Name
Gerrit Gerritsz was a cook who sailed to New Netherland.[1] Gerritsz is a patronymic which indicates his father was named Gerrit. His common name complicates identification.
The only record that mentions him in New Netherland calls him “Gerrit Gerritsz Cock.” “Cock” is an obsolete spelling of “kok,” the Dutch word for cook. Since the others in the record also had their occupation after their name, cook was probably Gerrit’s occupation rather than a surname.
Origin
His Dutch name suggests he was from the Netherlands.
Migration
Gerrit Gerritsz sailed as a cook on the Fortuin, and arrived in New Netherland in June 1652, where he stayed for two months.[2]
Settlement
Gerrit Gerritsz probably lived in Rotterdam, where he returned after his voyage.[3]
Biographical Details
Gerrit Gerritsz was born in 1630–1631. He was twenty-two years old when he gave his deposition in 1652.[4]
Education
His Dutch name and employment in the port of Rotterdam suggest Gerrit Gerritsz was Dutch. He signed with a mark.[5]
Occupation
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Gerrit Gerritsz sailed as cook on the Fortuin, under skipper Cornelis Sijmonsz from Rotterdam. They departed from the river Meuse on 5 or 6 May 1652 and arrived in New Netherland in the middle of June. They unloaded their merchandise and loaded new cargo. They left New Netherland around 3 September 1652. On their return voyage, the English captured their ship off the coast of England on 12 October. The next couple of days, the ship was taken as a prize to Pleijmuijden [Plymouth], where the ship and its cargo were sold. Gerrit Gerritsz returned to Rotterdam by 15 November 1652, when he and two other crew members gave a deposition about the voyage at the request of Isaacq de Pinto, a Jewish merchant who had lost cargo.[6]
The return voyage took place during the First Anglo-Dutch War of 1652–1654. The war broke out in the summer of 1652, while the Fortuin was in New Netherland. The crew may not have realized the risk of sailing into the Channel, the site of several naval battles in September and October 1652.
Associations
Gerrit Gerritsz knew skipper Cornelis Sijmonsz, cooper Pieter Corstiaensz, and sailor Pieter Barentsz, who all served on the Fortuin in 1652.[7]
Citations
[1] Deposition by Gerrit Gerritsz, Pieter Corstiaensz, and Pieter Barentsz, 15 November 1652, in Vitus Mustelius Woutersz, notary (Rotterdam), minutes, 1652–1652, p. 444 of modern penciled numbering; imaged, “Notariële akten,” Stadsarchief Rotterdam (https://hdl.handle.net/21.12133/9521B24CC0B4449A86D704C31AFE6614), image 287 of 346; citing call no. 503, Record Group [RG] 18: Notarissen te Rotterdam and daarin opgegane gemeenten [Notaries in Rotterdam and incorporated municipalities], Stadsarchief Rotterdam, Rotterdam, Netherlands.
[2] Deposition by Gerrit Gerritsz, Pieter Corstiaensz, and Pieter Barentsz, 15 November 1652.
[3] Deposition by Gerrit Gerritsz, Pieter Corstiaensz, and Pieter Barentsz, 15 November 1652.
[4] Deposition by Gerrit Gerritsz, Pieter Corstiaensz, and Pieter Barentsz, 15 November 1652.
[5] Deposition by Gerrit Gerritsz, Pieter Corstiaensz, and Pieter Barentsz, 15 November 1652.
[6] Deposition by Gerrit Gerritsz, Pieter Corstiaensz, and Pieter Barentsz, 15 November 1652.
[7] Deposition by Gerrit Gerritsz, Pieter Corstiaensz, and Pieter Barentsz, 15 November 1652.
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