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In these pages you will find out all about the multi-national United (Dutch) East Indies Company and their mariners and ships and the impact they had on Western Australia in particular long before white colonialisation in the 19th Century.

What is the VOC?

The Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie (United East Indies Company), or VOC, was formed in the Netherlands in 1602 with the aim of sending ships to East Asia to buy pepper, cinnamon and other spices and trade them on European markets.

In the very early days of Dutch trade, VOC ships stopped at the Cape of Good Hope and then followed the Portuguese route i.e. North-East across the Indian Ocean to the East Indies. In 1610, Hendrik Brouwer, a senior official with the Company, pioneered a new route. After the Cape he sailed south-east to between 35 and 40 S lattitude and then east for about 3500 nautical miles before turning north, sailing along the WA coast, towards Sunda Strait and Java and then Batavia - the centre for Dutch trade with Asia. This route shortened the journey from Europe by 6 months and was therefore of great benefit to the company. The route was officially adopted.

Dirck Hartogh, on the ship Eendracht, was one of the first navigators to sail the route. In 1616 he landed on an island of the west coast now named after him - Dirk Hartog Island. This was 154 years before captain Cook's discovery of the East Coast of Australia. Many VOC ships now followed the route sailing past or landing on Western Australia (then called New Holland) while also mapping its coastline. Some were wrecked leaving hehind large numbers of castaways.

This website covers many aspects of the history of the VOC in Australia. Use the dropdown menus (above) to locate relevant web pages or, alternatively, use the Site Map or Information Overview page. This provides a structured view of all the pages on this website with more detailed descriptions of their content.

The general consensus amongst historians and related academics is that these survivors would not have lasted for any considerable period of time. Reasons often quoted are hostile natives and the lack of survival skills amongst these Europeans considering the harsh and unknown environment in which they found themselves. How wrong can you get!

Dutch DNA link to Aboriginals in Western Australia (WA)?

The VOC Historical Society, in collaboration with coastal Aboriginal communities and geneticists in The Netherlands, is investigating the possible existence of a genetic link between VOC shipwreck survivors and current members of the community. Should the work prove that such a link exists, it would settle all the speculation that exists today about what might have happened to the survivors. It would also mean that Europeans inhabited Australia long before its Colonial history began and thereby change Australia's early European history.
See how many VOC shipwreck survivors there were. >>Click here.
See a map of locations of possible European (VOC) activity in Western Australia before colonialisation in 1829.>>Click here.
"Gene tests seek Dutch links to WA Aboriginals." >>Read the newspaper article.

THIS MONTH IN VOC HISTORY

JANUARY 1606

Dutch navigator and explorer Willem Janszoon in his small ship Duyfken explored and mapped 300 kms of the coast of Western Cape York Peninsula. He was the first European navigator to do so. He was truly Australia's Columbus! >>.Read more.