Pieter Hackius (died 30 November 1671) was the fifth commander of the

Cape of Good Hope The Cape of Good Hope ( af, Kaap die Goeie Hoop ) ;''Kaap'' in isolation: pt, Cabo da Boa Esperança is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. A common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is t ...

before it became the

Dutch Cape Colony The Cape Colony ( nl, Kaapkolonie) was a Dutch United East India Company (VOC) colony in Southern Africa, centered on the Cape of Good Hope, from where it derived its name. The original colony and its successive states that the colony was inco ...

in 1691. Hackius succeeded Jacob Borghorst as commander on 25 March 1670 and was appointed to a position similar to governor on 2 June 1670.

Career

Hackius became secretary of the college of aldermen in

Batavia Batavia may refer to: Historical places * Batavia (region), a land inhabited by the Batavian people during the Roman Empire, today part of the Netherlands * Batavia, Dutch East Indies, present-day Jakarta, the former capital of the Dutch East In ...

in 1643 and bailiff in 1651. In the same year he also served as an elder of the Reformed Church. In 1656 he returned to the Netherlands and thirteen years later, in 1669, he was appointed head of the refreshment station at the

Cape A cape is a clothing accessory or a sleeveless outer garment which drapes the wearer's back, arms, and chest, and connects at the neck. History Capes were common in medieval Europe, especially when combined with a hood in the chaperon. Th ...

. On 7 December 1669 he left

Texel Texel (; Texels dialect: ) is a municipality and an island with a population of 13,643 in North Holland, Netherlands. It is the largest and most populated island of the West Frisian Islands in the Wadden Sea. The island is situated north of De ...

and arrived in

Table Bay Table Bay (Afrikaans: ''Tafelbaai'') is a natural bay on the Atlantic Ocean overlooked by Cape Town (founded 1652 by Van Riebeeck) and is at the northern end of the Cape Peninsula, which stretches south to the Cape of Good Hope. It was named ...

the following March. On 25 March 1670, he took over control from his ailing predecessor, Jacob Borghorst, although he too was practically an invalid. When Isbrand Goske visited the Cape in February 1671, he was very critical of Hackius as many assignments had not been carried out. Hackius served as commander for only a year and eight months and his health deteriorated rapidly, and the secundes, Hendrik Crudop and Cornelis de Cretzer had to handle the administration. During his reign, efforts were made to encourage immigration from

Holland Holland is a geographical regionG. Geerts & H. Heestermans, 1981, ''Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal. Deel I'', Van Dale Lexicografie, Utrecht, p 1105 and former province on the western coast of the Netherlands. From the 10th to the 16th c ...

, but nothing of importance really happened.

Personal

Hackius married Alida Paets and they had 5 children. He died in the

Fort de Goede Hoop The Fort de Goede Hoop ('Fort of Good Hope') was the first military building to be erected in what is now Cape Town. It was built in 1652, and was in use until 1674 when it was superseded by the Castle of Good Hope. History The Fort was bu ...

after a lengthy illness, and was the first head of the

Cape Colony The Cape Colony ( nl, Kaapkolonie), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British Empire, British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope, which existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when i ...

to die in the Cape and was buried there.

References

Governors of the Cape Colony 1671 deaths {{SouthAfrica-bio-stub

Career

Personal

See also

References