A seventeenth and eighteenth century source on the population of Suriname is now available for international researchers. The annual tax records for the period 1693 – 1733 have been entered into a database which can be searched a/o downloaded on the website www.dutchslaverytaxsuriname.com, now fully available in English.

During the slavery era plantation owners in the Dutch colony of Suriname paid a sugar tax per person present on their plantation(s). The public record for this tax was called ‘Generale Lijst der Hoofdgelden’ (literally: general list of capita tax). It lists the number of enslaved people (adults and children) present on plantations, as well as the numbers of owners or their representatives. An Excel database is now available that contains the earliest 40 years of this tax record.

Added imputed data

Next to the columns of historical data a set of corrections and additions has been added to the database. As a historical source the GLdH is perceived to be rather unreliable. Children under 4, runaways and deaths were not taken into account for example. Also, then as now, people were reluctant to pay and often downplayed the actual number of enslaved people in their tax statements. However, because they are practically the only source on population numbers in the early period of the slavery era, the GLdH still hold a lot of value.

Plantation names

In addition a vast research project was launched to tie as many plantations as possible to owners. Owners were often not present in Suriname, ownership was passed on through marriages and inheritances, name spelling varied greatly, not just compared to the present, but also at the time. These and other factors had great impact on the attempt to tie plantations to owners for any set of consecutive years. The research is still ongoing, at present 150 plantations have been added.

Periodic updates

Periodically new versions of the database will be uploaded to the website. Such updates will be announced in the media and via the website. The historical data from the Generale Lijsten der Hoofdgelden will not be altered in these updates. Future versions will typically contain more names of plantations and corresponding data, additional though not consecutive years of Generale Lijsten, and possibly the replacement of imputed data, when more research leads to new insights.

Website

The website contains explanatory pages for all information above and more. Also a set of finding aids has been created to assist researchers with the spelling of names of owners and plantations and the translation of the original data on plantation owners.