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Article: Illegitimacy and family formation in colonial Cape Town, to c. 1850.
- Article from:
- Journal of Social History
- Article date:
- June 22, 2006
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2006 Journal of Social History. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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For 143 years after European settlement in 1652 the Cape of Good Hope was governed by the Dutch East India Company (VOC), a chartered company of the United Provinces of the Netherlands. (2) Founded as a refreshment station for Company fleets, bound for the VOC's eastern empire, the town which began as a fort and garden spread to fill the mountain-flanked bowl which faced on Table Bay. In 1806, as a result of the internecine conflict besetting Europe, the British took possession of the Cape station and retained it as a colony throughout the 1800s. This article investigates family formation in Cape Town through the lens of illegitimacy, amongst a population which was, for ...