Wiebbe Hayes
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Wiebbe Hayes () was a Dutch soldier known for his leading role in the suppression of
Jeronimus Cornelisz Jeronimus Cornelisz (c. 1598 – 2 October 1629) was a Dutch apothecary and Dutch East India Company merchant who sailed aboard the merchant ship which foundered near the Australian mainland. Cornelisz then led one of the bloodiest mutinies i ...
's massacre of shipwreck survivors in 1629, after the merchant ship was wrecked in the
Houtman Abrolhos The Houtman Abrolhos (often called the Abrolhos Islands) is a chain of 122 islands and associated coral reefs, in the Indian Ocean off the west coast of Australia, about west of Geraldton, Western Australia. It is the southernmost true coral ...
, a chain of coral islands off the west coast of Australia. Almost all that is known of the shipwreck and aftermath stems from a book by the expedition's commander,
Francisco Pelsaert Francisco Pelsaert ( – September 1630) was a Dutch merchant who worked for the Dutch East India Company best known for his role as the commander of the . The ship ran aground in the Houtman Abrolhos, off the coastal regions of Western Aust ...
, who quickly absented himself and reached safety before returning with to rescue the survivors.


Early life

Little more is known about Wiebbe Hayes's background and early life than that he is known to have come from the small town of
Winschoten Winschoten (; gos, Winschoot) is a city with a population of 18,518 in the municipality of Oldambt in the northeast of the Netherlands. It is the largest city in the region of Oldambt in the province of Groningen which has 38,213 inhabitants. ...
in the province of
Groningen Groningen (; gos, Grunn or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen province in the Netherlands. The ''capital of the north'', Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of the northern part of t ...
. Because Hayes could read and write, it is believed he had at least some basic formal education, and thus it is inferred that he was probably from a respectable, but impoverished family.


''Batavia''


Shipwreck

In October 1628, Hayes boarded the with about 70 other privates. Employed by the
Dutch East India Company The United East India Company ( nl, Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, the VOC) was a chartered company established on the 20th March 1602 by the States General of the Netherlands amalgamating existing companies into the first joint-stock ...
( nl, Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie, commonly abbreviated to VOC), the soldiers were off to the
Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, which ...
for five years of garrison duty at
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 ...
. Most of the soldiers were young men in their late teens or early twenties. On the night of 3 June 1629, the was running under full sail when the look-out thought he saw breaking
whitewater Whitewater forms in a rapid context, in particular, when a river's gradient changes enough to generate so much turbulence that air is trapped within the water. This forms an unstable current that froths, making the water appear opaque and ...
over shallows. He warned the skipper, Ariaen Jacobsz, who decided not to change course, believing that it was a reflection of the moon. Shortly afterwards, the ran aground at full speed on a
coral reef A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in groups. Co ...
near the
Wallabi Group The Wallabi Group is the northernmost group of islands in the Houtman Abrolhos off the western coast of Western Australia. it is from the Australian mainland, and about from the Easter Group. The group consists of a numbe ...
of islands. Attempts to refloat her failed, and she subsequently broke up. It was at this point that Hayes was noticed by the VOC chief merchant,
Francisco Pelsaert Francisco Pelsaert ( – September 1630) was a Dutch merchant who worked for the Dutch East India Company best known for his role as the commander of the . The ship ran aground in the Houtman Abrolhos, off the coastal regions of Western Aust ...
. As sailors and soldiers helped in the process of ferrying people to the nearby islands, Hayes was there helping passengers down, passing supplies, offering soothing words, directing commands and doing whatever was needed to be done to accomplish the hazardous tasks as safely as possible.


Massacre

Francisco Pelsaert and skipper Adriaen Jacobsz realised that there was only one chance of rescue for the survivors. Thus four days after the shipwreck, they—along with about 40 others—sailed in an open boat for
Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...
in order to get help. With Pelsaert and Jacobsz gone, the VOC under-merchant
Jeronimus Cornelisz Jeronimus Cornelisz (c. 1598 – 2 October 1629) was a Dutch apothecary and Dutch East India Company merchant who sailed aboard the merchant ship which foundered near the Australian mainland. Cornelisz then led one of the bloodiest mutinies i ...
was the most senior official. Cornelisz had been plotting a mutiny prior to the shipwreck, and had planned along with his co-conspirators to use the ''Batavia'' for piracy. Following the shipwreck, Cornelisz and his supporters now plotted instead to seize control of the rescue ship when it arrived. Before this could be done, however, he needed to neutralize those in the ship's company who potentially stood in his way. At some point early in the shipwreck, a hardy and loyal group of soldiers had spontaneously gathered around Wiebbe Hayes. Hayes was an ordinary soldier, but during the events and hardships they had just experienced, he must have shown uncommon qualities of natural leadership and courage, which had earned him the respect and trust of his comrades. Records show that Hayes had stepped out of obscurity to become a rallying point for many survivors. After Pelsaert departed for help, Hayes and the other soldiers constructed shelters and set up a small piece of sail in such a fashion that it both provided shelter from the wind and collected whatever rain might fall, funnelling it down into a waiting barrel. Hayes also organised a systematic search for water on the island. Hayes' leadership qualities did not go unnoticed by Cornelisz and his followers. Arguing that the survivors lacked space and resources at Beacon Island, Cornelisz hand-picked Hayes, along with about 20 other men including a number of soldiers, to explore for fresh water on two large nearby islands, now known as
West West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sunset, Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic languages, German ...
and
East Wallabi Island East Wallabi Island is an island in the Wallabi Group of the Houtman Abrolhos, located in the Indian Ocean off the west coast of mainland Australia. History East Wallabi Island played an important role in the story of the shipwreck and massacre. ...
s. Cornelisz persuaded Hayes and his associates to leave behind their weapons before conducting their search. He assumed the men would not find water, and that they would either die of thirst or return unarmed and unsuspecting to Beacon Island, whereupon they could be easily disposed of.W.A. Government (2008)
''Batavia History''
Retrieved on 22 May 2008.
With his potential opponents out of the way, Cornelisz and his followers subsequently began a reign of terror on the island, raping, murdering and terrorizing the helpless passengers and crew who were not part of their conspiracy. Nearly three weeks after Hayes' departure to the "high islands," a smoke signal was received from one of them; Wiebbe Hayes and his soldiers had found fresh water. This complicated matters greatly for Cornelisz, who had believed the stranded group were either dead or dying. First, it meant they had a means to survive. Secondly, he was in danger of their warning any rescue ship approaching. Initially, Cornelisz ignored the smoke, and Hayes wondered why no one came to their island. Then, in the days that followed, a small group of survivors from Cornelisz' reign of terror began to drift across the lagoon to Hayes' location on makeshift rafts with stories of atrocities including rape, murder and massacre. Despite being outranked by two cadets and other VOC officials, Hayes took command of the group and acted quickly to organise a defence of the island. He improvised weapons such as cudgels, pikes, and planks from the Batavia wreckage with carpenter's nails driven through them. On the top of a slope, which the attackers would have to climb after landing, he used dry stones to build a small fort, erected near the freshwater well. Within the enclosure, his men piled up a large heap of heavy rocks and sharp stones to hurl at the attackers should they attempt to storm the fort.Godard, Philippe (1993)
''The first and last voyage of the Batavia''
Perth: Abrolhos. . .
During August and September, Cornelisz's gang made three attempts to take the island, but were repelled each time. On the third attempt, Cornelisz himself was taken prisoner and his best three lieutenants were killed. As a result, the rest of the mutineers fled in panic. On 17 September, the mutineers made a fourth and final attempt to take the island armed with two muskets and were winning the battle by firing from a distance. In the very midst of hostilities, however, a sail unexpectedly appeared on the horizon—that of the small VOC ship under the command of Pelsaert, who had returned. Hayes once again acted more quickly than the mutineers, and organized a party to row to the rescue ship, warning them of the mutineers' intentions. When the mutineers reached Pelsaert's vessel, they found their scheme had been discovered, and surrendered without a fight, some of them breaking down and spontaneously confessing to horrendous crimes.


Aftermath

Pelsaert promoted Hayes on the spot to the rank of sergeant at a salary of 18 
guilders Guilder is the English translation of the Dutch and German ''gulden'', originally shortened from Middle High German ''guldin pfenninc'' "gold penny". This was the term that became current in the southern and western parts of the Holy Roman Empir ...
per month—twice his former wage—and placed him in charge of all surviving soldiers. Upon arriving at Batavia, Wiebbe Hayes became a national hero, was decorated by the VOC and was promoted to the rank of
standard-bearer A standard-bearer, also known as a flag-bearer is a person (soldier or civilian) who bears an emblem known as a standard or military colours, i.e. either a type of flag or an inflexible but mobile image, which is used (and often honoured) as a ...
, with another significant increase in pay. The record of the promotion is also the last time Hayes is mentioned in the Dutch archives, and therefore nothing is known of his subsequent fate. He is remembered by his actions that bear witness to his strength of character, military ability, natural leadership, good judgement and courage. The remnants of
defensive wall A defensive wall is a fortification usually used to protect a city, town or other settlement from potential aggressors. The walls can range from simple palisades or earthworks to extensive military fortifications with towers, bastions and gates ...
s and stone shelters built by Wiebbe Hayes and his men on West Wallabi Island are Australia's oldest known European structures.Dept. of the Environment and Heritage (2006)
''Batavia Shipwreck Site and Survivor Camps Area 1629''
Retrieved on 22 May 2008.
Australian Broadcasting Company (2003)

Retrieved on 22 May 2008.
Elder, Bruce (2005)

''The Sydney Morning Herald''. Retrieved on 24 May 2008.
The
Wiebbe Hayes Stone Fort The Wiebbe Hayes Stone Fort on West Wallabi Island (also known as Wiebbe Hayes Island) is the oldest surviving European building in Australia and was built in 1629 by survivors of the shipwreck and massacre. West Wallabi Island is from the co ...
and the well can still be seen to this day. In the 1970s, the wreck of the ''Batavia'' was located and many artifacts were salvaged. Some of them are now on exhibition at the Batavia Gallery in
Fremantle, Western Australia Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for ...
.VOC Shipwrecks (2008)
''Batavia''
Retrieved on 22 May 2008.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hayes, Wiebbe 1580s births 1630s deaths Batavia (1628 ship) Date of birth unknown Date of death unknown Dutch people of Frisian descent People from Winschoten Sailors on ships of the Dutch East India Company Shipwreck survivors