"They Concern Themselves Most with It": Alcohol Retail, Entrepreneurship, and Women in Cape Town, South Africa, 1680–1795

‘They concern themselves most with it’: Alcohol retail, entrepreneurship and women in Cape Town, South Africa, 1680-1795

Since its inception in 1652, Cape Town has served for most of its history as a refreshment station for ships to and from the Indian Ocean world. Until 1795 the Cape Colony formed part of the Dutch East India Company’s empire. In the territories of this chartered company, free trade was severely limited and thus most of Cape Town’s trade centered on victualling passing ships. Alcohol retail rapidly became the most lucrative of all trades plied by the city’s free inhabitants. From 1680 until the end of the Company’s rule, the alcohol trade was monopolized and auctioned off annually. During this period some 200 individuals bought alcohol monopolies, which in many cases enabled them to amass huge fortunes. About 5% of these monopolists were women. Since its inception in 1652, Cape Town has served for most of its history as a refreshment station for ships to and from the Indian Ocean world. Until 1795 the Cape Colony formed part of the Dutch East India Company’s empire. In the territories of this chartered company, free trade was severely limited and thus most of Cape Town’s trade centered on victualling passing ships. Alcohol retail rapidly became the most lucrative of all trades plied by the city’s free inhabitants. From 1680 until the end of the Company’s rule, the alcohol trade was monopolized and auctioned off annually. During this period some 200 individuals bought alcohol monopolies, which in many cases enabled them to amass huge fortunes. About 5% of these monopolists were women.

This paper investigates women’s role in the alcohol trade, their capitalization strategies and their use of social and symbolic capital against the background of their male counterparts’ activities. Although these women stand out because of their direct involvement in the alcohol trade, the paper also draws attention to the role of women in alcohol retail as part of family businesses. Many men entered the trade because of marriage into an alcohol retail family, while evidence suggests that in many cases wives were heavily involved in their husbands’ entrepreneurial activities. Some families were involved in this trade over several generations, mostly through the female line. This paper suggests that the greater social and economic freedom accorded women in the Dutch Republic during this period was extended in the colonial Cape, particularly in alcohol retail, because of the limited opportunities for free trade and entrepreneurial activities which the Dutch East India Company offered.