Abraham Josias Sluysken (3 December 1736, Deventer - 18 January 1799,

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...

) was the last Governor of 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 ...

before

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

occupation in 1795. Sluysken was born in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, and in 1765 became governor of the Dutch trading colony of Surat on the northwest coast of India. He was sent to the Cape in 1793. With his eye on defense in the case of a possible French attack, Sluysken commissioned the construction of a few small forts at

Simon's Town Simon's Town ( af, Simonstad), sometimes spelled Simonstown, is a town in the Western Cape, South Africa and is home to Naval Base Simon's Town, the South African Navy's largest base. It is located on the shores of False Bay, on the eastern ...

in 1794. The following year, the citizens of

Swellendam Swellendam is the fifth oldest town in South Africa (after Cape Town, Stellenbosch, Simon's Town, and Paarl), a town with 17,537 inhabitants situated in the Western Cape province. The town has over 50 provincial heritage sites, most of them ...

and

Graaff-Reinet Graaff-Reinet is a town in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. It is the oldest town in the province. It is also the sixth-oldest town in South Africa, after Cape Town, Stellenbosch, Simon's Town, Paarl and Swellendam. The town was the ...

revolted and declared their independence from the Cape. At the same time British ships attack the Cape, and while Sluysken attempted to defend the colony against invasion, he had to surrender to the British forces on 14 September 1795. He returned to the Netherlands on 12 November. ''Verhaal gehouden bij den Commissaris van de Caap de Goede Hoop'', his account of the events that took place between 10 June and 16 September, was published in 1797. Sluysken died on 18 January 1799.Wallis, F. (2000). Nuusdagboek: feite en fratse oor 1000 jaar, Kaapstad: Human & Rousseau

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sluysken, Abraham Josias 1736 births 1799 deaths 18th-century Dutch colonial governors Governors of the Dutch Cape Colony People from Deventer