutch explorers
Dutch merchants
Dutch West India Company people
Explorers of South America
History of Guyana
People from Vlissingen
Berbice